We are going for the locket the day after next. Voldemort isn't planning anything, is he?

Dread pooled in Draco's stomach as he read the words. His first instinct was to hide the parchment, but Regulus had already read it over his shoulder. Their trip to get Sirius was going to happen in two days whether Draco was ready or not.

Not that I know of. For the record, this is a horrid idea.

Be careful

Draco had hoped for more time before Harry officially started horcrux hunting. He was torn between wanting this all to be over and the paralysing fear of what stood between that. Once it became obvious that Harry wouldn't make his break into the ministry before school started, instead of abandoning the plan to retrieve Sirius, Regulus planned a way to get out of Hogwarts unnoticed. The vanishing cabinet was the obvious choice. Borgin and his mother had helped procure a portkey that wasn't traced by the ministry since the cabinet was too large for apparition or floo. Draco had been reluctant to involve his mother, but she had promised to keep it a secret from everyone, including Bella.

And Draco needed her to uphold that promise because Bella was getting increasingly erratic. She no longer had to hide, the new ministry absolved her and her husband of all charges, and her confidence grew with each outing. Nearly every time Draco saw her, she bragged about her most recent kill, with each seemingly more gruesome than the last. She, too, was suffocated by the manor and spent as little time as possible there, and her husband even less so. Despite it, she still latched onto Draco, and he knew that she would boldly return to Hogwarts via the cabinet if she knew where it was, something Draco was making an effort to avoid.

The night before he was to return to Hogwarts, the Dark Lord called a meeting. Unwelcome as it was, it wasn't unexpected. James tried to lighten the mood by saying that they would be free of the Dark Lord's meetings after today as if Draco hadn't been counting down the days himself.

Draco was waiting off to the side, letting his aura scream, 'Don't talk to me,' when Bella strode up to him regardless.

"I heard some of Potter's friends are on the run. McNair almost got one the other day." She leaned in further. "You should be out there if you are serious about serving the Dark Lord."

"Excuse me if I don't waste my energy on almost catching someone who occasionally saw Potter," Draco responded, glaring at her.

She glared right back. "You know, he's going to ask you for a plan, and you better have something for him."

"It doesn't involve you."

"Oh, but it does." She pinched his cheek. "You'll learn. Soon enough, you'll be doing anything for him."

Draco smacked her hand away and stalked off to where his parents were already seated. Something recently had changed between his mother and her sister. Last year, they had schemed together to help Draco, but now they could barely exist in the same room. His mother's vicinity acted as a repellant, which he had little shame about using.

Despite his defensive attitude, Draco couldn't shake off Bella's warning. He didn't have a good plan for the Dark Lord. They had struggled to come up with anything convincing. Several ideas were discussed with James and Regulus, but they all put Harry or himself at too much risk. Their tentative plan was to work with Harry to stage a stunt to mislead the Dark Lord. If they played their cards right, maybe he could cause a big enough distraction that allowed Harry to horcrux hunt with more freedom. It wouldn't be possible till after Harry got the locket from the ministry, and it required Harry's trust, more trust than he'd shown Draco thus far.

Suddenly, James said venomously, "I'm going to kill him."

Draco subtly looked where James was charging right at Pettigrew, who had just made his appearance, slithering between other members in an attempt to stay unseen. It clearly didn't work on James, who tripped when he got too far away from Draco and started trying to claw his way to the man."That traitor," he growled.

Pettigrew walked over to the side of the room, and when Snape snapped at him, he cowered, arms tucked in and head bowed.

"That's right, you fucking coward." James couldn't take his eyes off his former best friend turned betrayer, but Draco pointedly looked away from James's fuming, willing his nerves to settle. He just had to make it through tonight. He would be at Hogwarts soon enough.

The Dark Lord appeared without much warning, cutting off any conversations as the selected Death Eaters took their seats swiftly. The Dark Lord grinned, and a chill went down Draco's spine.

"We are saying farewell to several of our members as the new school year begins." He gestured wide with his arms. "Our headmaster, Severus. Our Dark Arts teachers, Alecto and Amycus. And our prodigy, Draco." Draco let his head fall forward in deference.

"I want you all to give them a pleasant farewell, and I expect each of you," he turned one by one to Snape, then the Carrows, and finally lingering on Draco, "to remember your servitude even if we won't get to see each other as frequently. We can't have you slacking off, can we? Speaking of which, Draco, what are your plans for the school year? I am expecting great things."

With a steadying breath and a mumbled good luck from James, Draco slipped off the rings. As they agreed upon earlier, it was too dangerous to speak with the Dark Lord with his memories. It could give him a death sentence, and since Regulus had made him rehearse responses to the expected questions, hopefully, Draco didn't do anything too disastrous.

Blinking away the confusion, he said, "My Lord, many of my housemates are eager to serve you, I can guide them, teach them how to serve you. And Potter still has many friends at school. I can get information from them."

"That hardly seems worth my time," the Dark Lord said coldly.

Draco thought quickly, sifting through his ideas. He'd been thinking about it a lot, but all felt wrong, even if he wasn't sure why. He had no choice but to voice one now. There was one idea that repulsed him, but there was no obvious or logical reason why it should.

"My Lord, I have been thinking about Potter's disrespect. He disregards your true power, and I think we might be able to punish him for it. It is no secret that he and his friends," Draco spat the word, "use your name without consequence. Have you ever heard of a taboo?"

The Dark Lord blinked. "Now, that is interesting." He leaned back. "Yes, those who dare say my name should be punished. Yaxley, can we get the ministry to monitor a taboo?"

Draco let out a sigh and settled back into his chair. As the meeting continued without Draco's name being mentioned again, he relaxed, and a little flame of pride burned in him. He had pleased the Dark Lord.

Upon returning to his room over an hour later, he saw a letter in his handwriting sitting on his bed.

Lie on the bed, take some deep breaths and put on the silver ring first.

He had the faintest memory of writing it, but it was blurry, and everything about this situation seemed a bit mental. He always wanted to wear the rings, even now, he itched to put them on, but it sounded serious. Tonight was a good night, and he didn't want to do anything that could bring down his mood.

He decided to wait until the next morning when his mother woke him up, telling him to quickly change and gather his trunk, they were leaving for the train station early. Rolling over, Draco grabbed the note and rings from where he left them and put on the silver ring first, hoping past him had a good reason for it.

"Gah!" Draco yelled as the onslaught of memories hit him. He shouldn't have waited; they needed a better fail-safe to make sure he didn't procrastinate putting on the rings.

Sooner than he should have, he put on the remaining two rings. His head was still pounding, but he was panicking and needed to talk to Regulus.

"What day is it?" Regulus asked, noticing the light in the room.

"It's just been a single night," Draco got out between his still-clenched teeth.

"Woah, take it easy," James said as he sat up and swayed.

"I'm fine."

"What happened?" They both asked at the same time, and Draco would have found that funny if his head wasn't pounding.

"The Dark Lord wanted to know my plan for the year. He wasn't satisfied with what we rehearsed. I gave him the taboo." James cursed. It had been his idea, as had most that they had discussed. It had been an idea from when James was a student, and he and his friends wanted to catch anyone talking about them behind their backs.

"I need to tell Harry." He fumbled for his trunk, where he had stashed the parchment yesterday.

"Draco, come along!" His mother shouted from the hallway. Grinding his teeth, he went to meet her, abandoning writing to Harry and not wanting to risk her barging in. On their way out, his father gave a curt goodbye. Despite the close quarters they shared over the summer, his father felt as distant as he had while in Azkaban.

It was a short walk from the apparition point to King's Cross. His mother walked stiffly ahead of him.

"Don't come back to the manor. If that cabinet still works, don't use it. You are safer at Hogwarts."

"Yes, mother," Draco said. It was the first time his mother had ordered him to stay away from her.

She continued, "I have been making arrangements with the Greengrass family. They have two daughters, and they may be able to take you in the following summer. It would be a fitting match."

Draco stopped. "You want me to get married?" He hadn't thought about his future like that in a long time. It was sickening to picture a future without Harry. That's what was keeping him from giving up.

"Of course. It's natural."

"To a Greengrass girl?" Draco clarified.

"It is a good match, come," she said, marching towards the station.

It was a fine match but far from the best. His mother should be marrying him off to a family already aligned with the Dark Lord or someone from a foreign dark family, not a Greengrass.

James snorted from beside him, "What a horrid way to announce an engagement. You'll have to point them out to me. Hopefully, they're attractive."

Draco tried not to cringe as Regulus said, "Just go along with it. It's not worth making a fuss over."

Draco knew that but he was still surprisingly upset. He wanted his mother to know he wouldn't be happy with that match. He wanted her to know that he liked men, liked Harry. He wanted her to be happy for him, but that was impossible. Her vision of the future and his would never be compatible.

That thought still weighed on him as they made it to the platform. It was an awkward goodbye; both knew that Draco would be happier away, but not his mother.

The moment he got on the train, he found an empty compartment, pulled out the parchment, and wrote to Harry warning him about the taboo. The guilt he'd been holding released at being able to warn Harry about saying the Dark Lord's name. He'd messed up, but this is why he had the parchment. He could fix his mistakes.

He laid back on the seats, letting himself enjoy the feeling of escaping the manor as both James and Regulus talked to him. Unfortunately, the peace was interrupted when Pansy found him.

"There you are! You missed the Prefect meeting! I was worried you might not be coming back."

"Prefect meetings aren't worth my time," he said bitterly and sat up.

"How was your summer?" she asked nervously.

"Don't pretend to care." He hadn't gotten so much as an owl from any of his housemates.

"I do care. You're the one that left us behind now that you are valuable to You Know Who."

"Like I had a choice."

She frowned at him. "Crabbe and Goyle are looking for you. I am telling them where to find you. Wallowing doesn't befit a Malfoy."

Sure enough, Crabbe and Goyle did find him not long after Pansy left. They lumbered in quietly as James made a snide comment about their visible lack of intelligence. The tension was palpable, and both were fumbling with their hands.

"Spit it out; you clearly have something to say to me."

"Did you really kill Dumbledore?"

Even after months, Draco still didn't want to admit it. "Tch, what do you think?"

"I think you did it. It's why you didn't talk to us last year. You were preparing for it," Crabbe stated.

Draco didn't want to confirm it, so he let the silence speak for itself. James looked uncomfortable. He'd known from the first few days that Draco had done it and been pacified when he learned why. He understood Draco was trying to protect both him and Harry, but it frightened him that Draco could kill someone he respected so much.

The silence stretched on until Goyle asked, "What was it like getting the mark?"

Draco remembered Regulus telling him about it on the train two years ago. He'd been pissed, but it had been the truth. He looked between Crabbe and Goyle. They had been fed lies for years; they weren't individual thinkers, and they weren't going to stumble upon a better life. No one was going to tell them if Draco didn't.

"It hurts. It feels like a Curciartus curse is getting woven into your skin." Goyle eyes widened in surprise. "It stings for weeks after, and then it burns again whenever he calls for you."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"I am just telling you the truth."

"You know we are both gonna take it when we graduate?" Goyle asked hesitantly.

"Tell them they should bail on this nonsense," James interrupted.

Draco ignored him. "You can make your own decisions," he said coldly and made to change into his school robes.

"Aren't they your friends? Tell them how horrid it is! Get them to help you!" James was practically shouting at him.

That was the thing; they weren't his friends. They were his housemates. He had no right to tell them anything, and they had no obligation to believe him. The only fragile respect he had was because of his ability to serve the Dark Lord, and objectively, their best chance of survival was siding with the Dark Lord. Blood traitors would be hunted brutally.

Crabbe and Goyle tried to make idle conversations about classes as Draco changed. They were both in remedial classes again. James looked at him disappointed, but Regulus looked proud. Draco had done what Regulus had done for him. He couldn't take the leap that James wanted, but he had taken a small step to at least inform people before they signed away their lives.

The rest of the night was gloomy. The thestrals pulling the carriages were ominous. The students were sombre, and several hadn't even returned. Snape skipped the welcome speech in favour of a simple dismissal. Perhaps worst of all was how the students looked at Draco. Despite the Prophet never outing him for Dumbledore's death, the students still knew something. The Gryffindors glared angrily, the Hufflepufss avoided him, the Ravenclaws looked on judgingly, and even his own house treated him differently. It was awe or fear, and neither Draco felt like he deserved.

The parchment weighed heavily in his robes, but he couldn't risk checking it until he was alone in his dormitory behind the curtains. When he finally was able to unfurl it, his handwriting filled the top of the page, meaning Harry hadn't even seen it yet. He ignored the stress that brought him and wrote.

Be safe tomorrow.

Draco woke up early and went straight to the Room of Requirement. James, who had been disappointed by Hogwarts thus far, was excited to see the room. He had never learned of its existence and was thrilled by the prospect of a room that could take any form. The only problem was that the door wouldn't open. He walked past it an extra three times, but the wall remained stubbornly blank.

"What's happening?" Regulus asked, looking at where the door should be.

"It's not working. It won't open."

"You better not be lying to me," Regulus demanded.

"I swear I'm not," Draco insisted, but Regulus still looked suspicious.

He turned to head back downstairs when Regulus asked, "Where are you going?"

"To get my schedule and then class."

"You're not getting out of this that easily!" Regulus protested, and James asked, "Wait, what? There are other ways to the ministry, right?"

"How do you suppose I get to the ministry then?" he asked them both.

"Go threaten the Carrows to use their floo," Regulus said quickly, and James chimed in with, "Use the secret passage behind that ugly one-eyed witch."

"Excuse me?" he asked James.

"There's a secret passage straight to Honeydukes. I assume you can apparate from there?"

Draco's stomach sank as he relayed the idea to Regulus. It was better than using the Carrow's probably monitored floo, which meant he was going to have to apparate as well. The unlucky start to the day felt like further evidence that they should just drop the whole mission, but the other two were still excited, so Draco did as they wanted.

By the time they got to the ministry, Draco was overwhelmed with the number of people. It was mid-morning and everyone else was arriving for work. He was disillusioned, but he still had to make an effort not to touch anyone. Eventually, they found a corner in the main atrium to wait. Knowing Harry, there would be a fuss at some point, and that is when Draco was going to make his move.

It sickened Draco knowing that Harry could be here, and he couldn't do anything about it. Part of him debated making a deal with James to go after Harry instead, knowing James would be more likely to agree, but he refrained. They were here for Sirius, and Draco wasn't sure if he was ready to see Harry again or if Harry trusted him enough not to see it as a threat.

After only a few minutes, he heard a passing couple.

"I heard someone set off some sort of alarm in Umbridge's office."

"Oh, I heard the same thing! Apparently, it was some prank, but considering -"

"That's our cue," Regulus said, pushing himself off the wall.

They snuck into an empty lift and went to the Department of Mysteries. They saw no one in the long corridor that led to the Department, and even when they reached the door, only a single wizard waited there, looking straight forward and a little dazed. Even when they opened the door, he didn't look their way. Draco wondered why they hadn't done this sooner if security was this bad.

It was bloody confusing to find the veil. It was door after door, and they kept moving around. If Draco hadn't been as stressed about their task, he might have tried to explore some. There were some truly extraordinary bits of magic here.

It was obvious from the moment they opened the door that they had reached the veil. The room was all cold, grey, stone. Stepping fully into the room, Draco spotted the archway with the veil swaying eerily and cautiously approached. With each step, he became convinced that whispers were coming from it. Regulus and James looked equally unsettled.

With Regulus's help, he found a spot to carve some runes into the floor. They wouldn't actually do much, but they hoped it would serve as an extra guide to Regulus as he made his return from the veil. Draco planted his feet just under five paces from the veil right next to the runes, which was just enough space for Regulus to try and cross through the archway.

Regulus stood facing the veil. His face was unreadable, and his posture was stiff.

"You don't have to do it," Draco said, sensing his apprehension.

"I would do anything for my brother," Regulus said and stepped into the veil.

The ghostly fabric shifted ever so slightly, but Regulus stepped right through to the other side. He glanced back at Draco, surprised, and Draco felt a wave of relief. It didn't work. Regulus couldn't enter the veil.

"What's happening?" James asked, nervous.

"It didn't work, Regulus can't cross the veil," Draco said without looking away.

Regulus crossed back over and announced, "Time for the second plan."

"Second plan?" Draco asked. His relief faded.

"Put a sticking charm on your feet on this side of the veil and put your hand with my ring through it."

Draco blanched. "Excuse me?"

"We don't have all day," Regulus snapped. "Eventually, someone will come."

"No. This wasn't part of the plan."

"We aren't going to get another chance to be here. Just try it," Regulus said through gritted teeth. James was watching Draco anxiously. "Please, Draco. I need to save him. I can't - I am so close." His voice cracked, and Draco stared wide-eyed. Regulus rarely showed this side of him, and it broke something in Draco. He couldn't tell him no.

"Don't you dare get lost," Draco said and stepped forward and cast the sticking charm.

"What's happening? What's Regulus doing?" James demanded.

Draco ignored him as he met Regulus's gaze, and Regulus nodded. He was certain that he wanted to do this.

James caught on as Draco shifted Regulus's ring to be on a hand by itself. "Wait, I don't think -"

Draco shoved his hand into the veil and forced himself not to yank it back as a feezing cold breeze enveloped it. Regulus winked out of existence as Draco gasped.

"What are you doing?" James yelled, staring at where Draco's arm disappeared into the veil.

"What Regulus wanted," Drace said through clenched teeth. His arm felt weird like it didn't belong to him.

"His soul could be disconnected!"

"I know," Draco bit out.

"Why did you do it?" James asked, dumbfounded.

"Because he wants to save Sirius."

James looked at him hopelessly but dropped the argument. It was too late. They'd each made their decision. Draco didn't track how long he kept his hand in the veil, but it must have been over an hour. He kept curling his hand into a fist and then stretching his fingers out to remind himself that his hand was still attached to him. The whispers were constant and mesmerising, and Draco was grateful for the sticking charm. Several times, he found himself leaning forward, entranced, only to be stopped by his feet's inability to move.

James paced. After he caught Draco jerking backwards after almost leaning into the veil, he said, "We can't stay here forever. Bring him back."

Draco pulled his hand back slowly, relishing in the warmth that enveloped his arm. Regulus didn't reappear.

"Regulus?" James asked, watching Draco's eyes darting around.

Draco shook his head and walked more than five paces away from the veil, trying to force Regulus to come back. He didn't.

"Tell me he's there," James said desperately.

Draco shook his head again.

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know!" Draco shouted in frustration. He'd know this was a bad idea. He should have never let Regulus go through with it.

James squared his shoulders. "Let me go in there and drag him back out."

"I can't," Draco said.

"The fuck you can."

Draco took another step back. "I can't. Harry needs to meet you." And I can't be alone, he added silently.

James's face crumpled as he looked from the veil to Draco. "But Reg."

"I can't," Draco said, trying to keep emotion out of his voice. He couldn't be alone, and he couldn't lose them both on the same day. Regulus was his preferred companion, but he wasn't about to let James leave him before he even got a chance to meet his son. Draco wasn't strong enough on his own.

James looked longingly at the veil, and Draco got the sense that he, too, was trying to hold back his tears. They'd really fucked up this time.