Draco's POV:

I sat in the Slytherin common room in the middle of the afternoon, having skipped classes to await Lizzie's return. The sofa beneath me sagged under my weight, for I had been sitting in the same spot for the entire night, barely even changing positions. I could feel the bags under my eyes already forming from my refusal to sleep. I was not going to miss Lizzie's return.

My mind had spent the time switching between thinking about absolutely nothing at all to worrying about why Lizzie hadn't returned yet. I had to stop myself from thinking every once in awhile because my mind had begun to think about some terrible situation that Lizzie could be in.

Was she stranded in the Forbidden Forest surrounded by a hungry pack of werewolves?

Did she fall into the lake and get dragged under the water by the squid?

Had Potter led her into a trap that had inevitably led to her demise?

Did she need my help?

Was she in mid-battle with a troll and losing quickly?

No she wouldn't lose. If I know Liz at all, she would fight with every fiber of her being and win easily. She is a feisty little thing.

I wished that I could have a sign, any sign at all, that she was okay. Or I was going to go crazy sitting here waiting for her.

My wish came true around dinner time, when my stomach had begun to growl with hunger. I had been sitting on the sofa staring at a stone in the wall thinking about another horrible situation Liz could possibly be in when the cushion beside me sank as someone sat down. I turned to tell the person off but leapt in surprise when I saw a pair of deep grey eyes smiling back at me.

"Elizabeth Samuels, where the hell have you been?" I asked fiercely, throwing my arms around her body and holding her tightly to me.

"Nice to see you too," she winced slightly as she gently hugged me back. I drew back quickly and placed my hands on her shoulders, staring seriously into her eyes.

"Are you okay?" I whispered. She shrugged and refused to make further eye contact with me.

"I'm fine, just got a little bump in the head by Pluto," she smiled a bit as if this were a joke to her.

"What do you mean 'a bump in the head by Pluto'? As in the planet Pluto?" I raised my eyebrows at her, shocked and worried.

"Yeah," she smiled shyly.

"You better explain," I commanded. I did not wait here all night and all day to be left in the dark about what happened, especially now that I knew she got hurt.

"Can we uh- go somewhere no one will hear us?" She cast her eyes around the room, looking to see who was around us.

"Room of Requirement," I muttered, grabbing her hand and dragging her to said room.

Once inside, I sat her down on the red velvet sofa provided by the room and looked at her expectantly.

"Spill it all," I stated firmly. Lizzie was not leaving this room if I didn't get an answer.

"Have you heard anything at all?" she asked.

"No," I replied honestly. "I'd been on that sofa from the moment you left to the moment you returned and refused to talk to anyone."

"Oh, well, uh- after we left Umbridge's office, we met Harry and Hermione at the edge of the forest. Apparently Umbridge got carried off by a herd of centaurs. I don't know what happened to her." She looked down at her hands which were fidgeting nervously in her lap.

"Centaurs?" I asked in shock. She smiled at her hands and almost chuckled a bit at the thought of Umbridge being carried away by a load of half-horse half-man people.

"Yeah," she answered. "That's all Harry said."

"What happened next?"

"We flew to London on the backs of a bunch of thestrals."

"Thestrals? This story just keeps getting more and more odd," I mused, dragging a hand through my hair.

"It was Luna's idea if that explains anything. Anyway, when we got inside the Ministry-"

"The Ministry of Magic?! How the hell did you get in?" My jaw dropped to the floor in awe. The Ministry of Magic isn't a place that you can just waltz into whenever you please.

"The visitors entrance," she turned her head and surveyed the room, taking in the crackling fire and dimmed lights around us.

"Merlin's beard, Liz," I sighed. "Keep going."

"Once we were inside the Ministry, we went to the Department of Mysteries. That was where Harry said he saw his godfather being tortured."

"Sirius Black was being tortured? By who?"

"No, not Sirius Black, Harry's godfather," she corrected me.

"Sirius Black is Harry's godfather. I thought everyone knew that."

"What?" she asked. She raised her eyebrows and opened her mouth, obviously shocked.

"Who was torturing him?"

"Harry said it was You-Know-Who."

"You-Know-Who in the Ministry of Magic? I doubt that would happen. This seems like one big trap."

"Well, that's the thing, it was a trap. Once we got to the place where Harry saw his g- Sirius, no one was there. We looked around a little bit, but there was no sign of anyone being down there in a long time. And then Neville saw a prophecy with Harry's name on it and when Harry picked it up, a bunch of people in hoods came out of the shadows." She stopped there and picked at her fingernails nervously, obviously trying to hide something.

"Who were they?" I prompted her quickly.

"Death Eaters," she whispered.

"Who? I want names, Liz," I asked her gently, already knowing the answer.

"Most of them were wearing these horrible masks, but t-two of them weren't."

"Who?"

"One was Bellatrix Lestrange." She winced at the thought of the woman. I didn't blame her. She was a mad, horrible woman. Almost worse than Umbridge, if I dare say.

"And the other?"

"Your father," she murmured loud enough for me to hear. My blood ran cold when she spoke those two words. I had already figured my father had been there, but hearing the confirmation from Liz's mouth was completely different. Now she knew how my family was.

"What happened?" I whispered, wanting to know what happened after.

"H-he demanded that Harry give him the prophecy and of course Harry refused, so we ran. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and I lost Harry, Hermione, and Neville and ended up in a room that was a model of the solar system. We floated around for a bit, but then a few of the Death Eaters chased us and one of them grabbed Ginny who then grabbed me. Ron blew up Pluto to try and get him off of Ginny and one of the pieces hit me in the head pretty hard. That's the last thing I remember," she muttered, shrugging.

"Merlin, are you okay?" I asked, grabbing her hands lightly in mine. They were cold and shaking from terror or nervousness. She looked up shyly and nodded in response to my question.

"H-he came there after I was knocked out. V-Voldemort. He fought Dumbledore. He's really back, Draco." The tears that had been forming in her eyes slipped out. "Harry's godfather died."

"I'm so sorry, Liz. I should have done something. Stopped you, anything. I'm so sorry." I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arms firmly around her, feeling protective. Her shoulders shook slightly.

"What's going to happen now?" Lizzie choked out.

"I don't know," I rubbed her back soothingly, trying to calm her. "I don't know."

"He could h-have killed us. He could have killed Harry," she cried.

"But he didn't. Everyone's safe now," I cradled her head and pat her hair softly.

"No one's safe now. There's going to be a war and what if he wins?"

"He won't," I promised her. "I'll make sure of it."