I could feel him, I could feel the death he carried with him. I could feel him heading nearer and nearer towards the house where my parents were spending their very last moments.

My feet had started moving, and I found myself suddenly stumbling towards the exit of the church.

"Etta!" Draco called after me. "Etta, what are you doing?"

"I can't let them die," I choked, as I reached the doorway, throwing it open into the cool night air, "I have to save them."

"No! Etta!" Draco yelled, hastily striding across the church, panic choking his voice. "Don't be stupid! Please!"

But I didn't stop; I couldn't. It felt as though I was being driven by another force - a much stronger one than I'd ever known: a child desperately wanting their parents.

"Etta!" Draco bellowed right behind me, but it was as though his voice was coming from far, faraway.

I marched on, only half aware of Draco grabbing at my arms, desperately trying to halt me. But I shrugged him off, determined that nothing would stop me.

"Please, Etta!" He implored, managing to get a firmer grip on my arm so that I was forced to whip violently around. "Don't do this! You've got to let it happen - you know you do! This is what this has all been about!"

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" I bellowed in his face, rage making me see only red. "I CAN'T JUST STAND BY AND ALLOW HIM TO MURDER MY PARENTS AGAIN!"

Tears were rolling down my cheeks as I tried to wrestle my arm out of Draco's painful grip. I could see the house up ahead and put all my concentration in getting there before Voldemort.

Finally, wrenching myself free, I broke into a run.

"MUM!"

I glanced back over my shoulder to see Albus running at full pelt towards me. He looked frightened, afraid.

I hesitated, looking desperately from my son to my parent's house, trying to fight the conflicting emotions going on inside my head. I felt panicked and frightened. I didn't know what to do.

"Shit, Etta!" Draco panted as he caught up with me again, pulling me fiercely to him. This time I didn't try to pull away - I just stood there numbly instead, watching as our son raced towards us.

"Bloody hell, Mum! Don't scare me like that!" Albus gasped breathlessly, having caught up. His eyes met mine and the fear in them made my heart twist horribly.

And, as my eyes darted between Draco and our son, I realised I wouldn't do it - I couldn't save my parents - because then I could risk erasing everything I had, and everything I had fought for - Albus, Scorpius, Draco.

A deep, unbearable sadness filled every inch of my being, and I collapsed sobbing against Draco's chest at the horrific knowledge that I had to let it happen. I had to let my parents die.

"We can go back now, my love," Draco murmured softly as he clasped his hand to the back of my head and pressed his lips against my scar, "we don't have to be here for it."

But something inside me told me so strongly that I needed to witness this.

"I'm letting it happen," I wept, wiping my damp face, "so I need to do this. For me... for them."

Draco nodded, understanding, "I'll be with you the whole time."

"And me too, Mum," Albus said, gently cupping his hand to my elbow, "you don't have to go through this alone."

"We're all with you, Etta."

I whipped my head up at Scorpius's voice, seeing that he, along with Ron and Hermione had now also joined us.

I nodded gratefully at him, tears falling from my eyes, overwhelmed by the amount of love and grief I felt in this very moment.

Draco's arms fell away from around me as he took my hand, beckoning for Scorpius to come and join us. Albus slipped his own hand into my other and, together, the four of us walked up to my happy, short lived home, where we waited for death to come and destroy it all.

*****

They looked so happy - my mum and dad... and me. I could see them through the sitting room window, my dad twirling me around in the air, and I could hear my delighted shrieks, even from where we were stood by the church gate.

And then - there he was, walking up the footpath. I could feel my knees start to buckle beneath me. Draco's hand squeezed mine, as did Albus's.

The air around me felt thick with dreaded anticipation. I couldn't watch, but at the same time I was unable to tear my eyes away.

With a loud bang, the front door blasted open and panicked shouts drifted out from inside.

"Lily, take Etta and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off..."

My father bravely blocked the threshold with his body, facing Voldemort without even flinching as behind him, I saw my mother running up the stairs with me in her arms.

"You keep away, you understand - you keep away."

Voldemort laughed as he raised his wand again, pointing it in the direction of my heroic father.

"Avada Kedavra!"

All the breath was evacuated from my lungs as my father's body dropped lifelessly to the ground.

"Dad..." I sobbed, my whole body jolting in grief. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"He was so brave, Etta... so brave, just like you," Draco murmured softly in my ear, his arm tightening around my waist, holding me up, "he did everything he could."

"My mum," I whispered, now looking up through the upstairs window, "my mum... she looks beautiful."

We all cast our eyes upwards, the terrifying sounds of doors being blasted away reverberating in the night air.

"Not Etta, not Etta, please not Etta..."

I couldn't breathe, I couldn't bear this. Hearing my mother beg for my life - it was too much.

"Stand aside, you silly girl... stand aside now..."

I found myself letting go of both Draco and Albus, stepping into the road, moving closer.

"Not Etta, please no, take me, kill me instead..."

I sank down to my knees outside my old home, a small noise escaping from the back of my throat as I keeled forward, clasping my arms tightly around my middle.

"This is my last warning-"

A pair of arms enveloped me, and I realised that Draco had joined me on the ground, cradling me to his chest as he whispered over and over again that it was okay.

"Not Etta! Please... have mercy... have mercy... not my daughter! Please - I'll do anything."

Tears cascaded down my face as the sound of my mother's last words tore violently at my heart. Draco held me tighter, knowing what was about to come - trying to protect me from it as much as he could.

"Avada Kedavra!"

Green light flashed all around us and then there was a silence so heavy that it pressed down on my soul and suffocated my heart.

"I'm so sorry, Mum...I'm sorry..." I sobbed over and over again; my voice muffled into Draco's chest as he held me tightly to him.

And then a huge explosion blasted into the night... and then there was nothing. Just silence.

It took me a while to realise that the strange noise which was growing louder and louder was coming from me.

"Shhh, Etta," Draco soothed, holding me tight as he rocked me gently in his lap, pressing his lips repeatedly to my head, "it's over, it's over now."

"We need to go!" Hermione called from the gate, "Hagrid's going to arrive at any moment, and we can't let him see us!"

"Come on, Etta," Draco murmured in my ear, "let's take our boys home, my love."

I nodded numbly, allowing him to help me to my feet. I took one last look up at the torn, broken house, knowing that my parents were in there - dead, and a newly orphaned me was sat waiting to be sent to a life of hell at the Dursley's.

I wondered if it were possible that I could ever feel happy again.

"Come on," Draco gently coaxed again, squeezing my hand in his, looking down at me with concern pinching his features.

"Mum?" Albus's voice quivered as he ran over to us, closely followed by Scorpius. He took in my grief-stricken state, and I'd never seen him look so fearful.

"It's okay, Al," Draco assured him, "she's just in shock, that's all - here, why don't you help me with her?"

Without hesitation Albus grabbed my other hand, gently tugging me forward. "Come on, Mum, we need to get moving."

I allowed Draco and the boys to lead me away, through the gate, following Ron and Hermione back to the church.

We were about half way across the churchyard when a gut wrenching sound ripped into the night. A sound like a werewolf howling in pain.

But of course, I knew that the howling wasn't coming from a werewolf - but instead from our dear old friend Hagrid, upon stumbling across the devastating discovery of two lives taken too soon.

Goodbye, Mum. Goodbye, Dad. I'm sorry... so sorry.

*****