Hey everyone! Chapter 7 up now, and thankyou to Luicia Malfoy, YOU ROCK!!!

The Siege

For a week the Hogwarts students were kept peened in the Great Hall, with no sign of the teachers anywhere. Everyone had theories as to where they were, each one more outlandish than the next. However, nobody voiced the thought that maybe Voldemort had killed them all, and that they were the only ones left. They all knew it was possible though.

After a while, they began to get a better idea of their situation. The Death Eaters were obviously using the castle as some sort of fortress, they could hear them moving about in the corridors above and around the Great Hall. "To think that one of those pieces of scum is sleeping in my bed!" Ron had growled to many nods of approval. Toilets had been attached, and the food came through the house tables as normal, three times a day. But this food was usually warm, sour milk with a piece of mouldy old cheese and crusty bread. As a result, vomiting and acute attacks of diahorrea became a common occurrence. No beds or blankets ever came through, so the students had to sleep freezing on the cold floor or the tables. There was absolutely no point trying to escape as the Great Hall had Death Eaters all around it twenty-four hours a day, even at the secret passageways, to stop them getting out. So basically, all they could do was wait.

"I can't take much more of this," said Victoria to Draco one particularly cold morning. "We have no blankets, hardly any food, no means of washing, and half the first years are constantly crying or panic stricken as to what is going to happen to us. Mind you, so am I," she continued.

"Yeah," replied Draco. "I'm scared stiff as well." But his mind was on other problems. His father and his mother were both Death Eaters, and were undoubtably in the castle at that very moment. He knew that he was safe with them there. He had always wanted to be a Death Eater, and his parents had always expected him to be one. But now things had changed. He had fallen in love with a muggle-born witch, a mudblood. What would his parents say to that? He was now torn between two emotions; loyalty to the Dark Side, and love for Victoria. He had no idea who to defend if the worst came to the worst. He might even be forced to kill Victoria…no, the thought was to horrible to even contemplate.

Harry had been spending a lot of time on his own, just brooding on what he knew would probably come. He would probably have to eventually sacrifice his life to save Hogwarts, the wizarding world, and the muggle world. He knew also that he would not hesitate to do so, but he wanted to be ready when the time came. He was after all Voldemort's number one enemy, and the most vulnerable person at Hogwarts.

Finally on the seventh day in captivity, the door banged open, and there stood a tall Death Eater, dressed in black robes with the usual mask. The whole room went silent, and somewhere a first year whimpered, terrified. "Harry Potter," she said. "You are to come with me."

"Why?" Harry asked bravely.

"The Dark Lord…wants a word with you, yes, that's it," she replied slowly.

"And what if I refuse to come?" said Harry.

"I'd advise you not to," she said snakily, as two more Death Eaters joined her. "Otherwise we might have to put a little curse on you, a very painful one, and you wouldn't like that now would you?"

Harry winced. He did not have very fond memories of the Cructiatus curse. He stepped forward.

"NO!" shouted Ron and Hermione in unison. "If Harry goes, we go!"

"Yes, and where Ron and Hermione's go, I go!" said Victoria.

"And…" put in Draco. "where Victoria goes…I go too!"

There was a stunned silence. Then two of the three Death Eaters took off their masks and stared at Draco. They were Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy, Draco's parents.

"But Draco, this girl is a muggle-born, a mud blood! How can you protect a mud blood?" said a shocked Lucius Malfoy.

"Mother, Father, I…I'm sorry, but, I can't let her alone. I don't care about Potter, Weasley, or Granger, but I do care about Victoria," Draco said.

"But why?" asked Narcissa.

"Because I love her," Draco said fiercely. "I love her more than life itself; I worship the very ground she walks on. And I know that if I leave Victoria, a muggle-born, in your company, she will probably be killed, and if she is, my life is over. So I will stay with her, wherever she goes, and I am on whichever side she is on." Draco found it agonisingly hard to say all this, but he meant every word of it, even if it went against all he knew and believed in.

Victoria turned to look at him, and tears welled up in her eyes. "Oh, Draco," she whispered, and fell into his arms. Draco stroked her hair and hushed her gently. Lucius whispered something to Narcissa, and she nodded.

"Well, Draco, if that is your decision, then you leave me no choice but to treat you as I would treat Potter," sneered Lucius. "And after all, perhaps it would give the Dark Lord more satisfaction to have five victims instead of one." Narcissa nodded in agreement, scowling in contempt for her only son.

The Death Eaters strode forward and grabbed Harry, Ron, Hermione, Victoria, and Draco and frog-marched them out of the Great Hall. "They're taking us to the top Astronomy tower," whispered Ron to Harry.

"I know," he answered. "Ron, you do realize that this could be the end of me, don't you?" he continued.

"Yep," said Ron grimly. "but I know one thing Harry. I would gladly give my life for you, as would Hermione and Victoria, I'm not so sure about Malfoy though. So if you do happen to die, I will either die with you or live on to protect others in your place if I don't. This I swear Harry."

"Likewise Ron," said Harry with tears in his eyes.

Victoria was walking steadfastly on with Hermione at her side. She was afraid, but she would rather die than let the Death Eaters, the scum of the earth, see her quail before them. Hermione saw this, and Victoria's strength gave her strength. And so they walked endlessly up the many flights of stairs that led to the Astronomy tower.

Draco was deep in thought, and hardly aware of what was going on around him. Had he made the right decision? Should he have swapped to the other side? These doubts lingered in him until he felt a hand brush against his. Victoria gave his had a squeeze, and at that moment, he knew that all the evil inside him, put there by his father and mother, had finally vanished, and all it had taken was the touch of one sweet girl. He knew them that he had made the right decision, and he was ready to sacrifice his life for her if he needed to.

Finally they reached the Astronomy tower. For a moment they could not see anything, but then a light flashed, and they saw a figure standing at the edge, a figure wearing long black robes. It turned to face them, and they saw the trademark red eyes. That figure standing before them was Lord Voldemort.

So, how was that? Wanna see what happens next? Then please review for me! And by the way Luicia Malfoy, he kept pummelling Victoria because she was sticking up for Harry, she was a muggle-born, and a Griffindor, so he lost his temper. He was also a very dirty fighter, and he knew he would have the upper hand in a very short time. That's just the sort of person he is, or was.