Book 1: Of Thorns & Roses

36: Be Afraid

"Hurry," yelled Dumbledore as we rushed through the congested halls, trying to reach the Astronomy Tower.

Harry and I followed behind the headmaster as the eyes of each student studied our every move. The presence that hurried in front of us told the ongoers that Hell was paying a visit.

My mind wandered to Draco as the sounds of our footsteps echoed louder when the crowd dwindled with each turn we took. I knew one thing was for certain, that Voldemort was lurking somewhere in the castle, brewing a darkness that would soon obliterate our world.

The air seemed to still as we reached the stairs that led up to the Astronomy Tower, like the Earth beneath our feet sensed the breaking balance between good and evil.

I shared one lingering glance towards Harry as we stopped at the foot of the tower's brittle stairs. Their uneven edges tempering the universe like the brink of humanity was poised to beat the morbid drums of war.

"You must trust me," said Dumbledore. Then came that flickering reflection of a goodbye in those ancient eyes.

"But professor," I willed, "then there's no hope."

His hand clenched my shoulder, a soft reminder of his imminent fate, "There's no hope if my body still wanders this world because fate has ordained my soul to perish so the world won't have to."

My vision blurred slightly as the warmth of tears spread down my face, "It will not be in vain professor."

"What do you mean, sir?" Pried Harry. His words swirled with confusion, but the fear panged loudly in the quiet corridor.

Ignoring Harry's question, Dumbledore slid beneath the base of the highest point of the Astronomy Tower, where abandoned equipment and rats claimed their place in this world.

Following the limping headmaster, the creeks of rotting wood ached beneath the weight. "What the hell is going to happen to Dumbledore, Grier?" Hissed Harry as I tore cobwebs from my path.

"Time will tell," I muttered, not willing to divulge the secrets that held me captive night and day.

"Grier, I swear to Mer-" began Harry.

My heart stopped.

I looked up at the headmaster as he turned to face us. Pain wreaked havoc on his wrinkled canvas and a paled stillness eased the inevitable. "I must do this on my own," he whispered.

I begged my feet to move as the headmaster disappeared up the spiral staircase that led to the open platform of the Astronomy Tower.

My frame shook with unused adrenaline as trepidation pumped through my blood, tracing the bones and veins that gave me life.

The beating heart that held the soul of a girl drenched in pure kindness and ferocity, glorious light and endless darkness to mix in tendrils of destruction, yet hope swayed beneath the surface.

Dumbledore must have placed an immobilizing spell on the both of them. Clever.

The nearing darkness seemed to mock my immobilized state as it threatened to drown me whole, but for the people I loved, the people who deserved to survive, and the people whose stories are not yet told I persevered.

The world held its breath as his voice rang out. "I have no choice," said Draco. "He'll kill her."

I looked between the floorboards and glimpsed a piece of his pale face. His wand was held lazily between his fingertips as hesitation bled into the room.

"Bloody hell," murmured Harry as he stood in place, watching the scene before us.

Dumbledore's unwavering voice cascaded through the room like soft crashes of water on sand, "I know, my boy. I see the light that shines in your heart."

Draco still held his wand out towards the slowly crippling man as a shrill cackle broke the silence. "Expelliarmus," he muttered, and Dumbledore's infamous wand splintered from his grasp and landed across the room.

Footsteps crashed against the stone and the Gods leaned in to listen.

A head of massive black curls was the first to appear and my teeth gritted with the memory: Bellatrix Lestrange.

There was an unceasing amount of Death Eaters that followed to suffocate the last of that burning light.

"I believe that introductions are in order, Bellatrix," instructed a casual Dumbledore. His eyes circled the room, a silent challenge that he knew would not end in his benefit.

I ached to rush to the man's side and fight like the hell I promise Draco, but I was left with a splintered conscious as my eyes beheld the light haired boy.

His lip wavered as Lestrange clutched his shoulders and whispered, "Do it."

The world went quiet. The wind ceased to howl through the open aired walls of the circular area. The rustling of the forest just beyond the treeline hushed in anticipation. And the muttering of fate waited for the inevitable.

Her inky voice tantalized the silence, "What are you waiting for, Draco, do it."

The rest of her words dissipated as I sensed someone lurking behind me.

I slowly turned as unease rested in my blood. Snape's black eyes stared back, his wand pointed at me as Harry's narrow eyes watched every move.

"NOW!" Bellowed Lestrange from above as I continued to pierce through Snape's veil. That is until his pale index finger quivered as it lifted to rest at his lips.

He willed our silence as he slithered like the night up the stairs that Dumbledore had taken himself minutes ago. The clouds seemed to stir as Snape appeared through the cracks of the wood, behind Draco.

I could hear the beating of my heart in my ears as the man murmured, "No."

Dumbeldore's eyes flickered to the floorboards beneath his weakened feet, and our eyes met.

Silent whimpers racked my body as I mouthered the words that had hung in my head since the day the headmaster spoke them: So never cease to amaze me.

The outline of a smile glossed his features and disappeared into the man I had grown to admire and cherish as a leader in the wizarding world.

His eyes moved to meet Harry's.

A boy he had saved and kept tucked at his side to protect him from the danger and darkness that now held the walls of Hogwarts captive. In their gaze, a deep relationship tethered the both of them together for the respect and love that was held locked away in their determined hearts.

One word trickled from the tongue of the most powerful and loved wizard of our time, "Please."

A plea that he knew would be left untouched and disappeared between the cracks of the floorboard.

The smooth word twisted in my gut and hung a haunting display of acceptance. Salt spread across my tongue and shivers tormented my body.

The darkness laced and tied itself around Dumbledore to imprison him in its trap. An unrelenting grasp that was the last to touch the sacred soul.

"Avada Kedavra."

And that green darkness twisted its power from Snape's wand and vanquished the essence of Albus Dumbledore as his body warped in death.

He slowly fell backwards, arms sprawled out beside him as if to show the world that he was not afraid. That his death would not be in vain. That his soul would continue to delve in the raptures of goodness.

I relinquished the hold on my flowering pain as screams racked my soul and sent shivers through the universe.

Loud and clear the bells of war trickled into the open air.