Sitting opposite her husband, Narcissa picked at her breakfast, her mind firmly on her son. The previous day, Lucius had arrived home from work in the middle of the day and had immediately gone to speak to Draco. Narcissa had known something was going on when her husband had then told her she would be dining alone, and that he and Draco were heading out. Narcissa still had no idea what had happened the previous night and Lucius wouldn't say anything about their activities. However, whatever had been going on had put him in a good mood, and for the first time since being back at the manor Narcissa had been expected to perform her wifely duties in the bedroom.
Even with their separation in recent years, Narcissa had never being opposed to going to bed with Lucius, and it was something that had happened fairly often. Despite everything, he was still her husband and she'd still loved him. However, her love had died the day he'd stood back and let Voldemort torture their granddaughter and brand their son with the Dark Mark. Her attempts to talk some sense to him that night had just proved that she'd lost him forever and now she hated him with a passion. As for sex, it was just something she was going to have to put up with until Dumbledore defeated Voldemort and she and Draco would once again be free of Lucius.
"We'll be having dinner early tonight," Lucius suddenly announced, dragging Narcissa from her thoughts. "And it want it to be something special, not just a drab meal thrown together in a few hours."
"I'll inform the elves," Narcissa replied.
"Make sure Draco knows," Lucius said, glancing at his son's empty chair with a slight scowl. "I expect him at dinner tonight. Then after dinner, we have a meeting so you can make yourself scarce."
"Fine." Narcissa nodded once, knowing the meeting Lucius was referring to was a Death Eater meeting.
Voldemort was still in residence at the manor, although Narcissa had seen very little of him since she'd been back. Although that was partly because she spent the majority of her time in her rooms upstairs, or with Draco. The only reason she even ate with Lucius was because he insisted on it. Luckily Voldemort hadn't joined them for any meals, but Narcissa suspected it was only a matter of time before he did so.
"And The Dark Lord and Bellatrix will be joining us for dinner," Lucius added as he got to his feet. "So needless to say, I expect both you and Draco on your best behaviour."
"Of course," Narcissa replied softly.
"I mean it Cissa," Lucius growled, stalking over to his wife and leaning down so he was directly in front of her face. "You and Draco have already embarrassed me more than enough. If either of you steps out of line again, you'll regret it. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes Lucius," Narcissa answered, refusing to back down and show just how intimidated she was by her husband.
"Good girl," Lucius replied condescendingly, as he pecked her on the cheek like a good husband and straightened back up. "I'll see you this evening, Narcissa."
"Have a good day at work," Narcissa offered, like the dutiful wife she wasn't.
"I always do," Lucius shot back, before he strode out of the room.
Despite wanting to see Draco and check he was okay, Narcissa decided it was best to deal with dinner arrangements first. Lucius had made it clear he wanted something special, which would mean giving the elves all day to prepare. It also meant she would have to spend a while preparing a menu that would be suitably impressive for her husband. She knew she couldn't leave everything up to the elves, as Lucius would not be impressed if he arrived home to find she had no idea what dinner was going to be.
Leaving the dining room, and settling in one of the living rooms, Narcissa spent the next half hour creating a decadent three course menu. When she'd settled on a menu, she sent for one of the elves and handed it over, along with instructions that dinner was to be served earlier than normal. Knowing the elves would ensure everything was sorted for dinner, Narcissa finally headed off upstairs to find her son.
When Narcissa knocked on Draco's door she got no answer, but knowing he wasn't likely to be anywhere else, she pushed the door open and poked her head inside the room. At first she thought Draco wasn't in the room as his bed was neatly made, and he wasn't sitting on the sofa in the corner beside the fire. Just as she was about to withdraw from the room, Narcissa suddenly spotted her son over the far side of the room. Draco was sitting on the floor, his back pressed against the wall with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head lowered.
"Draco," Narcissa tentatively called as she entered the room and approached her son.
When she got no response, Narcissa placed a gentle hand on her son's back. Slowly he raised his head, and Narcissa gasped at the sight of him. His face was deathly white, and his eyes rimmed red as though he'd been crying for hours. In fact Narcissa could still see traces of tears on her son's face.
"What happened?" She asked, sliding elegantly to the floor, and wrapping her arms around her son. Normally she wouldn't dream of sitting on the floor, but her son was in distress and that was more important that possibly getting her skirt dirty.
"It was horrible," Draco whispered in a broken voice as he leaned into Narcissa.
"What did they make you do?" Narcissa asked quietly. Part of her didn't want to know what terrible things her son had been forced to do, but she knew she could only really support Draco if she knew the full story.
"Torture," Draco replied in a low voice. "They made me torture Hermione's parents, and then they killed them. She's never going to forgive me for this, Mum. I've lost her."
As he spoke, Draco got more emotional, and his last words were delivered with a loud sob. Holding on tighter to her son, Narcissa hugged him to her as he cried. If she hadn't hated Lucius before, she certainly would have now. She couldn't believe he would be so cruel as to force Draco to participate in the torture and murder of the parents of the witch he had a child with. Lucius really was a monster, and she now knew there was no way back for him.
"Hermione will understand," Narcissa said soothingly as she stroked Draco's hair.
"How can she understand?" Draco questioned as he looked up at his mother. "I tortured her parents. I stood there and watched as they were killed, and I did nothing."
"You weren't doing nothing, you were protecting your daughter," Narcissa argued. "We all know if you'd tried to save the Grangers, you would have been condemning Lyra. Hermione will understand you had no choice. Lyra comes first, she knows that. And I promise you, as a mother, your children come before everything else. I'm not saying she won't be devastated by the loss of her parents, but it's better than her losing her daughter."
"I just didn't expect this," Draco admitted as he swiped away his tears and sat up straighter. "I knew they would make me do terrible things, but I didn't think they would do something to hurt Hermione. Even if Dumbledore and Potter defeat Voldemort, I now have to live with the knowledge I hurt Hermione. How will things ever be the same between us now? Even if she loves me, how can she forgive me for doing that to her parents?"
"Put yourself in her position," Narcissa suggested. "If Hermione was being forced into doing terrible things to save Lyra, would you hate her if she was involved in something happening to me? Just remember that if she didn't do as she was told, Lyra would die. Could you not forgive that?"
Draco was silent as he thought about what Narcissa was saying. He knew she was making sense, and if the positions were revered nothing Hermione could do would make him hate her. However, that didn't help alleviate his guilt. He doubted anything would ever make him feel anything other than deeply ashamed of what had happened the previous evening. Even knowing he was doing what he'd done to save his daughter's life, didn't help. He'd still done a terrible thing, and nothing could ever change that.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Draco," Narcissa said. "None of this is your fault."
"Maybe it is," Draco whispered. "I shouldn't have gotten involved with Hermione. I should have protected her and stayed away from her once Voldemort came back. I knew it was dangerous for us to be together, but I didn't care. I wanted to be with her, and I didn't think through the consequences."
"Don't regret falling in love, Draco," Narcissa urged her son. "Don't let this experience sour what you and Hermione have. You're perfect together, and one day you're going to be back with her and Lyra and you're going to have an amazing life together."
"Do you really believe that?" Draco asked, turning his head to face his mother.
Narcissa nodded as she gave her son a small smile. "I do. It's what gets me through the day, knowing our situation is just a blip. The light will prevail, and we will be free again. I know in my heart that you're going to be reunited with Hermione and Lyra, and you're going to watch your little girl grow up into an amazing young witch. I just know everything's going to work out."
"I wish I had your faith," Draco said with a sigh, as he once again rested his head on his mother's shoulder. With events of the previous night, it was hard to believe that his life could ever go back to been as good as it once was.
Narcissa pressed a light kiss to the top of her son's head as they sat quietly on the floor. The pair remained on the floor for another half hour, before Narcissa began to get uncomfortable. Getting to his feet, Draco helped his mother up, before heading into the bathroom to wash his face. Just as he was emerging from the bathroom, Tipsy appeared in the centre of the room.
"Tipsy," he exclaimed, rushing over to the elf. "Is everything okay? Is Lyra alright?"
"Little Miss Lyra is fine," Tipsy reassured him. "I've got a letter from Mistress Hermione. She said to remind you to destroy it afterwards so no-one finds it. She also said that she loves you, and that she and Little Miss Lyra are okay. Mr Blaise and Mr Theo are looking after them."
Draco felt a wave of relief wash over him at the revelation that Blaise and Theo were at Hermione's side, looking after her and Lyra. Taking the letter from Tipsy, he told the elf to pass on his love before she disappeared again and headed back to Hogwarts. Looking at the letter in his hand, Draco wondered why they hadn't thought of writing to each other sooner. It seemed easier than passing on quick messages via Tipsy, since the elf couldn't stay in the manor for more than a few minutes without being detected.
Joining his mother on the sofa in the corner of the room, Draco tore into the letter. Not believing what he was reading, he read it a second and a third time before it began to sink in that Dumbledore had protected Lyra the best way he could. Feeling a sense of relief sweeping over him, he handed the letter to his mother.
"Oh my," Narcissa gasped as she read the letter. "I suppose this is some sort of relief."
"It is," Draco agreed. "But I still don't intend to let Voldemort use that ribbon to hurt Lyra. And I certainly don't plan on letting him snap it."
"But at least we have hope if he just snaps and decides to do something terrible by tearing the ribbon out of spite," Narcissa pointed out.
"We have hope, but we can't let anyone else know that," Draco said as he carried the letter into the bathroom and put it in the sink. Using magic, he burnt the letter and flushed the charred remains down the toilet, before returning to his mother. "We have to make sure no-one realises that Lyra is protected."
"Don't worry Draco, we can manage that," Narcissa reassured her son. "Besides, even with Dumbledore's protection spells, Lyra still isn't completely safe. She might not be in as much pain, but she still feels discomfort. And if the worst happens, she won't die, but she'll be stuck in an endless sleep until we can defeat Voldemort. I don't think either of us will have to do any acting to convey how worried we are about Lyra."
"No, we won't," Draco agreed. "I just wish I could see her. I miss her so much."
"So do I," Narcissa replied, pulling Draco into a hug as he sat down beside her.
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Dinner wasn't exactly an enjoyable affair for Draco and Narcissa, but what followed next was even worse for Draco. After dinner, Narcissa had been banished to her rooms, while Draco prepared to attend his first Death Eater meeting. He didn't know what the meeting would involve, but he wasn't exactly looking forward to it.
Much to Draco's displeasure, Lucius insisted he was at his side as the Death Eaters began to arrive for the meeting. As the men filed into the large ballroom, which Lucius had arranged for the meeting, Draco could hear the comments and feel the looks he was receiving as he stood at his father's side. When everyone had arrived, Lucius made Draco enter the room at his side, and he deposited him in a chair near the bottom of the table, before he carried on to take his own place at the top of the table with Bellatrix.
Draco ignored the stares that came his way as he waited for The Dark Lord to enter the room. Luckily, he wasn't waiting long before Voldemort swept into the room, silencing any gossip that was still floating around the room.
"To begin, I just want to mention Draco," Voldemort said as he stood at the head of the table. "I'm sure a few of you are surprised to see him here, but Draco here is a lesson on what happens if you cross me. As everyone knows, I haven't pressured any of your children to join me. However, I did not expect the son of one of my most loyal men to get involved with a mudblood and get her pregnant."
"So the rumours are true," Goyle snorted. "I wasn't sure if I believed Greg when he mentioned what had happened in a letter a few days ago."
"Hopefully Draco will be a lesson for all your children," Voldemort said. "I don't expect them all to join me, but I don't expect them to go to the light either and betray me."
"Your son needs to watch out Nott," Parkinson said with a bitter chuckle. "He'll be next in line to feel the wrath of The Dark Lord."
"What?" Voldemort frowned. "What am I missing?"
"My daughter, Pansy, wrote to me a few days ago," Parkinson supplied. "She told me all about the fuss with Draco and the mudblood. But she reckons that since it all came out at school, young Theo Nott and the Zabini boy are standing by the Granger girl. Apparently they're spending every waking moment with her and the child."
"That's what Daphne said as well," Greengrass piped up. "According to her, Nott and Zabini had a right go and her and Pansy just for talking about what was going on."
"Nott, what do you know about this?" Voldemort questioned, turning to Nott in annoyance.
"Nothing, My Lord," Nott replied. "I haven't heard anything from my son since he went back to school after Christmas."
"I think it's time I met the younger generation, and reminded them just where their loyalties lie," Voldemort mused. "Nott, write to your son and find out what's happening. I also want him home at Easter so I can speak to him. Parkinson, Greengrass, you do the same with your girls, and Crabbe, Goyle, you can bring your boys back as well."
"What about the Zabini boy?" Bellatrix asked.
"I can't say I've heard of him," Voldemort said with a frown, as he turned to Draco. "Draco, what can you tell us about the Zabini boy? Who are his parents?"
"I've only met his mother," Draco answered, knowing it was pointless to lie to try and protect Blaise since Voldemort could find out what he wanted some other way. "I don't even know if he knows who his father is. Blaise's mother has had a string of husbands, all of whom seem to die in tragic accidents."
"Interesting," Voldemort muttered. "A black widow. Does she have any connection to the Dark Arts?"
"I don't think so," Draco replied. "Blaise isn't that way inclined."
"Maybe not now, but it sounds like he has potential," Voldemort said. "Nott, since he's so friendly with your son, see if you can get him to yours over the Easter break. I think it's time I got myself some younger recruits."
Draco spent the rest of the meeting worrying about his friends, and if they would be forced to take the mark like he'd been. He just hoped that Blaise and Theo could avoid that fate, and that they could continue looking after Hermione and Lyra. It helped Draco knowing his friends were with his family, and he wasn't sure how he would cope if Hermione was left all alone. He needed Blaise and Theo to stay with her if he had any chance of surviving whatever else Voldemort was going to throw at him in the coming months.