Draco's Desires

Part Fourteen

Siege On Hogwarts

*~~~~~*

We climbed up the piping into the girls' bathroom, dragging the bound Snape with us. He was awake by now, and trying to coax Ginny into giving up this idea of domination. He had figured out that she was our ringleader and that she was very dangerous. How did she become the leader? I thought I was the evil one. At least I always had been.

"Miss Weasley, you don't know what you're doing." Snape breathed heavily as we climbed up my makeshift steps. "I don't know what happened to you three, but you are all acting insane. You can't take Hogwarts. It isn't possible."

She laughed heartlessly. "Oh Professor Snape…you're so pessimistic! They don't want you to die, now do they? If they don't care and kill us, I'll make sure you go first. Such a shame, really. But if they do want to save your sorry skin, Hogwarts will be ours."

Snape shook his head defiantly. "Miss Weasley…I would gladly die to keep you from getting what you want."

"Shut it! You'll hurt her feelings!" Potter was always the sensitive one.

Ginny did seem hurt. Her lower lip trembled. "And I thought you liked me! Well, fine! Maybe we'll just kill you anyway!"

Snape put a hand on her shoulder, as if in comfort. I'm willing to bet that he was trying to snap her out of her evil delusions by making her cry. Well, good luck, Snape. Ginny was too far gone to let a few tears snap her back to herself.

She knocked his hand off her. "Let me alone." We then emerged from the pipe and we lined up. "Where are all the teachers right now? It's dinner time."

Snape sighed. "They're in the great hall. We always eat meals together, even in the summer." He turned his head, letting his hair fall over his face. He had betrayed them; not that he had a choice.

"Good." Ginny prodded him with her wand and led him through the castle towards the hall. Potter and I followed close behind, our wands drawn and ready for trouble.

Potter had an idea. "I think we had better gag him in case he decides to yell out for help."

I smiled. "Well, you're the expert in bondage…(this brought forth odd hysterical giggles from Ginny – "Bondage!!")…so why don't you do it?"

Potter sent forth a spell from his wand that covered Snape's mouth with thick cloth. "That ought to shut him up."

"Good thinking, my lords." Ginny pushed him along roughly. For such a small girl, she had amazing strength. The joys of evil.

*~~~~~*

We reached the entrance of the great hall and peered inside. It looked about the same as during the school year, except that the house tables were nonexistent. It reminded me of the Yule Ball and I wondered if they had dance parties there at night after dinner. I grinned at my cheerful fantasies. The teachers were up at their own table chatting happily. They were wearing robes with short sleeves and were hatless, but otherwise they looked like they always did. They didn't look too hard to dupe.

Ginny looked at us. "Ready? Yes? NOW!!" She shoved Snape forwards through the doorway and held her wand against his neck. "FREEZE!!!" Potter and I jumped forwards and pointed our wands at the teachers.

They looked at us as if we had gone mad. And why wouldn't they? We were three kids and, well…Snape. Dumbledore stood up, holding his hands out. "Harry…Draco…Ginny. What is going on? Some sort of game?"

I raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem so surprised that we were there. I wondered if he knew we had been lurking around somewhere. But he did seem surprised that we had Snape. "Not a game."

Harry looked a little sheepish. "Sorry Professor. It's just that, well, we're…taking over Hogwarts."

"Yes, for Salazar Slytherin," I added.

He smiled slightly. How dare he smile! "Slytherin, Mr. Malfoy? And where is Slytherin?"

I glared. "I am Slytherin!"

Ginny hissed at me. "I AM!"

Dumbledore's intense eyes flickered to Potter. "And you, Harry?"

"Me? I'm…well, Harry Potter." I could see his eyes starting to darken. Damn. He was turning.

I grabbed him by his arm and pulled him to my side. "He's with us! Now, no more questions!"

Ginny pushed Snape forward and flattened him to his stomach on the floor. "You will all leave Hogwarts right now and never come back, or else Snape gets it, and so do all of you!" Her eyes flashed at them and she dug her wand into Snape's back. He groaned and I noticed the bit of blood on the end of it. I immediately felt that stab of fear again.

McGonagall stood up and observed Ginny. She decided to use the kind method with her, trying to bring her around again. "Sweet girl…do you really want to hurt everyone?" She looked at her sternly, but with compassion. "Put your wand down and we will take care of you. No one will blame you or hurt you, but you must drop your wand and come to me."

"Take care of me? Kill me, you mean!" She dug her wand into Snape again and he cried out. "No more threats, Minerva!" Ginny had called McGonagall by her first name. For some reason the idea of calling a teacher by her first name was uncalled for. Like I said earlier, I am not above good manners.

Potter hissed in my ear. "This has gone too far. She's hurting Snape. She's out of control." I just stood there. I wanted Hogwarts, but admittedly, Ginny was giving me the creeps.

Dumbledore held out his hand towards us. "Harry…come to me." Potter looked up at him, trembling. The power was leaving his body. Dumbledore's eyes were bright blue and good, and now so were Potter's.

"Professor?"

"It's all right, Harry. Come up here."

I let him go and he headed towards the staff table.

Ginny jumped up and ran at him. "Traitor! Get back here!" She made a grab at him, but I held her back.

"Don't bother, Ginny. We don't need him." I glared at the teachers. "You can't stop us! He was just one, and practically useless! We're not giving up and you can't stop us." I was starting to feel weaker and weaker. What was happening to me?

Dumbledore pulled Harry up onto the platform and hugged him close. "It's all right now." He kept his arm around Harry's shoulders and gazed down at me. "Draco. You don't have to do this. Come up here to me."

And I wanted to go. Oh, how I wanted to go! I wanted to run to him and be hugged and be cared for like my father hadn't done in so long. How many times had I tried to run to him as a child and been pushed away? Affection was something I was always hungry for and at that moment I was starving. I gripped onto Ginny. "I want…I want…"

"Come here, Draco." He smiled and reached out his hand to me.

I took a step forward, ready to go, to end this. I heard Ginny give a horrible yell of rage and suddenly the words rang in my ears. "CRUCIO!!" I fell to the floor screaming at the top of my lungs. Make it stop! Make it stop!

There was a scuffling all around me and the pain suddenly ceased. I was whimpering when Dumbledore turned me over and gathered me up in his arms. He was remarkably strong for such an old duff. I clung to him, feeling very confused and torn. "Ginny! Ginny!" I cried out. "I need Ginny!"

"Ginny is gone." Dumbledore looked down into my face with a sad expression.

"No! You didn't…you didn't kill her did you?"

"No, Miss Weasley saw all of us running at her and she fled. The Cruciatus Curse was broken, freeing you."

I tried to glare, but couldn't do it. "I'm evil…I'm Slytherin…I'm taking over Hogwarts…" My eyes were growing terribly heavy. "I'm evil…I'm Slytherin…" I drifted off to sleep then, completely exhausted. The power was slipping away from me, but I didn't care. I needed to sleep. But before my mind went completely dark, I had a frightening thought. Ginny had become Slytherin.

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