From Wiltshire, With Love

Chapter 75

"What do you want Draco?" Blaise was faintly annoyed as Draco stepped out of the Floo. Snapping shut the book he was reading, he walked over to the fireplace from the couch he had been lounging on. "I'm meeting Daphne soon."

Shacklebolt had told him to go to Blaise first, but Draco wasn't sure how his friend would react. Instead, he had talked with Pansy and Millie before coming to the Zabini household, feeling more confident his two long-time friends would turn if they knew a different life was possible. At the very least, they wouldn't rat him out.

Draco wasn't sure about Daphne, and he had no intention of going to Greg and Vince. The Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors were better bets, considering how some of them reacted during the prisoner execution, but it was all dangerous.

Luna's defiant blue eyes flashed before him and, clenching his jaw to quell his rising bile, he Occluded the memory of her murder to focus on the task at hand. Seeking out defectors was part of achieving absolution. Danger didn't matter.

Draco closed in on Blaise, closer than was normal for a friendly conversation. His friend tensed, at once sensing that Draco wasn't there for a social call. Draco whispered softly. "If you knew that the Dark Lord could die, would you fight against him?"

Blaise was a wild card. Impossible to read on a good day, and Draco wasn't as close to him since the Zabinis only arrived at Hogwarts from Italy in fifth year.

Blaise dropped all pretense of disinterest and whispered back, brown eyes locked on his. "Are you trying to get me killed?"

Silently, Draco turned his head back and forth.

Blaise's eyes widened slightly and he exhaled a short breath in surprise. "You're serious."

Draco kept his voice low. "He can die. His power has been weakening. We need help."

"We?" Blaise dropped book he was holding. It thudded on the floor, completely forgotten. "You're a spy?"

Draco didn't answer, but stared right back at Blaise, trying to determine what his friend was thinking. If only he had an ounce of ability as a Legilimens. Shacklebolt better be right because Blaise was unreadable. His heart thudded rapidly in the tense silence between them.

Draco leaned in more closely, and Blaise backed up an inch. Draco whispered again. "Your mum won't be able to protect you anymore. He'll make you take the mark so you'll have to fight at Hogwarts regardless. Which side do you want to be on?"

Blaise's Adam's apple bobbed. He was scared, which was encouraging. He didn't want to be a Death Eater, but how loyal was he to the Dark Lord's cause? Draco needed to get Blaise away from his mother for the rest of this conversation. He didn't know where her loyalties lay and she scared the fuck out of him.

As if on cue, the heels of Yasmine Zabini clacked loudly as she stalked into the parlour. Before he could turn to face her, Draco was blasted across the room in a flash of orange light. Yasmine's spell knocked him off his feet, before he crashed on the ground and slid across the hard wood floor. Stars clouded his vision when he collided with the far wall and his wand whipped out of his grasp before he could blink.

"Eimmy!" Draco heard Blaise's cry of surprise.

Pain shot through his shoulder and back and Draco cried out, grimacing as he gingerly moved his limbs. His friend ran over to where Draco struggled to raise his head while Yasmine cautiously approached him. Mother and son appeared in his vision above him, standing on either side of his body. Blaise gaped at his mother in shock, Yasmine's eyes flashed with deadly anger.

"Get the hell away from my son, Draco," she growled.

Draco's stomach churned in fear. He had never heard her voice so menacing before.