The woods around Malfoy Manor stood dark and ominously looming. Up ahead, the silhouette of the main gate could be seen through the trees.
Ginny and Draco waited silently as Daphne led Slytherin Squad in. Blaise stood by, cautious, but ready. Daphne Apparated in by Blaise’s side, her face fierce. Warrington gripped his wand tightly, followed closely by Goyle, overwhelmed, but willing.
One final pop came through. Theo clutched his wand like a lifeline, scanning the trees frantically.
“Glad to have you back,” Draco whispered.
“Terrified to be back,” Theo replied uneasily. “Any idea what we’ll find inside?”
“First, we have to get inside,” Ginny answered. “But no, no idea. Blaise? What do you think of the wards?”
Blaise raised his wand. “I can’t flex them, or the person the wards are tied to will feel it. But they seem perfectly intact and impossibly strong.”
Draco turned to the whole team. “Hear that? No one touches the wards other than Blaise, who knows what he’s doing. Everyone else, scan for a magical residue of any kind. Something to do with the Dark Mark would be ideal.”
The suggestion caught Daphne off guard. “What does the Dark Mark have to do with wards?”
“Probably everything,” Draco replied. “A Death Eater told Theo it was what allowed them to get in originally.”
Theo swallowed nervously. “I wish I knew more.”
“So do I,” Draco said wryly.
“Start scanning for that magic,” Ginny commanded the team. “And don’t even breathe on the wards.”
As Daphne, Warrington, Goyle, and Theo scanned the grounds, Blaise stared quizzically at the main gate.
“See something?” Draco asked.
“Not really,” Blaise answered vaguely. “But doesn’t it just seem like your father to put the backdoor in a prominent place?” At Draco’s frown, Blaise continued. “As a secret middle-finger to You-Know-Who?”
“Or for his own convenience,” Draco muttered. “It doesn’t hurt to look.”
Ginny followed as Blaise and Draco trudged up the main path. “Draco?” she asked. “Did you feel the wards come down from anywhere in particular?”
Draco instantly felt like slamming his head into a wall. “The main gate,” he replied weakly.
Blaise snorted. “Yeah, I’m guessing it won’t hurt to look there.”
Cautiously, they crept toward the main gate. Stopping a foot away, Blaise stretched out his wand towards it. His face twisted. “I can’t tell if this is the spot or not. I’m going to have to flex it.”
Motioning him to wait, Draco gestured that the squad join them. They filed around Blaise, Ginny, and Draco, standing by patiently. “Prepare for the worst.”
At Draco’s nod, Blaise began testing the wards for irregularities. The air rippled in front of Blaise’s wand. He frowned. “Draco, try pressing your Dark Mark against the ‘M’ on ‘Malfoy Manor’.”
He turned to the inscription on the pillar. “Which ‘M’?”
“‘Malfoy’!” Blaise groaned. Every second they waited, the Death Eaters got more warning. “The important ‘M’!”
Draco ripped back his sleeve, slamming his forearm against the ‘M’. Nothing happened.
Warrington snorted. “You look really, really dumb right now.”
Ignoring him, Draco racked his brain for other ideas.
“Is there anything else your father would add?” Ginny asked. “Some second step we’re missing?”
Draco pulled his arm away, looking closely at the stone. A faint stain surrounded the same ‘M’ he’d pressed his arm against. “Blood,” he realized on a hunch. “Malfoy blood.”
With a flick of his wand, he slit his arm down its Dark Mark. Blood slid down his wrist and across the stone as he pressed his Mark against it again.
The wards whined, shimmering in the air. With a deafening crash, they fell.
Even Warrington looked impressed. “Way, way less dumb now.”
Draco could feel the lowered wards lurking at the back of his mind. “Everyone through the gates. NOW.”
The gates swung open at the lightest touch as the team scrambled inside. Focusing, Draco raised the wards back up to their full strength. “The Death Eaters should be trapped now,” he whispered, full of menace. “Let’s go hunting.”
Theo laughed nervously. “I hate to be the one to point it out, but they still outnumber us, about four to one.”
Daphne chuckled darkly. “Then when you’ve shot four, you can go home.”
“I’ve never shot anyone,” Theo whispered. “And... and my dad’s in there…”
“Let someone else worry about your dad,” Ginny commanded easily. “Stick close to me, and I’ll draw their fire. Draco?” she turned to him. “Where’s an obscure place we can Apparate in?”
Draco racked his brain. Every place he could think of was likely to host Death Eaters. “The House Elves quarters,” he finally realized.
Blaise frowned. “I don’t even know where that is, Draco. Can you Side-Along Apparate this many people?”
“No,” he bit out. “How about the sunroom? Ginny, you ate breakfast there the first day here.”
“And Goyle and I know it too,” Blaise added, holding Daphne. “Theo and Warrington, grab a partner.”
Draco grabbed Theo’s shoulder. “We go on the count of three. One, two, three!”
With a crack and the familiar disorientation, they landed in the sunroom. Immediately, Draco spun, scanning for any movement.
Even in the dark, the sunroom still looked roughly like it had when he left. A fist inside Draco's chest loosened. Yes, they were only things, but he was through having his home invaded. Never again, if he could help it.
"Homenum Revelio," he cast. Only a faint signal showed from upstairs. "They're blocking against it. Follow me."
With Silencing charms on all of them, the squad followed Draco up the stairs, to what had previously been Ginny's room. Blaise stood in front of the door, ready to open it. At Draco's nod, he threw the doors wide open.
A shocked Death Eater rose from the bed, fumbling for his wand.
"Stupefy!" Draco yelled, and the bolt knocked him clean off his feet.
Scrambling noises came from the attached bathroom, and Slytherin Squad took cover. A single Death Eater stepped out, a hex from Warrington sending the Death Eater crashing to the ground.
Draco scanned again. Not even the faintest trace of human life was visible outside this single bedroom. "Something's not right," he muttered. "Bind and wake the first one."
Daphne eagerly complied. The Death Eater spluttered back into consciousness. "I didn't do anything!" he declared unconvincingly.
Draco knelt down, staring in the man's face. "Where are the rest of the Death Eaters?"
"At the Ministry," the Death Eater answered as if it were obvious. "They followed the Dementors in."
Ginny frowned down at him. "That's stupid. There's just as many Aurors as Death Eaters, and Aurors are better fighters."
The man chuckled at her. "We're smarter than that, sweetheart."
"Anything else you want to tell us?" Draco growled. "It'll lower your Azkaban sentencing."
The Death Eater grinned, showing a gaggle of filthy teeth. "Nothing will lower it for me."
"Stupefy," Draco shot him. Once the Death Eater collapsed again, Draco swore violently. "What would you do if you were them?"
"Target key personnel in the chaos," Ginny realized in horror. "Assassinate Hermione, Shacklebolt, as many as they can manage."
Draco nodded sharply, turning to his team. "We're going back to the Ministry to fight Death Eaters. Anyone think they can't handle that?"
Shakily, Theo raised his hand.
"Stay here and guard the house, Theo," Draco commanded. "Search for anything useful, and Floo Hermione if you find anything that could change the battle."
Theo nodded frantically, his relief evident. "Yes, sir! Count on me!"
"Apparate to the War Room," Draco commanded as he Apparated.
Six pops later, and Slytherin Squad stood in the remains of the War Room. No one was here, now. Paneling had been blasted off the walls. Pockmarks covered the floor, along with the burned scars from an explosion. Multiple explosions, Draco realized.
Ginny reached down, touching her wand to a pool of blood on the table, next to the slashed map. "Hermione's blood," she whispered.
Draco's throat clenched. "Where else would she go?"
"Anywhere," Ginny replied honestly. "She never kept patterns for a reason."
He tightened his grip on his wand. "Let's go find--"
The fireplace flashed green behind Draco. He spun, casting a shield. Theo tumbled through the green flames out onto the floor of the War Room.
Draco raised an eyebrow. "That didn't last long."
"I searched the Death Eaters for anything that might help." Theo looked like he'd seen a ghost. "One of them had this mirror, and when I touched it, your father looked out of it."
The blood in Draco's veins turned to ice. "What?"
Theo swallowed hard. "He started talking to me, so I dropped the mirror and ran here. But..." He braced himself to say the words. "He had a wand. And I don't think he was in his cell."
Immediately, Draco spun toward the Floo to Azkaban. Hermione had taken Draco to Azkaban under her own Apparition clearance. But for anyone without specific clearance, this Floo in the War Room was the only way in or out. And if the War Room had fallen, like the destruction and blood said...
"The Ministry attack was just a diversion!" Ginny swore. She conjured her Patronus, sending the brief message to Harry.
The Floo to Azkaban gaped like a maw, and Draco could easily imagine the screams from the other side. With only ten Aurors stationed there, and caught off-guard… Slytherin Squad would be lucky if a single Auror was still alive when they arrived.
"We're going in," Draco said evenly. "It'll likely be bad, with no backup to speak of."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Daphne asked, trying to sound tough as her wand shook in her grip.
At Ginny's nod, Draco tossed the powder in. "Azkaban!" he commanded, jumping through.
With a disorientating rush, he tumbled out on the concrete floor of an outpost. The sounds of explosions, yells, and curses sounded from off in the distance. This had once been an outpost, he realized. The top and front of their outpost had been exploded completely away, leaving only the jagged bottom half of the wall for protection.
The rest of Slytherin Squad tumbled through the Floo behind him. Draco peered over the top of the wall. A spell screamed by, barely missing him. He yanked his head back down.
The crash of the sea sounded at their backs, meaning their outpost must be on the outer edge of the ground floor. Through the gaping front of the outpost, the dark stony main tower of the prison loomed over them.
"The Anti-Apparition ward is still up, and strong," Blaise declared. "As long as that's up, everyone's trapped here."
"Where's the ward coming from?" Draco asked. "That'll be where the Death Eaters are headed."
Ginny nodded agreement. "The Dementor distraction got them in, but it's stupid to go back through the Ministry. Not if they can help it."
Raising his wand, Blaise focused again. "It seems like it's coming from the middle of the ground floor..." Something changed, and he looked as if all the blood had left his body.
"Blaise?" Draco pressed.
"Someone just flexed the wards," Blaise whispered. "The Death Eaters are inside the guardhouse."
"There's a direct path to there from here," Ginny said. "But it'll be swarming with Death Eaters."
Draco clenched his jaw. "Any other options?"
About to shake her head, Ginny stopped herself. "The high-security area. We head that way, then rejoin this hall in the middle."
"Hopefully catching the Death Eaters on an unprotected side," Draco finished, to her nod of agreement. "Be careful, Death Eaters are guarding this entrance."
Ginny flexed her grip on her wand. "I'll take point. Blaise, cover me, and I'll try to clear a path."
Blaise nodded as Draco's heart clenched. While pinned down under light cover, taking point was as dangerous as it could get. But as their best Auror, Ginny was the obvious choice. “We’ll be right behind you,” he barely managed.
“Protego Maxima,” Blaise cast on her. The moment the shield was around her, Ginny rolled through the opening. Two different spells blasted at her path. Both missed -- barely. She ended behind a crate on the other side, firing off a quick shot. It missed, but exploded the short wall the Death Eaters had been hiding behind.
“Now!” Draco commanded.
The other six members of Slytherin Squad poured from the outpost. The two Death Eaters never stood a chance. A shot each from Daphne and Warrington dropped them like sacks of flour. They shared a quick high-five.
As he looked at the cells surrounding him, a growing dread filled Draco’s stomach. He’d walked these same halls when he came here with Hermione. Now, every single cell door hung open, the cells gaping vacantly.
“How many Death Eaters does this mean we’ll be facing?” he asked Ginny.
She grimaced. “Up to sixty. Hopefully Harry got my Patronus and can send reinforcements, but no guarantee.”
“Then we hold the island until he can.” Draco tried to sound confident as lead filled his stomach. If they faced the full sixty, Slytherin Squad would be nothing more than glorified blood-stains. Even with every Auror reinforcing them, they couldn't match those numbers.
Ginny nodded, and he could see the same fears gnawing at her. The rest of the squad peeled off momentarily, scouting ahead.
Still holding his wand, Draco touched his fingers to her wrist. “We’ll be ok,” he whispered with certainty he didn’t feel.
But Ginny snorted. “Those would be terrible last words. We both know Aurors die.” A genuine smile lit her face. “But I think I love you, and that’s enough.”
Draco squeezed her hand, knowing they didn’t have time for more. “I love you too much. Don’t you dare die on me, Lieutenant. That’s an order.”
She chuckled as they jogged to catch up with the squad. “I’ll try my best, Captain.”
Blaise, who had obviously seen their exchange, didn’t even give a snarky remark. His own free hand laced through Daphne’s. “Battle sounds are coming from that corner up ahead. Are we ready to engage?”
“How are the wards holding?” Draco asked.
Blaise grimaced. “They’ve flexed again. I’m not the one holding up the wards, so I can’t tell much beyond that.”
Draco nodded. “Then let’s move out.”
Silently, Slytherin Squad crept toward the corner. Blaise’s shield hummed at the front of the group. Once they rounded the corner, the Death Eaters would have clean shots at the team. The stark halls of Azkaban were not built to provide cover, but to let Dementors do all the dirty work. No battle fought in its corridors would be pretty.
Theo not-so-subtly shifted closer to Ginny. She chuckled. “I got your back, Theo.”
Goyle frowned, looking ahead to the approaching corner. “Do you think my dad is out?”
Draco nodded. “Undoubtedly.”
The large Auror swallowed. “Try not to hurt him, yeah? He’ll be… ok in a cell.”
“We’ll do our best,” Draco answered honestly.
They paused at the corner. The dim light of Azkaban kept them from seeing anything ahead, but the sound of curses smashing off of walls sounded close by. At Draco’s nod, the seven of Slytherin Squad flooded into the side hallway.
Four Death Eaters waited at the other end. One turned, spotting them. Shock froze on his face as Ginny blasted him down. The other three Death Eaters turned, wands firing. Their shots bounced off Blaise’s shield. Blaise grimaced at the strain. One whistled, calling more Death Eaters. A shot from Daphne stopped him mid-whistle. The one next to him fell alongside.
The last Death Eater fell at Draco’s wand, and he quickly gestured the team forward. They sprinted down the little hall, turning into the main corridor--
A horde of Death Eaters stood grinning, waiting for them. Draco quickly backpedaled, casting his own feeble shield. Behind the Death Eaters, even more waited, their backs to Slytherin Squad as they focused on taking down the guardhouse in the middle of the open square. The guardhouse was the hub of all Azkaban, other hallways radiating like spokes off of the open square surrounding it. Death Eaters filled many of the spokes. Not the full sixty, not yet, but nearly thirty -- and growing.
Macnair stepped forward, far too pleased. “What a surprise, they actually have the guts to face us. Don’t worry, little Malfoy, your daddy’ll greet you in person once he’s dropped the wards.”
If they stalled, Lucius could break the wards. Only fifteen faced them, a fraction of what waited beyond. Draco paused, weighing the benefits. Aurors were better fighters than Death Eaters, but fifteen vs seven weren’t odds he wanted to calculate. Over Macnair’s shoulder, he spotted a spell shooting from the guardhouse. Hope lit inside Draco’s chest. At least someone was alive in the building.
“Stupefy!” Draco shot. Macnair dodged, but another fell behind him. Slytherin Squad had to get to that Auror and the safety of the guardhouse. It was the only way either had a chance of lasting till Harry.
A volley of fire exploded from the Death Eaters. One final spell bounced off Blaise’s shield before it dropped. Slytherin Squad twisted and dodged. Theo yelped as a spell burned his shoulder.
A maniacal grin lit Macnair’s face. “Nott! Your whelp came back!”
Draco frantically tried to block and fire as the Death Eater numbers overwhelmed them. To his left, Daphne and Blaise held their ground, while Goyle fought harder than Draco had ever seen. To his right, Ginny and Warrington gave better than they got, and Theo shot off spells as quickly as he could manage them.
Nott Sr. shoved his way through the ranks of Death Eaters. His eyes hardened as they fell upon his son. “Traitor!” he roared, face contorting in anger. “Avada Kedavra!”
Theo stumbled backwards, tripping onto his back. The green bolt smashed through where he’d been, pockmarking the stone above his head.
“Face me like a man!” Nott bellowed. “Get off the ground, you sniveling infant!”
But Theo shook like a leaf. It was all he could do to just keep holding his wand.
Ginny stepped in front of Theo. Fury rolled off her in waves. An explosion burst at her feet, singeing her, but still she held her ground. A hex blasted from her wand. Nott staggered backwards to dodge. Before he regained his balance, still another flew at him. It clipped his arm. Steam rose from the wound.
Growling, Nott fired back. Ginny deflected it high into the wall. The concrete bubbled where it hit. He shot again. Ginny flicked it into the Death Eaters. One fell, clutching at his oozing face.
“This is a family matter,” Nott snarled. He shot again, and again Ginny deflected it. “Stand aside.”
“Not a chance.” Fire flashed in her eyes. “Aurors protect their own.”
All around them, Slytherin Squad still fought. Macnair fired volley after volley of hexes. Draco engaged him, deflecting as many as he could. Spells from Macnair would be deadly, and his teammates weren’t good at dodging.
“Avada Kedavra!” Macnair screamed. Daphne ducked. The green bolt smashed into the wall behind her. She fought on, but her wand shook between her fingers.
“Look at him!” Nott snarled, gesturing at his son. Theo, eyes wide with terror, still lay on the ground behind Ginny. “He’s a pathetic excuse, even for an Auror!”
Nott fired off more curses, and Ginny strained to deflect them. Her opponent was a battle-hardened Death Eater with decades of experience, and it showed.
Suddenly, Nott grinned. It was a terrifying sight. “I’m guessing your shield’s weak, Weasley, or you would have used it by now. Dodge this, and it hits him. Crucio!”
He was right. And since Unforgivables wouldn’t deflect, Ginny could only brace herself for the pain.
“Protego!” Theo’s shield around her held. The red bolt dissipated against it.
"YOU!” Nott’s face twisted with rage. “This is the last time you defy me, you worthless--”
“Confringo!” Ginny yelled. The blast exploded in Nott’s face. He stumbled back to escape. Ginny advanced, not letting the Death Eater breathe for a second. She fired off another spell. “He’s.” Ginny growled, batting Nott’s hex aside. “Your.” Nott ducked as she aimed for his face. “SON!” she roared. Her spell smashed into his chest, throwing him twenty feet into the wall behind. Nott hit with a resounding crack and crumpled unnaturally onto the ground.
Shakily, Theo tried to stand. “Is he…”
“Yes. I’m sorry.” Ginny pulled Theo to his feet. Immediately, she jumped back into battle.
Theo’s face crumpled. Valiantly, he held back tears while still trying to fight.
“He tried to kill you, mate,” Warrington offered sagely between non-verbal spells. “That’s a shit father.”
Theo’s face hardened, a cold fury stealing over it. A spell burst from his wand, knocking a Death Eater off his feet. “That’s for my mother, you bastards!”
Slytherin Squad fought hard, but they were still hopelessly outnumbered. “The ward’s coming down any minute now!” Blaise declared, sweat dripping off of him.
Macnair looked at Nott’s crumpled body with growing rage.
“Remind you of anyone?” Draco snarled, firing a non-verbal curse at his ex-teammate. “Richard Murstow, perhaps?”
Macnair dodged easily, deadly force waiting behind his lowered wand. “Not at all. Your old Captain died like a cur, simpering and begging us to spare his mudblood wife and child.”
Draco’s wand shook in rage. He fired off another bolt without warning, but Macnair batted it aside.
The Death Eater chuckled as the battle raged around him, still not bothering to return fire at Draco. “We let Murstow watch as we pulled the blood from his body, leaving a pretty message for his precious mudbloods.”
Draco's face contorted with fury. "How long before his trust broke? How long before he realized letting you join Slytherin Squad would be the last thing he ever did?"
Macnair's grin only widened. "Far too long. The idiot trusted us up until the very end."
"Yes," Draco ground out. "He gambled his life on you. That you were his friend, that you would have his back, that you were worth fighting for. How foolish of him."
“Avada Kedavra!” Macnair screamed.
Draco spun, throwing himself to the side. The spell whizzed by.
Another spell shot from Macnair's wand and again Draco dodged. In close succession, a blue bolt screamed past. He couldn’t dodge that one. It clipped Draco’s leg, throwing him to the floor. He tried to stand, but the leg collapsed. Macnair laughed as Draco struggled to his knees.
Watching Draco strain, Macnair’s grin widened. “Let’s give you another present while you’re down.” Ominously, Macnair’s wand rose to point at his own Dark Mark. He waited, savoring the moment. “Crucio.”
Pain shot from Draco’s arm, radiating through his body. It was all he could do to keep from screaming. Memories of Voldemort rose unbidden as Draco hunched against the ground. All those years of torture, and this was every bit as bad.
Macnair laughed even louder, enjoying himself. “Go on, plead, boy. Beg for your life and the lives of your teammates. I’d hear it before you die.”
Pain shot through him again. Protectively, he clutched his left arm to his chest, hoping desperately for anything to make the pain stop. It was only Macnair’s sense of amusement that kept the other Death Eaters from firing on Draco while he was so vulnerable.
“Protego Maxima!” Blaise threw the shield around Draco, straining with the effort.
Macnair only laughed harder. “No shield can keep out the Dark Mark!”
On either side of their crippled Captain, Slytherin Squad targeted Macnair.
Instantly, a shield surrounded Macnair from his supporting Death Eaters. He smiled. “You learn a thing or two as an Auror.”
The squad’s spells bounced harmlessly off the thick shield. While they shot, the Death Eaters returned fire. A Cruciatus hit Warrington. He dropped, writhing.
Draco had protected the team from Macnair’s spells. With him still hunched against the ground, unable to move through the pain, the Death Eater took potshots. Goyle yelped as a slicing spell grazed his arm. Warrington struggled to his feet only to be blasted back by another spell.
Macnair’s shields were too thick for Ginny to get through. Her eyes narrowed, knowing there was only one thing she could do. Mustering every ounce of magic and hatred at Macnair, she yelled, “Avada Kedavra!”
The sickly green bolt screamed from her wand. It blasted through his shield like tissue paper…
But Macnair simply stepped aside.
Macnair’s movement bought Draco a moment free from pain. Clarity returned slowly. What Macnair could do with the Dark Mark was exactly what Voldemort had done but… he shouldn’t be able to do that.
Macnair raised his wand to his arm again.
“Not my Captain, you don’t,” Daphne snarled. Spell after spell shot from her wand in rapid succession. They were only jinxes, but Macnair couldn’t risk that they weren’t. His wand flicked wildly to keep up with deflecting them. It left him no time to shield.
As the rest of the Squad battled the other Death Eaters, Ginny fought for breath. No one had warned her how taxing the Killing Curse was. It made sense, or else Death Eaters would never use any curse but that. Unlike Death Eaters though, Ginny wasn’t used to the drain. While recovering her magic, powerful spells lay far beyond her grasp. She struggled just to cast jinxes.
Next to her, Draco struggled back to his knees. Macnair shouldn’t be able to do that, he kept thinking. But his pain-addled brain couldn’t answer the next question: then how was Macnair doing it?
Slowly, he worked it through. Voldemort had controlled the Dark Marks. Voldemort was dead. The Dark Marks were back. Now Macnair controlled the Dark Marks? That couldn’t be right. Theo said Lucius brought the Marks back, and only Lucius had the skill to do it. So if control of the Marks passed through succession, it would be to Lucius, not Macnair.
A spell slammed into Theo, knocking him off his feet. With labored breathing, he stood, weakly returning fire.
The answer suddenly came to Draco, the violent noise of the combat fading away with his revelation. If Macnair could use the Dark Mark, that meant anyone could.
The squad fought Macnair, but Daphne’s spells slowed and Blaise’s shield thinned with each curse it absorbed. Death Eaters had dropped, but more replaced them every second.
Focusing on Macnair, Draco raised his wand to his own Dark Mark. “Crucio.”
An unearthly scream ripped from Macnair. His Death Eaters threw up more shields, but just like he’d said -- no shield could stop the Dark Mark.
“For Murstow!” Draco yelled, levelling his wand at the still-writhing Macnair. “Avada Kedavra!”
Macnair dropped, and moved no more.
“The ward’s about to fall, Draco!” Blaise yelled. “30 seconds!”
Dozens of Death Eaters still fought on, utterly blocking their way to the guard building. The Auror inside hadn’t fired spells in a while. Hopefully, that meant he was exhausted and not that he was dead.
Explosions sounded from some distance away off to their left. “That’s Harry!” Ginny cried. “From the Apparition point!”
The crowd of Death Eaters surged as some broke off to join the fighting at the Apparition point. Draco saw their chance among the confusion. “Move, NOW!” he shouted. “Get to the guardhouse!”
Slytherin Squad shoved the ranks of Death Eaters back as they poured forward. They’d be dangerously encircled, but it was their only chance of keeping the prisoners on the island. As long as they could keep the wards up, the prisoners would stay captured.
Draco tried to stand, collapsing back down as his leg refused to support him. The squad ran forward as he’d commanded, leaving him helplessly behind.
A strong grip hoisted Draco to his feet. Goyle threw Draco’s free arm over his broad shoulders as they hobbled after the squad. Ginny hung back, deflecting curses from Draco and Goyle.
There was one thing he could do to help as Goyle dragged him along and Ginny kept them safe. Draco turned his wand again to his forearm. He was exhausted and the spell would disperse, but every bit would help. Focusing on every Death Eater in sight, Draco again cast, “Crucio.”
The Death Eaters stumbled back as his Aurors ran on. Their disorientation wouldn’t last long, but hopefully it would be enough for Slytherin Squad to get inside the guard building.
The Death Eaters began firing again as they ran. A red bolt clipped Ginny in the side. She stumbled, barely keeping up with the hobbling Draco and Goyle. Her old wound throbbed with every step. Gritting her teeth, she charged on.
Harry rushed in from the other side of the open square, five Aurors trailing him. Death Eaters poured toward the new arrivals. The guardhouse was only a few more yards ahead of Slytherin Squad, and they pushed recklessly toward it.
Death Eaters turned, firing shots. A shield sprung from Blaise’s wand, but not in time. Daphne cried out as a curse hit. Blaise caught her, keeping her moving as Warrington returned fire. His aim swung high while running. Both his shots missed.
Blaise blasted the guard door open.
Inside, eight Death Eaters crouched behind the cover of blasted tables and overturned couches. It only covered them from the far end of the room, leaving them completely exposed to Slytherin Squad.
The squad poured inside the building, taking shots at the unprotected Death Eaters. One Death Eater fell. The rest cast shields, slinking deeper into cover. Spells fired from the opposite end of the room, and Draco realized what they’d been hiding from.
“Ron!” Ginny yelled happily, firing spells with fury as her magic returned. So he’d been the trapped Auror.
“Hit ‘em hard, Gin!” Ron yelled back. “I can’t hold out much longer!”
One Death Eater, safely hidden in the farthest corner, didn’t bother fighting back. With the rest of the squad engaged, Draco turned to him with cold dread. Dirty blond hair spilled down the Death Eater’s back as the wards flexed beneath his wand. Over his shoulder, Lucius turned to Draco with narrowed eyes. “Hello, son.”
“Target Lucius!” Draco yelled. “He’s taking down the wards!” But every member of the team already fought for their lives as it was.
Shakily, Draco raised his wand. Barely a drop of magic remained in him. Perhaps enough for a Stupefy, but he wasn’t sure. “Step away from the wards, Father.”
But Lucius only smiled. “Do shoot me, Draco. I’ll treasure the memory for the rest of my life.”
Draco’s spell caught behind his lips, refusing to fully form. “I will… if I... if I have to.”
The ward rippled, flexing again beneath his father’s wand. “I’m waiting.”
Theo stepped in front of Draco. “You’re a terrible father!” he yelled, firing off a Stunner. Lucius batted it aside. Angry tears burned at Theo’s eyes. “No one should want to fight their own son!”
Another hex burst from Theo’s wand, forcing Lucius to shield. Draco’s heart sank. His father’s shield was even thicker than Blaise could cast. And unlike the squad, Lucius was far from exhausted.
The other Death Eaters fired off shots. Draco and Goyle could only cower behind an overturned table. With barely enough magic left for a single spell, Draco had to make it count. He thought vainly of the Dark Mark, but nothing he was capable of casting would get through it.
Even while shielded, Lucius’s wand hovered over the wards, flexing them further.
Ginny targeted the wall of the shack behind him. “Reducto!”
It exploded in splinters.
Reflexively, Lucius flinched away from the blast. He took a step away from his protected corner.
“Avada Kedavra!” Ron yelled. The green bolt screamed across the entire building. It ripped through Lucius’ thick shield, slamming into his back. The light left his father’s eyes. He sunk bonelessly to the floor.
Draco would never forget the sight. Desperately, he shoved it aside, trying to focus on keeping his squad -- and himself -- alive.
The Death Eaters paused to watch their leader fall.
In the hesitation, Blaise lunged for the ward. Daphne sunk to the ground by Blaise’s side. It was all she could do to maintain a shield around the two of them. Her head lolled to one side, her eyes blinking blearily as she fought to just stay awake.
“The ward’s still falling!” Blaise shouted. “I’m only slowing it down!”
“Keep slowing it, then!” Draco yelled. “Just keep them here!”
Sweating profusely, Ginny struggled to twist away from spells. A stray bolt knocked her to the ground. She didn’t get up. Draco’s heart thudded against his chest. She had to be alright.
The door burst open. Draco spun, still leaning on Goyle. Harry rushed through, his five Aurors hot on his heels.
He dropped to the floor next to Blaise, placing his wand against the ward. “Authorization code Lemon Drops 3255!”
The ward hummed, growing louder. It grew and grew until across the island, prisoners and Aurors alike flinched away from the noise, their hands over their ears. Once it was deafeningly loud, it popped.
The wards hummed at full strength.
Silence reigned as the Death Eaters struggled with what to do next. Blaise let out a relieved sigh. The few Death Eaters still in the guard shack hid.
Draco seized his chance, crawling to Ginny’s side. “Rennervate,” he breathed, daring to hope.
She winced, groggily coming to. “We’re alive?”
Draco crushed the redhead to him. “So far.”
Ginny wheezed at the pressure. Hastily, he let her go. She chuckled at him. “Just some sort of Stunner. I’ll be alright in a bit.”
Harry placed his wand tip against his throat. “Attention Death Eaters,” his voice boomed across the island. “This is Harry James Potter, commanding the full might of the Aurors. Anyone we find outside their cell will be summarily executed. Anyone still inside their cell will have their sentence reduced by half. Your choice.”
Draco passed a critical eye over the five bloodied and battle weary Aurors Harry had brought with him. “Full might of the Aurors?”
Harry shrugged, a grin slipping through. “No reason for the Death Eaters to know that. And Tonks is bringing the rest as they secure the Ministry.”
The four remaining Death Eaters in the shack dropped their wands and raised their empty hands in surrender. Ron pocketed their wands, pushing the four in front of him at wand point. “Get a move on, you louts,” Ron snarled. They went where prodded unprotestingly.
Ginny turned to Harry. “Hermione? Are the rest ok?”
Ron nodded, answering in Harry’s stead. “Shacklebolt got her to the hospital when the War Room fell. I ran here. She should be alright.”
Ginny and Draco breathed a sigh of relief. Reluctantly, Draco turned to Harry. “We have injured, but the rest of my squad can help you sweep the island.” Not to mention, Draco had already used the last of his magic.
A silver wolf jogged up to Harry. “Blocks A and E stand secure,” Tonks’ voice came through her Patronus. “Goyle's dad and others are waiting nicely inside their cells. Apparate over when you can.”
Gratefully, Goyle sank against the wall. Draco smiled. At least one father was safe. It was good to know that it was a deserving one.
Harry chuckled. “You don’t have to do everything, Malfoy.” Draco flinched back as Harry tapped him with his wand. “You have ward clearance now. Apparate them out.”
“I…” Draco cleared his throat around the uncomfortable words. He would rather not admit that he couldn’t Apparate a flobberworm across a table right now, let alone an entire squad across an ocean. “I’d splinch them,” he said instead.
Blaise smiled warmly, laying a hand on his Captain’s shoulder. “Allow me.”
Nothing had sounded so good to Draco in a lifetime. One by one, his squad put a hand on their Captain. With a pop, Slytherin Squad Disapparated.