A/N: Hello everybody! I'm SO SO SO sorry for the eternally long wait. School FINALLY ended so I will definitely be updating much more frequently now :) Thank you all for waiting and leaving me lovely reviews! How about some more this chapter? I tried making it as long as I could!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Chapter 35: The Consequences

"You have failed me."

"Yes, my Lord."

"You let escape the single most important thing I wanted. The ONLY request I have made to you since you failed me before."

Three heads bowed.

"I am not certain what I will do to you yet."

Narcissa reached for Draco's hand. He squeezed it tightly.

Voldemort's long skeletal fingers twirled around the thin wand in his hands.

A blinding light and all three Malfoys lay crumpled in a heap on the floor.

"You are not permitted to leave this Manor until I allow you to," Voldemort proclaimed. "You there," he gestured to a dark man in the corner. "Make sure they do not leave under any circumstances lest you be placed in a situation identical to theirs as well."

The man nodded, then moved forward to help the three blonds up.

"No," Voldemort declared. "Leave them to pick their own incompetent selves off of the floor." The white bare feet glided out of the room, a large snake trailing behind.

A few hours later Draco came to. The gash on his face had opened up again and was dripping blood onto the dark wood floor. He grabbed a corner of his robes and pressed it to his face in an attempt to stop the flow of blood. The other arm he used to gently shake his mother awake.

"Mother, Mother, get up, please," Draco pleaded. Narcissa's head turned and her eyelids flickered. "C'mon," Draco implored. Narcissa lifted herself up on shaky legs. Draco placed his hand under her elbow and guided her to the kitchen table, where she collapsed into a chair. Draco walked back to the dining hall and woke his father, who got up and followed Draco to the kitchen. Draco, still shaken, managed to make a small pot of tea, a cup of each of which he placed into his parents' hands.

Narcissa had a dead look in her eyes, and her gaze was fixated on a family picture sitting atop the kitchen counter. Draco was only seven, and he was running around the garden with a goose while Narcissa sat on the grass, laughing, and Lucius stood watching Draco, a smile playing on his lips. Draco followed his mother's gaze to the picture and almost smiled. He wished life was that simple again. In every way, life had been better for the Malfoys when Voldemort was gone. But Lucius kept insisting that it hadn't been as soon as the Dark Lord had risen again. Draco sat down next to his mother and reached for her hand. She turned to him. He expected her to smile, but she only looked at her helplessly. Draco put an arm around his mother as she began to cry. Lucius reached across the table and took hold of Narcissa's other hand. Silence soon fell over the kitchen.

Bellatrix barged into the room, a small Death Eater trailing her. "You useless blood traitors!" She snarled. She spat on the floor and glared at Lucius as she reached for a bottle of liquor. "You're all so bloody useless!" She shrieked. "You can't do anything can you?"

"I don't supposed the Dark Lord has punished you as well?" Draco said coldly.

Bellatrix froze. "I deserved to be punished. I did a lot of things wrong. But I wasn't as stupid as you three! Besides," Bellatrix continued, "At least the Dark Lord knows he can trust me. One mistake won't change that."

"What about the Ministry?" Draco asked softly.

Bellatrix thrust her chin into the air. "I don't know what you're talking about." She stomped out of the kitchen, spilling blood red liquor onto the floor. The small Death Eater followed her out.

Draco sighed. He picked up the mugs from the table and dropped them in the sink, still full. He followed his parents upstairs, where they all retreated to their respective rooms.

Draco lay down on his bed and stared at the cracked ceiling. The paint and plaster were chipping. The drapes were frayed at the edges. Draco rolled over so that his face was pressed into his pillow.

Draco squinted as he looked into the sunlight streaming through his open window. The sound of spells being fired floated up from the garden and into his ears. He almost went back to bed, thinking it was a routine skirmish between a few Death Eaters. But when a Stunning Spell came flying through his window, Draco sat straight up.

"You think you can come into my house and take everything I own?!" Lucius screamed. "You have no right, NO RIGHT, to take what belongs to me, do you UNDERSTAND?!"

"Oh, Lucius, you think that this all still belongs to you?" A raspy voice cried back. "You, you spineless creature, don't own ANYTHING. Everything you own is ours now!"

"No it ISN'T!" Lucius bellowed. "I may not have as high a rank as I used to but I still have some dignity left. I will NOT tolerate being treated this way!"

"Oh, you will, Lucius," Another voice said loudly. "You have to. You've got no other choice."

At this point, Draco had run downstairs and was standing in the doorway of the entrance to the garden. Lucius stood in front of Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov. Lucius's wand was pointed at Dolohov's face. A Stunning Spell shot out of the elm wand, hitting Dolohov square in the nose.

"Father, stop!" Draco cried. He ran forward and stood directly in front of his father. Do you want to get us all killed?!" Lucius stared blankly at Draco until a scowl crept onto his face.

"Draco, they-" Lucius began.

"Stop," Draco said. "Let's go." He followed his father into the house. Lucius stopped on the way in, just once, to spit in Dolohov's face. Greyback growled, but stopped when Draco pointed the wand straight at his werewolf heart.

Once inside, Draco dragged his father upstairs and into his parents' bedroom. Narcissa was sitting on the bed, reading. She stood up immediately when Draco and Lucius entered.

"What-?" Narcissa whispered.

Draco cut her off. "Your husband," he began, "feels that his own pride is more important than our lives. He decided it would be a good idea to confront Greyback and Dolohov just to prove that."

"Lucius!" Narcissa gasped.

"It wasn't like that!" Lucius slurred. "I was just telling them..."

"Have you been drinking?!" Draco cried. "Mother!" He turned to Narcissa, who looked stunned.

"I'll take care of it, Draco," she said quietly.

"What do you-" Draco began.

"Go to your room, Draco," Narcissa said firmly. Draco scowled and stormed down the hall to his room, where he slammed the door shut and sat down in his arm chair. He sat fuming for a few minutes. Then he stood up and pulled up his mattress. He grabbed the small notebook tucked away underneath and then dropped the mattress back down. Draco sat back down in the armchair and flipped through the pages. Nothing.

A few days after the Easter incident, Draco had penned Hermione a short letter:

Dear Hermione,

I am so very sorry about what happened. I hope you are somewhere safe and that you have recovered well. I will not attempt to rationalize what I did for I feel that would be inappropriate at the current time.

Please let me know if you are okay.

Sincerely,

Draco L. Malfoy

Draco had waited for days for a response. None came, not even now, a week and a half later. Draco sighed and stowed away the notebook once again.

The Manor was silent.