A/N: Here's the second installment for today. Next week: Chapter 13-Changes.
Disclaimer: Don't own. JKR does.
Warning: Character death, violence, bit o' language.
I Never Thought I Would Be A Hero
Original Dark Angel
Chapter 12: Choose Your Battles Wisely
The next few days passed slowly for Ginny. Ian now hung onto Draco instead of Blaise and cowered behind the person closest to him as soon as Blaise entered the room. Sadly she had even less time to spend with her boyfriend now that Draco made certain that he had enough time in his schedule to perform big brother duties for Ian as well as for Andy who for some reason allowed him alone to call her Rea. Although the result of some of these outings was hilarious (Draco's decision to take Ian fishing proved quite disastrous as both of them returned sopping wet without a single fish between them. Ginny heard later from Hagrid that the Great Squid didn't reappear for a full twelve hours after the pair left the lake), but Ginny missed Draco. And now that she knew how Blaise felt about her she felt awkward around him. She desperately missed Carrie and Hermione's company. But Hermione was busy helping Harry, and Carrie was clear across the ocean, so for the time being, she was stuck sitting at their breakfast table listening to Draco explain Ian's problems to her instead. She looked up and stared unbelievingly at what was behind her boyfriend.
Draco felt the strangest feeling of foreboding tickle the back of his neck as Ginny stared behind him. "CARRIE!"
Draco spun around and was out of his seat in a second. Carrie met him half way and after a quick spin and hug, he passed her off to Ginny and advanced on the redheaded boy behind her. "Andrew Davis, I presume?"
"Yeah, you must be Draco Malfoy. Carrie's told me all about you and your girlfriend. And you're in Andy's letters too." Drew shook his hand and then Ginny's. Carrie returned to his side and slipped her hand into his.
"Drew and I are here for the rest of the year," Carrie laughed. "Principal Carmichaels couldn't handle one of the Davis kids let alone a Slytherin. Once we joined forces, he begged Dumbledore to take us off his hands."
Andrea snatched her brother's hand and pulled him away from Carrie. "Come on, ANDY. We want to show off the Slytherin Common room and the Room of Requirement and all sorts of places."
"Rea?" Draco started to intervene.
"Our name is ANDY!" she said coldly. "Watch out, Hogwarts. The Oracle Twins are reunited once more." She dragged her brother after her as she left.
"Man, I hope they don't join forces with Tigris and Jackal. They'd blow up the school in a week," Ginny murmured.
"No way," Carrie tried to smirk. "Drew is too level-headed for that."
"So is Rea," Draco scowled. "So long as they're apart. When they're together, they're a whole other person."
"Tonight, we have the privilege of sorting another exchange student. Please help me welcome Andrew Davis to Hogwarts." The applause was reluctant, as they welcomed what would surely be a Slytherin, and there were too few Slytherins to truly make up for it. Drew hesitantly sat on the stool and waited for the hat to fall over his eyes. There was utter silence for a full moment, but then the hat made its decision.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
There was dead silence in the Great Hall for almost a minute, before the Gryffindors started cheering wildly, and the Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, and Slytherins clapped politely. Ginny chanced a look at Andy and was surprised to find her seat empty. The doors to the Great Hall slammed a second later, and Draco quickly excused himself to track down the missing Slytherin.
Ginny sat in the Common Room with her Transfiguration notes spread around her while she worked on the truly awful essay on animal transfigurations. Draco hadn't returned with Andy yet. Blaise wavered in the doorway to the common room, looking as if he didn't know whether he wanted to enter or not since Ian sat quietly in front of the fire with his head in Rowan's lap. Ryan sat across from them staring off into space rather dreamily, reminding Ginny not for the first time of Luna Luvgood, Ginny's replacement as President of the Harry Potter Fan Club. Carrie lay on her stomach in front of the fire with a book that she was pretending to read. In reality she was staring into the flame.
The portrait banged open and Andy stalked past them on her way to the dormitories. Draco entered the common room a few minutes later at a slower pace, with the frustration he felt clearly evident on his face. He sank to the ground next to the sofa that Ginny occupied and allowed her to run her fingers through his hair. He sat there with his eyes closed for so long that Ginny thought he must have fallen asleep, but without opening his eyes, he suddenly spoke. "House Rivalries are going to be the death of us all." Blaise and Ginny laughed, but he opened one eye and shook his head irritably. "I'm not joking. Look at all of us. The entire light side is divided into four neat little houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. The dark side doesn't need to do anything. If they just leave us long enough, we'll all kill each other."
"Draco, we're not-"
"Yes, we are. Do you think that Potter would lift a finger to help me or Blaise in battle? Would Granger look past the house if it was a choice in saving a dying housemate or a potentially alive Slytherin? Would Luvgood care if Ryan, Rowan, and Ian were in danger? Would any of them stop to help Carrie?"
"I'm a Gryffindor. I won't betray you. I won't betray Blaise, or Andy, or Carrie, or Ian and the others."
"I wouldn't turn my back on Drew even if he is a reckless Gryffindor," Carrie insisted. "And Ginny's practically my older sister, much more so than Annie or Bethy."
"This war has cost more lives than anyone could have ever predicted," Draco stated coldly. "Half of them could have been avoided if there were no houses to divide us. I think Hogwarts has outlasted its purpose."
"What do you mean?"
"I think that dividing students and selecting favorites is a load of leftover crock and bull from the Middle Ages, and Hogwarts should have burned that Sorting Hat long ago."
Surprising everyone, Carrie nodded. "I think you're right, Draco."
Andy avoided Carrie at all costs, moving everything she owned into the Second Year dormitory instead of the Third Year one. Not that that truly bothered Carrie. What bothered the petite blonde was that every time she got close to Drew, his twin sister would appear and drag him off somewhere or keep him from talking to her.
Therefore, Carrie didn't consider it a dirty trick at all to fill the keyhole of the door to the Second Year dorm with some rather nasty chewing gum, developed by the Weasley Twins, one morning while the other girl slept in. She then slipped out of the Common Room and went down for breakfast early, so that she could eat with Drew.
Draco and Ginny were surprised to see Carrie and Drew sitting together at one of the tables during breakfast, especially since there was no sign of Andrea Davis anywhere. They seemed to be getting along quite well, which did rather surprise Draco despite Carrie's claim earlier in the week. He finally turned back to his meal and had made good progress on his scrambled eggs, when the doors to the Great Hall were flung open in what was obviously very strong accidental magic. He heard Ginny mutter, "Here comes trouble," and looked up.
Rea stalked into the room, still in her nightgown, and obviously blazing with anger. She proceeded to walk down the main aisle towards her brother and Carrie. Drew had the good sense to look panicked by the situation, but Carrie just looked up at her nemesis quite coolly. "Lovely morning, Andrea. Drew and I were just on our way to Potions."
Without a word, Rea picked up a lemon custard treat from the next table and threw it at Carrie, catching the other girl in the shoulder. Draco closed his eyes. Now it was war. Carrie was the youngest of three and wouldn't hesitate to return fire, as Rea discovered when she received a plate of scrambled eggs to the face. Rea tossed a bowl of cold cereal at Carrie next, but missed, hitting Harry Potter instead. Drew did the wise thing and dove under the nearest table, before Harry could retaliate.
Within ten minutes, everyone was throwing food in what had to be the best stress reliever under the sun. Only three teachers were present for early breakfast, and they seemed to give up on controlling the situation in favor of summoning reinforcements. Dumbledore soon appeared and froze everything still flying through the air, just as the Great Hall Doors were thrown open a second time that morning. First one person stared, then another, then more. Slowly, Draco turned and gaped in horror.
Lucius stood in the doorway flanked by at least forty deatheaters. They surveyed the food-covered occupants of the Great Hall with distaste and raised their wands as one. In a heartbeat, Draco shoved Rowan and Ryan to the floor and under the table. In that same instant, Ginny had shoved Ian into Blaise's arms and ordered them to run. The unspoken message of Snape's chambers as a destination was received. Then Ginny and Draco both crossed over the aisle to face Lucius. The man smirked cruelly and whispered one word: "Crucio." Ginny performed a strong mirror block that sent the spell flying backwards at its castor who merely stepped aside and allowed it to strike one of his compatriots. Without even lifting the spell, Lucius continued towards them. "Fetch the Twins!" The deatheaters surged towards them intent on that one purpose.
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco saw Granger perform a disillusionment charm on Drew and shove him towards Neville Longbottom and Colin Creevey who were trying to get all of the younger years out of the hall. Other poor duelers and some intelligent Third Years helped them. Draco was beginning to regret his choice to sit this far apart from the other houses, now that their exit was blocked by waves of Dark Wizards. He had no way to get his last two First Years out. The idea of the disillusionment charm was a good one, and Ginny was already applying it to the younger children, trying to keep her shields up at the same time. Carrie and Rea were too far out of Draco's reach, but the girls who were previously cat fighting in the midst of the food war, now stood back to back wands drawn and casting a wide variety of interesting hexes at the approaching deatheaters from their hiding place behind a pillar. They didn't know any truly damaging spells, so the deatheaters were only slowed by the attack. Draco fought the urge to race over there and strangle them himself before throwing himself heart and soul into the battle. Somewhere along the way, he ended up beside Harry Potter and traded jibes with the famous boy-who-lived as they stunned or otherwise incapacitated the masses. Most of the students had run by now, a couple of teachers as well, a few more lay dead or wounded on the floor. The Golden Trio still fought, Luvgood, Bones, Finch-Fletchley, Finnegan, and Thomas among the bare dozen of students flinging spells back at the masses beside six of their teachers. He saw Longbottom dashing through the hall, and sliding over a couple of the tables, slipping under the last one to grab one of Draco's First Years, Ryan by the look of it. Draco made a mental note to thank Longbottom when this was over.
The tide was very slowly turning, when suddenly a white shield-like barrier went up and separated the two sides. The hall instantly quieted as the remaining fighters faced off. Then Rowan screamed from her place under the table. Draco looked up to see Neville Longbottom go flying.
Then quite calmly, the pretty little Indian girl that Draco and Ginny had grown rather fond of, brushed off her decorated robes, stood, and walked past them all, straight through the barrier, which dissolved to admit her. Yet no spells were cast. Both sides waited in silence to find out what would happen when Ryan Shiva completed her goal. She stopped next to Lucius Malfoy who knelt on one knee so as to become closer to her height. "Yes, my princess?"
"The traitor is Severus Snape," she hissed in an almost serpantine fashion. "He saved the life of the youngest Zabini boy and serves as guardian to both. It was he who rescued the elder from your mansion, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco stared in horror at the First Year, knowing that Snape likely suffered a similar shock as he had led a perfect persona among the deatheaters and had drawn no suspicion. He had been a perfect spy and now he was on the Dark Lord's most wanted list. But Ryan Shiva had not finished destroying their careful plans.
"The prophecy holds that either Potter or my father must be the one to kill the other," she continued, as the man stroked her hair affectionately. "It must be Potter because he was the one to be marked."
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing. How had Ryan overheard the prophecy? She wasn't that well placed to hear such secret matters. Draco kept those things to himself or possibly Ginny when in secret. Then the full ramifications of what she had said sank in. Father. The little monster was the daughter of the Dark Lord. He didn't even want to puzzle out who the mother was or how such a thing was possible.
"The star-crossed lovers know of our search for Pandora's Curse. Keeping the statue outside of your study was not a wise thing to do, Lucius," the girl said in annoyed anger and she slapped the man across the face. "We expect better."
"Forgive me, Princess," Lucius muttered with his head bowed. Draco was stunned that his father had allowed a mere child to strike him, and even begged forgiveness. He had been waiting for the man to hit her, but Lucius seemed to be genuinely afraid of the girl as if she held power he couldn't even dream of.
"I shall consider it. Your son suffers from the seizures as he did in his childhood. The male twin is safe, and spirited away from here by now. The girl is behind that pillar." Ryan pointed a damning finger at Andrea, although Carrie tried to block the girl from sight.
"Your orders?"
"Fetch the girl. She will do for now. Your punishment, Lucius." She turned and cast the strongest reductor curse that Draco had ever seen, sending his father crashing through the nearest window and falling to his death one hundred feet below.
Another deatheater stepped up beside her. "As for the others, Princess Ryan?"
Draco waited for her verdict to fall. It would probably be the fate of most tonight. She waved her hand dismissively.
"Kill them all."
The words were repeated, shouted by the deatheaters. "KILL THEM ALL!"
The fighters of light, now numbering fifteen faced the same number of deatheaters. The only spells being shouted now were blasts of red and green light. Stunners, Crucios, and the Killing Curse. Draco fought as hard as he could, but missed a step, when he saw the shy little girl turn and coldly cast the Killing Curse on Professor Sinistra without batting an eyelash. He saw the red light flying towards him, and was shocked when Potter blocked it, panting with the effort. "Pull it together, Malfoy. We've got a battle to win." Those words spurred Draco on to even greater lengths, and when he turned from placing the full body bind on MacNair, he stood face to face with Ryan Shiva Riddle.
"Draco, I just want to dance," she said looking up at him oh-so innocently. Now he could hear the mocking in the tone, the laughter as she rubbed salt into the wound. "Don't you like to dance with death, Draco? Isn't that where all of your scars come from?" she laughed cruelly, dodging his vindictive slashing hexes.
"I protected you."
"My father thanks you. You did a far better job of it then he thought you would." She got in a lucky Cruciatus Curse and Draco sank to his knees in pain. She grabbed his hair and yanked him back, holding her wand to his throat. "Final dance, Draco."
Before she could incant the spell, she was struck from behind with a tarantella. "Dance to that," Potter said coldly. Somehow she managed to undo the spell, while they were distracted by larger opponents, and a balding man lifted her to run outside, followed by Mr. Zabini. Over the second man's shoulder was a limp childish figure of a redheaded girl. Rea was gone.
The next morning when all of the injured students and teachers had been removed to St. Mungos and the dead had been taken out, everything was silent. No one had left the Great Hall. No matter which house they came from they sat with whoever was nearest as they very slowly and solemnly ate their breakfast. There was no noise. What remained of the teachers guarded the doorways while their students ate; Snape, MacGonagall, Pomfrey, Vector, Hagrid, Lupin (who was finally recovered), and Dumbledore. Trelawny, Sinistra, Flitwick, Grubby-Plank, Sprout, and Firenze were the unfortunate casualties of the night before along with six students, although thankfully none were in the lower years. Sadly with no distractions, Draco was the center of attention when a blinding headache struck and a seizure gripped him. Harry Potter was the first to react, and the second Draco stopped moving, he lifted the other boy over his shoulder and bellowed for Pomfrey to follow him to the Infirmary, Ginny hot on his heels.
While Draco lay unconscious, the highest members of the Order of the Phoenix sat in a classroom immediately below. Ginny sat between Snape and Drew with Ian on her lap, not at all inclined to let the little boy out of her sight (Rowan and Carrie were with Blaise). Dumbledore sat across from them with 2/3 of the Golden Trio on his right, and Bill Weasley, Remus Lupin, and Neville Longbottom on his left. Potter stood in front of the fireplace outlined by the flame.
"In order for Draco to suffer seizures, Lucius must have survived the fall," Ginny ventured. "But he is probably still out of favor with Lord Voldemort and Ryan."
"Lucius is dead," Harry protested.
"No, he isn't." Eyes flew across the room to follow Draco's progress down the stairs. It was slow as he moved unsteadily, paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes, attesting to the significant lack of sleep that he had been getting lately. "Lucius Malfoy is alive. My seizures have always been tied to his rage, and as I'm sure you can all tell by the killer seizure I had this morning, right now, he's furious." With a soft sigh of relief, he sank into the closest chair, which Ginny immediately vacated for him, and twisted his fingers into her red hair as she knelt by him. "This is the third time that Voldemort or one of his minions has managed to abduct a student from school grounds. Potter in Fourth Year, Ginny at the end of last year, and Rea last night. It is time to close the school. The students are no safer here than anywhere else, and Potter serves as a bulls-eye to the schools target."
"I believe that you are right, Draco," the headmaster said regretfully. "Remus, my boy, will you and Bill take Drew and inform the students to begin packing? No owls are to be sent, no fire-calls made, we shall send them home a few at a time."
"I'm not leaving! What are you going to do about my sister?" Drew screamed. "You all let those creeps take her! What about Andy? What about Andrea?" he repeated a little softer, looking down at his feet.
Draco put a hand on his shoulder. "She's a Slytherin and I promise that I will get her back. Longbottom-Neville, I mean, if you could take Drew and Ian down to the Slytherin dormitories? They're the safest. Carrie and Rowan won't be leaving either."
"Sure, Draco."
Once all minors were out of the room, Draco got to his feet. "That kid was an unexpected blow, Headmaster, and one that will have to be dealt with. Do you have any ideas?"
"None, I'm afraid. Sadly, the only advantage we have right now is that they don't know that we've discovered what Pandora's Curse is. It's a dark spell that combines the effects of the Cruciatus Curse and the Killing Curse. Death is unavoidable, but close to an hour of extreme pain will precede it. There is no known block and the only cure involves the use of unicorn blood."
"Then we need to find another cure," Draco muttered. "Finally something I can work on."