Aurora | Harry Potter

chapter fifty-one

"How do you know what I am? I've done things that would shock you," Draco shouts, his wand pointed at Professor Dumbledore, who responds very calmly and carefully. He states that he doesn't think Draco's heart is probably in these tasks he's been asked to do, which is blatantly obvious through his voice; scared and alone.

"He trusts me! I was chosen!" Draco implores, roughly pulling up his suit's sleeve to reveal his Dark Mark. I hear Harry's breath hitch beside me, so I have to turn to him and hold onto him. "Harry, it was not his choice," I mumble, "deep down, you know that."

"Expelliarmus!" Our heads shoot up to see that Draco has disarmed Professor Dumbledore of his wand and Harry instinctively pulls out his wand, which I urge him to lower, reminding him that no one can know that we're here. I see Draco start to hold back tears as his hand starts to shake, just as a door nearby swings open.

"You're not alone," Professor Dumbledore observes, "there are others... how?" Draco responds with the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, saying that he's been fixing it, that there's a twin version in Borgin and Burkes and there's a passage linked between them, which explains why me and Harry saw him there before the year started with Ron and Hermione.

Professor Dumbledore starts to try and sway Draco back to the good side, but Draco cuts him off. "I don't need your help! Don't you understand? I have to do this! I have to kill you or... he's going to kill me," he says, his voice cracking as a tear rolls down his cheek. Harry starts to get more defensive by the moment, so I physically grab his shoulders and shake him slightly.

"Harry, he is not capable of killing someone," I say, now barely in a whisper, "trust me, he can't do it."

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a group walk through so I grab Harry's arm and pull us both aside, just so we can see the group - led by Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback - walk up the stairs to join Draco.

"Well, look what we have here," Bellatrix chants, her voice making me wince as it brings back unkind memories. As she starts talking, I sense someone else present with me and Harry, so when I spin around to see Professor Snape behind us, I relax slightly.

Harry turns around, his wand still raised, but Professor Snape lowers his and raises a finger to his lips, reminding us to keep silent. Bellatrix starts to shout at Draco to do the deed, but Professor Snape quickly struts up the staircase and simply says, "No."

Me and Harry watch, our nerves at an all time high now. Draco walks behind Professor Snape, who takes his place where the scared boy once was and looks at Professor Snape, one of his oldest friends. Professor Dumbledore subtly looks down at me and Harry before he looks back at the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Severus, please," Professor Dumbledore, alone and defenceless, pleads.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry gasps and I try to stifle my cry as we see the green stream of light hit Professor Dumbledore square in the chest, knocking him through the balcony and we watch as his body falls to the ground...

"SNAPE!" Harry screams as we run towards the retreating group of Death Eaters, who have just reached Hagrid's hut. As we pass through the trees, I see a ball of fire leave Bellatrix's wand as the small hut bursts into flames, her victorious cackles filling the air.

"He trusted you!" Harry continues to scream, firing spells at Professor Snape which are quickly deflected. I spot Draco run away with the rest of the group apart from Bellatrix, vanishing into the air. "Fight back! You coward, fight back!" He shouts, continuing to fire spells in total rage. 

Bellatrix fires one at Harry, knocking him off his feet. "Leave him alone!" I shout as I fire a Stunning spell at Bellatrix, who deflects it and fires a spell back at me which I fail to deflect and it hits me in my stomach, making me fall to the floor in pain.

"He belongs to the Dark Lord!" Professor Snape snaps at Bellatrix, who simply winks and then vanishes. "Sectumsempra!" Harry attempts, but when Professor Snape deflects the spell, it manages to hit both of us, doubling the stinging pain I already have in my stomach.

I start panting in pain and almost miss that Professor Snape reveals to Harry that 'Sectumsempra' is his own spell. "I am the Half-Blood Prince," he admits, before walking away and vanishing.

Pushing myself up, I stand back on my feet and pull Harry up with me. We quickly make our way back to the Castle, which is where we find a massive crowd of students and teachers, all gathered around the bottom of the Astronomy Tower. 

Clutching Harry's hand, we push through everyone to see Professor Dumbledore's body on the ground, cold and frozen. Harry drops to his knees, his hand slipping out of mine, and he places his hand on the Headmaster's chest.

I see the locket on the ground, so I hastily grab it and put it away in my trouser pocket for later. Tears start to fall from Harry's eyes and sobs from his chest, which immediately bring on my own tears. "I'm here, Harry," I whisper in his ear and he almost collapses into me, burying his head into my shoulder. 

All around us, I hear students and other teachers start to cry, but when I look around I see wands raised to the sky. After looking up and seeing the Dark Mark etched in the sky, I pull out my wand and raise it too, as the Dark Mark is engulfed in a bright, white light and disappears.

-

"Draco was lowering his wand and... in the end, it was Snape," I explain to Ron and Hermione, who are sat on the floor of the Astronomy Tower, whereas I'm standing with Harry looking over the hills and lake. "It was always Snape and I did nothing," Harry adds, his voice filled with regret. 

I sigh and motion for Ron and Hermione to walk over. They walk up to us and I pull out the locket, explaining to them what it is and that it's fake. "How do you know?" Ron asks, Hermione and Harry also intrigued.

I open the locket and pull out the tiny, folded note inside. "I opened it last night to find this: 'To the Dark Lord, I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B.'," I read, adding on that I have no clue who 'R.A.B' is. 

"But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux," Harry acknowledges, to which I simply nod as I put the note back inside the locket. "I'm not coming back," he then starts, making us all look at him.

"I've got to finish whatever Dumbledore started and... I don't know where that will lead me, but I'll let you all know where I am... if I can." Hermione scoffs slightly and I share an eye roll with Ron.

"I've always admired your courage, Harry, but sometimes you can be really thick," Hermione protested, making me and Ron nod along with her. "Harry, you don't think that you can find all of these Horcruxes by yourself, do you?" I inquire, interlacing my hand with his. 

"You need us," Ron adds, all of us looking at Harry with supportive and determined looks on our faces. Harry sighs and smiles, squeezing my hand as he turns to look out across the nature that surrounds the Castle.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I marvel, getting agreement nods from the rest of the group. Looking up at the sky, we see a phoenix fly past and for a couple of minutes, we just stand there silently, admiring the view.

"We'll find these Horcruxes," I comment, resting my head on Harry's shoulder, "and once we have, we will get rid of Voldemort once and for all. Once he's gone, those that we've lost can rest peacefully." Everyone nods and we all turn to look at each other, before coming together in a loving, friendly group hug.