Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the story's characters. I also do not own Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Warning: This is a Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter slash (a male/male relationship). IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!
Chapter 4
A Planned Suicide Mission and Other Plots
Hermione Granger could not believe the reckless foolishness of Fred and George Weasley. What's more, she couldn't believe her own silliness for going along with this suicide mission. Of all the dumb pranks the twins and Lee Jordan have pulled, this was the most dangerous. Although it was a very clever way to get revenge, there was a huge risk of getting caught. And yet, here she was dressed in her fancy periwinkle ball gown, with her hair in an elegant bun, agreeing to this madness. She had no choice but to go along with them. If she didn't go, the boys would probably get themselves killed. No, she had to watch over them.
At the moment, they were all in the small kitchen at the Burrow, the Weasley's home, having a meeting and discussing the strategy to their plan of disrupting the Malfoy's masked ball. She looked around the room and watched as Fred, George, Lee, and Ron plot wickedly. Neville looked every bit as sick as she felt, and Harry just looked indifferent as usual, still mopping about Cho Chang. All the boys were dressed in their best dress robes. Even the Weasleys, who didn't have much money to afford fancy clothes, put charms on their robes to make them look as new as possible. Ron wore a plain black cap with black slacks and a black blouse. The twins were dressed in identical dress robes made of silk, with crescent moon shapes embroidered on them. Fred's was navy blue and George's was maroon. Neville wore his forest green robes with gold stitching. Lee wore his silver suede dress robes, and Harry wore his satin black and silver robes. It was important for all of them to look their best or they would stand out in the crowd. Hermione sighed; she had to try once more to talk them out of this plan.
"Are you guys sure that this is such a good idea? I mean, we could get in a lot of trouble for this, and our parents aren't going to be happy with us if they find out what we are about to do. Couldn't you just think of another way to get back at the Slytherins? This is utter lunacy!"
"Yeah, I agree with Hermione. This seems a little too extreme," said a nervous Neville. He hated this idea, and he was starting to feel nauseous.
Lee rolled his eyes at the two. "Come on guys, we're suppose to be brave Gryffindors. We have to uphold our honor. We can't let the Slytherins think that they can get away with anything can we? Besides, the plan is fool proof. We won't even get caught."
"We'll get hexed for this!" cried a terrified Neville. "Your plans are always getting us into trouble. But this time if we're caught, we'll be lynched!"
"Oh come on Nev, you're just exaggerating." George said, "We might have to dodge a few cruciatus curses thrown our way…"
"And probably a few killing curses….," added Fred.
"But we don't have to worry about them lynching us," Lee said.
Neville paled and swallowed the lump of terror that was lodged in his throat. By Merlin, there was no way he was going through with this plan!
Seeing how green Neville started to look, Ron tried to ease some of his fear. " Ah Neville, they're joking with you. Nothing is going to happen. We'll all be together and no one is going to allow you to get hurt."
Neville still felt wary and so did Hermione. "I'm still not so sure this is a good idea."
"Hermione it's perfect. How could we possibly resist this opportunity?"
"Yeah, those Slytherins left all those enchanted invitations to the Malfoy party excisable for us to steal; we couldn't resist this chance. We can seek into the party and no one will know that we were uninvited, especially if we have invitations!"
"Come on guys, tell us the plan once more!" asked a very eager Ron.
"Alright, listen carefully. When we get to the party, we have to act inconspicuous for at least the first few hours. That way, they'll feel more relaxed and positive that the Gryffindors won't try to infiltrate their party. So try your best to mingle with the crowd and act friendly.10:00pm is when we'll start the sabotage.
"At 10:00, precisely, Neville will place our canary creams on the dessert table. They take an hour to take effect. Once the crowd eats them, they'll turn into birds every 5 minutes within a span of an hour. While Neville is planting the candy on the table, Harry and Ron will pour a vile of this potion in each bowl of punch," Fred showed them the small vile of a lavender colored potion. "The potion will cause the drinker to develop boles and other sores on their face and hands. And at this time, Hermione will sprinkle this odorless and colorless powder over the food on the table. It causes the consumer a terrible itch," Fred smirked wickedly.
"And at 10:58, Fred, George and I will set off dung bombs under the food tables. 11:00 is when all the mayhem will start, so be ready to run out of the party around 11:00 while everyone is running around," added Lee.
"Brilliant!" Ron said giddily. "They'll never even know it was us!"
"I still don't think we should go. We could get arrested for this," reasoned Hermione. "Our parents are going to know that it was us who ruined the party and then we're going to be in big trouble."
"Hermione, they don't throw people in Azkaban for playing a joke. The worst that could happen is that they could force us into community service. And, It's not like anything the people are going to consume is deadly. It'll wear off within an hour," George explained.
"And what about our parents? They'll kill us when they find out what we've done," she pushed.
"Our parents don't like the Slytherins any more then we do. We'll probably be Gryffindor's heroes if anyone finds out it was us that ruined the party."
"I agree with Hermione. I don't think this a good idea. I have a bad feeling about this," Harry said cryptically, "I keep thinking that if we decide to do this, it will change everything between the Gryffindors and the Slytherins."
"What, are you a seer now! Honestly Harry, the way you're babbling on, you almost sound like that crazy Trelawny woman that lives in that old shack on the outskirts of Hogwarts," Ron cried incredulously. Harry gave him an annoyed look. "And besides," Ron whispered purposely in Harry's ear, "Cho will be at the party, and you might get a chance to dance with her."
Harry forgot whatever doubts and reasons he had about not going to the party at the mention of Cho. He reluctantly shook his head in agreement to the plan. Seeing that Harry decided to participate, Neville and Hermione agreed as well.
Fred beamed at them. "Good, now, we've charmed these masks to match your robes. If you put them on no one will recognize you. So, don't take them off for any reason!" George handed out the masks and soon everyone put theirs on.
After they all seemed ready, Lee checked his watch. "Alright everyone, we're going to apparate and meet outside Knockturn Alley; it's near the Slytherin part of Hogwarts. It's only take a few minutes away from the Malfoy Manor, and from there, we'll walk." They all firmly nodded and apparated from the Burrow. Everyone was gone but Harry. He still felt a since of foreboding about all of this, and he was never wrong about his gut feelings. He wasn't sure if what he was feeling was bad or good, but he didn't feel like taking the chance. He sighed and ran his hand through his unruly hair; he had no choice but to go because he already agreed. Ron was right; he was probably being as paranoid as old lady Trelawny. He stood up from the table and straightened his robes. He decided that he better be on his way before the others wondered about him. He was soon gone in a 'pop.'
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James Potter was sitting in the secret meeting room of the Order of the Phoenix, the council of Gryffindors that were in charge of their community and made all the important decisions. He was quite sick of meetings for one day; he had been in a meeting with Minister Fudge earlier that afternoon. He knew Fudge was going to be angry after all the havoc the Gryffindors and the Slytherins caused, but he didn't know that he was going to be so angry. It wasn't like it was the first time that the Gryffindors and Slytherins fought; Fudge should be used to it by now! James had listened to the minister whine for more then an hour and now he was listening to Albus and Minerva complain. It was a long day, and he just wanted to go home and curl up in bed with his wife.
"We mustn't let another incident like today happen again. The fighting can't continue especially with our children watching, what kind of an example are we setting for them? They're the future of the wizarding would, and we shouldn't encourage any animosity with Slytherin," Dumbledore stated firmly.
"Oh please Albus. The Slytherins don't want peace with us. They've started every confrontation we've had with them. We can't just let them think they can get away with treating us like this!" cried an indignant Sirius Black. A murmur of agreement spread all through the meeting room.
"He's right Albus, we're can't let them walk all over us," parroted the stuttering Peter Pettigrew. James snorted to himself. He often wondered why Pettigrew was a Gryffindor; he always seemed so completely worthless.
"I think the best course of action is the arrest of Voldemort," Mad-Eye Moody said gruffly," he's the one in charge of those Snakes." More murmurs of agreement were made, but James snickered; if it were up to Moody, everyone should be thrown in jail. The man was really the most paranoid person he had the misfortune to know. Mad-Eye often got in trouble for hexing people that he claimed looked suspicious. Once, he even jinxed a little Hufflepuff girl who he said was giving him the evil eye.
"Now everyone," Dumbledore said trying to call order, "we can't send him to Azkaban without reason." Moody was about to argue the point, but Dumbledore cut him off. "He might have been involved or even caused some rather unsavory situations, but there is still no definite grounds for his arrest." Moody growled angrily.
"Then what do you propose we do Albus? We can't just sit by and let this violence continue," asked a very worried Minerva McGonagall.
"You're quite right Minerva. We can't let it continue, but the one that is controlling the Slytherins is Voldemort, and he is the one who is no doubt instigating the feud for his own purposes."
"What purposes?" asked a tense Frank Longbottom.
"I'm not sure, but whatever it is he's planning, we'll find out when he is ready for us to know. All we can do at the moment is try our best not to fall into another struggle with the Slytherins. Voldemort is using our disagreements with them as fuel for whatever it is he is planning. Therefore, we must not give the Slytherins any more reason to hate us. The slightest indiscretion could set anything off. We must not retaliate to their taunts; it will only fuel the fire."
James scoffed at this. There was no way they were going to let anyone push them around. "We can't let them control us Albus! They'll think they can ride on us like broomsticks," cried James.
"If Albus thinks that this is the best course of action, we shouldn't doubt him. Has he ever lead us down the wrong path?" asked Minerva. Though she was worried that the situation wouldn't solve itself as Albus seemed to think, she still had the utmost faith in him, and she wouldn't doubt.
James had no choice but to agree with her. Whenever there was trouble, Albus always seemed to do what was right. "Alright Albus, we will try to maintain peace with the Slytherins." The others murmured their consent. They would all make an effort to be civilized towards the Snakes. It was too bad that the Order didn't know that their children were sneaking into the Malfoy Manor at that very moment.
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Voldemort, in his best blood red dress robes, was sitting quietly on his black leather couch in the Riddle Manor drinking firewhiskey. He had been waiting impatiently for his grandson for 30 minutes now, and he was starting to get angry; the Dark Lord hated to be kept waiting.
The day had been a very busy, yet productive, day. After hearing from Marcus about the fighting that broke out in Diagon Alley, he made several visits to the homes of his most faithful Slytherins. He found that everyone was furious with the Gryffindors, which was good. With their anger, the Slytherins would be much easier to control. Though the Slytherins were prized for their cold indifference when angered, it was still quite frightening to watch them in a furious rampage. That was why it was so easy to frame Dumbledore for the murder of Grindelwald. The very notion of that old man intentionally hurting someone was quite a joke. Dumbledore wouldn't hurt a group of mad stampeding thestrals, even if they were charging directly for him. Yes, the Dark Lord knew that the old fool hadn't killed Grindelwald because Voldemort knew who did kill him, and that person was himself.
When everyone was celebrating Halloween in the village, Voldemort asked the Slytherin leader to meet him in an alley so that they could speak in private. Grindelwald, of course, agreed wholeheartedly because he had no reason not to trust him. He considered Voldemort his son and most devoted friend. But the very second Grindelwald stepped foot in the dark alley, he was dead in an instant. Voldemort himself committed the crime with gruesome eagerness.
It had been very easy for the Dark Lord to frame Dumbledore, and the Slytherins were easily convinced. Voldemort knew that during the time of the Halloween festivals that Dumbledore would not be present because he had a meeting with the mountain giants, whom he had been trying to convince to form an alliance with Hogwarts. No one else knew where Dumbledore had gone, except Voldemort and his spy Quirrell. Quirrell had access to Dumbledore's schedule, which he gladly told Voldemort for a price. So you see, it was very easy to accuse Dumbledore when know one knew where had had gone. He soon found it very easy to control the grieved Slytherins, and he soon became their leader. This is what all Slytherins want, power.
Voldemort had to kill Grindelwald. He couldn't let the fool continue to pursue peace with those Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Gryffindors. The Slytherins were far more superior then them all, especially himself. The Slytherins were the natural born leaders of all Hogwarts, and with him as the established Wizard King, he and the Death Eaters, his most loyal Slytherins, would be able to rule the entire wizarding world.
That is not to say that Voldemort still did not have troubles in his plans for power. It took several months to convince several Slytherins to trust him and choose him as their leader, and especially Dumbledore had been campaigning against him from the beginning. But with the help of the Imperius Curse, he found them soon very agreeable. But the Dark Lord's biggest threat was his dear young wife Esmeralda, who just so happened to be the youngest daughter of Lord Grindelwald.
Voldemort gladly took her as his wife and because of her; she gave him easy access to Grindelwald and the power he wanted. Oh, but she did have her other purposes; she was a very beautiful young lady. Her long honey brown hair and pale blue eyes made her one of the most startling women he had ever seen. She was quite pleasing. After her father's murder, she became pregnant with Voldemort's child, which made him very happy because he needed an heir to take over when he was gone. The Dark Lord was very pleased when his daughter Drusilla was born. But his happiness was short-lived when his meddling wife found out who the real murderer of her father was from that loud mouth Quirrell. He had to kill the nosy wench and that damned Quirrell before the two fools told anyone about who the real killer of Grindelwald was. He knew at this time never to bother with women again; they were always so hopelessly nosy and opinionated
On his own, the Dark Lord had to raise and mold Drusilla the way he wanted her to be. But, he soon found that she was as weak as her mother. She wasn't easily manipulated as he hoped she would be. The only thing the Dark Lord could do was find his daughter a suitable husband that could hopefully train her into a proper Slytherin wife. He soon married her off to Malcolm Flint, the cruelest and most loyal Death Eater he had. Drusilla was very unhappy with Malcolm, but Voldemort couldn't care less. He knew his son-in-law was beating his daughter almost everyday and the Dark Lord encouraged it. He wanted him to beat the foolishness out of his daughter. When Drusilla became pregnant, she couldn't handle childbirth because her body was so weak from her husband's constant physical abuse; she died giving birth to Marcus. The Dark Lord took this opportunity to take Marcus, so he could shape him into a proper Death Eater. So, he killed Malcolm and took his grandson away to the Riddle Manor. Voldemort's happiness with Marcus increased as time drew on; he was everything he could hope for in an heir.
Marcus always had a cool intellect that helped him think strategically and effectively. He was intimidating, so he could always get what he wanted on demand. And, he was excellent in dueling especially unforgivable curses. People were absolutely terrified of him.
But now that his grandson was 20 years old, he had moved out of the Manor to live on his own, and the Dark Lord found that he needed more amusement, but this time he wanted sexual amusement. The Dark Lord found that his cravings for sexual pleasure was still gratifying, even at his age. But this time Voldemort wanted a boy, learning his lesson in dealing with idiotic women, and he wanted a handsome young one. He lusted after the Malfoy boy badly, and he hated that Lucius wouldn't give his son to him. If Lucius wouldn't give Draco freely, Voldemort would have to take him.
At that moment, Marcus apparated into his grandfather's dimly lit study wearing his brown dress robes. Out of all the young men of Slytherin, Voldemort thought Marcus was probably the ugliest. His face was always greasy and his croaked teeth were completely yellow. That was the only thing that the Dark Lord didn't find satisfactory about him. Voldemort often thought that Marcus' unattractiveness reflected poorly on him.
"You're late boy," snapped Voldemort as he was standing up from his seat.
Marcus just rolled his eyes. He was used to his grandfather's foul moods. He figured all old people were bitchy. "I'm sorry grandfather. I was with Pansy."
"Get laid on your own time! I am the head of Slytherin. Therefore, I have to be at the Malfoy Manor on time. We have to be seen. "
Marcus heaved a sigh; sometimes he grandfather could be a real drama queen. "Of course grandfather, what was I thinking? It won't ever happen again," he tried to say in a placatory manor. He really didn't feel like hearing his grandfather bitch and complain. "I'm here now. Let's just go."
"Before we go, I need to give you something." The Dark Lord walked to his desk and opened the drawer to retrieve a vile of potion that he forced the Potions Master Severus Snape to make for him. "Marcus, I want you to slip this potion into the cup of young Draco Malfoy tonight."
Marcus smirked nastily. He was aware that his perverted grandfather had a thing for Draco. "What does it do?"
"It makes the drinker fall in love with whomever's strand hair was placed in the potion during it's brewing. I think it should help young master Malfoy along with his decision to marry me," said the Dark Lord devilishly.
Marcus grinned at his grandfather, showing his croaked teeth. He took the vile from Voldemort and put it in his pocket. "I will see it taken care of my Lord."
"Good boy. Don't disappoint me," he purred proudly at his grandson, "now let's go, we're already late for the party." Without another word, he apparated from his home to the Malfoy Manor.
Marcus took the vile from his pocket and looked at it. Hopefully, if he did what he was told, his grandfather would let him have a go at Draco.