Serpent in the Lion's Den

2. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Hermione lied flat in her bed, fully clothed under the covers as she glanced at the clock and waited, serenaded by the soft, rhythmic breaths of her fellow room-mates in one of the sixth-year dorms, with the exception of Ginny. Ginny had become an honorary member of the sixth year Gryffindor crowd since year four when Voldemort came back and the school lost their Hogwarts Hufflepuff champion Cedric Diggory in a cruel twist of fate.

Seconds felt like minutes and minutes like hours as she waited for the night to begin. At 23:35 the witch pulled back the covers and decided to wait until she was out of the dormitory to put on her shoes, she grabbed her bag and looked around the dorm once more to check everyone was asleep, saying mental goodbyes. Her gaze fell on Ginny and she wondered whether she was dreaming of Harry, she smiled fondly at the thought of their secret love for one another, before slipping out of the room. She placed the note and wedding gift outside the boy's dorm and prayed to Merlin that Seamus didn't leave the dorm first in the morning as he usually did with Dean and step on her gift – two identical galleon pendants to symbolise where Bill & Fleur first met at Gringotts.

The invisibility cloak draped along the floor and Hermione finally realised how big it really was when there wasn't all three mini members of The Golden Trio were under it. She made it to the stairs that led to the Astronomy Tower ten minutes before midnight and could already hear voices, yet she couldn't make out who's they were.

"Don't you understand? I have to do this, I have to kill you, or he's going to kill me." The voice choked on tears as they spoke, a fear and vulnerability intertwined between every word. With the word 'kill' Hermione started to run up the stairs, making sure to stay close to one edge in case any unexpected guests came past. She reached the platform just below the open terrace at the top of the tower, abruptly stopped and managed to catch a gasp in her throat when she saw Harry, wand drawn, looking through the gap in the ceiling. After managing to not blow her cover, Hermione edged forward to get a better view of the terrace; Malfoy, stood on the terrace but it was not him that caught her attention. Behind him stood Bellatrix Lestrange, her mass of jet-black curls protruding over her face, her eyes glistening with joy and to her right was a werewolf, broad shouldered and towering over the rest. The tears on Draco's face suggested that it was him who's voice she had heard from the bottom of the stairs which explained why she was not able to place it as his. She had never heard him speak in any tone other than hate and spite and his sudden desperate expression caught her by surprise. The witch followed his unwavering line of sight over to Dumbledore, who seemed to calm for the situation he was in and despite herself Hermione made a mental note to ask him why this was in the morning if she could.

Conversation broke out above the witch's head but before she could begin to concentrate on what was being said she saw Harry beside her aiming his wand at Draco and Bellatrix. Her own hand curled around her wand protectively as she debated whether her promise to Dumbledore to protect Malfoy 'at all costs' meant taking out her best friend who, at this moment posed a threat, but her mental debate was cut short as another presence had drawn his own wand in Harry's direction.

Snape angled his wand at Harry and risked a glance above at the death eaters as the boy who lived turned to face him. No words were spoken between the two wizards, nothing but Snape rising a solitary finger to his lips and a mutual understanding between two opposed men with their eyes locked to the others the whole time. Hermione flicked between the two pairs of eyes from under the cloak; Harry's rotated between fear, hate, confusion and a flash of trust. Snape's were emotionless, but also as though he was mapping Harry's eyes, as though it's the first, last and hundredth time he'd seen them.

Snape dragged his eyes from Harry's and turned to ascend to the terrace, his look passing and pausing over the spot where Hermione stood and a nearly unnoticeable ghost of a relieved smile faltered on his mouth before he was gone. Harry and Hermione turned back to the scene above them simultaneously as Snape finally spoke,

"No."

All eyes latched onto him as he walked past Draco, who's face made little attempt to cover the relief he felt or the tears that formed, Bellatrix's face hardened at his entrance. The werewolf stepped in front of Snape, snarling and revealed a line of yellow fangs.

"Fenrir Greyback, long time." Snape drawled in his usual, uncaring tone, "move before I kill you."

Dumbledore's features softened and calmed further with a similar relief to Draco's at the sight of his fellow Professor, as though he had been waiting for him. His voice neither faltered or wavered as he addressed Snape,

"Severus... please."

Two thirds of the Golden Trio held their breath as Snape pushed to conceal a look of absolute devastation and regret that only Hermione with her eye for detail noticed.

"Avada Kedavra"

A jet of green light soared from Snape's wand and struck Dumbledore just after he glanced below at Harry with nothing but the love and praise of a proud father or grandfather. The force of the spell caused him to fall backwards over the railing, and plummeted from the Astronomy Tower.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the strongest wizards of all time, was dead.

Hermione wanted to be sick, to cry and to scream all within the same millisecond. But she muffled her cries from under the cloak with a jumper sleeve now soaked in tears and spit, inches away from Harry's shell-shocked body, his wand still aimed where Snape stood.

"regardless of the fate I land myself in... the wards will be broken"

Dumbledore had known what was going to happen and he let it happen, why would he let it happen? Why did Snape kill him? Why was Malfoy planning on killing him? Questions she may never hear the answer to tormented her as she heard footsteps racing down towards her and her mind snapped into action, now more than ever she was determined to keep her promise to Dumbledore. Her determination spiked higher than she imagined it could as she identified the footsteps as Malfoys and the menacing growl of Bellatrix's taunting voice called after him

"Draco, you can't run from me, I'll get ya. If you run away the Dark Lord will never forgive you. You'll be no nephew of mine and no son to your parents."

Before Hermione could comprehend what was happening Harry had backed behind a pillar, Malfoy had run past followed by Bellatrix, Snape, Fenrir and the two death eaters. Less than a second after the last Death Eater was out of sight Harry tightened his grip on his wand and charged after them will a fierceness and fortitude she had only seen once before, when he had been running after Bellatrix again when she killed Sirius. She wanted to reveal herself and convince Harry that there was nothing he could do to any of them to bring back the man he idolised and trusted with every fibre of his being, to hold him tight and mourn together as they had sat earlier in the year the night Ron and Lavender had kissed, leaving her devastated for a reason she now didn't understand. But the witch knew she had her own job at hand, she needed to find Malfoy and fast, before the anti-apparation wards were reinstated. Tears silently streamed down her face as she followed her childhood friend down the steps before turning left following the sound of running footsteps whilst Harry turned right, following the sight of Snape, Fenrir and both death-eaters running towards Hagrid's Hut and the Forbidden Forest from the open arch in the corridor.

Hermione raced along corridors, desperately listening out for footsteps, looking for a glimpse of white-blonde hair or crazy black curls. She pulled off the cloak as she ran, stuffing it into her bag to stop it weighing her down as she sprinted through doors, archways and stairs, being spurred on by a need to fulfil her promise to her late headmaster or possible sympathy for Draco. She didn't have time to decide, and then she saw them. She cut her victory short as she ducked into an alcove praying that the wards were still broken her own sake more than his, if Bellatrix stumbled upon a muggleborn she doubted she would live to tell the tale.

Draco sprinted toward the Gryffindor with his aunt hurling insults, gaining speed and reducing distance between the two relatives. Hermione watched their reflections from the window pane opposite her hiding spot and counted the seconds until he was inches away from her, until she could smell his cologne. She struck out her hand, intertwined her fingers with his, and apparated from Hogwarts, leaving Bellatrix in the corridor confused, angry and alone.