Keeping a Promise

Chapter 38

Draco's POV

I followed Goyle down the stairs to the docks. A booming voice stopped us as we reached the end of the stairs to the front of the castle. 

"You have one hour. Dispose of your dead with dignity. Treat your injured," rang Voldemort's voice through out the grounds. "I speak now, Harry Potter, directly to you. You have permitted your friends to diefor you rather than face me yourself. I shall wait for one hour in the ForbiddenForest. If, at the end of that hour, you have not come to me, have not givenyourself up, then battle recommences. This time, I shall enter the fray myself,Harry Potter, and I shall find you, and I shall punish every last man, woman, andchild who has tried to conceal you from me. One hour."

Potter was currently on his way to the head master's office. I sure hoped that the memories that Snape gives him shows him on the right side of the war. The way that he treated and looked after me just gave me the feeling that he was on Dumbledore's side all along; a double agent. He went against the Dark Lord time after time, especially when he taught me occlumency. He protected me when my father wouldn't...or perhaps he couldn't. Doesn't matter though. What mattered then, at that moment, was getting to the other pregnant girls. I highly doubt that we make it there before Bellatrix started the growing process. 

"Come on," I urged Goyle to keep going. 

"Took you long enough," Aunt Bella scoffed when Goyle walked through the door to the boat house on the dock. 

I hide around the corner and waved a protection spell over me so Bella couldn't sense me there. 

"You alone?" she asked, and I heard her footsteps get closer to the door. 

"Uh, yeah," Goyle said. 

I was thankful that Goyle had finally used his thick head of his. I guess there is a first time for everything. I waited until I heard my aunt apparate away before I lifted the spell and entered the boat house as well. Diana and Millicent were writhing on the floor in pain; their stomachs had already grown to full term. I rushed over to Diana and helped her up. Goyle took the cue and extended a hand to Millicent, who looked even unhappier that she had to touch him as well as go through this pain. 

"I hope the Dark Lord takes this child away from me," Millicent winced as she stood. "This is the exact reason that I didn't want to have kids." 

"What about Micah?" I asked. "He loved you, you know." 

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not sure where he picked up the notion where that was okay or even remotely possible." 

I shook my head. "You didn't deserve him. I hope you rot in hell." 

"He didn't deserve me, get your head right." 

I took in a deep breath. "I don't know how you can speak about him like that when he just died today." 

"He asked for it," she replied, smacking her lips. 

It took everything in me not to just deck her right in the nose. If she wasn't pregnant, there wouldn't have been anything stopping me. There was nothing going to be solved by her attitude at the moment. I just knew that we had to get the girls out of there and meet Mitch with Lila. 

"Can you two walk?" I asked. 

Diana shook her head no, to which I nodded and picked her up in my arms. Millicent didn't even answer me, but she was still in Goyle's arms. I was glad though. Who knows what would've happened if I had to carry Millicent. I had never liked her and this was just making sure that I absolutely hated her. 

"Alright, I am going to case a Fidelius charm on us before we leave." 

Goyle grunted. "What fer?" 

I rolled my eyes. "So we're not detected as we get the girls to safety." 

"Good idea," he agreed. "Then the Order won't be able to attack us." 

I slowly nodded. "Yeah, sure." 

After I performed the charm, we made our way out of the door. The battle was just getting worse. I saw some people jumping from the windows just to make sure they stayed alive. Spells were flying from all directions. I knew where to go though; I just made sure that the oaf was stil behind me as I went. 

"Draco!" 

I turned to see my mother, beaten and bruised, wobbled along the edge of the forest. I now believed that she was apart of the Order. If she was on the Dark Side still, she would have never been hurt. She would've been at home still because that was her job. She called out again, obviously looking for me. Tears pricked my eyes as I approached her, releasing my charm just so she could see us. 

Her whole face lit up as she saw me. "Draco, my boy," she said as she reached out for me. 

"Mum," I smiled back. 

"Is it true?" she asked. "Is it true that you switched sides?" 

I nodded. "It is. I heard that you did as well." 

"Yes," she replied, squeezing my arm. "What are we doing here?" she asked, looking from Diana to Millicent. "I can tell that they are not meant to be here." 

"He has made them full term. As of this morning, they were not that far along. He is trying to make himself have eternal youth just in case his first plan doesn't work," I replied. "We need to get them some place safe so the children survive." 

"I know just the place," mum nodded. "We just have to get off Hogwart's land before hand so we can apparate." 

"Mum, wait," I got her attention because she had started to wave at me to follow her. "I have to get back to Lila. Could you take them?" 

"Did this happen to Lila as well?" she asked, her eyes searching mine. 

I nodded. "I have to save her and my son." 

She swallowed hard. "Go do what you have to do and then meet me," she leaned over and whispered in my ear. "If you are not there within the hour, I will come back for you." 

I shook my head. "Don't worry about me." 

"That's my job," she kissed my cheek before raising her wand to have Diana float along side her. "I love you, Draco." 

"I love you too, mum," I said before running at full speed to Lila, all the while dodging spells and flinging a few of my own to get people out of my way. 

That's when I rounded the corner of the castle that was right outside the windows of the Great Hall only to find that Fenrir Greyback with his teeth almost on Lila's neck.