A/N – Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing this story. Just a word of warning, these next few chapters are going to be a bit rough going. We're heading towards the end of this story, and there's still plenty more to cover. I won't deny that there are dark moments in these next few chapters, but there's also brighter times ahead.
The week after Hogwarts reconvened after the Easter break was absolute torture for Draco. Every day he waited anxiously for Voldemort or his father to send for him and inform him of their next dastardly plan. With each day that passed without being summoned, Draco couldn't help but worry just what Voldemort had in store for the Order. Although he still didn't feel safe using Tipsy to try and warn the Order of any possible attack as he remained convinced his father was watching him, or at least had one of his elves watching him. He also waited for any news of Theo and Blaise, but at least when he received no news of them, he was taking it to mean they were still safe and sound and out of the dark's clutches.
Finally, early on Sunday afternoon, Draco was summoned to his father's study. With a sense of dread, Draco headed to Lucius's study, where he found Voldemort, his father and his aunt all waiting for him. All three of them were smirking wickedly, and Draco knew their next evil plan was in the works.
"It's time to get back to work, Draco," Voldemort announced. "It's going to be a busy afternoon. Are you ready?"
Draco didn't reply as he knew Voldemort's question was rhetorical. Besides, everyone in the room knew he would be lying if he said he was ready for action. They all knew he didn't want to be there, and he was only doing as he was told due to the hold Voldemort had over Lyra.
"You're to be dressed in your black robes and be in the front hallway in ten minutes," Voldemort ordered Draco. "As usual, you'll have no mask."
"May I ask where we're going?" Draco questioned, hoping that Voldemort hadn't got a lead on Blaise and Theo and they weren't heading for whatever safe haven his girlfriend and daughter were hiding at.
"No, you may not," Voldemort barked sharply. "You get told what you need to know, and not a thing more. Now go and get changed, Draco, before I lose my temper."
"Yes, My Lord," Draco muttered, turning and hurrying out of the study before The Dark Lord changed his mind and decided to punish him by hurting Lyra.
Draco half expected to find Narcissa in his room when he returned, but there was no sign of his mother as he dressed in dark clothes and pulled on the black Death Eater robes his father had provided him with. Draco remained in his room for as long as possible in case his mother put in an appearance, but eventually he had to return downstairs without seeing his mother and saying goodbye.
"At least you're punctual, Draco," Voldemort remarked when Draco arrived in the front hallway, where Voldemort, Lucius and Bellatrix were all waiting for him. "Lucius will take you where we're going. I want maximum destruction and absolute carnage, is that understood?"
"Yes," Draco replied, knowing that this time Voldemort required an answer.
"There's to be no mercy shown, Draco," Voldemort warned. "Death or serious injury are the only results I want this afternoon. Any mercy from you will be severely punished."
As he spoke, Voldemort pulled Lyra's ribbon from his robes and ran the spotty material through his pale fingers. The implication was clear for Draco to see, and he nodded grimly to let Voldemort know he understood what would happen if he messed up.
"It's show time," Voldemort announced, surprising Draco by pulling a silver mask of his own out of his robes and placing it over his face so that he looked like just another Death Eater. "Let's go."
At Voldemort's order, Lucius roughly grabbed hold of Draco's arm, and the pair vanished from Malfoy Manor with a loud crack. When they landed, Lucius immediately let go of Draco. Draco took a small step away from his father as he took in his surroundings. The foursome had landed on a green hillside, and Draco could see dark figures landing all around them. Looking down the hill, Draco could see a tall, odd shaped building that looked as though it was only standing through magic. Draco was confused as to where they were at first, but an old memory of the summer before third year when the Weasleys had won some money from a competition in the Daily Prophet sprung to his mind, and he could recall one of the pictures that had accompanied the article had been of the Weasleys strangely shaped house, which had been extended over the years using magic.
"The Burrow," Draco whispered to himself, recalling the name of the Weasleys family home.
"Correct Draco," Voldemort chuckled, having heard Draco's quiet exclamation. "Down there is the hovel the Weasleys live in. I'm not sure how many redheads are inside the house, but I've erected wards to prevent apparition in and around the house. I've also had a connection at the Ministry disconnect their floo network. We've got them surrounded, and there's no escape. Even if there's only a couple inside that house, they're ours for the taking. Don't let me down, Draco. You've taken out one Weasley, you can take out a few more."
Draco nodded, all the time scanning the house below him, hoping and praying that none of the family were home. Although Draco knew it was a long shot to hope that not one of the Weasleys would be present at their family home. He knew Ron and Ginny were safe at Hogwarts, and he suspected Fred was with George, wherever his twin was hiding. But that still left Molly, Arthur, and the three eldest Weasley brothers. Any of them could be at home, or if they were really unlucky all five of them could be in the house unaware of the carnage that awaited them.
Before Draco had much chance to dwell on what lay ahead, Voldemort gave the order to charge. In a cloud of frightening noise the Death Eaters began to surround The Burrow. Draco was caught up in the crush, and before he knew it, he was standing in the Weasleys back garden. He could already see movement inside the house, so he knew that the place wasn't empty. Chances were the Weasleys had worked out that they couldn't escape via the normal methods, and they would now be working out how to escape from the deadly ring of Death Eaters they found surrounding their house.
"Get that door down," Voldemort's voice called somewhere from Draco's left hand side. With all the Death Eaters, Draco no longer knew which one was Voldemort, or even which ones were his father and aunt.
Eager to do as Voldemort wanted several Death Eaters raised their wands and aimed spells at the back of the Weasleys house. So many spells had been shot at the house that the door didn't just open, it fell off its hinges. The windows at the back of the house shattered and even some bricks collapsed at the sheer force of the spells hitting the building. With entry into the house available a strong force of Death Eaters surged forward and entered the property.
Draco chose to remain outside, and rather than following the crowds into the house and risk getting crushed, he set off around the perimeter of the house. He could hear the Death Eaters entering the house from both the back and the front, and he felt sorry for those trapped inside. He really wished there was something he could do to help save them, but he knew his hands were tied and he was useless. All he could really do was try and stay out of the action and avoid being put in a position where he had to face a Weasley.
Draco was halfway around the house when he heard a noise above him. Looking up, he saw a window at the very top of the house opening. The next thing he knew two rickety broomsticks stuttered out of the window, with the two eldest Weasleys perched on them. From where Draco was standing the brooms didn't look that safe, or all that fast, but at least it was a way of the Weasleys getting to safety.
Draco was practically standing under the broomsticks as they hovered beside the window for a few minutes. He was too far below to hear whatever was being said, but it was clear that there were more people in the house. Draco suspected the two Weasleys were trying to get more of their family to join them on the broomsticks, but quite rightly no-one was wanting to risk weighing the old brooms down even further. As it was, Draco knew the two boys were going to have to use all their flying skills to be able to fly out of danger on such old brooms. But to add more weight to the brooms would be suicidal.
"Around here!" A voice suddenly called and Draco turned his attention away from the brooms in front of him to find a couple of Death Eater rounding the corner from the front of the house.
Fortunately the Weasleys on brooms heard the shouts and they turned away from the house and flew off into the open. Unsurprisingly the brooms weren't very speedy, and Draco winced as spells the Death Eaters were shooting at them whizzed close by their heads. Hoping the boys got away, Draco tucked himself back into the shadows and jogged back towards the rear of the house before the Death Eaters spotted him and reported him to Voldemort for not attacking the two wizards.
Back at the rear of the house, Draco spotted figures on the hilltops where the Death Eaters had arrived. None of the figures were in black, so Draco was guessing it was the reinforcements of the Order. Hoping that the Order could stop the attack and force the dark to retreat, Draco headed around the other side of the house to avoid any confrontation as it seemed all the commotion was coming from inside the house and over the side where the two eldest Weasleys had escaped.
As he carefully picked his way down the side of the Weasleys house, which was a bit overgrown as though it was a side of the garden they rarely used, Draco spotted another open window. Only this window was on the ground floor, and as he watched the head of Molly Weasley appeared in front of him. Quickly checking no-one was around to see him, Draco rushed forward to help Molly out through the window.
"Thank you," Molly whispered as she squeezed her ample body through the small window. She'd found herself locked in the pantry when the Death Eaters had broken into her house, but she knew her safe haven wouldn't be safe for long, hence why she was trying to escape from a small window. "Do you know if any of my family are alive?"
"I saw the two oldest boys fly off on brooms," Draco replied. "They exited from the other side of the house, right from the top floor."
"I think the boys and Arthur must have ran to the attic," Molly said as Draco helped her to her feet. "I don't suppose you saw Arthur, did you?"
"No, but the brooms wouldn't have held three," Draco answered.
He was just about to tell Molly about the Order coming from the rear of the property, when he spotted a movement in the shadows of some nearby bushes. Pushing Molly behind him, he ordered her to run as he kept an eye on the moving shadows. Draco didn't dare look back to see if Molly was getting away as he kept alert for someone springing from the shadows and surprising him. After almost five minutes, he couldn't hear Molly behind him, nor could he see any movements in the bushes. Striding forward, he poked around in the bushes and found they were empty.
"I'm bloody paranoid," he muttered to himself as he hurried off towards the front of the house thinking that no-one had seen him help Molly escape. However, what he'd missed when he'd searched the bushes was Voldemort's loyal snake, Nagini.
Unaware that Nagini had seen everything, and the connection Voldemort had with his pet snake, Draco joined the forces at the front of the house. That was where he was when Voldemort gave the order to retreat, and out of nowhere his father appeared and apparated home with him. When they landed, Draco didn't even get to find out if there'd been any injuries or deaths at the attack, as Lucius dismissed him and said that Voldemort would send for him when he was ready.
Despite wanting to know how things stood with the Weasleys, Draco obediently returned to his room and changed. There was still no sign of his mother as he headed for a shower, and then settled down to wait for Voldemort to send for him. Draco was hopeful he would get to see his mother soon and confide in her what had happened, but right now, all he could think about were the Weasleys and if any of them had escaped. He certainly hoped they'd escaped, or if they hadn't he hoped that the Order had arrived in enough time to save their lives.
As it turned out, Draco waited for nearly three hours before Voldemort sent for him. One of Lucius's elves came to get him, and instead of taking him to Lucius's study, he took him to the large ballroom that was usually only used on special occasions. Draco entered the room, worried about what was in store for him. He was even more worried when he spotted his mother sitting in a hard backed chair, Lucius standing on one side of her, Bellatrix on the other. Voldemort stood a few feet away from the trio, with Nagini curled around his feet.
"I heard a few interesting tales today, Draco," Voldemort began. "Nagini tells me you let the Weasley woman escape. A couple of my other Death Eaters also say they saw you watching as the two Weasley boys flew away. Are they lying?"
"I don't recall seeing the Weasley woman," Draco lied. He didn't know if he could get away with lying to The Dark Lord, but it was worth a try as he knew admitting the truth would only result in him ending up in trouble. "And as for the boys, by the time I spotted them, several Death Eaters were already dealing with them. I assumed they had control of the situation."
"I'd willingly give you the benefit of the doubt over the boys," Voldemort said, sounding unusually kind. "Especially since my Death Eaters brought them both down. Unfortunately they let them escape again, but they were both hurt in the attack. However, I've seen what Nagini witnessed. You didn't just let the Weasley woman go, you helped her escape. You disobeyed me, Draco."
"Sorry," Draco whispered, wincing slightly at the harsh tone Voldemort's voice had taken as he continued speaking. He no longer sounded kind, he sounded angrier than Draco had ever heard him.
"It's too late for sorry," Voldemort seethed, pulling Lyra's ribbon from his robes and holding it up for Draco to see. "I hope saving the Weasley woman was worth it, because now you're going to lose your daughter."
"No," Draco cried, lurching forward to try and grab the ribbon and being stopped via a stunning spell from his aunt's wand. "Please, I'll do anything," he pleaded.
"I was hoping you would say that," Voldemort replied with a slow smirk. "Bella, let your nephew go."
With a flick of her wand, Bellatrix released the hold she had over Draco. Even though Draco's every instinct was to carry on towards Voldemort and take back his daughter's ribbon, he knew it would do no good, so he halted where he was, waiting to see what Voldemort would have him do.
"I'm not happy Draco," Voldemort said. "I thought you understood our deal. Maybe I overestimated how much you loved your little brat of a daughter. I thought you would do anything to save her life."
"I will," Draco hissed. "Hurt me all you want, just don't hurt my daughter. I can behave, and I promise to never disobey you again."
"Before I believe anything you say, you have to prove yourself to me again," Voldemort said. "If you don't want me to snap the lovely little ribbon, you're going to do exactly as I say. Lucius, bring your wife forward."
Draco watched with wide eyes as Lucius roughly grabbed hold of Narcissa's arm and all but hurled her to the floor in front of Voldemort. Over the last few months, Draco had lost all respect for his father, and in fact he hated him for his role in Voldemort's plan, but he'd never thought he would see the day when he would be so rough with Narcissa. Despite Lucius's faults, Draco had always thought that his father loved his mother. Clearly the love Lucius felt for his wife had vanished, possibly around the time he'd abandoned his love for Draco and callously used his own granddaughter in such a despicable way.
"I didn't want to have to do this, Draco," Voldemort said softly. "But you've left me no choice. To save your daughter, you must sacrifice your mother. I think a blast of the Cruciatius Curse will do for starters."
"No," Draco gasped, gazing down at Narcissa, who looked as horrified as he felt.
"Yes," Voldemort replied, waving Lyra's ribbon in front of Draco. "Do it or your daughter's short life comes to an end."
"Please Draco," Narcissa begged, tears pooling in her light blue eyes. "I can cope. Do this for Lyra."
"I can't," Draco whispered brokenly, tears springing to his own eyes.
"I'm losing patience," Voldemort snapped, draping Lyra's ribbon over his wand.
Draco knew that the right spell would slice the ribbon in two before he could even blink, but still he hesitated. When Narcissa begged him to just do it again, he slowly pulled his wand from his pocket. With shaking hands, he raised his wand and pointed it at his now sobbing mother.
"Do it," Voldemort ordered with glee.
"Draco, now," Narcissa pleaded.
"Cru…Cru…Crucio," Draco stammered, finally spitting out the awful curse, as he succumbed to tears and began to cry as he cursed the witch who had been there for him his entire life.
Due to Draco's tears and his lack of will the curse wasn't at all powerful, and when it hit Narcissa it was more like a dull pain than the searing pain normally associated with the curse. However, despite her tears, Narcissa was alert and she cried out as though she was in terrible agony. Although to be honest she really was in agony as she watched her son suffer, it was just more mental than physical.
"Not good enough," Voldemort called. He had enough experience with dark curses to know that the spell Draco had cast wasn't causing that much damage.
"It's the best I can do," Draco sobbed, dropping his hand.
"Try again," Voldemort ordered, jabbing his wand with Lyra's ribbon draped over it towards Draco.
With shaking hands and tears obscuring his sight, Draco tried yet again to curse his mother. However, even the danger to his precious daughter couldn't produce a strong enough spell to satisfy Voldemort.
"I've had enough. It's time to end this," Voldemort snarled. With a flick of his wand, the ribbon draped over it snapped in two and fluttered down to the floor.
"No!" Draco howled, lunging at Voldemort yet again as he watched the two pieces of his daughter's ribbon break in two. Somewhere to the side of him, he heard his mother's anguished cry as she also witnessed the destruction of Lyra's ribbon.
Voldemort was ready for Draco's attack and he swiftly elbowed the younger wizard in the ribs, causing him to fall to the ground. Draco fell just beside Lyra's ribbon, and taking the two parts into his hands, he clutched them to his chest as he sobbed for his daughter. He felt as though he'd failed Lyra, and all he could do now was hope and pray that Dumbledore's spell had been successful and instead of being dead, Lyra was merely in a coma, which she could one day be woken from. Not that Draco was sure he would ever find out either way, as he strongly suspected that his end was fast approaching.