When Draco arrived home after Yule, he was met in the entranceway of Malfoy Manor by Voldemort. Draco instantly knelt, his head bowed and said "my lord".
Voldemort walked over to him, then tilted his head up with his fingers. "But I'm not you lord, at I? You only follow darling Harry; you'll do anything to keep her safe. If you try anything against me, I'll kill Harry; now, I can trust you." Voldemort said.
"Can I see her?" Draco asked bluntly,
"Only if you get a dark mark." Voldemort replied quickly, obviously expecting the question. "But, of course, you'd do anything for my dearest Harry." Voldemort answered himself, then jabbed his wand into the flesh of Draco's forearm. Black wisps congealed, and formed Voldemort's symbol, as Draco winced in pain.
"Now you can go and see Harry."
Draco began to stride to Harry's room, but Voldemort grabbed his arm, digging his fingers into Draco's newly formed dark mark, causing Draco to wince in pain.
"Now, don't go getting any funny ideas about my new wife! No trying to free Harry, remember?" Voldemort warned, something dangerous glinting in his eyes. "I don't like people touching what is mine... even Bellatrix isn't allowed to torture her." Voldemort said, and Draco had to bite his tongue to stop from cursing the dark lord. But he simply nodded, then dashed off to Harry's room.
o - o - o - o - o
Draco found Harry lying on her bed, quickly averting his eyes once he realised she was naked. He pulled his outer robe off and gently placed it over her, then stepped back to survey the damage. Harry was nestled in the messy sheets, and some blood was soaking the bed from a scabbed over wound on her side; dark purple bruises covered her wrists and upper arms. She was just about awake, and when she realised that Draco was there, she averted her eyes and began to sob.
"Draco, he... he..." she barely managed to get out, before Draco wrapped her in a hug. His heart ached at how she stiffened slightly, before relaxing into it. Draco gently rocked her as she cried, but after about an hour she stopped. At this, Draco stood up and walked over to Harry's wardrobe, fishing out a pair of pants and a top. He handed them over to Harry, before turning around as she changed. Once she coughed, Draco turned back around, noting her puffy red eyes.
"How do you want to spend the day, Rosie?" Draco asked, using her once-hated nickname.
"I don't know, little dragon" Harry replied, giving him a weak smile.
"Why don't you show me that perfect patronus of yours?" Draco teased gently, but Harry simply nodded before turning around. She drew on her memories with Draco, from when they first met; from before Voldemort was her future. Harry channeled her magic into the air just in front of her, then whispered "expecto patronum".
A glowing dragon appeared, only about a foot tall, and began to soar around the room, whilst Draco gaped at the visible acknowledgement of how close they were; Harry's nickname for him was 'little dragon', after all, and only the closest friends and lovers had their patronus change for the other. As he was thinking about this, Harry thought about what she wanted her patronus to do. The tiny dragon changed direction and flew over to Draco, soaring around him as a small whisper worked its way into his ear.
''Tell my little dragon that I'm glad to see him" the little dragon sounded out, before slowly fading away.
Draco turned to Harry, smiling. ''I'm glad to see you too, Rosie." Harry smiled in return, properly this time, before exclaiming that Draco needed to learn one too.
And so he spent the next few days learning the patronus charm. However, on the fourth day of the yule holiday, Voldemort arrived in the evening and sent him away, leaving Draco with just a fleeting look at the terrified Harry.
He couldn't sleep that night, disgusted with how he just rolled over for Voldemort.
Every night after that, Draco slept in the armchair, once he saw Harry go from slowly recovering, to worse than before, after Voldemort's visit. Harry had told him that Voldemort would only be visiting every seven days, but he remained on guard, just in case. Draco knew Harry was being tortured; she had faint marks beginning to swirl across her skin, the kind one would only get if they were seriously over-exposed to crucio; that Harry was still sane was both a miracle, and a testament to her brilliant mind.
By the time Draco was leaving for school, he was able to perform a corporeal patronus, but Harry still hated to see him leave. He promised to write to her every day, but she just shook her head, saying that Voldemort had stopped all her post. Draco thought about this for a second before saying; "if you ever need me, for whatever reason, send your patronus with a message, and I'll come as quickly as I can."
o - o - o - o - o
Once back at school, Draco spent every free hour in the library. he was soon three-quarters of the way through the once-massive stack of books on ancient rituals, when he found something.
'The Atrachs mating ritual is used to bind two people together for life. Viewed as very dark, it is powerful enough to void any previous bonds either participating is joined in.'
And with those two short sentences, Draco had a hope. It wasn't perfect; going from one bond straight to another would probably be scary for Harry, but he knew her well enough to know that she considered anything better than her life right then. With this bond, Harry could run away with him; would never be forced to follow Voldemort's instructions again. Draco could use it as a last hope; if he couldn't find any other option, he would present it to Harry.
But once he had finished the last remaining books, and found nothing else, he had to accept it: the Atrachs mating bond was Harry's only way out. So, only three weeks before the easter holiday, Draco requested for permission to borrow a book from the restricted section on performing the mating bond from Professor, but the teacher denied him.
"But sir! I have to do it to free Harry from the dark lord! Why won't you let me?" Draco shouted, letting his anger get the better of him.
"Mr Malfoy, please refrain from such outbursts in the future. And to answer your question, I won't give you permission to borrow this book right now; I have noticed that you have been seriously neglecting your studies. Until you achieve the Es or Os - which you are fully capable of - on your OWLs, I will not allow you any access to the restricted section. In fact, I will ask Madam Pince to cast wards around the restricted section; wards resolutely stopping one Draco Malfoy entering without her specific allowance."
At this Draco stormed out. But, try as he might, Draco could not enter the restricted section, even with a disillusionment charm, under the cover of night. So, in the end, he had to sit down and learn everything he had ignored since the start of the year. And there was a lot. Draco was highly intelligent, but he was still struggling to catch up on all the information he had passed over in his quest to help Harry.
So when, at Easter, Draco had to return to Malfoy Manor with a solution but no substance, he was ashamed at himself; he was ashamed at the stack of schoolbooks he returned with, instead of a copy of the Atrachs ritual. But, if he didn't succeed in his OWLs, Snape would never let him into the restricted section. He tried to tell himself that, but his conscience was telling him that he should be doing so much more to help Harry; she was going through hell, while he stayed in his cushy little school, worrying about things as unimportant as exams.
o - o - o - o - o
As soon as Draco saw Harry for Easter, he knew that things had gotten worse. From the way she was lying on the bed, Draco could clearly see the curling, silver marks from having crucio used on her far too much; her green eyes stared at the ceiling, unseeing.
He rushed over to her, but as soon as he began a spell to heal all her minor cuts and bruises, she screamed, flinching away from him. Draco instantly stopped the spell, then asked
"Rosie, what's wrong?", but received no reply. Draco was very worried at this point, but forced himself to remain calm. He sat down on the other side of the bed, and remained there until Harry woke up.