Disclaimer: JKR owns everything, except the little mirage spell I added in there.
A/N: This chapter is sort of long, but I'm sure you'll be happy about that. This didn't take too long to get out, but I only wrote it in one night…heh. Thank you Ash, for being the best beta ever and not caring that it's really long. I just want to say that Ash truly is a fantastic beta reader and you're all so jealous because she's not yours! Whoo…anyway, I hope you like. R&R please!
Chapter Eleven: Perfect
"Draco, no!" Ginny cried after him. She followed his fleeting figure out of the office. "Draco," she said, catching up to him. "What are you going to do?"
He spun around. "Anything."
"Why are you trying to be so heroic? Damn it, Draco, you can't do this by yourself!" Ginny stamped her foot on the ground.
"I'm not being heroic. I'm doing what has to be done. I've been fighting my father for seventeen years, Ginny. This is my opportunity to finally do something. Plus…your family, your friends…they all think I'm still on Voldemort's side, my father's side. I'll show them I'm not. This is how I can make them see."
"By getting yourself killed?" Ginny shrieked. "I don't want to lose you now; I've just got you."
"I won't be killed."
"How do you know?"
"I just do."
Draco gave her a softened version of his trademark smirk and started to leave, but Ginny reached out and grabbed his wrist to tug him back. Draco turned to face her in surprise, but Ginny shushed him and pressed her lips firmly against his own. Draco's surprise quickly melted away and he enthusiastically responded to her kiss. Yet as soon as it started, Ginny pulled away and whispered in his ear, then took off down the hall to the office and disappeared before he could respond.
He wouldn't be able to respond to her words even if she stayed. He was in a state of shock to what she had just whispered in his ear moments before. Draco stared straight ahead, repeating her rushed words in his head over and over again to make sure he knew what they meant. Those words he had heard, or thought he heard, meant so much. He had never heard them spoken to him in his life, and here, a girl had just truthfully spoken with her heart.
"I love you."
* * *
Draco made his flight to Macnair's in a daze. He was quite unsure of what he was doing. Macnair's home was surely the place where he would find the Death Eaters, since his own home was most likely swarming with Aurors. Draco wondered vaguely whether or not his father managed to worm his way out of imprisonment. Lucius had a knack for avoiding punishment for his wrongdoings, so it was nothing new to him.
Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed Macnair's house by whooshing speedily over it. He wrenched the handle of the broomstick around and descended onto the poorly watered lawn. Draco, shrouded in the night's darkness, carefully hid his broom behind the shrubbery in front of the house. Draco needn't slip into the house unnoticed; that was not his plan. Instead, he boldly marched to the front door and pounded loudly on the door. A round, wicked face appeared in the door frame and grinned maliciously when he saw Draco. He silently invited him in, gesturing inside.
"Where is everyone, Macnair?" Draco asked suspiciously.
"In there." Macnair pointed to an adjoining room. "Your father was beginning to wonder whether you'd show."
"Of course I would show," Draco spat, grimacing. He swept past Macnair and entered the room.
A group of cloaked Death Eaters stood in a circle, obscuring the center from sight. Most were murmuring almost inaudibly to the person standing next to them. A crackling fire illuminated only a small portion of the room, giving an almost dementor-like effect to the Death Eaters. Draco was unafraid of these people and pushed them aside carelessly to reach the center of the circle. In the middle were Harry, Lucius, and Voldemort.
"Father," Draco drawled, crossing his arms, "you've evaded incarceration again."
Lucius smirked. "Yes, I have. I'm glad you've arrived," he said, though he did not sound glad at all. "As you can see, we have our new…friend…here to join us." He motioned to Harry, who was smiling oddly.
Turning to Voldemort, Draco questioned, "You have the antidote?" Draco questioned.
"Yes. Somehow I knew it would fall out of Lucius's hands. The instructions were almost lost to Ginny Weasley." Voldemort paused here to let Lucius's carelessness sink in. "Now, it seems we have two ceremonies. Harry must take the antidote, and Draco…he'll be inducted into our special little circle."
Draco's breath caught in his chest unnoticeably. He knew that this would eventually happen, but he didn't think so soon. It was said that on his 18th birthday, the day he was officially an adult, he would officially become a Death Eater. It seemed too soon now. He was still seventeen, though his maturity has soared past the "adult" level.
"So soon?" Draco said carefully. He tried to hide his incredulity.
"It would be a sort of congratulations. You aided in the retrieval of those pesky ingredients from Snape's private storage. You also were the one to execute the poisoning. I think it would be best," Voldemort responded, smirking.
"Good." Draco glanced at Harry, who was examining the faces in the room with a sort of sickening pleasure.
Draco was trying to come up with a strategy in his head quickly, realizing he only had a few minutes before Harry had to drink the antidote. He couldn't destroy it, or Harry would die. But no one in the room could give Harry the potion without him becoming permanently evil.
Voldemort cleared his throat, breaking Draco's concentration. "Since everyone is here, we should begin. Draco, you decide. What shall be first, your induction, or Harry's antidote?"
Quick, Draco, quick. If you're inducted…you'll spare some time. Draco opened his mouth slowly and took a deep breath. "I'll go first."
Voldemort nodded shortly, and stepped toward Draco. "Repeat after me, Draco." Voldemort grabbed his arm and folded up the sleeve to reveal Draco's pale arm. "As a Death Eater, I will devote my life to the Dark Lord. I promise to serve and protect the name of Voldemort and anything he defends. I will never reveal the names of my fellow followers, but if I ever forget where my loyalties lie, I accept death as my fate."
Draco did not need to hear Voldemort say it. He had it memorized already, from the nightly repetitions his father made him practice for years. However, this would be the one time that a repetition would really mean something. He knew what would come after he finished the speech. Draco could almost smell the burning flesh before it happened, before Voldemort laughed as Draco finished saying the last few words.
Voldemort's fingers, normally cold, were blisteringly hot against Draco's skin. He flinched from the scorching pain. It seemed to go forever – he could taste the smoldering skin's awful flavor. The pain was fading and the noise of the sizzling died down to a mere hiss. Draco thought it was over, but he did not know that something had gone wrong.
"Traitor," he heard Voldemort hiss lowly.
"What?" Draco shot back. Voldemort raised his arm to point at Draco's arm. He slowly looked down, preparing to see the Dark Mark tainting his pale skin, but there was nothing. A red splotch marked the spot where Voldemort had pressed. There was no Dark Mark. "What the hell…?"
"The Dark Mark will not appear on those who are not faithful."
"But it will never fade on those who have left the circle," Lucius added, sliding into the conversation. "I cannot believe this. Where have I gone wrong, Draco? How could you be unfaithful to the Dark Lord?"
Draco stiffened. "I don't believe in following anything."
"That is a problem, Draco," Voldemort said, turning his back. "Such a problem."
Draco backed up, accidentally knocking into the circle of Death Eaters. He glared up at them, silently demanding that they move, but they only pulled closer together. Draco knew he was in trouble. They were closing in on him and bringing him only closer to Voldemort.
Draco had his back to Voldemort. It was a sign of weakness to show your back to him. The instant Draco realized what he was doing, it was too late. A sharp, piercing jolt of pain exploded in his back and he fell forward, crashing into the circle of Death Eaters. They opened a space for him to hit the ground and watched as thick red blood oozed from underneath his robe. Above him, Voldemort held a bloodstained dagger.
"Avada Kedavra seemed too simple for him." Lucius showed no expression. Miles away, Ginny felt a twinge in her heart.
"We have to go to Draco," she said loudly, interrupting the conversation among Ron, Hermione, and Professor Dumbledore.
They all looked at her in surprise. "What did you say?" Hermione said, standing.
"Something has gone wrong. We have to go now." Ginny stood and crossed the room to the door. "If you're not going to follow me, then I guess I'm going alone," she said, without turning around.
"Ginny, we don't even know where they are!" Ron yelled.
"Then we'll find them!" she shouted, spinning around to face them. "We can't sit here and do nothing, when Draco could be dying!" She felt her heart drop at the mere thought of his death. She couldn't bear to live knowing she had spoken words of her love for him, and not hear his response.
"Professor, do you know anyplace where they could be?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Macnair," he stated solemnly. "Macnair is one of Voldemort's closest followers. I am almost sure that would be a second choice place for the Death Eaters."
"Then that's where we're going," Ginny said.
"I am afraid I cannot go with you," Dumbledore added. "I know, however, that you are all to be trusted. Good luck."
Ron nodded to Dumbledore and followed Hermione and Ginny out of his office. The three of them walked silently in the corridor to the Quidditch broom closet.
"Er…Ginny?" Ron said suddenly.
"What?"
"I'm…I'm sorry about…you know," Ron said awkwardly. Ron wasn't exactly eloquent when it came to apologies.
Ginny smiled. Living with Ron for so many years, she knew exactly what he meant. "Thanks, Ron." She grabbed Ron around the neck and pulled him into a tight hug.
They were interrupted by Hermione clearing her throat. They looked towards her and she pushed a broom into each of their hands.
"Macnair's isn't that far away from Malfoy Manor. It's about five miles, give or take a few." When Hermione got odd looks in response, she added, "Sometimes you need to know a few important addresses!" Ron shook his head, and Ginny raised her eyebrows.
"Don't tell me you study address books as well, Hermione," Ron said sarcastically as they took off.
"Oh, honestly, Ron," Hermione sighed.
"What are we going to do when we get there?" Ginny said suddenly. "We haven't got a plan, and Death Eaters are bound to be at Macnair's. Voldemort too."
"I suppose we'll just try to sneak in and look for Draco. If you get caught…well, I'm not saying you should use the Unforgivable Curses freely, but if you're about to be killed, just protect yourself," Ron said.
An uncomfortable hush fell over them. The thought of using any of the Unforgivable Curses was perturbing, even to save themselves.
The flight stayed in almost complete silence, until Hermione spotted Macnair's house. It was much smaller than any of them had expected, but as dangerous as Malfoy Manor all the same. Ron directed them around the house until they found a room that glimmered with the light of a dimly lit fire. They found a window they could peer in, and made sure that they could not be seen.
The scene was alarming. A group of Death Eaters surrounded Voldemort, who was talking inertly. Harry stood next to Voldemort compliantly, smirking faintly. Hermione, Ron, and Ginny knew he was still under the effect of the potion, but they could not be sure that he hadn't been given the antidote yet.
"Draco!" Ginny whispered.
Slumped against the back wall was an unconscious Draco, blood smeared on the wall around him. He looked paler than usual. Ginny could only hope that he was not dead.
"It's okay, Gin, we'll get in there," Ron said soothingly.
"Look," Hermione whispered, pointing upwards to an open window directly above the room with the Death Eaters. "Let's go in there."
They all clambered noiselessly through the window and put the brooms next to the window. They seemed to be in Macnair's bedroom. They were about to leave the room, when Ginny shushed them and pointed to a vent under the window. Voices floated out from the vent.
"— do the honors. Of course, I am the most obvious choice, but I'd rather one of my followers do it. Lucius, since you are most grief-stricken about the loss of your son—" here Ginny clasped her hand to her mouth, "—I think it would comfort you to bring in our newest member."
"You are most generous, My Lord," Lucius purred.
Voldemort clapped his hands together. "Goyle, fetch the antidote. The time has come."
The three students looked at each other in horror, knowing that if they were going to do something, they had to do it fast.
"I'll go down there and see where Goyle went to get the antidote. You guys devise a plan. Quick!" Hermione said, and before Ron could stop her, she ran out of the room silently.
Hermione crept down the stairs as silently as she could. The room with the Death Eaters was directly behind the staircase so she would not be seen, but her footsteps could be heard if she made too much noise.
A noise of rummaging reached her ears. She instinctively slid next to the wall and peered around it carefully. Goyle had his back to her, searching a desk for the antidote. As soon as he made a grunt of triumph, Hermione leapt out from behind the wall, and whispered fiercely, "Stupefy!"
Goyle's stocky figure suddenly became rigid and he slowly tipped backwards. Hermione rushed forward and attempted to ease him to the ground, but he was too heavy. She only managed to soften the noise he made as he crashed to the ground. She looked down and saw the potion bottle clutched in his hand. Hermione wrenched it out of his hand and looked carefully at the bottle. There wasn't much of the dark green potion in the bottle; a teaspoon's amount, perhaps. Hermione pocketed the potion happily and made her way to the staircase.
Hermione nearly screamed when she knocked into someone on the stairs, but Ron's hand covered her mouth and shushed her. He looked at her warningly and she quieted. Shooting him an angry look, she took the potion out of her pocket and shook it, smiling. Ginny nodded her head towards the back of the stairs, indicating that the Death Eaters were still back there.
"Ambush?" Ron whispered.
Ginny bit her lip. "Too risky," she murmured back. "If we only had some Polyjuice Potion."
"There is a spell…but it's hard. I haven't mastered it. It's almost like a mirage. It even changes your voice," Hermione whispered cautiously. "I could…I could pretend to be Goyle…"
Hermione was cut off by the angry hiss of Voldemort. "Where is that blundering fool? Goyle!"
"We need to hurry!" Ron said, panicked.
"All right, I'll do it." Hermione drew a breath and let her eyes close, raising her wand to her face. "Tego oris," she whispered. A shimmering veil covered Hermione's face, and distorted her features so she looked exactly like Goyle. "I can't be touched, or it shatters the mirage."
Ron looked at her in amazement. "You're a genius, Hermione. Be careful. We'll rush in if we hear any trouble."
Hermione nodded and proceeded to the room. The Death Eaters turned to her as she slumped into the room, holding the potion in her hand.
"Goyle. What took you so long, you incompetent idiot?" Lucius said angrily from where he stood. "Come, give me the potion."
Hermione could not give him it. That would completely defeat the purpose. She had to think of something – fast. "I…I want to give Potter the potion."
"Oh, do you? Well, I have news for you, idiot…"
"Silence, Lucius," Voldemort said silkily, raising his hand to silence him. "Goyle, why do you think that you should do the honors?"
"I am faithful and always have been. Lucius is your right-hand Death Eater and is highly acknowledged. One of the lesser…" Hermione was having trouble "dumbing down" her language. Goyle wasn't so intelligent, and probably did not use large words. "One of the Death Eaters that aren't so acknowledged."
"Hmmm…you know, Goyle, maybe you're right. But no." Voldemort smirked. "Give Lucius the potion, now."
"No," Hermione said, backing away. She could feel the mirage beginning to weaken. It was terribly draining to hold up a spell for as long as she had. "No…" she whispered again, her voice beginning to sound like her own again. The mirage in front of her shimmered once and then dimmed, revealing Hermione.
The Death Eaters gasped, though Voldemort simply laughed. "That was very courageous, but very, very stupid."
Hermione glared at Voldemort and uncapped the bottle. She lifted the vial to her lips and poured the contents into her mouth, pretending to swallow it. In reality, she kept the potion in her mouth. Ron and Ginny rushed into the room at that moment and glanced around the room. The Death Eaters seemed taken aback.
"What…what is going on here?" Lucius roared. He grabbed his wand, but Voldemort laid his hand on Lucius's arm.
"If they want to play, they can play. Harry will now die of course, now that this young lady has so foolishly drunk the potion," Voldemort hissed.
Ron and Ginny gasped and looked towards Hermione, but she merely widened her eyes at them to try and show that she didn't really drink it. Suddenly, the three of them were pushed against the back wall where Draco lay, still unconscious. Ginny pressed her fingers to his neck and sighed thankfully that his heartbeat, though weak, was still there.
"You three can be practice for our new members. Crabbe, Goyle, come here. These two – Crabbe and Goyle's children – are going to become Death Eaters. You may watch," Voldemort said, as if this were a treat.
Ginny was too preoccupied with Draco to listen to Voldemort. She quietly took out her wand as the Death Eaters returned to their ceremony. Having spent much time with Madam Pomfrey as an aide in the hospital wing, she could attempt to heal him. She leaned Draco forward to rest his head on her shoulder, and gingerly peeled the blood soaked cloak off of his back. She flinched at the deep stab wound in his upper left shoulder but tapped it gently with her wand. The gash slowly sewed itself back together. No indication of a wound was left. Ginny sighed, relieved, and pushed him back against the wall. Draco still would not wake.
"He's lost too much blood," she whispered to herself. She could not fix that with her wand.
The three of them were suddenly pulled to their feet. Voldemort turned to them with Harry at his side. Harry was expressionless as he stared at his three best friends. There was absolutely no recognition beneath his eyes.
"Say goodbye to your enemies, Harry," Voldemort whispered, loud enough for them to hear.
"Wait!" Ginny shouted. "Can…can we say goodbye to Harry?"
Hermione looked at Ginny with wide eyes. That would be perfect! All she needed to do would be to get the potion inside Harry's mouth…only it was in her mouth, which would mean…she would need to kiss him.
"Hmm…I suppose," Voldemort said.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all went up to Harry's sneering face.
Ginny went first. "Harry. I had a crush on you for so long. And even though you didn't like me like that, you were always so nice to me. I was the little sister, the tagalong. Or at least I felt that way. But you didn't care. I miss you, Harry." Ginny leaned forward and gave him a slight hug. She felt him shudder beneath her.
Ron stepped forward. "Well…Harry, I know you think you hate me. But I know this isn't true. We've been best friends for seven years. We were always loyal to each other. I could depend on you for anything. Even though I know I got a little jealous sometimes, I really respected you. I know you think I'm your enemy now, but I still know you're my best friend." Ron nodded solemnly and stepped back.
Hermione could not say anything. The potion in her mouth was about to leak out. She grabbed Harry by the shoulders and leaned her face in quickly, pressing her mouth over Harry's open one, as he was about to speak. The potion leaked from Hermione's mouth into Harry's, and taken by surprise, he swallowed.
Ron shouted in surprise, and Ginny grinned and tugged Hermione away from Voldemort before he could grab her. Harry fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as everyone in the room watched him. He gagged and banged on the floor in pain, but slowly stopped, his breathing heavy. He looked around the room and slowly stood.
"What's going on?" he yelled, obviously confused.
Hermione grinned. "Harry, is it you?"
"What? Of course it's me, what are you on about?" Harry grabbed his wand and backed away from Voldemort. "Okay, I don't know what's going on, but…"
"Oh, Harry. I had such high hopes for you. First I thought that you would be my favorite new Death Eater. Then I thought you were going to die, which didn't matter much. Now I have to kill you," Voldemort said menacingly.
"Run!" Ron shouted. He grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her forward. Ginny started to run, but remembered Draco on the floor. She whipped out her wand and cast a charm that made Draco feather light, and dragged him with her.
There were too many Death Eaters attempting to run, causing mayhem in the small room. The four students managed to dart upstairs to Macnair's bedroom where the brooms were. When Ginny reached the room, the others were already out the window.
"Come on, Ginny!" Ron shouted.
"I've got…Draco…the charm wore off, he's too heavy!" Ginny yelled back. Harry, who was on a broom outside the window, flew back in and helped her climb on a broom with Draco. Voldemort crashed through the door as soon as Ginny reached the window with her broom.
"Avada—!" Voldemort started, but Ginny managed to fly off as soon as he started. Though they seemed in the clear, the Death Eaters started shooting their spells in the air. Ron was sharing a broom with Hermione – she was clutching him very tightly of course, her bravery having worn off. Harry had taken Draco on his broom, much to his disgust. He hadn't the faintest idea why they were so concerned about saving him. Ginny dodged the jets of angry red light, flying on her own broom.
The five of them flew out of range of the Death Eaters. Ron let out a whoop of joy, while Hermione laughed. Ginny, however, kept shooting Draco worried glances. She couldn't celebrate while Draco was dying. She thought only of getting him back to Hogwarts. She smiled at the thought of him waking, and telling him what had happened after they arrived. Everything was almost perfect. Almost.