Prologue: A choice.
The full moon cast it's silvery glow down upon a tall, hauntingly graceful mansion. A graveled walk led up to a black wooden door with a large bronze knocker, the ruby eyes of the metal sepent twined around the handle glinting malevolently, warding off any late visitors.
A pair of sharp gray eyes peered through one of the windows, down into the garden. Lucious Malfoy had only just paused in his pacing long enough to check that the sky was still clear enough for flying. "Narcissa, it is nearly midnight. I must be going. He's waiting, and if I'm late again..." He turned to face the thin, pale women in the rocker by the fire, his bright blonde hair glinting crimson as it swayed. She stared up at him with piercing cornflower blue eyes, her own fair hair shining orange. In her arms lay a small, equally blonde baby, sound asleep and cooing softly. Her face was pinched into a studied look of indifference, her pale lips twisted into a gruesome smile. "Of course, Lu-cious." Her voice cracked, and tears spilled angrily down her cheeks, splashing onto the collar of her snow-white robe. "Cissa..." He whispered, crossing the room lightly to meet his wife's side. He kissed her taut cheek and gazed down at the tiny baby, clutching her her thin hand. The man looked up at her with distraught eyes. "I can't leave now, he'll kill me, he'll kill you, and Draco. And after I-I couldn't kill that Auror, he's furious with me! I have to go with him, I have to, you know-" He was too miserable to continue. She caressed his face, smiling slightly.
"Promise me something," Narcissa Malfoy murmured, looking deep into his eyes, "Promise me Draco gets a choice. Whatever he wants, he gets to be happy. No matter what. Even if we have to flee the country for him, even if he refuses to follow the Dark Lord, we make him happy." Her voice was so soft it was a whisper of warmth in the cold air of the dark mansion. "Yes-yes, of course." He said softly. The giant grandfather clock in the corner of the long sitting room rang loudly, announcing midnight. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and straightening. "Goodbye." He said curtly, marching purposefully out of the room, his silhouette disappearing into the icy shadow of night. She heard his shoes clattering on the steps that lead down to the walk, and the slightest crunch of gravel as he headed out to the broomshed. She knew the only reason he didn't Disapparate was because he didn't want to arrive.
She tucked her now chilly legs under herself and looked down into the innocent face of her son. A wispy lock of his hair had slid down over one of his closed eyelids. She brushed it away as gently as possible, smiling widely. Her perfect little baby. A sudden rustle in the kitchen and she glanced up, alarmed, staring into the darkness and hugged Draco tighter. "So," A voice hissed, a pair of dark eyes gleaming. "My little nephew has been born." An olive skinned woman dressed in a long black cloak swept into the room, her smoothe black hair swinging around her, red lips puckered attractively in a pout. "And dear Cissy didn't tell her favorite sister!" Bellatrix Lestrange twirled her wand threateningly, and it emitted a few pinkish gold sparks. "What are you doing here?" Narcissa growled, eyes narrowing to slits. Bellatrix sank into a straight-backed cream colored chair by the fire. "Well, I came by to see little Draco, and I happened to overhear you and your husband's interesting conversation." She narrowed her eyes at her sister. "You sound as if...as if you don't want your son to serve the Dark Lord." She raised her eyebrows in mock confusion. "Do I understand that right, Cissy? I'm sure he'd love to know, considering how you and Lucious have been acting lately." She said in a singsong.
Narcissa straightened, making Draco twitch uncomfortably. "It's none of your business what me and my husband discuss." She hissed. Bellatrix dropped her nonchalant attitude, leaning forward with her nails digging into the arms of the chair. "As the Dark Lord's most loyal supporter, it is certainly my business if there are any traitors running about, especially if one of them is my own sister." She said, eyes flashing furiously, like the flicker of a candle. Narcissa felt a stab of fear pierce her heart, and she grabbed Bellatrix's hand desperately, earning a disgusted look from her sister. "Please, Bellatrix, I'll do anything, anything to keep him safe! Please!" She cried, hot tears streaming down her face. Bellatrix shook her sister off and fell back clumsily into her chair, propping her chin with her arm. "Narcissa, I've always said you were the baby mother dropped. Begging your sister? Begging is for the weak! A Black would never beg. Fine, then, since I have such a kind heart, I will keep this from the Dark Lord." Her face grew tight with guilt, her eyes clouding momentarily with hurt in her words. She shook her head slightly to clear it then leaned forward, mouth twisted into a grim smile. "Draco will be kept alive and your family safe, if he carries out the final mission...you see, it will take a young, strong wizard to complete this mission, and Draco would be perfect for the position." At her pale sister's terrified eyes, Bellatrix smiled malevolently. "Yes, Narcissa. This is the only way..." Bellatrix released her sister's hand and leaned back easily into her chair. "You're choice, of course." Her voice was a growl.
Narcissa closed her eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. "And he will be-safe?" She stuttered slightly, sitting straight and tall, her face tight and heavily controled. "Yes, Bellatrix." The snap of the woman's eyes dared Bellatrix to defy her. Her sister's eyes tilted up in the corners, like a hungry cat's."The Unbreakable Vow?" She asked. Narcissa nodded curtly, shifting Draco to her other arm. Bellatrix pulled out her wand, and clasping hands with her sister, raised it above their joined fist. "Do you, Narcissa Malfoy, swear that you're son, Draco, will perform the final task for Lord Voldemort?" Bellatrix asked in a monotone. No, please, no. I can't do this, I can't do this... Narcissa thought despairingly. But she cleared her throat loudly and said flatly, "I do."
The shimmering light curling around the two witches hands glowed brightly and then faded.
Bellatrix rose, smirked at her sister, and swept from the room without a word. Narcissa Malfoy snatched her baby boy close against her chest, the full realisation of what she'd done washing over her in a wave of cold disbelief. She began to sob in racking, shuddering breaths, tears falling once again from her blue eyes. "Oh, oh Draco! I'm-so-sorry-" And there she sat, crying helplessly into her baby boy's shoulder, until her husband returned at dawn.