AN - Hasty Chapter to make up for the lag of late. Looking for a new ff to read. Will post recommendations later.
This chapter contains portions lifted directly from Half Blood Prince. For authenticity.
Josie lingered on the 7th floor, close enough to the room of requirement, but not so close as to infer that she knew what was going to happen. She had taken a drop of Felix Felicis, along with her house mates and had prepared herself for what was to come. The idea that she knew exactly what would happen, and the rest of the DA were only guessing was the hardest thing for Josie.
She swallowed the guilt and hid behind a tapestry when she heard voices.
"Its now or never Draco, the headmaster is out of the castle for a short time and its walls are unprotected. I can help you but only as far as you are willing to participate" came the voice of Snape.
"Its fine. I know what I'm doing. Tonight is the night" Draco answered.
"And the girl?" Snape questioned.
"She'll… She will choose… when the time is right" he said, fear radiating through his whispered tone.
"There will be no going back. If she chooses you then she chooses the side of dark. There will be no returning to her family. She chooses the dark lord" Snape said.
"I know, Merlin, I know this" Draco's exasperated voice said. She imagined him running his hand through his hair at this very moment.
"Does she know?" he asked.
There was silence and she wondered what Draco's answer was to his mentor. Did Draco know this? Did she know this? Did she truly know what the implications of all of this would be?
The sound of footsteps once again echoed through the halls, away from where she stood, leaving her now more confused than ever.
The side of dark. Voldemort's side. Draco's side. Or should she choose the side of good, of Dumbledore and all that he stands for. All he would have stood for, once this night is over. Her parents, her brother and her sisters. Was there a difference? Could there be an in-between? If you do bad things for the sake of goodness, is it truly bad? If she reminds herself, constantly, over and over about why she is doing what she is doing, then is it truly bad? Is she doing something wrong by siding with the darkness if she is truly playing for the light?
Minutes ticked by, hours perhaps, but she couldn't tell. The corridors were dark, the torches were out. A sign that things were about to become real. More real than she anticipated.
She made her way, by feel, towards the room where she knew Draco was activating the cabinet to allow death eaters into the castle. She knew that there would be members of the DA on this floor and she hope that if she were to stun them, then perhaps they would survive the death eater attack.
"Josie? What are you doing here?" came Neville's voice.
"I have been patrolling the corridors. So far, there is nothing but silence" she said, taking her place beside her lifelong friend.
"What now then? We can't stay here all night?" Hazel asked, anxiety emanating from her words. Josie felt the guiltiest about Hazel. Her best friend. She knew the most about Josie's secret romance and would assume that Josie had been part of this all along. She knew it would be Josies fault. This whole thing. The death of Dumbledore. She would never forgive her. It brought a tear to Josie's eye that she subtly wiped away.
"Wait. Just wait it out. Remember what Harry said. This is it" Ron said.
"Everything will be fine" Josie managed to say, before, through the darkness, a door appeared on the wall of the room of requirement, which slowly swung open.
Josie reached into the pocket of her robes and withdrew a package of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, holding it in her hand until the time was right. In just a few moments, Josie's life would change forever.
The silhouette of Draco, exited through the recently appeared door, and she saw that in his hand, he held the Hand of Glory – the thing that allowed the carrier to see through the Dark.
Josie looked to Hazel, making eye contact and in that briefest of seconds, she wanted Hazel to know that this wasn't what she wanted.
"Jo….." Hazel begun, but Josie had dropped the powder on the floor, creating instant darkness. Draco reached Josie in a matter of seconds and took her hand as he ran from the corridor. Josie turned as she ran, hand in hand with her fiancé and pointed her wand in the direction of her friends, casting a stunning spell that would prevent them from being hurt by the death eaters she was sure were now exiting the room behind them.
"Good idea" Draco said to her, as they slowed to a walk.
"The rest are in the corridor outside Snape's office" she said, catching her breath.
"There are others here. Order of the Phoenix members" Draco said.
Josie simply nodded, wondering how she might survive this on the side of the dark.
Hand and hand with Draco, she walked towards the highest tower of the tallest part of the castle, the astronomy tower.
"How do you know he'll be there?" she asked Draco.
"Snape" Draco said, as they kept walking, footsteps echoing behind them. "Also…" Draco added, pointing out a window to the sky above the tower. Josie looked out the open window, into the night and saw the eerie glow of the Dark Mark, hovering above the Astronomy Tower, signalling the exact location of the rendezvous point.
"Its…" she said, uncertain as to which words fit the creepy nature of the glow.
"I know. Come on, we need to hurry" he said, as they hurried in the direction of the tower.
The death eaters were now held up, having met some members of the Order of the Phoenix along the way in the corridors. Draco and Josie were lucky not to have encountered any. A sign that perhaps luck was on their side.
"You better do this right, Draco. The Dark Lord is counting on you" came the voice of Snape. Josie made eye contact with him and he simply glared in her direction as they made their way to the base of the tower.
Draco made to let go of Josie's hand, however she refused to relinquish the contact.
"No way, I'm coming with you. I'll be by your side Draco. Through all of it" she said, earning a nod from Snape.
Draco and Josie climbed the spiralling staircase and entered the topmost section of the tower. Upon seeing Dumbledore, Josie wordlessly cast the 'expelliarmus' spell and separated the headmaster from his wand, leaving Draco free to do what he needed to.
Josie looked around the room, knowing that Harry would have to have been with Dumbledore. He had gone with him on the mission and logic said he would have returned with him.
"Where is my brother?" she asked the headmaster.
"I am alone" he replied.
"I don't believe you" she said.
"Are you both acting alone tonight?" Dumbledore asked. He appeared to be somewhat impaired by something that Josie could not identify. Was he ill?
"I have back up" Draco said. "The death eaters are in your school" he added.
Josie continued looking around for her brother. She sensed he was here. She knew it. Somehow, she just knew. She figured he must be under the cloak, immobilised obviously, as he would not stay still and allow this to unfold.
She missed parts of the back and forth between the headmaster and her fiancé as she looked around for a slight shimmer in the air that would indicate where Harry was standing. She could not see one.
"Well then, dear boy, you must get on and do it" Dumbledore said,
This was it. They would accomplish their mission and the Malfoy's would be reunited again. Draco would repay the family's debt and he could leave. They wouldn't even have to take part in any further fighting unless they wanted to. They could just run off together after this.
Josie had made up her mind.
"You're not a killer Draco" Dumbledore said.
"How would you know?" Draco spat back, trying to sound tough, although Josie could see the fear in his face, hear it in his voice, feel it in the way he held her hand. "You don't know what I'm capable of" he added.
"I do know. You almost killed Katie Bell and Ron Weasley. You've been trying to kill me all year with increasing desperation. Quite feeble attempts I must say, especially with Miss Potter by your side, I thought the two of you would have come up with something a little more effective" Dumbledore said.
"This is effective. This is it" Josie said.
"Miss Potter, you're no more a killer than I a death eater" Dumbledore said.
"Well, you have to do things for the ones you love. Things you don't want to do. Isn't that right, Draco?" she asked, almost manically.
Draco simply nodded.
At the sound of a muffled yell, Josie jumped.
"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job, Draco. What if your back up has been thwarted by my guard? You don't really need additional help. I have no wand, no means to defend myself" he said.
Draco's wand was aimed at the headmaster, but he did not move or speak.
"I see. You're afraid to act until you are joined by your fellow death eaters?" he asked.
"How do you know…?" he asked, looking down at his left arm. "Never mind, it doesn't matter".
"Come on Draco, we need to leave" Josie said, still hopeful for one last interaction with her brother before she became one of them.
"Miss Potter. Josie. Please enlighten me, as we await my imminent demise, how did you manage to become entangled in this mess?" Dumbledore asked.
"Draco and I…" she began, tears filling her eyes at the confession she was about to give in front of her invisible brother, the one she had grown up with, idolised, cherished. He would hate her. She needed to do this, needed to set things straight before the end. Before it was too late. "We've been together for a while. Draco isn't… he… This isn't his choice. Its not either of ours. I helped him repair the vanishing cabinet…" she said.
"Oh, I see, it has a twin?" Dumbledore asked.
"Borgin and Bourkes. That's how they got into the castle tonight" Draco said.
"At first, I didn't know what I was helping with…" Josie continued, trying to get as much information across to her brother as she could. "… I just knew that Draco was suffering, and it killed me to see. I… I didn't want to be in the side of the dark. I hated that this stupid war had pulled him in, but he had no choice. If not me, then Draco would have been alone" she said.
"Not entirely true, Draco had Professor Snape watching over him"
"On my mothers orders" Draco said.
"Again, not entirely correct. I trust Professor Snape, I had him watch over you both" Dumbledore said.
"Your trust is misplaced. Snape is loyal to Voldemort" Josie said.
"We must agree to differ on that subject. Professor Snape and I have an understanding" Dumbledore said. "Now please, let us discuss your options dear boy" Dumbledore said.
"Options? I have no options. I have to do this. He'll kill me. He'll kill Josie and he'll kill my entire family" Draco said, tears gleaming in his eyes.
"I can help you Draco" he said.
"No you cant. Nobody can" Draco said.
"Come over to the right side, you're not a killer. Neither of you are. You'll be safe with the Potters" Dumbledore said.
"You mean the Blacks? The ones who haven't taken a minute of their precious lives to wonder what their daughter's been up to. They don't care. About me, about Draco, about any of this. My mother and Sirius are always off on some mission of yours and you've had Harry all tied up with it now too. I'm nothing. To any of them. But I am something... To Draco. That's why we're going to get this over and done with and we're leaving" Josie said.
At the sound of an explosion, footsteps came thundering up the stairs and the door burst open.
At the sight of Professor Snape, Dumbledore appeared to relax a little, collapsing somewhat against the railing.
"Severus… Please… Our agreement" Dumbledore said.
"Avada Kedavra!"
A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore directly in the chest. Josie stood in stunned silence, watching as if in slow motion, the body of Dumbledore fell backwards, over the railing and out of sight, into the night.
"Let's go. Now!" Snape said, pulling Draco by the collar.
"Harry, I… Please don't hate me" Josie called into the air as she departed the tower and into her future.
As she ran down the stairs and blindly made her way through the castle, she thought she could hear her name being called. She looked back and saw jets of red light heading towards her and cast a shield to protect both herself and Draco.
She ran, hand in hand with Draco down through the castle, dodging hexes and spells, throwing up shields as she went. At the foot of the marble staircase, Josie lost grip of Draco's hand as he tripped on a statue that had appeared to have been used as a shield.
She stood in the middle of the entrance hall, Draco was now on his feet and Snape was out the door, making his way to the edge of the castle grounds.
She glimpsed at Harry, who had now caught up, looked to Hazel who was standing, staring in fear at her best friend.
"Josie! Don't do this. He killed him. He'll kill you too as soon as he's had the opportunity. Stay with us" Harry said, holding his wand aimed at Draco, looking out the huge oak doors to where Snape had just run.
"Harry, I… I have to go. I can't. Please, forgive me. This isn't what we wanted" she said, taking Draco's hand and running out through the doors in the same direction as Snape.
They caught up with Snape halfway through the grounds and he called to them, "Apparate to the Manor, I'll meet you there", before he turned to face the oncoming attack of Harry.
When Josie and Draco reached the edge of the grounds, they stood for a second, Draco took her face in his hands and kissed her once.
"This is it. If you do this, if you come with me now, there is no going back. They'll brand you; you'll be a death eater. This is your decision my love" he said.
"I already made up my mind Draco" she said, kissing him back once and holding him tight as he disapparated them both, far away from the chaos of the castle.
AN - The following chapters assume that the reader knows the canon version of events. Loads of assumptions. Not going to rewrite perfection.