The Half-Blood Princes {Book 2}

The Astronomy Tower

Percy

When we arrived at the top of the astronomy tower the sun had set and the moon was shining. Dinner was long over, people are probably huddled in the common room doing last minute homework. Annabeth is most likely looking for me. I'll have to explain what we were doing. I took the locket out of my pocket and observed it in the fading light. It was about as big as the inside of my palm. It hung from a silver chain and had a green snake in the shape of an 'S' in the centre.

Harry put a very weak Dumbledore down to rest next to the railing. The whole way here he was limping and Harry was buckling under his weight. It looked like it had strained him to even apparate.

I put the locket back in my pocket, deciding now wasn't the right time to bring it up.

"We need to get you to Madam Pomfrey, she can help you." Harry said to Dumbledore.

"No. Severus. I need Severus." Dumbledore gasped. "Wake him and tell him what happened. Tell no one else." Suddenly there were footsteps climbing the stairs. Dumbledore had a change of mind. "Hide yourselves." Harry ran under the top level of the tower reluctantly. "Percy," Dumbledore whispered and grabbed my arm, "Don't protect me." It was probably my imagination, but I heard faint thunder in the distance. I nodded, feeling a sudden chill and he dropped my arm. He knew something I didn't, and telling me not to protect him contradicted the command he gave me in the cave. I hurried down to Harry and we hid behind some boxes as the person ran up the stairs in front of us. Staying in the shadows and covering a gasp from Harry's mouth, we listened as Draco started talking to Dumbledore.

"Who else is here? I heard you talking." He asked the headmaster.

"As you can see, Draco, I am alone." I looked through the cracks in the floorboards above us. Draco was shaking, his wand held out to Dumbledore. A sudden movement caught my eye on the stairs and I pulled Harry back. There was someone else here.

"Well I'm not. Expelliarmus!" Draco said, his voice wavering as he tried to keep it levelled. Dumbledore's wand went over the railing and disappeared into the night. My mind raced as I thought of the potential allies Draco had brought. Was it just friends he had from Slytherin, or were they more sinister? My hand went to my pocket as I could feel the presence grow closer to us.

Dumbledore was saying something, but I wasn't paying attention. There was a hand on my shoulder and I leapt out from behind the boxes but froze and dropped Riptide in pen form. It clattered against the wood.

"What was that?" Draco jumped.

"Sorry, Draco. It's just me. Coast is clear." Luke Castellan called back.

'What the hell?' I mouthed to Luke. He didn't look any different from when I had last seen him. The only difference was his dark stain under his arm and the fact that he was transparent. I turned to Harry. 'What the hell?' Harry was just confused. He shrugged and looked between me and Luke.

"You don't understand!" Draco cried, continuing whatever he and Dumbledore were saying to each other. I tuned back in but didn't take my eyes off Luke. "I have to kill you, or he'll kill me. Look!" He raised his arm and pulled the sleeve up. We couldn't see from this angle, but I knew it was his werewolf bite. "He already did this!" Luke looked up at Draco sadly.

There was a bang as the door downstairs closed. Shrill laughter echoed up the stairwell. Luke pushed me back, mouthed 'hide', and vanished. Harry pulled out his wand but I snatched it off him and pushed him back behind the boxes.

"There are others." Dumbledore said. "How?"

"The vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement." Draco said, his voice shaking as much has his wand. "I mended it. With some help." Luke reappeared next to Draco. He looked sad, as if he didn't want to be here. He retreated under Dumbledore's gaze.

"Let me guess, it has a sister. A twin."

"At Borgin and Burkes." Draco finished for the headmaster.

"You are no assassin, Draco."

"You don't know what I am! I've done things that would shock you!" Draco said desperately. The footsteps grew louder.

"Like cursing a necklace and sending Katie to give it to me. Or replacing a bottle of mead with poison? These attempts are slightly cowardly, like your heart wasn't in it."

"That wasn't all I did!" Draco's outburst made me jump. "You think you're so smart, but you couldn't see what else I was doing. Did you really think that you could send demigods to a school of magic, and not think that someone would find out?" I choked.

"Voldemort sent you as a spy?"

"No. I just had to kill two people. You and Percy Jackson, the half-blood prince of the sea."

I could feel Harry stiffen behind me. My blood boiled as I realised what Luke did. He told Draco that we were demigods. He told a follower of Voldemort that we weren't wizards. That we were different.

And on top of that, he stood by and possibly helped him try and kill me. There was always something off about my nightmares. It wasn't the normal demigod dream. I was slowly dying, the less sleep I got the weaker I was. My hand tightened around Harry's wand so hard that I thought for a second I heard it splinter. I released some of the pressure, not wanting to break it, but had to resist from punching a hole in the wall.

When he used Annabeth's knife to kill Kronos and himself in the process, I thought that Luke had changed. But really, I hadn't known him before he became corrupt. So maybe this is the real Luke. The same manipulative, vile son-of-a-Hera that I met when I was twelve.

The shrill laughter directly below us snapped me out of my thoughts. I crouched down to grab Riptide, but I couldn't take my eyes off Draco. Cloaked figures climbed the stairs in front of us and up onto the level with Dumbledore and Draco.

"Look what we have here." Bellatrix exclaimed. "Well done, Draco." Luke was gone again. Coward. It was silent above us. Harry tried to move past me but I stopped him. He had to stay here. I swore to protect him, and having the 'chosen one' run into a room filed with death eaters was a suicide mission. "Do it!" She hissed at Draco. He let out a small whimper and closed his eyes. His whole body was shaking now.

"He doesn't have the stomach, just like his father." A man covered in scars sneered. Draco flinched when he spoke. I vaguely recognised him from the vision that sent us here; the werewolf that bit Draco. I looked down to see how Harry was handling this. He had stopped resisting. He was looking straight past me, his eyes wide. I turned sharply and was met with Severus Snape's cold eyes, his wand pointed at us. I couldn't draw Riptide without making a sound, so I stood with my body in front of Harry, ready to defend him. However, Snape put a finger to his lips and lowered his wand. He backed away up the stairs.

"Go on, Draco! Do it! Now!"

"No." Snape droned. Bellatrix fell silent. Draco stepped back out of Snape's way. Harry and I focussed on Dumbledore. He looked down at us for a second, his eyes apologetic. My stomach filed with dread. Those were the eyes of a dead man.

"Severus," Dumbledore said, "Please." There was a pause, everyone waiting, before Snape raised his wand. I held my breath, knowing what was coming next.

"Avada Kedavra."

A green light flashed and travelled to Dumbledore. The force of the blow knocked him over the railing. Bellatrix laughed as he fell. I grabbed onto Harry and held him to my chest. He struggled and tried to push away from me. I held tighter. Dumbledore knew he was going to die. That's why he told me not to protect him. In the end, he protected me from the consequence of the oath. My nose tickled and my throat grew tight. He was a good man.

A very good man.