Now?" Draco stared sleepily at the house-elf who had delivered Lucius' summons.

"I wonder what delightfully awful news he has this time," he muttered as he walked towards the study. Opening the door, he was struck by the darkness within. The heavy shadows.

"Draco," Lucius' voice came from a faint silver glow in the middle of the darkest shadow.

"Come here, my son. Look what your father has for you." As he flicked his wand, the room suddenly lit up. Draco's heart stopped for a moment. Then, "Harry!" He flew across the room to the chair. But even as he reached it, Lucius' spell drew him back.

"Let me go, let me go!" Draco struggled as his Father walked towards him.

"Harry Potter, Draco," Lucius' voice had a suppressed frenzy in it, "The boy who killed the Dark Lord. Tonight- I shall sacrifice him in HIS memory."

"You're MAD," Draco yelled, kicking out. His Father suddenly grabbed his chin in an iron grip so tight that Draco thought his jaw would break. There was a sudden, deathly calm in the room. And then Lucius leaned forward and smiled. A smile that froze Draco.

"I have a better idea," Lucius said softly, "what would be more fitting than for you to end this disgrace?"

"Wha…" As the meaning of his Father's words sank in Draco's eyes widened in panic. With a tremendous effort, his hand broke lose from the spell binding him and struck Lucius on the face. Lucius slowly straightened, his hand still holding Draco's face, tighter now than ever.

"That," he said quietly, "Was incredibly stupid. I would have had you kill him under the Imperius, Draco. But now I think you should feel the horror of your disgrace." He moved away and gazed at Harry thoughtfully. But Harry was staring at Draco. It was the first time that night that he could see his face clearly and his stomach twisted, seeing the bruises across the familiar terrain. Draco's eyes were aimed straight at him. And suddenly, in spite of Lucius' presence which seemed Dementor like, something seemed to sparkle between the two.

"It seems almost a pity not to have you torture him as well, Draco," Lucius said.

"F- you," Draco spat. The curse hit him almost before the word 'Crucio' left Lucius' brain. He was thrown backwards and landed painfully on the floor, but that pain was nothing compared to the slow burning heat that filled his body; it felt like every bone in his body was being pulled apart from every other bone with agonizing slowness.

As the pain ebbed away, he lay trembling on the floor. "Get up, Draco," came the cold command. He looked up to see Harry wildly struggling to free himself, his eyes piercing Draco to ask if he was ok. For his sake, to wipe that look off his face, Draco forced his legs to bear up under his weight. As he got up, Lucius propelled him till he was directly in front of Harry. Pulling Harry's head back till he was forced to look up into Draco's face, Lucius hissed, "Your filthy plan has failed Potter. You thought by ensnaring my son, you could end this Pureblood line you envy. But Draco weds tomorrow. And he will produce heirs for the line." There was savage triumph in every word.

And then his Father, his hero, turned to him with a soft smile.
"And tonight Draco, if you don't kill him, I shall torture him with your wand. While you watch. And use the same wand to kill him."

Draco started trembling again, his eyes met Lucius'. Wide and disbelieving.
Lucius sighed, "You don't believe me, Draco?" He pointed his wand at Harry. The chair suddenly rose three feet in the air and turned upside down so hard that Harry's head banged into the ground. "Crucio", came the soft command.

"No! No! STOP it...please!" Draco screamed, his legs bound by Lucius' spell, watching horror-struck as Harry writhed in the chair, his head banging against the floor, the table at the side. Lucius watched his son, then removed the curse and Harry fell, with the chair on top of him. For one, terrible sickening second Draco thought he was dead. Then he groaned. As Draco tried moving, Lucius kicked out at Harry and flipped the chair over.

"Crucio, Draco, is child's play. I can make him believe he's on fire...drive him to insanity. I can slit all his veins and force him to drink the blood. That would be entertaining wouldn't it? Let's try it." He raised his wand. A single slit appeared along Harry's hand and he let out a wild cry of pain.

"No!" Draco tried to move but fell forward, tears streaming down his face as he saw the blood flow down Harry's arm.

"Please, stop it. Not anymore." He screamed at Lucius, who pulled away the wand.

"Are you ready then, Draco?" he asked feigning surprise.

"Yes. Just stop that. No further…" Draco pushed himself up. Lucius' laughter filled the room as he walked to his son.

"I shall be watching you, Draco. And if you try and turn that wand on me, I shall cast an undying spell on him. Which means Draco, that whatever form of torture I curse him with, will be unremovable after my death."

Draoc shuddered as his Father handed him the wand. He slowly turned to Harry, who was dazed with pain, white and bleeding. His eyes begged Harry to understand.

"Faster, Draco. You don't want me to warm him up for death, do you?" Lucius asked, with a laugh.

Draco stared straight into Harry's eyes, trying to ask his forgiveness, "As the curse leaves my wand I shall kill myself too." His eyes said. Harry's eyes widened.

Trembling worse than ever, Draco raised his wand and pointed it at Harry.

"A…" He couldn't say it. He couldn't wipe the life shining out of those green eyes. He couldn't take away the one reason he had to live. Closing his eyes he took a deep breath. Then opened them, he wanted to die looking at Harry.

"Avad…"

"…armus!" the spell knocked Lucius off his feet and into the desk behind him.

Draco's half-uttered curse hung in the air, then seemed to vapourize. He glanced down at his wand, at Harry – oh! blissfully alive!- and then over to the corner his mother stood, wand out, eyes blazing, Lucius' wand trapped in her hand.

"Get up, Draco." She ordered, moving into the room.

"Mother…"

"Draco. Get up now." She twirled her wand in Harry's direction and the ropes fell away like dead things. The reaction was setting in now – and Draco was realizing just how close he'd come to killing this man before him. Who seemed to be staying onto the chair by sheer willpower.

Tottering to his feet he stood there, blinking stupidly. His mother was now standing over Lucius, who was regaining consciousness.

"Take him and go." She nodded to Harry. Draco opened his mouth to argue – he knew that if he left now, it was forever. Or until his father died. Knew too, that his mother didn't mean she approved of his choice, only that she hated Lucius' way of talking things out. He opened his mouth – then shut it again. He didn't know what to say.

His mother rolled her eyes impatiently, "Draco. Go. Now. I don't want to have to battle your father in front of Potter." The name snapped him back to attention. He leapt to Harry's side.

"Are you up to Apparating?" he asked him.

"Do I have a choice?" Harry croaked.

"Well – we could wait for Father to come around fully and have us escorted off the premises."

"Thanks, I'd rather go out in your arms than in a coffin," Harry muttered, wrapping himself around Draco's waist.

"Let's go – and Dra – try not to Side-Along Apparate this chair with me, I'd rather not carry anything but you away from this house."

Draco looked down into the green eyes, still blurred with pain, but with a spark of laughter rising up from their depths. An answering grin forced itself through on his face. He held Harry closer, prepared to Apparate. Then, as he heard his Father groan and sit up, he hesitated a moment, waited until he'd got Lucius' eye – and bent down and kissed Harry, as they Apparated away, to whatever future. Together.