Till The End | h.p

destiny

Dumbledore and the Order get everyone out of the Ministry safely and back to Hogwarts. He guides Sam and Harry into his office. She stares blankly at the wall as Dumbledore sits across from them.

"We all need to discuss what happened at-" Dumbledore begins.

Sam interrupts, "What is there to say? It's our fault."

Silence is all that follows until she continues, "He wasn't even there. He only came to save us."

She stands abruptly and walks over to one of Dumbledore's cluttered tables, "It's my fault he's dead... it's my fault!"

She throws everything to the floor in rage and Harry quickly stands as his own tears fall. He rushes over and grabs her. He pulls her into him and holds her close.

"It's alright," Dumbledore claims, "Pain makes us human-"

"Then I don't want to be human!" She cries as she falls to the floor. As her knees buckle, books fly off the shelves that line his office.

He stands quickly and makes his way over to the two teenagers crying on the floor. He sits down in front of them.

"I know how you both feel," He says calmly.

"No, you don't," Harry argues as he holds onto Sam, "It's my fault."

Sam wants desperately to control her emotions so that she can comfort Harry for once, but they flow out of her relentlessly. He knows what she's feeling though and rests his forehead against the back of her head as his thumbs rub circles into her arms.

"No, the fault is mine," Dumbledore insists, "I knew it was only a matter of time before Voldemort made the connection between you. I knew he would come for you both. I thought by distancing myself from you, as I have done all year, he'd be less tempted, and therefore you might be more protected."

Harry looks up to meet his eyes, "The prophecy said: Neither one can live while the other one survives. It means one of us is gonna have to kill the other, in the end."

Sam sits up slowly and turns to look only at Dumbledore awaiting his answer.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asks.

"For the same reason you tried to save Sirius. The same reason your friends saved you. After all these years, after all you've suffered, I didn't want to cause you any more pain. I cared too much about you."

"Can I save him?" Sam inquires, "You know about my prophecy, don't you?"

Harry looks at her curiously and Dumbledore turns his gaze to her, "Yes, I do," he hesitates momentarily, "I do not know for certain, what you can and cannot do, all that we know is what happens when you choose."

They exit his office and walk back to Gryffindor Tower. Sam watches the staircases move, "Can we go back to first year, when it wasn't this painful?"

He doesn't respond, he only grabs onto her hand and gently pulls her into his side. They open the door to the common room and make their way up to the dorms. As he finishes packing his trunk for the holidays, he walks out and steps into her room. Hermione is probably in the Great Hall with the others. He moves to sit on Sam's bed as she finishes packing.

"You saw me in the entrance hall at the Ministry. You saw what I did... what I'm capable of. You witnessed something I hoped would never be let out- you saw me at my worst, my most cruel. All my life everyone would tell me how kind and compassionate I was. They all see me as this wonderful, good person. Even you... you saw the darkness that lurks within. How can you sit next to me? How can you look at me and still want to be near me? I'm not like you guys. You're the Golden Trio, the saviors, the heroes. I'm monstrous," she begins to let her tears fall as the realization hits her.