My Secret Shadows

《Chapter 24》

Draco's POV:

Tonight was the night. I could feel it deep in my bones, like an invisible force compelling me to complete the dark deed. If I didn't kill Dumbledore tonight, my family would pay the price.
I would come home to two still, lifeless corpses. All of the worrying, planning, and plotting for the return of the Dark Lord had taken it's toll on my lean frame.

It was time I grew up and found a backbone. How hard could it be to kill the old man anyways?!

I had tried three times already. Each and every attempt was thwarted by Potter. I bared my white teeth. Oh, how I itched to wrap my fingers around his throat. I ran a stressed hand through my luscious, pale gold mane and splashed icy water onto my face. I knew Harry Potter was Voldemort's prey. But did that make me crave Potter less?

No.

I stood before a cracked mirror, hung above a decaying sink in the boy's bathroom of Hogwarts. My gaunt cheekbones and sleep-bruised eyes were staring back at me. I was still good-looking, but my body desperately needed sleep and relief from the skulking threat of Voldemort. I heaved a sigh. If I was being truly honest, I couldn't bear it if my father and mother were slaughtered on my behalf.

A slight creaking of the bathroom door drew my attention away from the sink. Harry Potter himself eased into the bathroom; his wand was cautiously raised. I bared my teeth again in a manner similar to that of the werewolf Tyler. "Well, well, well. I suggest you give up now, Potter." I spat his name like a foul taste in my mouth. "We both know that with one little curse from me that summons a snake, you'll run the other direction for mommy."

A slow smile graced my lips as a flash of anger flared to life in his green eyes. I continued. "Unless your parents acted like filthy muggle born and died heroically to save you... Wait, they did. Never mind. You'll just be running scared." Harry raised his wand higher. "Shut up Malfoy." My smile widened. "I'm just stating the facts." Harry yelled, "Shut up!" followed by a spell I had never heard before. It sounded very similar to Parceltongue in the way it hissed and uncoiled from his tongue.

"Ssssectumsssempraaaaa." **

A sharp, jagged cut appeared in my chest and continued down my ribs and to my thighs. I doubled onto the floor and screamed. My voice tore from me like a banshee's dying wail. I was drenched in scarlet and my head swam. I pressed my palms to my cut and watched in horror as my hands were coated in my own blood. "Don't move!" Harry Potter's blurry figure ran out of my waning vision as I struggled to breathe. With each breathe I felt my life slowly start to wane.

A soft, song-like incantation lilted in the back of my mind as I felt the throbbing, indescribable anguish fade to a gentle ebb. "Vulnera Sanentur. Vulnera Sanetur. Vulnera Sanetur." **

I painfully forced myself to focus on the owner of the voice. First, I saw his outline. It was hazy and blurry and black. Very, very, black. As my eyes adjusted, I realized it was Professor Snape murmuring and tending to my wound. "Wha-why are y-ou doing." My voice sounded strange and off key. Snape's response was short. "Lie still Malfoy. Do not ruin my hard work." I was too weak to argue and I willingly obliged.

When Snape finished magically mending my wound, he stood and roughly yanked me to my feet. "Why were you so idiotically engaged with Potter?" Each of his syllables were measured and dangerously silken. I held his obsidian gaze defiantly. "I was only tenderizing the meat for Lord Voldemort." Snape's upper lip curled upward in his signature sneer that he seemed overly fond of.

"Do not think, little boy, that you will survive if you continue to play such a dangerous game. The Dark Lord's patience is wearing thin, and I will not be killed due to your obstinate teenage hormonal battle."

I scoffed and rubbed my side. My tunic was torn and a pale, puckered scar was all that remained of the laceration. " I will kill the old man tonight. You have my word as a Prince of Slytherin." Snape rolled his eyes at my promise but turned and stalked away, his footsteps wetly slapping the flagstone. I gathered my courage to look down and saw my blood mixed with water. My stomach heaved as I hurried to escape the suddenly stifling bathroom.

It was an eerily still Winter night and every muscle of my body was straining to hear the slightest hint of another soul. I had been tracking Dumbledore's habits and schedule for weeks now, trying to find a weak point. I knew every Thursday evening he liked to climb the spiral steps to gaze at the sky. He was alone in the Astronomy tower. That was his flaw. Now, at long last I could perform the dreaded task of killing the Professor.

I crept up the last Tower step and shattered my illusion charm. Dumbledore didn't even flinch. I cleared my throat. Silence. I tried again, louder. Still silence. I tried again, hacking and worrying that this awful coughing was going to ruin my handsome voice.

"I know you are there Draco. Do not waste your handsome voice on me." I started because it was if he could read my thoughts. I hurriedly recovered. "I see you were expecting me, old man. Did you think I would not attempt to kill?" Dumbledore swiveled to face me and his clear eyes were heavy with sadness.

"Draco, I do not believe you are a killer. I may be wrong. I do like to think you have a heart, however misguided it may be. And yet, you are more than welcome to prove me wrong, if you wish." He snapped his wand in half and spread his arms wide. His wild, bushy, silver hair and flapping robes made him look like a strange baby bird. I held my wand steady.

"What trick is this, old man?" I asked. Dumbledore merely smiled. "There is no trick. No one can cheat death." I was confused. Did He want to die? My hand shook unsteadily, and I swallowed thickly. Could I take another human's life?

Was I strong enough to kill mercilessly?

I knew my final answer. I lowered my wand and spit out, "Fine. If I can't kill you, I can still torture you!"

A vaporous mist suddenly snaked into the Astronomy Tower and interrupted me. Severus Snape appeared and raised his voice. "Avada kedavra." **
At Snape's command the Unforgivable curse blasted the old man senseless. Dumbledore's aged body plunged like a fallen tree from the edge of the Tower at a sickening speed.

As he fell, he uttered a single word with his last breathe.

"Taken."

** The spells used are J.K. Rowling's, not my own creation.