New Beginnings

Part 6

By late December, the Ministry of Magic still hadn't found Rodolphus Lestrange or his cronies. As Draco had expected. He knew firsthand just how great Death Eaters were at concealing themselves. But his family was safe. They'd moved to some undisclosed location, where they could still work from home.

Even better, Draco had just begun dating Astoria Greengrass. She was fun to be around, not to mention a talented witch. Astoria could transfigure just about everything you put in front of her; in fact, Professor McGonagall was privately instructing her on the process of becoming an Animagus. McGonagall had even allowed Draco to tell Astoria about his Polyjuice Potion trade-off with Emmett. He liked her more and more every day.

It seemed very possible that Draco Malfoy was falling in love.

They met outside the Slytherin common room entrance, toting their luggage behind them.

"Before I forget," Draco said, "here's your Christmas present." He reached inside his cloak pocket and drew out a small box. When Astoria opened it, she gave a happy sigh.

"My Patronus!"

It was a live, miniature turtle figurine. The animal's colorful shell glistened as it moved its flippers around.

Astoria beamed at him, showing off dimples in her cheeks. "This is wonderful, Draco! Thank you. How did you get this when you can't leave school?"

"Emmett bought it for me," he replied. "If you put it in water, it swims."

"Now, your turn."

She handed Draco a leather pouch, and inside it, he found wizard's chess pieces, carved out of white and black onyx. Just what he'd been hoping for. The pieces jumped around in the pouch when they saw him.

"Brilliant gift," he told her. A sly grin appeared in the corner of his mouth.

"Happy Christmas, and have a safe trip!" she said.

"You too," Draco answered.

He lowered his head and gave Astoria a kiss. In that second, everything faded away except for her. She wasn't just a girl. She was the bright ray of sunshine that he hadn't known he needed.

When Astoria left, Percy Weasley revealed himself, watching from a dungeon corner.

"That girl must be mad," Draco muttered.

"I disagree," Percy countered. "You're not the same insufferable git who came to Hogwarts seven years ago."

"Neither are you, Weasley," Draco admitted.

"I finally came to my senses this year, Malfoy. War can bring out the best in people."

And the worst, Draco thought.

They passed Hermione Granger on their journey to the castle doors, and she nodded at them politely.

"Happy Christmas," she greeted.

"Hold on, Granger," Draco said. "You're being nice to me?"

"Well, you haven't irritated me once since the beginning of school feast," she noted.

He shrugged. "I have better things to do."

"And here I was looking forward to clobbering you in the nose again."
*********************************
Percy and Draco traveled by Portkey that night, landing amidst a wide meadow. An ideal place for someone to hide out.

"So where exactly are we?" Draco asked.

"Ireland," Percy replied. He peered around. "Your mum and dad made that Portkey, so they should be around here... they mentioned something about a little stone cottage, on top of a hill... aha. That's it, right up there."

The minute Draco opened the door, he felt something was off. No parents to greet him. No sounds whatsoever.

"Hello, nephew. Long time, no see."

Draco's blood ran cold.

Rodolphus Lestrange had found them.

Before Percy or Draco could react, Rodolphus aimed his wand at Percy and said, "Stupefy!"Percy collapsed- but, thankfully, it hadn't been worse.

"I'll deal with him later," Rodolphus said.

"Uncle Rod," Draco whispered. "Up until you sent that Howler, I thought you were dead."

"Your dear Aunt Bella sure would have you believe that, wouldn't she? And yet, which of us is actually still alive?"

"The wrong Lestrange," Draco sneered.

Not a day went by that he didn't miss Bellatrix. When Draco was little, if his parents ever went away, Aunt Bella would take care of him. She'd bought Draco his first broomstick. He wasn't blind to her sadistic deeds, but she'd always treated him like her own son. Rodolphus was another story. Bellatrix had only tolerated him because of their mutual devotion to the Dark Lord, and to retain their family's pureblood legacy. They even looked alike; with the same dark, unkempt hair, and eyes like coals.

"You're in no position for threats," Draco's uncle said.

"We don't need to kill people to make them suffer. You know that a little too well. You'd better leave my family alone, or so help me..."

"Going to cast an Unforgivable Curse, are you? It won't help Lucius or Narcissa."

Of course, he's been torturing them. Draco wouldn't let his fear show. "How did you even get here?"

"See, the trick with Portkeys," Rodolphus said, "is making sure they don't fall into your enemy's hands. Part of my daily routine has been casting spells to detect Portkeys and taking them wherever they lead. A wild goose chase, yes, but it paid off. I'm just doing what the Dark Lord would've asked me to do: punishing deserters. While you're all within my reach, I'll cut to the chase... Fiendfyre!"

A snake of fire emerged from his wand, breaking into four heads. Four targets.

Rodolphus suddenly Disapparated- exactly what Draco would've done if his parents' lives weren't in jeopardy. He urgently cried "Fiendfyre Finite!" to douse the flames. They didn't spurt out, although it slowed the fire's progress. You could only eliminate Fiendfyre if you were completely focused. Rodolphus had decades more experience than Draco, and so, the flames continued swerving in four directions.

Onto his more important task: alerting Percy and finding his parents. He gently kicked Percy in the ribs. Ron's brother jumped.

"Malfoy, what are you- Merlin's beard."

"My parents are trapped somewhere in here!" Draco screeched. "I can go find my mum if you go find my dad."

"On it," Percy vowed.

Draco sprinted away, barely missing the flames behind him. He ran through the kitchen and peered inside a bedroom. Empty.

Then he heard muffled coughing in the next room. Narcissa was bound to a chair, gagging through a handkerchief. She hardly looked conscious. Arm in arm, they ran outside, fighting to get fresh air in their lungs.

Whatever energy she had, she put into extinguishing the Fiendfyre, and Draco assisted. But it couldn't undo the damage. All that now remained of the cottage were ashes.

Percy appeared, dragging Lucius with him. "He's not responding."

"Let me see him," Narcissa insisted.

"Nice little shack you conjured up, Mum," Draco joked.

"I didn't build it, and neither did your d- your dad. We used Memory charms on some Muggle family and convinced them to move." She smiled, kissing Draco on the cheek. "That was brilliant work, darling. I told you those dark magic lessons would come in handy."

She tapped her husband's wrist and neck, looking for a pulse.

"Is he all right?" Draco asked.

"Your father's... gone."