The weeks at the manor seemed to crawl past for Draco. After his first outing and subsequent meeting as an unwilling Death Eater, it seemed like he was constantly in action. Barely a week went by that Voldemort didn't turn up with a new task for Draco. However, nothing The Dark Lord asked of him was as tough as his first task. In fact several times, Draco had managed to get away with doing very little. Most of Voldemort's tasks involved attacks, and it surprised Draco how easy he was finding it make it look as though he was partaking, while deliberately avoiding doing any damage and hurting anyone.
Draco suspected Voldemort knew what he was doing, but for some reason he was happy to let him continue faking his participation. Although one thing Draco wouldn't avoid was his presence at the attacks being known. Voldemort refused to give him a mask, so everywhere they went, Draco's face was on display for everyone to see and recognise him. No doubt it was all part of Voldemort's master plan to have him well and truly associated with the Death Eaters.
Draco hated the fact he would always be known as a Death Eater, but at the same time it was a small price to pay to ensure his daughter was safe. He would rather be hated by the wizarding world, then stop fighting and have his daughter pay the price for his failure. He was just hoping that once the war was over and Voldemort was defeated, that his name could be cleared, or at least the full story would come out. He didn't want his daughter growing up thinking he'd turned his back on her and Hermione and chose to fight for a wizard who wanted nothing more than to rid the wizarding world of muggleborns like Hermione.
Even though Draco wrote to Hermione once a week, and she wrote to him, he still didn't have much idea about how the war was going on their end. Their correspondences were mainly about Lyra, and how much they missed one another. However, Draco had managed to slip in a few vital bits of information he hoped could help the Order. One of which was that Voldemort himself had several Death Eater masks and he would often be at attacks in disguise. Draco was hoping that the information could prove helpful for the Order, and that just maybe they could surprise Voldemort and end his life, freeing Draco from his grasp and giving him the chance to return to his family.
When he wasn't attending Death Eater meetings, or taking part in attacks, Draco spent his time in his room and the wing of the manor that was supposedly his personal space. Narcissa often spent a few hours of the day with him, but there were also times when Lucius kept her busy planning various dinners and parties he'd taken to hosting. It was like he wanted the whole world to see he had his wife and son exactly where he wanted them. Draco had followed in his footsteps and joined the Death Eaters, while Narcissa was the loyal and supporting wife and mother.
Draco had been at the manor well over two months when Lucius once again surprised him in the middle of the day. Normally Draco was informed about what he was taking part in on an evening, either at a Death Eater meeting, or by Voldemort himself. He hadn't been interrupted in the middle of the day since his first task was assigned to him. As such, Draco got a bad feeling when his father strode into Draco's personal library and announced he was wanted by The Dark Lord.
"What's going on?" Draco questioned.
"You'll find out," Lucius replied. "Now come with me."
Draco had little choice but to follow his father out of the library and down to his study. Not at all surprisingly, Voldemort was situated behind Lucius's desk, looking every bit at home in the private study of the elder Malfoy. Draco couldn't help but by disgusted with his father for the way he'd just let Voldemort waltz into the family home and take over. Until Voldemort returned, Draco had always thought of his father as a proud man, but now he could see he was nothing more than another of Voldemort's mindless puppets. Lucius was no different to the other lowly Death Eaters that just rolled over for Voldemort, he'd just managed to slime his way up to a position of power as he did so.
"It's time for you to prove yourself again, Draco," Voldemort said to the blond. "We're leaving in ten minutes, and this time there's to be none of your messing around. You are getting involved whether you like it or not. Just remember I have this." Voldemort pulled Lyra's ribbon from his robes and dangled it in front of Draco. "Unless you want your little brat to suffer, you're going to step up and show me what I know you're capable of. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes My Lord," Draco replied, knowing how he was expected to address Voldemort.
"I guess we're going to see just what you're made of then," Voldemort replied with a slight smirk. "Go and get your robes, and meet us back in the front hallway in five minutes. I'll explain where we're going then."
Draco gave Voldemort a sharp nod before he turned and left his father's study. With only five minutes to get ready, he didn't have time to go and see his mother and warn her he was leaving. All he had time to do was pay a quick visit to the bathroom, grab his robes and sprint back down to the front hallway.
In the front hallway, Draco found Voldemort and his father had been joined by his aunt. All three of them had their robes on, and Draco knew they would also add their masks to their attire when they were leaving. Now wherever they were going, Draco would be the only one recognisable. When word spread about the attack, he would be the only one that could be proven to be involved.
"Draco, you're going to be shadowed by your aunt," Voldemort announced. "And believe me, if she isn't happy with you, she'll let me know. You mess up today, and your daughter pays for your incompetence."
"I expect good things today, Draco," Bellatrix added with a malicious smile. "You're not going to disappoint me, are you?"
"No," Draco answered. "I won't disappoint anyone."
"We'll see," Voldemort muttered. "Now before I leave to check everyone else is ready to go, I'll run over what I want you to do, Draco. We're going to be attacking Diagon Alley, and I want you to target the joke shop. I want the place destroyed, and if you get a chance to get rid of those jokers that own the place, take it. Understood?"
Draco nodded once, knowing that Voldemort had deliberately assigned him the joke shop as it was run by the Weasley twins, and yet again by targeting them he was targeting someone Hermione cared for. Although Draco also suspected that by having him target the Weasleys, Voldemort was trying to destroy the support network his girlfriend and daughter had. After all, how would the Weasleys feel about standing by Hermione, when her boyfriend had attacked members of their family? Draco suspected the day's events would have serious repercussions for Hermione, he just hoped that when all was said and done, he himself didn't have blood in his hands. Despite everything, he really didn't know if he had it in him to kill.
"Bella, Lucius, we leave exactly at two," Voldemort announced before he pulled out his wand and disappeared with a crack.
While Lucius pulled out his pocket watch to keep an eye on the time, Bellatrix grabbed hold of her nephew. Draco then watched as the pair lowered their masks into place in preparation for the attack.
"Don't screw up Draco," Bellatrix hissed. "No messing around. We head to the joke shop and attack. I'll be watching, and I want to see destruction. No firing spells and having them just miss the target."
Draco wasn't sure whether to be shocked that his aunt was aware of what he'd been doing over the past few weeks. He'd actually been using the tactic of firing spells slightly off target and blaming his misses on the fact he was caught up in a whirl of action. However, it was clear that tactic wasn't going to work today. He would just have to shut off his emotions, and act like the cold hearted monster Voldemort wanted him to be. He would have to forget about the fact he was targeting two people Hermione cared for, not to mention the dozens of shoppers that would be in the street, and just do what was expected of him. He would have to become the Death Eater he now was, and wreak havoc on Diagon Alley.
Draco was still mulling over what he had to do when his aunt tugged on his arm and they were off. Taken by surprise with the apparition, Draco stumbled on his feet when they landed in Knockturn Alley. Within a minute the alley was filled with Death Eaters wearing their black robes and silver masks. Suddenly the Death Eater at the front of the group, who Draco assumed was Voldemort, shot red sparks from his wand and the group launched into action. Draco had been on enough attacks to recognise the signal to move, and despite wanting to do nothing more than run in the opposite direction, he joined the crowd swarming into Diagon Alley.
Ignoring the screaming and panic that was already building when he entered the street, Draco turned towards the joke shop. Pulling out his wand, he made a beeline down the street to where the shop was located. Behind him, a Death Eater was following him, and without looking he knew it was his aunt. As he made his way to the joke shop, Draco realised the attack was perfectly co-ordinated. Everyone seemed to have a target in mind, so there was no random Death Eaters with nothing to do.
"Here we are," Bellatrix crowed from behind Draco as she bounced excitedly on her toes.
The action was just starting to hit the part of the street the joke shop was located in, and as he stood in the middle of the street, Draco watched the people fleeing out of shops. People were pouring out of the joke shop and running for their lives, but Draco saw no sign of the twins. Hoping the pair weren't inside, Draco raised his wand and shattered the large front window.
The window shattering seemed to be the key for Bellatrix to move as she leapt forward and began firing spell after spell at the building and the people fleeing from it. While his aunt was clearly loving the destruction they were causing, Draco was trying his best not to think about it. Locking away all his thoughts and feelings, he approached the task in a robotic fashion. Aiming spells at the building, he tried his best to cause as much damage as possible. Even when a piece of falling rubble from one of his explosions fell to the street and hit someone on the shoulder, Draco didn't let himself feel anything. He merely carried on with what he was supposed to be doing.
"Inside," Bellatrix called, running forward and darting into the now dangerous shop.
Hoping something fell and crushed his aunt, Draco followed her inside Weasleys Wizard Wheezes. Surprisingly the shop was still pretty sound inside, so his aunt had taken to trashing the shops contents. Leaving her to her fun, Draco carried on through the shop, aiming the odd spell to cause more damage in case Bellatrix was watching him. Blasting his way through the door that led to the back room, Draco froze when he found the Weasley twins both in the back room. One of them was limping badly, where it looked as though he'd been hit by a piece of falling rubble, and the other one was trying to get him out of the back door and away to safety.
"Ah Weasels," Bellatrix announced with excitement as she suddenly appeared beside her nephew. "You know what to do, Draco."
"Do what you have to," George, the twin who wasn't limping, said to Draco as he moved to stand in front of Fred. "We understand, Draco."
"Isn't that sweet," Bellatrix mocked with a manic laugh. "He's willing to sacrifice himself for you, Draco."
"No, he's willing to do it for Lyra and Hermione," Draco whispered quietly.
"Don't misunderstand," Fred said, poking his head around his brother's side. "We understand what Draco has to do, but we won't go down without a fight."
"I love a good fight," Bellatrix cackled as he hurled a hex in George's direction.
George barely manged the dodge the hex, but unfortunately it hit Fred on the shoulder and immediately his top began to turn red as blood seeped from a deep wound in his right shoulder. George took one look at his wounded twin, before letting out a low growl and sending a hex back at Bellatrix. Bellatrix easily dodged the hex, and hurled one back in return.
"Get the wounded one, Draco," Bellatrix cried as she engaged in a fierce battle with George.
Despite the fact he was now using his left hand, Fred still raised his wand and pointed it at Draco. Unhappily Draco raised his own wand and shot a few half-hearted hexes at the redhead, deliberately missing the mark. Fred returned a few hexes in the same vein as the pair tried to work out how to end the fight without hurting one another. Unfortunately, the same wasn't happening across the room and Draco knew unless he did something his aunt was going to kill George.
Getting his eye on a piece of ceiling tile that was barely hanging up above where Bellatrix and George were fighting, Draco got an idea. Catching Fred's eye, he glanced up at the tile, hoping the redhead could at least grasp some of his plan. Whether or not he understood what Draco wanted, or if he had his own plan, Draco didn't know, but Fred gave him a subtle nod. Raising his wand, he aimed it at the tile just as Draco's shot another fake spell in his direction. Fred's spell caused the ceiling tile to crash downwards, and the edge of it caught Bellatrix on the side of the head as it fell.
"Aunt Bella," Draco cried in mock concern as his aunt crashed to the floor.
While Draco rushed over to his aunt, George ran over to Fred and the pair began to scramble over the rubble to the back door. Despite the fact she was almost out of it, Bellatrix managed to remove her mask and gave Draco an unimpressed glare.
"Don't sit here, get them," she ordered.
Turning back to face the fleeing Weasleys, Draco aimed his wand slightly off to the side of the retreating pair. From the position his aunt was lying, she would think he was aiming at them. However, just as Draco shot off the spell, Bellatrix surged upwards and knocked his arm holding his wand. Draco was left to watch in horror as his spell hit the ceiling above the twins and the two redheads were buried under an avalanche of falling bricks and mortar.
"Well done Draco," Bellatrix whispered, not realising she'd changed Draco's aim and without her interference the twins would have emerged from the shop unscathed. "Now get me home."
With that, Bellatrix collapsed back onto the ground. Draco checked and found she still had a pulse before he turned his attention to where the Weasleys had fallen. Leaving his aunt, he hurried over to the doorway, but all he could see was rubble. Just as he'd started to try and pull some of the rubble off the twins so he could try and rescue them, he heard his father's voice coming from the shop.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to the twins, not knowing if they could hear him, or if they were even still alive.
Jumping away from the rubble, he rushed back over to his aunt and swept her up in his arms. By the time Lucius entered the back room, Draco was beside the door holding onto his prone aunt.
"What happened?" Lucius asked, checking Bellatrix was still breathing.
"One of the twins got aunt Bella with a falling bit of rubble," Draco answered.
"And what happened to the twins?" Lucius asked suspiciously as he saw no sign of the two redheads.
"Under there." Draco jerked his head in the direction of the pile of rubble. "I buried them when they were trying to escape."
"Impressive." Lucius gave Draco a nod, and even though his mask covered his face, Draco could hear that his father was genuinely impressed with what he'd been told. "Maybe there's hope for you yet, son."
Draco said nothing as Lucius plucked Bellatrix from his arms and turned to leave the shop. Draco took one last look at the rubble pile, hoping the twins had survived, before he followed after his father. He'd done everything he could have during the attack, and he just had to hope it was enough to keep Voldemort happy and Lyra safe.