A/N: Sorry this is so late. Just as a warning, this chapter jumps from different POV's a lot. I also apologize because it's so short...
At Draco's summons, Harry tensed and felt his body jerk briefly. However, when he didn't move, the black haired boy smirked and tilted his head to actually study the blonde.
The Slytherin's whole body was tense and his usually bright eyes were dim and weak. Draco didn't stand as he usually did with his feet together and his hands clasped behind his back. Instead, his feet were spread shoulder width apart as if the blonde teen was bracing himself. When Draco realized Harry wasn't going to show himself, his hands just... dropped to his sides.
The Gryffindor boy was curious to see what Draco would do next, deciding to stay put and watch. Harry just didn't get how Draco knew he was always there.
After a few silent seconds, Ginny began to snicker. It started softly, almost gently, but the gale of sound changed to booming and mocking laughter. She gripped her stomach as her shoulders shook, derisive tears flowing from her eyes. "Oh. Merlin! You actually believe that he's here? Why? Do you think anyone cares about you? Do you think anyone wants you here?"
Draco didn't blink. Didn't seem to hear. Didn't seem to care. Didn't even seem to breathe.
Yet he answered in a monotone voice. "Do I think that you care for me? No. Do I think Potter, Granger or Weaselbee care for me? No. Pity me? Yes. Do I think that anyone wants me here? Do I think I deserve to be cared for, to be wanted? Do I think that I should still be here breathing when my father is dead because of me? Do I think that you'll believe anything I say? No."
Harry stared open mouthed at the blonde who wasn't looking at anyone. Draco's eyes were vacant and his face lacked any emotion. There was a soft hiss that was barely audible. Harry almost gasped aloud because he didn't understand what was being said, but he was sure it was a snake speaking.
Draco raised a hand to his neck and fumbled with something - which was odd because Harry couldn't see anything to fuss with. After a few seconds passed, Draco lowered his arm and a necklace was resting on his palm.
Without looking at the piece of jewelry, Draco let it slip to the ground. Harry cautiously moved his way towards the discarded item, but before he could touch the pendant, it seemed to melt into the ground, disappearing without a trace.
Draco looked at Hermione and spoke again, "I've helped you all I can."
"But, Bell -"
"I'm sure you can figure a way in."
"What about -"
"Ask Dobby where he hid it."
"We don't know where the others -"
"I don't care," he turned and started walking towards the direction they came from.
Silence met his words until Ginny straightened herself and said, "Ha, I knew it!"
The blonde paused, unerringly near Harry, but he didn't turn around when he muttered, "If only we were always right."
When the door shut, Harry finally slid his cloak off and sat on the ground.
"Harry!"
He ignored Ginny and stared at his hands, wondering what the hell he should do next.
Draco leaned against the railing, closing his eyes and just breathing. He didn't regret anything he had said. After all, every word he had uttered was true.
His broom was on the ground at his feet, rocking back and forth in the slight wind. He wondered what it was like to fly without the aid of a broom.
When he opened his eyes, Draco looked down and felt the familiar grip of terror in his chest. He would have no control over anything. He wouldn't be able to steer, he wouldn't be able to move himself back up into the sky. He would just... be.
Carefully, Draco untangled the snake from around his arm and placed the green reptile on the tiles. The blonde teen whispered quietly, "Go home. Please. There's nothing left to save."
Straightening, the Slytherin wizard kicked the broom under the railing and watched it fall over the edge. Draco watched numbly as the once prized Nimbus 2001 caught the breeze, but ultimately shattered upon the castle grounds.
The piece of wood represented everything in life: dead weight and meaningless.
Turning on his heel the teen didn't look back at the snake. The Golden Trio had the tools. There wasn't anything left for him to do but survive the war. His only goal was to have no more goals.
There were no more tears. There was no more weakness.
"Draco. Wait."
Pausing, the blonde didn't bother to turn around. "What do you want, Weasley?" His tone was cold as ice, chilled as the air.
"I know what you're doing."
A heartless chuckle left the smaller wizard, but he still didn't turn around. "You don't know me at all."
"I know part of you is trying to kill itself. Don't."
The Slytherin slowly turned, silver eyes muted, mouth set in a hard line. "Do not presume anything. The next word you speak will be your last as I send you over the edge."
Fred's steps froze, his eyes blazing, "Why are you here?"
Malfoy smirked, "Because Draco's gone."
Harry glared at Ginny, "Do you know what you've done?"
"Umm.. which part? The part where I laughed at a prat? Got confused by said prat? Or the last bit where I watched the prat walk away?"
Rubbing his forehead, Harry sighed, but didn't answer.
"What do you think I've done?"
Hermione spoke up on Harry's behalf, "I think you caused irreparable damage."
Narcissa's back was ramrod straight, her cool blue eyes locked on the mirror in front of her. Bellatrix was behind her, humming beautifully as she rubbed ointment on her sister's shoulders. "This meeting will be one to remember, Cissy."
"Indeed."
The older witch just continued to hum as she finished. Placing the bottle on the small table, the older sister looked at her sibling in concentration. Narcissa had to look perfect. She was, after all, wearing a one of a kind mark.
"Now, Cissy, you must wear your new robes for this meeting."
Narcissa nodded blankly as she stood, her naked body shimmering in the light. Her body was flawless, the perfect shade of ivory.
Straightening her shoulders, Narcissa waited for the robes to enfold her. The blonde woman stood perfectly still as Bellatrix dressed her. The younger woman fought back the impulse to demand her sister leave her be. The Dark Lord had ordered Bellatrix to ready her and Narcissa had no choice but to obey.
The beautiful, sapphire dress robes seemed to flow around her body. The bodice revealed much, including her mark. Narcissa was allowed to wear no undergarments, under Bella's instruction. She was only allowed to wear two things with pride: the lovely new gown and her unique mark.
Narcissa held her head high as she followed her sister to face hungry stares and humiliation.
"What do you mean he's gone?"
"Didn't I say I would curse you over this railing if you spoke another word?"
Fred shrugged, his eyes ablaze with anger. "Wards. Now what do you mean he's gone?"
"Exactly as I said." Malfoy remained stoic. He didn't sneer, he didn't raise an eyebrow, he didn't move. "Absent, removed, nonexistent. Gone."
"He can't be gone."
"He is. He realized one tiny, little thing." Malfoy stepped forward, a menacing grin erupting over his face.
"What's that?"
"He understood that you thought you want him. He understood that you couldn't actually want him. He was weak, pathetic and he couldn't do anything right. He knew that no one could truly want him."
"That's where you're wrong."
"No, I'm not. His first and true friend left him to protect Harry Potter."
"He ordered Dobby to do that!"
"Yes. Now the house-elf has quite literally befriended Potter."
"So?"
"A free house-elf can choose who to protect. And this particular house-elf will choose a certain Gryffindor."
"No he wouldn't!"
"How do you know that?" Malfoy sneered at him. "Potter has not once pretended to be anyone but himself with Dobby. He hasn't betrayed him, he hasn't lied to him, he hasn't ordered Dobby to do things he doesn't want to do. Draco had done all of those things. He knew who the house-elf would have chosen."
"Now wait -"
"He betrayed his family," Malfoy continued on, advancing on the red-head, magic pouring out of the small blonde. "There is one thing that is cherished by the Malfoy's beyond anything tangible: family. They had a motto that has gone back decades: Family is everything."
"It still is to him! His mother -"
"Isn't the issue at this point of the story. The boy killed his father, breaking the credo that he believed in wholeheartedly. He killed his father for you, a blood traitor. In doing so, he put his mother at risk because he was more worried about you. Then his mother cut him off from his family - the one thing that was always a constant in his life - leaving him with you."
Cool, laughing silver eyes latched onto Fred's. "Now, as I'm sure you can tell, we've come back around to you."
"Me?"
"You, Fred Weasley," Malfoy mocked. "In a bind, who would you save first: your twin or the boy?"
Fred opened his mouth, shut it, then opened it again, but no sound came out.
"The boy knew the answer. No one on this world treasured the boy at all. His mother disowned him, his only friend left him for someone better and you, who wouldn't spare him a glance if your brother was in danger."
"Irreparable damage? You must be joking! I think you're being a bit dramatic." When she didn't get an answer, Ginny stomped her foot and snarled, "I'll show you irreparable damage!"
She brushed past Harry and stormed after Malfoy. Ginny had her wand out and muttered, "point me."
"This... woman has done a great service for me," the reptilian man hissed, gliding into the room with Narcissa close behind him. "She has gotten rid of a nuisance."
Narcissa kept her head held high as she followed the Dark Lord, her face impassive with Bellatrix bouncing behind the two with glee.
Quiet murmurs spread about the room as the Dark Lord slowly made his rounds through his Death Eaters, showing off his prize. Heads bowed, but as soon as the Dark Lord passed their eyes shot up to land on Narcissa and the mark she bore on her chest.
"It seems as though young Draco decided to join the... 'light' side." Small, dark chuckles rose from the bowed Death Eaters. "This woman has done what many could not: disown their child so she could stand with me and our cause."
Eyes, which had left her to look at the Dark Lord, flew back to the stoic woman. Respect shown in some, lust in others. A tight ball formed in her stomach and Narcissa refused to show her repulsion. The blonde aristocratic woman kept her eyes locked on the black robed Dark Lord in front of her.
She would keep her heart locked up and her chin raised. Narcissa would not be destroyed. Lady Malfoy would keep her alive.
Harry and Hermione had to run in order to keep up with the fiery girl. They almost ran into her when they found her frozen with wide eyes staring at the scene playing in front of her. Harry was going to say something, but he could see Fred and Draco standing nose to nose - one glaring and the other smirking - as magic whipped around them.
"You're wrong," Fred growled. "You know nothing."
Draco threw his head back and laughed, but the sound chilled Harry to the bone and he knew who was actually standing in front of the Weasley twin.
When Malfoy calmed down, the blonde cocked his head to the side, "Perhaps. However, it's not me who needs to know, is it? It's what Draco believed and he didn't think you'd save him before your brother."
"Just let him go."
Malfoy shrugged, raising a finger and tapping it against Fred's nose who jerked back. "If he could come out, he would. If I could keep him in, I would. Since he's not here, he won't and I'll stay in control."
"Why are you even here?"
"You are so dense," As Malfoy swiped his hand carelessly at Fred's chest - as if he were a fleck of lint - the Weasley caught his wrist.
"Why do you even exist?"
"Oh, so you do have the ability to come up with a constructive question. I exist simply because he willed it to happen."
"Explain," Fred snarled.
"I was created by his magic to protect him. I was created in a burst of wild magic. The boy didn't even realize it. I am perfect: dark and self-assured. I am everything he had to become to survive." His grin grew ferral. "I am what is needed now and he knew it. He could not live with himself."
"He could if you just let him have control again!"
"Have you not been paying attention?" Malfoy snorted derisively; his magic swirled in a snap of anger creating a barrier between the two wizards. Fred was pushed away, rammed into the railing and slid to the floor. Malfoy's eyes sparked with power. "He's gone! I'm all that's left! The poor, weak, confused little boy is no more! I'm more powerful, I'm everything he can't ever -"
Where Malfoy had once stood, he was now kneeling and grasping his chest, growling through gritted teeth. The magic that had been swirling around him seemed to snap back into the blonde's lithe body.
Fred got up and slowly made his way to Malfoy, a hard look in place. Harry could only stare in astonishment at how the Weasley looked: face blank with hands that shook.
The young man reached down and hauled Malfoy up by the front of his robes. "You are everything he can't be, that's true. However, he is everything that you can't be. It's as simple as that. He is what is needed though."
"He can't even -"
"It doesn't matter what he can't do," Fred snarled, walking forward and slamming Malfoy's back against the stone wall of the castle. "It's what he can do. He can help this bloody war end. He can end," Fred's face twisted until he finally spat out, "Voldemort. He is what we need to turn this war around. If he doesn't come out, everything he's done, everythings he's given up will be for nothing. He knows this." Fred grasped the blonde's face gently and whispered, almost too quietly for Harry to hear. "I know you know this, Draco."
Their eyes wouldn't leave her. They were all locked on her. They were all focused on her. Their attention would have suffocated Narcissa.
The only reprieve she received was when the Dark Lord spoke or when the muggle who had been brought in was being tortured for their entertainment.
Even as the screams rose, eyes would lock on her and seemingly devour her. She smirked at those who stared blatantly at her. They couldn't touch her and she knew it. She would use to her advantage.
Lady Malfoy would survive.
Malfoy laughed. Uproariously loud. "He's gone, you dimwit! There's nothing there. There's nothing you can do to bring him back."
Fred shook his head, "There's always something one can do. I'm not going to give up on you. You're wrong about me not caring and over who I would choose. I thought I already made that clear. I've left George to be here with you. I left the joke shop to be here for you. You're who I choose, and nothing Malfoy says can change that."
"And there's nothing you can -" Malfoy's eyes widened and he gripped his head. "What? You were gone!" Malfoy's face contorted in anger. "You were gone!"
A smile bloomed on Fred's face and he tapped his nose on Draco's, saying something that Harry couldn't hear.
"Come back to me, Blondie."
Draco opened his eyes, only to shut them tightly before he murmured, "I don't think I can do this."
"You don't have to do it alone."
Finally letting his body go lax, Draco leaned against Fred and dropped his forehead against the strong shoulder, "Ok."
Ginny watched, unable to put her feelings into words. She didn't know what the hell happened. So she did the simplest thing she could do: she sat and continued to watch quietly.
Draco suddenly sat up, clutching at his chest. He looked wide-eyed at Fred, "I'm being summoned."
A/N And there's the very short, very sporadic chapter 52. Again, sorry for the long wait. This chapter was difficult to write, simply because I wasn't sure what the characters wanted. I knew what I wanted to happen, but they didn't want to listen...
So instead you get a cacophony of different POV's. Very short snippets of POV's.
Anyway, I hope you guys are still enjoying the story.
