Draco sat on the balcony that led from his bedroom, sipping a cup of tea and staring out over the vast gardens of the manor as he contemplated what was going on with Voldemort. For the last couple of days, since The Dark Lord discovered Theo hadn't returned for the Easter break, Voldemort had been in constant meetings with Lucius and other several high ranking Death Eaters. Draco knew something was being planned, he just hoped it didn't end in Theo ending up getting hurt, or worse, killed.

Thinking about Theo, led to Draco thinking about Theo's father. Even though Draco didn't know Mr Nott that well, he found himself envious of his friend for having such a supportive father. Draco was in no doubt that somehow Theo's father had been involved in the decision of Theo's not to return home. There was no way Theo would have risked not coming home if he thought his father would end up paying for his rebellion. Clearly Mr Nott had managed to pass a message to his son, putting Theo and his safety above his own. Draco just wished his own father was more like that. Instead he was stuck with a man who would cold-heartedly threaten his own granddaughter, just to get what he wanted.

Draco shuddered at the thought of how easy his father had gone along with Voldemort's plan to kidnap and threaten Lyra. He wondered if his father had even put up a small argument about doing such a horrific thing, but his gut instinct told him that he hadn't. Knowing Lucius, he would have likely suggested the entire incident. As much as it pained Draco to admit it, his father was a monster and everyone would be better off if he were no longer around.

At the sound of his bedroom door opening, Draco was brought out of his thoughts. Turning around he half expected to find his father, so it was a relief when Narcissa was standing in the doorway.

"I knocked, but I got no response," she said.

"Sorry, I didn't hear," Draco replied. "Come in."

Narcissa passed through the bedroom, and settled down in a chair beside Draco on the balcony. "How are you doing?" she asked, taking in the gorgeous grounds spread out below them. There was a time nothing made her happier than seeing the manor's gardens bursting with new life in the spring time, but now she wanted to be anywhere but stuck in the manor with her husband and that monster he called Master.

"I was just thinking about Theo," Draco confided. He'd managed to tell Narcissa about Theo disobeying Voldemort's request to come home and the fact he and Blaise were safely with the Order alongside Hermione and Lyra.

"He'll be fine," Narcissa said, reaching out and giving her son's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I hope so," Draco replied softly. "It was a big risk not coming home."

"It would have been an even bigger one coming home," Narcissa retorted. "Do you honestly think he would have been allowed to return to school if he'd come home?"

"Probably not," Draco admitted. "He would have been like me, forced into serving Voldemort. I'm sure that bastard would have found someone Theo loved in order to threaten him, maybe his mother or his father."

"Luckily, nothing like that happened," Narcissa said. "We have to have faith that Theo is now out of the reach of the dark."

"That won't stop them from trying to do something though," Draco pointed out. "They're up to something, and my gut says it involves Theo."

Narcissa opened her mouth to reply, but before she could utter anything there was a loud knocking on the bedroom door and Lucius sauntered into the room. Whatever he was going to say died on his lips as he spotted his wife and frowned at her.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped.

"Checking on my son," Narcissa replied. "Someone needs to make sure he's alright, and it's very obvious you don't care these days."

"Don't presume to know what I do and do not care about Narcissa," Lucius spat, his grey eyes flashing angrily. "Now leave us, Draco and I have places to be."

Narcissa glared at Lucius, desperate to argue, but knowing it wouldn't do any good. After a long moment, she got to her feet, gave Draco a peck on his cheek, vowed to speak to him later and swept out of the room and past Lucius without acknowledging her husband further.

"Women," Lucius muttered to himself, before he refocused on his son. "I want you in my office in ten minutes. Bring your cloak, we've got business to attend to."

"At lunchtime?" Draco queried. Apart from the recent attack on Diagon Alley, which had taken place in the late afternoon, all the other Death Eater shenanigans had taken place on an evening.

"Yes at lunchtime," Lucius replied, rather snappishly. "Now get ready Draco, and be in my office in ten minutes."

Leaving Draco to get himself ready, Lucius turned and stalked back out of his son's bedroom. With a feeling of dread already settling itself in the pit of his stomach, Draco got to his feet. Heading back into the bedroom, he closed the doors to the balcony before reluctantly getting himself ready for the latest task Voldemort was going to throw at him. Removing the black Death Eater robes from his wardrobe, he slipped them on over his normal clothes before heading down to his father's study.

When Draco entered Lucius's study, his anxiety level went up a few notches as Voldemort sat behind his father's desk, Lyra's ribbon spread out in front of him. Even though the ribbon seemed relatively untouched, Draco knew all that would change in a second if Voldemort thought he wasn't going to behave.

"Ah, Draco, from the looks of things I'm thinking I don't have to remind you just how much damage I can do," Voldemort said with a smirk as he picked up Lyra's ribbon and ran it through his fingers, crinkling it ever so slightly.

"No," Draco replied tersely, wishing he could snatch the ribbon from The Dark Lord in order to get him to stop hurting Lyra.

"Good." Voldemort nodded as he slid the ribbon back into his robes. "Now do as I say, and everything will be fine for your daughter. You and your father will join me in a few minutes, and when you do, I want you participating. If you don't got involved, you know what will happen."

"What am I participating in?" Draco asked.

"Just a raid," Voldemort replied with a slight smirk.

Draco knew better than to speak again as Voldemort checked Lucius knew what he was doing before he swept out of the study. Lucius reaffirmed that Draco was to take part in the attack, before he slid his silver Death Eater mask over his face. He then roughly took hold of Draco's arm and apparated them out of the manor.

When they landed, Draco was greeted by the screams and shouts of an attack already in progress. It took him a moment to get his bearings as Lucius let go of his arm, but when he did realise where they were, he was shocked. He was standing in the middle of Hogsmeade, with dozens of Death Eaters engaging in battle with the residents of Hogsmeade. Draco could see fire coming from the direction of The Three Broomsticks, and as he looked around he spotted several students from Hogwarts.

"Move," Lucius hissed, nudging his son in the back.

Looking around and spotting a couple of other Death Eaters watching him, likely Voldemort and Bellatrix, Draco drew his wand and slowly moved into the thick of the action. Luckily things were so frantic that Draco was able to slip into the crowds, casting a few minor spells to keep the heat off himself.

Much to Draco's displeasure he soon became a focal point in the battle as the students began to recognise him since he wasn't wearing a mask. Most of the students avoided him once they'd spotted him, but a couple of seventh years, Zacharias Smith and Justin Finch-Fletchley tried to take him on. Sensing Voldemort, or someone else was watching him, Draco was left with no choice but to battle his former classmates. Draco was easily able to get rid of Zacharias with a quick stinging hex that sent the Hufflepuff running off for help. Justin was a bit tougher to deal with, and even though Draco tried to let the other wizard know he wasn't the enemy, he wasn't listening. Justin was determined to take Draco down.

After almost ten minutes of fighting, Draco was beginning to get frustrated. It was rather hard battling someone when you didn't want to hurt them, but they wanted to hurt you. However, Draco was determined that Justin would come out of their battle perfectly intact. Although he did have to get Justin out of the way if he didn't want anyone questioning why he was fighting someone for so long with no result. Deciding the best thing to do was knock Justin out, Draco quickly shot a stunning spell at the other teenager.

"Nice," a voice behind Draco called with a chuckle. Draco felt cold as his aunt stepped up beside him, hidden behind her mask. "Don't tell The Dark Lord, but you can have this one on me," she whispered, before raising her wand and pointing it at the unconscious Justin. "Avada Kedavra!"

Draco gasped with horror as the green light hit Justin squarely in the chest. Before he could react, Bella was reminding him not to tell Voldemort she'd actually been the one to kill Justin, before she dragged him off to another part of the battle. In a daze, Draco carried on taking part in the battle without actually getting too involved. By this time several of the Professors from Hogwarts were down in the village, along with even more students and members of the Order. For a moment, Draco thought he saw the red hair of Ron Weasley, but before he could be sure, Lucius was at his side.

"Time to go," his father announced, spiriting him out of action and back to the manor.

Draco was still reeling from events when Voldemort and Bellatrix appeared in his father's study. Voldemort told Draco he'd done well, before dismissing the blond teenager. As he was leaving Lucius's study, Draco caught Voldemort moaning that the plan hadn't worked, they hadn't drawn Theo and Blaise out from Hogwarts. However, he didn't hear any more as Lucius slammed the door shut for privacy.

Returning to his room, Draco thought about what he'd just heard. Clearly the attack on Hogsmeade had been a ruse to draw his friends out. Obviously Voldemort thought the pair were still up at school, and he'd clearly been hoping to catch them in the midst of the attack. Although, now that had failed Draco had to wonder what their next step was going to be. He couldn't see Voldemort just sitting back and accepting that Theo was out of reach. Knowing The Dark Lord, this attack on Hogsmeade was just the beginning.

Draco had barely set foot in his bedroom, when Narcissa appeared. She'd clearly been worried about her son and waiting for him to come back.

"Are you okay?" she checked as Draco threw off his Death Eater robes.

"Not really," Draco confessed in a quiet voice. "The attack was on Hogsmeade."

"I'm sorry," Narcissa said, sensing there was more her son wasn't yet telling her. "That must have been hard on you."

"It was," Draco whispered. "I had to fight two people I knew."

"Friends?" Narcissa checked.

Draco shook his head as he sat down on the edge of his bed. "Not friends. Two lads from Hufflepuff. I got rid of one of them with a simple hex, but the other one was determined to take me down. In the end I stunned him."

"That's not too bad," Narcissa offered. She could understand Draco being upset at having to fight people he knew, but things could be a whole lot worse.

"It wasn't until Aunt Bella made an appearance," Draco said.

"What did she make you do?" Narcissa demanded, furious at her sister for joining in with Voldemort and her husband. Of course, by now she didn't expect anything less of Bellatrix and she knew her true loyalties lay with The Dark Lord.

"She didn't make me do anything," Draco replied. "She came up beside me and casually killed him. I might not have killed him, but he's dead because of me. If I hadn't stunned him, Bella couldn't have killed him."

"This is not your fault, Draco." Narcissa grabbed hold of Draco's chin and tilted her son's head so he was looking at her. "You did nothing to that boy, it was all Bella. You cannot blame yourself for what anyone else does."

"It's hard not to when I feel responsible for everything that is happening," Draco confessed. "Everything is my fault."

"How is this your fault?" Narcissa asked. "From where I stand, the fault lies with your father and that awful wizard he serves."

"I gave them leverage," Draco argued. "Without Lyra, they never could have gotten me to join them."

"Your regret your daughter?"

Draco quickly shook his head at his mother's question. "Never. I love her and Hermione more than anything. I just regret they were able to use her as leverage."

"Don't fool yourself into thinking this is all because of the leverage Lyra provided them," Narcissa warned her son. "I think we were foolish to think we could ever walk away from the dark. This was always going to happen. Your father was always going to suck you into this life of his. They were able to use Lyra to do it, but they would have used other methods if they needed to."

"Like you," Draco whispered.

"Like me," Narcissa confirmed with a nod of her head. "Don't blame yourself, Draco. We just have to deal with whatever comes our way and find a way to cope."

Draco nodded, wishing it was as easy as his mother made it sound. Finding a way to cope was alright for now, but what happened once all this was over. How was he supposed to live with everything that had happened in the past few months? How was he supposed to live, knowing people were dead because of him?