Chapter 71

Draco shared an apprehensive glance with Pansy before putting on his mask and covering his hair with the hood of his robe. Vince donned his with an evil smile as did Greg, with a determined expression. Draco could tell Vince was trying to cover up the pain in his abdomen, where his burns were still healing.

"Do you know why we're all here?" Millie's voice was slightly muffled behind her mask, but he could hear her terror. Millie was still somewhat in shock from the raid. Happy to be alive, but horror struck at the death of her classmates, and of Tracey in particular.

She directed her question towards Draco. He had been a Death Eater the longest and was now Inner Circle. All the other new Death Eaters from his year – from all four houses – turned to him in answer. He looked at the group before him in their black robes and flashing metallic masks. Identical on the outside, but everyone processing the horrors of war differently.

"No idea," he answered impassively.

There weren't any older Death Eaters present, so it wasn't another raid, and some of them were still recovering from injuries. He wondered if there would be some kind of 'demonstration.' There probably would be.

Bile accumulated in his mouth.

"Just do what they say, Millie," Greg admonished, "and you'll be fine. How's your leg?"

"Hurts, but it's getting better. I wish Tracey were still alive." He took her hand, and she squeezed it back.

"Will…" MacMillan was visibly shaking underneath his robes, "Will he be here?"

"The Dark Lord," Greg corrected him.

"Probably," Pansy answered without pity.

Draco couldn't think of a reason to summon so many of them if the Dark Lord wouldn't be here. Pansy masked her fear well.

"Fuck," Goldstein muttered under his breath.

"Scared, Goldstein?" Vince taunted.

"Aren't we all?" the Ravenclaw replied in disbelief.

Yes.

"You should be grateful to be in his presence," Vince scoffed, straightening his shoulders to make himself more intimidating.

"The Dark Lord rewards those who serve him well," Daphne added derisively. "It's a chance to impress him after you failed during the raid."

Not that any of them had a choice. The Polyjuice raid had left many traumatized from having to attack their former schoolmates and teachers, and watch others burn to death like Tracey, or suffer acute injuries from the explosions. Those that had balked or wavered in battle – like MacMillan – had been Crucio'd on the spot.

Draco still had the residual odor of burning flesh inside his nostrils. He didn't think the smell would ever leave. Someone had lost an arm. He didn't know who, but saw the ownerless appendage on the ground outside the blown up safe house.

Goldstein continued. "Don't any of y–"

"No," Draco cut him off before he could elaborate. "And you fucking shouldn't either, Goldstein."

Draco had no idea what Goldstein had been about to say. But either the Ravenclaw was smart at realizing few of them wanted to be here, or completely daft for voicing his opinion at the Lestrange Estate of all places.

Goldstein seemed to get the message and shut up before he could incriminate himself further. Air thick with tension, they waited until several cracks of Apparition broke the silence, followed by Bellatrix's cackle.

Raw anger began to eat away at Draco's insides, and he sneered underneath his mask as he recalled the words carved on Hermione's body, and the exposed muscle where her skin was peeled away. Aunt Bella would pay. He didn't know when, he didn't know how, but she would suffer before he killed her.

"Wheeeeerrrrrrrrre are the precious babies?" his aunt's voice echoed off the high ceilings of the foyer and everyone stiffened in terror.

"Oh god," he heard someone murmur behind him.

"Shut it, Turpin," Pansy admonished her.

They heard the ominous clicking of stiletto heels approaching. Bellatrix curled her long pale fingers around the door frame, peering at where they all stood waiting, and smiled evilly at them. Draco fought to conceal his rage.

"Time to come out and play, kiddies." Her black eyes surveyed all of them and rested on Draco. She twirled a finger in one of her long black curls and licked her lips. "We have a surprise for all of you."

Draco's stomach heaved as dread replaced his fear. Nothing good could come from a surprise that made his aunt happy.

Quirking her finger so they would all follow, she swiveled around, black curls flying behind her, and sauntered down the foyer. Ten other Death Eaters were waiting – all masked, all robed. She turned around to face them with a sinister twist of her lips.

Draco peered into the adjoining room, but no one was there. No Dark Lord. No victim waiting to be tortured. Having no idea what was about to happen, his heart hammered in his chest. Maybe they were about to be punished for the poor outcome of the raid. They hadn't been.

Yet.

"Time for a field trip," her voice lilted in a sing-song.

Several older Death Eaters surrounded the new recruits and clamped hands on their arms. His aunt dug her fingernails into his shoulder and a sharp pang of nausea hit him from the sudden Side-Along Apparition. After a few groans and the sound of someone retching, everyone glanced at the old, moss covered graves of their surroundings.

It was the Azkaban graveyard. They were being taken to the prisoners.

Torture? Execution?

Draco didn't know. But his eyes fluttered closed in relief that he had been able to get Hermione out. She likely would have died already, and he hoped she was recovering. She hadn't answered any of his messages thus far.

"Where are–" he heard Vince ask.

His question was cut off by gasps as their gazes were drawn towards the tall, foreboding stone walls of Azkaban. Cold wind from the ocean whipped at their cloaks and they instinctively huddled around each other for warmth and protection. Draco held his hood steady atop his head.

Bellatrix opened the large double doors at the corner of the triangular prison with a swish of her wand and glanced back at them with a raised eyebrow.

"Ready to play a game?"

No one answered as they all followed her inside. Everyone was scared into silence, even Vince, Daphne and Greg. Pansy immediately grabbed Draco's hand and he squeezed her small, gloved fingers back, recalling the first time they had been here together.

"Fucking hate this place," he heard her murmur.

Azkaban was still terrifying, but knowing how to cast a Patronus, and having recently broken in and out with none the wiser, rid Draco of the helplessness and despair he felt during his previous visits.

The now familiar cold of the Dementors seeped into his flesh. He doubted any of the new recruits had been here before besides him and Pansy. They followed Bellatrix quietly, the only sounds were her heels on the stone floor and the shuffling of their boots and robes.

The crowd turned into a corridor and rounded a corner. They entered a room where thirteen beaten and bloody Order members all kneeled in a row, hands bound behind their backs.

It was an execution, and the Dark Lord was there to oversee it.

Draco's stomach heaved. He scanned the room, quickly tallying up the loyal Death Eaters, the scared recruits, and the wandless prisoners that were too weak and injured to fight. Some members of the Order he recognized from Hogwarts in older years, some he didn't know. Two of them must be Weasleys – their red hair was a giveaway. An older one he had never met, and one of the twins. Parvati Patil and Terri Boot were there from his year, and Lovegood.

Again.

There was no chance for escape, the prisoners were all dead. And they were brought here to kill them.

"Time to pick a playmate," Bellatrix's voice lilted upwards.

Vince stepped in front of one of the Weasleys. He thought it was Pansy, Daphne and Greg that moved next, each standing in front of a kneeling Order member. It was difficult to tell who was who with their masks on. Draco stepped in front of another Weasley – one of the twins – and the rest followed in dread.

The Weasley in front of him glared up. "Fucking cowards. Hiding behind masks."

It was true.

"Fred, stop," the older Weasley called out from down the line. Everyone looked to see what the Dark Lord would do.

Bellatrix flicked her wand and the Weasley twin screamed as a gash appeared across his cheek. But the Dark Lord's attention was directed elsewhere.

"You've had a week, Augustus," the Dark Lord hissed. "I'm disappointed."

"None of them knew where the rest escaped to, my Lord," Rookwood replied with a tremor in his voice. "And they don't know anything about the Order's plans."

Draco closed his eyes behind his mask, dreading what was to come next. Useless Order members were dead Order members. The Dark Lord wouldn't tolerate any more prison breaks.

Draco surveyed the line of broken Order members. They all eyed the row of newly minted Death Eaters facing them. Classmates pitted against classmates in a war few wanted to fight. He knew that per Amycus' instruction, the recent Hogwarts graduates could torture people and kill animals. He wondered if they'd be able to kill someone they had attended class with. So many of them were scared, hadn't wanted to fight, and paid for it dearly.

A few of the prisoners stared at the floor, some eyed the Dark Lord or the other Death Eaters in trepidation. A few Order members appeared ready to rip anyone of them in half if given the slightest chance. Draco glanced down at Fred Weasley, cheek bleeding from Aunt Bella's curse. His clear brown eyes glowered up at Draco defiantly from his kneeling position.

"Where is the werewolf, Augustus?" the Dark Lord asked. "He is the leader, is he not?"

There was an uncomfortable silence. Rookwood cleared his throat before speaking. "Dead, my lord."

"Dead?" the Dark Lord repeated, his voice dangerously soft.

Everyone turned to Rookwood, silent, waiting for the Dark Lord to unleash his wrath.

"Y- yes, my lord." Draco could hear the fear creeping into his voice. "Right in the beginning, he w-was found dead in his cell."

"How?" Voldemort narrowed his red eyes at him. "The prisoners were restrained. They had no wands."

Rookwood got ahold of himself and stopped stammering. "We don't know. We think it was something Muggle."

Voldemort turned to face the kneeling Order members, with a sneer.

The air was thick with dread and Draco swallowed. He wasn't sure who the Dark Lord would lash out at. The prisoners? Rookwood? Any one of them? Draco could sense everyone curling in on themselves, trying to be less conspicuous. The seconds ticked by in silence as the Dark Lord assessed his options when Fred Weasley burst out laughing. Draco could see through the blood smeared on his face that a few of his teeth had been knocked out.

"You'll never find them now, Voldemort," the Weasley called out.

Everyone turned and gasped in shock. No one had ever spoken to him that way.

"Fred. Don't," the older Weasley cautioned from several feet away.

"S'Alright Charlie," Fred answered with a deranged grin. "We're dead anyway."

The tension filled seconds ticked by in silence as they all waited to see what the Dark Lord would do. Instead of reacting angrily, he narrowed his red eyes and curled his lip into sneer.

"Crucio!" Rookwood cursed Fred Weasley and he fell over in front of Draco, screaming to the ceiling. Goosebumps spread up and down Draco's arms at the sound of his shrieking, and he dug his fingers into his palms.

Rookwood released the curse and Draco tried not to wince as the Weasley twin choked on his own blood before laughing louder. Rookwood's posture sagged in relief, he wasn't the focus of the Dark Lord's ire anymore now that he was avenging the insult.

"Is that the best you can do?" Fred spat blood onto the ground. "You inbred fuckers have more money, more people, you control the sodding government and you still can't win."

"Fred!" Charlie raised his voice, panicked at the repercussions that would shortly follow. "Shut up!"

"Kill him," the Dark Lord commanded Rookwood with a sneer. "Make it painful."

"No!" Charlie cried out desperately.

At this, the Weasley twin laughed even louder.

"Can't even do the dirty work your aaaaahhhhhhhhh!–"

Rookwood's Cruciatus cut off the Weasley twin's taunts.

Draco grit his teeth while watching Fred writhe on the ground and wondered why the Dark Lord simply didn't do it himself. Perhaps it wasn't a figment of his imagination, and the Dark Lord's magic really was getting weaker. Maybe Draco wasn't the only one that noticed.

Was that even possible?

Fred's screams stopped.

"Fred, please don't," Parvati pleaded with him.

Fred rolled onto his back.

"You'll never find them! And Harry Potter is going to kill you!"

"Fred!" Charlie cried out.

"Fred! Stop it!" Parvati's choked pleas joined Charlie's.

Draco could tell that several of the Death Eaters were shaken by his words.

"Now, Augustus," the Dark Lord hissed.

"Crucio!"

Fred released another gut-wrenching scream as his body contorted on the ground. After it was done, he rolled over on the stone floor, smearing the blood on his face. And then he laughed harder, sounding even more maniacal.

"You can't control everyone with fear, Voldemort." Fred gurgled and coughed before yelling directly at the Dark Lord again. "You're going to die. You couldn't even kill a fucking infant."

"Kill him!" the Dark Lord commanded with a curl of his lip. "Kill him now!"

"FRED!" Charlie's desperate cry rang out.

Draco didn't have to turn around to know that his classmates behind him were tense and terrified. A jet of bright green light shot out of Rookwood's wand and pummeled Fred in the chest, silencing him forever. He heard a soft strangled cry behind him, and wasn't sure if it came from the recruits or the prisoners.

The older Weasley flinched and heaved a loud sob.

"And the rest," the Dark Lord waved his hand. "They're useless."

A few Order members pleaded to be left alive. Patil started crying, Boot yelled something about being a healer and Charlie cried from the loss of his brother. Luna watched everyone with her back straight, a single tear trickling down her cheek. Draco gritted his teeth, trying to block out the sounds, and realized that he shouldn't. Even if he didn't want to be, he was complicit. So he closed his eyes, and let their gut wrenching pleas to live wash over him.

Vince was the first to raise his wand, and Charlie Weasley's sobs ceased. Pansy and Greg raised their wands, killing Patil and someone else two years older than them. Draco knew it wasn't the first time they killed and he watched as the bodies slumped over and hit the ground. Torture and murder were necessary evils to stay alive and protect their families. Draco glanced down at Fred's beaten corpse.

At least he wouldn't have to murder today.

"Your turn," Bellatrix crooned at Ernie Macmillan.

The Hufflepuff stared at Terry Boot, kneeling in front of him. "Please!" Boot pleaded. "I'm a trained Healer. I can be of use!"

The MacMillan glanced over at the other Death Eaters but Bellatrix quirked her red lips. "He's a Mudblood. We won't sully our ranks with his filth."

"No, please!" Boot began to beg, his words coming out in a stream of tears. MacMillan stared down at his former classmate and raised his wand. The seconds ticked by and his arm began to shake. Finally, he lowered it.

"I can't!" MacMillan panted from behind his mask. Instantly, he dropped to the ground screaming as Bellatrix sauntered over, wand trained on him. She released the Cruciatus and he rolled over, gasping for air.

Tapping the tip of her wand to her chin she stared down at Ernie. "If you're as useless to the Dark Lord as they are," she waved to the prisoners on their knees, "then you'll share their fate."

Ernie struggled inside his robes and groaned as he pulled himself up.

Bellatrix raised her eyebrows expectantly. "Care to try again, poppet?"

The Dark Lord and the older Death Eaters stared at Ernie from behind their emotionless masks. If he didn't kill the prisoner, he'd pay with his life. The new recruits shifted nervously on their feet across from the prisoners as they waited to see what Ernie would do.

Ernie turned back to Terry and raised his arm again, it was still shaking.

"Please!" Terry pleaded. "Please, I can be useful!"

Bellatrix walked around behind Erin and whispered loudly into his ear, "Do it…"

Ernie's voice shook. "Avada Kedavra!"

Much as when Greg had tried to murder the muggle family so many months ago, the curse was ineffective. Terry fell over with a cry, his body twitching on the ground. They all watched in horror as pink foam spilled out of his mouth as his body shook more violently.

"Terry!" one of the other prisoners cried.

"Awww," Bellatrix crooned, twirling her wand in her fingers. "You broke him. Put him out of his misery."

Likely understanding that not going through with it would be worse, Ernie raised his wand and cast again. Terry Boot stopped shaking, and Ernie heaved a sob.

Bellatrix stroked Millie's robe with her fingers and gazed up at her with an evil smile. "Your turn."

The rest of them killed the Order members without complaint, and with little trouble. Some were hesitant, but they chose to kill over being killed themselves. One by one, the Order members slumped lifelessly to the ground. Bellatrix's smile widened and the Dark Lord looked pleased.

Finally, Anthony Goldstein stared down at Luna, his former housemate. The last prisoner still alive. Head held high, she gazed back in silence, and another tear fell from her eye. Draco admired her bravery, as he did Fred's.

They were all brave. They knew joining the Order was a death sentence if caught.

Goldstein swiveled towards Bellatrix.

"No."

Her smile fell and they all turned to him, surprised. Luna watched the interaction and blinked.

"No?" Aunt Bella raised her eyebrows. Cocking her head, she walked closer, stepping over the dead bodies as if they were mud puddles to be avoided. Ernie had been scared and pleaded with her. This was different. Anthony was directly refusing an order.

Slowly, the Dark Lord walked over, and Draco, like everyone else, shrunk back in fear. "You would dare defy Lord Voldemort?"

Draco could hear Anthony's breathing become ragged under his mask. He turned down to Luna and his voice cracked. "I'm sorry Luna, I should have opposed the Carrows with you." A muffled sob sounded through his mask. "I abandoned you. We all did."

"It's alright, Anthony." She was the only calm person in the room besides the Dark Lord. "I understand. You were scared."

"It's not," Draco could hear him crying. "It's not alright. I don't know how to make it right."

The Dark Lord approached even closer, and Anthony backed away.

"Do you know," his voice was soft and threatening, "what we do with those that defy me?"

Draco heard Anthony's voice catch, and then he spoke, but his words were for Luna. "I'll do it. I'll cast the Killing Curse." She gave an imperceptible nod.

Bellatrix narrowed her eyes, shifting her gaze between the two of them.

Anthony pointed his wand at her, inhaled a deep breath, and then turned his wand back. Draco and several others jumped at the flash of green light and cast Shield charms, unsure if Goldstein was attacking them. Draco's eyes widened in surprise to see the Ravenclaw drop into a crumpled heap on the floor.

Luna stared at his body, blinked, and said nothing.

Everyone was stunned into silence, shocked by Goldstein's last act of defiance.

The Dark Lord waved his hand, as if he wasn't affected. "We have no use for blood traitors in our army. Draco finish it off."

Draco faced the Dark Lord to see his red eyes judging him. He had never seen Draco use the Killing Curse before, but expected him to succeed nonetheless. He didn't know Draco already had. Draco gazed down at Luna Lovegood and her fierce, blue eyes stared back, unflinching. There was no avoiding it. He was a murderer now.

He raised his wand and recalled cradling the small bodies of a brother and sister to his chest as he brought them to an early grave. He remembered the agony of parents pleading for the lives of their children, and a grandmother having her throat slit.

Self-loathing wrapped around his limbs and tightened.

Either way, Lovegood was dead. But Anthony Goldstein kept himself clean. Draco wondered if he should have killed himself instead of that family. Looking down at Luna, he realized murder wasn't as difficult as it used to be.

Hermione would hate him.

"Avada Kedavra."

Chapter end notes:

I know you guys didn't want Fred to die, I stuck with canon this time. One more chapter of pain and then the fun starts up. Hang in there, everyone!