June 11th, 1994

Dear Diary,

Mother and Father came home in tears. I tried to get some information out of them about what happened after they left to witness the resurrection of the Dark Lord, but they would just shake their heads and walk away. I'm worried that something went wrong. Mother is very frail, now, from what I expect to be the Cruciatus Curse. Father locks himself in his study for hours, and when I listen at the door, I only hear him crying. They won't even talk at all about anything, according to the events of the past hour. We were sitting at the table, eating, when Gordy, my favorite house elf, whispered something in their ears. Mother nearly fainted, and Father ran off to his study. Helplessly, my Mother climbed the stairs, her legs shaking still from the force of the Cruciatus Curse.

I'm on my balcony overlooking the front gardens, now. It's seven o'clock now, for the old clock in the hall is chiming. I've always wondered why trees and flowers always grow, even in the darkest of times. There is a patch of Heaven's Mirror beneath our willow tree. I heard that they're called Deathlamps by some, but I don't see them as evil. The flowers did nothing wrong to deserve such a hideous alter ego.

Father is leaving the house now. He walks slowly, his shoulders heaving with grief, and he crosses to the pond beside the Heaven's Mirror. The flowers light up his face, and in his hands I see a book. He drops it into the pond and leaves, now overcome with tears. Collapsing in the flowers, he drops his head into his hands, and I can watch it no more. I head downstairs, out the front door, and to my father's side. He looks up at me and grabs my shoulder, pulling me down to his level. He tells me that You-Know-Who tried to kill my mother on my birthday. He almost killed her in front of Harry, in front of him, and in front of every Death Eater who showed their face. He tells me that her chances of recovering fully are slim. He tells me that You-Know-Who had attempted to torture her to death because of me. Because he found out I cried.

Now, kneeling beside my father in the dead of night, I realise something: my father needs to kill my mother on behalf of He Who Must Not Be Named's failure. I know it, and as the night goes on, I think he knows his assignment too.

Sincerely,

Draco Lucius Malfoy