Harry's POV:

I was beginning to lose faith. The sun was so high and mighty in the sky, letting its rays fall so royally onto the grass before me and grandly announcing that it was daytime to the world. My heart hurt as I thought that the note I had left him had not even been touched. He had not come back yet. But he would come back. He had to. I loved him.

But why, then, was he still not here? Had something happened to him? Come to think of it, he didn't have a wand. There was no way for him to contact me in any way. He could be in trouble, or just stuck somewhere.

But wait! He couldn't apparate without a wand! As far as I knew, Cygnus wasn't that talented. Not even I'm that talented. Not even the teachers at Hogwarts are that talented. Only Dumbledore, and Voldemort, and maybe a few Death Eaters were that talented. But then, if Cygnus didn't apparate away, what had happened to him? I could feel my chest hammering. I didn't even know how to find him, or where he went when he wasn't here. Come to think of it there were a lot of things that I didn't know about Cygnus. I had no idea who he had been, or who he was to society, or what his favorite color was. I only knew the Cygnus I had spent my days with. I was in a situation that was awfully familiar. I hadn't known a lot about Dumbledore, either. But, I found out about him from Aberforth, and he sort of told me some stuff himself when I was dead, or whatever. And yet there was no one to fill me in about Cygnus if he wasn't here to tell me himself. Where was he?

If I was to find out, I needed to contact him. I would send a letter, but I didn't have an owl anymore, nor did I have a fireplace, or Floo Powder, or any idea where he was. The only means of communication I might have left to use would be a Patronus, and I didn't know how risky that would be, and he wouldn't be able to send one back unless he is in the position to borrow someone's wand. And even then, I had no idea what his Patronus looked like to make sure it was really him.

But do I really have a choice?

I sighed. It really didn't feel like I did. It was either wait here for someone who might not be able to come back, or send my Patronus and hope for the best. I pulled out my wand. A few days ago, spending time with Cygnus, not a care in the world… "Expecto Patronum!" My very own stag burst from the tip, trotting away and disappearing into the earth to deliver my message. I had thought hard of what I wanted it to say.

I don't know where you are, but I'm sorry.

3rd Person POV:

He had been so positively evil. It felt wrong in the best possible way. And never would they suspect anything until it was too late. Sometimes, he thought they underestimated him, by far.

Really, it was a shame that even with the clever Ms. Granger there with them that none of the escapees had bothered to think that I would just let them waltz out of here without anything in their way. But of course, he knew he was much smarter than that. He was Lucius Malfoy, and he would take his son back if he had to drag him back by the hair. And for some awful reason, he hoped he would.

An evil smile came to his face when he felt it at last. It was like a galloping horse, pounding in the direction of his filthy traitor of a son. Spreading through his whole body, it was as if he himself was being sent to Hogwarts to relay a message to him. It had been foolish of his little friend to think that he could bust my son out of this house. And now he was sending a message to him while Lucius had cast a spell so he would know where Draco was just by following where his letters were being sent. Of course, this wasn't a letter. Oh no, it was a Patronus. The Potter boy's very own. And now, Lucius was about to make his way to Draco, staying in a room near Gryffindor Tower.

Lucius turned and appeared again just before the entrance of Hogwarts, looking up at the enormous success of its reconstruction. He let his lips curve up into a smile, and walked right into the school.

The Patronus had finally arrived to Draco, who had been chatting with his mother until they had seen it.

"I don't know where you are, but I'm sorry," the stag had said. Immediately, Draco felt saddened.

"Draco, what on earth?"

He sighed. "Mother, I've been disguising myself. Hermione gave me this ring, and I become a different person when I wear it; Cygnus. Well, while I was wearing my ring one day, I met this boy, and we hit it off. Long story short, that boy turned out to be Harry Potter in disguise. And right after he confessed, Hermione pulled me away for that trial I told you about, where father took me. Harry has no idea that I'm Cygnus, so he must think Cygnus left because Harry lied to him. That's why he's apologizing." The stag melted away, leaving Draco staring at the spot it had been.

Narcissa smiled, happy for her son to have a life more than the torture ha had endured while with his father. "Why don't you tell him who you really are?" She stood from the edge of the bed. "Come. Let's go right now and tell him."

Draco smiled sadly at the ground. "I'd love to, mother, but it will take too long to get to where Harry is waiting. I wish we had wands."

At the mention of wands, Narcissa asked, "You don't have your wand?"

He shook his head. "No, father took it from me when I first returned home."

A certain wistfulness passed over the both of them as they both craved the ability to do magic once more without difficulty. And there was a knock at the door, raising their hopes that just maybe their wishes would come true.

"That must be Harry or Hermione," said Draco.

"Ah yes," Narcissa walked to the door, "for my trip to the Ministry. Do not worry, my dear Draco. We will have a wand soon enough." Narcissa opened the door.

"Well hello, Narcissa. How wonderful to see you. Did Azkaban treat you well?"

Narcissa's smile faded and she back away. "What are you doing here?"

Completely ignoring her question, Lucius went on. "I really hope you liked it there, because I have a feeling you'll be returning very soon."

"Only if it's for murder of my late husband," she spat, her eyes staring daggers.

Impervious to the death threat, Lucius chuckled. "Well, I am not here to have a reunion with you. I am here for my son."

Narcissa back up more and placed herself before Draco to shield him. "You are no father of his. You do not belong to the family anymore, you bloody bastard."

Lucius merely shook his head. "Where have your manners gone, Cissy? Surely they taught you to speak better than that to the prison guards. I doubt they are ones to enjoy insults."

"I wouldn't have been there in the first place if it hadn't been for you. They were about to find me innocent before you opened your mouth and whispered your words to the Wizengamot. How could you do that to your own wife?"

"How, you ask? Oh it was so simple, actually, but I'm afraid that is a story for later. Right now," Lucius made eyes contact with Draco just over Narcissa's shoulder, "I must be taking my son."

"He will never go anywhere with you."

Draco was frozen in place. He and his had nowhere to escape to, no one to save them, nothing to use in their defense. They had nothing, and his father had everything. Draco wept for his mother in front of him, knowing it couldn't be long before she would not be able to protect him anymore, or worse. He would much rather let his mother jump out the window behind them than to let his father do anything to her. At least if she jumped out the window, there was a chance that someone would see her and save her. With his father, he knew there was one way out, and he regretted ever being foolish enough to return to the manor, no matter how much he had wanted to see his mother, or how insane he had been; all of it was no excuse. He wished, for his mother's sake, that he had never been born.

Lucius held a hand out, still looking at Draco. "Come, Draco. Don't let your mother take your fall. It would be much wiser to give yourself now."

Feeling Draco take a step forward, Narcissa whispered back to him, "Draco, don't listen to him. The moment he does something to me, you run for your life. Get teachers, students, friends; anyone who will help. Do not give yourself for me."

"Oh come, now Draco. Surely you don't want your mother to suffer a fate worse than you have ever experienced. Or would you rather her have to suffer before I drag you from here?" Lucius's voice grew vicious. "I will take you from here, Draco, and if your mother must die, then so be it."

More tears fell from Draco's eyes as the words had been spoken. "No! I'll go! Just, don't hurt her!"

"Draco, no!"

All in an instant, Narcissa held back Draco, and Lucius cast a green curse across the room. The odd light added a sickly hue to the pale skin of Draco as it past right by his head, nearly missing him. He felt his mother tense and whisper just in his ear, "Draco, live." And then his mother's arms slackened their grip, and her body fell to the floor with a thud, motionless.

For a moment, both Lucius and Draco stared. Draco could not believe what had just happened. But mother had…but surely she was…how could the spell have… His heart seemed to stop dead in his chest. Lucius used his foot to nudge her arm, to see if she stirred, but she did not.

"She is dead," Lucius said simply. He then looked back to Draco holding out his hand. "You will come willingly, or suffer the same fate as your mother."

Draco continued to stare. "I'll go, just…" he kneeled next to his mother, lying helpless on the floor. He placed his forehead against hers, still warm, and whispered back to her, "I'm sorry, mother."

Tired of waiting, Lucius took Draco by the arm and pulled him to the door, and walking down the hall without mercy. Draco clumsily tried to stand back up, achieving success on his third attempt, and let his father drag him out of Hogwarts without any more fight left in him. He had let his mother die. And so he deserved to die. He had apologized to his mother for not being able to keep her last request. And even after his father had taken him back to the manor, walking the familiar halls that could only lead to one place, he apologized once more.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to no one. "I can't do it. I'm sorry."

Narcissa's POV:

I hadn't known how long I had been out for, but I awoke with a start, sitting up immediately on the floor in Harry Potter's room. I thanked Merlin for my emergency potion pill.

It is quite a long story as to why I have it, but I have always kept it for a moment like this, hidden underneath a fake tooth. Severus had always told me it would come in handy one day, though he had expected it would be a situation with Draco and the Dark Lord, not Lucius.

Once upon a time, I had a tooth knocked out during a "training session" with my sister, Bella. It had been on the Dark Lord's orders since I had not, he thought, provided enough encouragement to my son when he had many failed attempts to kill Dumbledore. I went to Severus, hoping he would fix it, and was instead offered a clever plan to get around death when a killing curse was tossed my way.

"I have this pill," he had said in his usual drab voice, "which contains Draught of Living Death. All you do when you need it, is to remove your tooth and chew the tablet. It will cause you to appear dead, though you are actually in a deep sleep. When you awaken, you will be able to save poor Draco from whatever torture the Dark Lord will be handing him. As I have promised, I will protect him, but if I am, for whatever reason, unavailable, you will be able to do so."

I agreed. And all this time later, it had finally come to my aid.

While the spell had missed me and almost hit Draco, I understood that if Lucius thought he had killed me, he would not think anyone would know that he took Draco. But now, I could help my son without Lucius suspecting anything.

I sprinted as fast as I could, trying to remember how exactly the school was laid out, but deciding it didn't matter who I talked to as long as I talked to someone. The first person who I happened to find was the headmistress, who was pacing just outside the hallway where the room was.

She seemed to be confused of my presence here. "Narcissa Malfoy? Why are you here?"

"I have no time to explain all of that. My son, Draco, is in trouble and I need as much help as I can get. Call every able wizard you know that is available, most importantly Hermione Granger and Harry Potter."

Without question, she nodded and pulled out her wand. From her wand, several cats came, all silvery and with spectacles around their eyes, leaping all to different directions. "Let us go to my office and wait for everyone's arrival. Meanwhile, you can explain to me exactly how Draco is in trouble."

We made our way, up to her office, and I explained everything. She took in everything, nodding. When we had finally arrived to her office, there were several people already there waiting for us, though we had not been that long. At my confused look, the headmistress explained.

"We had been expecting something to happen today, we just hadn't known what exactly to expect, nor when it would come."

Hermione Granger came forward and offered the remainder of the story, though her eyes were red and puffy. "See, Professor McGonagall had heard a prophecy about Harry and Draco. We found out that some sort of big event was to happen soon with Draco and Harry, but…oh poor Draco! What are we going to do? How did he even find him here?"

I shook my head. "I don't know."

A familiar man stepped forward, his royal purple robes drawing a memory from my mind like blood. In his deep voice that had once sentenced me to Azkaban, he said, "We must find out once we have this settled." I felt a touch nervous as a part of my mind reminded me that I was an escaped criminal.

Another, who I could not see, called out, "Well why are we still waiting, then? Let's go save the weasel!"

"We can't, George!" Hermione Granger shouted. "We have to wait for Harry!"

A boy with flaming red hair stepped forward. "What is taking him so long, Mione? He'd usually be here by now."

"He's still waiting, Ron, but he has to come. He's just got to."

"If we must, we will go without him. If the situation is really serious, there is no time to waste."

"No! We have to wait for Harry! The prophecy!"

"Ms. Granger, the prophecy did not speak of when in the day it would happen. Harry can very well arrive later and no harm will be done. We must act now."

Through all the arguing, none other than Harry Potter came through the door, short of breath and wary. "I'm here!" he shouted, "Let's go!"

"Everyone join hands," and at Hermione Granger's command, everyone in the room had joined hands, me being between the Minister and Harry Potter. "Hold on tight."

She apparated everyone to the gates of Malfoy Manor. I walked forward without hesitation and the gates opened. Everyone followed me in, and we made our way to Draco.

Draco's POV:

My mind began to unravel with the pain. I could only make out a few things of what my father said, but it didn't matter anymore. I could sense feeling fading away. This was my end.

"Crucio!"

Another wave of endless pain came my way. I could feel the blood seeping into my lungs, drowning me in my own blood. It was difficult to make clear thoughts anymore. Everything was a big blur of pain and hopelessness swirling and swirling with the blackness of the Throne Room as I slowly came closer and closer to where life stopped and horrible began.

"You don't deserve to be my son! You couldn't even save your own mother! You just let her die for you like a human shield. How disgraceful! You are no son of mine! You are nothing but a pest! Insolent, uncaring, ignorant filth!"

Invisible swords cut my skin, their blades burning everything it touched like fire, boiling my damaged body. I tried to inhale to keep myself alive, choking again and spitting up more and more blood, unable to stop.

"Do not dirty my floor with your traitorous blood, your dishonorable cells. You make me sick! How can you live with yourself! Why do you not call death to your door, begging for mercy from your unworthy existence?"

My very own bones seemed to be attacking my body, radiating needle-like punctures into my limbs, rendering me motionless and unable to do nothing but scream and regurgitate blood.

"Look at you! Can't even hold down your lunch? Disgusting. You don't deserve to live. But look at my generosity; I have decided to spare you in return for your absolute promise that you will not be such a disgrace any longer. Of course, I must punish you for your misdeeds. Crucio!"

I hadn't noticed that the spell had ended, nor that it had been cast at me again. All I knew was pain. This whole world was pain. But I was sick of this world.

Suddenly, all was quiet. My father tossed me across the room, and I heard the distinct crack of my bones beneath me and felt the flow of blood out of my body. More silence for what seemed like hours as I came closer to whatever fate was awaiting me. There was more screaming, and light flashed behind my eyelids, but I didn't dare open them. The ground below me quivered, and suddenly arms were around me.

"Draco, my sweet dragon, you promised me you would stay alive." My mother's sweet voice called to me. I figured Death awaited me, and slowly allowing me to go with him.

"I'm sorry, mother, but I'll be with you soon. I promise."

"Draco! Wake! You will not die!" Her voice was so close to me, but growing more and more distant as my body drained. My mouth would no longer form words. The cold floor beneath me started to soak into my skin and freeze my broken bones. "Draco!"

"Draco," another voice joined in. It was so sad sounding, I felt sorry that I was leaving so soon. "Draco, you have to open your eyes." A few drops fell onto a cut on my shoulder. "Open your eyes! I know you're alive. Please…" The voice made another part of me hurt. It was Hermione, but surely she wasn't dead. She must be my imagination. But still, her voice cut into my guilt and made it grow. "Open your eyes," she whispered.

With much effort, and some time, I finally willed my eyes to open, and I was surrounded. My mother was holding me, and Hermione was to her side, tears sliding down her eyes when I saw her.

"Oh, Draco, I was too late. I am sorry I was not faster to get here with help," my mother said, her voice somber as well.

And to her other side stood the love of my life, looking down at me with concern. "Well," he said in the voice I had fallen for so long ago, "let's take him to St. Mungo's. We have to hurry."

I stared into his bright green eyes, so beautiful, though he would never understand how much. With the last bit of my effort, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my ring, holding it up with a shaking hand to him. He looked confused, but took it, understanding growing on his face.

"No longer!" my father screamed to my other side, held by several men trying to restrain him without their wands. My father's own wand found its way out of the swirling limbs and pointed its tip straight at me. And I saw what was coming before it even came.

"Avada Kedavra!"

"I love you," I whispered to Harry. And the world faded.