Chapter 35 – Running out of luck

It was the first week of June. The rest of the classes would have their exams once the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s were over. The past few weeks, I've been spending a lot of time in the library. I wanted to stay away from Harry as much as possible. Even if I was forced to endure his company, I ignored him. As a result I got a lot of time to study. H used to go to the library with me. Like she would ever refuse a trip to the library! While I was busy studying, she was busy searching for the 'Prince'. She was going through all the records present in the library.

One such evening, when we were in the library, she exclaimed, "YES!" Madam Pince shushed her. H must have forgotten that I was with her, she immediately dashed off from the library.

I stared at the contrail she left behind her in shocked. Never seen her run so fast! Maybe she found something. I continued studying. Few minutes later, I was staring into space. I forgot which textbook I had in front of me. I wondered if Harry felt bad anymore. Yes, I walk away when he started talking to me or I tune him out if there's no possibility of walking away. But does he truly regret it?

I love that guy. My feelings have not changed though I caught him kissing another girl twice. But do I want to date him? No. But yet I miss him. I miss him as much as I miss Draco. No, I miss Draco more. Those last few weeks before he kissed her, it felt like anything I said ticked him off. We tried. Maybe this is how it was supposed to come to an end.

"Looks like I'm not getting any studying done." I packed my things and left the library.

"What do I do now?" I asked myself. I didn't want to go back to the common room. I had a very strong feeling Harry was going to be there. I walked around aimlessly.

When I realised I was near the Astronomy Tower, I went up. I took in a lungful of fresh air. The stars twinkled like they had no worries at all. The moon was shining just as brightly. Their brightness seemed to mock me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I heard a sharp voice behind me.

"Draco. I could ask you the same." I answered just as sharply.

"You need to leave, now," he looked at me hard like he was warning me not to argue.

"I came here first, so I will leave when I want to. And I will not be spoken to like this." I told him coldly.

"Nat, please leave."

"Why?"

"I don't have time for your petty questions." Frustration was etched on his face.

I crossed my hands on my chest and said, "I'm not leaving."

He held the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, "Don't argue with me now."

"Why do you want me to leave?"

He came close to me. I could tell he was losing his composure. He put his hands on my arms. "Listen to me carefully. Something is going to happen tonight. I need you to be safe," he chuckled. "Although, you have a knack for danger so you'll probably do anything but get yourself to safety."

"Something is going to happen tonight." His words echoed in my mind.

"What's happening?"

"Don't do anything rash." He ignored my question. Then he bit his lip like he was stopping himself from saying something.

"Draco, please. Please tell me. Let me help you." I begged him.

He laughed like he was mocking me, "You can't help me. No one can help me." Then he looked down on me, straight into my eyes. "I wish, you could help me though."

"Then tell me. I'll do anything."

He smiled gently at me, placed his left palm on my cheek, "Natalie…" He said softly. He kissed my forehead, "remember that you are important to me so I don't want you getting hurt."

For the first time, I was feeling something more for Draco. Was it fear? My heart ached in a way it never did before. I put my hand on his left hand, just where I assumed the mark would be. He cringed but he didn't move his hand.

"Is it something related this?" I asked while gently pressing my fingers on his hand. He nodded. "Will you be okay?"

He got a small smile on his face, "I dunno."

"Then don't do it. We can run away together," I pleaded.

"We can't just run away. No choice, Nat. We all have to play our parts." His face was now just inches from mine. "There's something I always wanted to tell you."

My heart pounded loudly, "Then tell me when you survive whatever is going to happen tonight."

His smile grew, "Still trying to make sure that I don't die on you."

"Yes."

"Okay. But after what happens tonight, the war is going to start. Also, I'm not sure if you'll want anything to do with me after tonight." He stressed on the last part.

"Don't talk like that. I would never turn my back on you." I protested.

He couldn't stop the small smile on his lips, "Remember, you told me that you will do whatever it takes to help Potter end this?" The smile was gone again.

I nodded.

"I need you to come through on that. And fast." When I agreed, he touched his forehead to mine. "Please be safe."

I pulled back and looked at him. "You too." And before I knew it, I kissed him. The thing that surprised me even more was that he kissed me back.

When we parted, "Why did you do that?" He asked me bluntly.

"Remember, you always used to kiss me when I got too nervous. I thought, I'd do that same."

He looked like he didn't buy it. "I need you to go now. Warn your friends and try to make sure that the younger students don't come out of their common room or dorms. Please don't argue with me."

I was going to say something but he cut me off, "Please do this for me." I nodded. He kissed me. "Now go." He almost pushed me away from himself.


Who would have thought that I could get kissed and shoved off by the same person? Why did I kiss him? I'll have time to think about this later. I rushed to the common room as quickly as I could. How am I going to break it to them? I can't tell them what Draco told me. What should I do?

I was just about to say the password when the portrait hole opened up. Harry was coming out.

"Oh, Thank God, you're here. Ron and Hermione will explain everything." He said hurriedly. He put his hands on my shoulders as though everything was fine in between us. "I'm going with Dumbledore."

My eyes widen at his words, "Really?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded and kissed me, "Stay safe."

"I should be saying that." I'm not sure if he heard me because he was already running down the corridor.

I went in. And immediately Ron and Hermione were on me telling me everything that Harry had told them. Dumbledore found the location of one of the horcruxes. As promised, he was taking Harry along with him. Harry is convinced that whatever Draco was doing the Room of Requirement is finally over and he is going to something tonight. He wants us to keep an eye on Draco and Prof. Snape.

"Frankly, I think Harry is just over thinking this." Ron declared in the end.

"No. I just ran into Dr- Malfoy at the astronomy tower. He definitely looked like he was up to something."

H looked at me curiously, "Are you serious?"

I nodded. "Like Harry suggested let's contact the people from DA. Depending on how many respond, we can make a plan."

"It could be all for nothing." Ron tried to dissuade me.

"Always better to be on our guard."


H sent out a message through the coins. We waited in a small room near the library along with Ginny. Ginny had entered the common room just as H was about to send the message out, so we brought her along with us. The only people who responded were – Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

"Alright, I don't think we should be waiting anymore." I said after we had waited long enough.

The others nodded. We brought Ginny, Neville and Luna up to speed with everything we knew.

"So, we need two teams." H said. "One group will keep an eye on the room of requirement, while the other will keep an eye on Snape."

"I'm going to the room of requirement." I said quickly. H nodded at me in understanding.

"Me too." Ron said.

"Me too." Ginny said.

"Me too." Neville said.

"Then Hermione and I will go keep an eye on Snape." Luna said in her dreamy voice. H agreed.

Ron picked up the map. "Hermione, Luna, looks like Snape is in his office. I can't find Malfoy anywhere."

"Bet he is in the room of requirement." Ginny said confidently.

"Let's go then. No sense in wasting time here." I told them. We all took a sip of the felix felicis and left the room.


We dispersed. When we got to the room of requirement, we were unsure what to do.

"Do we hide?" I asked.

"He's just one and we are four. We can take him." Ron said.

"Remember, we just have to keep an eye on him. We are not attacking." I reminded.

"I think we should hide, so we'll catch him off guard." Neville said doubtfully.

"I agree with Neville." Ginny said.

We all hid at a little distance from each other but we could see each other. We kept waiting but Draco was not coming out. What could he be doing in there? What can he do? It's going to be four against one, well actually three against one. If it comes down to a duel, well I don't want to hit him. The most I would do is petrify him. I, obviously, won't hurt him.

I heard a footstep and looked at the entrance to the room of requirement. It was Draco. He had his hand of glory with him. I don't know who moved and made some noise but he immediately threw something in the air and everything went pitch black around me. I was afraid. I couldn't even see my own hand when I waved it in front of me.

Meanwhile, I could hear Draco give directions to someone. But by the sound of the footsteps it sounded like he was with more than one person. Who are with him? Some of the other students from Slytherin? A sudden thought hit me – death eaters! Draco brought in death eaters into the school. How could he?

"Lumos!" I shouted. Nothing happened.

The footsteps stopped for a moment. "No use stopping here. Follow me!" I heard Draco say.

"Lumos Maximus!" I shouted once again. By now, the others started trying out various spells but nothing worked. Draco and the people, who I suspected were death eaters, were gone by then.

"No use doing this. Let's get out of this corridor." Ron said loudly from a distance. "It's the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder."

I began groping the wall and started moving ahead. I hoped were all moving in the same direction. Finally, we came to a corridor that had light.

"We should go to the Astronomy Tower. I've an inkling they'll be going there." I told them as we adjusted to the sudden light.

We began running in the direction of the tower with Ron leading us. We turned at a corner and we ran into Mike, Will, Andy, Prof. Lupin, Tonks and Bill.

"Whoa! What's going on here? What are you lot doing here?" Prof. Lupin asked us.

We all began talking at once and no one could understand us.

"One at a time." Mike spoke over us.

"Malfoy's up to something. I think, he let death eaters enter the school," Ginny told them.

"That's not possible." Bill said.

"I think, she maybe right." I said. I felt Mike, Will and Andy look at me. "We have to get to the Astronomy Tower." I started running before any more questions were asked. I heard the other following me. Eventually, My older brothers overtook me.

We caught up with Draco and the rest of his party near the entrance of the tower. An all out fight broke out. There were about ten to fifteen of them including the Carrows. The brother-sister duo is notorious. Greyback was also there. What the hell was Draco thinking? Greyback is known to attack children and he brought him into the school.

I began duelling with one of the death eaters. I noticed that the spells aimed at me, missed me by mere centimetres. Not that, I was able to hit him either. He was a fast mover. I didn't know what was happening around me. I didn't dare take my eyes off him. I didn't want to get hit by him. In my peripheral vision, I saw a hex hit Neville and he got a huge gash on his hand. I got tired of fighting this death eater so I sent a really strong stunner on him. It hit him on the centre of his forehead. I joined Neville to help him.

Suddenly this huge blond death eater started firing curses in all directions and everyone got busy trying to avoid his curses. After a while I couldn't find Draco anywhere. My brothers had some cuts and bruises but Mike also had a nasty bite on his leg. Greyback was scratching Bill and Mike was trying to get him off of Bill. Will was fighting the Carrow brother. Andy was having an intense battle with a death eater, I didn't recognise. Prof. Lupin had a gash on his head. Tonks was fighting the Carrow sister. She had some nasty cuts. Ron and Ginny were doing well. They were fighting back to back and working like a team.

I felt something cut through me. I felt something warm come out of me. I put my hand on my abdomen and looked down. I saw blood. It wasn't a big cut. I lost focus for a few seconds and the death eater got me. I kept my left had on my abdomen and restarted firing hexes with my wand hand. I have to do this. I assured myself that the bleeding would stop in a few minutes. Neville looked concerned but I asked him to concentrate on the task at hand.

I saw some of the death eaters including the death eater Neville and I were fighting go up the tower. Neville ran head first to go up the tower but he was thrown off from the entrance. He hit a wall and fell unconscious. I was shocked. I went to the entrance with my hand in front of me. I felt an invisible wall blocking the entrance.

"It's a barrier," I shouted.

Even though there were lesser number of death eaters now, it had not gotten easy for us. This blond death eater kept throwing off curses in all directions and in rapid succession. It was difficult for us to dodge the curses. Neville and Bill were down. The rest of us had used up a lot of magical energy.

"Prof. Snape!" I exclaimed as soon as I saw him.

"Snape, we could really…" Prof. Lupin began to say but stopped in between.

Prof. Snape didn't bother to say anything or look at any of us. He went straight up the tower. It was like everything that was happening was invisible to him. I wondered where H and Luna where. After all they were the ones who were supposed to keep an eye on him. Had he caught them and done something to them? Fear gripped my heart. I saw no other choice.


I sprinted down to the dungeons. Just as I was about to pass the potions classroom, I saw H and Luna. Both of them looked panicked. H was magically carrying Prof. Flitwick.

"What happened to him?" I asked them.

"What happened to you?" H pointed to my shirt.

"Just a little scratch." I dismissed it quickly. I eyed the unconscious body of the Ravenclaw head of the house.

"Flitwick had come down here to call Snape to join the fight. Snape came out and found us. He told us look after Flitwick because he collapsed." H started muttering.

"I think Snape stunned him." Luna said. She no longer had that dreamy look on her face. She strangely looked like she was ready to fight.

Suddenly, I had the worst thought ever. "Prof. Snape didn't come up to help us. He is with them. Oh my God! I have to get back."

"Okay, we'll take Flitwick to the infirmary and then join you guys." H told me as I began running back to the tower.

On my way back, I ran into Prof. Snape, Draco and the death eaters just as I was about to take the staircase. Draco paled as soon as he saw me.

"Inc…" I started to aim a curse at my potions master but I was thrown into a wall. I hit my head pretty hard. I started to see dark spots.

I smelt something putrid near me, "I would like to bite her now." Fear rose in my heart.

"Greyback, now is not the time. The Dark Lord's work is done. We have to get out of here before the Aurors come here." There was no mistaking it, Prof. Snape stopped him.

I looked up and for a sliver of a second I saw Prof. Snape look terrified by the idea of Greyback hurting me. Prof. Snape is saving my life. I looked at Draco. He looked positively scared.

"Severus is right." I heard a wheezy voice say. "Let's go. Our time will come again and you will be allowed to feast on anybody you deem fit."

Greyback huffed and moved away from me. "This one smells nice. I will have you some day, little one."

They all started running. But Draco hadn't moved an inch. He was about to come closer to me but Prof. Snape came back and pulled him by his shirt collar. That was when he snapped out of it and started running. I tried to get up and follow them but my head was hurting too much. After a couple of minutes, I saw Harry run past me.

"Great, Harry is here. It means Dumbledore is back too. That's why the death eaters are running."

I stayed down. All of the commotion had finally woken up the other students. I saw some of the older students coming out of dorms with their wands drawn.

"Natalie, are you alright?"

I looked up and saw Susan Bones and some of the other Hufflepuff students with her gathered around me looking at me with concern.

"Yes, just resting a bit."

She helped me get up on my feet. Now that I was not fighting the death eaters, I was aware of every aching muscle in my body. Everybody was going out of the castle for some reason.

"Do you have any idea why everyone is going out?" I asked Susan.

"No." Susan said. "I think somebody died. Are you going to tell me what happened?" Susan asked with a lot of curiosity. "And don't say you can't tell me."

I thought about it. Me telling her could cause widespread panic. "You can't tell anyone about it, okay?" She nodded. "I'm pretty Dumbledore will announce it everyone but still keep it to yourself until he does." She nodded. "Death eaters attacked." I whispered to her so that students walking past us wouldn't hear.

"What?!" Susan looked terrified. "Dea-"

"Shhh… don't say it out loud." I stopped her.

We came out. It was chilly. A lot of the students were gathered at the foot of the Astronomy tower.

"Natalie…. Are you ok?" Dean asked me when he saw me with Susan.

I nodded. "What's going on?"

He started to say something but he stopped himself.

"Dumbledore's dead." Seamus said. Susan started crying.

"What? Are you kidding me?"

"It's true." Dean said.

I couldn't believe it. He's the greatest wizard alive. How can he be dead? I didn't want to believe it. With great difficulty, I went deeper and deeper into the crowd. With each step, I was praying to whichever god could hear me. This cannot be true. When I got to the centre, I saw him. Within seconds, I collapsed on the ground. I kept staring at him hoping that staring incessantly would cause him discomfort and he'd move.

But he wouldn't move. He said he'd protect Draco. How will he protect Draco if he is not alive?


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