Chapter 27

The End of an Era

You'd probably call me an idiot for crying in the middle of a battle unarmed. Yeah, I had dropped my wand in shock of seeing Draco with the Dark Mark branded into his skin before I ran. So, I was sobbing inconsolably in the corridor, in the middle of a fight, completely unarmed.

That's me. I'm Hannah Potter, the Queen of Stupidity. I fell in love with a bloody Death Eater and now I'm sobbing about it in a corridor at Hogwarts in the middle of a Death Eater infested battle without even my wand! Talk about a stupid, stupid little girl!

Finally, I came to my senses. "What the Skinner am I doing!" I asked myself "Why the hell am I mourning this She-Cat in the middle of a Death Eater infested corridor? I can easily take this to my dorm and cry myself to sleep over it! Talk about moronic, Han, very moronic!"

I got up and started to run back to my dormitory, unaware that I was being followed.

I was just running down the stairs when I was seized from behind and a dagger was held against my throat.

"If you value your life, little girlie, I highly advise against screaming!" a cold familiar voice hissed.

I paled "How'd you find me? I thought I was wearing my…oh, SKINNER, FANELLI AND FAKSA!" I screamed. I had a big problem.

And that problem was called I left my Invisibility Cloak on top of the Astronomy Tower!

I swallowed when the dagger was pressed tighter against my flesh. "What did I say about screaming, girl?"

I said nothing. I just kept my mouth shut.

"ANSWER ME!" the woman's voice shrieked, pressing the dagger tighter against my neck, making small droplets of my blood fall down my neck.

"N-Not t-to!" I whimpered, breathing a little easier when the pressure on my neck was relinquished slightly.

"Good girl. What did I teach you last year in the Ministry?" the woman said, making her voice recognizable at last.

I gasped "Bellatrix!" I squealed.

"Excellent deductions, Sherlock." a low, bark-like voice snarled in my ear, filling my nose with the scent of blood and sweat and nearly making me gag.

"Greyback!" an unfamiliar voice snapped, making the person called Greyback move away from my face and letting me breath air that didn't smell. "Keep your distance until the deed is done."

"Chamberline, the Dark Lord told you that if you insisted on coming along for this mission, you were to stay silent and observe how your superiors do it!" Bellatrix snapped.

A girl that I didn't know stepped into my vision, glaring into my eyes. She looked around seventeen and had shoulder length black hair, like mine and large brown eyes, sort of like a doe's. she had a lithe build and looked like she'd make a good assassin. Her shirt was slightly ripped, revealing a slight bit mark along her neck.

"Chamberline, I presume?" I asked, trying to sound brave and icily polite.

"Good to meet you, Potter." Chamberline spat, her lip curling and revealing a set of teeth that included a rather large set of canines.

I shivered. She must have been a…

"If you think I'm a werewolf, girl, you're wrong!" she snapped. "I was attacked by a typical everyday wolf when I was in the Forest here."

"Because she's a death wish having daredevil!" another woman's voice sounded behind her, making Chamberline sigh.

"Electricia!"

"Munville, I do believe you're familiar with Ms Potter here." the person holding me growled.

"Very." Munville said, stepping into my vision next to Chamberline and tossing her long blonde hair over her shoulder, her blue eyes glistening with evil. "Malfoy never shuts up about you, Potter." she spat.

"It was disgusting. Especially at the party how much he talked about you. 'Oh, she's so smart, she's so funny, she's so charming, she's so beautiful, I could get lost in her eyes all day if she'd let me!'" another female voice said.

"My thoughts exactly, Traci." Bellatrix's voice said. "It's disgusting. A proud pureblood falling for a filthy half-blood like you!"

"Yes, a filthy half-blood with my nephew." the woman called Traci said, coming into my line of vision standing next to the woman called Electricia Munville.

It was amazing how much she looked like Bellatrix. She had her dark hair, her dark eyes, but she was smaller. She wasn't too big, but she wasn't too small. She was around a normal height.

The only flaw she seemed to have was a scar running from her jaw to her left ear. I was terrified to find out how she had gotten it.

"Excellent, you've introduced yourselves." another females voice said, sounding like she was sneering. "You've met the gang, I'll take it, Potter?" she added, walking into my line of vision.

I glared into the woman's black eyes and snarled "No." trying to sound braver than I felt.

"Well, then, a proper introduction is needed for such an idiot girl." the woman said, backing away from me in the person's arms and smirking at the women. "This," she started, gesturing to Chamberline and speaking slowly as if I was mentally retarded. "Is Chelsey Chamberline. This," she continued, gesturing to Munville "is Electricia Munville. This," she gestured to the woman called Traci "is Traci Lestrange and I," she concluded, gesturing to herself, her black hair flowing around as she tossed her hair back "Am Isabel Lockton. Have I gotten through to your thick idiot head, Potter?"

I stayed silent, defiantly glaring into Lockton's fathomless black eyes.

Lockton grinned "Oh, and I almost forgot! The person holding you is Fenrir Greyback."

I gasped. Greyback…the werewolf from my visions!

Suddenly, Bellatrix flowed into the group of sneering females and said "The time is coming. To the Astronomy Tower, quickly!" she said. "Greyback, hold our little captive tightly to keep her from escaping." she added, sneering at me.

"I hope you know that I will get out of this and kick all of your asses." I said, sneering back.

"Hold her tighter, Greyback. I want her upper body to go numb." Bellatrix ordered, striding away from my defiant glare, the females following her.

I struggled to break out of the werewolf's grip, screaming endlessly things like "Let go of me, you filthy werewolf!" and "Get your stinking claws off me, you damn dirty mongrel!" and, my personal yet completely unexpected favourite "DRACO!"

But, Greyback's grip was like Lycra, the more I resisted and fought, the tighter he held me until I lost the feeling in both my arms and my respitory system was being crushed.

"I said," I said finally before Greyback opened the door to the Astronomy Tower "TO GET YOUR BLOODY HANDS OFF ME, YOU DAMN DIRTY PYE-DOG!"

Bellatrix looked on the scene with animated eyes.

"Well, what do we have here?" She asked, walking over to Draco.

"Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore cornered!" Lestrange said excitedly.

"Well done, Draco." Bellatrix whispered, kissing Draco on the ear.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" I shouted, sparking a slight heat through my body and making all eyes in the room go to me. Bellatrix cackled high and mad.

"As you can plainly see, your little girlfriend has oh, so generously agreed to join us this evening." Bellatrix laughed.

"More like dragged here against my will, you lot caught me off -"

I shut my mouth the moment Draco and I locked eyes, my eyes moved straight to his left forearm, half hoping that what I saw was just a horrible dream, a hallucination, anything.

But it wasn't. it was as real as the fact that I was quickly being constricted to death.

"Good evening, Bellatrix." Dumbledore said, from the same position as last time and with an oddly casual tone as if he was inviting the insane bitch to a tea party. "I think introductions are in order, don't you?"

"Thought so, Albus," Traci Lestrange sneered.

"But I think we're on a bit of a tight schedule." Bellatrix sneered before turning on Draco. "Do it!"

"If you don't, I think we'll give Greyback here a little sweet payment for having to put up with such a feisty girl." Lestrange giggled.

Greyback snarled and I swear I felt drool pooling on my open leather jacket and into my pyjama shirt. I shivered, but swallowed my fear to snap at the werewolf.

"Hey, hey, watch the jacket, idiot dog!" I snapped "That's real leather you're drooling all over!"

"You honestly care about your jacket when we're about to kill you?" Lestrange demanded.

"It can't be." Dumbledore gasped, looking to where Bellatrix and Traci Lestrange stood "Traci Lestrange, the smartest Gryffindor in her generation, a Death Eater?"

"That's right, Dumbledore." Lestrange laughed "I decided to go a way that would appreciate my intelligence."

Chamberline giggled, but was silenced by a death glare from Bellatrix.

"Draco, we've told you to do it!" Bellatrix demanded "Or would you like to see your precious Hannah's throat strewn all over the floor?"

Draco paled, turning his eyes back to me.

I struggled a little more. "You wouldn't be able to catch me if I break out of this. Draco may not have told you, but I was a track star in Muggle school." I said.

"HA!" Lockton barked "Do you honestly think that stupid Muggle talents you've picked up will save you from the Dark Lord's most faithful supporters?"

"Yes, yes I do!" I snapped, wishing I could burn Greyback and get him to let me go.

"Do it!" Bellatrix snapped again, glaring at Draco, who just locked eyes with me again, but kept his wand on Dumbledore.

Please, Draco, don't do this. I thought, hoping somehow he'd hear me.

"He doesn't have the stomach, just like his father." Greyback snarled, tossing me aside. "I'll finish him in my own way, and then do the girl for afters."

"NO!" Bellatrix snarled "The Dark Lord was clear that the boy is to do it. This is your moment, do it!" Bellatrix commanded as I groped around for my wand. "Go on, Draco, NOW!"

Greyback grabbed my arm when I stood back up, sighing in defeat. I couldn't find my wand. I was as good as dead.

Draco was half sobbing when he turned back to Dumbledore.

"DRACO, NO!" I shouted before I could stop myself "There's got to be another way!"

"Silence, idiot girl!" Munville snapped, glaring at me "Do it!" she added, turning to Draco.

Draco turned to me and mouthed a quick "I'm sorry." before he turned back to Dumbledore.

I closed my eyes, waiting for the two words I knew would come, but instead I only heard crying and someone say "No."

I opened my eyes and saw Snape push Draco out of the way, taking out his own wand and turning to Dumbledore.

"No." I breathed "He wouldn't."

"Severus." Dumbledore said weakly, making me gasp.

It couldn't be. Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore, was actually begging?

"Severus, please." Dumbledore said.

His last words. Snape raised his wand and said the two words I thought I'd never hear my Head of House say to anyone, much less the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Avada Kedavra."

"NO!" I screamed when the curse hit Dumbledore square in the chest and he fell off the parapet and off the Astronomy Tower.

"He didn't do it! The boy didn't do it! Take the girl, Greyback!" Bellatrix shouted, running up to where Dumbledore was standing not two minutes prior and screaming "YES!" as she cast what I knew no doubt was the Dark Mark into the sky.

Draco ran over to me and pulled me behind him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"Now's not the time, Hannah." Draco said, grabbing my hand as Bellatrix turned around.

"Let her go, Draco." she ordered.

"No." Draco said strongly, squeezing my hand as I gasped.

"Let. Her. Go. Now." Traci ordered.

"No!" Draco said louder. "I know what you'll do to her and I'm not letting that happen."

"This is your last chance, Malfoy, let her go, and we may just let her live." Lockton snapped.

Draco growled "No. If I let her go, you'll torture her. I'm not some stupid teenager. You may just let her live, but you'll make her life miserable. I won't let you do anything to hurt her. She's been through enough!"

"So be it." Bellatrix snarled before turning to Munville and Greyback "Munville, take the boy, Greyback, the girl. The Dark Lord will be so thrilled to have the Girl Who Lived at his mercy!" Bellatrix said.

"Bellatrix, you said I could have the girl!" Greyback complained.

"We'll talk about it later, Greyback, just go!" Lestrange (Traci) shouted, running down the stairs as Electricia grabbed Draco by his other hand and wrenched him from mine. We locked eyes for the briefest moment as we were pulled apart and Draco was raced down the stairs away from me.

"HANNAH!" Draco bawled.

"DRACO!" I screamed back, tears falling down my face.

"Good, the boy's gotten away." Greyback said before turning to me.

I swallowed.

"And you, little girly, are coming with me." Greyback finished, grabbing my hair and dragging me out of my Headmaster's murder site.