Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter & any related material.
The footsteps slowly drew nearer. Ginny threw up the hood of her cloak and grabbed onto Blaise tightly, hobbling slightly, the baby clasped in one hand. Blaise nodded to Professors McGonagall and Sprout as they passed. She introduced herself as Ginny broke into a fairly brisk hobble. "… my crackpot nanny. Dumbledore's assured me that I'll be able to get away from her once I'm here." There was a murmur from the stairs. "No, he hasn't but…" Blaise' voice faded away slowly as Ginny rushed away, clutching at the hood as it started to pull away and strands of her fiery red hair slipped through. Haley started to cry, she heard Blaise' voice as it drew closer, she took the stairs two at a time until they were even. She took the baby into her arms and gurgled to her as they exited through the gargoyle entrance together.
"Well, I nearly shit myself." She laughed, once they were back at headquarters. "That was ridiculous. And after all that assurance that you wouldn't say the password."
Ginny checked her watch as they exited the palace, continuing to hobble with her hood pulled up tightly, just in case Dumbledore continued to watch them. It was three thirty. "I'm going to check in with Tom and then head home, I was going to paint for a couple hours today."
"Okay." Blaise wasn't really paying attention, as Haley fussed a little. "I'm supposed to meet with him later to talk about the Hogsmeade attack. Any new ideas?"
"A distraction. Send ten death eaters down here to the village, but let some information be slipped through an anonymous tip to the ministry or something that we're hitting Hogsmeade full force. And then put Voldemort's new spell up, the guard one, around Hogwarts and just demolish it. Tear apart the common rooms and everything. Students who aren't home on break, kill them or keep them, whatever. Bigger blow, bigger message."
"That could work. But the Dark Lord has this Hogsmeade fetish. Maybe we could hit Hogsmeade afterwards?" Blaise shook her head. "Oh well, at least I have something to toss around at six." She shrugged. "Ginny?"
"Blaise?" Ginny turned to her as they exited the castle grounds.
"Do you think it's well… wise, bring a child up in this society?" She looked down directly. "I apologize, my queen."
"I'm nobody's queen, yet. Stand up, Blaise. I'm not offended. Just be careful whom you ask." She paused as they entered a shop with fireplaces. "And as to your question. I think you know the answer better than I. After all, you're the one that has to parent alone in a society where men dominate."
"Yeah." Blaise shrugged and smiled at Ginny shakily.
Ginny stroked the brush down the canvas and paused a moment to look across the park. She wasn't doing it any justice. "Rick?" He looked over and studied her painting.
"You need to put more variety in the way you hold the brush. You use different brushes and different strokes, but a lot depends on your grip. His strong hands grasped hers and tilted them moving her fingers awkwardly along the brush until she was almost holding it in a fist. "Now try that stroke for that shrub kind of thing over there."
Ginny sighed and did it. She glared at him a moment. It worked. "Damn you." She muttered. He laughed.
"Just experiment at home with all kinds of grips, on different brushes with different strokes. You'll be amazed at the spectrum of things that you can create."
"And you're just so tickled because you're right…" She dipped her brush. "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm sick of painting. Pasta and wine?"
"Beautiful." He picked up the canvas he was working on, barely a quarter of the charcoal was filled in with paint.
"Getting slow, old man?" He glanced at her and at the painting as he folded up his easel and stuck it unceremoniously into the paint bucket.
"I was watching you. The way you work is… breathtaking, frankly." She grinned at him and pranced off.
"Are you surprised?" She asked.
"Not in the least bit." He sighed. They loaded the stuff in the back of the truck, and then Ginny climbed in for a night just like the good old times. She glanced back at the darkening park and the artists perched on the hill. There was a man with a few girls next to him, crouching on the grass, no more than 13, their knees pulled up their chests, heads cocked in admiration as he worked. She glanced over at Rick who was flipping through his many keys in search of the one that would start the beast. She sighed. The good old times. Right.
The attack had happened the day after Blaise had moved in. She admitted that she was terrified when the Death Eaters jostled her away from her Haley, who sat screaming in her crib until Blaise could reach her again. While the Order had put all their strength into Hogsmeade, Hogwarts had been turned on end. A few students had been picked off, a few Hufflepuffs that neither she or Harry knew. Then, when the Order had realized what was going on, the Death Eaters had a heyday with Hogsmeade. After her parents had left Ginny had cried into Harry's shoulder, truly cried, she wasn't ready for them to go yet.
They had all sat around the living room silently, Christmas presents and wrapping still scattered around underfoot. Everyone excepting Harry, Hermione, Ron and her had gone to the attack. Sipping from chipped mugs of tea, they had stayed that way as the night wore on. Finally, at five in the morning, Molly Weasley had stumbled in and headed straight to bed. "How many did we lose?" Ginny had asked her Father as he accepted a mug of tea and collapsed on a sagging armchair.
"None from the order. They were throwing killing curses left and right, but only ministry people caught those. They lost about twenty good men and women."
"And Death Eaters?"
"Three. Hinckley Crabbe, Victor Bulstrode, and…" He pumped his fist in the air. "Lucius Malfoy." Ginny's mug had crashed to the floor, shattering. She stepped directly onto the shards, not realizing it even as she trailed bloody footprints to her room, where a smudged letter awaited her on her desk.
It was her first night back. Vincent wailed as Gregory rocked him gently and kissed him softly on his forehead and neck. Millicent Bulstrode sat stonily in a corner, little slivers of firelight managing to crackle across her face and reveal the glare of the tears she pretended she wasn't crying. And Draco. She held him, even as he remained cool and calm, working on the first homework after the holiday. The only indication he hurt was in his firm grip on her arm, white knuckled and shaking. She was still shaking and miserable from their run around the lake, sheets of rain causing the path they had worn to turn to mud so that they slipped and fell at least a hundred times. Ginny had crouched in the shower afterwards and cried miserably until Madam Pomfrey had come to collect them.
"Professor Oscar." Ginny waved to Blaise who was headed out the door with a diaper bag slung over one shoulder and Haley strapped to her front in a carrier. No one but she and Draco knew of the new Slytherin head's true identity. "How was your first day?" She asked.
"Well. I spent part of the break just cleaning everything up after the attack… and then the rest doing all my lesson plans. I didn't spend as much time as I would've liked on them, but they all seemed to be working out just fine. Such a bright school. Still, it's a shame. Tell me, Ms. Wosley."
"Weasley." Ginny corrected her, following Blaise's gaze to the first years across the table.
"Why don't you give me a hand in the kitchen. Do you like babies?"
"I love babies."
"And what about you Mr. Malkin?"
"I adore them." He said dryly. "And it's Malfoy, Professor Shitforbrains." All the students turned to look at Blaise's reaction.
"Eat my brains, Mr. Malkin." She emphasized the last name. There was a collective release of breath and an appreciative chuckle as Ginny and Draco collected their things and followed her out. They passed the closed Potions classroom on the way out of the dungeons. Ginny hadn't been in yet, but Blaise stopped by to pick something up. Ginny was amazed. Sprigs of lavender hung from the ceiling and incense (she had to give the Dark Lord credit for that prediction) burned on elaborate hangers about the room. "It's girly, I know." Blaise shifted Haley slightly as she picked up a canvas messenger bag from the floor.
"I like it." Ginny said, moving the diaper bag to the same shoulder as her bag.
"Cheers." Draco said dryly. "You're not even that bad of a teacher, Oscar."
"Cheers." Blaise drawled, rolling her eyes at Draco. In the kitchen they fixed up a bottle of formula for Haley and hot chocolate for themselves, the door slid open at one point and then closed softly.
"Nice cloak, Potter." Draco said, glancing at Ginny out of the corner of her eye, shrugging. Harry appeared in a moment, looking sheepishly at them.
"Hi honey." He said softly, glancing between the two of them.
"Hullo Harry. We've just gotten out of study. The rain nearly killed me at the lake, so I went to get hot chocolate and I ran into Professor Oscar and Malfoy, here. It's been a party."
"You lowly Gryffindors wouldn't know a party if it bit you in the ass." Draco drained his hot chocolate and refilled it from the pan. "There now you can have some, only let me pour it for you."
"How thoughtful. Let me guess, you wouldn't want my Muggle loving hands touching your sacred pureblood cocoa?" Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, that's about right." Draco filled her mug. She sipped from it dryly. Blaise shook the bottle of formula once she took it off the stove and tested it on her wrist.
"You want to feed her, Ms. Weasley?" Harry disappeared inside the pantry, and reappeared with his arms full of food which he dropped on the counter.
"Pureblood cocoa, Potter?" Draco picked up the pan and filled another mug. Harry took a sip before walked over to the cabinet of pots and pans. Ginny took Haley from Blaise and cradled her gently, putting the nipple of the bottle against her mouth. She took it and looked right up at, Ginny, who was breath taken. Those warm trusting eyes. Ginny had taken away this child's father.
"Why don't you just warm the bottle with your wand, Professor?"
"Never comes out just right. Believe me, I've tried. Doing it the Muggle way is tiresome and it takes forever." Blaise jumped onto the counter and drank from her mug.
"What'd you do today?" Harry asked politely, chopping up vegetables and dumping them into the pot.
"Oh you know, classes and then detention with this squirming pile of haggis." Ginny jerked her head towards Draco, who glanced at her and then shrugged.
"I don't need your Muggle loving approval, considering who you dish it out to so readily."
"Who's that?" Ginny asked.
"Muggles." Draco paused. "Obviously."
"When did you get so witty, Malfoy? Or hadn't you realized that you used the same line over and over and over…" Ginny said.
"I'm a Muggle lover." Harry shrugged. "I can think of worse things."
"Oh yeah, like what?" Draco asked.
"I guess we're kind of in the same boat. Both our father's are dead. And your mother might as well be…" Harry was clenching his wand. Draco's jaw tightened visibly and a muscle next to his eye twitched.
"Harry." Ginny laid a hand on his arm and he looked into her flashing eyes. "Put yourself in his place. For just once…" Harry raised his shaking wand and pointed it straight at Draco. Time stopped. Abruptly he turned it away sent dishes clattering all over, making a soup that smelled delicious.
"I can't believe you're taking his side, Ginny." He said between clenched teeth.
"It could easily be you, Harry Potter." Haley finished her bottle suddenly and released the nipple with a gentle pop as the suction moved away. Blaise, watching as if a tennis match were between Draco and Harry, handed her a rag which Ginny threw over her shoulder, she patted Haley's back gently. "No matter what…" She continued. "side you are on, both of you have lost parents. No matter what, they are dead. What they fought for, right or wrong is a legacy that no one has the right to step on. Do not mock the death of his father anymore than you would have him do the same to you."
Draco picked up an empty mug and threw it against the wall. It burst into little pieces. "God, I wish that was you, Harry Potter." He said. He headed for the door.
"What, you won't stick around for Mudblood Chicken Soup?" Harry asked. Draco turned around and a sardonic smile twisted his lips.
"Never before bedtime, Potter."
The rest of the year passed quickly and quietly. At a request from Tom, she asked Dumbledore if she could try for her NEWTS this year, instead of the next. He had been unable to disagree, though she could tell that he wanted her to fail them. She probably would, come to that, but if Tom wanted her to try. She spent almost all her time wooing Harry. But every minute she could spare, she spent falling further and further in love with Draco. The nights she could get away from Harry were the best. Making love far into the morning, then watching the sunrise over the Forbidden Forest by broomstick.
Haley was crawling, just barely. Half the time she still just rocked back and forth on her blanket, receiving encouragement from all the Slytherins. She had become their own. Her hair came in blond, and her eyes remained vividly blue. Her giggling, cherubic face was a beacon of light for Ginny as the year wore on.
"Your last detention." Blaise said softly, leaning back into the warm June sunshine. She was proctoring this final event. Haley was napping on the blanket where they all crouched.
"Yeah." Ginny held Draco's hand as they started an even jog around the lake.
"I'll miss it." Draco admitted.
"You'd better." Ginny grinned. "I've never been in such great shape. Or spent this much time studying."
"Yeah… Do you think you'll pass?" He asked her this daily.
"I don't know. Part of me hopes that I can, and another wants to stay locked in the walls of Hogwarts for ever."
"Hoggy Warty Hogwarts." Draco hummed.
"You sing the school song to 'Hello, My Ragtime Girl'?" Ginny laughed.
"Yeah, so what?"
"It's Muggle and it's corny."
"So you don't use a corny Muggle song?"
"Yes, I do." She panted.
"What?"
"It's called Ice Cream."
"Really." Draco sped up and left her in the dust. She laughed.
"How do you think you did?" She kissed Harry and he grinned down at her.
"I'm sure I passed. With mostly acceptables. And maybe a few outstandings."
"Excellent…" She mused, dancing around him gaily.
"And how about you?" He asked, wrapping an arm around her and hauling her up against him.
"Well, actually. Passing. Actually graduating…" Ginny shrugged. "We'll see." Draco bumped into her. He gave her a little thumb's up as they glared at each other for a moment. "I'm so glad I'm out of detention with that little wretch." She fumed, glancing at Harry to see if he had grasped what was going on. He hadn't.
"Yeah." He grabbed onto her tightly. "Yeah."
"Oh my goodness." Hermione skidded straight into Ginny and they went tumbling over. Ginny lay inert on the stone floor while Hermione panted into her face.
"How'd you do then?" Ginny asked politely.
"All Outstandings… I'm sure of it." Hermione got up and offered Ginny a hand, dancing wildly. "I can do anything you can do… BETTER!" She continued to dance, grabbing onto Ron's hand and kissing him on the mouth, hard. Ginny and Harry's jaws dropped open and they glanced at each other, finally bursting out laughing. They continued to do so all the way up to the common room.
"Hades?" Ginny looked at the beautiful eagle owl perched on the window outside the common room, she cracked open the window and let her in, where she dropped a letter in her lap and continued a circle that took her straight out the window again.
"Whose owl is that?" Harry asked, trying to look at the letter as Ginny tucked it in her bag.
"Bill's." She lied smoothly. "I'm going to go change into something more comfortable, and then do you want to go down to the lake or something?"
"Sure." He glanced at her bag and then smiled, warmly, but uncertainly. "Yeah, that sounds great."
"Good." Ginny climbed the stairs. Why was Narcissa sending her an owl?
Ginny,
Congratulations. You passed the NEWTS. Now don't worry, you probably passed them on your own. But just in case, a hand was at work to ensure that you're out of Hogwarts by this upcoming year. And we'll need your help this summer with upcoming plans of a nature you may yet be unsure of. We'll discuss.
We've also arranged for your use of a flat in London, once used by my dear, departed husband. There will be people to help you move (MAGICAL MOVERS INC.) once you return home. Make your excuses.
Initiation is a week after term ends, I know you already know this, but I'm supposed to reiterate that we do not want to see you until that day. Draco will come to help you at 7 'o clock that night precisely.
Again, Congratulations.
Narcissa Malfoy
Official Secretary of the Headquarters of the Dark Movement
P.S. Isn't it wild and just a touch romantic?
Ginny wasn't sure what was wild and just a touch romantic, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know. She pulled on shorts and a tank top, running down the stairs, tying up her hair, watching Harry at the bottom flipping through a book. "Let's go." She said. He surveyed her for a second and Ginny blushed.
"Merlin, I love you." He said softly, picking her up and kissing her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and returned it, sighing into his mouth. "You're a queen. My queen." She paused and looked into his eyes. She wasn't sure what feeling bubbled when he spoke that way, but it surged with strength through her veins and into the back of her throat. This time next year, Harry Potter would probably be dead.
"Flattery will get you everywhere, Mr. Potter." She said coyly, then burst out laughing as he threw her in a fireman's carry and started up the stairs up to the boy's dorm. She swallowed the laugh quickly as they passed a fifth year prefect, who simply smiled and shook his head. As Harry kicked the door open, she was surprised for a moment as regret washed over her. He looked deep into her eyes. She looked away as her mind delved in and saw pictures. Of a wedding day, of chubby toddlers and tussle haired children weaving around their ankles, of a real family finally within his grasp, of her by his side through gray hairs and rough times, forever.
Ginny surveyed the movers tiredly. It had been a long day and it would only go on. She would be lucky to be home by two tonight. She checked her watch, 6:30. She wouldn't have any time to unpack at all before Draco arrived. She had simply told her parents that they could come over the next day for a housewarming party, but tonight she wanted to put it in order. The glances they exchanged every time she talked nowadays was enough to let her know that they were still suspicious and that she would go insane if she stayed in the burrow more than a week.
"Can you sign this?" A burly man in purple robes asked her. She realized he had been sitting there for a little while.
"Oh, sure." She shook out of her thoughts, glancing over some form quickly and scrawling her signature across it with a flourish. He nodded to her.
"If there's anything damaged, you'll give us a call?" He asked. She nodded. The furniture was all where she wanted it, but she wanted to unpack the boxes by hand considering there were at least twenty more than what she had begun with. The flat was huge and elegant, she had no idea how to explain to her mother how she had afforded the place. She set up her studio with the boxes that had somehow known to be dropped in the spare bedroom. When she glanced at her watch she saw that it was minutes from seven.
"Shit, shit." She got undressed and took the single quickest shower of her life, before braiding her wet hair into plaits. She wore no make-up, as usual, and as she was searching for something to wear, Draco came into the bathroom, barely visible in the fogged up mirror, carrying robes and an attachable hood.
"Here you are." He pulled the robes onto her and she stared into the mirror, wiping away moisture. He also fitted the hood over her, she glanced through the slitted eyes into her own. He was wearing similar garb, the hood tucked under his arm.
"You ready?" She asked, her voice slightly muffled by the hood.
"Yeah. Take off your hood though, you look stupid with your braids coming out the back." Ginny blushed and pulled it off.
"My self confidence soars, Mr. Malfoy. All my thanks." She wove her braids quickly into coronet braids and replaced the hood. "Do we floo?"
"We Floo." Draco checked his watch and cursed. "And we better hurry."
Ginny watched as the long line of people, shaking with nerves, as they bowed before the Dark Lord and removed their hoods, pulling up their sleeves so that Lord Voldemort could lay his wand tip on their vulnerable forearms and blacken them with the tattoo of his army, then he thanked them and said their name to the few who gathered to witness the rather boring event. Narcissa had told her that getting the mark was 'going to smart a bit', but after Millie Bulstrode, one of the toughest girls Ginny knew, joined the ranks, crying hysterically and clutching her arm, Ginny guessed that smarting was a bit of an understatement. All of her Hogwarts friends had gone through, Crabbe and Goyle had taken it with a yelp, Draco with nothing but gritted teeth and Ginny saw, with a grin, a bit of a dance when he was safely behind everyone, probably swearing like a sailor under his breath.
There was a surprising amount of foreigners, students graduated from international schools and older witches and wizards, who sheepishly came forward and then practically crawled into rank. When it was finally her turn (she was the last, a fact that had haunted her since she had had to form alphabetical lines in her childhood in preschool. The only one who would have been behind her, Blaise, was at Hogwarts, and would not get her Dark Mark until a later date. No one thought it was wise to wander around with a symbol of evil pasted on your arm under the nose of Albus Dumbledore.) she pulled the hood from her head and knelt down, offering her arm. The wand was there a moment, and then a blinding pain shot through her, as if the promise she made by taking the mark was running through her veins as thickly as blood, making her feel for a moment all the pain she would cause. But the power was there radiating in the flash that bound her to the cause, the sweet power that she so craved. She bit her lip, not making a sound, though she felt a single tear run down her face. She looked into the Dark Lord's eyes. "I expect your gratitude and love for what I have granted you." Voldemort said softly, his red eyes flickering.
"Yes, my lord. I am yours." She said respectfully, though through gritted teeth, she wanted desperately to squeeze her throbbing arm.
"Virginia Weasley." Lord Voldemort announced to the throngs. She stood and pulled her sleeve down, wrinkling her nose angrily. Her arm hurt and she wanted to know why Tom wasn't giving her any acknowledgement above his other subjects. She walked away and stood beside an older man with a thick, unidentifiable accent at the very back. Voldemort had disappeared in the time she had taken to walk him back. Draco tapped her shoulder and motioned for her to follow Narcissa, who was waiting across the hall.
"Hello, my dear." She said warmly. "How is your arm?"
"Resentful, because it's dear friend lied and left it totally unprepared." She sniffed, but began giggling at Narcissa's smile. "So, I'm official."
"Not completely. Come with me." Narcissa opened the door and led Ginny into a corridor which she didn't recognize, but after winding and carrying on for a bit, led into ornate chambers which were rivaled only by the Dark Lord's. They were however, disgustingly pink. She wandered around the suite for a bit. "Your quarters, my queen." Narcissa said softly. Ginny whirled around, astonished.
"Mine?" She squeaked. Narcissa nodded.
"I designed them myself, sorry about the pink, he insisted."
"What was the apartment for?" Ginny asked, flouncing onto a big, suede couch that was tied with ribbons and doilies.
"To maintain appearance. You'll probably not be in here very often, only when you're at headquarters or preparing for events, that sort of thing." Narcissa shrugged, then turned around and snapped her fingers. "Bitsy!" There was a sound like a whip cracking, and a delicate looking house elf in a frilly pink toga appeared and bowed before Ginny. "She's yours." Narcissa said. Ginny was surprised to see, on closer inspection, that the elf was wearing cosmetics, and that her fingers were adorned with rings and trinkets. Her batty ears were each pierced at least ten times in a neat glittering line, and even a stud twinkled from her little button nose. Her styled, feathery blond hair was swept back in a loose, elegant knot.
"Bitsy is here to serve mistress." The elf whispered in a breathy little voice.
"Ginny, please. I've never been served before in my life." The elf grinned a mouthful of pearly whites at Ginny and bowed again.
"She's a different sort, but I knew you'd like her. She's got ambitions this one, I'm not sure why, but all the elves in my household do. Possibly something in the water." Narcissa bent to kiss Ginny on the cheek. "Bitsy will get you sorted out." She bowed out of the room.
"So what are your ambitions, Bitsy?" Ginny asked, standing to walk around in the living room, the closet that was as large as her house, and the grand bedroom. The bathtub spoke of the one the Hogwarts prefects used, only the whole bathroom was a rosy sort of marble.
"Bitsy designs clothes." Bitsy said softly, jumping from footprint to footprint that Ginny left in the plush carpet. "Bitsy designed the gown that Ginny will wear tonight."
"Tonight?" She turned at looked into the earnest blue eyes that stared up at her.
"Tonight, Ginny. Bitsy must get the new queen ready when she will be crowned." Bitsy grasped Ginny's hand with hers and started dragging her towards the closet. The roughness of the palm didn't match the flowery elf that led her to the glittering, breathtaking gown in a dark corner of the closet. It was a deep blue, which was stitched with black opals. It fanned out widely, and Ginny thought that the piece of cloth that stretched out for many feet from where it was sewn at the middle of her back, was actually a train, until Bitsy started winding it around her in various ways, humming softly to herself. When she was finished, Ginny looked into the mirror and saw that it would have looked like any 16th century sort of dress, except for the low back and the cloth, which had been pinned so that it accented curves and pulled in the massive skirt in certain places. It was beautiful and perfect, and Ginny proceeded to tell Bitsy so. The elf giggled happily.
"No seriously, Bitsy. I feel like a queen in this." She whirled around.
"Ginny is a queen, Bitsy knows." The elf said seriously. Bitsy looked at the Dark Mark, which was a dark maroon at the moment, and slightly pink around the edges. It still hurt. The sleeves were three quarter length and cuffed, so that it was obvious on her arm. Bitsy styled her hair in a half knot and brushed make up on her face, and just as she was fitting on the last necklace after much jewelry, the Mark on Ginny's arm turned black and burned sharply for a moment as though someone had just used her arm to light a match. "It's time for you to go." Bitsy shoved shoes onto Ginny's feet and then pushed her out the door, shutting it firmly behind her.
Ginny walked shakily along the corridor back to where she came from. It curved where she didn't remember it turning before. She opened the door and instead of coming out into a dark corner, she was at the top of a staircase. An invisible staircase. She would have to talk to Tom about that, the Death Eaters were going to set their eyes on their queen for the first time, while she ate shit on what would appear to be thin air. Oh well. "Here goes nothing." She whispered, stepping carefully onto what she assumed to be the first stair. She was jarred a little as it turned out to be the edge of the first stair. She teetered a little but recovered enough not to go rolling into the midst of the awed crowd before her. She snorted a little. There was a woman serving punch from a big crystal bowl, with a sherbet ring in the middle. Lord Voldemort was such a dork.
"I present to you, your queen." He said in a quiet voice. She tried to look queenly as all the assembled Death Eaters dropped simultaneously to the ground. It was a little difficult to look splendid and grand and walk on thin air at the same time, but she managed. She looked down, about halfway, and saw Draco and Narcissa, bowing but giggling. She blushed. They were looking up her dress. It seemed like an eternity before she made it to the throne and knelt before it.
"My lord." She whispered. A weight was placed on her head, and then two cold fingers were under her chin and lifting her to her feet. She tried to glance over at the mirror in the corner and saw a corner of one of those ugly, hairy looking crowns from medieval times. She turned to look at her people, who continued to kneel before her. She walked out to each of them and thanked them for their loyalty and placed her wand on their Dark Marks. A vine crawled from the other side of the skull's mouth, and a small rose spouted, bowing to the snake. This was something they had discussed beforehand. The modification of the Dark Mark to serve both their purposes. She had wanted a sword cutting through the skull, but that got shot down. Ah, such is life. As she was bending over Pansy Parkinson, she chanced another look in the mirror. Oh yeah, every part the queen.
"So, what was this huge, important thing that we needed to discuss?" Ginny leaned back in her chair and looked sternly at Voldemort, who guiltily picked at an egg salad sandwich. His cholesterol was already sky high.
"A Hogwarts siege." Narcissa said from where she had been taking notes. As the official 'right hand man', she was fairly comfortable in the council meetings, even as the only other woman in a group of men. "We lure Dumbledore away, attack the school and seal it. Nott has been going over some ancient tomes, that sort of thing. He's discovered a spell that could be effective even against Dumbledore's level of magic. Nott."
Everyone turned towards the man, who shuffled his papers and cleared his throat a couple times officially. "Uh, well, thank you Narcissa." Narcissa nodded to him and motioned for him to continue. He began to clear his throat.
"I swear to you, I will torture it out of you if you don't hurry up." The Dark Lord said impatiently. Nott squeaked.
"Well. The spell that I have um, well, discovered as Narcissa put it, is a sort of freezing charm. You can apply it to the grounds of Hogwarts. Anyone who doesn't have the Dark Mark, as it can be applied to as well, who enters the Hogwarts grounds is instantly slowed down."
"How slow?" Ginny popped her gum and he jumped, looking around fearfully.
"Well, a minute goes by for every second of movement. Taking out your wand and saying a spell can take ten seconds, right? Well, ten minutes when under the influence of the spell. Roughly, it could be slower or faster, but not much." There were a lot of impressed nods around the table.
"What's the catch?" Ginny asked.
"The spell has to be performed once a day. But it's not complicated once the original groundwork is laid the first time. The first time will take about half an hour to perform, after that, maybe one minute."
"So will that leave a one minute window for the enemy each day?" Narcissa asked, wiping her face and leaving a smear of ink across her face.
"No. The spell can be performed while the previous day's is still effective. It's just a matter of timing it right day to day." Nott said.
"One minute earlier than the previous day and so on?" Lord Voldemort asked. "Who would be in charge of such a thing?"
"Any ability of magic will withhold the spell once it is mastered. Any properly trained Death Eater would have the power to once the ground work is laid. When it is first being performed I think it would be wise to have our two leaders enact the spell I have the manuscripts if both of you wanted to study up as it were. This summer should be plenty of time for all subjects to learn the spell and for you two to learn how to implement all of our variations into it."
"Does the spell cover every nook and cranny of Hogwarts?" Macnair asked.
"No, just the grounds. But it sticks to the castle and goes about 100 yards over, forming an upside down bowl. We can put detection spells around but not in the range of the spell. That way no one can fly over or approach from the forest without our knowing about it." He began to sit down once again.
"When you say it "sticks" to the castle, what do you mean?" Narcissa asked. Nott, stuck between sitting and standing seemed unsure what to do for a minute. He plunked down in his chair rather hard.
"Okay. Say a Hogwarts student opens a window and sticks their arm out. They would move at a normal pace until it gets past the windowsill, past the castle's limits. The moment they hit that space they can move the rest of their body normally, but what touches the spell moves slowly. If they try to curse us, we compose ourselves for a few minutes and step aside."
"People flooing in and out?" Voldemort asked.
"Actually sir, that's Linsey's department." Narcissa said. She pointed to the breathtakingly attractive man who stood regally and smoothly. He paused for a moment looking over them as though he were surprised he deigned to grace their presence.
"It is no mean feat to divert the floo networks of any one building with a variant of the confundus charm. The spell that I would use, I could choose a place to send the people who tried to Floo. I propose Antarctica." He sat gracefully amid hearty laughter.
Voldemort rubbed the table with the palms of his hands. "This could work, my death eaters, this could work."