Draco led the small troupe through the secret passageway into the Malfoy Manor. He was reminded of the last time he came through the same passage on the night he fled the Manor all those weeks ago. He had hoped to never return.

"This is the last bend," he mumbled to Harry who walked beside him.

Harry nodded and looked behind him: everyone had wands at the ready. He gave a small, inaudible nod, which was returned with small gestures of acknowledgement from all.

As they came out the other end of the secret passage, everyone silently dispersed. Draco's map was so detailed and accurate that everyone was able to get into their positions with ease: Digby and George were to stay on the corridor with the passage, Draco, Henry and Ron were to go to the dungeons, and Hermione, Harry and Ginny were to follow them to a certain point before standing guard. They all had bewitched coins – which Draco was told were used back in school by Dumbledore's Army – to communicate if there was any movement or suspicion aroused. The idea was that they would peel off towards the dungeons, and then fold back up into a group with Amelia, before swiftly exiting via the secret passage. Draco was hoping that as they had entered through a passage, which only Death Eaters knew about, the alarms around the perimeters of the Manor wouldn't be triggered.

Draco swiftly led the way down long corridors, where sleeping portraits were illuminated by his dimmed wandlight. He felt like a ghost of his former self as he walked through the corridors of his old home. Walls and floors he knew so well, but which felt entirely foreign to him – as if they were a memory of someone else that had merely been described to him. It was hard to believe that he had grown up inside these walls – had celebrated birthdays and Christmases, had even felt homesick for it after lengthy periods away. Now all it represented to him was an evil prison.

Finally they reached a heavy bolted door, with old faded wood. Draco tapped the bolt with his wand and obediently, with a small but prolonged creak, it slid out of its hinges. He nodded to the others; Hermione, Harry and Ginny turned around to face the dark corridor, while Draco, Henry and Ron slid soundlessly inside the door.

A strong, thick smell of damp hit them as soon as they began descending the spiral stone staircase, and the sudden drop in temperature made the hairs on Draco's neck stand on end. The stairs were so narrow that they could only climb down single file. The echoes of their footsteps bounced around the stone walls.

Once at the bottom, another wave of intense chill washed over them, and Ron stepped in front of Draco just as a black, misty figure glided towards them.

"Expecto patronum," Ron hissed loudly, as a small silvery dog materialised from his wand, chasing the Dementor away. They had agreed earlier, that it should be Ron to cast the patronus when faced with the inevitable Dementor, for Henry and Draco both had trouble casting them historically.

"There shouldn't be any more," Draco said in a low voice, taking the lead with his wand outstretched in front of him. Indeed, it seemed they were alone in the dungeons as they walked down the small thoroughfare lining the empty cells.

All three of them lit their wands now as they walked, sweeping the empty cells with the cast of their light. Rats scurried into small cracks and cobwebs glinted in the light as they were caught by the wandlight. Draco felt the blood pumping in his ears as they walked carefully through the dungeon's passageway, mindful of anything else keeping guard in the underground room. Every barred door they shone their wandlight into was deserted, and as they continued, Draco fought off the sinking feeling of dread in his stomach.

They reached the last cell in the dungeon, and Draco pointed his wand through the thick metal barred door. The cell looked large and empty, but just as Draco was about to give in to the feeling of defeat the light caught a figure in the corner, huddled against the wall, their head turned away, their knees folded up tightly to their chest. He instantly recognised the hazelnut hair cascading down in tangles between their shoulders.

In a haste, Draco fumbled with his wand and clumsily tapped the lock on the door, hardly waiting for it to open before he pushed his way in, stumbling towards Amelia.

At this sudden movement, she slowly raised her head and Draco watched as her face went from a fearful confusion, to intense relief. As Draco crashed down to his knees at her feet, she leapt forward into his grasp, flinging her arms around his neck.

He folded his arms around her, feeling her shaking, cold body pressed against his. He squeezed her tightly, cupping the back of her head with his hand, feeling how matted her hair was.

"Are you okay?" He eventually said in a softly urgent voice. He pulled back slightly and raked his eyes over her, looking for any sign of injury. She looked weary.

Amelia nodded, blinking away tears. "Draco - I know everything… I'm so sorry… I know everything…" She was crying now, and her voice was husky and cracked.

Draco took her head in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. "It's okay. Everything will be okay, we're going to get you out of here."

Amelia pulled him close to her again. "I thought I'd never see you again," she whispered in the smallest voice. Draco allowed himself a moment to feel intense relief wash over him.

With a small gasp, she saw Henry and Ron over Draco's shoulder and rose on unsteady legs. Henry came to her and she hugged him tightly, saying 'thank you' in a small voice repeatedly.

"We need to move fast," Henry said after Amelia had greeted Ron. "We don't have long before people notice we're here."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Draco asked Amelia again, frowning as he took in her appearance.

Amelia nodded. "Just tired," she said dismissively. Draco wasn't convinced by this, but at this point they had little choice.

He took her hand and led the way back through the dungeons, with Ron and Henry close behind. Having Amelia by his side did nothing to calm his nerves – if anything, having the one person he cared about so deeply be so vulnerable in such a dangerous situation only heightened his anxiety. Her hand felt so small and cold in his.

"If anything happens – Ginny and George both have emergency portkeys that will take you back to the resistance, okay?" He told Amelia, who nodded absently.

Harry, Ginny and Hermione were still in their positions on the other side of the door, and Draco breathed a small sigh of relief to see that they were untouched. There was no time for any greetings or relieved embraces between the friends, as they started back down the corridors of Malfoy Manor, towards the entrance to the secret passage. Draco hated to admit that having Potter by his side as they trudged carefully through eased his nerves considerably.

They were close, and Draco began to feel his chest loosen. Perhaps they would make it out completely unscathed.

There was a loud crack, and within a fleeting moment the dimly lit corridor was masked in a black mist. Draco felt figures swooping all around him, and though he gripped onto Amelia's hand, it was torn from his grasp. The force of the strong invasion, like a hurricane, threw him to the ground. He couldn't see a thing, but heard those around him stumble as well.

Just as quickly, bright light flooded the corridor as flames jumped into all the torches dotted along the walls. Draco squinted against the brightness as he rose back up, his wand in front of him.

"We were wondering when you would be arriving," a familiar voice said. "Although, we didn't think you'd bring so many of your friends with you."

Draco saw Amelia rising to her feet beside him and registered silently that she didn't have a wand and looked even weaker in the light. He edged himself in front of her and felt her hand graze his back gently.

The resistance members all stood on one side of the corridor, facing a group of five Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange stood at the helm, a wide, demented grin across her face.

"We were so sad when you left us Draco," she continued with a pout, earning a slight chuckle from the Death Eaters behind her. "Leaving your family behind, your duties, your wife." Her voice dripped with dangerous malice, and her eyes flicked to Amelia as she said this. "We will let you come back though. All will be forgiven. All you need to do is step aside."

Draco didn't have any words in him as fury rose inside of his chest. With gritted teeth, he threw a curse Bellatrix's way; it flew past her ear and caught the Death Eater behind her.

The atmosphere changed immediately as the first curse ignited battle.

"Stay behind me," Draco shouted over his shoulder above the sudden noise. It was all he could do to deflect the curses coming his way and shield a wandless Amelia. He managed to disarm a Death Eater he did not recognise, catching his wand in his hand as he hit him with another curse, watching him slide down the wall to the floor.

"Here," Draco said, putting the wand into Amelia's hands. "Don't forget – the portkeys."

Amelia shook her head. "Not without you."

He gave a small smile as a curse flew past him and hit the wall behind them, denting it and causing a large crack in the stone. Draco turned once more and saw that Bellatrix had honed in on him.

"You nasty little blood traitor," she growled at Draco, advancing on him with her wand outstretched. "I told them we should've gotten rid of you years ago. I could sense your cowardice when you were just a boy. How dare you treat the Dark Lord with such disrespect, after all he has offered you!"

"I am not a coward," Draco grunted, sounding almost like a petulant child as he stepped towards Bellatrix. The rest of the battle around him dimmed into a muted blur and all he could see was his demented aunt advancing on him.

Bellatrix was a talented dueller, but Draco was a good match for her; quick to deflect and able to silently throw unpredictable curses. He ducked and sliced his wand through the air, making sure that no curse came into contact with him, and as soon as Bellatrix hesitated he threw a curse her way, gaining the upper foot and advancing on her, relentlessly hitting curses her way. Still though, she laughed as she deflected them.

Draco heard a scream nearby and the noise of the room filled his ears again. He faltered slightly, glancing over to see if Amelia was okay, and this was all it took for Bellatrix to hit him with a curse. It was a mild curse, but the impact of it took him off his feet and slammed him into the wall behind him.

Bellatrix closed the space between them, trapping Draco against the wall with her arm to his throat, her free hand pressing her wand painfully against his temple. A shadow was cast across Draco as another hooded Death Eater loomed over him, catching Draco's wrist against the wall and knocking the wand from his fist.

Bellatrix gave another smile, menace in her eyes. "Looks like the Malfoy bloodline will be dying with you, after all," she said.

Draco struggled against her strong grip, but he could hardly breathe. "Can't fight me by yourself, aunt Bellatrix?" He managed to splutter, glaring at the hooded figure pinning him to the wall.

As she opened her mouth with a small growl, Draco heard shouting from behind him. He felt a piercing hot and prickling pain force its way abruptly through his abdomen and his vision went blurry and dark as the dagger Bellatrix had plunged into him was slowly removed, and he slid pathetically down the wall. He heard someone screaming his name as he clutched his stomach on the ground, blood spilling thick and fast in between his fingers as he coughed and winced against the pain, before all the sounds of the room muffled into silence.