A/N: So, we've decided to take on this story in which the Dark Lord lives and the Malfoy's change sides in order to save their family. Reviews really motivate us and we are thankful for your support! Enjoy! (:
Para Bellum
Prologue:
The Death of Harry Potter
It was as though the world stood still as everyone watched it happen. It was as though the world around them spun, but they themselves were frozen in time.
How had it happened? Even he, Pureblood enthusiast and forced into service due to his father's death—Death Eater—had always known deep down that Harry Potter had that fire in him—the ability to destroy the Dark Lord.
No, Lucius Malfoy would've never allowed himself to be fond of Harry Potter, not everything the boy had done to his son, but he'd always inwardly hoped the boy would succeed. Lucius would much rather have lived in a world where he had status and power through what he'd gained from his Ministry contacts than have the Dark Lord rule. Without the Dark Lord, his family was safe, and at the end of the day, that was what Lucius Malfoy truly cared about.
The world around them remained frozen as Lucius watched the Elder Wand snap, causing his insides to churn. He held tightly to his wife and son, whom they'd finally found, his eyes wide with horror.
"No," Lucius just barely breathed.
A yell of absolute agony left the boy's young lungs—Lucius couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut tight so that he wouldn't have to see a boy that was the same age as his son die. He clung tighter to Draco and worked hard to steady his erratic breathing.
The entire congregation of students, staff, Order members, and Death Eaters who were still alive, watched in absolute horror—except those very few who truly did support the Dark Lord after everything to which he'd subjected them.
All hope was lost. Harry Potter was dead. The Dark Lord had won. And with the Ministry fallen and under his control, there was nothing anyone could do to stop him. The world was at a standstill. There was nothing more to do but run. Flee.
I must get my family to safety, said Lucius to himself. We'll figure out the rest later...
"I love you," he breathed against their hair as he lifted the wand that he'd stolen off the dead body of his former classmate Thorfinn Rowle, who'd been staying at the Manor while the Dark Lord had been taking up residence there, and who'd attacked Narcissa.
Lucius waved the unfamiliar wand in the air and Apparated his family far away to the countryside, where his mother and sister were currently staying.