Ron awoke slowly as the soft morning light floating through the window greeted him. The freezing winter air bit at his bare feet, and he quickly squeezed them into the protection of his blanket. Unfortunately, it was too late; the coldness had spread under his cover and he was awakened. He groaned lazily and hopped off the bed, still clutching his blanket tightly around him. He was about to shove Harry and make him feel the pain too, but quickly realized that it wasn’t Harry who was sleeping below him…it was his father?
Ron dropped the blanket at once and let it fall onto the dusty floor.
“Dad?” Ron asked in complete shock.
The man didn’t reply, still plunged in his deep slumber. Ron dared to poke him lightly in the ribs. He’s real, Ron thought excitedly to himself. He bent down and gave his old man a harder shove. “Dad!” he tried again.
This time he received more success. Mr. Weasley opened an eye, making it look like he was lifting Mount Everest with it. He promptly remembered where he was and smiled at his son who he had not seen in so very long.
“Ron,” he said as clearly as his morning voice would allow. He covered his mouth as the bad breath followed his words. Ron smiled.
“Dad, when’d you get here?” he asked brightly, pulling his father up into a sitting position.
“Just yesterday night,” his father responded, giving his cramped body a long stretch. “Draco helped me out of the spell You-Know-Who put over me. I’m all better now. He’s not that bad after all…Draco, that is.”
Ron smiled sideways. “Eh, he’s okay, don’t start loving him though, we think he’s still evil; despite the things he’s done lately.”
Mr. Weasley shrugged and swung his legs off the bed. “That boy can be evil, but we still owe him one for saving me.”
Ron nodded and patted his dad on the back. “Glad to have you back, Father.”
**
Ginny gently traced her index finger along the lightning bolt on Harry’s soft forehead. He wiggled under her warm touch, but didn’t awake. She smiled at him; he appeared so peaceful while he slept. It was the one time when Harry Potter didn’t look as though he was carrying the weight of the world on his scrawny shoulders; he looked just like everyone else did when they slept: unconscious. Ginny sighed and buried herself under his chin, hugging him protectively.
**
Voldemort grinned as his dream was cut short. He didn’t dream very often, therefore he knew every single one he had down to the last detail. The one he dreamt last night was the one he had dreamt of over and over again; but never completed. It wasn’t of the war, of his duties, of his men, but of his past love. The one he would have willingly turned good for. But she was not to be his; she was stripped from him by his nemesis. He scowled as reality crept back into his mind. Everything was so perfect in the world he had created for them both…the world in his dreams. But it didn’t matter anymore. He was young again; he could have another chance with love while seeking his revenge.
**
Draco did not have the pleasure of sleeping last night; once he returned to the dungeons it was all about his babies. They kept crying, and crying, and crying. Then after he managed to soothe them all into silence, one would break out bawling again, prompting the others to join. In the end, he decided to use a silencing spell on them, but unfortunately, the spell shot right back at him. If it weren’t for Voldemort’s fortified defenses, Draco was sure he’d be mute for the rest of the night and trapped with no way to hush the children.
He retired in Voldemort’s dank office, exhausted and completely starved. He had managed to successfully keep Hermione off his mind throughout the whole night, but the moment he finally had a second to rest, she plagued his thoughts once more. He couldn’t make himself think straight when it came to the trio anymore; Voldemort’s hate and despise for them was too strong for him to repress. The longer he inhabited his body, the more like him he became. Draco then felt a sudden rush of panic; if he was becoming more like Voldemort…doesn’t that mean Voldemort would become more like him? He felt his appetite ease away at the thought of the evil old goon crushing on his girlfriend. Forgetting all things, he immediately headed for a vortex leading to the school.
**
“Hermione,” Draco whispered softly to the soundly sleeping girl. “’Mione wake up!!” he said on verge of being whiny.
Hermione tossed stubbornly onto her side, facing away from him. Draco rolled his eyes with a groan. He looked around to make sure Lavender and Parvati weren’t going to wake up soon before he bent down, turned Hermione around, and kissed her straight on the lips. Hermione’s eyes instantly flashed open as she closed her mouth around another’s. She began to scream and push Draco away, but he quickly muffled her with his warm hand and shushed her.
“It’s me…Draco,” he said carefully as he released his hand. “I used a Polyjuice Potion to make me look like me again. Honest.”
Hermione narrowed her eyes suspiciously, silently asking him to prove it. Draco sighed, but gave her a crooked smile as a brilliant idea came to his mind. He purposefully leaned in closer to her face, knowingly breathing on her sensitive cheeks, and brushed his lips playfully against her ear. She giggled and pulled away, but he caught her and tugged her back in. He laughed softly to her and dropped feather-light kisses across her face as he returned to look at her.
“You like it when I do that. Trust me, it’s me.” He grinned mischievously. Happy to have him back, even if just for a little while, Hermione gave him a longing kiss and warm hug.
**
“Good Morning!” Mr. Weasley announced as he descended with stairs with a bounce in every step. As always, his face was smiling and he was ready to tackle a new day.
Ginny sat up immediately on the couch and nudged Harry to do the same.
“What time is it?” Harry asked sleepily, rubbing his sore eyes.
“Time to wake up!” Mr. Weasley responded in a happy tone, messing Harry’s hair up with a hand. Ron then came trotting down the stairs, skipping every step or two.
“Morning,” he greeted the people already by the portrait hole. “Where’s Hermione?”
“She’s still in her room,” Ginny answered, looking up at the shut door. “I’ll go get her.”
She ran up the steps and began pounding on the door when she heard little giggles come from inside. “Hermione?” she asked unsurely.
“Just a second!” she heard her reply, obviously trying to hide what she was doing. She heard shuffling, pushing, and then a slam. Hermione appeared in the doorway with a smile.
“Hey Ginny! How are you this fine day?”
Ginny looked at her cock eyed. “You feeling okay?” she inquired timidly.
“Of course! I’m fab!” Hermione then stepped out of the room, and pushed Ginny towards the stairs. They met up with the men, exchanged hellos, and left for breakfast.
**
Voldemort decided that since he was Draco Malfoy now he should play the part; that included going to class, being a good student (grade wise), and doing the normal social activities that a boy did at his age. The Quidditch games were wrapping up, and once again, it looked like Gryffindor would be playing Slytherin in the finals; Voldemort couldn’t wait to stretch his legs on a broom again. He was quite the player during his time, sometimes considered the best, but he wasn’t well liked by anyone except his teammates. Being captain of the Slytherin team this year would finally let him get his chance at fame and glory among the students.
He headed for the Great Hall to have a little snack before doing some laps. Class started at around ten for Draco, so he had plenty of time; seventh year was always the best year at Hogwarts, the tests may be stressful, but the classes were placed so the students had more leisure (unless if they were like Hermione and wanted to overachieve).
He walked into the crowded dining hall and immediately spotted the do-gooders eating together at the Gryffindor table. Should he go talk with them? Voldemort felt more out of place than he had ever been in the past decade. He decided to play it safe and simply sit at the Slytherin table like Draco would have; he kept eyeing the group throughout his breakfast, still unsure about approaching them. Voldemort sighed, frustrated about his inability to make a clear cut decision. He was starting to notice himself fade away while qualities of Draco took over. For one thing, he wasn’t good at controlling his thoughts and feelings, but was remarkable at hiding them. Voldemort finally came to the conclusion that if anything went wrong, it’d be better than nothing happened at all, so he got up and walked towards the Gryffindors.
**
“Voldemort alert…” Harry whispered quietly to Ginny when his eye caught a certain platinum blonde stride through the great oak doors. Ginny passed the message on to everyone else; who then made themselves aware, but didn’t make it too obvious. Ron picked up a piece of bread and tore it in half.
“You know,” he said, stuffing his mouth. “I still don’t see how you guys can just trust Draco/Voldemort like that…I mean, this could very well be a trick. That Draco over there doesn’t seem any different from his usual self, and even if what the real Draco claims is true, he could be working with the Dark Lord for all we know.”
He shrugged and swallowed the now thoroughly chewed bread.
“Trelawney’s premonition told us to trust Voldemort…and the first time I saw Voldemort later, he said he was Draco; and the last time she had an actual prediction, she was right. So I trust her…Dumbledore did.” Harry looked down at his plate and poked his eggs with a silver spoon, avoiding any sympathetic looks.
“We’re not that stupid Ron,” Ginny replied in a very sisterly way. “But daddy, why did you trust him?”
Mr. Weasley looked up from his bacon and put down his fork. “Well, I thought to myself, ‘why would Voldemort bring me out of a spell that he cast on me himself?’.” He paused for a moment and brought his eyebrows together. “Or, perhaps I was just completely bonkers at that time…yes, that had to be it. Boy was I lucky!” He laughed light heartedly and the children joined.
“Oh my gosh,” Hermione suddenly breathed. “Why is he coming over here?”
Everyone looked around in panic, no one knowing what to do. Voldemort was at the table within a few seconds.
“Hey guys,” he said brightly.
Harry kicked Hermione under the table, cuing her to respond.
“H-hi Draco…”she said uneasily. She gave Harry a menacing glare.
Voldemort rocked nervously on his heels. “So…”
“What do you want Draco?” Ron intervened, being true to his role.
Voldemort shrugged. “Nothing…just saying hi.”
“Well hi, you can go now,” Ron replied carelessly, waving him away with a hand.
“But…” Voldemort frowned, he wasn’t good at conversing, and sadly walked away.
Ginny let out an enormously relieved sigh. “Thank you Ron!!! You saved our life…but don’t you think he’ll be kinda pissed about that later?”
Ron shrugged with a sideways grin. “Isn’t he always pissed at us?”
Harry and Hermione laughed in agreement. They finished breakfast and headed for their morning classes.
**
Draco angrily stormed the dungeons, he’d done it again, he went to see that Mudblood. He slapped himself across the face and shook off the pain. He’d have to do something about this…fast.
**
Voldemort stepped onto the freshly cut Quidditch field. The morning air greeted his nose amicably. He carefully mounted on Draco’s Firebolt 2004 and kicked off towards the endless sky. He lapped the area ten times with ease, the weather was perfect, allowing him to fly to the best of his abilities. After he warmed up and adjusted to Draco’s broom, he brushed up on the Wronski Feint. It was perfect, just like old times, he could go down to the last half inch before having to pull away. He whooped aloud in the air and flew in little victory loops.
**
“Master,” Lucius greeted, bowing his head as Draco strode into the room.
Draco looked at his father with scorn. “Lucius, go kill yourself,” he demanded angrily.
“Sir?” Lucius stuttered, already backing away.
“Aren’t you my loyal servant, Lucius? Won’t you do everything I tell you to do? Then why don’t you go run yourself off a cliff and make it look like some very painful accident?” Draco continued with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.
“I don’t…I don’t understand…my lord…” Lucius said, trembling with fear.
“Of course you don’t understand,” Draco shouted. He swung his hand at his father and slapped him with full force. “Now leave.”
Lucius grabbed his face and disapparated without being told twice.
Draco sighed and pulled up the sleeve on his left arm. He pushed the Dark Mark there and waited patiently for his men to arrive.
**
Hermione pulled Ginny to the side in the halls after Muggle Studies (which Ginny took with Hermione because she skipped a level). “Ginny,” she began, biting her bottom lip. “I need a huge favor…”
Ginny raised an eyebrow and pretended to think for a while. “Consider it done!” she said with a laugh. Hermione gasped and jumped in the air, grabbing Ginny’s arms.
“Are you serious? Don’t you want to know what I’m going to need?”
Ginny shook her head. “Hermione, you’re like a sister to me…if you need help, I’ll gladly be of service.”
(five minutes later)
“NO!” Ginny screamed. “That’s too dangerous. Too many things could go wrong!”
“But Ginny, if I can’t get it right, who else can?” Hermione pleaded with her caramel puppy eyes. “It’s Draco’s only hope…please?” she drew out.
Ginny sighed and glared at her, not in an unfriendly way. “You owe me big time if I lose my head over this.”
Hermione yelped with joy and hugged her.
**
“We’re going to attack Hogwarts tonight,” Draco announced loudly to the group of Death Eaters.
Instantly the room was filled with murmuring and arguing.
“Sir…don’t you think you’re being a bit hasty?” one of them dared to asked.
“Crucio!” Draco replied mercilessly. The man fell to the floor, clawing the earth with inexpressible pain. Draco raised his hand. “Any other questions?”
The men looked around with fear and shook their heads.
“Alright then. Gather our allies, meet back here at six sharp.”
**
“Okay…that should be it,” Hermione said as she sprinkled a couple beetle shells into a cauldron. “This is the returning potion…and this is the switching potion…”
Ginny nodded as she filled another vial with switching potion. “But how do you expect to get Draco and Voldemort to stand together?”
Hermione shrugged. “It’ll happen…” She drew in a breath of air and looked at Ginny. “Ready?”
The red headed nodded. They each threw a bottle of switching potion at one another and were at once blinded by smoke. Hermione coughed and waved the fumes out of her face. “Well, that should have worked,” she said with difficulty.
“Uh…yeah. It definitely worked,” Ginny replied as she watched herself wave her arms around like a lunatic. Hermione looked up and saw exactly what she wanted to see: Hermione Granger.
**
Voldemort practically slept through Arithmancy. Boy was it boring. He hadn’t had to sit still in a single spot for longer than two minutes for a pretty long time. The only part he paid attention to was the part where his professor called his name and he replied with “here”. School was absolutely pointless to him, what’s the point of studying hard and getting good grades when if you don’t know how to interact with people, you’re screwed for the world anyway? That’s why he chose to not get along with people and screw the world.
When class was over, he was the first to leave; where to go now? He thought to himself. It was strange to him that he no longer cared about investigating the school for tactical spots to attack, but then again, he didn’t care about that either. Only one thing seemed to be on his mind: Hermione.
**
Ginny coughed as blue fumes filled her mouth.
“Oh no,” she heard Hermione gasp. “Why didn’t that work?”
Ginny looked down at herself…she was still Hermione! “Wha…why aren’t we switched back?!”
Hermione kept repeating “oh no” like a broken record. “GINNY! Something went wrong!”
“OBVIOUSLY!!” Ginny cried. “We have to get this figured out by SIX tonight Hermione!”
Hermione threw her hands up in the air, “What? There’s a deadline now?! We’ll be lucky if we figure it out period. I thought I got it right!!”
“We should have just asked Professor Snape,” Ginny said regretfully, burying her face in her hands. “Now what?”
“We’ll make another batch. Maybe we just forgot an ingredient.”
“Alright, you work on that, but I have to go do something first,” Ginny replied, already rushing out of Hermione’s room.
“Ginny! Wait! You’re me right now!” Hermione called after her.
“I know!” Ginny replied, halfway down the stairs. “I’m not going to go stripping around the
school Hermione, would you worry a little less?”
Hermione sighed and rolled her eyes. She shut the door and returned to her work.
**
Harry was finishing his Divinations homework when Hermione came barging into his room. “Hermione!” he exclaimed, looking around to make sure his roommates were absent. “This is a boy’s dormitory room! The least you could do is knock!”
Ginny laughed and quickly cleared her throat. “Sorry, Harry. Wasn’t really thinking.”
Harry gave her a forgiving smile as he put down his quill. “So what’s up?”
“You have to cancel your plans with Ginny tonight,” she said demandingly.
“What?” Harry asked, thinking he heard wrong. “Why?”
“Because, you just have to,” Ginny replied, not wanting to further explain the situation. “Reschedule it or something! Please?”
“Hermione…what’s going on?” Harry said as he stood up and walked over to her.
“Nothing,” Ginny answered innocently. “Honest.”
Harry narrowed his eyebrows. “You sure? Did Ginny tell you something because we have been planning tonight for a while…I don’t want to disappoint her.”
“You won’t,” she said confidently. “Ginny will forgive you.”
Harry sighed. “Hermione, I don’t get this…did Ginny tell you to cancel on me for her? I mean, if she’s not ready…then I understand, but…”
Ginny threw her arms around Harry and hugged him. “Harry, you’re my best friend. Please, just do this for me?”
Harry sighed. “Fine. I’ll think about it.”
Ginny smiled. “Thanks!” and skipped out the door.
Harry shook his head as he watched her go. What’s up with her? He thought curiously. Returning to review his homework, he suddenly had an idea.
**
Voldemort was ever so lucky to catch Hermione in the halls later that day. She seemed to be heading towards the library.
“Hey Hermione,” he greeted casually.
Ginny froze in her tracks. Oh no, it’s Voldemort… She gulped and looked at him nervously. And he thinks I’m Hermione…could this day get any worse?!
“Hi Draco,” she replied as calmly as possible. She watched as the imposter walked nearer. What is he doing?!! Does he think he’s actually going to pull off being Draco?
Voldemort stopped right in front of her, leaving less than a foot for air. “You’re all I’ve been thinking about today…” he whispered quietly, looking her straight in the eyes.
Ginny forced herself not to cringe, it was extremely awkward for her; the man talking to her looked exactly like Draco Malfoy, but at the same time was nothing like him. She took in slow deep breaths. Was this really Voldemort? Why would he be saying these things to Hermione? And why did he smell so good?
“Uh…sorry Draco, I have to go…um…I was going to meet up with Ginny about something…I’ll talk to you later okay?” she started backing away, and was surprised to see him let her go. Once she turned the corner, she started to run as fast as she could back to Gryffindor Tower.
**
It was four o’clock. Ginny and Hermione were depressed from all the failures. The potion still wasn’t working right. Ginny whimpered quietly to herself.
“Maybe we should just get Snape, Hermione,” Ginny said at last, tracing the patterns on the white bed sheet. Hermione frowned.
“He’s going to be pissed at us! Students aren’t supposed to do spells like these on their own without supervision!”
“Well, the worst he could do is make us scrub his dungeons everyday…for the rest of our lives…but at least we’ll be switched back again.”
Hermione pouted. “Okay, fine. But I’m not doing it.”
Ginny opened her mouth to argue, but decided that Snape would better accept Hermione’s request than her own. She took in a deep breath and left the room. Hermione followed her down to the common room and waved good-bye, as if she was going off to war. Then she sat idly, waiting for good news to return.
It was quiet and lonely in the common room for the first ten minutes of her wait. What was taking Ginny so long? Hermione thought quietly. But Harry came pouncing down the stairs, two at a time, obviously psyched about something five minutes later. He was about to run straight out of the portrait hole without noticing Hermione sitting there, but right before he left, he saw her.
“Ginny!” Harry called. He retraced his steps and headed towards Hermione. “Hey.”
“Hi,” Hermione replied, hoping to be true to Ginny’s personality.
Harry stuffed his hands inside his robes. “So…” he began uncertainly. “Hermione came by earlier today…”
“Really?” Hermione asked, suddenly interested.
“Yeah…and she said for some reason I should cancel our plans tonight?” Harry finished with definite anxiety.
“Plans?” Hermione repeated completely clueless. “What plans?”
Harry laughed. “You’re kidding right? The plans we’ve been making ever since…” Harry stopped talking when he realized that the girl he was talking to wasn’t Ginny. “Hermione?” he said, scrunching up his face. Hermione froze…busted!
“Oh right! Those plans…yeah, something came up…and I was busy earlier so I asked if Hermione could tell you for me,” she recovered quickly.
Harry nodded, more for himself than for her. “Ginny…you do know we’ve had these plans for almost a week now?”
Hermione nodded feebly. “Sorry, something emergency came up.”
“So it’s not cause you changed your mind?”
“Of course not!” she replied assuredly.
Harry nodded slowly. “Okay then, I’ll talk to later?”
“Alright.”
He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room. Hermione sighed with relief.
A couple minutes after Harry had left, Ginny came running in.
“I GOT IT! I GOT IT!” she screamed happily. “I got two portions too!”
Hermione jumped up excitedly. “Awesome!”
“It took a lot of persuading and begging, but he finally said yes. Because, he unfortunately admitted, you were a responsible and smart girl, and he trusts that you won’t do anything stupid after this.”
“Oh, and, we both have detention with him for a whole week,” she finished flatly.
Hermione groaned, but then confessed, “It’s worth it.”
They stood together side by side, and Ginny dropped one of the bottles at their feet. When the fumes cleared, they happily saw each other, instead of themselves, again.
“So what were you planning with Harry tonight?” Hermione asked curiously.
Ginny blushed. “Nothing…”
Hermione smiled. “You know, it’s okay to talk to me about those things…”
Ginny turned scarlet. “I know. It’s just, I keep worrying if this is what Harry wants…”
Hermione turned Ginny around seriously. “Ginny, he loves you. You’re all he wants.”
Ginny grinned and hugged her best friend.
**
Harry found Ron at the Quidditch pitch, practicing his saves. He had improved tremendously since the fifth year; he became one of the top Keepers in the last decade at Hogwarts.
“Ron!” Harry screamed at the top of his lungs.
The red head looked down for a second and was hit straight on by a bludger.
“Oooh,” Harry said painfully to himself as he watched his friend fall out of the sky. He quickly cast a spell to provide him a soft landing. “Sorry mate,” he apologized sincerely. Ron laughed.
“That was quite refreshing actually,” he said brightly. “So what do you need?”
“Listen, I think I’ve figured out why Draco and Voldemort switched bodies…”
“You do?” Ron said surprised, it was usually Hermione who figured things out.
“Yeah, I was doing Divinations homework when it all came together,” Harry explained. “Draco had been doing things for Voldemort without knowing it right?”
Ron nodded.
“Well, our subconscious is made up of everything that we do…and especially of things we forget or take little notice of…so maybe Draco because has been so loaded with carrying out Voldemort’s plans and then forgetting them that his subconscious basically overflowed and became reality and caused the switch…”
Ron blinked, absolutely lost as to what Harry was trying to tell him. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes.
“Dimwit version: Draco’s subconscious has surfaced into his waking hours, and now he’s Voldemort and Voldemort’s him. The only way they can switch back, according to science is by making Draco solve all his conflicts; which in this case would be working with Voldemort.”
Ron nodded. “We should go tell Hermione.”
They got up and looked back at the castle, and were shocked to see Death Eaters, Dementors, Werewolves, Giants, Veelas, and Voldemort swarming Hogwarts. The Order members were out front, fighting off as many creatures as possible, but it was obvious that they were out numbered and weren’t going to last long. Harry and Ron looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
“We have to get in there,” Harry stated, pulling out his wand.
“Harry, we’ll be out numbered…” Ron trembled, but nodded his head all the same.
They got on Ron’s Firebolt and flew straight for Hogwarts, never once looking back.
**
Hermione and Ginny heard screams and shouting all over the place. They ran outside and immediately understood why. Death Eaters were appearing in the halls out of vortexes and destroying everything they laid their eyes on. The floor was already scattered with wounded and dead students. Chaos filled the air.
Hermione grabbed Ginny’s hand and squeezed it. “Voldemort has to be looking for Draco; we have to find them both…” she said loudly, but it was just loud enough for Ginny to hear.
She nodded and together they carefully headed down the hall, dodging spells and curses that flew their way.
**
Voldemort sat at the library, sad that Hermione couldn’t hang out with him. He tried reading a book, but his mind was so unfocused that he read a page ten times and still had no idea what it was saying. Fortunately for him, his thoughts were interrupted with horrified screams out in the hall. He walked out of the library and grinned as he witnessed what was happening. He quickly ran down the stairs to find Draco.
**
It would have been impossible for Harry and Ron to get into the school, but the Order defense finally fell and all the evil creatures poured into the school, wreaking havoc everywhere the passed. They followed the crowd, unnoticed.
“Harry!” Ron shouted in order to be heard. Harry turned his head and forcefully brought his index finger to his mouth. Ron pointed towards the stairway frantically, and Harry saw Ginny and Hermione coming downstairs. His eyes widened.
“We have to get to them,” he mouthed to Ron. Ron nodded and they slowly pushed their way towards the staircase.
Thankfully, they reached the girls safely.
“We have to find Draco and Voldemort!” Hermione yelled.
“WHY?!” Harry replied equally loud.
“We have a potion that will switch them back!” Ginny answered.
Harry looked at her and nodded. They were about to join the fighting when suddenly each of them felt a wave of air rush from underneath them and they dropped right through the ground. The silence in the dungeons was magnified due to the deafening noise above.
“Hello,” Draco greeted them, in Voldemort’s body. Voldemort was standing next to him with Draco’s sneer on his face.
“Ginny, now!” Hermione commanded. Ginny pitched the returning potion at the two unsuspecting men. The vial shattered on the ground, but nothing happened.
“That’s what I thought,” Harry muttered to himself. He stood up and drew out his wand. “Draco, if you want your body back, you have to solve all the problems clouding your subconscious. You have to decide what you’re going to do about Voldemort.”
Voldemort laughed. “He’s with me…isn’t it obvious? He’s been with me ever since you and that Mudblood had your little affair. I must say, that was a very stupid move.”
Draco winced, had he really been with Voldemort ever since? His mind was cluttered and confused. He just wanted it to stop. He wanted his mind to be clear! Draco shook his head with force and took in long deep breaths. Harry’s words replayed inside his head. “You have to solve all the problems clouding your subconscious.”
Voldemort, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione all stood waiting for Draco to make a move, but all he did was stand there and make conflicted expressions. Voldemort couldn’t do anything because he didn’t have a wand on him; and it wasn’t like Harry to attack the defenseless.
Without warning, Draco gasped, followed by Voldemort, and a beam of light hit them both directly on the chest simultaneously. A black entity flew out of Draco’s body and polluted the once pure light while a pale blue entity unwillingly crawled out of Voldemort’s body. The light beams crossed to form an X and the two entities shot into their respective bodies. Voldemort fell back from the force that hit him. Draco stumbled, but kept his balance; he grabbed his chest with pain.
“NO!” Voldemort screamed as he repossessed his weak and decaying form.
Draco looked down at the Dark Lord for once in his life. “You’re dying old man. Give it a rest.”
“Draco, listen to me,” he demanded. “I know you enjoyed my powers. You’ve never felt so strong in your whole life when you were in my body. You know I’m dying. Take my hand and I’ll give all my powers to you…” Voldemort reached out his arm to Draco.
Draco hesitated. He looked back at Hermione. He wish he could explain his thoughts to her, but he couldn’t. He grabbed the Dark Lord’s cold hand and instantly felt something pulling his life away. He screamed in pain and let go.
“What the hell was that?!” Draco shouted hotly.
“I need life during this battle Draco, I was just borrowing yours for a second, like I always do.”
“What?!”
“Every time I took over your body I was collecting your youth Draco; that’s the only reason why I’m still alive. I created you. There’s no reason why I should die when I can feed off of my creation.”
Draco clenched his fists and glared angrily at Voldemort.
“Don’t worry Draco, when it’s my time to go, I’ll go. Rest assured that I will leave you my powers. I trust no one more.” Voldemort grinned and waved his hand.
They reappeared in the entrance hall of the school. Blood spattered the once festive walls. Lifeless bodies littered the marble floor. Ginny gasped and covered her mouth. The battle had moved outside. They could see fires around every corner; hear piercing cries every second. Voldemort walked to the great oak doors and swung them open.
“I’ll spare your lives now,” he said, without looking behind him. “But I doubt you’ll last long out there.”
Voldemort turned around, placed a hand on Draco and they both disappeared.
**
Snape was out in the battlefield, his black robes all torn up, and his energy quickly fading. He had successfully killed ten giants, three werewolves, paralyzed hundreds of Veelas, but he would never be prepared for what was to come.
Dumbledore had told him of an attack that he could use as a last resort before he passed away; to Snape, it seemed like the only option left. He looked around hopelessly as his students and staff fell to the ground. Yes, it was time.
**
Draco found himself inside the secret chamber with Voldemort after vanishing inches away from the war.
“All they need is your touch one more time Draco,” Voldemort told him calmly.
Draco untrustingly turned his head towards him. “What if I refuse?”
Voldemort laughed. “You can’t, that’s the thing. When are you going to learn Draco? No matter how hard you try, you will eventually do what I want you to do; do what I created you to do. You can’t escape me.”
Angry tears welled up in Draco’s eyes; he closed them and a tear slid down his left cheek. He unwillingly placed a hand on the top of a baby’s soft head and felt it expand and grow taller with every passing second. He began crying when he opened his eyes. He created that…he created that monster.
**
Snape had miraculously split a line between the innocents and Voldemort’s army. Of course by doing so, he was mortally wounded, and exhausted. He limped over to the evil side and took in a deep healing breath of air. Striking his wand towards the sky, he muttered a curse over and over and over and over again. The heavens were slowly covered with dark gloomy clouds and low grumbles of thunder. A bitter winter wind blew their way. No one seemed to notice or care for the sudden climatic change. Snape continued his rhythmic chanting, focusing all there was in him. The gray masses in the air soon dominated the sky. He felt a cold drop of rain splatter as it hit his tired and bleeding face. Then another hit him and another and another. It was an endless chain; he was soaked down to his bare body within minutes. The freezing water stole his attention for a fraction of a second, but it didn’t stop his chant.
He smiled slightly as he felt a warm ball of energy gather inside his chest. He screamed with all his might and sent the warmth up through his right arm, through the wand, and into the air. Then he fell silently and yieldingly onto the wet earth. The fireball shot through the clouds and exploded in a brilliant shade of gold beyond the rain clouds. Mysteriously, the clouds in the air followed suit and transformed into the same color. Gathering together, the sky cleared again, in all spots but one; where a huge mass of blinding yellow floated. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up. It was amazing yet terrifying at the same time; captivating and nerve wrecking for those who didn’t know what it was. It rumbled once so that even the deaf could hear it. And from the eye of it, a solid deadly bolt of lightning crashed, crashed, and crashed into the middle of Voldemort’s men.
It was safe to say that after the bomb from the heavens was released, the armies were more evenly numbered. Most of the giants had perished, being among the first to get hit; then they killed their own men when they tumbled down on them. The war seemed to be coming to an end, and there was finally some hope for the school.
**
Most of the DA members were still alive when the army came. They were well prepared and stuck together to survive. Harry and company fought well also; if only there were more of them, then maybe the battle would have already been over. The stale air outside cleared itself of the curses that were sent through it when the Dark Lord appeared on the battleground, followed by a platinum blonde man and an army of…an army of indescribable demons.
**
Voldemort didn’t look very friendly; he had recently witnessed half his men perish due to one curse. He was ready for his revenge.
“Draco,” Voldemort said. “Lead my babies to their victory!”
Draco shook slightly in his place. He didn’t want this. This wasn’t the side he wanted to be on; this wasn’t how he wanted to go. But as Voldemort said, he had no control over his own destiny, so why pain himself and rebel? Draco turned around to face the horrible things behind him.
He was about to command the attack when a girl shouted, “WAIT!”
He turned around, but was disappointed to find a disheveled and injured Dee standing there.
“Draco,” she said just loud enough for him to hear. “Draco it’s time you know who I really am.”
Draco crossed his arms uneasily and gave her his full attention. Voldemort, growing impatient,
fired a killing curse at Dee. It hit her. Everyone saw it. The fatal green light struck the innocent girl directly in the chest. But why was she still alive? Voldemort’s eyes widened as realization came to him.
Dee walked a bit closer. “I came here to find out who I was Draco, and I know now.”
Voldemort hissed angrily and threw another curse at her. She was once again immune.
“Day was created because there was night. On was created because there was off. Warm was created because there was cold. I was created because there was you.”
Taking her time, she drew out her wand. “Watch Draco,” she said. “Avada Kedavra!” she directed at him. Draco felt something thump against his chest, but it seemed to dissipate before it entered him. “You see? We can’t be killed. For everything you can do, I can undo. And that’s where I come in.”
She looked over at the monstrous army. “Trust me…” Dee walked forward and placed a gentle hand on one of the demon’s shoulders and the crowd watched as it was eaten by a blue flame. Draco screamed stepped back, holding his shoulder. He was bleeding!
“You’re killing me!” he shouted at Dee, who placed her hand on another soldier. “STOP!” he demanded. He drew out his wand and petrified her. “I may not be able to kill you,” he said as he limped towards her motionless body, “but I sure as hell can petrify you.”
“Well done Draco,” Voldemort acknowledged.
“Shut up!” he yelled, no longer threatened by Voldemort.
“Enervate!” Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at Dee. Draco spun around, caught by surprise and glared at the girl. Dee, once revived, instantly began touching the monsters again. Draco stared wide-eyed, overwhelmed with pain, at Hermione.
“WHY?!” he shouted emotionally at her, crawling anguished down the stone steps.
Voldemort fled over to Dee and petrified her again. He stood in the flames of his dead babies and watched as Draco crossed over to Hermione. Draco felt his strength return to him once Dee stopped killing the army. He stood up, out of breath, and looked pleadingly at Hermione.
“Hermione…this isn’t what I wanted!” he cried exasperatedly. “Those”those things!” he continued, pointing an arm at the erect army standing behind Voldemort. “I didn’t want them. I hate them! I want to kill them…but I can’t! Don’t you see Hermione?! I can’t!”
“Draco,” Hermione said unfalteringly, her brown eyes burning with determination, and her fist tightening around her wooden wand. “You can. It’s whether you want to or not.”
She hesitated, feeling sorry for Draco, but then continued, “ Pick a side, Draco…you’re either with him, or with us.”
Draco’s mind went blank. He let his posture slack as he prudently turned his head back to Voldemort, who stood silently confident amidst the blue flames, waiting for him to return. His breathing quickened as the time to choose flew by him. It is your destiny, a single, strong voice told him. He looked back at Hermione one last time, gulping down every bitter regret he was going to face later, and slowly backed away…