Clichés, Kisses and Killing

Clichés, Kisses and Killing.

Chapter 9: Changing The World, And Your Own Destiny.

Don't want to close the door
Don't want to give up on it
Don't want to fight no more
We'll find a way around it
Where's the love we had?
We can make it last.

'Do I Have To Cry For You' - Nick Carter

Ginny watched in wonder as the bars at the front of the cell began to vibrate, making a piercing noise, and they were shaking faster than anything she had ever seen. Draco grabbed her and buried her face in his shoulder as there was a flash of blinding light and she felt his face bury itself in her long hair.

And when the flash finished, there was no more noise, and there was no more light, there was just silence. She pulled away from Draco and they stared in bewilderment at the bars of the cell, or rather what had formerly been bars to their cell. They were now nothing but lines of powder in the shape of the bars, and Draco smiled in pure astonishment as he released her and walked over to the front of the cell. He poked the powder parading as a bar and it crumbled pitifully into a small pile on the floor. Ginny snorted inappropriately and he turned to raise his eyebrow at her. She let out a small laugh of complete and utter confusion and then walked forward to find that they could just walk straight out of the cell.

Ginny wandered into the main part of the dungeon and found Ron on the floor of his cell, staring bemusedly around.

"Wow," he muttered, more than a little bewildered.

"Holy...everything," moaned Harry. He was still lying on the floor, his face clutched in his hands. "What the hell was that?" Draco was staring at him with astonishment in his eyes, and he slowly let a smile slide over his features.

"That was you, Potter."

"What?" he groaned.

"That was you. That was sorcery." They all looked at him in confusion and he made an apologetic face. "The Lord has been worried lately because there have been all these threats to his power."

"Threats?"

"Yes. He brought in his best Diviner and she told him that there would be someone who could ruin him, and-."

"Morienda Enfero." The small voice came from Hermione and they all turned to look at her, as she was still sitting in her cell despite the fact she could have just walked out. "She's the Diviner, isn't she?" Draco nodded.

"Yes, she is. And she's also my kin mother."

"What's a kin mother?" This time it was Harry that spoke. Ron answered him, to his surprise.

"A kin mother is like a godmother, but godmother is too religious for people who are evil, so they call it a kin mother. There's a ceremony and everything that announces them as the kin parents, like a Christening, but with no religion."

"Just power," Draco said quietly. "And lately there's been great power building up. Voldemort," everyone except Harry and Draco flinched, "has been anxious for a while. He believed at first that there would be no more power reserves built up if he took you, if he took Harry, but they've continued to grow. He thought it was Dumbledore building up power to defeat him, but I think I've just found where they are." He smiled at Harry, who just looked stunned.

"Me?" Draco nodded. "No. You've got that wrong. I don't have any power, I can't do anything."

"You just destroyed all the iron bars in the entire dungeon, without harming a single person in the dungeon."

"That wasn't me!"

"Then who the bloody hell was it, Potter! It wasn't me and it wasn't anyone else. You're the one who felt something first, we could hear you screaming, and you're the one who is in pain! Wake up, Potter!" Harry swallowed and stared up at him.

"How?" he whispered.

"You're a Sorcerer." No one made a sound.

"He's a what now?" Ron spoke quickly, genuinely puzzled.

"A Sorcerer." Hermione spoke again, shocking them all. "It basically means he's more powerful than all of us put together. And that he can perform fantastic spells that most wizards have to train for years to learn. And he'll be able to do it all without a wand." She had said all of that with her eyes facing downwards, her arms still clutched around herself, and so she turned away when she finished, leaving them to look at her in surprise.

"Granger's right. That is what a Sorcerer is, and Voldemort would die for those kind powers. He's amazingly powerful, but not to Potter's extent."

"So, Harry can just defeat him now?"

"No, Ginny. Because he hasn't trained, he can't just defeat Voldemort at the drop of a hat. He should have been training for a long time. But I'm willing to bet that Dumbledore has been building up your power, Potter. He may not be here with you, but I bet Voldemort's right. He is building up power reserves, they're just your power reserves."

"You think he knows?"

"Potter, this is Dumbledore we're talking about. I think you know him, old guy, long beard, talks in riddles a lot?" Harry gave him an irritated look and Draco raised his eyebrow right back. "There's no way he can't know. And he's trying to help us by building your reserves himself, because he has that kind of ability. He's probably casting spells and charms continually. You have to use it, Potter, you have to help us get out of here." He was pleading with his eyes, and it shocked Harry because he had never expected to see that look in Malfoy's gaze.

And as he stared up, Harry saw Draco reach back and take Ginny's hand. And everything made sense. Draco loved her so much, he really did. Harry looked over at Hermione's back and his mind was made up in under a second.

"What do you know about these powers?"

"Not a lot. I was never told because they think I've got a loose tongue when I lose my temper and I was likely to blurt something out in an argument." He looked mutinous and Ron and Harry laughed. He glared. Hermione was, again, the one to break it apart and shock them.

"I've read about it. You just have to concentrate, Harry. And think really hard about whatever you want to happen. After a while, after training, you don't have to think about it so hard, but I think in your case you would just have to think really hard. You can do what you want, and you should help them all."

"And you, 'Mione, I should help you." Harry stood abruptly and went over to her. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She flinched and jerked hard away from him.

"Don't touch me." He took a step back and she turned around, her eyes wary. "I'll try and remember what I read, but just don't touch me." Harry looked down, his mouth trying to form words, and nodded dumbly. She walked past him and the others looked at her. "We should move," she said dully. "We don't want to be caught here." Draco nodded.

"She's right. They'll come later to taunt us or do something equally fun. This castle is incredibly dull so you have to scrape for entertainment, I was going to suggest to my father that there should be a poolroom or something." Harry walked out of Hermione's cell, ignoring his joke, and they headed towards the door.

Draco gestured at the lock, and Harry touched it gingerly with his right index finger, and then stepped back. They all stepped back as well. He stared at the lock and took deep breaths to steady himself as he prepared for something he didn't comprehend. He raised his hand and pointed it at the door, then closed his eyes and his breathing quickened. His brow furrowed and he began to shake. He whispered something and the lock exploded with a muted 'thud', and then began to smoke.

"Well done, Potter." Draco's voice was impressed, and Harry couldn't help but let a small grin surface.

As Draco opened the door and checked the hallway, Harry was wrapped in one thought. I did that, he thought as he looked at the destroyed lock. I can do something to help people, I can help Hermione. He ventured a look at her, but her eyes were downcast. His heart twisted and his smile dropped. One single thought ran through his head. I'm going to kill anyone who touched her, and then I'm going to kill Voldemort himself.

*~*~*~*~*

Draco walked slowly along the corridor, his hand firmly in Ginny's. They were walking behind Harry as he paced surely up the drafty hall, his shoulders squared. Hermione was walking behind them with Ron and they were as silent as silence can get. Hermione was still staring at the floor like it was the most interesting book she had ever read. Except that whenever Hermione read, she looked happy, and as she stared at stone after stone, her eyes held the most miserable expression Draco had ever seen.

He rarely felt sorry for people. His deep-seated contempt for everyone, and his personal pain had always prevented him from feeling sympathy for anyone and anything. But as he glanced back over his shoulder at Hermione, even he felt a surge of horror of what they had done to her. And if you hadn't been with Ginny, it would have been acceptable to you, the way they've used her, and the way they've hurt her. And hurt is an understatement, he realised, they've ruined her. Despite the fact that Draco had never liked the bushy-haired know-it-all, he wouldn't wish what the Death Eaters had done to her on anybody. And the fact that they would have destroyed Ginny in precisely that way chilled him to the core and made him squeeze her hand tighter, hating the reality that she had been wounded like that by his own father.

Ginny looked up at him as he squeezed her hand tighter and she shook him off a little, as her hand began to numb. He shook his head, as though waking himself from a daydream and looked down at her, giving a small smile that just shone with anxiety and fear that no eighteen-year-old should have to carry. She tried to convey how much she felt for him through her eyes and he seemed to understand something, as the gaze that came back at her made her heart beat that fragment faster.

"Malfoy," Harry whispered. Draco looked up, his eyebrows raised by way of a question. "Will anyone be patrolling for people who have tried to get in or anything?"

"No," Draco murmured back. "We're too arrogant for that, no one would ever try to break into this place, you see. Voldemort reckons that people are just frightened of his essence, and that purely his presence would put anyone off."

"So there's no protection on this castle."

"Jesus Christ, no! The other wizards here, evil as they may be, have brains. They know Voldemort's presence is not enough to keep people away, and there are sixteen different wizard's protection charms surrounding this place. Mine included." He smiled smugly and Harry stared at him, gob smacked.

"Sixteen?"

"What can I say?" Draco shrugged. "We like our privacy." He had a certain look of displeasure on his face as he referred to himself and the Death Eaters as 'we', he hated the thought of being connected with them. What had once made him feel powerful and thrilled now just made him feel vicious, and slightly nauseated.

"But I should be able to break them, right?"

"I'll take mine off, and then you might be able to break the remaining fifteen, but I don't know."

"If Dumbledore has been building up the power reserve, he should have a huge amount of power behind him." Hermione's voice alarmed them all, and she kept her eyes firmly fixed on a point in the distance.

"She's right." Harry looked up at Draco like he'd just seen him; his gaze had been so fixed on Hermione's averted eyes.

"So I should have all this power?" Draco nodded and his grip on Ginny's hand tightened. Harry sent one more look at Hermione, nodded firmly, and turned back to walking down the passage.

Ginny looked back at Ron and saw that his gaze was directed at Hermione, his eyes the saddest they had ever seemed. She felt a tug in her heart and realised it was because she hadn't seen her big brother cry since he was seven years old. And because he wasn't supposed to cry, he was meant to be strong and fearless when it came to anything. I guess childhood is over, Ginny thought, and now we all have to bear everything we get, which means we'll cry a lot. And it means even my big brother will cry too. And despite the fact that she knew it was the truth, and she couldn't change it, that simple thought made her want to break down and sob her heart out.

*~*~*~*~*

The door was a dark mahogany-brown colour, it was big, and there was a lot of noise coming from behind it. Draco stared up at it and then turned to look at Harry. His face was set, and he was shaking. Even thought he looked brave and...well, like Harry Potter, he was shaking.

Draco didn't know if it was fear or anger. He looked back at Hermione. It could very easily be anger.

The longer they stood there, the tighter Ginny's grip on his hand got, and he welcomed it. That was security, and that was what he knew now, everything else he had used to know was worthless. His father, his Lord, his power, wasn't valuable anymore; it didn't work with these people, and everything he thought was important paled in comparison to what he felt for Ginny. And that scared him.

"Draco?" He looked down at her. "We're going to be all right, aren't we?" Her brown eyes shone at him and he nodded.

"I won't let anything happen to you." She was about open her mouth and say something when Harry held out his hand. He gestured at the door and they all realised what he meant a little too late.

The silence was excruciating. And Draco closed his eyes and let his head droop at their stupidity.

"Don't bother with silence," he told them. "They've known we were coming for ages. They're powerful, and they know that too. Of course, that could backfire on them," he added softly. His look at Harry was meaningful and he nodded. "Open the door." It swung open on its own and Draco smiled wryly at the sight that met his eyes.

The Death Eaters were congregated at one end of the Hall, while Lucius stood slightly behind Voldemort in the middle of the room.

"Bravery is admirable to some, children. But stupidity is never accepted." They were smug; it rolled off them in waves. A glance at Harry steeled Draco's resolve. He smiled again.

"Hello, Father," he sneered. "I see you're still working on your shitty little pearls of wisdom."

"Must I tell you again that I have no son?"

"You think it's that easy, you stupid fuck?" Draco's hate seared across the room and Lucius' gaze threw it back. "You think you can just deny and ignore eighteen years of your life? Of my life? You think that your name suddenly doesn't mean anything? You think that blood can be erased?" He gave a short, bitter laugh. "You're more foolish than I thought."

"Listen, boy-," he spat, before being interrupted by Voldemort.

"Lucius, quiet." He was quiet. Draco snorted out a laugh. "You too, Draco." Draco was shocked at the Dark Lord's use of his name, and was silent. "Bravery is forgotten in an instant, children, and I don't care for it at all. However, that is not why you are here and it is not why I am going to have you killed." Harry frowned and Draco gripped Ginny's hand even tighter. "I'm going to have you killed because it is what I should have done a long time ago. And I'm going to enjoy watching." He raised a hand and the door across the room opened noiselessly.

Harry felt the icy-cold of horror grip his heart and he realised what was happening an instant before he saw the hideous hooded creatures.

The Dementors slid across the floor, not a sound reaching Harry's ears as he stood, frozen in shock. He heard Hermione and Ron gasp, and saw Draco stand in front of Ginny. He took several deep breaths and faced the monsters of his nightmares. Hermione was suddenly whispering very fast and Harry looked over at her, startled.

"Harry, you can do something. They'll follow you."

"What?" he hissed.

"You're more powerful. The Dementors won't go to the side of someone who isn't as powerful as their enemy. They don't have loyalties or thoughts, they just follow power. Show them what you are." He frowned and she suddenly met his eyes with her own. "Harry, you can do it. I promise you that you can do it." He felt a nudge in his chest and nodded once.

Pulling everything he had into his chest, he took a deep breath. Holding out his hands and swallowing, Harry began to whisper the words that were falling from his mind and tumbling out of his lips in a rush. He raised his hands up and threw his head back as he shouted the last words into the rushing air that was sweeping around him as he chanted.

He smacked his hands together above his head and something deep inside him exploded into a fountain of power, blackness, sheer white and bright colours.

He could hear someone screaming, and he could hear the Dementors' thoughts, a muddle of confusion and hunger and realisation that they were following the wrong person.

And, over it all, there was the unmistakeable stench of power that, he discovered with a jolt, was coming off him.

And then everything was still, and quiet, and black.

Harry opened his eyes to see Voldemort staring at him, open-mouthed, and to see the Dementors gliding across the Hall towards the gathered Death Eaters. Harry realised he could smell something else, above the power that was invading his nostrils and his mind.

And, with a tug in his stomach, he understood that it was fear. Rolling off the Death Eaters in waves. There was the underlying current from his friends standing behind him, but the amount peeling away from their enemies was enormous. They know what I've got, he thought to himself, and it's more than what they have, basically.

He smiled a little.