Chapter Thirty One

A/N: No reviewers.

The huge grey-walled building was an imposing one, rising tall into the sky as if it were trying to break the clouds themselves apart. The grounds crept all along the horizon, stretching out as far as the eye could see. It was far more than the moderate family home she had enjoyed in Scotland, far more than a 'home' truly ought to be, but if any family would call this grandeur home, it would be the Malfoys.

Merida's heart pounded beneath her chest with every step she took along the gravel path. The crunching of stones beneath her feet seemed a thousand times louder now, though the calls of squabbling peacocks masked that sound somewhat. Every few seconds, she would look over her shoulder, as if she could feel someone following her. Perhaps it was just her instincts fooling her, for it stopped her from seeing the figure stood in the window of Malfoy Manor, half-hidden by the shadows.

The wrought-iron gates were an imposing sight, ivy from the tall hedges either side creeping across the metal like snakes in the undergrowth. Beneath the smells of wet grass and mud, there was a hint of a dark enchantment, the smell of sulphur and rusted metal. Draco had told her about this gate, the way his grandfather had enchanted it in the old days, in case Ministry officials should seek to persecute his son for his allegiance to Lord Voldemort. It was rather an ironic purpose now, she supposed; no one had ever thought to protect Lucius' family from the Dark Lord himself.

The redhead took a deep breath as she came to a halt before the gates. Before her eyes, the metal began to twist and turn, as if it were being shaped by an invisible hand, eventually forming a terrifying face, its lips parted in a snarl. "State your purpose!"

The voice was metallic, clanging and echoing along the hedges, but Merida tried to disguise her fear, raising her chin high and clenching her fists to stop her hands from shaking. Even if it was only a few pieces of metal animated by dark magic, it still felt wrong to show weakness.

"I need to see Draco Malfoy." the young woman stated, grateful when her voice came out strong and steady.

The gate paused from a moment, its face contorting as it seemed to study her, but as quickly as the face had appeared in the metal, it was gone again, and the iron bars moved aside to allow her entry. Merida let out a deep breath she did not realise she was holding, and proceeded up the driveway.

She came to a halt once more when she reached the front door, trying to summon the courage to knock. Perhaps it was not courage so much as foolhardiness, given the likelihood that whoever opened the door would want to execute her on sight, but there did not seem to be another choice. And so she raised her hand, ignoring its tremors, ready to seal her fate.

"What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?!" came an exclamation from across the garden, and Merida turned to see Draco stood there, dressed simply in a white button-down shirt and slacks, and wearing an expression of awestruck horror.

"Draco!" Merida cried in relief, bolting for her friend and throwing her arms around him. It had been so long since she had seen anyone involved in the war, so long that she had spent worrying about their safety. Unbidden, she felt tears stinging her eyes, all her pent-up emotions finally coming to the surface. "I'm so glad that you're alright."

"But you nearly weren't!" Draco shot back. "What were you thinking? You can't just go knocking on the door of the Death Eaters' headquarters, you'll get yourself killed."

"Well, I didn't have much of a choice." Merida protested weakly. "I couldn't risk sending an owl all the way from France, not with the amount of Death Eaters watching the skies."

"France?" Draco questioned, his brow furrowing.

Merida sighed. "My mother sent me to live with my cousin, Vevina. She didn't want me that close to Hogwarts, not since Professor Snape took over. She thought I would be safe in France."

"Then what are you doing here?" Draco pressed gently. He was looking at her as if she was mad. Of course he was; Draco could not imagine anything better than living hundreds of miles from the Dark Lord's army, when he had them living in his own home.

"That was what my mother wanted for me, it's not what I want." The words were those of a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, and so Merida was pleasantly surprised by how mature her voice sounded when she spoke them. "I don't want to stand on the sidelines, waiting for the news that my friends have fallen in battle. If I have to take that chance, the chance of losing everything I love, then I'm going to fight for it."

Draco stared at her for a second. And then he smiled. "You haven't changed at all. It doesn't matter if it's the Dark Lord himself trying to go against you; you'll never just let him win."

"Of course I won't." Merida smiled in return. She reached out slowly, tentatively, and took his hand in hers. "And neither will you. I know you, Draco, I know that you don't believe in what the Dark Lord is trying to do to the world. I don't think you ever did."

Draco looked over his shoulder, as if he feared that Lord Voldemort might appear from the ether and strike him down with a single curse. Even when he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "Meri, there's nothing I can do. He lives here now, he… he has my family. If I do anything against him, he'll hurt my mother. I couldn't bear to see anything happen to her, and I'm not going to give him that excuse. I'm sorry, but I can't."

Merida nodded slowly, pretending that her heart was not tearing in her chest. The only influence she could have had in the war, the only way she could have helped shorten it even by days… and she had failed.

"I understand." she sighed eventually, dropping her hand back down to her side. She could not quite bring herself to meet Draco's eye, but neither could she blame him. If Voldemort had her mother in his clutches, she imagined she would have done the same. "I'm going to go now. The Death Eaters could find us together any minute, and I don't want to be the one who gets your mother hurt."

She had turned and begun to head up the gravel drive again before either of them could blink, but Draco was faster. His hand had reached out to grasp her arm, pulling her back to face him. For a moment, Merida thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he quickly let her go again, standing a little taller as he looked her straight in the eye.

"Good luck, Meri." His voice was steady, though his eyes were pleading with her to be careful. He knew such a plea would be useless, and so he did not speak it out loud, but he could not let it go completely unacknowledged, in the slim hope that she might actually listen. "I hope I'll see you again soon."

They were empty words, and not completely true, because they both knew that the next time they met would likely be across a battlefield. But the look that passed between them was a comfort at least, however small a comfort it was. And as Merida retreated up the path, almost running in search of the Floo grate a few miles away that she had travelled through, she had to fight the urge to run back to Draco, to pretend for just a few seconds that everything truly would be alright.

But she could not believe that, not now, not when her final chance at a peaceful resolution had been lost. Now it was clearer than ever that there would only be one action to take, the one she had been trying to take all along. She was going to have to fight.

A/N: Even if he loves Meri as much as he does, Draco wouldn't risk his mother's safety for the sake of helping Harry Potter's cause, and so they're stuck! Still, hope you enjoyed and please review!