THE PERFECT STORY
By shiningbright

A/N: I realize that this isn't exactly the longest chapter in the world. I've rewritten it twice and this is as long as it gets. Sorry. Also, sorry that I was unable to post as often as I normally do the past two weeks. I've just finished with school for the summer and am getting settled in Michigan where I'm visiting my mom. Now that I have a lot of free-time I'll be able to update more frequently. Please enjoy chapter thirteen!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter & Co. Sorry you're disappointed.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: REGRETS

Ginny felt numb as Merriet slammed her wand into her hand. Knees trembling, she stood as tall as she could, red-hot anger clouding her vision.

"Draco...No...Don't do this..." she mumbled as her frustration peaked. "No...You're better than this... You are so powerful and so smart... You could be as great as Dumbledore if you worked hard enough, oh, well, maybe not Dumbledore, but pretty go-"

"Shut up, Ms. Weasley," Draco snarled. Ginny stumbled. Pansy watched on, muttering under her breath.

"All right, sir, where would you like the duel to take place?" Merriet asked his master. Draco spat on the ground. "Here's good. Merriet, you'll be my second, though I doubt I'll ever need you, and Parkinson will serve as Weasel's."

"Yes, sir," Merriet complied, moving to the side. Ginny was shaking like mad. Facing her opponent, she waited.

Draco bowed, motioning for her to do also. When she did not, he pretended he didn't notice. Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny saw Merriet smile at her disobedience.

Draco stepped back, brandishing his wand. Ginny searched her mind for a spell. The first one that came to mind was stupefy, but she wanted to be a bit more creative.

She thought the incantation so hard and completely she thought her brain would burst. A second later, Malfoy's face exploded in bat bogeys as a shock of black light jetted from his wand. Ginny dove the second she saw it, but she was too late...

The black light squarely hit her shoulder as she fell to the ground. Pansy looked up from her nails and observed the scene. Both Malfoy and Weasley seemed out of it.

Merriet was twiddling his thumbs thirty feet away. Pansy continued to stare at her nails. Neither seemed interested in dueling.

"Geroff me, you stupid-!" Draco shouted, waving his arms. "Merriet, you idiotic lump, get these things off me!" Merriet stood immediately, fumbling with his wand. A moment later, by Draco's careful instructions, the bat wings were gone. Ginny, however, was still unconscience on the floor.

"All right, haul her somewhere upstairs. Pansy..." Draco turned to the flushed drama queen. He walked over, waving his wand as he muttered the incantation to the unsuspecting woman. "Obliviate!"

Pansy's violet eyes rolled back in her head as she dropped the tube of lipstick she had been busying herself with on the ground. Draco snapped his fingers twice in quick succession. The other two Death Eaters looked up. Draco pointed a single gloved hand to the fainted beauty in the dirt. "Escort her off the manor, then take her as far away possible. She'll wake up in about ten minutes. Make sure she is no longer in the country."

The two Death Eaters complied. Draco turned on his heel to walk inside. He had more important matters to attend to, namely, Hogwarts.


Kinglsey Shacklebolt watched in horror at the chaotic mess that was Hogwarts School, a place he had loved as a teenager. The scene was dreadful; hundreds of Death Eaters milled about hexing, cursing, murdering. Blubbering, Kinglsey turned around to glare at the stunned, still aurors behind him.

"What the hell are you all doing!" he shouted, motioning to the commotion on the grounds as screams split the air. "Get out there and save some lives!"

Numbly he hurried down the slope out of the wood, the hundred or so aurors and other ministry officials following him. He knew without a doubt that he- the ministry- was outnumbered. But there was still a chance…

The Death Eaters turned as they advanced and the two armies collided.

Kingsley prayed with all heart and soul that- somehow- he would survive.

Draco watched as the ministry and the Death Eater army- his Death Eater army- collided. He witnessed the fall of many a wizard and witch and hated all of it. On the chair beside him was slumped an unconscience Ginny Weasley, Madame Promfrey attending to her. Several Death Eaters watched the door of the tower, making sure none could enter.

"I knew you were a Slytherin, Draco," Promfrey croaked as she worked, using the little supplies Malfoy had allowed her to figure out exactly what was wrong with Ginny. "But I thought you weren't evil, not like your father-"

"Shut it, you miserable wretch!" Draco shouted, gritting his teeth. He turned back to the window. He hated himself for every man who fell, every witch who died. It was his entire fault and there was nothing he could do about it. Wincing as a shock of green light evaporated a young wizard he recognized from his school days, Draco forced himself to turn around and stare as Promfrey glared at him.

"You are evil," she whispered, eyes watering as a tear ran down her cheek. "Evil."

Draco's vision blurred as he recalled what Ginny had told him earlier. "You don't like killing! You know you don't! We can help you! We help people who are blackmailed, or-or threatened! We can keep you and your mother safe! Draco, you're better than this!"

Too many had already died. Draco leaned his head in his arms and silently cried. What had he done?

shiningbright