In another place, at another time, Draco Malfoy may have thought this was exactly where he would want to be, but tonight he no longer felt that way. Over the years the idea of becoming a Death Eater had been glorified for him, more so over the previous summer, as his father had been locked away in Azkaban and his Aunt Bellatrix had taken the short two months between his schooling to educate him on the important things; the Dark Arts, the Unforgivable curses and his favorite, Occlumency. But those days were over. He now stood shivering in the darkened ruins of what must have been an old Muggle castle, only the moonlight casting an eerie glare on the faces of the other Death Eaters or on the masks of the many who seemed to wish to remain faceless.

He could see the Dark Lord was in the corner speaking to Snape and to his mother, who - to Draco's dismay, seemed to look unhealthily thinner than usual and almost sickly, likely due to the fact that she had been worrying for him. Rightfully so, Draco had thought bitterly, as his efforts had been wasted. Snape had stolen his glory earlier this evening, and was likely boasting to the Dark Lord right at this very moment.

As Draco awaited his punishment, his thoughts continuously wandered back to his conversation with Dumbledore.

"Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban ... when the time comes we can protect him too ... come over to the right side, Draco ... you are not a killer ..."

He had been deliberating it, he honestly had. He hated Dumbledore, he hated Potter and the Muggle-loving lot of the Order, but he had still been tempted. They would have protected his parents. Now they would both likely be killed. Judging by the sobs coming from the direction of his mother, Draco figured she had been told that he too, would be killed for his cowardice.

Looking over, he could see that they were finally wrapping up the conversation, and the Dark Lord was casting his horrible red eyes towards Draco. It was as if the Bloody Baron had walked through him with the chills he felt. All of the unmasked Death Eaters were forming into a circle, his mother being supported by Bellatrix. She looked as though she would collapse to the ground at any moment. Snape silently moved into the circle next to his mother. The masked group stood, unreadable, in the shadows along the rotting, stone walls. It was so painfully silent that Draco thought everyone must be hearing his heart thundering in his chest.

"Draco ..." The Dark Lord whispered, standing before him, the red slits burning into Draco's eyes. "I have spoken to Severus, and to Alecto and Amycus... they have given me a very detailed account of your evening."
Draco's mouth felt dry, his tongue was like a heavy stone - he was unable to reply, even if he had wanted to, which fortunately, he did not.

"I was pleased to hear that you had managed to grant access to Hogwarts for my Death Eaters, and was very pleased to hear that you had successfully cornered Dumbledore ... however... I am disappointed that you failed to complete your mission."

Some of the Death Eaters drew in a hiss of surprise, shocked that one would be so careless to fail their Master.

"Severus, however, has assured me that you had put your best efforts forward."

Many of the Death Eaters now sniggered and snorted at the obvious sarcasm in the Dark Lord's voice.

"Those who serve me Draco, learn very early that I do not tolerate failure, incomplete missions never go unpunished, but since you had done half of what was asked, I will only serve you with half of your promised punishment."

The weeping from his mother had stopped, Draco looked up quickly to see that her look of fright likely mirrored his own. He finally found his voice.

"M-m-my Lord? W-wwhat do you mean..."

"I told you last July Draco, that if you failed - if you did not kill Albus by the end of the school year, your parents would be killed. You did not kill Dumbledore. Severus, my trusted spy had to complete your mission, and because of your incompetence, I no longer have a spy set in the Order."

Draco's face burned with anger and fear. "But Snape didn't give me the chance! He swooped in and..."

"You had plenty of time Draco, it has now run out. Make your choice."

Draco gaped at him, genuinely confused. "My... choice?"

The Dark Lord smiled menacingly down at him. "You chose not to kill the Hogwarts Headmaster, whom you claim to have hated. You did not have the nerve to thwart your enemy. You will remain in my service, but in order to prevent this sort of an error from reoccurring... you will chose someone near and dear to you to die as a reminder of your error."

Draco stood petrified, tears spilling down his cheeks as he replayed these words over and over in his head. He couldn't look at his mother, for he knew that she would be motioning for him to choose her over his father, and he knew that if he did, there would be no way out.

"Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban ..."

Dumbledore's words echoed through his mind over and over again. He had barely muttered the words "My… father," when he heard his mother's angry sobs telling him no. Both Snape and Bellatrix seemed to have a firm grip on her arms, but Draco didn't care. He knew his father was safe in Azkaban and was the safer choice.

"Lucius..." Voldemort had said quietly. "Step forward."

Draco's heart stopped as the circle parted and one of the masked Death Eaters from the wall slowly made his way to the center of the circle. He could hear another sob and realized it was his own, at the realization that his father was standing before him, his cold grey eyes glimmering through the holes of the mask, which he removed.

"No..."

"Draco ... you once again disappoint me with your cowardice. You chose your father, assuming he would be safe in Azkaban," sneered the voice of his master. "Would you have chosen differently had you known there was a mass breakout there earlier this evening? Had you not wondered where all the others were while the small few made their way into the school through your vanishing cabinet gateway?"

His father's gaze was unreadable. It was as though he were cursed. His eyes were glazed over and looking directly through Draco, making Draco wonder if he was so disappointed in him that he couldn't look him in the eyes.

"ANSWER ME!"

Draco jumped and looked up at the Dark Lord, who looked more fearsome than ever, towering over him with those eyes... the ones Draco had lost sleep over during the last year.

"No... sir. I would not have chosen differently."

This seemed to please the Dark Lord, and he took a step back. The silence from the rest of the circle was overwhelming, and Draco knew that many of them were anxious to see a murder performed. He suddenly hated every single one of them as much, or more so, than the Order lot.

"You showed fear tonight when facing an enemy Draco, and you failed to kill. You need training, boy. You are in luck. I will personally educate you in the attitude needed to kill under the worst sort of pressure.
Draco did not dare to look into the dark lord's face, nor to glance at the other Death Eaters. He was beginning to realize that every gift of this master held a knife within it, set to cut.

The dark lord continued casually," You are about to kill your own father, in front of your mother. You are about to lose everything, yet you will have everything to gain."

"I CAN'T KILL MY DAD!"

"Then you leave me no choice but to kill the both of them myself."

The sobs from Narcissa finally seemed to be grating on the Dark Lord's nerves and he raised his wand towards her. "Crucio!"

Draco watched in horror as his mother flailed about on her back, her screams of agony filling the night sky. He then looked back at his father's face, which was expressionless, but his eyes were still staring right through him. Draco could have sworn he had seen the hint of a tear, but quickly shrugged it off as he pointed his wand at Lucius.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The jet of green light hit his father squarely in the chest, Draco watched through his tears as his dad slowly fell backwards. The curse had been taken off his mother; who had scurried, sobbing, to the freshly fallen corpse, burying her face in his chest. Many of the others had began to move about, the entertainment for the evening finished. One of the masked Death Eaters from the wall had walked over to stand behind the Dark Lord, but Draco ignored him. He stood, waiting, to hear from the Dark Lord that he was dismissed. He would not disobey him again.

"You have done well Draco," Voldemort whispered quietly. "Your initiation is completed. Do not fail me again, or the next time, it will be for real."

Draco watched the Dark Lord saunter towards the corpse, leaving Draco standing there with the masked Death Eater. He watched as Bellatrix and Snape pulled Narcissa away, and he felt a horrible coldness ripple through him when he realized his own mother was unable to look at him. "Real?" had Lord Voldemort said. It was so easy it did not seem real. He tasted bile in his mouth. Then, for some unknown reason, Draco began to laugh, an edge of hysteria in his voice, turning towards the masked man and seeing, to Draco's dismay - his father's steely gray eyes behind the mask, a look in them more terrifying and frightening to Draco than even the Dark Lord's.