Draco stood in the doorway, watching his parents and their rekindling love. He knew he had to be strong, he was the most able man of the family at the moment and had to show it. He hated many things in his life right now including himself. He was worthless, but the Dark Lord had granted him the chance to make his father proud again, and he was going to complete his task.

He swallowed hard and got the courage to interrupt his mother and father's conversation. He wanted an excuse to talk to them freely, but with the Dark Lord around, there was no chance of that. It was almost time for school to start again, and soon enough it would be time to complete his honor redeeming task. He went to his parents for advice, knowing they were to give him none.

He only wanted support to help him through his soon to be miserable life at the dreaded school. He finally got the courage to clear his throat and ask in a voice that sounded so emotionless it was scary,

"Evening Mother, Evening Father. I know it's late but I have something to ask you.. " Only Draco's eyes showed the self-pity he had and the timidness to the man who slept in his own house like a miser but could control his family as if they were all dogs.

Narcissa turned her neck to see her son in the doorway. "Draco..."

Everyone was dry around her. Empty. Soulless. She reached out and touched her son on the shoulder and nearly bent down to him before realizing he was almost as tall as her. Yet his eyes were still frightened, childlike. Narcissa lifted her other hand to his cheek and kissed her boy on the head.

"Draco, my son, you will be alright," she assured him. She just wanted to hold him, greedily and never let him go. It felt as if her family was just being taken from her on every side. The Ministry and the Dementors stole her husband, and Dumbledore and the Dark Lord were stealing her boy from her. And time. Time was far too greedy for a mother's love to even compare to. But her boy was already grown up, already a Death Eater, and already becoming so much like his father.

She couldn't help it.

Narcissa embraced her son, resting his head on her shoulder. She stroked his back with her fingertips, commanding the house elf quietly to attend to the Dark Lord to buy them some time. Narcissa closed the door.

"It's alright, son." She tried not to cry. "You are so strong. It's just me here.- you can go ahead and cry."

At these words Draco told himself he wouldn't cry, but it was too hard not to. He silently let the tears escape his eyes as he hugged his mother tightly. He choked over the lump in his throat before whispering in his mother's ear with despair in his voice "What am I going to do?!"

He knew there was no answer. Not even the Black inheritance helped his mother decide how she was to help her son. It wasn't fair, how could that saint Harry Potter have everything he wanted while Draco had to watch his family torn to shreds by the lunatic they were forced to call 'Master'? But Draco wouldn't think of Potter right now, he had to fight to stay on top of things in this world instead of dwelling at the bottom, brooding.

He let go of his mother and kissed her on the cheek before leaning towards his father and asking how he was feeling, just to get his parents' focus off of himself. He also inquired how his mother was feeling after silently thanking her for all she did and continues to do for him.

Lucius sat in silence as his son entered the room and began to speak to his mother. He simply did not know what he could say to make any of this better. They had nothing these days, he had no status not even within his own home. The Dark Lord not only had taken his home and his freedom, he had also taken his dignity.

Biting his lip, Lucius' tortured mind recalls the events of this morning, of how the Dark Lord physically and magically tortured him to the point Lucius did not know how much longer he could survive without either expiring or turning completely insane.

"I'm ... fine." Came the words automatically from his lips as his darling son asked how he was feeling. Of course it was obvious that he was far from fine but he could not admit just how broken he had become in these last few months. "I trust you are studying nightly for your N.E. , Draco?" He found some strength within him to try his absolute best to appear as normal as possible. However, his shaking hands gave away any respect he may have commanded. Giving up, Lucius found himself quietly taking yet another sip of wine from the crystal goblet that never quite seemed to leave his hand.

"Father.." Started Draco, "If I may suggest, perhaps its time to put the drink away? And yes, of course, my N.E.W.T.s are coming along fine." He had lied about the studying and hoped his father wouldn't see through his weak facade. He had no time to study while juggling the Dark Lord, his family, and murder plots.

Besides, it's not as if his schoolwork would matter very much next year with all that was going on. Draco sighed, he felt like there was 1000 tons on his shoulders, and that was when the Dark Lord wasn't around.