Forget-Me-Not {Harry Potter}

Forty

-Meet Me In The Woods-

-i have seen what the darkness does-

-say goodbye to who i was-  

A week before Christmas break, Vena's mother had written to the twins to not go home for Christmas. She said that the Manor would not be safe, and that they would have a much better time at Hogwarts than back home.

Vena wished there were a way to have her mother stay at the Malfoy summer home in France, or the Black family estate; anywhere except the Manor.

Vena and Draco had been worrying since the summer that without her father there, there was no one to really protect her mother.

But the twins listened, like they always do, and stayed at Hogwarts for the break. On the bright side, Draco would have more time to repair the cabinet, but it also meant that he did not get the break that he desperately needed.

Vena worried about him. He rarely stayed in his dorm, and had begun sleeping in the Room of Hidden Things. He doesn't go to his classes, and doesn't even flinch when he runs into Stella in the halls. He skips mealtimes, and focuses all of his attention on that damn cabinet.

But the twins had a lot riding on this task. This will either avenge their family name, or rip it to shreds even more and damage it beyond repair. They didn't have time for breaks, even if they both desperately needed it.

As expected, Draco and Vena spent their Christmas Eve in the Room of Hidden Things. Draco had been muttering the spell for over half an hour, when a click had come from the cabinet. That had never happened before.

Draco turned to Vena in shock, and the girl had stood up from her position on the floor. The locks had slowly turned, opening the cabinet.

Vena turned to her brother in celebration, but instead of seeing relief, his eyes were filled with tears. "What's wrong, Draco?"

He turned his head away from her, and wiped his eyes. "It's nothing."

"Of course it's something. Talk to me, please," she pleaded.

Her brother shook his head stubbornly, and Vena decided she needed to voice her concerns. It had been something on her mind for a while, and had only become problematic at Slughorn's party. She needed to hear it from her brother. She needed him to tell her.

"You don't think you'll be able to kill Dumbledore, do you?" Vena asked.

Draco snapped his head up, tears brimming his eyes. "I will kill him, Vi. I refuse to let you die just because I'm too cowardly to kill the old man. I just have to figure out how."

As horrible as it sounds, Vena doesn't believe him. Or maybe, she doesn't want to believe him. Is it selfish to not want her brother to be burdened with a task as daunting as this?

Is it selfish to want her brother to not be forced to kill a person? To not want Draco to be the starting point for the war?

Vena smiled sympathetically at her brother. "It's okay, Draco. You aren't a killer. And I don't think you can kill him, I really don't. That doesn't make you a coward. It means you are human. It means you have morals, and that includes refusing to take a human life."

At the end of her words, Draco was full on sobbing now. He took in harsh breaths, and his attempts at swallowing his cries were futile.

"I-I can't lose... lose you," he said. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."