The next day went by rather fast and consisted mostly of all the girls in the kitchen prepping for the holiday the following day. Draco spent most of the day in his room but joined the guys for a game of Quidditch which he was glad for; if there was one thing Draco enjoyed it was being on a broom. That night Ginny made another nightly visit into his bedroom and they just laid there and talked and he gave her another soft kiss goodnight. Draco kept going back to the night he and Ginny had sex and as much as he loved it he wouldn't try and initiate it again unless Ginny wanted to. He felt he was skating on thin ice with their relationship, well if you could call it that. Neither of them used the word love again since that night and he wasn't sure if he should or not. He knew he did love her and he hoped Ginny loved him too but did she still? He felt himself putting his walls up again and quickly decided to push all thoughts out of his head before he made things worse.
Draco woke up Thanksgiving morning extra early. He was sick of being in his room all day and decided to slip out into the yard to clear his mind. He sat on the steps of the back porch letting the cold weather hit his face. He heard the back door open and someone sat down next him.
"Looks like it's going to snow again" Luna said in a soft voice.
Draco just gave a light nod in agreement.
"I'm excited for the winter season to come, I find it one of the most beautiful times of the year, don't you think?"
"Yeah I suppose so"
They sat there in silence for a while when Mrs. Weasley opened the back door and called to them.
"Ah, perfect, I could use some extra hands in the kitchen nice and early, come on you two"
Luna gave a small laugh and led the way into the kitchen. They took a seat at the table and Molly put all the ingredients of cookie baking down in front of them along with a recipe to follow.
"Now follow this recipe to a T and I'll get this turkey in the oven. No magic, homemade cookies taste much better as stated, HOMEMADE" Mrs. Weasley said sternly.
"Mrs. Weasley I've never made cookies in my life, in fact I don't think I've ever made anything for myself before" Draco said honestly.
"No worries dear, there's a first time for everything, Luna can help you through it. Now go on go on get those hands dirty and start making some dough"
Luna read the recipe and Draco tried hard to follow along. About a half hour into it he found himself covered in flour and so was Luna although not as bad as he was. They finally got their dough where it needed to be and were soon able to start forming cookies on a pan. Soon they were stuck in the oven and baked to perfection. They reloaded the tray with more cookies until they had a whole platter full.
"Alright that's the last batch. Now you two want some more work to do, if not I better wake the other troops up" Mrs. Weasley said covering the cookies for tonight's dessert feast.
"I rather enjoy baking" Luna said.
"Sure, it's better than sitting up in my room all day I suppose" Draco joked
"Wonderful, let's get some potatoes peeled and cut then" Molly said handing them a big bag of potatoes.
Luna peeled and Draco cut the potatoes. He had to be shown how to cut them to the right size to make them mashable later. He talked with Luna about her father and the Quibbler and what she did during the summer break. Soon the others started waking up one by one and stumbled into the kitchen. Ginny walked in and was surprised to see Draco sitting there deep in conversation with Luna and her Mom; not to mention the fact that he was covered in flour and knee deep in potatoes.
"Well well, look who got a jump start this morning" she teased taking a seat beside him.
He gave her a small smirk, "Yeah well it's the least I can do for your parents letting me intrude on your holiday season"
She smiled at him and he gave her a genuine smile back. He didn't know why but he had enjoyed his morning learning how to bake and make mashed potatoes.
After they were done with the potatoes Draco made his way upstairs to get cleaned up. He got out of the shower and threw some fresh clothes on and then went to make his way back downstairs. He was walking past George's room when he noticed the door to Fred's room was opened. He hadn't seen the door open at all since he had been here and walked over to the bedroom. He took a step inside and was intrigued by the many odd objects that met his eyes. He didn't realize someone was in the closet and felt really awkward when he saw it was George emerging from it with a big box.
"Oh, uh sorry" he said making a turn to leave.
"Nonsense mate, get over here and give me a hand" George said.
Draco walked over and helped him carry the box over to Fred's bed.
"What's in here?" Draco asked curiously.
"It's a bunch of sentimental stuff me and Fred shared or did together. Every holiday now, we pull it out and look at all the pictures and reminisce on the days when Fred was still alive." he said is a sad voice.
"Oh" Draco felt extremely uncomfortable and didn't know what to say.
"I'm just joking mate" he said slapping Draco on the back, "This is Fred's secret prank stash, that dirty bloke. I'm just taking a small amount of ammo for tonight. Let's just say Bill and Charlie's visit might be cut short with how much this will piss them off."
Draco sighed a breath of relief and gave a small laugh at George's comment.
"Do you ever play pranks on Ginny?" Draco asked.
"Not anymore really, she hasn't been herself since the battle. She does seem to be in better spirits though even after all she's been through." said George, taking what he needed from the box and closing it up then sliding it under the bed.
"Yeah"
"Guess someone is making a positive influence on her" he smirked and walked out of the room.
Draco sat there for a moment to take in what he said. Surely he wasn't talking about him. He would never think of himself as a positive influence on anybody, especially a Weasley. He walked out of Fred's room and closed the door then headed downstairs, pushing all thoughts aside for now.
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The day went by as pleasant as it could possibly be. There was a game of Quidditch the boys played outside while the girls finished getting dinner ready and then they sat down to the biggest feast Draco had ever laid eyes on. He wasn't use to eating dinner like this and Mrs. Weasley's food tasted so much better than the ones the house elves served up in Malfoy Manor. Conversation over dinner was a riled up mess but great all the same. There would be five different conversations happening all around the table. Draco found himself having to yell to answer people or comment on something. After dinner they had a rigorous game of charades going on in the living room which involved a lot of yelling the same guess out numerous times by Ron and a lot of laughing from the rest of them.
"Really Ron? If it wasn't a Dementor the first five times you guessed what makes you think it would be it the sixth time?" Bill howled with laughter.
After a few more rounds of charades they all piled back in the kitchen for the slew of desserts Mrs. Weasley had been working on the past two days. Ginny took a seat next to Draco and began to tell him all about her Mom's amazing double chocolate fudge cake that she couldn't get enough of. She served herself a piece and then Draco. Ron was stuffing his face with cookies and went on about how delicious they were.
"I'm glad you like them Ronald because Draco and Luna made them." Mrs. Weasley said proudly.
Ron stopped chewing for a moment and contemplated spitting it out but after noticing they seemed to not be poisoned he began to stuff his face again.
"Never thought you'd be eating cookies baked by Draco Malfoy huh?" said Harry laughing at his best mate's facial expression. Everyone laughed and continued passing desserts back and forth.
Draco was sitting there just taking everything in. He couldn't believe that he once hated these people who were more than welcoming of him after all he had done, after everything his father did and still stands for. He felt Ginny grab his hand under the table and she laced her fingers with his. He looked at her for a moment and then took a bite of the cake she served him.
"It's good right?" she said taking a bite herself.
"That's some good cake" he said in a serious tone.
They both laughed.
Ginny suddenly felt Draco tighten his grip around her hand and she quickly turned to face him. She saw him close his eyes tightly and bring his other hand up to his head. She knew what was coming. Draco stood up without trying to make a scene and make it to the back door to the yard. He wasn't sure how bad this attack would be and if his mind made him do anything like he did to his room at the Manor then outside was where he rather be. Despite Draco's best efforts to slip outside unnoticed every head seemed to be on him at his abrupt departure from the table.
"Draco, are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley called to him.
He felt his body giving into the curse and found himself starting to convulse. He quickly ripped the back door opened and threw himself down the steps of the porch into a mass land of snow. Ginny ran outside to follow him followed by everyone else. Harry, Hermione and Ron ran over to Ginny. Draco was on his knees and hunched over and he was running his hands into the snow and grabbing a fistful of it to help with the pain.
"Harry we could the Hauriendum spell if we need to, it should work on this type of dark magic" Hermione called to him.
"NO! DON'T, JUST LEAVE ME" Draco yelled.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had seen enough of Dark magic in their days to know what was happening to Draco. Molly put her hand over her mouth at this horrible site she had to witness and Mr. Weasley held her while she cried for the poor boy before her. Everyone was just watching helplessly. Ginny ran over to Draco and kneeled down in front of him. He looked at her; she had tears running down her face.
"Draco, let us help you" she cried.
He just kept shaking his head no; he didn't want anyone to have to endure this pain. He scrambled back a bit more from her as another wave of pain shot through him. He screamed out in agony and then that familiar chill filled the air. The temperature outside seemed to have dropped immensely and Ginny shivered at the change. It was already freezing outside but the coldness that came about felt like a bunch of knives stabbing your skin. The wind started whipping at her face and a howling breeze ran around them. Snow was flying everywhere and Ginny almost couldn't see in front of her. She heard Hermione yell out.
"HARRY WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING BEFORE HE HURTS SOMEONE OR DESTROYS THE HOUSE"
Harry was frantically thinking and then he pulled out his wand and started running over to Draco to perform the Hauriendum spell. Before he could reach him he saw Ginny run to Draco first.
"GINNY NO!" He screamed to her.
She got closer to Draco and pointed her wand at him. His eyes went wide at the realization of what she was trying to do. She was breathing heavy and she was trembling in fear at the pain she was about to experience but before she could say the words her wand flew out of her hand. She turned around to see that Harry disarmed her. She glanced back at the porch where her family stood watching in horror. She saw the back porch was overlaid in ice and the back wall of the Burrow was freezing over. She turned back to Draco and jumped in surprise when she saw him standing right in front of her. She let out a small gasp and took a step back. Harry was fighting against the force of the wind to try and get to Draco as fast as he could but he could barely keep his feet on the floor.
"GINNY GET BACK NOW!" Mr. Weasley yelled to her.
She turned to her Mom and Dad and saw the worry and panic in their faces. She turned back to Draco who was just staring at her. His eyes were a silvery ice and she went to grab his face in her hands as she did back at the Manor to try and calm him. Before her hands could reach his face he quickly grabbed both of her wrists and held them tightly in his hands. She looked into his eyes and just knew that Draco was completely lost in his mind. He looked at her with his icy stare, almost like crystals. She saw the snow on the ground floating up and then it slowed down, almost to a complete stop as if time had froze. She heard her name being screamed but it sounded so much further away. She felt Draco's grip tighten around her wrists and she tried to pull away.
"DRACO IT'S ME, ITS GINNY, DON'T LET THIS CURSE CONTROL YOU, YOU NEED TO FIGHT THROUGH IT!" she cried out to him trying to pull with all her might out of his grasp. She didn't think the grip could tighten anymore but it did and she cried out in pain and fell to her knees before him.
Harry was desperately dragging himself through the snow and ice that was flying passed him. His face was getting cut up by all the jagged icy flakes that flew by. He heard Ginny scream out and tried to pick up his pace. He was almost there but it was like Draco was keeping him away from him by some invisible pull that was fighting against him. Ginny looked up at Draco again through fresh tears. She felt her wrists start to get cold and watched as Draco's hands began to ice over onto her hands and wrists. She let out a blood curdling scream as she felt the ice running through her skin. Harry reached out his hand and grabbed Draco's ankle and yelled out the spell.
"HAURIENDUM!"
Harry's screams echoed throughout the air and before he knew it his eyes fell closed and he knew no more.
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Ginny was sipping on a cup of tea the next day and was waiting for her Mom and Dad to join her. She looked over to the trio sitting across from her. Harry had a bunch of scrapes on his face but overall was ok from last night's events. She had sat with Draco almost all night and half of this morning waiting for him to wake up. Then Ron came and told her that their parents wanted to talk with them. She heard her Mom and Dad come in and take a seat.
"First of all I just want to say that I am absolutely appalled at what I witnessed last night. You all should have told us what was going on with Draco before he came to stay with us this way we would've been prepared." said Mr. Weasley
"Secondly, why would you put yourself in danger like that Ginny?" Molly spoke up.
"I'm sorry Mom, but I thought I could help, I was able to last time back at the Manor but.......I don't know what happened this time..." she trailed off.
"When Draco wakes up we have a plan we want to put into place and we only hope he will agree to it" Arthur said putting his arm around Molly.
"What plan is that?" Harry asked.
"We will discuss it later, for now I want you to get some more rest Harry. Ginny go check on Draco and we will meet back here a bit later. I have written a letter to McGonagall about the incident" Molly said getting up and leading Harry to the living room to go rest.
Ginny ascended the stairs deep in thought. All she could think about was the look of Draco's eyes last night and how he wasn't even present. She was rubbing her wrists where he had grabbed her and made sure she wore a long sleeve shirt to hide the bruises he had caused on her. The last thing she wanted him to feel was guilty for hurting her. She knew he didn't mean it and so did everyone else, everyone knew Draco had no control over the curse that activated a part of his mind he couldn't control. She slowly opened his bedroom door and closed it behind her. She saw Draco just lying there deep in thought and staring at the ceiling.
"Hey, you're awake" she said in a small voice walking over and taking a seat on the bed.
He tried to sit up and Ginny helped him get into a sitting position. He looked horrible, she just wanted to kiss his face and comfort him.
"How long was I out this time?"
"Just since last night, it's about lunch time now. Harry woke up sometime this morning but he wasn't affected as much as you were from the curse." she explained.
"What do you mean?"He looked confused.
"Well Harry used the Hauriendum spell on you" she cautiously said.
"WHAT!" he said angrily.
"We didn't have a choice Draco, you were out of control and you......." she trailed off and was absentmindedly rubbing her wrists.
Draco noticed this and reached down and grabbed her arm.
"Draco, no don't-
He pulled her sleeves back and his eyes went wide when he was met with dark bruises on both of her wrists. They were purple and red and just a horrible site for him to take in. He let out shaky breath and he felt tears fill his eyes as memories of last night filled his head. He heard Ginny's screams ring through his mind and remembered how she struggled to get away from him. He never wanted to cause Ginny any kind of pain especially physical pain. He ran his hands through his hair and started pacing around the room. He was desperately trying to control his emotions.
"Draco, its fine it was an accident. You wanted me to stay away but I didn't listen" she pleaded with him to make him see it her way but she knew he wouldn't.
"I can't believe I did that to you. I need to leave, I can't be here, and the last thing I would ever want is to be responsible for anything like this" he said gesturing to her wrists.
Ginny walked over to him and grabbed his face. He wouldn't look at her and his body was shaking from the shock of what he had done.
"Draco, look at me, please" she said in a soft voice.
He looked at her and his eyes locked with her fiery ones that he loved so much. She rubbed her thumb over his cheek and she gave him a smile.
"It was an accident, I know you would never hurt me but I want to help you and more so I want you to let me help you."
He shook his head no but she firmly stopped him from saying no with her hands on his face. "Draco?"
He locked eyes with her again.
"I love you, please let me help you" she felt her own tears sliding down her face. She felt Draco's own tears sliding down onto her hands that were firmly placed on his cheeks.
She saw him thinking about her offer but she knew he was letting the words "I love you" register in his head. She pulled him into a hug. He didn't hug her back he just stood there in shock at the entire situation.
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Draco was making his way downstairs to have a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about last night's events. After Ginny and he spoke earlier he just wanted to be alone. He couldn't bare to be around everyone when he knew he was responsible for hurting Ginny and practically forcing Harry to risk his wellbeing so that things didn't get any worse last night. On the way down he stopped in front of Ron's room where he knew Harry was staying and knocked on the door.
"COME IN" he heard Ron call out.
He opened the door and saw Ron and Harry playing a game of chess. They were a bit surprised to see Draco at the door and turned their attention to him as he walked into the room.
"What's up Draco?" Harry said getting up.
Draco saw how Harry had been affected by the curse and he didn't think he could feel any worse after seeing Ginny's wrists but he was wrong.
"Uh, hey I just wanted to.......um....say thanks........you know for....." He stumbled on his words. It wasn't everyday he thanked his ex rival.
"Don't mention it; I didn't really feel much for more than a few seconds before I was out. I'll tell you though that what I did feel in those few seconds was the most pain I think I've even been through and I've been under the Cruciatus curse before"
"Well you know my father, he always likes to go all out" Draco smirked. "Besides you get use to it after a while"
"Do you really?" came Ron's voice.
"Hell no" Draco gave a small laugh followed by Harry and Ron.
"Well I guess let's get downstairs and see what Mr. and Mrs. Weasley need to say" said Harry leading the way out of the room.
They headed downstairs and met everyone in the kitchen. Almost the entire Weasley family was there and Draco noticed Ginny had an open seat next to her for him to sit in. He took a seat beside Bill instead and let Harry and Ron take the empty seats next to her. He saw her glance at him and then she looked away. He turned his attention to Mr. Weasley who took a seat next to Molly.
"How are you feeling Draco?" Molly asked with a bright smile.
"Uh, better thanks" he said keeping his head down. He felt so bad for hurting the youngest Weasley. He felt like everyone hated him even more now because of the harm he put them all in and inflicted upon Ginny.
"We're glad to hear that Draco, but there is something we need to discuss" came Arthur's voice. Everyone had their eyes on him.
"We think that the remainder of your stay here Draco that we should have a plan for when you have to suffer through one of these horrid punishments." he said with much seriousness.
"What kind of plan?" Draco asked curiously.
"Well..........we think the Hauriendum spell is a perfect way to help you keep the effects of the curse at-
"No, absolutely not" Draco said firmly interrupting Molly's pitch of the plan.
"But Draco this seems to be the only solution at the moment" Mr. Weasley argued.
"No, it's not happening, there's no way I'll agree to that. I would never want anyone of you to have to be put through something like that just for me. I'll be fine there's got to be another way." he said getting angry.
"Well there isn't right now and it's a perfect idea. You need to start learning how to control your powers when your mind goes to that unfamiliar place. Until then this is how it needs to be" Hermione pitched in.
Draco looked at her for a moment and then looked back down at the table. He was shaking his head getting ready to throw another round of protests out when Arthur spoke again.
"Draco, your right, nobody here should have to go through that, including you. You're a part of the Order and as a member now you need to make decisions that are best for all of us. Not only are you capable of killing or seriously hurting someone during these attacks, but your also setting off a very high level of magic which will draw Death Eaters right to the Burrow no matter how powerful our wards are. As much as you hate to accept it you're going to have to." he said with a sad face.
Draco looked over to Ginny and his eyes trailed down to her wrists and he studied the bruises on them for a moment. His stomach twisted in disgust at the idea of having to put the only people who have treated him like one of their own through something so horrifying. He felt horrible for hurting the redhead across from him and he didn't want to put any of them in any danger. He also couldn't bare the thought that his uncontrolled magic could lead Death Eaters right to their door. He couldn't live with himself if he knew he was responsible for the death of one of the people before him.
"Fine" he whispered.
"Ok then, well everyone you have your orders going forward if we are faced with this situation again. Now Harry you won't be able to perform the spell again as you can only be the absorber once with this particular spell. I'm afraid it will have to be someone different each time until we come up with another solution." Arthur explained.
Everyone nodded and Arthur gestured to them all that the meeting was over and the room starting clearing out. Draco just ran his fingers through his hair and held his head in his hands. This couldn't be happening; the whole Weasley family was willing to put themselves through torture just for him. He didn't deserve their help; he would've just suffered through each one. He would be lying though if he said he wasn't worried about hurting someone or worse. He looked up to glance at Ginny but saw she had already left the kitchen, he knew she was trying to give him some space. He felt himself getting frustrated and made his way out of the kitchen and up to his room.
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The next couple of weeks went by slowly; it consisted mostly of Draco keeping to himself in his room. He would only leave it to join the Weasley's for meals or take part in a game of Quidditch here and there. Charlie, Bill and Fleur returned back to their homes for work and would be back around the Christmas holiday. Mrs. Weasley offered Luna to stay the rest of the holiday with them at the Burrow and she agreed. Harry and Luna had finally locked lips one afternoon after she talked Harry into helping her build a snowman. Things between Draco and Ginny came to a standstill, there were still the smiles they shared when they locked eyes from across the room and then one evening Ginny planted a quick kiss on his lips when they were passing each other in the hallway. She didn't sneak into his room at night anymore because she wasn't sure where his mind was when it came to their relationship. The bruises on her wrists were completely healed now and Draco hadn't had an attack since Thanksgiving night.
Draco laid awake in his bed one morning lost in his thoughts when he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in" he called.
"Morning Draco, mind giving me and the boys a hand with something?" Mr. Weasley asked popping his head into the room.
"Yeah sure" Draco sounded surprised to be needed and was honestly thankful to have something to do than be in his room right now.
"Wonderful, grab a coat, I'll meet you on the back porch" Mr. Weasley said closing the door.
Draco grabbed a coat out of the closet and threw it on and then descended the staircase to the kitchen. He noticed it was quite early still as Mrs. Weasley was just making her morning tea.
"Morning Draco, good luck with the boys, they are going tree hunting today" Mrs. Weasley said giving him a sympathetic smile.
Draco gave a small smirk and joined the guys out of the porch. He approached the group of men with a question, "So what exactly is tree hunting?"
They all looked at him surprised.
"You do know what a Christmas tree is, don't you Draco?" Ron asked with a laugh.
"Of course I do, but why are we hunting for one?" he asked.
"To pick out a good tree, and then we cut it down and bring it back" Arthur explained as they made their way towards the snowy forest.
"But why not just use magic?" Draco asked.
"Now what fun is that?" George answered.
"It's more than that Draco. Using magic inside the ward is risky enough, so using magic outside of the ward is even riskier. The Ministry is monitoring all use of magic and with a rat in the bunch and an investigation in the works; using magic will lead the Death Eaters right to us." Arthur explained.
They walked to the very edge of the ward where the forest continued and Draco saw Arthur pull out a vile with a clear thick liquid in it.
"Ok everyone take a small sip of this potion and we will be able to walk through the wards without having to take them down." Arthur explained taking a small sip from the vile and passing it to George.
"Wait, we're going outside of the wards?" Ron asked in surprise.
"Yes we are, now go on drink up and get your wands out" Arthur said.
They all exchanged an unsure look and then reluctantly sipped the potion from the small vile. Draco stepped passed the ward and the air instantly felt so much different. He had his wand drawn and looked both ways before following the rest of them into the forest. They walked for a good 20 minutes with just the sound of the crunching of snow beneath their feet and the occasional small talk.
"There's a great lot of trees just a bit ahead that we always get ours at" Arthur said leading the way.
As much as Draco felt uneasy being exposed to the outside world without any protective wards around; he did enjoy the freedom. He listened to Mr. Weasley share old stories of when they would go tree hunting and gave a small smile when Arthur told them Ginny was always the decision maker when it came to picking the perfect one.
Draco suddenly felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up and an eerie feeling filled the air. He looked over to the others who seemed to have noticed the change as well. Draco tightened his grip around his wand and darted his eyes in every direction to make sure the area was secure. There was a deadly silence that washed over them and before Draco knew it he grabbed the back of Ron's shirt and pulled him back with him against a tree as a spell missed Ron's chest by mere inches.
They all took cover behind some nearby trees. Draco and Ron looked over to Harry, George and Arthur and Harry made a hand gesture to them that he was going to take a peek at what threat they were up against. Harry slowly poked his head out and as soon as he did he pulled back as another spell hit the snow beside him sending flakes everywhere. Harry looked across at them and held his hands up indicating six. Draco couldn't help the rapid pace of his heart picking up and he knew Ron's had to as they were both breathing heavy. Draco looked back over to Harry and Arthur gestured for them to split up and take the Death Eaters out. Draco and Ron nodded.
"Alright Weasley, I'm going to make a run for that boulder over there and get a look at their positions"
Ron nodded to him.
Draco pushed himself off the tree and ran as fast as he could to the boulder. He saw there were three Death Eaters rather close to the boulder he had decided to hide behind but he didn't have time to change his destination point and quickly skidded down behind the rock. He felt a curse hit the rock as he just made it there and then another spell flew over his head and then he saw a Death Eater fall dead beside him. He looked over to Ron who was the one who cast the deadly spell and he quickly nodded a quick thanks.
Draco quickly kept track in his head of how many Death Eaters were left and then motioned for Ron to join him behind the rock. Ron went to make a run for it when a curse flew at him and he jumped back to dodge it and fell backwards to the ground. Draco quickly ran out from behind his hiding spot and ran over to Ron and grabbed him roughly by his shirt to drag him to cover. A spell flew passed Draco's face and Draco quickly sent a deadly curse at one of the Death Eaters and heard his body hit the ground dead. At this point Draco and Ron abandoned their hiding place and ran to meet up with the others.
Draco saw Harry dueling a Death Eater and Arthur fighting off two of them. George had just taken down another and Ron was on Draco's heels. Draco wasn't sure where the other Death Eaters came from but he suddenly saw another five coming at them and he began to panic. He saw George get hit with a binding charm who was desperately trying to free himself from and Ron who was so close behind him at one point was hit with a spell that threw him into a nearby tree. Draco made to turn back to him but couldn't with the steady stream of curses being thrown at him. He finally was behind a tree diagonally from where Harry was crouched behind one.
"WHERE'S ARTHUR?" Draco yelled
"HE'S UP AHEAD, WE NEED TO GET TO HIM" Harry called back.
They both exchanged a nod and made a run for it. So many spells were flying everywhere it was hard to tell whose was whose. Draco suddenly felt the earth move beneath him as one of the Death Eaters sent out a shockwave curse. He lost his balance and fell to the ground as did Harry. He then heard a very loud deafening pitch that ran through his head keeping them all on their knees from the pain radiating in their heads. He squinted through the pain to see Harry crouched down behind the tree holding his head in his hands in pain. He then tried to turn to find Arthur and his heart sank when he saw he was on the ground with at least five Death Eaters advancing on him.
"DAD!" he heard Ron yell out from behind him.
Anger ran through Draco's body, he couldn't let Mr. Weasley die.
"Well take a look boys, seems we have the Weasley Father here. Guess you'll be meeting the same fate as your son" a Death Eater said with amusement, followed by a maniacal laugh along with the others.
Draco felt himself slipping, he felt his heart speeding up and his breathing was heavy. He ran out from behind the tree and ran to Mr. Weasley as fast as he could. The other Death Eaters raised their wands to Draco but they stopped when they noticed their legs were frozen in place. One of the Death Eaters started yelling in pain as the rest of their bodies covered completed with ice until they were completely engulfed. Harry and the others watched in horror at the scene before them and as Draco advanced on them their frozen bodies exploded into a million shards of ice. The Death Eater standing over Arthur with his wand drawn looked around him in fear and his face twisted in anger and he raised his wand to finish off Arthur. The deadly curse flew out of his wand and before it could hit him Draco jumped in front of him and put his hands up over his face to prepare for the impact of the curse. When nothing hit him he looked up to see a huge wall of ice between him and the Death Eater. The ice wall then exploded and knocked the Death Eater out and he fell to the floor. He was scrambling to try and get up and take off when George quickly made his way over and swiftly hit him with the killing curse. The thought of Fred's death was clearly on his mind by his facial expression.
"Mr. Weasley, are you alright" Harry came running over with Ron.
"Why are their Death Eaters so close to the wards?" Harry asked.
"I have no clue, unless Draco's episode a few weeks ago tipped them off and they've been scouting the area. Probably waiting for another round of magic from him to pinpoint us" Arthur explained.
Arthur got to his feet and looked at Draco with a mixed expression of shock and gratefulness. "You saved my life Draco, thank you" he said.
Draco gave a small nod. He didn't realize how hard he was breathing and how tight his fists were balled until he started to relax and felt his hands unclench. He let out a shaky breath and knelt down in the snow. Every time he unwillingly tapped into this part of his mind where these unfamiliar powers came from he was either not present or he was passed out afterwards but this time was different. He was a bit freaked out at the feeling of it and wasn't sure how he felt about it. He just murdered four Death Eaters with a single curse, one he didn't even have control over........well at least he didn't think he did. He could feel his mind wanting to pull him in another direction but he tried hard to stay focused on the here and now to get his mind straight.
"You ok Draco?" Harry asked giving him a pat on the back.
Draco nodded trying to catch his breath, "All this for a fuckin tree" he smirked.
They all gave small laugh.
"Maybe we will use magic this year" Arthur joked, "After all we already used a load of magic during that attack." he said leading the way to the lot of trees just up ahead.
They quickly used a simple spell to cut down the tree and levitated it back passed the ward. Arthur said a quick spell that erased all of their footprints from the snow and then passed back into the wards.