Casualty of Love: Turning Tables

That Bastard!

"Kill Dumbledore?" I gasped.

"Yes...and I've got no idea how I'm going to do it! I don't know why he's assigned me, of all people, this task... I don't think I can do it...but I have to."

"Oh Draco, I'm so sorry! I can't believe that bastard would do this, actually, yes I can! If I could kill him, I would---" 

That's when Draco put his hand on my mouth. "Don't talk like that! You'll get yourself killed," he whispered frantically. His face was growing in paleness by the second.

"Nobody is going to hear me," I whispered back after clawing his hand off of my face.

"You have to be careful..."

"I know...," I sighed in defeat.

"I do have a plan for the whole Dumbledore situation, although it might be a long shot."

"What is it?"

"I'm going to try and mend a vanishing cabinet that's in the Room of Requirement. I put two and two together when the Weasley twins shoved Montague into the cabinet at Hogwarts. It has a twin at Borgin and Burke's. It was broken, that's why Montague was stuck inbetween both places."

"How clever. Although, it's kind of hard to be happy about good ideas in this situation."

"Yeah, I understand."

This whole idea of my Draco having to take someone's life was just too much to comprehend right now. "I think I need some air. Will you wait here for a few minutes?"

"Of course," he said, managing to give a small smile.

I felt so horrible for him and now I felt guilty for needed a few minutes by myself. He was the one who had to kill someone...and not just someone; one of the greatest wizards of all time.

I walked out of the back door to my house and my eyes met with Nehemiah's who was smoking a tobacco pipe. "You know that stuff is bad for you, right?"

"I'm a wizard; cancer isn't fatal to wizards."

I walked over to where he was standing and posted up on the wall behind me. "So, I'm assuming you found out about Draco's task?"

"Yeah...he's inside right now. I should be up there with him but....I'm just a little overwhelmed..."

"I can understand why. It's a big responsibility and will, no doubt, have a lot of emotional consequences."

"I don't understand why he has to do it," I said as tears began to sting my eyes. "Were you there whenever he was told?"

"...Yes, I was. There was no way that he could have gotten out of it. You can't talk You-Know-Who out of something... He couldn't refuse or he would have been killed...along with you."

"How did he even know about Draco and I? I didn't realize he was in the relationship loop."

"My guess is someone informed him... I can assure you that it wasn't your grandfather and I don't even think Narcissa was aware herself... Do you know of any other death eaters who may have known about you?"

I thought about it for a second. Did I even know any death eaters? "The only other people who know about us are Ginny and Emmy...and...and...and Snape! Is Snape a death eater?"

"Severus? Yes, he was there---"

"That bastard! Aren't teachers suppose to protect their students instead of putting them in harms way? Ridiculous..."

"Yeah...he seemed a little sketchy. I'm sorry that you've got to go through this...I'm even sorry that Draco has got to go through this. I get the feeling that he doesn't like me much but even then, I've got no reason not to like him."