Chapter 49
Draco looked around the Room of Requirement as Harry, Hermione, and Ron caught up quickly with their fellow roommates about the inner workings of the school under the Death Eater's influence. His gaze landed upon Blaise and Theo, who were standing in the back corner of the room, chatting idly. He whispered to Hermione where he was going, before walking over to his friends.
"Theo, Blaise," Draco said, allowing the surprise to fill his voice. "What are you guys doing here? I thought you both would still be at Shell Cottage."
"We left a few hours after you did. It didn't seem right to stay, once you had gone. The only difference is, we actually told Bill and Fleur that we were leaving," Blaise said casually.
"You know why I couldn't-" Draco started to protest. He thought they were on the same page with why he had to leave.
Theo held up his hand. "We understand, don't worry. Fleur was devastated; but I think it had more to do with the fact that this war is affecting her and her family, and she's powerless to do anything. Sure, she could fight; I mean she was in the Triwizard Tournament, but she's never had the chance. But I think she's probably going to come for the Battle; Neville passed along the message along to the entire home."
Draco winced. "I'll apologise to her if I see her. I still feel really guilty about it."
"So are you ready to do this?" Blaise asked him. "The minute the Battle begins, the Dark Lord is going to know that you betrayed him. And if by some chance he wins, he will kill you himself."
Draco nodded, "I'm ready. I spent too long being afraid of him, and letting him control me and my actions. If I'm going down in this battle, then at least I'll go down doing something I believe in."
"Draco, we need you to help us," Hermione said, cutting in, as she approached him. "Hi Theo, hi Blaise."
Blaise smiled at her. "Granger," he said, using her surname. "Nice to see you doing well; last I heard you were taking down dragons."
Theo simply nodded at her, but he gave her a pleasant smile.
"We'll see you in a bit," Draco said, more as a reassurance to let them know it wouldn't be the last time they see each other alive, before walking with Hermione back to where Harry and Ron were.
"So what's the plan?" he asked the three, once they huddled into a circle further away from the rest of the room. Thankfully, the other occupants seemed to be preparing for whatever was coming, and paying them little attention.
"Ron and I are going to go with Luna to talk to the Ravenclaw tower to see if they know anything about the diadem. Meanwhile, I need you and Hermione to work together to try and figure out how else we can successfully destroy the Horcruxes, as soon as possible. On top of that, we need to get Nagini alone somehow; we already know she's a Horcrux. The only thing is, that leaves us at only six; there are supposed to be seven, if what Dumbledore suspected is true. I know it's a lot to ask of you both-"
Hermione simply held up her hand, "Harry, don't, we understand. Draco and I research; it's what we like and what we're good at."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "I dunno, I do like kicking some Death Eater but," he said jokingly. When Harry started looking a bit stressed, he added, "Don't worry, Potter, we got you covered."
Ron and Harry slipped out unnoticed, before Draco turned to his girlfriend. "Library?" he asked, knowing where would be the best place to look up all the things they needed to.
"Library," she confirmed. "They have the biggest selection of books and knowledge over any other institute in the entire wizarding world."
Draco nodded, "I know, I read Hogwarts' a History too, you know."
She looked at him in surprise, "You did? I don't think I know another person who actually has."
He smiled, knowing full well of his girlfriend's love of the book, "Of course; first year. Actually, I read it several times so I could know more about where I would be spending the next seven years of my life." He looked down. "Well, I guess it was only six years after everything that's happened."
She stroked his arm, before placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "For what it's worth, I'm glad you didn't attend school this year so you could spend it helping us, instead of being forced to obey You-Know-Who."
He laced his fingers between hers, "For what it's worth, I'm glad I did as well. But now, we need to get out of here."
Thankfully for them, they were already towards the back of the room, so sneaking out wasn't too difficult. But as Draco slipped through the door, he could have sworn that a few people had spotted his escape, although Hermione and he were already gone before they could do anything.
He knew that the Death Eaters wouldn't be patrolling the library area, the Carrows were far too stupid to care for a library, and Madam Pince would have already have locked up for the night. It was getting to the actual library which would be the problem.
They snuck through the shadows, even after casting disillusion charms upon them both, and kept the talking minimum. The last thing they wanted was to be caught; Draco supposedly dead, and Hermione of the Golden Trio? It wouldn't look good.
Personally, it reminded Draco of the previous year when he and Hermione had to sneak around to meet each other so he could pass on information to her. So much had changed over the time, and Draco knew it was for the best, regardless of what would happen today.
The library was dark, and not a single student, teacher, or Death Eater was in sight. Silently, he slipped through the door, and held it open for Hermione.
"What we need is to plan through every single possible option for what the last Horcrux is," Draco said, as he sat down in one of the seats.
"It can't be another founder's item; unless Gryffindor had something else that he valued highly," Hermione speculated. "But it must be something of great power; something which symbolises strength and everything else You-Know-Who believed in: power, glory, and fortune."
"Sounds like Harry," Draco said darkly.
"What?" Hermione asked, startled. "Why do you say that?"
"If you think about it, it's everything You-Know-Who wanted, and through his actions, he created Harry. While he already had the fortune through his father, everything else he has is because of You-Know-Who."
She trembled slightly. "I know," she whispered.
Draco looked up at her, startled. "Hermione, I wasn't serious. I was just saying how it was ironic that he gave Potter nearly everything he wanted while trying to destroy him."
She shook her head. "I've known it for a while, deep down. Think about it, Draco. Harry has a connection to him. He can see inside his head, and sense his emotions. Harry can speak parseltounge. You know as well as I do that it isn't a result of the killing curse failing; it's because he transferred his soul into Harry's body."
He felt the world stop around him. "Can that even happen? Is it possible to do that to another person?"
"Yes, but I'm sure You-Know-Who doesn't know; if he did, he wouldn't want Harry dead. No matter what, we can't let him find out."
"And what do we tell Harry?" Draco asked her softly, as he put his arm around her.
"We tell him the truth," she said, as she let tears fall down her face.
Draco knew that Harry would gladly go and get himself killed if it meant You-Know-Who's death. It was in his Gryffindor nature to give up his life so everyone else could live.
"When?" he asked her carefully, not wanting to push her any further.
"After all the others are gone. I need him, Draco. I can't lose him; he's basically my brother," she cried out, tears flowing heavily now.
He held her tightly in his arms, not knowing what to tell her. He might not consider Harry to be family, but he still thought of him to be one of his closest friends.
"Okay," he whispered into her hair. "But we'll tell him together, Hermione. That's how it will always be; you and me together forever."
She said nothing, but he knew that she had listened to him, and would do as he said.
"We should start thinking of ways to destroy the cup," she said softly, as Hermione wiped away her tears. "We don't exactly have a lot of time on our side."
Theo blended into the crowd of students as he and Blaise made their way to the Great Hall. McGonagall had summoned them all, and he could guess what it had to do with. As they approached, he could hear the teachers organizing them; anyone under seventeen was to take the passageway out of the school. Anyone who was of age and wanted to stay, were being divided up into several groups, one for different locations of the school.
Blaise nudged him gently, and pointed to where Draco, Potter, Granger, and Weasley were standing.
Theo couldn't help but notice both Draco and Granger had a subtle grimness to them, however he chalked it up to be because of the upcoming battle.
"Hold on," he heard Weasley say. "The sword destroyed it because it had basilisk venom embedded into the material, right? Because Harry slayed the snake? Well the chamber is right here, so what if a few of us go down and get some fangs?"
"I'm going to try and find the Ravenclaw ghost," Potter said. "From what I'm aware of, she's one of the last to have seen the diadem."
"Why do you need that?" he asked, drawing the attention of everyone in the group.
"Theo," Draco said in surprise. "Well…we…uh…"
"Look, we won't ask questions, but if you want we can help you."
"It's nice of you to offer and all, but really we got it covered," Weasley said, trying to deter him.
"No," Granger said. "We need help. It's chaotic enough as it is, and a little help might be nice. This way we could split into two groups of three. With slightly larger groups, we would have the ability to get everything done more efficiently."
Theo looked at her in surprise. While he knew the group would be slightly sceptical about accepting help, he didn't expect her support so quickly.
Draco nodded. "I agree. If Hermione, Harry, and I go after the Grey Lady, then the three of you can go to the Chamber of Secrets and get the fangs. Ron, you remember how to get there, right?"
"While I agree on them helping, there's only one problem," Potter interrupted. "To get into the chamber, you need to speak parseltounge, and last I checked only I know how to do that. And while I would go to that, I think that I have to go to the Grey Lady. I need to convince her of my cause."
Weasley simply shook his head. "I disagree with you, Harry. You talk in your sleep sometimes, and I can imitate your sounds." To demonstrate, he made a strange snake like hissing sound, giving him the chills.
"That will do great," Potter said, nodding. "Good; so the three of you go to the Chamber. We can meet back here as soon as-"
Potter was interrupted by the sound of a dark voice filling the hall, with no indication of where it was coming from.
"I know that you are prepared to fight. Your efforts are futile. You cannot fight me. I do not want to kill you. I have great respect for the teachers of Hogwarts. I do not want to spill magical blood," Voldemort's voice echoed throughout the room.
As the voice faded away slowly, screams filled the area. The students huddled together in fear, holding onto each other.
"Give me Harry Potter and none shall be harmed. Give me Harry Potter, and I shall leave the school untouched. Give me Harry Potter, and you will be rewarded," Voldemort finished, before his presence left the room.
"You have until midnight."
And just like that, he felt every boy and girl, every teacher, every soul, turn to look at where Potter was standing. Even though he didn't before, he in no way felt envious of Potter at that precise moment.
"There he is," He heard Pansy Parkinson yell out. Merlin, while she had been in their circle of friends when he was younger, he seriously couldn't help but be annoyed with her at the moment.
It was at that moment when Ginny Weasley walked out of her spot by her family and stood protectively in front of Potter. Less than a second later, Granger and Weasley followed suit, along with Draco. In fact, nearly the entire hall turned to stand around Potter, while raising their wands to where the Slytherins were standing. But what surprised him the most, out of all of that, was that quite a few Slytherins actually stood up with Potter, against Pansy, and her few friends.
"Thank you, Miss Parkinson," McGonagall said after a moment. "Now, if your house could be the first to follow out Mr. Filtch." McGongall resumed to organizing the battle strategies and escorting out minors, with the help of her colleagues.
Every Slytherin who stood by Pansy turned their backs on the school and marched out. How many of them would go straight to join up with Voldemort and his forces, and fight against their own classmates? How many of them would try and murder their friends, or their families, who stood on the other side of the line which divided them? They had one hour until the fight which would change all of their lives, and Theo knew that it was going to be a long fight, with many casualties. There was nothing he could do to avoid that fact. He could only pray that everyone he cared for would be safe and unharmed.
"Theo?" he heard Blaise call out for him, bringing his attention back to the matter at hand. "We have to go now. We don't have long before it starts."
He nodded and followed beside his mate, as Weasley led the way. "So where exactly are we going?"
"Second floor, girl's loo," Weasley said hurriedly, as he rushed towards wherever he was going to.
He nearly halted. "Excuse me? The Chamber of Secrets which happens to be so feared, is located in girls washroom, haunted by the most miserable ghost in existence?"
"What do you think killed her?" Weasley said in a grim tone.
He cringed. "No wonder she's so miserable all the time. I would be too, if I just wanted to go to the loo, and ended up dead," he said, before following after Weasley.
Students were walking in every way possible, in organised groups, so no one seemed to notice the three of them heading in a different direction than the rest of them.
The Gryffindor paused as he approached a door, to make sure no one was looking, before slipping into the girls' bathroom. Theo followed close behind, keeping the door propped open for Blaise.
The three of them walked over to a sink. It took him a while to notice what he was looking for, but very subtly he noticed the snake engraved onto the side of one to the taps.
"So what do we do now?" Blaise asked, as he stared at the snake.
Weasley smirked, "Leave that to me." And with that, he began to hiss as he had earlier. Theo stared at the sink, as it began to shift slowly, each section splitting off into different sections. In front of him stood a large tunnel, plummeting straight down under the school.
"Do we have to go down that?" Blaise asked in disdain as he stared at the hole in the ground.
"Why?" Weasley asked him, "Scared of heights?"
Blaise scoffed. "Of course not. In fact, I'll go first." Blaise jumped straight down the hole, holding his wand above below him to cast a cushioning charm.
Weasley looked at him expectantly, causing Theo to give him a glare. "What, I have to go next?" When Ron failed to say a word, Theo let out a sigh. "Fine, but if you land on tip of me, I won't fail to hex you."
"I'll count on it," Weasley said, just before Theo plummeted down the hole. He closed his eyes and pointed his wand below him to cast the same spell that Blaise had, only moments before. 'If I die from this, I'll kill every one of those bleeding Gryffindors. Well, maybe except for Granger; I think Draco would murder me if I did,' he thought to himself.
Theo landed on the ground of what appeared to look like some sort of sewage system. There were bones scattered everywhere and the rot of old snake skins to fill the premise.
Blaise was a few feet over, already on his feet, and Weasley had just fallen through the hole.
"So, what do we need then?" he asked. "Fangs, or something?"
"Uh yeah," Weasley said, as he looked around the place. He walked towards a tunnel, which appeared to have at one stage had a fence like structure around it, and walked through it.
Theo looked towards his friend, "Do we have to follow him?"
Blaise sighed, "I suppose we ought to." He went through the tunnel, with Theo following close behind. As Theo emerged on the other side, he saw a green 'throne' room, with a large old human head staring out in front of them.
"Let's get what we need, then get out of here. It's creepy enough as it is," Blaise said with a shudder.
Theo couldn't agree more. He looked around the room, and spotted the bones of an enormous snake skeleton lying on the ground, right where Potter had slain him five years ago. Theo wasn't even sure if he would be able to kill the beast at the age of seventeen, let alone at twelve.
Weasley walked over to the fallen pet of the heir of the Slytherin house, and pried a few fangs loose from its jaw before placing it into a satchel like bag. He looked up at them both and said, "Now we can go."
Theo nearly sighed in relief; however this was just the easy part. Tonight, they would fight Voldemort, and whatever the outcome may be, the world will forever be changed.
A/N: Sorry this is slightly later posted in the day guys! I'm currently sitting in my residence for my first year of University, and I am so nervous to be here. Have any of you gone through the same thing? How do you guys get over your homesickness?
Anyways, the next chapter may be slightly late, because I'm in frosh week, which for those of you who don't know, it's the orientation week for the new coming first years. And because of that, and the long, long, long hours of each day, I might not be able to release a chapter as quickly.
*side notes* The scene where the Chamber attacked them after taking the fangs didn't occur in this story because it was used for the purpose of a Romione kiss in the movies, although not in the books. In addition to that, I added in the Hermione Draco scene where they discuss Harry being a Horcurx, because Hermione seemed to know in advance in the books, and Draco is smart enough to figure it out.