The Veil of Memories

Chapter 15

The Apotheosis of Draco Malfoy

McGonagall, Harmon, Trelawney, and Hannah Abbot emerged cautiously from the staircase to the second floor. As soon as the others had left the Great Hall, they had tried to floo to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and walk from there to the entrance to Umbridge's office, but after several tries they found they could only remain in the Hall. This confirmed McGonagall's suspicion that the Death Eaters were still active in the castle and that they had now found a way to disable the floo network. She also knew that the Death Eaters had probably laid traps for them all throughout the castle, whose corridors and stairways they were now forced to walk. She had led her charges carefully up the stairs only to find them completely deserted. Once they had reached the corridor containing the stone gargoyle and it was obvious that no one was lying in wait, she quickened her pace and led the others briskly to the entrance.

"Now we'll see if our charlatan headmistress has managed to block off all - "

McGonagall was cut off as the gargoyle moved unexpectedly to one side. She and the others clutched their wands tightly, anticipating a feisty Umbridge, or worse a gang of Death Eaters, to emerge. They did not expect to find half a dozen house-elves jumping up and down all over the spiral staircase. At the sight of the elves, McGonagall could not resist her first smile in a very long time.

"Miss Professor, sir," said the one in front, hopping up and down excitedly on his nimble feet. "We is finding the headmistress traitor. She is thinking to escaping through her office but we is waiting there for her!"

At this, the other house-elves began jumping up and down in imitation of their spokesperson unable to contain their glee. McGonagall felt very much like jumping up and down with them; instead, she led the others up the spiral staircase and into the office, keeping her wand cautiously out ahead of her. Even before they had entered the open door at the top, they could hear a familiar and very satisfying series of anxious and protesting cries coming from the inside.

Once entering, they found Dolores Umbridge tied haphazardly to a chair against one of the office walls with what appeared to be super-strength spaghetti. Several house-elves surrounded her chair. One had succeeded in taking off one of her earrings and was studying it curiously. Others surrounded her desk amongst the remains of her beloved kitten plates. Umbridge could do nothing but sit and moan as a house-elf sat on top of her now hatless head and tried to tie her hair into an elaborate series of knots.

"Horrid little beasts! Insolent creatures! Get them off me, get them all off me!" she moaned. "Minerva!" she cried, her eyes widening as her once deputy headmistress walked over. "I entreat upon you! Is this the kind of school you fantasize about? Allowing these barbarous, these filthy - " Umbridge broke off and winced as the house elf finished her final knot and jumped about excitedly on the headmistress's head, admiring her handiwork. " - these half-breed things to run about like this with abandon?"

McGonagall did not respond. She continued to look down at Umbridge, an almost demented-looking smile on her face, as though this was the sweetest moment of her life.

"I think it's time for me to ask the questions now, Professor Umbridge," she said, pointing her wand at Umbridge's chest. "If you cooperate, I might ask the house-elves to leave you alone. Now, tell me: what have you done with Dumbledore?"

***

"I'm so delighted you could join me here, Ginny, but I'm amazed at how easily you walked into my trap. You Gryffindors really are the most naïve creatures imaginable."

The pain in her spine was excruciating but Ginny forced herself to her feet.

"You could sit down, you know," drawled Malfoy, sounding just for a moment like his old lazy self. "Why do you always have to struggle so much, Ginny? What is it you're trying to prove?"

Ginny felt her face boil in anger as she stared back at Malfoy.

"Tell me, Draco, when did you first start to become a murderer?"

Malfoy's face hardened for a moment then broke out into a smile. "I shouldn't worry, Ginny. Didn't Dumbledore and the werewolf tell you? You spent long enough in his office that night: no one really dies. But if their deaths still bother you so much then you've only yourself to blame, I'm afraid. Their blood is on your hands, not mine. If you had just let things be as I told you so many times to do, if you and your loony friend hadn't persisted in looking for the trapped memories, then I would never have resorted to taking the school by force. I only wanted everyone to live happily in their own worlds. But you couldn't be content with that, could you?"

"I couldn't be content without Harry, no."

Malfoy sighed. "Can Harry do what I've done?"

"What?"

"Oh, Ginny, don't you understand? Didn't you ever wonder how it was that you remembered while no one else did?" Malfoy's face hardened. "You probably thought you had some special power over me but let me tell you, Ginny Weasley, that if I had wished it, you would not have remembered the first thing about the mudbloods the day after they first disappeared. You would have been just as ignorant as Potter and the rest. I let you remember because I wanted you to see the power and glory of the world that is to come for all true witches and wizards everywhere, the redemption from death itself, a destiny no mudblood or half-blood could ever begin to imagine. And even after being given the privilege to witness that power, you would still deny it?"

"I deny everything you work for, Malfoy, and I'll do everything in my power to stop you even if I die trying!"

"Oh, yes, the famous Gryffindor bravery. But why die for Potter if you'll never see him again, anyway? It won't mean anything to him. He doesn't remember you anymore. Do you want to know where he is right now, Ginny?"

There was no response.

"I'm sure you do. I must admit that before I started placing these memory charms, I thought Gryffindors didn't experience fear. It was only after I began seeing into your dreams that I knew you fear even more than the rest of us; you just keep it all inside like a horrible potion trapped in a vial. I could see your thoughts when I placed the charms, you know - not all your thoughts, of course, and not all your dreams, or else I would have been able to stop you and your friends before you destroyed my magnificent work. But I could see your nightmares. I could see your fear. Do you what Potter dreams about nearly every night? You would think he might fear the Dark Lord's return, especially with all those ridiculous prophecies that old cow has cooked up - and, yes, I do know about them all now, Ginny. But no, he still worries that he's going to be expelled from Hogwarts! Can you imagine that, Ginny? Dumbledore's wonder boy expelled? And he really believed it could happen! He feared going to some horrid little Muggle school that his mudblood relatives say he goes to. Well, do you know what I did, Ginny? I put him and all the other mudbloods in that school or one in my little universe that looks very much like it. He's trapped in his own fears; fitting, don't you think, since he wouldn't confront them on his own?"

Ginny felt anger and rage burn all over her body like an all-consuming fire. She didn't want to answer Malfoy's question; she had nothing to say. She wanted to rush at him, hit him, claw his very insides out until he begged her for mercy. Only by great force of will did she restrain herself and only for one reason: she had not forgotten that Malfoy had a wand and she didn't. But she was not going to gratify him with a response.

Malfoy took a step closer to her. "I expect he never told you about his nightmares, did he, Ginny? Odd, I thought the two of you were so close."

"If you try to make me doubt Harry, I'll only love him even more, and I'll make you very much regret every word you've said," Ginny managed to reply through gritted teeth.

"I admit I don't understand much about love but it is a pity. You see, Ginny, I confess I wanted you to remember and understand my power because I've developed an infatuation for you. If you were to join me, I think I could be even stronger. Together, we could begin a new master race of powerful, worthy wizards and witches who wouldn't have to hide and run from Muggles and Muggle-loving fools. It's a shame you would give it all up for a coddled little half-blood who doesn't deserve you. But I still have high hopes that you'll come around in the end."

"I'd rather make love to a toad than go anywhere near you, Malfoy!" Ginny hissed back. "I'd rather snog You-Know-Who!"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I'd be careful what you wish for, Ginny. You know, what saddens me most is how little you appreciate all I've done for you this year. Who was it who stopped that Bludger from hitting you on the Quidditch pitch? It might have killed you, you know, or at the very least made you something Potter wouldn't have wanted to go anywhere near snogging. And who was it who stopped Dolores Umbridge from carving up your hand in one of her sadistic pleas for attention?"

Ginny did not reply again.

"You doubt me, Ginny? It played havoc with my plans, you know. Everything had been clean before that; everything in its proper place. But that fool of a Quidditch teacher - I've already forgotten her name now - Madam Pooch, was it? She certainly had a face like one. Anyway, she had the stupidity to confront me after the match; I suppose she must have been in Gryffindor, too. She'd seen it all on the slow-motion replay from her Omnioculars and she wanted to know why I'd interfered with the game. Can you imagine that, Ginny? She never questioned how it was I could fire a charm clear across the stadium at faster than the speed of sight. All she cared about was that I had interfered. But I couldn't let it go at that, of course. Some small spark of insight might have eventually found its way into her provincial mind. I hadn't prepared a banishment charm; I had to kill her then and there. Fortunately, Wormtail managed to dispose of the body and deal with the memory charms. It was one of the few things he did right. And then there was Dolores. You were terribly evil to try her patience so, Ginny, and I had to teach her one or two lessons before she can learn some self-restraint with you. In her own narrow way, she thought you were the biggest threat to our plans, all because you remembered. But she is narrow and petty; she does not understand."

"I think she understands a great deal more than you do, Malfoy! We've destroyed your memory charm and you've lost the battle to take over this school!"

"Is that what you think, Ginny?" Malfoy cooed.

"Yeah, it is. Or did you go running out of the Hall for some other reason?"

"I went running out of the Hall because I knew you would follow me, Ginny. Did you really think I would send all of my Death Eaters into one place? They've been in this school for weeks, Ginny, ever since you and Lovegood started your first little experiment. And they've been training and hiding. And just about now, they're going to ambush your brother and the rest of his Gryffindor friends. I know they'll go looking for you, Ginny, and do you know the first place they're going to check?"

"I suppose you do."

"I do. They're going to go back to Gryffindor Tower to find you on that stupid map of yours."

Ginny felt her throat run dry.

"Oh, yes, Ginny, I know about that, too. Wormtail has not been in all things so completely unobservant. I'm afraid that while I wish to keep you alive, I have no love loss for your brother. I'd be surprised if he wasn't already dead. How does that set upon your conscience, Ginny?"

***

"Are you sure you're all right, Seamus?" asked Ron, as he, Seamus, and Neville left the Great Hall.

"Yeah, I told you, didn't I?" replied Seamus, a little defensively, but Ron still caught him wincing.

"All right, mate; I just wanted to make sure." Ron rounded up the staircase next to the hall.

"Do you really think they'd have gone that way?" asked Neville.

"We're going back up to Gryffindor Tower!" replied Ron. "She'll been on the Marauder's Map."

"The what?" asked Seamus, struggling to keep up with Ron who was racing ahead.

"It's a kind of magical map; it tells you where everyone is in the castle!" panted Ron.

"Steady on," said Neville, who seemed the most out of breath of the three. "Hadn't we better be careful? There could be others of them hiding about somewhere."

"Yeah, maybe," Ron shouted back. "But the longer we wait, the more likely it is that Malfoy's going to do something very nasty to my sister." Ron added a few mumbling complaints about Ginny that neither Neville nor Seamus could catch.

They seemed to run on relentlessly. The castle was eerily silent and the lanterns blazing through the corridors did not seem to penetrate far enough into the shadows. It would have been easy for anyone to hide there. At first, Seamus tried to peer into the darkened spaces ahead of them, but Ron's pace made that far too difficult and it was very obvious that he wasn't going to hear anything of slowing down. It wasn't long before Seamus' injury started to flare up again. Before long the pain in his side made it too difficult to think or look around with any effectiveness. Finally, they reached the top of the staircase to Gryffindor Tower. It was all Seamus could do not to collapse in front of the Fat Lady. Neville, too, seemed exhausted and was panting for air. Ron, however, walked quickly over to the Fat Lady. He had made it halfway between the staircase and the portrait when Neville's voice called out between pants:

"I don't remember that Statue of old Godric being so close to the portrait before. It's usually off on the side."

"Yeah, well, we can worry - "

Ron suddenly froze.

"Oh, Merlin - GET BACK!"

Ron took two gangly steps back toward the staircase and then dived through the air to land on a slowly retreating Seamus and Neville just as three vicious green hexes erupted from behind the statue. His two roommates still in a heap underneath him, Ron quickly whirled around and fired back at the statue from a crouching position. The statue seemed to both explode and implode at the same time, causing the likeness of Godric Gryffindor to come crashing hard to the floor, a triumphant beam still fixed on its face. Behind it were three masked Death Eaters who came out firing hard to the staircase down which the three Gryffindors had retreated. Ron kept firing up and after a brief moment, he was relieved to find Seamus and Neville doing the same. Two of the Death Eaters fell and the third was forced back behind a stone pillar but new hexes streamed at them from the sides. Another four Death Eaters were coming at them from down the corridors that fanned out from either side of the stone staircase. Ron tried to fire in all directions but they were outmatched and surrounded. A horrible cry pierced the air next to him. Ron quickly swung his head back to find Neville clutching his knee and screaming in agony. Neville's wand dropped to the ground and rolled down the staircase. Another Death Eater hex vaporized it.

Neville kept screaming in pain. Ron tried hard to ignore him as he fired in all directions as fast as he could. One of his hexes hit home but most missed wildly. For a few moments, Seamus joined the battle by his side, adrenalin overcoming the limits of his body's tolerance of pain and fatigue. But then came the ominous sound of several sets of footsteps running up the staircase behind them. They were surrounded on all sides.

Without stopping to find out whether their pursuers were friends or foe, Seamus darted down two steps and fired back down the staircase. There were one or two satisfying screams but several hexes volleyed into the staircase banister just to the left of Ron's head. He knew that with four Death Eaters still to contend with single handedly, he didn't have the luxury of turning around and helping Seamus. He could only hope that his injured and over-matched friend could work the impossible.

"It's just four," Ron mumbled to himself through gritted teeth. "One - two - three - four. One at a time."

Contorting his body like a snake, Ron managed to duck several hexes which flew in quick succession to his direction. Neville, who was obviously too injured to help and otherwise ineffective without a wand, had at least managed to wedge his body behind Ron's, using the taller boy as a shield. Finally, one of Ron's counter-hexes hit home and a Death Eater fell to the ground. Now there were three - provided no new ones came to join them. The air around the small space between the stairs and the entrance to Gryffindor Tower sizzled with hexes from all directions. A few stray shots shattered several of the portraits on the walls and sent their occupants running screaming for their lives into others. The Fat Lady seemed to be vying with Neville to see who could scream the loudest.

From the sounds of battle behind him, it sounded like Seamus had succeeded in making some of the Death Eaters fall down the stairs in a heap on top of their cohorts, but the furious sounds of fire continued. Ron couldn't afford to duck as two errant shots landed on the ceiling above and showered him in plaster.

"Sorry about that!" Seamus cried. "I - aah!"

Ron knew he couldn't afford to look back, but between launching a fresh round of hexes at his attackers to either side of the portrait hole, he cried out:

"Are you all right?"

The response came in the form of the cries of two fallen Death Eaters. The next thing Ron knew, Seamus was back at his side. Between the two of them, they managed to take down two more Death Eaters. Ron threw a quick glance over at Seamus to find that his elbow was now sprouting up in purple boils just like the ones that had covered Luna's face.

"It's all right," asserted Seamus, firing hexes madly at the Death Eaters to their side. "I've used a counter-curse to stop the swelling; it'll hold for a while, I think."

Ron didn't think Seamus sounded so certain but now wasn't the time. The three Death Eaters were still firing away at them and from the sounds of footsteps more were coming to join them from each side.

"Bloody hell," declared Ron. He shot a few quick hexes in the direction of the Death Eaters. One more fell and Ron decided it would have to do.

"Can you walk, Neville?" he whispered urgently.

Neville had finally stopped screaming but he did not look good at all. Looking back, Ron saw that a deep gash had torn through his cloak and sliced a deep, bloody wound across his right knee as though his assailant had thrown a dagger at him.

"I-I-I'm s-s-sorry, R-Ron, I really d-d-d-don't th-think I - "

"All right. Come on, Seamus! This is the best chance we're going to get."

Ron quickly got his feet and grabbed Neville's legs, causing him to scream out in pain again.

"Are you mad?" declared Seamus.

"Can't you hear them all coming this way? We don't stand a chance if we don't go now!"

Without another word, Seamus took hold of Neville's collar and the three Gryffindors leapt over the open space between the staircase and the portrait hole that led to the Gryffindor common room, dangerously exposed to the Death Eaters' fire. Seamus had Neville by his collar while Ron held one of his trouser legs, hoping that Neville himself could keep his other leg - the bad one - off the ground. With their other hands, both boys set up shielding charms on either side. The charms managed to hold through a barrage of hexes until they reached the portrait hole. Ron noted ominously that the Fat Lady was nowhere to be seen.

"Traitors cannot hide!" he yelled, recalling the most recent password Umbridge had forced on them.

There was no response. Seamus gave out another cry as his shielding charm failed. Neville managed to hold out his hands at the last minute as he fell to the floor.

"Come out, you oversized coward! Do you know which house it is you're guarding?"

"All of the cheeky, little - "

The Fat Lady did not finish her sentence before emerging from behind a forest of trees in another nearby painting to quickly open the portrait hole.

Ron turned around quickly to see that Seamus had fallen to the floor. A reinforcement of four Death Eaters had joined those on their right side. Ron knew they were all sitting ducks. Less out of strength than desperation, he dragged both Neville and Seamus feet first into the common room. He tried to hold onto his wand beneath Seamus' feet but it fell to the floor and rolled back toward the staircase. Ron did not even entertain the idea of going back to retrieve it. The portrait hole closed just as a barrage of hexes landed on what only moments before had been a wide open space.

Ron collapsed to the common room floor, only now allowing his fatigue to run its course. Both Seamus and Neville looked exhausted. Seamus was clutching his other side and the purple boils were running up the length of his arm. Neville was wincing and clutching his knee which had been dragged along the ground when Ron had pulled both of them inside the common room. They all seemed content to lie on the floor for a moment when the firing ominously stopped.

"Traitors cannot hide," said a cold voice on the other side of the portrait hole.

"You think I'm going to let you in just because you have the password?" they heard the Fat Lady retort. "You've got another thing coming, matey. I'm not like that brainless oaf Cardogan. I have free will, you know! I know what you lot want, all dark and smelly."

"Is that so?" came a reply that was closely followed by the chilling laughter of the other Death Eaters.

"C-c-come on, we've got to g-g-get - " Seamus stopped in mid-sentence as he winced in pain. "She's not going to hold them off for much longer."

Ron pulled Neville to his feet and slung his arm around one shoulder. Neville tried to limp forward with his good foot but winced in pain as his bad knee rubbed against Ron's cloak. Seamus quickly stood with what seemed to be equal effort and equal pain.

"Into the fireplace!" said Ron.

Ron half-dragged Neville toward the fireplace. The laughter of the Death Eaters kept growing louder. They could hear the Fat Lady trading insults with them but she seemed to be growing less and less sure of herself. Seamus was limping painfully toward the fireplace. Ron settled a moaning Neville into a half-standing, half-sitting position inside, then came back to drag Seamus in with him. Once all three of them were inside the fireplace, he quickly reached up for a handful of floo powder and cried out crisply and clearly:

"Hospital Wing!"

A cloud of emerald smoke flew up to enshroud them. Ron held his injured roommates tightly toward him and braced himself for the whirling sensation of floo travel. But when the smoke cleared, they found themselves continuing to look into the Gryffindor common room.

Ron stared in blank disbelief at the sight ahead of them for a moment as if he couldn't believe it was real. It was the sound of the Fat Lady's growing hysteria in the background that spurred him into action once again.

"Great Hall!" he cried, right after throwing another handful of floo at their feet.

A much larger cloud of emerald smoke rose up in front of them like a shower of exploding jade but when it cleared, the deceptively calm and empty Gryffindor common room continued to stretch out before them.

"Bloody hell," said Seamus. "What's going on?"

Ron didn't bother to answer him. The Fat Lady was screaming now and the horrible smell of burning wood and plaster started to fill his nostrils. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of the remaining container of floo and upended its entire contents into the fireplace. Seamus started to protest but Ron had already cried out:

"Great Hall!"

Ron felt as if he had been blasted off his feet. He held his elbow up to his face as an explosive green light rose up from the floo and dazzled his eyes. The fire roared around them for what seemed like ages and in the dizzying chaos of it all Ron was sure they had started to move. When the smoke finally cleared, however, they found they were yet again still in the common room. The screams of the Fat Lady were ear-splitting now but they did not nothing to conceal the mocking laughter of the Death Eaters.

"Tell me we're not bloody done for," said Seamus finally.

"We're not bloody done for!" cried Ron fervently. He quickly stepped out of the fireplace and dragged Seamus after him.

"Our room," he said. "Remember the charms McGonagall had put on our door our third year after Sirius got in?"

"Those won't keep them out forever."

"Have you got a better idea? Come on!"

Seamus didn't reply. Ron let him take the lead and then went back to get Neville who seemed glued to the back of the fireplace, his face covered with sweat and an almost delirious look in his eyes.

"Come on, Neville, you've got to get up," said Ron decisively.

"R-R-Ron, I-I d-d-d-don't think - "

"Neville, if you don't get up, we're going to be bloody target practice as soon as they get through that door!"

"J-j-j-just leave m-m-e, R-R-R-Ron!"

"I'm not leaving you, now come on!"

Ron dragged Neville over his shoulder and pulled him from the fireplace. Seamus managed to walk ahead on his own but Ron had to support Neville by himself since his other roommate was clearly in no fit state to help. They half-drifted, half-dragged their feet forward to the seventh year boys' dormitory like three invalid ghosts propelled on only by will and fear. The Fat Lady's screaming had ominously stopped. Ron swung his head around to see bits of stone wall and plaster fall down into the common room from what had once been the portrait hole.

"Come on!" yelled Ron again as they mounted the steps to the dormitories. A journey they had taken every day for the last seven years now seemed the longest climb of their lives. Ron all but shoved Seamus forward to the door as the wall separating the common room from the corridor outside started to fall in completely. Seamus swung down on the handle of the door and the three of them fell inside. Ron slammed the door shut just as the masked Death Eaters burst into the common room and threw a well-placed hex up toward them.

Ron guided Neville over to his bed as Seamus collapsed into the nearest one which was Ron's own. Ron looked over to see that the purple boils were now moving up one side of his face. He seemed too tired to ask Ron what he had planned next but his eyes told his roommate that he had none of his own ideas.

"Have you got your wand?" Ron asked Seamus.

His heart sank as Seamus shook his head. "You?"

Ron shook his head, too, and sighed heavily. "I had to drop it to drag the two of you out of the corridor."

Ron looked at his two friends and found only blank stares looking back at him.

"Hello, Weasel Face," came the sound of an amplified voice from the common room below. "Remember me?"

Ron locked eyes with Seamus.

"Bloody hell," said Seamus. "It's old Nott!"

The painfully discordant chorus of "Weasley is Our King" rose up from the common room below.

"How's your little sister these days, Weasel Face?" asked the voice again. "I shouldn't worry, you know. We've left her safe and sound with Draco. He said they needed some privacy. And we know not to bother him when he says that, don't we, boys?"

A fresh of chorus of mocking laughter followed.

Ron quickly got to his feet and began searching around the room like a crazed animal for something he could use as a weapon.

"Don't, mate!" whispered Seamus. "They're just trying to bait you to come out!"

"And they're succeeding!" Ron shot back between clenched teeth.

"Is Longbottom up there, too?"

Neville quickly moved into sitting position, ignoring the pain in his leg.

"Still the coward we remember, isn't he, boys? Screaming for his mummy. Oh, that's right, we forgot, you don't have a real mummy, do you, Longbottom? Not since our dear Bellatrix got a hold of her."

Neville tried to get to his feet but collapsed to the floor, wincing with fresh pain.

"Don't!" Ron held out a hand, his own anger at Nott's words suddenly forgotten. "Don't think about it, Neville! They're just trying to get under your skin."

"How do they know?" hissed Neville, the pain-induced stammer now gone from his voice. "How do they know?"

"Forget about it, mate!" said Seamus.

"You can't hide forever, you know, Weasel Face. We know there's no place for you to go up there. The windows are too small and there aren't any other doors. And we know none of you have your wands; we do. We've orders to kill you, you know, and we can stand here all day if we have to. But if you come out now, we'll see what we can do about making it nice and quick. Otherwise, I'm afraid we can't make any promises, can we, lads?"

Nott's words were followed by a sickening series of guffaws.

"I don't like to say this - " Seamus began.

"Then don't!" Ron interrupted sharply, getting to his feet.

"We don't have our wands," said Neville. "And I don't think we have any other weapons."

Ron rounded on him, an almost demonic determination in his eyes. "Oh yes, we do," he replied. "We have what they tried and failed to take from us. We have our memories."

***

"So quiet, Ginny? Where's your Gryffindor indignation?"

Ginny remained silent but her heart continued to beat quickly. In truth, she was desperately thinking of a way she could get her wand back without Malfoy throwing a hex at her first. So far, she hadn't come up with any good ideas.

"I was just thinking how ridiculous you are. And all the things you said," she replied.

If Ginny had expected that she could bait Malfoy into distraction, she was apparently mistaken. Rather than contorting in anger, his face broke into a smile. In fact, Ginny noted with a small shudder that he suddenly seemed like a boy with an evil secret he couldn't wait to share with someone else.

"And why's that, Ginny?" he asked.

"You were the one who let me remember? You created the school where you sent the Muggle-borns. I realize Voldemort doesn't have all that many Death Eaters left but I'm surprised you figure so importantly. In fact, I rather doubt you do."

Malfoy's smile faded. For a moment, there seemed a flicker of fear on his face. But then the grin returned along with a soft evil laugh.

"It amazes me how stubbornly you Gryffindors can cling to a lie if it doesn't suit your tidy vision of the world."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"How do you think the Dark Lord returned? You banished him, Ginny. You and Dumbledore - and Potter. He was lost, stung by a curse far more powerful than his own backfired attempt on the infant Potter's life. And he was very angry, Ginny." Malfoy's eyes grew very wide. "Angry at all who had done this to him. And do you want to know what he did next, Ginny?"

"Apparently he found some witless, power-hungry fool to house his soul again. That's what Dumbledore thought, anyway."

"The Dark Lord was searching that night for revenge. It was his anger alone that sustained him, but sustain him it did. He knew he was finished but he looked for another who could continue his work, work he had been sustaining in secret, work he was so near to completing, work that Dumbledore and his precious spies from the Order knew nothing about : the opening of the gateway, the end of our existence as weak and corruptible, and the beginning of our immortality. The Dark Lord also knew he had a weakness, a weakness from birth, a weakness that made it impossible for him to finally achieve his plans even for all his great powers. Do you know what that weakness was, Ginny?"

"Yes, he was a self-obsessed homicidal maniac."

"He wasn't a pure blood wizard, Ginny. He wasn't like you and I. His father's dirty blood flowed through his veins, however much he hated it. And so the Dark Lord knew he had to find someone with pure blood, not a blood traitor, but one who truly appreciated the noble pedigree that fate had cruelly denied him. He gave that wizard his knowledge and experience so that he could finish his plans and take his deserved place as the greatest wizard of all time! And do you who he chose, Ginny?"

"I think I told you already. A witless, power-hungry fool."

"No, Ginny. He chose me. The Dark Lord visited me that night. I am Lord Voldemort."

Ginny looked across at Malfoy for a moment, as though slightly stunned, then threw her head back and laughed.

"You? I think he'd choose a three-legged doxie before he chose you!"

"No, Ginny. Is it so hard for you to see? Didn't you wonder how I battled as I did in the Hall? Haven't you listened to me talk; can't you see what I can do? Do you really think I'm just a trained-up N.E.W.T. Hogwarts student? Is Dumbledore's great blundering arrogance so hard for you to swallow? He thought if he let me back in this school, if he showered me with his sickly Gryffindor affection, that I would somehow betray my father and my noble blood and serve him! Well, instead, he let the very same wizard he had tried to remove back into this castle and now it is him and all of his mudbloods and mudblood-lovers that I have banished! And you still want to follow the likes of Albus Dumbledore, Ginny?"

Ginny continued to reply by way of a mocking snicker but the uncomfortable voice of Dumbledore that night in his office rang through her memory with crystal clarity:

There aren't many who would consent to house Voldemort's soul. It is most likely a Death Eater, and more than likely, whoever it is has little appreciation of the consequences of his or her actions.

Malfoy took a step closer.

"Do you want me to prove it to you, Ginny?" he hissed.

"Go on, then." Ginny tried to sound brave but she suddenly felt very nervous.

"I remember everything, Ginny. Everything he knew, I do, too. Yes, Ginny, everything." His eyes rested meaningfully on hers. "I know all about the memories he re-created from that diary last year, the diary my father gave him. I remember how you poured out your heart and soul to him. I remember the time he took you into the Chamber. The sound of your cries as you begged him to let you go, the depth of your fear when he emerged, the feel of your skin under his hands. Shall I go on, Ginny, or is the truth finally starting to come to you? It's really only a memory of a memory of a memory, of course. Yet it burns in my soul, Ginny. I cannot forget it and I cannot forget you."

Ginny was no longer smiling now. In fact, she was finding it very difficult to breathe or think, but Malfoy's own smile was growing ever more triumphant. He began to walk toward her.

"You never told your parents everything, did you, Ginny? And you lied to Potter. You told him the last thing you remembered was Riddle coming out of the diary. Won't he be unhappy if he ever found out how faithless you've been to him? Not that you had much choice, of course. But the Dark Lord marked you that night, just as surely as he gave Potter his scar. And now you and he have a destiny together. You and I have a destiny, Ginny."

Malfoy stopped walking sickening inches from Ginny's face. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to take in a breath again, but fear as to what Malfoy might do to her and anger at what had been done already forced her to find her voice.

"You fool," she hissed. "He didn't want you because you were pure blood. He wanted you because you were desperate and loyal. And he will destroy you."

Malfoy laughed and shook his head. "Oh, no, Ginny. He won't destroy me. I am the pinnacle of his greatness. I am his apotheosis. Do you know, Ginny, at that school that Potter and the mudbloods go to, they have a God, a God they worship as their savior, their messiah? They believe he rescued them from death itself. Well, the Muggles have their savior; we wizards have ours. I am that savior; I am the messiah of our kind, Ginny. I am the last of all our gods and you will be there at my side when I deliver all of our people from their mortality!"

"You don't want to deliver our people from anything, Malfoy. You want to destroy them!"

Malfoy shook his head. "No, Ginny. More of Dumbledore's lies. And you still believe him."

"And if you're so confident about yourself, why don't you banish the half-bloods?"

Malfoy suddenly took a step backwards as though he was afraid Ginny was going to strike him. It was obviously not the question he had been expecting.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Why did you just banish Harry? You could have banished all the half-bloods. That was what you did to all the others. Why not that time? Isn't that what you've always wanted: the wizarding world for Pure Bloods only? So why not get rid of all the half-bloods? Tell me!"

For the first time since he had trapped Ginny in the room, Malfoy seemed at a loss for words.

"You can't answer me?" Ginny went on. "Then I'll give you the answer myself. You didn't banish the half-bloods because you are a half-blood! You knew there was too little Draco Malfoy left in you to be sure you wouldn't be banishing yourself. Isn't that true, Tom Marvolo Riddle?"

Malfoy suddenly looked nothing like the most powerful wizard of all time and very much like a scared child who had ranged far out of his depth.

"That's not true!" he insisted. "I told you I'm not him. I - I only carry his knowledge inside me!"

But Ginny shook her head. "I don't think you did tell me that. I think you said 'I am Lord Voldemort.' And I think you meant it, too. Listen to yourself, Draco. You're switching subjectivities all the time. Sometimes you think you're Draco Malfoy, but more often than not, you forget you're anything other than Voldemort. And it's happening more and more often, isn't it? And before long, there's going to be nothing of Draco Malfoy left. In fact," Ginny finished quietly, as though more to herself than to Malfoy, "it's already too late, isn't it?"

Malfoy raised his wand in Ginny's direction as his face twisted up in rage. "How dare you? How dare you accuse me of having dirty blood? I am the last of the Malfoys, the last of the most noble and pure wizarding family left! I'm not - I've never - I don't have any - "

"ACCIO WAND!"

Malfoy suddenly stopped talking as Ginny's wand flew up from the floor and into her hand. The two adversaries stared across at each other for a moment, each gripping their wands very tightly, then Malfoy's face broke out once again into a smile.

"Very good, Ginny. I can see I've misjudged you. You'd make a fine Slytherin after all. What are you going to do to me, Ginny?" he asked mockingly. "Another bat-bogey hex, perhaps? I suppose I probably deserve - "

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Were it not for Lord Voldemort's reflexes, Malfoy would surely have been struck down where he was standing, but before the green light from Ginny's wand struck him, he had flattened himself on the floor. The curse hit the chalkboard behind him which exploded into pieces.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" cried Ginny again, her voice cracking.

But once again Malfoy dove out the way as shards of glass and exploded pieces of wood from what had once been a desk exploded behind the spot where he had just been standing.

Ginny swung her wand around the room, trying to pick up Malfoy again, but it seemed he had moved into the shadows. She had no idea what her curses would do if they really hit their intended target. She remembered Harry telling her that even the Cruciatus Curse required cold hatred to work and her anger for the thing that had destroyed her childhood and taken away the person she loved was anything but cold. But she knew she had a duty to everything that was good and decent to destroy this monster the only way she knew how.

"An unforgivable curse, Ginny?" came Malfoy's voice from the corner of the room. "Does a lifetime sentence in Azkaban appeal to - "

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Ginny fired again at the sound of the voice just in time to see Malfoy's shadow duck behind another table. She fired again there but he moved a second time and she could not see where he had gone.

But there was one thing that caught Ginny's eye. Malfoy's wand was still lying on the floor near where he had fallen the first time. He was defenseless. If only she could see him to strike -

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Ginny cried again as Malfoy crawled along the ceiling near the door like a spider, but once again her curse missed.

"I thought you believed in that old fool's prophecies, Ginny. You're not the one who's supposed to kill me."

Malfoy was panting now. Ginny sensed that he was tensing to spring again, but she held onto her wand and said nothing this time, hoping to fool him into another dive. But Malfoy stayed his ground on the wall to the right of the entrance.

"Potter won't be pleased if you steal his thunder, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure he'll find it in his heart to forgive me. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Malfoy twisted to his right to avoid the curse again and then bolted toward the door. Ginny's eyes widened and she sprang forward to close the gap but only as she made it almost all the way to the exit did she realize her mistake. With lightning speed, Malfoy ducked back into the room and pounced on his wand. A fresh curse formed in Ginny's mouth but, once again, she was not as quick as her opponent.

"PETRIFICUS TOTALIS!"

Ginny felt like her insides had frozen into ice. She could do nothing to stop herself from falling hard to the floor again. Her wand fell out of her hand and rolled only inches away from her body but she could do nothing to retrieve it. Her head splitting in pain and clouded with butterflies from her fall, Ginny could only watch as her adversary walked toward her with the lazy gait of Draco Malfoy and the cruel smile of Lord Voldemort.

"You have been a very bad girl this time, haven't you, Ginny? But don't worry. I've no intention of hurting you. It will all be much easier, though, if you don't try and fight me in your mind."

Ginny heard but did not feel her heart pound as Malfoy continued to walk slowly toward her. She wanted to run; she wanted even to squirm away; and then finally she just wanted to close her eyes. But she could do none of those things. And so she could see quite clearly when a powerful white light exploded from somewhere behind her and sent Malfoy flying back to the other side of the room, an expression of shock and surprise plastered across his face.

A hand touched Ginny's shoulder and she found she could move again. She made for her wand and tried to get to her feet, but the pain had not subsided from her head, and she found herself too groggy to stand. She settled for sitting and then darted her woozy head back and forth to find what it was that had saved her. Two large golf ball-sized eyes found their way into her line of sight.

"Ginny Weasley!"

"Dobby? Dobby! Where in Merlin's name have you been? Aaah!" Ginny rubbed the side of her head as Dobby's two eyes suddenly became four and began dancing in front of her. "It's been months, Dobby!" she finally managed to say.

"Dobby is very sorry, Ginny Weasley. Dobby is staying with Professor Dumbledore. Dobby is sent to warn Ginny Weasley: Hogwarts is no longer safe!"

"Really? Do you think?"

"Dobby is - " Dobby broke off as both he and Ginny saw movement at the other end of the room. Malfoy was slowly getting to his feet, his wand still clutched in his hand, and a none too pleasant look on his face.

Ginny made quickly for her wand again but before she could reach it she felt Dobby take her other hand in his and place a piece of cloth between them. Ginny watched Malfoy angrily approach but then she felt a sharp tug at her hip, and Malfoy and the room where she had been laying were suddenly far, far away.