Draco admits to you that he's incapable of killing Dumbledore, but you step in to fill the vacancy.
~~~
You took the next few weeks in as much stride as possible, despite not speaking to Draco nearly at all. You spoke to him in Potions, but beyond the words that were required, your mouth remained shut.
You could sense the impending doom surrounding everyone at Hogwarts, though, and you wondered what it meant for Draco. You knew he had to kill Dumbledore eventually, but you didn't know when (or if) he'd be able to bring himself to do that.
The biggest problem you were worried about was that you weren't sure if you and Draco had broken up or if you were just stuck in one of the biggest arguments you'd ever had. Considering he hadn't even burst into your room to get mad at you for hanging out with Harry the way he'd been doing, you had begun to worry that it was the first option.
You didn't want things to be over, the Dark Mark on your arm that you'd had to keep hidden for weeks said that much. But you also couldn't handle Draco continually yelling things like that every time he got mad at you.
Rumors had begun that you were now dating the Gryffindor boy you were lately so often seen with, but you and Harry both ignored them. He used it to his advantage, in fact, in order to keep his relationship with his best friend's younger sister out of the spotlight for the time being.
It had been nearly three weeks since you and Draco had spoken outside of classes, and so your surprise was nearly insurmountable when he walked straight into your hide-away in the tree on the shortcut to Hogsmeade, a place you hadn't been to with him in months.
"Y/N, we need to talk," he started. You shifted in your sitting position slightly, closing your Transfiguration book and looking up at him.
"I'll say," you said with a sneer, one that he ignored as he sat down on the ground with you.
"I can't kill Dumbledore," he breathed, his voice shaky. "I can't do it. Nothing I've tried to plan up would work. He's too smart, too clever. I'm a fucking fourth-year. I can't kill him, he's too powerful."
You nodded, sliding your book back into your bag. You had suspected as such. You had imagined he would either admit to being emotionally unable to do it, or academically unable to do it.
"I cannot say I'm surprised, Malfoy," you said coolly, keeping your tone even as you spoke to the Slytherin boy sitting next to you.
"Malfoy? Really? We're back on a last-name basis?"
You looked up at him incredulously. "You're really going to act surprised about that? You haven't spoken to me in three weeks after you told me you wished you'd never met me, Draco. And you're going to tell me you're surprised that I'm not immediately fawning all over you all over again?"
"I expected a little more from my girlfriend, that's all," came his snide remark.
"That's rich, Malfoy, even from you."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, moving closer. "You can't break up with me now, not after you've taken the Dark Mark."
You scoffed, standing up and slinging your bookbag over you. "I certainly can," you said indignantly. "But that's besides the point. If you don't kill Dumbledore, Voldemort's likely to kill the both of us."
Draco nodded. "He probably will, especially since he said I have to kill Dumbledore right in front of you."
You swallowed. "This means that if you can't do it, I have to."
Draco nodded grimly, his grey eyes boring directly into yours. "I can't very well tell anyone else about this," he said weakly.
You nodded once, the gears in your mind turning as you tried to formulate a plan in your head.
"I've got an idea," you said finally, "but it's going to take some work."
"I'm here to help, whatever you need," Draco said quickly.
"I need you to stay out of my way for the time being," you said with a glare, and Draco shrunk under your gaze.
"I'll come get you when I'm in need of your assistance," you said curtly as you moved to leave the hollow tree trunk.
Draco grabbed your wrist before you could move, however, and turned you back to look at him.
"Don't go yet, y/n, we need to talk about us, too."
"There's still things to talk about?" you asked. "You said you wished you'd never met me, that seemed pretty cut-and-dry to me."
His eyes flashed with an emotion you didn't have time to decipher. "You know I didn't mean that, y/n, I was just angry. I—"
"So you said things that you knew would hurt me specifically because you were angry?" you said then, wrenching your wrist from his grasp. "Sounds a lot like Cedric Diggory, if you ask me."
Refusing to stick around just to see his reaction, you turned and left the tree, your destination in mind being the Potions classroom.
You made it there only a few minutes later, both relieved and slightly upset that Draco hadn't followed you. You knew the conversation about your relationship wasn't really over, but you didn't want to continue it right now. You had a lot bigger things on your mind, the biggest being that you were now responsible for Dumbledore's death.
Propping open the Advanced Potions book Draco had gotten you for Christmas, you turned to the page that contained the recipe for the Death Draught, a potion that would kill anyone who came into contact with it.
You mulled the recipe over for a good ten minutes, wondering how you would get this into Dumbledore's system in order to actually kill him.
Then you realized you still hadn't given him an answer on whether or not you would join his ranks, and the candy dish on his desk that he absolutely never let fully empty.
A poisoned lemon drop? The thought was enticing, and you knew it wouldn't be too terribly difficult for you to brew the potion and poison the lemon drops. You would just have to get up into Dumbledore's office to coat them in the potion.
Sighing, you rolled up your sleeves and began picking ingredients from the shelves to begin brewing.
You had all of the ingredients on the table before you, and you had just finished filling the cauldron with the right amount of water when Professor Snape walked into the classroom.
"Everglade?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow. "You aren't usually in here without Malfoy. What's the occasion?"
You felt the blood drain from your face. You couldn't admit to a professor that you were brewing a poison. "Nothing in particular, Professor," you said hastily, but he had already swirled around to right behind your shoulder, the potion recipe very boldly stated on the page you had turned to.
"A Death Draught?" he questioned once more. Then his eyes drifted downwards, towards your hands that now fidgeted with each other. "And what is that on your arm, Miss Everglade? You took a Mark for the Malfoy boy?"
You felt your heart drop to your feet as you realized you had forgotten to obscure the Dark Mark on your forearm, and now it was out and about for anyone to see. And now Professor Snape had seen it, clear as day.
You scrambled to find something—anything—to say in your defense, but Snape simply sighed and pulled up his own sleeve. There on his forearm was a Dark Mark that matched yours—and immediately your knees went weak in relief. You mentally kicked yourself for being so careless, but you also thanked the gods above that you had been careless in front of someone who was now no longer a threat.
"Now tell me again, Everglade, who are you brewing this draught for?" Snape drawled, folding his arms. "Surely you don't intend to betray the Dark Lord with a potion like that? You know without a doubt you would fail."
"Oh, never," you said quickly. "I know I would fail immediately. I would deserve death if I even tried to do something so foolish."
"Then who is it for? Draco?" Snape continued, his eyes narrowing.
"I couldn't ever bring myself to harm Draco, sir," you confessed, your heart aching at the thought. "I—it's for Dumbledore."
"Surely you're aware that it's the boy's mission to end Dumbledore's life?"
"Yes, sir, but he confessed to me early this morning that he can't do it, and I told him I would assist him with his assignment."
"Can't as in he refuses, or can't as in he is unable to?"
"He is unable to, sir," you replied. "He believes that he isn't smart enough to get away with it."
Snape nodded slightly. "So you wish to...assist him?"
You nodded. "He said that if he fails in this mission, Voldemort will kill him. And I...I just don't want him to die."
"How noble," Snape said, and you couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. But he leaned over your cauldron then, looking back up at the book. "I see you haven't even begun this potion."
"I—that's correct, sir," you said simply. "I had planned to begin right before you entered your classroom."
"And where did you get this book, Miss Everglade?" he asked, running a long, pale finger down the inside of the spine.
"I received it as a Christmas present, sir—from Malfoy."
"Ah, yes, that doesn't surprise me," he said quietly. "The boy cares for you."
You sighed. "I know."
"He speaks of you nearly every time we convene at Voldemort's base," Snape commented, and you wondered briefly if he was aware that you knew Voldemort's base was within Malfoy Manor. You decided against voicing that, however, as Snape continued to speak.
"Well, ever since his father went to Azkaban, anyway," Snape continued slowly. "He seems to be very proud to have gotten a girl like you."
Your heart constricted in your chest as you heard Snape's words. You sighed quietly, looking back at your potion recipe.
"Miss Everglade, I can see how much you care for him in return," came the professor's observation. "You would not be taking over his job to kill Albus Dumbledore if you did not."
You sighed again, knowing your head of Slytherin house was correct. You would not even know about any of this if you did not care for Draco at least a little bit.
Snape peered back at the potion recipe you had propped open against your cauldron. "So, pray tell, how do you intend to poison our headmaster?"
You took a breath before starting to explain. "I was going to borrow Harry Potter's invisibility cloak to sneak into Dumbledore's office after curfew and coat his lemon drop candies with this poison."
"And how do you intend to keep these poisoned sweets out of the mouths of innocent students?" Snape asked.
"I know that Dumbledore eats one every morning, Harry told me so himself," you said, remembering back to one of the many conversations you'd had with the Gryffindor boy. "He picks out a special one and lays it on his desk for himself to enjoy the next morning. I'll leave the ones in the bowl alone for the most part, but I'll coat and rewrap the one he's left on his desk."
"You're a clever one, Miss Everglade," Snape said, folding his arms. "You're smarter than most give you credit for."
You smiled slightly. This was the nicest thing the potions professor had ever said to you. "Thank you, Professor."
"But about the Potter boy, you were only friends with him to end up using his invisibility cloak?"
You shook your head vehemently. "I really was only friends with him in the beginning," you insisted. "It just so happens that now, a benefit to being his friend has popped up right in front of me."
Snape nodded solemnly, his eyes proving him to be in deep thought. "Very well. Even in the face of Voldemort, you seem to have refused to compromise your morals. I must say I'm impressed, Everglade. Ten points to Slytherin."
You smiled brightly. "What happens if I'm asked why we earned House Points?"
"You will say it was because your professor found you to be more clever than you gave yourself credit for," Snape responded simply.
He looked back over you and your ingredients once more, nodding once. "I will leave you to your task, Everglade. I will put some protection charms over the doorway to keep other students out of the classroom while you work. Do not forget to be careful. If you touch too much of it in the process, it will kill you before you ever get to Dumbledore's office."
You nodded in acknowledgement, thanking him as he left the classroom.
Over the next four hours, you brewed and stirred and watched your potion bubble more times than you had ever cared to count.
Finally, however, you watched your potion turn Slytherin green, and once you smelled a mustard scent, you knew it was complete.
The knot in your stomach turned into a rock as you used your wand to get some of it into a vial, large enough to thoroughly coat the candy you intended to poison.
You slipped the vial into your pocket, using your wand once more to get the cauldron over to the drain to pour out the rest of it. Snape's warning was still fresh in your mind, and you were incredibly paranoid that you would end up accidentally killing yourself if you so much as breathed in too much of its scent.
After cleaning up the rest of the evidence and putting back all the ingredients, you raised your wand once more to dispel the protection charms your professor had put up, looking up and down the hall to make sure you wouldn't be seen before you ran back to the Common Room.
You shut the door to the Common Room behind you as quietly as possible, intending to go up to Draco's room to see if he was there.
"Y/N!" came a voice instead, and you jumped slightly when you saw Juniper sitting by the fire.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in ages," she said happily, hugging you tightly. "What're you so jumpy for? And why is your hair so frizzy?"
You chuckled, smoothing down your wild frizz with your hands, knowing that didn't do a lick of good. "Sorry, I just didn't think anyone was in here," you admitted, which wasn't a lie.
Juniper sighed in response. "Alright, well, you should come to dinner with Silver and Marin and me tonight, we haven't seen you hardly at all since you and Draco went public."
You nodded quickly. "Absolutely, I will."
Juniper smiled. "Leave the Malfoy behind, though, we want to see just you for tonight."
You nodded again. "Sounds good, I'll meet you guys in the Great Hall for dinner."
You felt as though Juniper could sense that you were trying to get away from her, and the light in her eyes dimmed a bit as she moved to let you go around her.
You made a mental note to give her your full attention at dinnertime, despite the fact that you could feel her eyes on your back as you darted up the stairs towards the boys' dorms.
You didn't bother knocking when you opened the door to Draco's room, and he was once again sitting at his desk, hunched over with nothing but a small candle at his side to shed light on the papers he was staring at.
"Homework?" you asked quietly, watching as he jumped slightly at seeing you in his room.
"You came back," he breathed, and you fought the urge to roll your eyes. "I have an update," you said simply, and he faltered slightly. He nodded instead, leaning back in his chair. "What is it?"
You pulled the vial of Death Draught out of your pocket, and Draco's eyes widened at the sight. "Is that—"
"Death Draught, yes," you admitted. You dropped the vial back into your pocket, breathing deeply before continuing. "I am going to need to get Harry to lend me his invisibility cloak. You can come with me or stay behind, but I'm going to get into Dumbledore's office after he's gone for the night and coat his favorite candy with this stuff. He'll pop it into his mouth first thing the next morning and he'll be dead within minutes."
Draco nodded fervently, his eyes alight with ideas. You could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he popped up out of his chair to come closer to you.
"I have to come with you," he said quickly. "Voldemort doesn't know that I've already failed in my mission."
You nodded curtly. "Then we'll go together."
Draco nodded again. "Did you brew that potion yourself?" he asked then.
"Yes. Snape caught me, but it looks like he's safe."
"Yes, he's safe. He took the Dark Mark 17 years ago."
You blinked once. That meant he'd taken the Mark the same year Voldemort had tried to kill Harry as an infant.
Snape had really committed to this.
But that wasn't the point. You looked back up at Draco as he continued to mull things over in his head.
"But Draco," you started as he focused back in on you, "you have to stop being such a dick all the time. I'm only trying to help."
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," he said quickly, and your heart nearly skipped a beat. You'd never heard the boy say he was sorry before, you felt like this was a new experience.
You nodded in acknowledgement, and he brought his hands up to your face.
"Say it, please," he begged, and a tug in your heart told you exactly what it was he wanted to hear.
"I love you," you said simply, knowing it was true.
Because you knew it in your soul as he pulled you to him, a hug deeper than you'd ever gotten from the Slytherin boy.
You were in love with him.
And at this point, there was no turning back.
~~~
NOTE: The potion y/n brews in this chapter is not draught of living death! I made up the potion used in this chapter. Draught of living death, in canon, it does not kill you. It puts you in a state of sleep that's similar to death--so, kind of like a coma, I guess. But death draught is a potion I made up for the plot, and it will kill you! so I haven't completely destroyed canon, XD