Disclaimer: I do not own the plot, the world, the characters, or any other aspect of the series Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling. I do copy exact words from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and I admit I do not own the text.

This plotline was original but it falls in line with the plot line of the seventh book.

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SEVENTH BOOK YET.

(Or "Oblivious"…)

Chapter Two

Task Failed

Draco stood there, nearly paralyzed from shock. It was done. Dumbledore was dead…but he had not been the one to kill him.

Snape snatched Draco's robes around his neck and shoved him towards the door to the staircase. Draco scrambled down each step and came into the corridor of havoc and chaos. Part of the ceiling was caving in, and Snape shouted, "It's over, time to go!"

Still clutching to Draco's robes, Snape forced his way through the battle to the exit. Draco glanced behind him only to find Harry Potter struggling to keep up with them.

Where had he come from?

At that moment, Draco was unsure what he felt towards Harry. A surge of bitterness and malice overcame Draco, and at the same time helplessness and confusion. Suddenly, the beast that Draco had not intended to come pounced on Harry. Fenrir was on top of him, but Draco lost sight of the pair as he turned the corner with Snape.

Draco loathed himself at the moment. Why should he ever feel sorry foranyone?

But then, as Snape led him through never-ending corridors, Draco remembered the pleading voice. He knew it was Sophia, but was unsure whether she had really been there, or whether he had imagined the whole thing. He felt a pang of guilt towards Sophia and thought of the danger he had put her in.

Then spite filled his mind and body and he loathed that pleading voice. It was what made him hesitant to kill Dumbledore. If the voice hadn't spoken, then Draco might've possibly killed Dumbledore.

They arrived atop the marble staircase and raced down the steps heading for the entrance of Hogwarts. Snape blasted a spell through his wand and the entrance doors exploded. Snape grabbed Draco by the forearm and dragged him across the entrance hall. They stepped through the doors and out onto the grounds.

Draco had not been aware of the aching pain in his legs until he inhaled the crisp night air. It burned within his lungs, blades of ice striking his chest each time he gasped for another breath. Every time his foot pounded the ground, it shot a razor-sharp pain through his legs. Snape was no longer holding onto him, forcing him to run. Draco's speed reduced and he fell behind.

Snape barked, "Keep up Draco! Do you want to die?" With all the strength he could muster, Draco hastened his step and was back in line with Snape. His feet and legs throbbed, and the bitter cold was tearing at his bare skin. In the distance he heard a familiar voice shout, "Impedimenta!" Potter was gaining on them.

Draco's sudden uneasiness caused him to advance and he was now ahead of Snape.

"Run, Draco!" Snape bellowed. Draco continued to sprint to the edge of Hogwarts' boundaries.

"Cruc—" he heard Potter's faint voice howl. Flashes of lights erupted behind Draco and the shouting of curses and spells grew softer and softer.

Despite the raw, freezing weather, Draco's robes were sticking to his body, and sweat formed across his forehead. With his mouth hanging open panting, pain piercing every part of his body, and death on his heels, Draco pushed on to towards the gates. He strained to reach the iron exit, and when he finally made it he blasted through. His hands on his knees, he gulped in a large breath of fresh air.

He was out. Free. Death was no longer encroaching upon him. He was free to go. But where?

Home.

He took one last glance behind him, and could distinguish two dark figures battling and yelling at one another. With the last bit of energy he had, Draco disapparated.

He was on his hands and knees in the dirt. Soil embedded his nails and rocks dug into his palms. Had he made it?

He gazed around into the darkness and let his eyes adjust. He did make it, he was home.

He stood up wiping the earth into his robes and stared at his house, Malfoy Manor. He wondered what Potter and Snape were doing now. He didn't care for either one of them at the moment. He didn't desire for either of them to live. Hatred filled Draco's heart as the scene of Snape cursing Dumbledore filled his head.

He was supposed to do it! Not Snape. Of course, Professor Snape had to come to therescue as usual. Trying to steal his glory…he had even told Snape that to his face! But he denied it. He told Draco he was talking like a child. Draco loathed Snape.

"Follow me, Draco." Snape led Draco to the last classroom at the end of the corridor and began accusing him. "Draco, you better not do anything else stupid. The idea of a cursed necklace was reckless and irrational and you should think more before you act! You cannot afford mistakes, Draco, because if you are expelled—"

"I didn't have anything to do with it, all right?"

Why was Snape so suspecting of him?

"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish."

It wasn't that foolish…

"Already you are suspected of having a hand in it."

WHAT?

"Who suspects me? For the last time, I didn't do it, okay? That Bell girl must've had an enemy no one knows about…" Snape gave him a disbelieving look with an air of superiority.

"—don't look at me like that! I know what you're doing, I'm not stupid, but it won't work—I can stop you!"

Oh no, Draco would never let Snape take the credit for killing Dumbledore.

"Ah…Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you Occlumency, I see."

Hah. He can't get to his mind. He had thought as much.

"What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master, Draco?"

MASTER? Hah!

"I'm not trying to conceal anything from him, I just don't want you butting in!"

Hah. Got him.

"So that is why you have been avoiding me this term? You have feared my interference? You realize that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco—"

"So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!"

Bloody wanker.

"You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things."

"You'd better stop telling me to come to your office then!"

"Listen to me. I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco—"

And there was no need for that!

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because I don't need your protection! It's my job, he gave it to me and I'm doing it, I've got a plan and it's going to work, it's just taking a bit longer than I thought it would!"

A lot longer.

"What is your plan?"

Yea, like he was going to tell him

"It's none of your business!"

"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you—"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!"

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or backup, these are elementary mistakes—"

Elementary mistakes!?

"I would've had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!"

"Keep your voice down! If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at pres—"

Who cares?

"What does it matter? Defense Against the Dark Arts—it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protection against the Dark Arts—"

"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco! Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance in assistants like Crabbe and Goyle—"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people!"

Like Sophia…

"Then why not confide in me, and I can—"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

The bloody hell he won't.

"You are speaking like a child."

Howdare him!

"I quite understand that you father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but—"

And Draco stormed out, not wanting to here any more of Snape's pathetic excuses. Nor did he want to hear the partial truth that Snape told. Yes, Draco was upset over his father and partially angry at the Dark Lord…but that didn't matter. Draco had caught him. Snape wanted to kill Dumbledore himself to be the Dark Lord's favorite. Draco would never let him.

Snape should've let him kill Dumbledore. If he had just waited a few more seconds he could've. Now what were the other Death Eaters going to say about him…his parents…

Voldemort?

He shivered, and it wasn't because of the icy winds. Just the thought of the Dark Lord discovering Draco's failure was enough to send panic through his body. Draco was about ready to kill Snape.

Pop.

He was right on queue.

"Draco, are you al—"

"—I'm fine." His anger was building up inside him, until he remembered that Snape had battled Potter. "What happened?" he asked with sudden curiosity.

"Nothing, Draco."

"Did you…you know—"

"No Draco! Don't be ridiculous," Snape spat at him. Well how should he know? Snape could've killed Potter if he had really wanted to. "Now Draco, you must understand that I had to—"

"You can tell me all the useless excuses you want to but I won't believe any of them!" Draco's animosity resurfaced and he was once again hostile towards Snape.

"Draco! You are acting childish again! Our time was running out and you were taking too long to kill him. I had to or else he wouldn't have died."

He had referred to him as a child again!

"How do you know? I could've killed him if you had just given me some more time!" Draco sneered.

"Time we didn't have Draco!" Snape argued. "Face the facts! You didn't kill Albus Dumbledore and you couldn't have!"

"OH SOD OFF!" Draco hollered as he trudged up the hill to his house. There was not one more uttering from Snape as Draco reached the front doors.

He laid a hand on the handle and took a deep breath. He was home. This was it. They would soon all find out what he had done. Or rather, what he hadn't done.

Without ringing or knocking, he opened the door to his home. There was his mother sitting on the couch with a tissue in hand, and his father leaning over the back of the couch whispering in her ear. As soon as the door swung open they book glanced up to find Draco, muddle-haired and dirty, standing at the threshold.

His father was…back. Out of Azkaban. Free. But how?

Draco didn't care, he was only happy to see that his father was out of that rotten place and back home, yet…it pained Draco to see Lucius' and Narcissa's eyes filled with hope, happiness, and serenity. Once they discovered what had happened at Hogwarts, they would no longer be feeling that way.