She stood, her back to the edge, with nowhere left to run. Her wand was gone, her magic was drained. She was defenseless.
He moved with deliberate slowness, his face a contrast of black shadow and reflected firelight. He raised his wand, pointed it at her.
She waited to hear the words that would end her life in a flash of green light. But there were no words.
A purple light spiraled out of his wand and flowed around her, forming a glowing bubble that swept her off her feet.
The flames roared angrily, billowing up from the broken staircase and rushing across the tower. The dark man only stood and stared at her as the sea of fire overtook him.
She screamed and beat her fists against the shimmering surface, but it would not yield.
The wand fell from his burning hand.
Then the stones of the tower shivered and slowly broke apart. The man, the tower, the fire - all tumbled into darkness. Only she remained, floating in her shining prison.
Safe and alone.
---
The reflection in the pool is not me, Draco thought. This should not be me.
But the image that rippled on the surface of the water beneath him remained the same. An anonymous evil, a hired thug to be used and discarded. He had once thought the black robe and silver mask were the uniform of a proud army - certainly it had looked suitably fearsome on his father. But now that army had abandoned his father, and the mask weighed heavily upon his face.
The Death Eaters were a congregation of black swans, skating across the surface of a lake. Here in the center of the water, with only magic to hold them up, they were far from any observer. The shapes of trees lurked on the distant shores, and the half-moon overhead glistered dimly in the warm July night.
They all looked the same in the dark - a faceless horde in service to their master. He could feel Snape looming behind him, he knew his aunt must be at Voldemort's side - but until they spoke he could not point out anyone by name, and sometimes not even then.
Ahead of him, a hulking figure fought to keep his balance on the shifting surface while also abasing himself properly before the Dark Lord. The Master was displeased with the speed at which certain supplies were being gathered. The man apologised repeatedly, promising to make use of his son for more purchases, and Draco recognised the voice at last - Goyle's father.
Was he allowed, now, to associate with Crabbe and Goyle? Neither of them had properly joined the organisation, but they were hardly above suspicion - would they be allowed to see him?
No time now. Confidence!
"So," Voldemort's hissing attention turned to Draco. "What has our new spy uncovered? Will they trust you?"
"The fools were actually happy to see me," Draco proclaimed. "The old witch was 'concerned for my welfare' and easily believed I was frightened and mistreated by my new associates. They even offered to hide me in the Americas instead of using my services." This was true. McGonagall had said something about getting him out of the country - but of course, she had no ability to free his father or mother to accompany him. And he was not enough of a coward to flee to safety and leave them behind.
"And what of Potter?"
"He is not staying at the school," Draco reported. "Only one of the Weasleys was there. They did not mention where Potter was, but said that I might be able to meet him later, after they've had a chance to feed me Veritaserum."
"Yes," Voldemort chuckled. "Your father should have no difficulty in supplying you with the antidote."
"Of course, Master," Draco bowed, aware of Snape's presence behind him. "Is there anything specific you need me to discover?"
"It is too soon to press them for information," Snape's voice cut in. "First, they must become comfortable with his presence in their midst. He has traditionally been their enemy."
"As I would have stated," Voldemort responded, his voice carrying a note of warning. Severus instantly bowed before his master, and Draco followed suit. "Leave us now."
Snape caught his arm, drew him away from the others, across the bobbing surface of the lake. "There will always be things you are not allowed to hear," he explained. "What you do not know, you cannot be forced to betray. And, of course, no one truly trusts a spy." A soft noise, like a dry laugh, escaped the confines of the mask. "Not that it helps them"
---
Ginny was right - Harry was not happy.
"Trust the ferret?" he goggled. "He's been nothing but a nasty little sneak since the day he was born!"
Ron's head nodded vigorously in the fire next to Harry's. "You should have popped him one for the team, Gin."
Ginny sat beside Hermione in the Gryffindor common room, having broken her self-imposed No Communication With Harry rule for the importance of the occasion. "You were worried about him just the other day! Draco's a spoiled brat, but he's not a killer. He was scared. He wanted to get out. You said so yourself!"
"If he's so scared and helpless that he couldn't talk to anyone, why's he talking to you now?" Ron asked.
Ginny shrugged. "He did everything to try and save his father, right? Well, even with Dumbledore dead, Malfoy senior is still in Azkaban. So that's what Draco wants in exchange for helping us - his parents' freedom." She made a face at Harry. "I'm not saying he's suddenly turned into a nice boy. But he's not our enemy. We can use him, even if we don't totally trust him. We know what he wants, we'll know when he's up to something..."
"Dumbledore knew that Draco was up to something," Harry said darkly. "It didn't help him, did it?"
"That's it!" Everyone turned to look at Hermione, who until now had been unusually quiet. Now her eyes gleamed with excitement. "Don't you get it? Dumbledore did know!"
"What are you talking about?" Ron asked.
Hermione held up her hand for silence. "Dumbledore absolutely, positively knew Draco was trying to kill him, even though he wouldn't admit it to Harry and kept trying to throw Harry off the scent. He knew it all year long. He also absolutely, positively knew that Snape had to help Draco or die. Even if Snape didn't tell him about it, Harry did! Harry told him about the Unbreakable Vow, right?"
"So what?" asked Harry.
Hermione blew out an exasperated breath. "Don't you get it? He knew Snape had to kill him or die. That's not something you can just ignore and hope it works out. If you knew someone had to kill you or die trying, would you just sit back and wait?"
"I do have someone who has to kill me or die," Harry reminded her.
"Oh. Right. But - well, that's different," she said, flustered. "It's not like you and Voldemort can just sit and talk things out. But what if there were a curse put on Ron?"
"Hey, I don't want any curses!" Ron waved his hands in front of his face.
"If Ron had to kill you or die, you wouldn't just sit back and wait for him to drop dead, would you? You'd try to find a way out, you'd come up with a plan!"
"But Snape still did it," Ginny said.
Hermione sighed. "Maybe that was the only way out. If there's no way to break the Unbreakable Vow, and one of them had to die..."
"If one of them had to die, it should have been Snape," Harry said angrily. "He's a worthless traitor. He killed my parents. Dumbledore was a great wizard, the strongest power the Order had. He wouldn't just give up and leave us like this. He wouldn't abandon me!"
"He was training you all year for..." Hermione began.
"No," Harry snapped. "I don't want to hear it. Dumbledore didn't leave me. Snape killed him. He killed him, and he killed my parents. He's a lying, sneaking, backstabbing freak who's turned on everyone he's ever known. And I bet he's the one who sent Draco here, too, just to take up where he left off. A new little spy, so terribly sorry for the things he's done, just waiting for us to make friends with him so he can kill one of us too!"
"Harry - "
"For once in your life, Hermione, will you just SHUT UP?"
As Hermione's eyes suddenly pricked with tears, Harry's face went pale and disappeared from the fire.
"Whoops," Ron sighed. "He didn't mean anything by it. You know that."
Hermione scrubbed at her face. "It's just not fair," she muttered. "I wasn't even running my mouth. He was."
Ginny hugged her shoulders. "We all know Harry's a total idiot," she quipped. "That's why we have you to be the brain."
"Do you believe me, then?" Hermione asked.
Ron shook his head. "I see what you're saying, but - well, if someone did put a curse on me to say that I had to kill Harry or die, and we couldn't break it, I still wouldn't do it. I'd rather be dead than that. So even if the greasy git was actually following Dumbledore's plan, it still means he's the sort of person who would rather kill than die."
"That's very wise of you, Ron," Ginny said.
Ron made a face at his little sister. "Yeah, well, I'm not a total idiot." He shrugged. "So maybe Harry shouldn't go after Snape, but I still don't trust him."
"What about Draco?" Ginny asked. "The Order's going to interrogate him."
Ron shook his head. "We'll just have to wait and see."
Hermione took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. She knew, in her heart, that she was right, and no one was going to change her mind. Snape was following Dumbledore's orders. Snape had a plan. Snape had spared her life.
... a glowing bubble ...
Snape would protect them until the end.
... the wand fell from his burning hand ...
