*Lovely gif on the side lol*
A harsh slamming sound made me jump awake.
Veins alive with nerves I flipped over the coin to see some sort of message, but the only one on there was 'Be prepared to fight back if anything happens'. With a sigh of relief I looked at the clock opposite me--it was almost eleven. Harry had been gone for about two hours.
Thinking I should check to see if he had returned, I pulled on my leather jacket over my jumper and jeans, slipping my shoes on. It was only when I picked up my wand I noticed something on the bed side table.
A letter, adressed to me. Picking up the envelope, I scrutinised the scrawl of my name, looking oddly familar. Realisation hit me like a brick. It was Malfoy's writing.
Ripping open the envelope, I read the opening paragraph.
My Dearest Aurora,
I've made so many mistakes in my life, I've fucked up too many people's emotions. My friends, my family, my enemies--you. My biggest regret is all the times I let you down, when you deserved somebody who completed you. I wish I could use a time-turner to back to those times we'd exchange sly looks and stolen kisses, make everything right. But I can't.
Time is running out for me to try and fix what I've broken. But it's time I tell you what Sam erased from your memory, the truth about me. You probably won't read this, Rory, but this letter is a compilation of everything I didn't say...
I scanned through the rest of the letter, my eyes filling up with tears. He'd hurt me, broken up with me, for my protection? He'd loved me the whole time, it wasn't an illusion. Everything had been real.
My mind flickered back to the middle of the letter: I have to kill Dumbledore tonight, it's my mission. Please, protect yourself and the people you love. It's all I'll ever ask of you.
"Shit." I muttered, tucking the letter into my pocket. I glanced around the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey was occupied in her office. "Colloportus."
Her door was now locked so if and when the death eaters attacked she would be safe. Without looking back, I ran out of the hospital wing. There was an odd feeling in the air as my trainers squeeked on the floor, a weird foreboding sense of things to come.
"He'll be there Ron, or he'll show up--!" I heard Ginny hiss from around the corner.
Relieved I darted around the corner, coming face-to-face with Ginny, Ron and Arthur who was clutching the Maurader's Map. "Where did you get that from?" I demanded. "It's in my dorm!"
"Harry gave it to us before he left." Ginny explained. "What are you doing out?"
"Got excited to see me, huh?" Arthur said dryly, looking more awkward than usual.
"Look, there's going to be an attack tonight, we need to try and stop it, or at least neutralise it." I explained quickly. Ron opened his mouth to question, but I held up a hand to stop him. "Look, I can't explain now, I just know. How many D.A members are patrolling?"
"Uh Hermione, Luna and Gennie are by Snape's office." Ginny counted off on her fingers. "Cole, Sam, Alia and Colin are all looking around the dungeons, and there's some people from my year on the look out."
I counted that up in my head, and nodded. "Right, room of requirement it is."
Ron and Ginny leaded, they explained they were trying to follow Malfoy's movements and catch him by the room of requirement. This was useful considering I needed to speak with him anyway. Arthur and I followed behind, Arthur giving me worried glances every now and then.
"Uh, are you okay?" He asked, looking nervous.
"Couldn't be better." I said fiercly, a deep set determination burning inside. I knew everything now. I knew what Sam had erased from my mind, what Malfoy's mission was and the situation of our break-up.
"You look like you're out ready to kill somebody."
"You could say that." I chuckled, thinking of all the tears and confusion I'd had over a 'fake' relationship which then ended up being true.
"Wait!" Ron exclaimed. "He's just gone in there, look!"
Arthur and I hurried over and indeed, the figure saying 'Draco Malfoy' was fading away. "Right, let's get moving then!" I exclaimed, and the four of us started to jog, wands out ready.
Loud laughs and delighted swearing was heard from the corridor the room of requirement was on, setting a spark of fear inside me. "Holy shit," Ginny muttered, passing me the map.
Figures and figures were pouring out of the sketches of the room of requirement. Death eaters. Bellatrix, Greyback, the Carrow twins--Cameron. "Look," Arthur said, his voice shaking. "If we can catch Malfoy before all the death eaters are out, we can capture him, stop him letting them through."
"I knew he was a death eater!" Ron hissed triumphantly.
"He didn't have a choice, shut up." I snapped. "Right, come on. Let's do it."
Within seconds we arrived at the seventh floor corridor--only to find Malfoy sneaking out of the doors with a strange looking hand. The four of us stood at the end of the corridor, wands pointed at him. His eyes flickered between the four of us, his eyes weary.
"It's over, Malfoy." Arthur said. "You can't get anymore of them through."
"Too bad they all got through." Malfoy shrugged, before dropping something onto the floor.
Darkness swallowed up around us, blinding and trapping us on the spot. I couldn't see anything, not even my own hands. "Lumos!" I shouted. "Lumos!"
Nothing happened, and I could hear my friends shouting, but it was barely audible over shouts and screams coming from other corridors. The fighting had begun. We couldn't stop it. I grabbed onto somebody's arm and began dragging them in the direction of the Astronomy tower--hoping I could get to Malfoy before it was too late.
All at once the darkness peeled away and I was stood facing Arthur in a side corridor by Ravenclaw tower. "It--It was Fred and George's darkness powder." Arthur panted. "And he had a hand of glory--could see through it."
"I am so having the boys get rid of that item." I said angrily, as shouts and bursts of light echoed from not far away.
"We're going to have to fight our way through, aren't we?" Arthur said wearily.
"That's the plan. I need to get to the Astronomy tower."
"Let's do this." Arthur said confidently, quickly pecking a kiss on my lips. After giving him a small smile, the two of us burst out into the fray.
It was chaous. Lights of spells and jixes were coming from every direction as Death eaters, students and teachers fought each other. Arthur and I had to run for our lives, hands clutched together to not get seperated.
We soon found a tactic as we weaved through the corridors--Arthur used a shield spell, I used stunning and disarming spells to try and slow them down. But even though it was hard and we almost got hit on several times, it got me through that I had to find Dumbledore, Harry and Malfoy before it was too late.
"Avada Kedavra!" A death eater in front of us yelled.
Arthur pulled his arm in front of me to defend me, but just in time another green light from the opposing direction hit it, simply making an explosion above our heads, singeing hair. In amazement, I turned around to see Sam, with a smirk on her face.
"Don't say I don't do anything for you." she said, patting Arthur on the shoulder. "You wanna go to the Astronomy tower, right?"
"Do you know what he's going to do?" I asked Sam, as she pulled us into an abandoned cupboard to avoid the spells aimed at our backs.
"Of course I do, sadly I couldn't tell you though." she shrugged. "Oh yeah, and just so you know, as of 9.15 this evening, you became an Auntie, congrats."
"What?" I spluttered. "Lacey had the baby?"
"Yup, little girl, weighing six pounds elven ounces, name not decided yet." Sam said with a smile. "I needed to go see Lacey and it was a bit of a plot twist to see a newborn baby that wasn't meant to be born for two weeks."
"Wow," I smiled, my heart filling with pride. "If I don't die tonight from this bloody attack, I'll have to sneak out to visit them."
"Wait a second," Sam said cheerily, and muttered a spell under her breath, aimed through the key hole. "That was a mass sleeping spell. Any death eaters out there are knocked out for a few minutes at least. Both of you, go."
"What about you?" Arthur said. "Aren't you coming?"
Sam gave a mysterious smile, kissing him on the cheek lightly. "I've got stuff to do." she grabbed my hands, and to my surprise, kissed me full on the lips. "Take care of yourselves, Rory, Arthur."
"Uh, what was that for?" I raised an eyebrow.
Sam gave another smile. "For the Hell of it, a bit of Dutch courage. Now go, go! Before they wake up!"
And she shoved us both out of the cupboard, to see that the five death eaters that were on the area of corridor were now out cold. So Arthur and I carried on running, Arthur deflecting spells and hexes and my feet burning and heart aching.
"Go now." Arthur said, when we arrived on the corridor leading to the Astronomy tower. "I'll keep off anybody trying to go up there."
I hesitated. "Thank you, Arthur. For everything."
"He always loved you, didn't he?" Arthur said with an absent minded smile. "That's why you're going to him." I went to open my mouth, but he just smiled. "Suppose me and him have more in common than I thought."
I quickly gave Arthur a kiss on the cheek, before I full on sprinted down the corridor and ducked into the tower entrance. I could faintly see Arthur already fighting spells off, and I prayed that he would be okay.
Taking the steps two at a time, my heart almost stopped when I saw the flicker of a Dark Mark in the sky. Was I too late? With my long legs I took three steps at a time, panting when I came to the top--face to face with Dumbledore and Harry.
Automatically I ran into Harry's arms, hugging him tightly. Pulling him back to examine, he was okay. He looked shaken up, but he was okay.
"Thank God you're both okay." I sighed. "Did you get it?"
Harry nodded eagerly. He went to open his mouth when Dumbleore said faintly yet clearly, "Go and wake Severus," said Dumbledore faintly but clearly. Tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do noth- ing else, speak to nobody else and do not remove your Cloak. I shall wait here with Aurora."
"But -" "You swore to obey me, Harry - go!" Harry hurried over to the door leading to the spiral stair-case, but his hand had only just closed upon the iron ring of the door when I heard running footsteps on the other side.
"Just put the cloak on, hide!" I hissed, drawing my wand. Harry nodded, and drew the cloak over him as the door burst open, with somebody screaming a disarming spell.
Dumbledore's wand soared over the end of the tower, and I stared after it helplessly, as Draco Malfoy walked through the door. He looked shocked to see me, but tried to keep a neutral expression.
"Good evening, Draco." Dumbledore said calmly, and I wondered if he knew what Malfoy was planning.
Malfoy glanced around. "It's just you two here?"
"A question I might ask you. Or are you alone?"
"No," he said. "I've got back-up. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."
"Well, well," said Dumbledore, as though Malfoy was showing him an ambitious homework project. "Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"
Yeah,' said Malfoy, who was panting. 'Right under your nose and you never realised!"
"Ingenious,' said Dumbledore. "Yet ... forgive me ... where are they now? You seem unsupported."
"They met some of your guard. 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.
"Draco, you don't have to do this." I whispered, taking a step towards him. "You're not a killer, I know you."
How do you know, Rory?' Draco said at once, his voice breaking, looking at me with pleading eyes. "You don't know what I'm capable of, you don't know what I've done."
"Oh, yes, I do," said Dumbledore mildly. "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. 'I've been work-ing on it all year with Sam and tonight -' 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 paralysed as Harry was.
"Perhaps you should get on with the job alone. What if the back-up has been thwarted by my guard or the students? And of course, I can't defend myself, and I highly doubt Aurora will hurt you."
Draco stared,
"I see,' said Dumbledore kindly, when he 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!'
"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.'"
Malfoy looked as though he was fighting down 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,
"Samantha and I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year.'
'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?'
'The other's in Borgin and Burkes,' said Malfoy, 'and they make a kind of passage between them. If we fixed the cabinents, it could be a passageway."
'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 who, bizarrely, 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, poisoned mead I might drink..."
'Yeah, well, you still didn't realise who was behind that stuff, did you?' sneered Malfoy, as
'As a matter of fact, I did,' said Dumbledore. 'I was sure it was you.' '
Why didn't you stop me, then?' Malfoy demanded.
'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 -'
'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!'
'Very gratifying,' said Dumbledore mildly. "I assume you used Madam Rosmerta to move the necklace?"
"Got there at last, have you?" Draco said, but his voice shook.
'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 you had her send the mead, so Filch wouldn't check it... But how did you communicate?"
'Enchanted coins,' said Malfoy, as though he was compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was shaking badly. 'I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages -"
"Like our D.A coins." I whispered.
Draco nodded, trying to not meet my gaze but failing. He turned back to Dumbledore. "We put the Dark Mark up so you'd come quicker, see who'd been killed."
"Has somebody been killed?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Someone's dead,' said Draco and his voice seemed to go up an octave as he said it. '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 ..."
I felt sick, who was dead? I prayed it wasn't one of my friends.
"You have options, Draco. You don't have to do this!" I exclaimed.
"I haven't got options!" Draco yelled. "I've got to! He'll kill me, my family! He'll make me watch as they kill you!"
"Well I won't let that happen." I said fiercly, stepping closer to him. "Just come to our side, we can protect you and your parents like we did for Sam... You're not a killer, Draco, I know you."
"Stop being so goddamn kind to me, Rory. All I've done is hurt you." Draco said, his voice broken as tears began to fill up in his eyes.
"I know that's not true, I read the letter. All of it. " I whispered, stepping closer to him, letting my fingers brush against his. "Put the wand down and we can sort all of this out. Please. I promise nothing will happen to you or your parents."
Boldly, I wrapped my pinky finger around his, and Draco's serious expression faltered. "Promise?"
I went to reply, but then thundering footsteps came from below, and Dumbledore ripped me from Draco's grasp, pushing me under the cloak with Harry as tears began to silently fall. Harry grasped onto my hand and put an arm around me, just as four death eaters burst through the door.
"Dumbledore cornered!" A pudgy death eater cried, as Draco rubbed agressivley at his face to mask his tears.
A strike of fear went through me. Arthur was guarding the corridor, which meant the death eaters had to go through him. Was he okay?
'Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done!' One death eater cried.
'Do it,' said the stranger standing nearest to us, a large man who had yellow teeth and nails, and smelt strongly of blood.
'Is that you, Fenrir?' asked Dumbledore.
"That's right. Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"
I held in a gasp, realising I was feet away from the man who bit Remus.
'No, I cannot say that I am ...'
Fenrir 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?' Dumbledore said as I silently gagged.
"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, his hands still shaking. "I didn't know he was coming."
'I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore,' rasped Greyback. 'Not when there are throats to be ripped out ... delicious, delicious ...' And he raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore.
"Do it now, Draco." A third death eater snapped.
Draco looked terrified and pale, his eyes flickering to where I was hidden with Harry.
"Come on, Draco, do it!" All the death eaters screamed.
But at that moment, there were renewed sounds of scuffling from below and a voice shouted, 'They've blocked the stairs - Reducto! REDUCTO!'
My heart jumped in my chest. These four hadn't breached opposistion, they just broke through. So there was a high chance that Arthur was alive, that somebody was helping him.
'Draco, do it, or stand aside so one of us -' screeched the woman, but at that precise moment the door to burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene.
'We've got a problem, Snape,' said the pudgy wizard. "The boy won't--"
But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly. 'Severus ...' The sound frightened me. Dumbledore was pleading. Strong, noble Dumbledore who had told me the truth about my parents, helped me overcome my memory loss, nuture my brother into the man he was today was pleading.
Snape said nothing, but walked forwards 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.
A silent scream of horror hissed through my lips, as the world became paralysed and still and I watched as Dumbledore was suspended in the night sky like a puppet balenced by invisble strings, before silently falling out of sight.
- - - - - - - - -
A/N Man I am really getting these chapter out there. This is like the fifth update in a week lmao
Video on the side, is All Time Low's Something's Gotta Give. Lyrics are relevent. (Skip 2:31 to 3:14 if gore makes you uncomfortable)
Thoughts on the letter and Dory's first physcial interaction in a while? (The whole letter will be put up don't worry)
What do you think Lacey and George's daughter will be called? (I know already but I'm interested)
Very important stuff next update. The action is not over yet. What do you think is so important I'm using bold for? (lol)