Desolation Row | A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 20

It was just over three weeks after Draco's birthday and together we stood, terrified, clutching tightly onto each other's arms. We were stood before the cabinet in the Room of Requirement. Draco had done it. Finally, the cabinet was working and we were waiting with baited breath for the first of the Death Eaters to appear. My heart was pounding and I could hear Draco's rasping breath beside me. Then, very slowly, the door began to open.
"Go," Draco whispered to me. "go to the Astronomy tower, wait for me there."
I went to object but Draco shook his head.
"Go."
With a final squeeze of his hand, I did what he had asked and hurried quietly to the Astronomy tower, my heart still pounding erratically against my ribcage.
When I reached the tower, I heard voices. I kept myself in the shadows, ensuring I was not visible. I could hear familiar voices and squinted to make out Potter and Dumbledore. I heard Dumbledore ask Harry to find Professor Snape but before he could make it very far, the door burst open and somebody erupted through it and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"
I saw Potter's body become instantly rigid and immobile, and I watched him fall back against the tower wall, propped like an unsteady statue, unable to move or speak. I could not understand how it had happened — Expelliarmus was not a Freezing Charm — then, by the light of the Mark, I saw Dumbledore's wand flying in an arc over the edge of the ramparts and understood... Dumbledore had wordlessly immobilized Potter, and the second he had taken to perform the spell had cost him the chance of defending himself. Standing against the ramparts, very white in the face, Dumbledore still showed no sign of panic or distress. He merely looked across at his disarmer and said, "Good evening, Draco."
Draco stepped forward, glancing around quickly to check that he and Dumbledore were alone.
"Who else is here?"
"A question I might ask you. Or are you acting alone?"
I watched Draco's pale eyes shift back to Dumbledore in the greenish glare of the Mark, my heart was racing and I was beginning to worry that it would be heard. I was unsure whether Potter had yet seen me as he was frozen, staring at Draco and Dumbledore. I knew what was coming. This was going to be it. This would be when Draco did it. This would be the night my boyfriend would become a murderer but I understood.
"No," he said. "I've got back up. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."
"Well, well," responded Dumbledore. "Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"
"Yeah," said Draco, who was panting. "Right under your nose and you never realized!"
"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "Yet... forgive me... where are they now? You seem unsupported."
"They met some of your guards. They're having a fight down below. They won't be long... I came on ahead. I — I've got a job to do."
"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy," said Dumbledore softly.
There was silence. Potter stood imprisoned within his own invisible, paralyzed body and I was staring at the two of them, my ears straining to hear sounds of the Death Eaters' distant fight, and in front of us, Draco did nothing but stare at Albus Dumbledore, who, incredibly, smiled.
"Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."
"How do you know?" said Draco at once and I had to suppress a gasp - how did Dumbledore know?
"You don't know what I'm capable of," said Draco, forcefully. "You don't know what I've done!"
"Oh yes, I do," said Dumbledore mildly, my heart still rapidly hammering against my chest. "You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts... so feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has been really in it."
"It has been in it!" said Draco vehemently and I felt a pang of pain capture my heart, seeing Draco upset or angry was hard. "I've been working on it all year, and tonight —"
Hot, wet tears started to pour down my face. I knew what was coming, I knew he had to do it I was just so scared. What if it went wrong? What if he couldn't do it? What if- no, I couldn't think like that. He would be fine. Despite my self-reassurance, tears still continued to flow and I saw Potter's eyes shift to me. He features contorted in confusion and I held my finger to my lips, tears still falling wetly. Somewhere in the depths of the castle below, I heard a muffled yell. Draco stiffened and glanced over his shoulder.
"Somebody is putting up a good fight," said Dumbledore conversationally. "But you were saying... yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school, which, I admit, I thought impossible. . . . How did you do it?"
But Draco said nothing: he was still listening to whatever was happening below and seemed almost as paralyzed as Potter was.
"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone," suggested Dumbledore. "What if your backup has been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps realized, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight too. And after all, you don't really need help... I have no wand at the moment... I cannot defend myself."
Draco merely stared at him.
"I see," said Dumbledore kindly, when Draco neither moved nor spoke. "You are afraid to act until they join you."
"I'm not afraid!" snarled Draco, though he still made no move to hurt Dumbledore. "It's you who should be scared!"
I wasn't sure Dumbledore or Potter could see it but I could tell that Draco was terrified. His eyes were darting about, not able to focus on anything around him as he stood before Dumbledore his chest heaving.
"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe... so tell me, while we wait for your friends... how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it."
Draco looked as though he was fighting the urge to shout or to vomit. He gulped and took several deep breaths, glaring at Dumbledore, his wand pointing directly at the latter's heart. Then, as though he could not help himself, he said, "I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year."
I sighed, my tears still falling and I slid down the wall, silently, bringing my knees up to my chest when I hit the floor. I wasn't sure I could take it. I had thought that I understood what Draco was going to do, thought that I would be okay with it. I thought I would be more scared of what would happen to him if he didn't kill Dumbledore than what would happen while he did. Clearly, I was wrong. I buried my face in my knees, sobbing silently.
"Aaaah." Dumbledore's sigh was half a groan. He closed his eyes for a moment. "That was clever... There is a pair, I take it?"
"In Borgin and Burkes," explained Draco, "and they make a kind of passage between them. Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shop as if the cabinet was travelling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him... In the end, he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed his test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realized what it meant — even Borgin didn't know — I was the one who realized there could be a way into Hogwarts through the cabinets if I fixed the broken one."
"Very good," murmured Dumbledore. "So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you... A clever plan, a very clever plan... and, as you say, right under my nose."
"Yeah," said Draco and even I was shocked by how he seemed to draw courage and comfort from Dumbledore's praise. "Yeah, it was!"
"But there were times," Dumbledore went on, "weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the cabinet? And you resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands... poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink..."
"Yeah, well, you still didn't realize who was behind that stuff, did you?" sneered Draco, as I lifted my head up and Dumbledore slid a little down the ramparts, the strength in his legs apparently fading, Potter struggling fruitlessly, mutely, against the enchantment binding him.
"As a matter of fact, I did," said Dumbledore. "I was sure it was you."
"Why didn't you stop me, then?" Draco demanded, his patience running thin as his nerves sky-rocketed.
"I tried Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders —"
"He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised my mother —"
I flinched at the mention of Narcissa, wondering if she would be here. I knew Lucius couldn't be, what with the Dementors of Azkaban keeping him locked in a cell. He had never praised Draco much before but I was sure that the murder of one the Death Eaters' most hated enemies would earn Draco at least a 'well done' from his father, whenever it was they saw it each other next. I hoped Narcissa wasn't here, she didn't deserve to be dragged into Lucius' feral life the way Draco was.
"Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but —"
"He's a double agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!"
I shook my head, trust Draco to offend Albus Dumbledore to his face.
"We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape —"
"Well, you're losing your grip, then!" sneered Draco. "He's been offering me plenty of help — wanting all the glory for himself— wanting a bit of the action — 'What are you doing?' 'Did you do the necklace, that was stupid, it could have blown everything —' But I haven't told him what I've been doing in the Room of Requirement, he's going to wake up tomorrow and it'll all be over and he won't be the Dark Lord's favorite anymore, he'll be nothing compared to me, nothing!"
"Very gratifying," said Dumbledore mildly. "We all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course. But you must have had an accomplice, all the same... someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to slip Katie the — the — aaaah..." Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as though he was about to fall asleep. "...of course... Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperius Curse?"
"Got there at last, have you?" Draco taunted as I gasped, I would never have guessed that Madam Rosmerta was under the Imperius Curse.
There was another yell from below, rather louder than the last. Draco looked nervously over his shoulder again, then back at Dumbledore, who went on: "So poor Rosmerta was forced to lurk in her own bathroom and pass that necklace to any Hogwarts student who entered the room unaccompanied? And the poisoned mead . . . well, naturally, Rosmerta was able to poison it for you before she sent the bottle to Slughorn, believing that it was to be my Christmas present... Yes, very neat... very neat... Poor Mr Filch would not, of course, think to check a bottle of Rosmerta's. Tell me, how have you been communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all methods of communication in and out of the school monitored."
"Enchanted coins," said Draco, as though he was compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was shaking badly and I shook my head in disbelief - there was so much I was learning that Draco had not disclosed to me. "I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages —"
"Isn't that the secret method of communication the group that called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" asked Dumbledore. His voice was light and conversational, but Potter and I saw him slip an inch lower down the wall as he said it.
"Yeah, I got the idea from them," said Draco, with a twisted smile. "I got the idea of poisoning the mead from the Mudblood Granger as well, I heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognising potions."
I gritted my teeth. I hated when Draco called Hermione 'mudblood'. Here I was, attempting to break the stigma around Slytherins, while Draco really wasn't helping at all. I would talk to him about that later. If I ever saw him again...
"Please do not use that offensive word in front of me," said Dumbledore.
Draco gave a harsh laugh and I felt sick. I had never seen this side of Draco and quite frankly, I hated it. This would have been the side of Draco that Elisa saw all through last year.
"You care about me saying 'Mudblood' when I'm about to kill you?"
I gritted my teeth again.
"Yes, I do," said Dumbledore, and I saw his feet slide a little on the floor as he struggled to remain upright. "But as for being about to kill me, Draco, you have had several long minutes now, we are quite alone, I am more defenceless than you can have dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted..."
Draco's mouth contorted involuntarily, as though he had tasted something very bitter.
"Now, about tonight," Dumbledore went on, "I am a little puzzled about how it happened... You knew that I had left the school? But of course," he answered his own question, "Rosmerta saw me leaving, she tipped you off using your ingenious coins, I'm sure."
"That's right," said Draco and I looked up at him, shocked - I had known none of this. "But she said you were just going for a drink, you'd be back..."
"Well, I certainly did have a drink... and I came back... after a fashion," mumbled Dumbledore. "So you decided to spring a trap for me?"
"We decided to put the Dark Mark over the tower and get you to hurry up here, to see who'd been killed," said Draco and I sighed silently, that must have happened as I made my way over to the Astronomy tower. "And it worked!"
"Well... yes and no..." said Dumbledore. "But am I to take it, then, that nobody has been murdered?"
"Someone's dead," said Draco, and his voice seemed to go up an octave as he said it while I tried to conceal a strangled sob. "One of your people... I don't know who, it was dark... I stepped over the body... I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way..."
"Yes, they do that," said Dumbledore.
There was a bang and a few shouts from below, louder than ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the actual spiral staircase that led to where Dumbledore, Draco, Potter and I stood, and my heart thundered unheard in my chest... Someone was dead... Draco had stepped over the body... but who was it?
"There is little time, one way or another," said Dumbledore. "So let us discuss your options, Draco."
"My options!" said Draco loudly. "I'm standing here with a wand — I'm about to kill you —"
"My dear boy, let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means."
"I haven't got any options!" said Draco, and he was suddenly white as Dumbledore, causing my sobbing to increase tenfold. "I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family, he'll kill Ophelia!"
My heart stopped. He hadn't told me that. I saw Potter's eyes slip to me again and the tears stopped almost instantaneously. I was now too shocked to feel much else, the shock numbing me.
"I appreciate the difficulty of your position," said Dumbledore. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized that I suspected you."
Draco winced at the sound of the name and I continued to stare at him.
"I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you," continued Dumbledore. "But now, at last, we can speak plainly to each other... No harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived... I can help you, Draco."
"No, you can't," said Draco, his wand hand shaking very badly indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."
The tears began again. Draco was in pain, he was hurt, scared, but there was nothing I could do to help.
"Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban... When the time comes, we can protect him too. Come over to the right side, Draco... you are not a killer..."
Draco stared at Dumbledore.
"But I got this far, didn't I?" he said slowly. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... and you're in my power... I'm the one with the wand... You're at my mercy..."
"No, Draco," said Dumbledore quietly. "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now."
Draco did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. I thought he saw it drop by a fraction and my heart fluttered for his safety — But suddenly footsteps were thundering up the stairs, and a second later Draco was buffeted out of the way as four people in black robes burst through the door onto the ramparts. Still paralyzed, his eyes staring unblinkingly, Potter gazed in terror upon four strangers and I followed his gaze over to them: It seemed the Death Eaters had won the fight below. A lumpy-looking man with an odd lopsided leer gave a wheezy giggle.
"Dumbledore cornered!" he said, and he turned to a stocky little woman who looked as though she could be his sister and who was grinning eagerly. "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done!"
"Good evening, Amycus," said Dumbledore calmly, as though welcoming the man to a tea party. "And you've brought Alecto too... Charming..."
I recognised the names Dumbledore was calling but not their faces. I must have heard their names mentioned by Lucius at some point in my past. The woman gave an angry little titter.
"Think your little jokes'll help you on your deathbed then?" she jeered.
"Jokes? No, no, these are manners," replied Dumbledore.
"Do it," said the stranger standing nearest to us, a big, rangy man with matted grey hair and whiskers, whose black Death Eater's robes looked uncomfortably tight. He had a voice like none that I had ever heard: a rasping bark of a voice. I could smell a powerful mixture of dirt, sweat, and, unmistakably, of blood coming from him. His filthy hands had long yellowish nails.
"Is that you, Fenrir?" asked Dumbledore.
"That's right," rasped the other. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"
"No, I cannot say that I am."
Greyback grinned, showing pointed teeth. Blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, obscenely.
"But you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore."
"Am I to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon now? This is most unusual... You have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?"
"That's right," said Fenrir Greyback. "Shocks you that, does it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?"
"Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little," said Dumbledore. "And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live..."
"I didn't," breathed Draco.
He was not looking at Fenrir; he did not seem to want to even glance at him.
"I didn't know he was going to come —"
"I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore," rasped Greyback. "Not when there are throats to be ripped out... Delicious, delicious..."
My heart was pounding ferociously. I knew that Fenrir Greyback was the werewolf that had bitten Lupin. He raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore.
"I could do you for afters, Dumbledore."
"No," said the fourth Death Eater sharply.
He had a heavy, brutal-looking face.
"We've got orders. Draco's got to do it. Now, Draco, and quickly."
Draco was showing less resolution than ever. He looked terrified as he stared into Dumbledore's face, which was even paler, and rather lower than usual, as he had slid so far down the rampart wall. The tears streaming down my face began to fall even faster as I realised just the position Draco was really in.
"He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!" said the lopsided man, to the accompaniment of his sister's wheezing giggles. "Look at him — what's happened to you, then, Dumby?"
"Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus," said Dumbledore. "Old age, in short... One day, perhaps, it will happen to you... if you are lucky..."
"What's that mean, then, what's that mean?" yelled the Death Eater, suddenly violent. "Always the same, weren't yeh, Dumby, talking and doing nothing, nothing. I don't even know why the Dark Lord's bothering to kill yer! Come on, Draco, do it!"
But at that moment there were renewed sounds of scuffling from below and a voice shouted, "They've blocked the stairs — Reducto! REDUCTO !"
"Now, Draco, quickly!" said the brutal-faced man angrily but Draco's hand was shaking so badly that he could barely aim.
"I'll do it," snarled Fenrir, moving toward Dumbledore with his hands outstretched, his teeth bared.
"I said no!" shouted the brutal-faced man; there was a flash of light and the werewolf was blasted out of the way; he hit the ramparts and staggered, looking furious.
"Draco, do it or stand aside so one of us —" screeched the woman, but at that precise moment, the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall, to the four Death Eaters, including the enraged werewolf, and Draco.
"We've got a problem, Snape," said the lumpy Amycus, whose eyes and wand were fixed alike upon Dumbledore, "the boy doesn't seem able —"
But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly.
"Severus..."
The sound was harrowing, beyond anything I had experienced all evening. For the first time, Dumbledore was pleading. Snape said nothing, but walked forward and pushed Draco roughly out of the way. The three Death Eaters fell back without a word. Even the werewolf seemed cowed. Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face.
"Severus... please..." Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore.
"Avada Kedavra!" A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest.
Silent and unmoving, I was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air. For a split second, he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight. A great scream left my mouth and for a split second, I shocked myself. I threw myself from out the shadows, towards Draco but Snape caught me.
"Come quietly," he whispered. "Out of here, quickly."
With me in one hand, Snape seized Draco by the scruff of the neck and forced him through the door ahead of the rest; Greyback and the squat brother and sister followed, the latter both panting excitedly. We headed out of the door and I heard Potter yell something. All I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears but I knew that it had hit one of the Death Eaters following us. Snape led me and Draco through the battle, rounding a corner just as Potter emerged from the bottom of the staircase. I whipped around to see him petrify Fenrir and dodge a jet of green light before running headlong into the battle.
The next time I saw Potter was as we were crossing the grounds to gates. Once we were beyond those gates, we could apparate. Potter had just come through the doors to the castle as we made our way across the rounds, a great way ahead of him. Snape had not let go and of Draco and I. I had shared some terrified glancing with my boyfriend and he had returned them sorrowfully. I turned back to see Hagrid emerging from his cabin and I shook my head in fear. Not Hagrid, anyone but Hagrid. Hearing Potter cast a spell at Snape, he yelled at me and Draco to run. Draco grabbed hold of my hand and did just as Snape had set, dragging me along with him as he pelted towards the gates. I whipped my head around as we ran, casting my gaze over the large green snake protruding from the skull's mouth that rose above our school. Tears streamed once again down my face. Hogwarts was everything to me. It was where I had made friends (I hadn't seen Elisa since yesterday and I didn't even know where she was), it was where Draco and I had spent most of our time together. Hogwarts meant everything and I looked back at it with sorrow as I realised that it would never be the same again. I looked at the oak doors that were now blasted to pieces, I looked at Hagrid's hut that had gone up in flames and I looked down at mine and Draco's hands. So much had changed in six years, some for the better, some for the worse but there was no way I could deny that nothing would ever be the same again. Draco and I reached the gates and only then did we slow down.
"Your house," panted Draco. "keep it in mind."
I remembered what I had been taught about apparating - Destination, Determination, Deliberation. The world around me began to spin, the sounds of battle died away. It wasn't long before my feet hit the floor. I opened my eyes and was astonished to see that it had worked. Draco and I were stood in my living room before my father, his confused gaze settling on us. I sighed and let a sad smile grace my features. We were safe, for now. Draco had done it. He had murdered Albus Dumbledore and it meant that Lord Voldemort was well and truly back.

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Hey guys!!

My goodness.... That was really emotional to write, I won't lie. Wow. I hope you guys enjoyed that!! It gets happier from now on, I promise...

- Izzy xx