One Step at a Time

Fading Like a Whisper

Blaise flew faster than he had ever thought possible. He could barely see at times due to the wind stinging his eyes and causing them to water, but he pressed on with dogged determination.

Diagon Alley could not be apparated in to, but he could still fly. It was a little hard to make out the alley as all of the shops were dark, but the tell-tale glow of the large clock on top of Gringotts lit up the area like a homing beacon.

He thanked all of his lucky stars that just that summer he'd decided to try flying to Diagon Alley and knew the basic route. Otherwise he would be hopelessly lost at this point.

He swooped in low so that if the Death Eaters were scanning the sky they wouldn't see his silhouette against the moon. A quick glance at his watch told him it had been just about half an hour since Bellatrix had stabbed Draco, so he still had a chance. He had to have a chance.

He landed next to Gringotts and casting another disillusionment charm over himself ran in the direction of the town square. He had no idea if that's where they would be, but if he were a Death Eater looking to make a statement that seemed accurate to him.

Slowing down as he approached, Blaise was glad he did as his hunch was right and two Death Eaters were still there. Both were wearing their masks, but Blaise could discern that it wasn't Lucius or Bellatrix, nor Pettigrew. They were attaching Draco to the tallest light pole, his arms above his head and the rest of his body limply hanging from them.

He'd lost his shirt somewhere along the way, which only highlighted the brutality done to him and the dagger still wedged through his stomach. His pale skin and hair seemed to almost glow against the night backdrop and he looked like some fallen angel whose wings had been clipped.

"Cast the mark low," said one of the Death Eaters gruffly. "It'll take time to reach full height. He's still alive, right?"

The other Death Eater took out a wand and muttered some spell. A faint blue shimmer rolled over Draco's body. "For a few more minutes," that one said, voice higher pitched. "Healer scans should be able to detect the exact time of death and the aurors can figure out when the mark was cast. There'll be a few minutes overlap."

Blaise could picture their sick grins.

"Do it," said the first one.

The smaller Death Eater muttered a quiet, Morsmorde and the hellish green of the Dark Mark came off of the wand.

The mark finished its formation and inch by inch began to rise from the ground. It would take maybe fifteen minutes to reach its final peak height in the sky so all in the surrounding area would spot it. Not that there would be many around to see it so late following Christmas.

And with twin pops the two Death Eaters departed, leaving the macabre sight behind. You could apparate out of Diagon Alley, just not into it.

Blaise raced forward, praying that Apollo had made it to the Weasleys by now. They would take a few minutes themselves to wake up, read the letter and then apparate outside The Leaky Cauldron before they could gain entry through the brick wall. He just wasn't sure how many minutes Draco had left.

The Death Eaters hadn't used any particular finesse in securing Draco and a quick untying charm had the ropes fraying and Draco falling. Blaise just managed to get a levitation charm on Draco so he didn't fall the about fifteen feet to the ground.

"Draco," he whispered, guiding his friend to where he'd laid down his supplies. He shook a blanket out and levitated Draco onto it.

He wasn't sure what to do first. He'd never had any kind of medical training.

But Bellatrix had said he would bleed out, so Blaise uncapped the blood-replenishing potion he'd grabbed and propped it up against Draco's bloodless lips. "Drink," he urged. "Come on Draco, I need you to do this."

Tears pooled in his eyes as Draco continued to be unresponsive. An enervate did nothing as Draco's body was too far gone to wake up to the charm. Biting his lip, Blaise did the only thing he could think of to wake him up. He grabbed the knife handle and pulled it slightly.

Draco spasmed beneath his hands, eyes flickering open.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Blaise whispered fervently. "It's going to be okay. I just need you to drink this."

He pressed the potion to Draco's lips again, but Draco was already fading back to unconsciousness.

"No," Blaise said, giving him a slight shake. "Draco, you have to fight! Take the bloody potion!"

Whether Draco heard him or his body decided to cooperate, the lips parted slightly and Blaise practically dumped the vial in, although he realized after a second that Draco wasn't swallowing. Having seen Hagrid do it to flobberworms to get them to eat, he propped Draco up against him and massaged his throat.

It seemed to work, as the potion started going into Draco and not back out of his mouth. Blaise forced two vials upon him.

Not sure what else he could do at this point, Blaise pulled out a second blanket and laid it over Draco. Gathering him up in his arms Blaise cradled his friend to his chest. "You're going to be okay," he murmured. "It'll be okay."

He sat there, murmuring assurances into Draco's hair as tears escaped from his eyes and praying that real help would come.

The Dark Mark continued to rise into the sky.

xxx

Author's Notes: I promise, that is not the end of the chapter. I've seen author's notes in the middle of stories (one of my favorite authors does this) and it forces (at least me!) to read them, so here we are.

As you can see, we are adhering to weekly updates! Whoot! I've been making good progress on writing it and can't wait till we get to the new chapters I'm writing; so intense!

A little self promo for a second. If you're a fan of my artwork I'm holding a Valentine card giveaway over on my Facebook page, IcyPanther's Art Shop. Harry Potter valentines are up for grabs so if you're interested please do check it out!

Review that Made My Day:
PrettiInPink: I loved your surprise that the Death Eaters solved the prophecy! You figure, they have to have brains somewhere to have done so well in their reign of terror the first time! :D And as to your comment about characters dying… I will just say that in one of my fics I did manage to kill Harry and Ron, so Blaise is certainly a viable option. Here's hoping he makes it out of this series alive though!

As always, your reviews are greatly loved and appreciated. The little notification sound for every email that comes with a review alert always makes my day. If you've got a moment, please do leave a comment down below!

xxx

"What the—?" Arthur Weasley mumbled, blinking his eyes open. An insistent tapping was sounding at his window.

A quick glance at the clock revealed it to be just shy of two in the morning. He waved a hand at the window and muttered "go away," placing his head back on the pillow. Next to him Molly slumbered on oblivious.

The tapping did not stop. If anything it got louder.

Frowning, Arthur rolled out of bed and crossed to the window. If this was Fred and George's idea of a joke he was going to have very stern words with them.

The owl, a pretty black and silver, dove into the room, squawking loudly.

"Shhh," he said, throwing a glance at his wife. It was too late though, and Molly cracked open her eyes at the intrusion.

"What is going on?" she asked, rolling over as the bird landed on Arthur's arm with a parcel attached. "What time is it?"

"Nearly two in the morning, dear," Arthur said, untying the package. He must not have been doing it quick enough though, as the bird reached down and nipped him. Hard.

"Ouch!" he exclaimed, turning to glare at the bird.

But the owl just stared at him. There didn't seem to be any malice behind the attack, as the bird seemed to be practically vibrating with an urgency Arthur had never seen. He didn't think it was Order business, as they would have contacted them via Floo, but it appeared to be important.

He quickly freed the package and opened it up. A vial fell out with what he recognized immediately as a memory. That never boded well.

A small letter on high quality parchment was also in the box, written in what would normally be neat penmanship but was messy due to the haste it had been done in.

Draco taken by Death Eaters. He's dying. Diagon Alley. Immediately. – Blaise Zabini

Arthur blinked at it for a second. Draco was sound asleep in his room downstairs. He'd seen him not even three hours ago.

"What is it?" Molly asked sleepily.

"Something might be wrong with Draco," Arthur said. "One second, let me go check."

He took the stairs two at a time to Fred and George's old room, where the door was wide open. That wasn't good; Draco always slept with it closed. A peek into the room showed that the Slytherin was nowhere to be seen, but there also didn't appear to be any signs of struggle or forced entry.

Going downstairs, Arthur opened the front door. A line of barefoot footprints staggered away from the house, as if their owner was having trouble walking. Arthur followed them, heart racing as they led to just outside of the wards.

In the snow he saw the remnants of a rune circle and could smell the iron of blood. Someone had performed blood magic right outside his home. And he had a terrible sinking feeling he knew who it was.

He raced back into the home and upstairs to his room. Molly had read the letter while he was gone and was standing in the doorway, white as a sheet.

"He's gone," Arthur gasped, out of breath from the run. "Blood magic."

They didn't even hesitate to think it might be a trap. There was no time.

"Go to Diagon Alley," Molly commanded. "I'll floo Hogwarts and get Snape and Pomfrey. Send your Patronus to Fred and George; they can help too."

"Oh God," Arthur moaned as he threw on a coat over his pajamas. A pop later and he was gone.

Molly roared their bedroom fireplace to life and threw in a fistful of Floo powder. Due to the fact that Harry stayed at their home they always had an open line to Hogwarts and she had never been so thankful.

"Severus Snape," she all but screamed into the fireplace.

The Potions master appeared in nearly an instant out of a door to the left. If it hadn't been such a serious circumstance Molly may have cocked an eyebrow at Snape's choice of pajamas, which included a Weird Sisters oversized t-shirt and plaid flannel bottoms.

"Molly?" he asked, kneeling down next to her floating head.

"It's Draco," she said. "He's been hurt. Don't know the details, but Death Eaters were involved. Come over as quick as you can; Arthur has gone to get him."

"Pomfrey?" he asked, already standing.

"I'll call her. Don't waste any time. It's… it's bad," she said, as close to tears as Snape had ever seen. "Please hurry."

"I'll be there in just a few minutes," he assured and hurried away to gather supplies.

A similar call was issued to Pomfrey, who was just as light a sleeper as Snape, and she said she would be there shortly as well, but she would send a message to Dumbledore too.

Molly sat back from the fire and allowed herself a few seconds to cry before she wiped her eyes and clambered to her feet. Her boys would be back soon and she needed to get everything prepped so they could treat Draco.

She hoped it wasn't as bad as the note made it sound, but her heart was sinking as she pulled blankets and rushed to the kitchen to boil water.

The vial of memories lay forgotten on the bedroom floor.

xxx

Arthur didn't know what exactly he would find, but the sight he stumbled upon was worse than he'd imagined.

The Dark Mark was just beginning to rise to roof level and within a few minutes the green sign of death would light up the sky over Diagon Alley. And underneath it were two figures and a pool of blood on the ground.

A head jerked up at his approach, unfamiliar but young. Piercing blue eyes gazed at him from under a black fringe and Arthur knew this must be Blaise Zabini. Wrapped in his arms was a nearly ashen Draco, blood the only color on his face.

The sound of running footsteps came from the left and Blaise tensed, his arms tightening around Draco, but relaxed as a set of matching redheads tore into view. The twins had been awoken in their flat above the shop by their father's giant grizzly bear Patronus ordering them to downtown.

"He's really hurt," Blaise whispered as Arthur collapsed on his knees next to him. "I don't…"

Arthur gingerly pulled the blanket back and blanched at the sight of the abuse and the knife. He hurriedly let it fall back.

"What the bloody hell happened?" Fred asked, while George stared in mute horror at the Dark Mark.

"No time to explain," Arthur said. "We need to get out of here before anyone else sees that mark." He turned to Blaise, who had not relinquished his grip on Draco. "He'll be okay," he said, hoping he was right. "You need to let him go."

Blaise looked blankly down, as if not realizing what he'd been doing. He immediately loosened his arms and Arthur bent down and pulled Draco as carefully as he could into his arms.

"I need to go," Blaise said, voice small. "My father will find out I'm missing."

"You are not going back there," George said, coming back to them. "No bloody way. Not if this is what they could do to you."

"But—"

"My son is right," Arthur said. "You'll come with us. George, take him back to your flat. Apparate out from there. Fred, you're with me. Let's go." They popped out of existence a second later.

Blaise was rooted to the ground and only George's firm grip could have budged him from the spot. "He'll be okay," George comforted. "We need to get you out of here though before any Death Eaters come back and find you."

"I couldn't do anything," Blaise muttered as George led him, tugging him along, back towards the joke shop. "They were torturing him and I did nothing."

"Don't say that," George said. "You got us. You got Draco help. Without you he would already be dead, yeah?"

Blaise said nothing, torn between guilt of not doing anything and the knowledge that there was nothing he could have done that would have helped in the first place.

"Let's get you a cup of tea," George said. "Calm you down and we'll go over to the Burrow in a bit. My dad will send word if anything happens."

Blaise continued to stay silent, fighting back the urge to just curl up in the nearest dark alley and cry until he couldn't anymore. His legs felt wobbly and he suddenly felt nauseated.

George must have sensed something as he stopped pulling Blaise along and turned to pull the Slytherin into a tight hug. Blaise stiffened at the contact, as no one but Pansy and very occasionally Draco ever showed him such affection.

"My family will do everything they can to help Draco," George said, pulling him back by the shoulders to look him straight in the eye. "He will be okay if there's anything we have to say about it. Right now though we need to get you out of here and somewhere safe."

The Mark was starting to creep up past buildings now and it wouldn't be long before some soul looking out their window spotted it and sounded the alarm. And the two of them needed to be long gone.

"Okay," Blaise whispered, blinking back sudden tears.

And he allowed George to pull him back down the cobblestones.

xxx

Arthur and Fred apparated into the kitchen, which is where Molly had already set up her work station. The table, which just hours earlier had been heaped with overflowing platters and people gathered around talking and laughing as they prepped, had been cleared away save for a sheet and pillow.

Very carefully Arthur laid Draco out on the table, removing the blanket and causing his wife to gasp at the sight.

Her legs shook and she had to grab the counter next to her for support. "Merlin," she breathed. "Is he…"

"Still breathing," Arthur said. "Barely. Snape?"

"Should be here any minute. He'll need to apparate outside the wards though and have a Weasley escort him in. Fred, would you?"

The twin took off without a second to waste and Molly hovered over Draco, not sure what she should or shouldn't do. Scraped knees and bruises she could heal; this was far beyond her ability. The knife sticking out of Draco was her immediate concern, but as she'd learned at St. Mungo's was to never remove an embedded object as any blood that had clotted would pour freely again. At this point, leaving it in was probably saving his life.

She settled for grabbing a warm washcloth and using it to wipe the blood from Draco's face. As she did so he coughed weakly and more dribbled out of his mouth.

"Oh, Draco," she whispered, stopping to run a hand through his hair. "Stay with us."

The front door banged open then and Snape came striding into the kitchen. He stopped short though when he caught sight of Draco and the briefest flash of anguish crossed his features before he buried it under a collected mask.

"We just got here," Arthur said. "Whatever you need us to do, just say it."

Snape gave a curt nod. His trained eyes scanned Draco's form, frowning every second. "He's suffering aftereffects from the Cruciatus," he said, noting the faint tremors. "Find something to stabilize his head; any unnecessary movement could cause brain damage."

Molly nodded and hurried from the room to fetch something to do the trick.

"I need someone else to hold him steady while I remove the dagger," Snape said. "And once it's removed I need immediate pressure on the wound."

"I've got it," Fred said, face pale but determined. Snape nodded at him while Arthur positioned himself to hold down Draco's shoulders.

Snape studied the dagger, recognizing it immediately as one of Bellatrix's. He hoped someone would be able to explain what the hell was going on and why the insane witch had been able to stick his godson like a goddamn target.

It was deep and the flesh around it suggested it had been twisted, likely resulting in heavy internal damage. There were faint streaks of discoloration emitting from the wound too, which meant there was some curse or poison as well on the dagger. Of course.

Still though, it needed to come out and if Snape knew anything about dark weapons (which he did) the longer it was in the worse the wound became.

So with a deft tug he pulled it free, a spray of blood following and splattering across his arms and chest.

Fred was there immediately with a towel that he pressed down on the hole. Draco had fallen into semi-consciousness at the action and let out a soft cry, trying to turn away from the source of the pain but being held in place by Arthur and Fred.

"Keep holding him," Snape instructed, summoning two potions from his bag. One was a blood replenishing and the other was a pain reliever. It would have no effect on the Cruciatus-inflicted injuries, but could help with some of the others and especially the stab wound.

He managed to get both down Draco's throat, keeping up a soothing murmur that was rather out of character for him, but Draco needed to hear the soft tones. Hopefully he would realize he was among friends and not still in the hands of Death Eaters.

The latter potion did seem to help as Draco went nearly limp in the Weasley's holds as he fell unconscious again in the absence of some of the pain.

Molly arrived back then and used a combination of a foam pillow and some wood slats to place Draco's neck and head comfortably but firmly in a secure position.

"Poppy should be here any minute," Snape said, using a quick scourgify charm on his clothing and hands so he didn't contaminate anything.

"I'll get her," Molly said. "Fred, keep pressing down until Severus tells you to stop."

"Don't stop," Snape said as Molly bustled from the room.

"The towel is starting to soak through," Fred said, the blood staining his fingers but in a show of Gryffindor bravery he made no effort to move them.

Snape grabbed a second one and in a lightning-fast motion had pushed it under Fred's hands and above the first one. "Keep pressing."

Snape handed a tiny bottled jar to Arthur. "Start spreading that on every inch of skin you see," he said. "It will help to stop some of the tremors."

Arthur dipped his hand into the salve and began to spread the blue cream over Draco's chest, avoiding where he could what looked like burn injuries and other possible knife wounds.

Snape directed his concentration to his wand and began a series of charms over Draco to try and determine what spells had been used against him. Some dark curses reacted violently with certain potions and he wanted to avoid any other effects.

The Death Eaters had certainly been creative, Snape thought feeling sick. There were burn hexes and stabbing curses, along with a few just designed to create various degrees of pain. He made a note to not give Draco any potions with holly or mint in them and set to work pulling bottles and ingredients out of his bag.

Molly came back a moment later with a very worried Madam Pomfrey following at her heels. "Oh my Merlin," the mediwitch gasped. She thought she'd seen the worst when Dumbledore had brought Draco Malfoy to the hospital wing all those weeks ago, but this was something else completely.

She and Snape immediately launched into jargon-filled medical speak as she quickly pulled her own supplies from her bag.

Molly left the kitchen and climbed the stairs, placing a locking charm on both bedroom doors that her children slumbered behind. She didn't want them to see this. Hopefully come daylight this would all be just a bad dream and they could move on.

But she was lying to herself. There was absolutely no way they could just pick up where they'd left off. Everything had changed again and she cursed fate that those she cared about were somehow always got the short end of the stick. Draco had just come into her life, but she already felt like he was becoming part of the family.

The kitchen was a flurry of activity when she returned. Fred had been instructed in her absence to step back from the wound and Snape and Pomfrey were carefully using a mixture of spells and creams around the edges of the ugly wound.

"Hemlock," Snape muttered. "I'm finding castor bean too."

"Foxglove as well," Pomfrey said, brow drawn. "And of course the main antidote for it contains holly. Bollocks."

"Maybe if we used birchwood and oak leaves?" Snape said, his concentration on a very precise spell he was using to seal up a lesser would on Draco's shoulder. "Boil it with chestnut and honey and that should suffice."

"I didn't bring chestnuts," Pomfrey said.

"We have roasted ones," Molly said. "A little garlic and butter on them though…"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Pomfrey said. "Can you fetch them?"

She brought them to Fred, who was setting up a cauldron over the stove and following the very exact instructions Pomfrey was relaying to him. She gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze as she passed and what she hoped wasn't too watery of a smile.

He managed a small one in return.

Arthur pulled Molly aside as she rounded the table again. "We have another guest coming," he said quietly. "Blaise Zabini. I didn't think it was safe for him to return home."

She nodded, lips pressed into a firm line. "I'll go get a bed set for him," she said, thinking of the matching one in Draco's current room. "Where is he now?"

"George took him back to the flat. They'll come over later once it quiets down in here."

"Speaking of, we should clear out of the kitchen unless they need us," Molly said. "Severus and Poppy don't need us hovering around and breaking their concentration."

She went over to relay as such, but Snape shook his head. "Sit with him," he instructed Molly. "Talk to him. Even unconscious he needs to hear a familiar voice."

Arthur excused himself though to go outside and take photos of the evidence left of the dark blood magic that had occurred. It was supposed to snow later and he didn't want any of it to get lost in case it could help them in anyway.

Back in the house, Ginny awoke with a very strong urge to use the bathroom.

"Shouldn't have had all that butterbeer," she mumbled sleepily, stumbling to her feet. A few steps later and she was at the door, fumbling for the knob to open it.

But no matter how hard she twisted it it would not budge. She frowned, slightly more awake now and tried rotating it from every angle. Nothing. Had it gotten stuck somehow?

Going back to her nightstand she pulled out her wand and whispered an unlocking charm at it. The lock glowed red and her eyes widened. Red meant that there was a charm counteracting her own.

"Hermione," she whispered, shaking her roommate awake. "Wake up."

"Ginny?" the brunette asked with a yawn. "What… what time is it?"

"I don't know," she said, her clock out of view. "But we've been locked into the room."

It was Hermione's turn to look surprised. "What? Why?"

She scrambled out of bed and tested it for herself, but had no luck either.

"Do you think it's Death Eaters?" Ginny asked worriedly. "Why would they lock us in though?"

"How would they have gotten in?" Hermione asked, pacing the room. "The wards should still be up! We'd know if they were down."

"What should we do?" Ginny asked.

"Blast it," Hermione said grimly. "Your reductor charm should be able to go through any locking charm."

"They'll hear that immediately."

Hermione pulled at her hair. "Um, we could try going out the window? Go back in from the outside."

"Hermione, I live on the sixth floor," Ginny said. "And I do not have my broom."

"I could levitate you down."

"Umm…" It's not that Ginny didn't trust Hermione's skills, but being floated down in the middle of the night sounded like a lot could go wrong.

They were saved from any other planning as a piece of paper was slid under their door. They hadn't heard any footsteps of the creak of the one loose floorboard right outside her door, so it meant that besides being locked in they had been sound warded too.

Both girls pounced at the note, but Ginny got there first and held it up triumphantly. She lowered it so both girls could read it and unfortunately it created more questions than it answered.

You are safe. Situation downstairs. Will explain later. – Dad

"That's not very reassuring," Ginny said, dropping the note on her bed. "And I do still have to pee."

"Maybe it's something Order related?" Hermione said. "Top secret and they can't have us listening in?"

"One time and they never let you live it down," Ginny grumbled. Her extendable ears had been confiscated following that.

"Hopefully it'll be sorted soon," Hermione said, climbing back into bed. "Try to get some sleep till then."

"If I don't explode first," Ginny said.

Rolling her eyes, Hermione crossed to her trunk and pulled out a rather heavy looking charms book. "I saw something in here that might help you," she said, rifling through the pages. After a few seconds she stopped. "Found it. It's a temporary charm to relieve the urge to use the bathroom. Quidditch players use it during games. Should hold for about two hours."

"Works for me," Ginny said. "Work your magic, you brilliant witch."

"Oh Gin, you flatter me."

A few minutes later both girls were back in bed and Ginny asleep almost immediately.

Hermione though was now wide awake. Despite her thought that it was Order related, she had a sick feeling that it wasn't quite so simple.

Nothing ever was.

"Please be okay," she whispered thinking of her friends. Clutching her wrist, adorned with the charm bracelet, to her chest Hermione willed herself to fall asleep.

Hopefully all would be well come morning.

xxx

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Updated: January 15, 2017