It took every ounce of Voldemort's control to keep himself from going on a rampage when he discovered his daughter had been targeted yet again, and this time she was in a coma. Thankfully, Lucius and Leah had been on hand to stop him from doing something rash and to keep him focused on Hermione. However, while Hermione was his priority, a part of his mind was already thinking about how things were going to change. In order to protect Hermione he'd sat back in his bid for power, but all that had changed now. Now he wanted control of the wizarding world as quickly as possible as he feared that was the only way to guarantee his daughter's safety.

With his plans for kicking the war into a new gear simmered, Voldemort focused on his family. It didn't take long to arrange for Hermione to be moved back home, where an expensive team of private healers took over her treatment. With Hermione stable and well looked after, Voldemort left Leah to take charge of their daughter while he worked with Lucius to start researching the antidote to the dark curse his daughter had been struck with. Together the two wizards quickly got a handle on what they were dealing with, although they both accepted that in order to save Hermione properly they were going to have to be careful and double check everything they did, meaning there was no quick fix in sight.

The other issue Voldemort had to deal with was tracking down the owner of the bracelet that had been sent to his daughter. Thanks to the quick thinking of Draco and Blaise, not only did he have the cursed bracelet but he also had the packaging it arrived in. While he himself could deal with tracing the packaging, he needed help with the bracelet and he called on a known Dark Arts dealer, Mr Borgin of Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley.

"This piece is very old," Borgin announced as he carefully examined the bracelet Voldemort had taken to his shop, making sure not to touch it with his bare flesh. "And cursed."

"I'm aware of that, it cursed my daughter," Voldemort snapped. "What I want to know is where it came from? Who owned this bracelet?"

"Most pieces like this belong to pure-blood families," Borgin replied. "Usually they're family heirlooms and rarely come on the market. I can safely say this bracelet hasn't been sold in the last decade or so."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I would have heard of such an item being for sale," Borgin replied with a creepy smile. "I don't miss any dark artefacts sold in Wizarding Britain."

"So this has come from a pure-blood family," Voldemort said.

"Originally," Borgin said as he turned his focus back to the bracelet. "With cursed items, it can be hard to trace. Not many families want to admit to having a cursed artefact in their possession."

"But can you trace its origins?" Voldemort asked.

"I can certainly do my best," Borgin replied. "Can I keep the piece, or will you need it to cure your daughter?"

"I'm going to need it back," Voldemort said. "Take pictures and make notes, but I'm leaving with that bracelet in my possession."

With a nod, Borgin produced a camera from under his desk and proceeded to take dozens of pictures of the bracelet, making sure to capture it from every angle. He then made detailed notes on the piece, before placing it back into the black box Voldemort had been carrying it in.

"How long will it take you to track down the owners?" Voldemort asked, sliding the bracelet back into his pocket.

"It all depends on how well hidden the family in question kept the piece," Borgin replied with a shrug. "However, if there's even a mention of it somewhere, I can trace it. Mind you, it might not do you any good. Just because the piece originates with one family it doesn't mean they've still got it."

"No, but it's a starting point," Voldemort said. "I want this information as soon as you've got it Borgin. The quicker you can give me what I want, the more gold you'll get for your services."

"I promise to do my best," Borgin vowed, bowing to The Dark Lord as he swept out of his shop without a backward glance.

Following his meeting with Borgin, Voldemort returned home. After checking on Hermione, and finding she was still the same, he settled himself in his study as he gave careful consideration as to who could have sent his daughter the cursed bracelet. Aside from the initial information he had on the bracelet, he had to consider the fact the package had been addressed to Hermione in Leah's handwriting. Of course Leah hadn't sent the package and tests had revealed the writing had been added to the parcel using magic, however it was a perfect replica of her writing, meaning the sender had access to her handwriting, or at the very least a copy of what it looked like.

The obvious answer was someone associated with the Order. The school would certainly have a copy of her handwriting from when she'd signed the permission form for Hermione to visit Hogsmeade. And there was no way of telling if Hermione herself had ever accidentally left anything from her mother, like an envelope, where her former associates might have found it. And of course whoever had used Leah's handwriting had known Hermione well enough to know she would trust something arriving from her mother. Whether or not Hermione should have been more careful given the circumstances was another matter, and one Voldemort would deal with once his daughter's life had been saved. But right now his priority was working out who exactly had sent the cursed bracelet to his daughter.

With the knowledge that The Order had the potential to access Leah's handwriting, Voldemort tuned his focus on the bracelet itself as he knew that several pure-blood families did indeed have connections with the Order. Firstly you had the Weasleys, and while not a pure-blood family he would associate with, they might still have some old family jewels that could have been cursed. Then you had Harry Potter, who'd inherited the Potter estate, which again could have included cursed jewellery. And of course there was Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, who most certainly came from a family who would have dark artefacts. The question was, did the jewellery come from one of those families and was sent by one of Hermione's old friends, or was it Dumbledore behind the attack? At the moment, Voldemort wasn't sure, but he did know that he wasn't going to rest until he found out exactly who had sent his daughter the cursed bracelet that had left her in a coma.

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Draco despised having to remain at Hogwarts while Hermione was in such a fragile state. Even though Severus kept him updated and assured him that his girlfriend was safe at home, it wasn't enough for Draco. He wanted to be by her side, but Dumbledore would not allow him to leave the school. Annoyingly, the headmaster had chosen not to bring an early end to the year, so Draco was stuck miles away from Hermione when she needed him.

As a result of being stuck up at Hogwarts, Draco's mood had taken a turn for the worst. He'd gotten into several altercations with Harry and Ron, especially as the pair couldn't help but gloat about what had happened to Hermione. He was even losing his temper with his friends, and word soon spread around the castle that unless you wanted hexing for no reason, you would be wise to avoid Draco Malfoy.

After what seemed like an eternity the final day of term arrived and Draco was one of the first students down to The Hogwarts Express. His friends had all joined him in heading down to the train early and as they settled into their compartment there was a sense of anticipation in the air. Draco wasn't the only one who was missing Hermione, and everyone aside from Pansy was looking forward to checking on their friend and how she was doing.

Outwardly Pansy seemed as eager as the others to see Hermione, but inside she was petrified. She'd been waiting for weeks for word to come that Voldemort had found the sender of the bracelet, but so far nothing had happened. She didn't know if that meant Voldemort hadn't traced the bracelet yet, or he had and was just waiting for her to return home. Either way she knew in her heart it was only a matter of time before her actions were discovered and she was trying to decide on her options. Did she confess and hope Voldemort would go easy on her, or did she stay quiet and deny everything?

"Finally," Draco declared with a sigh of relief as The Hogwarts Express began to pull out of Hogsmeade station. "These last few weeks have really dragged by."

"You can say that again," Blaise agreed with a nod. "She may have only been there since the start of the year, but the dungeons just aren't the same without Hermione."

"Neither are the girl's dorms," Daphne said. "I can't wait to see her again."

"Will that even be possible?" Theo asked. "She's still in the coma, isn't she?"

"She is," Draco confirmed. "Father and The Dark Lord are working on the counter curse to wake her up, but they need to make sure it's perfect. Even a minor mistake could result in Hermione never waking up again."

"That can't happen," Daphne declared with a stubborn shake of her head. "She has to wake up."

"Will she be the same when she does?" Greg asked warily.

"What do you mean?" Blaise frowned.

"Will the curse have changed her? Or will being in the coma have affected her?" Greg clarified. "What if she's not the same girl?"

"She will be," Draco replied firmly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Draco himself had considered the fact that Hermione might be different when she woke up, but it was something he didn't want to think about too hard. He'd only just found Hermione, and he didn't know how he would cope if he lost her after so little time together. He'd already decided that for her to wake up and be different might be worse than losing her all together. He didn't want her to look at him without feeling, not when he was sure that he was in love with her.

Refusing to dwell on the possible negatives, Draco focused on the fact he would soon be seeing Hermione again. Tuning out his friends conversations, he spent the journey gazing out of the window and thinking about the feisty brunette witch who had captured his heart.

Normally the journey home seemed to fly by, but to Draco every hour crawled by at a snail's pace and he was more than ready to disembark when the train pulled into King's Cross Station. In his eagerness to get off the train, Draco was already in the corridor before the train came to a complete standstill, and no sooner had the train stopped than he pushed open a door and jumped from the train with his trunk. Not waiting for his friends to follow him, he located his parents and rushed over to them.

"Is she awake?" he asked before even greeting his mother and father.

"Not yet," Lucius replied. "But we think we're close. Severus is now free to help us, and we're hoping to be able to start the process of waking Hermione by the end of next week."

"Can I see her?" Draco questioned.

"The Dark Lord is expecting us later this evening," Lucius answered. "But first, we're going home and we're going to have dinner as a family."

Even though he was desperate to see Hermione, Draco knew that he couldn't disobey an order from Voldemort so he merely nodded his head and accepted the situation. Before leaving the station with his parents, he found his friends and promised to let them know how Hermione was when he saw her and when they could come and visit her.

Once at home Draco was able to relax for the first time in weeks, and knowing he was going to see Hermione within a few hours he was finally at peace. After grabbing a shower and changing into fresh clothes, he joined his parents for dinner and they talked about school. It was hard not to talk about school without mentioning Hermione, but Draco tried to keep the topic of conversation away from his girlfriend as he knew he would be seeing her soon and he didn't want to push the issue.

"So what's going to happen?" Draco asked his father. "Surely The Dark Lord can't continue on the same way. He's been quiet in order to let Hermione safely finish school, but she's now been attacked twice in a year. She's clearly not safe."

"Right now his focus is on Hermione," Lucius replied. "But you're right, he knows it's time to change tactics. I suspect that once Hermione is awake this war is going to spring into action."

"Does that mean I can take the mark?" Draco asked.

"Certainly not," Narcissa answered before her husband could reply. "You've only just turned sixteen, Draco. You'll have to wait to join the fight."

"But what if I miss all the action?" Draco questioned with a pout.

"Then at least you'll be safe," Narcissa retorted.

"Your mother is right, there's no rush to be involved son," Lucius said. "Focus on Hermione. She's going to need you by her side, especially if things progress like I think they will."

Draco nodded in agreement and promised his mother he wouldn't ask about taking the mark again until he was seventeen. However, now the subject of Hermione had been mentioned he was eager to go and see his girlfriend. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long before he and Lucius set off to Voldemort's house.

Voldemort was waiting for the two Malfoys when they arrived and he escorted them to Hermione's room. Hermione was lying in her own bed, looking as though she was merely asleep, but the sight affected Draco deeply and he had to blink several times to stop himself from crying at the sight of his girlfriend in such a lifeless state.

"How is she?" Draco asked as he sat down beside the bed and gently took Hermione's hand in his.

"Stable," Leah replied. "She'll stay like this until we can find the counter-curse."

"Which we're very close to doing," Voldemort said, smiling encouragingly at Leah. "Our daughter is strong, she'll pull through this."

"She will," Leah agreed with a nod as she rose from her chair beside Hermione's bed. "Draco, why don't you stay with Hermione for a while. The healers think she might be able to hear us, so talk to her. If there's any problems, ring the bell beside her bed and the healers will be here in an instant."

Thanking Hermione's mother for giving him some privacy with his girlfriend, Draco focused his attention on the witch lying in the bed. As the adults went off to talk, hopefully about plans for the future, Draco began to fill Hermione in on what she'd missed at school. he told her about the couple of run-in's he'd had with Harry and Ron and how he'd came out on top, albeit with a few detentions to his name.

"I miss you Hermione," he whispered when he'd ran out of trivial things to tell his girlfriend. "Please come back to me, I need you."

He did contemplate telling her that he loved her, but he wanted her to be fully aware of what was happening when he confessed the depth of his feelings for her, so Draco kept quiet and instead talked about all the things they could do over the summer once she was awake. He never once mentioned the possibility of her not awakening, as that was just too horrible to think about and he was determined to stay positive. Hermione would be cured and come back to him, and they would spend the summer together before hopefully witnessing Voldemort and his Death Eaters taking control of the wizarding world once and for all.