"They're taking him to Voldemort—"
"They're taking him home," Lyra said. "This is the only way he survives this."
Harry stared at her. "And if Voldemort doesn't believe it?"
Lyra didn't answer.
But her jaw was set.
-
The drawing room at Malfoy Manor smelled of cold marble, dusted velvet, and steel.
Draco stood perfectly still.
Severus and Regulus beside him.
His father had a hand on his shoulder behind him.
Bellatrix—swaying slightly—paced in slow circles, humming.
It had been an hour since the fall on the Astronomy Tower.
But she hadn't come down.
Not yet.
Her fingers twitched around the edges of her robe. Her smile hadn't faded. It curled sharp and mad as ever, flickering like lightning behind her teeth.
The fire in the hearth flared as the air shifted.
And he appeared.
Lord Voldemort.
Tall. Pale. Silent.
Draco didn't move. He couldn't. Every bone in his body was frozen.
Bellatrix dropped instantly to her knees.
"My Lord," she breathed. "It was glorious."
Voldemort said nothing.
He stepped forward. Quiet as fog.
Stopped in front of Draco.
"Your wand," he said.
His voice was soft.
Too soft.
Draco swallowed hard and reached for it with shaking hands.
Lucius noticed. He gently took it from Draco's hand and passed it to Voldemort.
It was his way of protecting his son, keeping his fear private.
Voldemort took it and inspected it.
Slowly.
His long fingers brushed over the handle. He turned it once in his palm.
Lucius lowered his gaze.
Snape's jaw tightened.
Bellatrix giggled behind her hands.
"He said it, my Lord," she whispered. "He raised his wand, and he said it perfectly—Avada Kedavra—oh, and the light—green, so bright—and Dumbledore just fell. Like a puppet with no strings!"
Voldemort ignored her.
He raised the wand.
"Priori incantato."
A shimmer of light curled from the tip.
A flash of green.
The Killing Curse.
Perfect. Clean.
No error.
Voldemort said nothing for a long time.
Then he passed the wand back.
Draco's hand trembled as he took it.
"You spoke the words," Voldemort murmured. "The magic obeyed."
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firecracker ???
FanfictionElestara Lyra Black was everything a proper pureblood girl should be: elegant, cunning, coldly brilliant, and thoroughly unimpressed by fame or foolishness. She walked like a queen-in-waiting and proudly bore her mother's maiden name. On top of that...
