Disclaimer: Some sentences used in this story were already written and belong to the fabulous JK Rowling. I am not using this story to gain any sort of profit or am i looking to gain any credit for the sentences already belonging to JK Rowling.

"There is little time, one way or another," said Dumbledore. "So let us discuss your options, Draco."

"My options!" Said Draco loudly. "I'm standing here with a wand-I'm about to kill you-"

"My dear boy, let us have no more pretense about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means."

"I haven't got any options!" Said Draco, and he was suddenly white as Dumbledore. "I've got to do it! He'll Kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"

"I appreciate the difficulty of your position," Said Dumbledore. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized that I suspected you."

Draco winced at the sound of the name.

"I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you," continued Dumbledore. "But now at last we can speak plainly to each other…. No harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived…. I can help you, Draco."

"No, you can't," Said Draco, his wand hand shaking very badly indeed. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."

"He cannot kill you if you are already dead. Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me- forgive me, but Lord Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your mother- it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban…. When the time comes, we can protect him to. Come over to the right side, Draco… you are not a killer…."

Draco stared at Dumbledore.

"But I got this far, didn't I?" he said slowly. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here… and you're in my power…. I'm the one with the wand…. You're at my mercy…."

"No, Draco," said Dumbledore quietly. "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now."

Draco did not speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. Harry thought he saw him lower his wand. Draco licked his lips and then silently gulped, his hand trembling even more now. His chest started to rise more and more, his breathing getting heavier. His eyes wandered from Dumbledore to the floor for only a mere second, before his gaze was back on Dumbledore, a small tear running down the side of his cheek and hitting his shirt. "He… he'll figure it out." Draco sniffled, biting his lips together before letting another tear run down his cheek. "What will you do then? What will you do when he does find out?" Draco asked, clenching and unclenching his free hand.

"He won't figure it out, Draco." Dumbledore said quietly.

"Yes he will!" Draco yelled, licking his lips and bringing his wand back up to the height it was to begin with. "I have no choice! I have to do this for my family! He'll kill us all!"

"And do you really think that everybody else feels any different than you do about their family." Draco lowered his wand slightly at the Dumbledores statement. "Just because we aren't personally threatened by Voldemort doesn't mean we aren't in the same situation that you are in Draco." The scared and unsure look on Draco's face seemed to somehow give Dumbledore the strength to lift himself up slightly from against the wall. Draco panted heavier now. It was quite obvious that he was trying to calm his breathing down, but with no success. "We are all scared Draco. But it's time like these you have to conquer your fears and decide where you truly lie. You're not a killer Draco." Dumbledore smiled. "Lower your wand Draco. Allow us to help you. Allow us to help your family."

Draco studied Dumbledore carefully, looking him up and down and biting his lips together nervously before slowly lowering his wand. "You can save my mother?" He asked quietly, now looking down at the ground.

"Yes. We can send for her and keep her hidden, keep her safe, along with yourself." Draco nodded slowly, still looking at the ground, an ashamed look on his face. "You're not weak, Draco." Dumbledore suddenly said. "You shouldn't be ashamed of yourself for not being able to do the task at hand. Our strength isn't measured by how many people we kill or by how great of a witch or wizard we are, but by the size of our heart. You may be a Slytherin, Draco, but the love for your family and friends, and the strength you have to do what is right… gives you the heart of a lion."

Draco stared at Dumbledore for a few seconds. He opened his mouth to say something, but there was a sudden bang from the stairway, causing Draco to jump a few inches in the air and come out of his thoughts. "They're breaking through your Order. They'll be up here soon."

"Then we better get a move on." Dumbledore straightened himself up and looked around the room quickly, freezing when his eyes landed on the steps. He reached out with his blackened hand and pointed towards them. "Hand me back my wand and then lie over on those stairs." Draco took a step forward but then stopped, looking Dumbledore up and down once again, obviously trying to decide if what he was doing was right and whether he should really trust him or not. "Please, Draco. We have no time to dilly dally. In order for this to work I need you to hand me my wand and lie on the stairs. You need to not move and try and calm your breathing as much as possible. If they realize you're alive… it'll ruin everything."

The danger of the situation seemed to hit Draco at that moment, but Dumbledore's words seemed to come back to him, and for the first time in his life, he didn't think the old man was crazy. Draco exhaled a deep breath and then approached Dumbledore, handing him over his wand. As he did so, there was an even louder bang and footsteps could be heard running towards them from the bottom of the stairs. "Quickly Draco." Dumbledore whispered. "And remember to remain absolutely still."

With one last look around the room, Draco licked his lips and then laid face down on the stairs, his right arm tucked under his body while his left laid across two sets of stairs, and his legs were spread eagle and bent in every weird way he could put them. Just as he managed to calm his heart rate and close his eyes, the footsteps stopped and he could hear cackling coming from behind him. After a couple seconds, the cackling stopped however and Draco strained his ears to hear what was going on.

"Dumbledore…. Tell me, is the boy dead?" A woman asked, a woman that Draco recognized right away.

"Hello Bellatrix. Who's that with you? Fenrir Greyback, is that you?" Dumbledore said leaning over slightly to get a better view of the people behind Bellatrix.

"Great at changing the subject, aren't you?" Bellatrix asked with a smirk, approaching Dumbledore slowly and running the tip of her wand through her hair. "I'm surprised you had the heart to kill one of your students Dumbledore."

"I'm surprised that you don't seem to be upset at the fact that your nephew is dead." Dumbledore snapped back, still holding a small grin on his face.

Bellatrix glared at him, and before Dumbledore could react, Bellatrix had him disarmed and her wand now aiming right at Dumbledore. "Nobody actually expected him to get as far as he did. His death comes as no surprise to us." Bellatrix said with a smirk. "You, however, should have known that if Draco didn't kill you, then one of us would have."

"Lower your wand Bella." Everybody turned their heads, except for Draco, and met the cold eyes of Severus Snape. Bellatrix's smirk grew as she turned her attention back to Dumbledore. Snape approached Dumbledore, raising his wand towards him as Bellatrix lowered hers.

"Ah, Severus." Dumbledore said, smiling at Snape. Snape showed no emotion, instead his eyes wandered the room until they landed on Draco laying motionless on the floor. After seeing Draco, Snape's eyes shot back to Dumbledore. Dumbledore's smile only grew.

"I never thought I would see the day that the great Albus Dumbledore would kill one of his own students." Snape said slowly.

"We all knew it would happen, Severus." Bellatrix said quietly. "Do it." She whispered. "Fulfill your promise."

Snape turned towards Bellatrix and glared at her before turning back towards Dumbledore and raising his wand slightly. "I never wanted to see the day I would have to kill one of my own students Severus. And I also never wanted to see the day that one of my own teachers would turn against me."

"You won't have to worry about that for that much longer." Snape stated.

"Severus, please."

All Harry saw was a flash of green light and he felt himself come loose from the wall he was just frozen to. He watched in horror as Dumbledore fell from the Astronomy tower to the floor below and he watched as the Death Eaters fled the tower. It was then that it hit Harry. Dumbledore was just killed. Dumbledore was just killed by Snape, a person that he put all his trust in. Before Harry even thought about what he was about to do he through the cloak off of himself and sprinted for the door and into the battle, chasing after the fleeing Death Eaters.

Harry didn't even turn to see Draco no longer pretending to be dead. He didn't see Draco sitting with his back to the wall, legs curled up against his chest, and his head buried in his knees. With his arms wrapped around his legs, he pulled his legs closer towards his body and allowed the tears to fall from his face. He had no idea what he was doing or what he was getting himself into, but he did know one thing. The people he had looked up and wanted to impress more than anything hadn't even believed in him. They had always believed he would fail. And now they thought he was dead, and they didn't even care. They didn't even care because they knew that would be his fate anyway.

And so he sat there. He sat there through the yelling, the crying, and the spell casting. He sat there with his head on his knees as tears soaked his pants. He sat there until the noise died down and a bright light came from below the astronomy tower. Draco stood up slowly and approached the same spot the Dumbledore had fell through. Looking down at the ground, he watched as tiny lights moved along the ground like ants. In the center of the lights, Draco could make out Dumbledore's body, laying spread eagle on the ground, and over his body stood Harry. As Draco looked down, he couldn't help but realize that Harry was no longer looking down at Dumbledore's body, but up towards the Astronomy tower.

Draco narrowed his eyes, trying to get a better look and actually decide if Harry was looking up at him. His thought was confirmed when he saw Harry push through the crowd and disappear into the castle at a full sprint.

Hello! Thanks for deciding to read my story! I got this idea after going to see HBP (still not sure about my feelings for it) and watching how much of an AMAZING actor tom felton is. he portrayed draco so well and it made we want to really write draco in his emotional state. i hope you guys liked it and please remember to review!! thanks again!