I dropped my quill and starred at the pages that I had just filled with the best memory that I had with my friends; my best recent one at least. I wanted to try and remember how happy we all were before everything turned dark. I sighed and looked outside my window, it was cloudy again today; lately it's been really gloomy. There hasn't been any flowers growing at all; no sign of spring. I missed when everything seemed so simple; I missed all the stuff that we took for granted.
I could tell that when Voldemort came back it was taking a toll on everyone; McGonagall always looked tired, none of the students looked like they had slept for days, weeks even. The only person who still seemed normal was Snape; but then again he was always miserable. I tried staying my bubbly self but even I knew my energy was being drained from me.
I heard my dorm door burst open as I spun around in my chair; furrowing my brows when I saw Hermione.
"Hermione? How did you get in-"
"No time to explain, Harry's back" my eyes widened as I grabbed my jacket and quickly followed Hermione out the door.
~~~
"Harry!" Harry turned around and immediately got tackled by both Hermione and I . Ron chuckled from behind him as he helped us up,
"Guys let him breathe first; you'll kill him before he even gets settled in" Harry didn't chuckle or even smile at what Ron had said which made me worry. I frowned and put a hand on his shoulder,
"What's wrong Harry? You seem...troubled" Harry looked at us with a frown on his face,
"When Dumbledore and I got the first Horcrux he told me something on the way back. When we got the Horcrux one of us had to drink terribly dirty water that had poison in it; Dumbledore drank it and later told me that it was his time to go anyway...I don't want to think about what he meant but it worried me. He left as soon as we got back and I haven't seen him since...I want to try and find him" the three of us shared a worried glance, just what had happened on his journey? Nonetheless we nodded and followed behind as Harry tried to find Dumbledore. We looked in his office, in the classrooms, the great hall, even the bathrooms. We had almost given up when I spotted someone on the astronomy tower; squinting my eyes I pointed up towards who I thought to be Dumbledore.
"Look!" everyone looked over and we began to run up the stairs, usually about half way I get tired and I have to take a break but the adrenaline didn't let me. We soon made it up the stairs and saw Dumbledore looking out at the scenery; leaning against the metal bar.
"Professor?" I asked, stepping out onto the tower. Dumbledore turned and gave me a smile.
"Hello Ebony" he looked behind and saw Ron, Hermione and Harry stepping out from the steps and stopping beside me.
"What brings you four up here? It's getting close to dinner time; shouldn't you be heading to the Great Hall?" I furrowed my brows when I caught a glimpse at his hand. He noticed and quickly hid it behind his roes before anyone else saw and gave me a wink.
"Sir we're worried about you; shouldn't you be in the great hall too?" Hermione asked, Dumbleore looked up at the sky and saw that clouds were forming; dark grey ones.
"Curious clouds are; never knowing when they'll show up or what they're here for" we all shared a look; but before we could say anything continued,
"You four should run along; don't want the food to be getting cold on you" Harry was about to protest when I stopped him with my arm. I took a step forward with my head tilted to the side,
"Sir...what's going on?" he gave me a smile but this time I could see sadness in them. That struck me, Dumbledore never seemed sad or upset. Something was wrong.
"You should head inside; you wouldn't want to miss dinner" something was going on, I was sure of that. But, I nodded and headed back towards to stairs; Hermione, Ron and Harry following behind me.
"Eb what are you doing?" I looked at Harry as we made our way down the stairs,
"Some things wrong, I think some things going to happen tonight on the astronomy tower and Dumbledore doesn't want us to see it" I saw a ledge that would just manage to squeeze the four of us on; but it would keep us out of sight. I quickly climbed up on it; the other three following suit.
"I saw something on his hand, it was all...black. Almost as if his flesh was rotting; he hid it from you guys but he didn't have time to hide it from me." They all looked at me; worried,
"I have a bad feeling about this" then, we heard footsteps coming; we stopped talking and watched as Draco ran by...wait...Draco? I cranked my head and watched him walk up to Dumbledore; taking out his wand and pointing it at him.
I covered my mouth to cover a gasp as I watched the scene unfold.
"Hello Mr. Malfoy, what brings you up here?" turning around Dumbledore gives him a smile; not even flinching at the wand pointed at him.
"Take out your wand" Dumbledore took his wand out from his pocket but didn't raise it up,
"Malfoy you don't need to get involved-"
"Shut up!" I noticed that he was shaking now; struggling to keep his wand raised.
"You don't understand; I have to do this; I had to become one of them. Or else he'll kill them" Draco pulled up his sleeve and showed off the Dark mark to him; my eyes widened as my fear came true. Harry has been trying to tell me this for moths but I refused to believe him. I watched as Draco struggled not to cry; Dumbledore frowned at him a little.
"Besides it's too late; I already opened the portal; they should be here any second" right as he said that we heard more steps of feet coming from up the stairs; I quickly brought my head back before they could see me. We watched at a bunch of death eaters ran by us; including Draco's parents, Bellatrix, and Fernier Greyback.
Snape went by too but stopped when he managed to see us; he put a finger to his lips and continued his way up the stairs.
"Good job Draco; now kill him!"
"Patience Bella he will" I watched as his parents stepped forward as his father put a steady hand on his shoulder. By now, Draco was shaking ever more.
"Do it Draco" Snape was now standing behind him as Draco's father told him what to do.
Draco raised his arm higher but he couldn't utter a single spell; I was worried for him when the other death eaters began to frown.
"Expelliarmus" Dumbledore's wand flew from his hand and off of the tower; now he was completely vulnerable but...Dumbledore was smiling?
"Draco what are you doing? Quit stalling!"
"Yeah Draco kill him!" my eyes widened once more; he had to kill him? He's not even 18 yet! Draco kept his arm in the air but still; not spell left his lips. I knew he couldn't do it; whatever he got sucked into was because of his parents and Voldemort. I was scared for him; the other followers were getting impatient.
Dumbledore took a step forward,
"Malfoy you have a choice, pick the right one-" Snape stepped forward and waved his wand; muttering the killings curse towards him. A flash of green light zoomed towards Dumbledore and hit him in the chest. The rest felt like it was in slo-motion. His eyes locked on us for a moment and smiled towards us before he leaned back and fell off of the tower. I felt someone shift and turned around; only to grab Harry before he could run out in front of everyone. The death eaters began to laugh and point downwards at Dumbledore who we couldn't see before they all ran back down the stairs; probably going to cause some havoc.
Snape was the last one to leave and at this point Harry ripped from our grips and ran up the stairs; looking down at the ground. I followed suit and tears came to my eyes; there at the bottom was Dumbledore's corpse. Students and teachers had already started walking over to him; they had no idea what had happened yet.
And in a flash Harry was rushing downstairs; hurrying behind him we watched as he was trying to catch up with Snape; my eyes looked beyond him and I saw Draco and his parents trying to flee the scene before things got ugly.
I ran right past Snape and tried catching up to Draco; just managing to grip his elbow and pull him away from his parents. Draco whipped out his wand and pointed it at me before realizing who I was. He slowly put his wand down and put it back in his pocket. Looking closely at him he looked horrible; eyes dull and cheeks sunken in making him look hollow. He saw tears in my eyes and he knew; he knew that I saw. But before he could say anything I tugged him forward and forced him into a hug. He stood there stiff for a moment before gripping me just as tight; crying silently into my shoulder.
"I know you don't want this Draco; I know you didn't do this willingly" I looked at his parents with a glare; mainly his father who was glaring right back at me.
"Draco we need to leave immediately" I ignored what his father had demanded and pulled away from the hug; looking Draco in the eyes.
"I heard everything Draco, the threats, everything. I know you don't want to do this; I know he's threatening you with lives that mean most to you but just know that Dumbledore's right; you always have a choice" he began to shake his head and I sighed.
"I know it's not that easy; but when you come back and all of this shitty bullshit is done and over with I'll be waiting for you, Pansy will be waiting for you and Blaise will be waiting for you okay? Once they realize why you're doing this they'll understand"
"Really?" my heart dropped and I smiled and nodded. A look of relief flashed before his eyes as he hugged me once more; I shut my eyes and hugged him back real tight.
"We'll see you soon Draco" he squeezed me before letting go and smiling a sad smile before he stepped back into his parent's arms. His father was still glaring at me but his mother seemed almost...curious.
"Stay safe Draco" he gave me one nod before they apparated away from here. Suddenly I heard a loud bang and looked over; seeing Bellatrix lighting Hagrid's hut on fire.
"Hagrid!" I yelled, running over to the house and prying the door open; burning my hands in the process.
"Hagrid!" I screamed into the flames as I searched for my wand; finding it tucked away in my jeans I pulled it out and pointed it inside.
"Aquamenti!" a shot of water poured out and quickly put out the flames just as Hagrid ran out with his dog; both filled with smoke.
"You okay?" he nodded and we both watched as his hut fell to pieces in front of us. I gave Hagrid a side hug and frowned,
"It's okay I bet they'll give you a room at Hogwarts" I felt him nod but we didn't say anything else. I knew after this everything would change; Dumbledore was dead now; our main protector. Death eaters were scared of Dumbledore and Voldemort was as well. But now with him gone...we're vulnerable.
"Ebony!" turning I see Hermione and Ron running towards me; but where's Harry?
"We have to go, McGonagall has a train coming for us right now; the death eaters are taking over the school; it's not safe for us here anymore" I nodded, still pretty numb to the situation. I gave Hagrid another hug before running off with the two,
"Where's Harry?"
"Already packing; can't have him be seen in front of the death eaters" I nodded as we ran inside the school. Passing by students and teachers I saw that some were trying to fight against the Death Eaters; wrong move when they're at their strongest right now. I already saw people on the ground; I hope they're just unconscious.
Running down the hall towards the Great Hall I saw Pansy and Blaise,
"Pansy! Blaise!" they turned over; wands drawn with panic looks on their faces.
"Ebony!" they ran over and now it was the five of us trying to get to our common rooms.
"Where's Draco?" I shook my head at them and gave them a look; saying that I would tell them later. I gripped Pansy's and Hermione's hand while Blaise grabbed Pansy and Ron grabbed Hermione. We looked like an odd group but I didn't care, the more people in a group the better chances we had at making it out.
We passed the Great Hall and I stopped, my hands slipping from Hermione and Pansy.
There underneath the Ravenclaw's table was a first year Hufflepuff; there were Death Eaters inside and she got caught in the middle of it. I frowned when I saw that she had no way out. I quickly took my wand and ran inside. I heard protests coming from my friends but I ignored them as I crouched to the ground and hid behind the Gryffindor table; luckily they hadn't notice me come in. the little girl locked eyes with me and I held my finger up to my lips to which she nodded too.
The two death eaters that were in here I didn't recognize but they seemed to be related; I head my wand in my left palm tightly before edging closer to the girl; not taking my eyes off of Voldemort's followers.
I had to go all the way around to the other side of the Ravenclaw table because I was too big to fit under it like the girl was.
Once I made it I gripped the girls hand and together we made it back to the Gryffindor table where she hid under it.
"Okay here's what we're going to do, at the exit doors my friends are waiting there; once we're out you'll run to your dorm and pack as quickly as you can okay? Our train is coming to get us out of here" she nodded and that's when I noticed that she had tear stains running down her cheeks; I gave her a smile before we began making our way to the door.
"Hey!" I froze; we had been caught. I didn't know what to do because I actually thought we were going to make it out of here. I looked at my friends who's eyes were saucers now that they knew that these two death eaters caught me trying to save a Hufflepuff. I slowly stood up, making sure to keep the girl behind me as I turned; seeing the two smirking at me with their wands pointing in my direction. I gripped the girl securely behind me with one arm and held my wand with the other.
"What do you have there? Hiding behind you?" I narrowed my eyes at them,
"What's it to you?" their smirks vanished and the girl stepped forward
"When my brother asks you something you answer it" I scoffed; even though I looked calm on the outside I was freaking out on the inside. What was I supposed to do now?
"Since when were you two the boss of me?"
"Since Dumbledore died and Voldemort took over" my heart stopped and I gripped my wand even tighter. No words were spoken now, but a duel started. They showered me with spells and I couldn't say them back fast enough so I put a protective spell over us. It wouldn't last forever but it would buy me some time. I felt the girl shake behind me and I turned and hugged her.
"Everything is going to be fine okay? I promise" suddenly my barrier broke; my eyes widened when they stopped the attacks. Just what were they going to do?
"Alright we're done playing; let's end this" I turned and saw them point their wands at me; they uttered the killings curse to each other and my eyes widened; I took my wand out but it flew out of my hand with a spell and flew across the room. I quickly put myself in front of the girl as tears sprung in my eyes.
'it'll all be over soon, maybe I'll be able to meet my mother' I heard them yell the killings curse in the mix of my friends screams; trying to do something; distract them from killing me but it was too late. Then, I heard a bunch of gasps and the green light that I saw even threw closed eyes vanished. I waited a couple of seconds and noting happened; I opened my eyes and looked up; seeing a man in front of me with his wand drawn and pointing it at the siblings.
Wait...
"George?" I whispered, he turned and winked at me before he protected himself from another spell; there I also saw Fred and their friend Lee. They all had graduated already...why are they here?
"Ebony you need to go" I looked at George and snapped out of my trance; I took the girls hand and ran for the doors; I grabbed my wand that managed to land just outside and ran to where my friends were.
"What were you thinking?!"
"You could've gotten yourself killed!"
"Not could've you almost did! What would've happened if George, Fred and Lee hadn't of showed up at the right time?!" I ignored what my friends were saying and looked at George from the inside. George, Fred and Lee easily outmatched them; knocking them unconscious and running back to us.
"We have to go, there's only so much time before their leader shows up" we all tensed up but nodded, I looked down at the girl and ushered her to go to her dorm.
"Hurry and pack; take everything that you can" she nodded and ran off with some other Hufflepuffs that she saw. Suddenly I pulled into someone's chest,
"What were you thinking? You almost got yourself killed!" recognizing George's voice I hugged him back and inhaled his scent; fresh grass and cinnamon? Must be a new invention at their joke shop.
"I know I know I'm sorry I just...I couldn't leave here there" his grip tightened on me and he sighed. For a moment I forgot all about the war that was going on inside our school.
"Guys I hate to break this up but if we don't go now I think we might miss our chance at getting out of here" we quickly pulled away; both of us having red cheeks as Pansy and Blaise grabbed my hands.
"We have to grab our things; we'll meet you guys at the docks in 10 minutes okay?" before they could reply Blaise and Pansy were already running the other way.
We made it to our dorms and when we walked in we saw a frightening scene...students were talking to some death eaters; some were parents of these students. I gripped my friends hands tightly and I put my head down.
"Don't draw any attention to yourselves okay?" I saw them both nod; we quickly walked past the fireplace and made our way upstairs and into our dorms. We left Blaise to go to his; as Pansy and I walked in we saw Millicent pacing back and forth with her suitcases already packed. She turned when we opened the door; wand pointed at us; but when she saw that it was us she dropped her wand to the floor and ran to us; giving us a hug.
"Oh thank god; I thought I was going to be stuck here while those death eaters are downstairs" I quickly flicked my wand and Pansy and I's stuff started packinf themselves. It reminded me of the first day that I came here and Pansy did that for me the first night I stayed over.
"Do you have everything packed?" Millicent nodded and we both sighed,
"Good because as soon as we're done we're getting out of here" her eyes widened,
"But how? Once they see our suitcases they'll know that we aren't on their side" I looked at the door and shrugged,
"I don't know, but we don't have time to sit here and think of a plan because then we'll miss the train" then, our suitcases finished and we grabbed them. Then, Pansy took our her wand,
"I have an idea" she waved her wand and in the matter of seconds out suitcases here smaller than our palms. We took them and shoved them in our pockets.
"Good thinking Pans" she smiled and nodded once before we headed downstairs. Blaise was waiting for us in the hall so we quickly shrunk his suitcases too before quickly running out the dorm doors before anyone took notice.
We ran down the dungeons and up the stairs; passed the Great Hall where I saw; luckily; that the siblings were still unconscious. By now things were getting chaotic, I think the death eaters were beginning to find out our plan. We made it to the docks where Hermione, Ron, Fred, Lee, George and Harry were waiting for us.
We managed to fit in two boats; I had Pansy, Blaise, Millicent and George with me while the other had Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred and Lee in it. George said he wanted to stay with me to make sure that I was safe.
Suddenly when everyone was halfway across the water we heard a big boom and looked over; seeing a part of the castle crumble to the ground. I saw that, that was where the classroom for muggle studies was. I felt a tear fall as George tugged me to his chest.
It was quiet when we got off of the boats; everyone was already piled into the train; we were the last ones.
We all decided to go to the front of the train because that's where the biggest compartments are. We all wanted to sit together; I don't think anyone cares about what house they're in anymore; looking around with what's happening.
But when we made our way to the front I noticed something,
"Pans, Blaise, Millicent" they looked at me as I continued,
"We're the only Slytherin's on this train" they looked around and began noticing that I was right; judgemental stares were directed towards us as we made it to the front.
"Just ignore them" George whispered in my ear; kissing my temple. I didn't bother telling him off because I could use the support right now.
We all sat down and stared outside our window which had a diect view of the castle. The part that they blew up was now on fire; causing a haze of smoke to fill the sky.
"It's started hasn't it?" everyone looked at me,
"What?" Lee asked, more tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks,
"The war" it went quiet and everyone nodded; I sucked in a breath as it sunk in. it wasn't going to be the same at Hogwarts from now on. Dumbledore was dead; there goes our protection.
"No matter what happens we'll always stick together yeah?" I looked at everyone,
"All of us" I looked directly at Blaise, Pansy and Millicent.
"It doesn't matter what house we're in, doesn't matter our status, we need to survive and win this fight. And we can't do that unless we stick together" they all nodded, I already felt stronger knowing that we were going to be a group from now on. I put my hand out and gripped Pansy's who gripped Blaise's; Blaise looked over and stopped when he saw that Ron was beside him; it went quiet as they stared at each other before Blaise stuck out his hand towards Ron who gripped it. soon, everyone was connected.
I didn't know what was going to come with this war going on; all I knew was we were going to fight till the end.
Even if it killed us.