A/N: This is written in a rather unconventional style, but I feel like it answers my question. Also, there is slight Dramione if you squint. I hope you enjoy! :)
N: This is a Voldemort Wins! AU - Dystopian Future.
The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Round 8 - Dystopian Future
Chaser 2: What Happens to Hogwarts?
Prompt(s): 1. (word) allegiance, 4. (word) revolution, 12. (word) cruel
Word count: 2,604
Disclaimer: Nope. Never Have, Never Will.
Hogwarts Throughout the Ages
Eleven.
Hogwarts is magical.
Draco Malfoy first encounters all the wonders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he finally gets his letter. How could a place of hope and wonder and just plain awesomeness exist? But it does exist and it's called Hogwarts.
Draco loves his classes and loves all the magic he is learning, even if some classes are a bit dull or just plain boring. He makes friends and even some enemies. There is so much he doesn't know about the school and he can't wait to come back next year.
Even if some of the teachers and students are bias towards the Gryffindors. It isn't like Gryffindor is the best house out of all of them. They aren't even the smartest, the nicest or the cleverest. Although, that Granger girl is pretty darn smart for a Gryffindor. Draco still thinks it's absolutely ridiculous to award points based on friendship and chess when Harry Potter With the Big Head comes back from the Hospital Wing. Especially when the banners were already green.
Still, he doesn't really question that bias.
Twelve.
Stupid Gryffindors.
Stupid, stupid, brave Harry Potter who saves the school again. It's all Draco has heard about since that Weasley girl came back from the Chamber of Secrets. The students and teachers whisper his name through the corridors as if it's sacred.
Frankly, Draco is sick of it. (And maybe just a bit relieved, too.)
This year could have been his year. He has a spot on the Quidditch team and everybody hates Potter at the beginning of his Second Year. That Harry Potter who talks to snakes. That Harry Potter who is the heir of Slytherin. Of course that last one is just a silly rumor that proves to be false. He never thought Potter could have been the heir of Slytherin to begin with; Harry Potter is just too good.
(Draco means that in the worst way possible, of course.)
Anyway, people can't have really expected Harry to petrify his mudblood friend could they?
He expects his father's anger when he gets home for the end of term. It's not fun being at home. His father is angry and his mother is sad. Draco wants to go back to Hogwarts to escape the suffocating atmosphere.
Thirteen.
Werewolves and Dementors.
Draco is appalled that a werewolf was giving them classes! Honestly, Professor Lupin's classes were actually pretty fun even if the teacher is dirt poor like Potter and maybe even worse off than the Golden Boy. He enjoys them since Quirrell's class was too safe and Lockhart's class was too stupid. His father, however, is appalled and Draco should be as well. It doesn't matter that he felt like was learning something because Professor Lupin is a werewolf.
Obviously, he hasn't enjoyed Hogwarts all that much since he even got attacked by a beast. Not to mention that wicked punch Hermione Granger gave him.
"Dumbledore's insane," Draco drawls loudly to Blaise when they're leaving King's Cross station. He could feel some glares thrown his way. "I wonder what other monster he's going to bring to teach us next term."
He secretly hopes it's Lupin again, but that's as likely as Slytherin winning the House Cup with Harry Potter around.
Fourteen.
Cedric Diggory is dead and Voldemort is back.
Draco is scared, not that he cares to admit that truth any time soon. He's pretty glad that Harry is around, so he can save the day again. He's never seen Hogwarts so dreary even when the dementors were around last year. This year is supposed to be fun with the Triwizard tournament happening. Yet now everybody is solemn when Dumbledore gives the end of the term speech.
Remember Cedric Diggory.
Draco hardly thinks he will ever forget Cedric. It's not possible when he recalls the way Cedric stared off into the abyss and his father's desperate wails filling his eardrums while he watched stunned from the audience. It pops up in his nightmares occasionally. He wonders if he could be next. He does get good dreams, though, and he's thankful for them. (Even if they feature Granger's giant grin when she danced at the Yule Ball.)
He knows what is expected of him and that he must make his parents proud. He makes fun of Harry and Cedric's death, so he dreams of that too. Dreams of being killed by Voldemort, Dumbledore, and even Harry.
For once, he is pretty happy to stay at the Malfoy Manor instead of Hogwarts.
Fifteen.
Draco absolutely hates Harry Potter.
His father is in Azkaban all because of Potter and his friends. He will get his revenge against Harry for his father and for his horrible appearance that he has. He looks like a slug because of all the hexes and jinxes they cursed him when he voiced his opinions. He curses Hermione Granger's excellent handiwork. At least, his father won't be able to see his disappointing appearance. At the thought of his father, his stomach clenches. He can't stomach the idea of staying at the Malfoy Manor.
Not when his mother is moping around.
He shudders when he enters the household and sees his aunt with his mother. How he wishes he was back at Hogwarts even with the threat of danger looming there.
Sixteen.
Dumbledore is dead and it's his fault.
He is the one he let all the Death Eaters inside Hogwarts. Hell, he's a Death Eater himself. He wants this to all go away and be a big nightmare. He thought he would be able to handle this. He thought Voldemort was maybe actually a good thing. He's wrong, of course, so very wrong. This is his worst year yet.
The Dark Mark is supposed to be a sign of allegiance toward the Dark Lord, but it's more likely that he's handed his soul to the devil.
The mark on his arm will never go away just like his feelings of regret whenever he walks through the grounds of Hogwarts.
Seventeen.
It isn't supposed to be like this.
Hogwarts is a battlefield with bodies upon bodies that are good and evil—but who could tell the difference in their blood when it's spilt on the ground?—and it's utter chaos.
Draco wants everything to go back to when he was eleven and didn't know any better. Unfortunately, that isn't possible. Not even Harry Potter can salvage this situation.
"Harry!"
Draco whips his head in relief only to see the sight of Harry Potter's still body in the arms of Hagrid. That was the moment everyone finally realizes that this war is over.
Voldemort has won.
Eighteen.
Hogwarts was his home.
Draco knows it's foolish to reminisce about his time in Hogwarts, but he finds it necessary. Especially if he's contemplating standing against everything he once stood for. Of course, he doesn't think the way first year Draco did, but he lacks the courage to change. However, the time to act is now.
It's too late to fix mistakes but it's not too late to do a right.
Not too late to join the revolution.
"There's no middle ground here. You're either with us or against us." Hermione Granger's sharp voice interrupts his previous train of thought. Hermione crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow at the group before her expectantly. She looks fierce as she stands side by side with Neville blocking the entranceway to the Room of Requirement. "Well, what's it going to be?"
Draco gulps at how strong Hermione has become since that Battle of Hogwarts where most people, along with her, broke down to cry. He turns towards Blaise, Theodore, and Pansy who look just as nervous as him. Hermione and Neville's wands point straight at them almost as a way to remind the small group of Slytherins that any sudden movement and the pair of Gryffindors will attack.
"Well? Make your choice."
Draco, for one, is done with having to make choices. He's made the wrong ones so far in his life, and he knows that this is the one choice he can make right.
"I'm in." There's no hesitance in his voice and there won't be anymore.
The relief on Hermione's is evident as her stiff stance relaxes just a fraction before she turns her head towards the other Slytherins. "And you three?"
Theodore merely shrugs and nods his head. "I was never down with that pureblood supremacy shit anyway."
Blaise laughs and quickly agrees with Theo while Pansy glances nervously down the hall and at the others.
"I-I'm not sure," she responds, twiddling her fingers and looking straight at Hermione. A loud snort interrupts her which comes from directly behind Hermione and Neville. Pansy flinches, taking a step back as Ginny Weasley's face appears from behind them.
"Oh, sorry," she apologizes with no hint of honesty. It's easy to see that Ginny is livid and outraged. "Of course, you wouldn't know. Not someone who wanted to give Harry to the Dark Lord!" Hermione shoots a warning look in the Weasley girl's direction. "It's true!"
"I-I didn't want to die."
Draco's heart churns of how small Pansy sounds. She's shaking and her face pales but she won't look away from Ginny.
"I didn't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to get involved at all." The Weasley girl opens her mouth to retort something, but Pansy pushes through. "Except I can't just sit still and wait for someone to save me. To save all of us."
Hermione smiles and puts a hand on Pansy's shoulder. "We'd love for you to join us."
Pansy laughs but it sounds more like crying. All of the students who have hidden in the Room of Requirement for safety look warily at the new recruits, but they easily welcome them into their ranks. Draco thinks they need all the people they can get.
Draco finds himself acting as a spy for this new Dumbledore's Army. He slips them information and potions to help with their injured. The classes at Hogwarts can hardly be called lessons anymore. They are just torturing people, students, and loved ones. No one should be delving into the Dark Arts as much this new Hogwarts regimen is forcing. The teachers are insane. His aunt, Bellatrix Lestrange, must get off on all of the crying and frustration of the students just as much as the Carrow siblings get off on seeing blood drip from their victims.
It's absolute hell.
This isn't an establishment to teach students magic. This is prison. If anybody thought Hogwarts had too many rules before, they would've died with Voldemort's enforcing laws. There's only so little freedom one had anymore. Still, he hears it's better in here than out in the Wizarding community. (Maybe being forced to repeat one year is okay.)
"The plan is almost ready," Hermione manages to say between coughs of blood. She wipes the blood dripping down her chin with the back of her hand. Draco notices all the new bruises and cuts on her arms and face. He shudders to imagine what her whole body must look like if he could only see these patches of skin. She looks happy, however, when she speaks of the plan. "Many more students have joined. I'm hoping everything goes as planned."
Draco curtly nods, discreetly handing her a vial of healing potion as their lesson is dismissed. It's cruel but a necessary measure to participate in these horrid lessons if he has to fool the higher-ups. It physically pains him to hurt anyone and most times, he can get away with giving them minimal damage. He always hands his 'assignments' vials of healing potions. However, this never works for Hermione Granger.
She's a mudblood to them and therefore, must be tortured the most. They only keep her alive for their entertainment. She is always the most bloodied when they leave the class.
The joy in his heart is indescribable when he hears the plan is ready to go in motion.
"It's time." Hermione grins and Draco realizes that he hasn't seen that expression in a long while. He decides he really likes it. "Don't forget your roles!"
Their plan is very tricky. It's one filled with risks and harsh consequences if they are caught. Yet being there with all the rebels makes him feel invincible.
First, there are the students most skilled in healing and defense who are in charge of releasing all the captives and getting them to safety. They have to make sure the injured are in the most secure position to get to the portkeys first. Second, all the students in charge of spreading the message of the escape. They are in charge of letting everyone in the castle know that it isn't too late to join and flee this prison with their crafty charm-work. Those are the basics.
Of course, Draco and the spies are in charge of knocking out the teachers since they are the ones who can get closest to them without it being suspicious. They are actually the first ones to act in this plan. It's most fortunate that Voldemort isn't at Hogwarts. There are safe houses all around the world for the escapees of Hogwarts to lie in, for now at least. The remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix have planted portkeys outside of Hogwarts for them to get to in time.
Draco is running toward the entrance when he hears the deafening blast that is music to his ears. That blast means that the wall of Hogwarts are down. He sees herds of students running outside and sobbing as they hold into miscellaneous objects that promise freedom. He is feeling euphoric as he latches onto his own portkey. His friends he made so very long ago when he first came to Hogwarts are right next to him. They grin so wide that it must hurt their faces. (Later, Draco realizes that he's wearing the same expression.)
While he's waiting for the portkey to activate, he catches Hermione's eye as her friends mirror their actions. She's crying and smiling. He nods towards her and she does the same. Maybe he'll try to find her later when they pull this off.
He can tell by their hands that are coated with red paint that they successfully managed to write the D.A's message. When Voldemort returns to find his teachers unconscious and his students missing, he'll be greeted by red big letters that spell out 'DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY IS ALIVE'.
And that's true.
Even if Harry and Dumbledore are dead, they won't stop fighting. They will defeat and end Voldemort's reign of terror once and for all. He feels the old teddy bear start to activate and he casts one last glance at the castle.
Hogwarts was no more.
He would no longer walk the corridors at night, no longer torture innocent people in classrooms, no longer cry bitterly in his room, and no longer feel the shame and regret that haunts him within the memory of Harry Potter. The Boy Who Once Lived was always present at Hogwarts. That's not to say he won't feel regret ever again. He still has the mark of cowardliness on his left arm that will forever haunt him. It's odd thinking that he will never walk on Hogwarts again. Even if they do manage to rebuild the school again, it won't be the same.
Draco Malfoy feels himself being pulled into the portkey and the castle vanishes out of sight.
Hogwarts is no longer his home.