Chapter Twenty-Five:
(A/N. It is long and not too cliffy which better be enough to sate you over the holidays since I will be in Mexico, writing more but not updating. Happy Holidays everyone. Read and Review!)
The barriers had fallen. He had to get to Ginny. These thoughts kept repeating in his mind as he raced toward the castle. Before he got to the doors, however, he stopped and turned. Striding toward the castle were the Death Eaters. So this was the plan his father had been talking about. It was ingenious; take down the wards and attack the school on the grounds. It wouldn't be heavily guarded because Dumbledore hated any interference in his school, and no one would be expecting it. Draco swept into the school ignoring the growing panic around him. His eyes scanned over the heads in the Great Hall hoping to find a flash of red.
"Of course you had to make finding you difficult, Weasley." He growled softly in frustration as he moved past the Great Hall. He strode through the hallways, his fists clenching when he couldn't find her. The minutes ticked by and Draco was aware that his time was running out. He didn't stop to think about why all the students were gone. He kept walking. Suddenly he heard a loud bang echoing through the castle. He frowned and turned toward the source of the sound. It came again and he started to walk toward it. That's when he realized where it came from. The Great Hall. Of course! Dumbledore must have made the students go there for protection, but it seemed the Death Eaters had found them. Draco kept running. He reached the entrance hall and hid behind a suit of armour. Half the Death Eaters were standing outside the doors, sending unified blasts of spells at the doors. Draco waited, he would follow them in and help from the inside. He could do nothing now. He sighed and waited. A few minutes later the doors flew open with a splintering crash and Draco rose from his hiding spot. When Draco smiled, as he did now, one almost expected vampire fangs to sprout from his gums. He pulled out his wand and followed his father's friends in. His silver eyes scanned over the room and he was surprised by the unified resistance. He had expected chaos and disorder. Instead, the students were fighting off the Death Eaters with simple paralyzing charms. Draco dodged past the attacks and searched for Ginny. He saw her in a corner giving off strict orders. He started to smile appreciatively but the smile disappeared as he saw three Death Eaters converging on her, intent on taking out the leader. Draco lunged forward, he wouldn't stand for this. By the time he had reached her, the young Gryffindor had dispatched two of the Death Eaters but had lost her wand in the process. Draco glanced around and saw that everyone else was caught up in the fight. There was no one to help her. No one but him, Draco Malfoy. Oh what was the world coming too?
Ginny took another tentative step backward. The last Death Eater of those who had attacked her was backing her up into the wall. She looked yearningly at her wand which lay on the stones, too far for her to reach it. She looked back at the masked face and held her chin up. If Ginny was going to die, she would go down fighting. She started to plot how she would do it when a cold, menacing voice interrupted her silent schemes.
"Leave her alone." It commanded. Ginny looked toward the source of the voice and her eyes widened. Draco stood to her side, his wand aimed at the Death Eaters head, a wolfish smile on his beautiful face. The Death Eater turned slightly.
"So, you've turned traitor." The voice sneered from under the mask. Draco walked forward slowly.
"No. I betrayed no one." He answered. The Death Eater stiffened and she could feel the anger radiating from him.
"How dare you say that, you stupid boy! You betrayed the Dark Lord!" The man snapped. Draco shook his head, his frightening smile never disappearing.
"I swore him no allegiance. The only things I will remain loyal too are my self interest." Draco smirked advancing all the while.
"And you're interest lie in this…girl?" The man snarled nodding his head toward Ginny.
"Yes."
"Lucius was wrong about you, boy. You are a disgrace. It will be my pleasure to kill both of you." He growled and pivoted quickly. "Morsproicio." The man cried and Draco was thrown into the wall so hard that the stones crumbled from the impact. The blond Slytherin fell to the floor and lay there unmoving. Ginny started to rush forward but a hand pulled her back and spun her around.
"Let go of me!" She snarled trying to get free so that she could help Draco. She glanced at him again and started when she saw a pool of blood forming beneath his head.
"Don't worry, girly, you're boyfriend's dead by now." The Death Eater sneered menacingly. Ginny turned back to him and started to back away as she saw that his wand was now aimed at her. Fear took hold of her and she kept moving backwards, the Death Eater keeping up with her until she stepped into the wall. She glanced around looking for a way to escape.
"I said; leave her alone." A hoarse voice said. Ginny's eyes widened in surprise as she saw Draco standing on the rubble one hand clutching his side the other hand holding the wand at the Death Eater.
"Impossible!" The man stammered. Draco's grin was bloody and toothy. He staggered forward.
"I think not." He smirked. "Petrificus Totalus." He said and the man collapsed to the floor in a full body bind. Ginny smiled.
"Thanks for the help." She said. He nodded, wincing slightly as he limped toward her.
"No problem." He said and leaned against the wall behind them as he sighed heavily and glanced around. "Well let's win this thing." He said and she nodded.
"You don't need any help?" She said glancing at his wounds. He shook his head and pushed himself off the wall.
"I'm a Malfoy." He said as if that answered everything. Maybe it did, Ginny thought as she jumped into the fray after the silver haired boy. A while later, Ginny turned to Draco as he spit out a spell she didn't know.
"Draco, are you using Dark Spells?" She demanded as she disarmed and stunned another Death Eater. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and found him grinning sinisterly.
"Not Dark just…you know, Shadowy. Greyish at the most." He called over the loud sounds of a fight. She sighed.
"Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin." She muttered as she found a new Death Eater who was trying to attack a second year student. She grinned and stalked toward him, he never knew what hit him.
From his vantage point Lucius watched as the fight progressed. He saw when Voldemort commanded the Death Eaters to split up. One group to stay and fight with him against the small band of resistance that Dumbledore had conjured up, the others to find the other students and exterminate them. Things had gone so terribly wrong after that. Harry Potter had been a figure to keep the students and the teachers going. He had undermined many of Voldemort's plans so many times he was in hero to them. A hero they idolized and adored. A hero they were willing to die for. As for the other side, they had not expected the students to work together. They had expected panic and disarray. They had been so very wrong. The students had fought back, fiercely. Lucius had seen Voldemort fight through the students and reach Harry Potter and Dumbledore. He had seen Voldemort fight the two Gryffindors, and lose. Harry Potter and the Headmaster had performed some spell, the Lumemortum spell. Death light. How very fitting. It seemed so planned out. They must have been working on it for months. In the end, Voldemort had died the final death. He would not return unless it was from the past. Lucius looked around at the unconscious bodies littered at his feet and smiled grimly. The circle protecting the stones of Set would be broken with Voldemort's death. Lucius would take the crystals and disappear quietly. He would find some way to use the power in those crystals to make him all powerful. If that failed, Lucius would find some way to bring his Master back from the past if need be. No matter what, Lucius knew he had to leave. He would bid his time and when he returned, the wizards and witches would feel vengeance. For someone else, it might occur to them to leave a message for their family, so they would know that he had gone. So they would know he would be back. Lucius was very intelligent, he might have thought of it, but in truth Lucius Malfoy simply did not care. He cared for nothing but power and he would not find the power he sought hidden in the Malfoy Manor. Lucius turned and walked away from Hogwarts, the breeze pulling at his black robes.