The Slytherin Princess | Draco Malfoy x Reader

Chapter 59: Battle plans

You shivered at the thought of the large, venomous snake that was one of Voldemort's most trusted companions. That serpent never left his side, so you had absolutely no idea how any of you were going to kill it without Voldemort himself immediately noticing and stopping you before you were able to complete your mission.

"You-Know-Who believes that y/n is dead," Harry then stated, and Molly and Arthur's heads snapped over to you, causing your face to heat up. "I—was in possession of the Elder Wand last summer," you admitted, wanting the floor beneath you to open up and swallow you whole. "I don't think You-Know-Who realized he could've just disarmed me and the allegiance of the wand would've transferred to him, so he used the Killing Curse on me instead. However, even though it left me out of commission for almost two weeks, it didn't kill me. You-Know-Who thought it did, though, so I had to go under a magical disguise to return to Hogwarts at the start of term. I'm sure by now he knows I'm not actually dead, because the entire reason I fled the school and found Harry, Ron, and Hermione was because my identity was discovered, but I'm still in hiding from him for as long as possible."

"She's also Malfoy's girlfriend," came Ron's voice, and you didn't think it possible, but your face burned even hotter.

"Oh, you and Juniper are the Slytherins, then," Arthur said absentmindedly, and you wanted to use the Killing Curse on Ron right then and there.

"I—don't think that information was relevant, Ron," came Hermione's gentle voice, and Ron's face turned as his hair as he realized the Gryffindor girl was right. "I—right. Sorry, y/n," he said quickly, and you waved your hand dismissively, too embarrassed to say anything out loud.

"A-anyway," Harry blurted, clearly as desperate as you were to shift the focus off of you, "our plan is to get into the school as stealthily as possible, find both Horcruxes, and destroy them before You-Know-Who returns to attack Hogwarts."

"How are you going to do that?" Molly interjected then. "The three of you are Gryffindors, no? Your Common Room is up in the very top of the castle."

"That's where y/n and Juniper come in," Hermione stated, taking over the conversation. "The both of them are Slytherins. If they can get us Slytherin robes, we can sneak in through the dungeons in the castle, through the Slytherin Common Room, then we can split up and search the castle under the disguise that all of us are Slytherin students. As long as we keep the hoods of our robes up, I'm pretty confident nobody's going to stop us."

"And the Slytherins are pretty hated around the school right now anyway," Juniper cut in, the first words she'd spoken since the meal you'd just eaten had finished. "Before y/n got discovered and we both ran, Slytherins pretty much kept their hoods up and kept to themselves. I wouldn't be surprised if the kids in that house are still getting major shit for being Slytherin. I mean—sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley—getting major crap."

Molly's eyes had widened, but she shook her head quickly. "No worries," she said earnestly. "These are different times."

"The only hitch in the plan is the fact that the diadem is likely in the Room of Requirement," Harry said then. "Which means if we can't find it after a reasonable amount of searching—we have to torch the entire room in Fiendfyre."

"That's so dangerous!" Molly screeched, and Harry's ears turned pink as he nodded. "I know," he said, his voice several decibels lower, as if he'd just been scolded by a parent (which, you realized, he essentially had been). "But it's honestly our only option if we can't find it within the room. If we hurry to the doorway, we can set the fire far enough away that we can leave without any harm done to any of us. It's going to be our only option if we can't find the diadem on our own."

Molly sighed heavily, her face red. Arthur sat beside her, his silence cold and heavy too. The two of them looked at each other, exchanging a silent conversation similar to the way Ron, Hermione, and Harry had done just a few days prior to your apparation here.

Finally they turned back to the rest of the group, both of them releasing heavy sighs in almost perfect unison.

"I can help you make Slytherin robes," Molly said finally, and you felt a surge of relief. You could've cloned your robes for Hermione, easily, but you weren't sure how two robes tailored for Slytherin girls would be able to fit the two Gryffindor boys, cloned robes or not.

"Thanks, mum," Ron said immediately, and Molly gave him a weak smile.

"And I don't know if you know about this at all, but you could attempt to summon the Grey Lady to ask about the location of the diadem," Arthur interjected, and you perked up. "I've heard of her," you said immediately. "I already told the group about the possibility."

"Do you know how to summon her? Or who she is?" Arthur asked, and you shook your head. "I know it's rumored she's either Rowena herself or her daughter Helena, but I don't know for sure," you admitted. "I also don't know how to summon her."

"She is Helena, Rowena's daughter," Arthur confirmed, nodding knowingly. "And she will appear to anyone who truly needs her help. All they need to do is pace the hallway outside the Ravenclaw Common Room a couple of times, and she will come through the window to speak to you."

Harry sat up straighter. "I'll do it," he said quickly. "That way if it's in the Room of Requirement, I can go find it immediately."

The rest of your group nodded. "That's a good idea, Harry," Ron said encouragingly, and Harry managed a smile in response to his best friend.

All seven of you continued to discuss the plan to re-infiltrate Hogwarts as the day waned on, the sun beginning to set over the horizon before you ever stood up from the table.

By the time your little group stood to go to bed, it was dark, but you had a solid plan. Molly was going to help you make Slytherin robes for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and then you were going to apparate to right outside Hogwarts property (since you couldn't Apparate on or off of Hogwarts itself). Then, you would be sneaking in through the outside entrance to the Slytherin dungeons, something the Gryffindor trio definitely shouldn't have known about. After Harry explained his whole debacle with the Marauder's Map, though, you understood more. (And you secretly wanted a map exactly like that for yourself.)

From there, you would split up, meeting back up outside the Room of Requirement once you had destroyed the cup of Helga Hufflepuff so you could then help Harry search for the diadem of Ravenclaw. Then you would have to simply lay low until Voldemort returned to Hogwarts and fight the final battle of Hogwarts, hopefully defeating the dark wizard once and for all.

As you lay in your small, cozy bed late that night, staring up at the ceiling, you replayed the conversations you'd had over and over in your head, and after that, you went over every possible way your battle plan could go wrong.

But your mind kept drifting to Draco, as it had been every day since the last day you'd seen him. You still hadn't seen him since you'd fled the castle weeks before. And you hadn't been able to contact him in any manner—so you didn't even know what was happening to him anymore. You were able to gain from Ron saying he was present at the Manor when the Gryffindor trio had been held prisoner there that your Slytherin Prince had been withdrawn from school, but beyond that, you knew nothing.

You also absentmindedly wondered what would happen to your Dark Mark if you managed to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Would it just remain on your arm forever, as a memorial to the side you never should've fought for? What would this mean for your dream as a Potioneer at the Apothecary? You hadn't even finished your schooling, this wasn't going to help you at all. Would you even be able to go back to finish once the war was over?

You found yourself tossing and turning most of the night, those thoughts and countless others running through your mind over and over again. When you did finally fall asleep, it was light and restless, and you felt as though you hadn't slept at all when the sun finally came peeking through the curtains in your room.

You knew the battle was coming. The turning point of the war was weeks, if not mere days away from darkening your door.

You just weren't completely sure you were ready to face it.