Harry stepped back, his anger ebbing, giving way to confusion. "But I thought...."

"Thought what? That I was going to stay here like a good boy? That I was going to join the team?" Draco's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Get real, Potter. How long do you think I'd live if I told my father, never mind Voldemort, that he can take his plans for genocide and sod off?"

It took a second for Harry to answer that. "About as long as it takes for one of your housemates to slip a knife between your ribs." Harry grimaced as he realised just how futile a gesture that would be. How...Gryffindor.

"Congratulations. We'll have you thinking like a Slytherin yet." Draco smirked at the thought of the Poster Boy for Gryffindor thinking having Slytherin thoughts.

Harry, meanwhile, was shaking his head. "It won't work. I've known you for more than six years, Malfoy, and while I consider you capable of many things, murder and torture aren't among them. The first time you refuse him, you're a dead man."

"That won't be a problem. You see, I won't be me. Or rather I will be. See?"

Harry looked blank for a moment, then said, "I think I speak for all of Britain when I say, huh?"

"You're right. I'm not a killer. But by changing my memories and altering my personality, the new me will be. This Draco the Death Eater will do anything his master tells him to, while the real me is buried back here somewhere," Draco tapped the back of his head, "Oblivious to everything."

"The Persona Charm?" Harry frowned, "They'll spot it a mile away. Snape once told me that one of the side effects of receiving the Dark Mark is that all enchantments get stripped away."

Draco nodded, "Which is why we'll be using something else instead that has nothing to do with magic. Some muggle trick Dumbledore got out of an old muggle war movie. Hip-knots or something."

"Hypnosis? Hypnosis is going to bring down Voldemort?" Harry seemed skeptical. "And here I thought it was just a party trick to make people act like chickens, or quack like a duck."

"Some of us are a little more mature, Potter." Draco sneered. "Anyway, Voldemort's plan is this. Before year's end he will launch an assault on Hogwarts, to remove the mudblood infection. But before he does, you will be captured, so he can watch you suffer over the deaths of your friends. He will laugh at your misery as Hogwarts is burned to the foundations."

Harry clenched his fists and growled, "No! I will not submit!"

"You will." Draco was the quintessence of calm amidst Harry's tempest.

Harry slashed his fist through the air as if holding a sword, "Death First!"

Draco began to advance on his longstanding rival, "Then be prepared to stand by and watch everything you hold dear burn!"

Draco's voice grew more menacing with each step until finally the Gryffindor seeker could go no further and fell back onto the bed.

"You will be caught, and you will make it easy for them. You will suffer humiliation and pain, and then you shall watch as the Death Eaters attack this very castle. Then when they are easily defeated by the noble defenders, Voldemort shall take you back and torture you in retribution. Just you, him," Draco took a step back and opened his arms wide, "And me."

Gesturing towards Harry, Draco continued his recitation of The Plan. "Then you give me the phrase that unlocks my mind," He then pointed towards himself, "And Voldemort finds himself on the wrong end of my wand. The world is saved, you get to play hero and I get the girl."

Harry was shocked, to say the least. Both by Draco's tirade and the audacity of this new plan. On the surface it seemed feasible, but as someone once said; 'The devil is in the details.' Perhaps he should get a few of these details straight before committing himself. "This code-phrase I'm supposed to say, what is it?"

Draco smiled softly, the same way he had when describing a certain girl in the forest, "Ginny sends her love."