The Dark Lady
Chapter 20 – Battle Plans
By gracie5412
A big virtual hug goes to –
dansgirl14, (X3 you rock! Thank you so much!)
So what's happened to all my dear little reviewers? Am I that bad a writer that no one wants to read anymore? Shall I just give up on this story? I know I haven't been updating as regularly as I should but if there's no one reading I may as well stop all together. Please if you all are still reading let me know or I'll loose heart.
Harry awoke to an owl screeching outside his window. It was early in the morning, probably about six he guessed, after glancing out the window, from the sun's position in the sky. He opened one of the panes and took the note of the creature's leg as it swooped down onto his shoulder. He recognised it as one of the Hogwarts birds.
After quickly reading the note through he ran into the next room, where Ron was lay snoring. He quickly woke as Harry started shouting.
"She got Dumbledore, Ron! He's dead and so are fourteen other students and Snape! She broke into Hogwarts!"
He repeated it over and over again until Ron was full awake and could understand what he was saying.
"We've got to stop her." Ron whispered as they both let tears roll down their cheek mourning for another person lost. "She's gone too far."
-/-
Yet in Hermione's opinion she hadn't gone far enough as she glanced at all the newspapers lay out on the desk that various owls had delivered that morning. Her own face was smirking back at her from each one, usually along side a picture of Hogwarts and an old picture of Dumbledore smiling warmly. The picture of her must have been taken near the end of her seventh year as her hair was still bushy and a light brown and her eyes still had a happy glint to them. It was strange to think that just months ago that was how she had been, the complete opposite of her now.
Luckily, no one but Hermione had been recognised from the attack so there were no new leads for the ministry to follow.
"So who shall we hit next?" Hermione asked Draco with a smile. "Pothead, the Weasels or the Ministry?"
"Who do you suggest of great one?" Draco asked with his fake charm.
"Don't suck up Malfoy it sickens me." Hermione sneered. "Now I want you to gather as many men and woman able to fight and tell them to meet in the Hall. I would like to address them all."
"Very well Madame." Draco said with a bow and walked from the room.
-/-
That afternoon all the deatheaters that Draco had told to go to the Hall waited impatiently for Hermione to arrive.
"Just like a Mudblood to be late." One person near the door snickered. No one laughed with him.
Hermione stood looking at him with her face set in fury.
"MUDBLOOD?" She demanded in a voice that was so loud it would have put a Sonorus charm to shame.
"Mistress I am sorry." The deatheater stammered, turning to face her. "I didn't mean it, I was just trying to be funny."
"That isn't funny it is idiotic and so are you. I have NO time for idiots. Avada Kedavara." With a burst of green light the man was dead and Hermione was already walking to the front of the hall.
"That goes for the rest of you too." She informed them. "ANY stupid comments and you will be gone just like that." She clicked her fingers to accent her point.
"But" she said with a complete change of tone, now sounding happy and bright. "I have more important things to tell you about. Today training starts. Today for six hours each day you will be practising fighting, charms, and exercising. Soon you will be expected to fight these people who stand against us. This time you will be ready. This time if you are hit I will not be waking you up again."
There was a pause as everyone let this information sink in before Hermione continued.
"You have been good for me the past few months and the attacks have been the best ever, more muggles being killed and less of us being recognised. But for now we are forgetting muggles, for now I just want our targets to be muggle-born and half bloods. Once we have a complete pureblooded Wizarding world we can start on the muggles. And our next move is to evacuate all pureblooded students who are willing to help our cause from the school. Then we can rid the world of the bad side of the next generation!"
A great cheer sounded from the deatheaters at this comment and Hermione smirked. Before shouting over the noise.
"Half of you shall go tonight and get the students! You will take them to a safe hold where they will be marked and trained to fight until the get to an age where they can become full members."
After more rallying comments and promises of what the new world will be like Hermione sent her followers on their way. She would not be attending the attack on the school that evening, she had bigger plans to make and there were no great threats now that the school had no Dumbledore to protect it.
-/-
"What are we going to do?" Ron asked Harry as they sat in what had been Dumbledore's office at Grimmauld Place.
"We need to find out where she is first. Then we need to gather an army and we need to go and kill them all before anyone else gets hurt."
"I'm scared Harry. That's Hermione out there, our best friend what the hell happened to her?"
"I don't know Ron." Harry said gravely, "I wish I did but I really do not know."
-/-
"What are we going to do next?" The same question was being asked to Hermione by Draco at The Riddle House.
"I think it's time I paid my old friends a visit. On common ground, of course, I don't want to have to go all the way the Grimmauld Place so they can gang up on me now do I?"
"Of course not Mistress."
"It won't be long now Malfoy my boy! Soon it will all be mine! With Harry gone there's nothing stopping up getting to the Ministry and if we can take that then we have control over England!"
"It will be easy My Lady." Draco agreed.
"And why stop there? I'm sure that there would be many students such as the ones in Durmstrang and other places who would be happy to join us! Maybe even whole countries. Then with their help we can take of the ones that won't. We could have the world!"
"Another ingenious plan, as always Mistress." Draco praised.
"Now Draco there was something that I want to talk to you about. You were a good leader while I was in my state and if I am to ever be killed, which is bloody unlikely, but still I want to be sure that it is someone like you who takes my place. Someone capable. That is why I am making you my heir unless I have a child or create a family."
"My Lady it is an honour I thank you! You are too kind." Draco replied, trying to keep his smile down to just a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth.
"Yes well enough of that." Hermione snapped eager to move on "I want you to get someone to tail Harry and Ron. I want to know their routine where they go what they do, who they meet. All of it. I want to know when I will be able to 'bump' into them and cause a distraction. This needs to be planned carefully. Do you have anyone in mind who would be able to the job well?"
"Of course Mistress." Draco answered instantly calling a few possibilities to mind.
But it was hard for him to concentrate. He knew that his mind should be on the task there was still a lot to do before he should allow himself such thought as the ones he was having but it couldn't be helped. A plan was already scheming in his mind.
"Well get to it then, the quicker that's done the quicker I can kill them." She ordered, rousing Draco from his thoughts. He quickly nodded and walked from the room.
As he made his way down the corridor he bumped into Blaise. He grabbed his arm to stop him walking.
"Do me a favour." It was more of a demand than a question.
"What do you need?" Blaise asked.
"Find two of our shadowers and get them to follow Potter and Weasley, as long as it takes for a routine to be clear then get them to report to me got it?" He explained quickly and after Blaise nodded he walked off.
Draco couldn't stop for long he had somewhere to be. Someone he needed to talk to. Someone who would be happy to hear from him again. But hopefully they'd forgive him this time; he had a very good offer that wouldn't be passed up. And this time he was desperate. The thing that needed doing there was no way on earth he would be able to do alone and the deatheaters wouldn't be much help. No many would agree to it and that's what he needed, force and power if it was to work. As he trod the path that he had walked just a few weeks before he gripped his wand tightly, he never knew what could be lurking around silently waiting to leap out on some unsuspecting person and attack.
"You came back." Came a voice from behind him and Draco spun around, slightly fearful of what it might have been that addressed him.
To his relief it was just who he wanted to see, the grip he had on his wand loosened slightly, there may not be an immediate threat but there was still the need to be guarded.
"Yes I did." He answered trying to sound confident. "I have a deal to strike with you. I need you help and after I tell you what I have you'll want mine."
"I'm listening." The person prompted and Draco went on to explain just exactly what it was that he had in mind.
