Thanks once more for reviewing!!! So I was watching POC3 while I was writing this so you might find some scenes. I've added and removed a few scenes from both the film and the book. I have said I will be doing a sequel. The first chapter shall be ready by Christmas. At the end of this story I shall give you one of those things that have all the Character bio etc...well it will be one for the new characters. The quotes are based on Dumbledore and Voldemort.
Have fun reading I don't own anything. Nadda.
It started with...
Chapter 23
A Death...
Dreams pass into the reality of action. From the actions stems the dream again; and this interdependence produces the highest form of living. – Anais Nin.
How is one to live a moral and compassionate existence when one is fully aware of the blood, the horror inherent in life, when one finds darkness not only in one's culture but within oneself? If there is a stage at which an individual life becomes truly adult, it must be when one grasps the irony in its unfolding and accepts responsibility for a life lived in the midst of such paradox. One must live in the middle of contradiction, because if all contradiction were eliminated at once life would collapse. There are simply no answers to some of the great pressing questions. You continue to live them out, making your life a worthy expression of leaning into the light. – Barry Lopez
The irony of man's condition is that the deepest need is to be free of the anxiety of death and annihilation; but it is life itself which awakens it, and so we must shrink from being fully alive. – Ernest Becker
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Draco slowly opened the door. Out, one by one Death Eaters came inside his room. He stared opened mouthed as he watched his Aunt Bellatrix came out, her dark hair even wilder. "You finally did it then." She said. "This place hasn't changed much...ah yes it has...muggles live here..." She cackled looking round sniffing the air.
"You know what you have to do?" Growled a voice from behind her. Draco stiffened at the sight of Fenrir. He let out a small howl. "Shame it's not near a full moon...I can smell children a mile away."
"You've already eaten a cow. And that was before we got to London." Another voice said teasing the werewolf.
"I didn't say I was hungry! I said I could smell them! You're just jealous that my talents are more...important in the Dark Lord's eyes." Fenrir replied growling slightly.
"You're just an animal. A large dog with fleas...I have something that I'm proud of...I'm a pure blood. What are you? A dumb dog."
"Be careful who you call dumb dog Yaxley!" Fenrir growled, his body arched back, ready for an attack.
"I call them as I see them." The man replied gruffly ignoring the werewolf's stance. He fished into his ragged dark robes and pulled out a cigarette.
"Eurgh!" Bellatrix said disapprovingly. "How can you even dare to touch one of those muggle products?" Yaxley looked up at her and blew the inhaled smoke in her face. She stared coldly towards him refusing to cough.
"Your brother-in-law favours them...though his tastes are far greater than mine." Bellatrix let a small hiss escape her lips. "So what do we do?" He asked inhaling his cigarette again.
"Cause havoc but no killing. We're to cause a stir. Frighten some kids." Bellatrix said sweeping her long black robe behind her. "Tonight...Draco shall earn his stripes." Draco swallowed hard under the pressure of each Death Eaters gaze.
--
A loud bang coming from outside the corridor alerted every student's attention. Ginny and Neville ran towards the window. "N-Neville! Use the coins! NOW!" She ordered, she grabbed her wand and got ready for the oncoming attack. Hermione leapt to her feet.
"I've got a better idea." She pressed her wand into her neck. "Sonorus!" A small flash of light emitted from her wand. "GRYFFINDOR STUDENTS! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK! THE DORM! GET UP AND PROTECT OUR SCHOOL!" Her voice echoed everywhere in the Gryffindor room.
From the top of each dorm's landing lights came on one by one. Ron stood on a table alongside Hermione and Ginny. It wasn't long before the common room was filled with every single Gryffindor student all the way up to the seventh year's dorm's landing. They stood their wands in their hands. Neville was by the window, from there he could see lights come on in the Hufflepuff's Dorms, he could see lights appear in the Ravenclaw's as well.
He nodded towards Ron. "Listen everyone!" He shouted.
Hermione placed her wand to her neck. "EVERYONE!" The room went silent. "Thank you." Ron cleared his throat.
"WE ARE UNDER ATTACK FROM INTRUDERS!" He shouted.
"It's Sirius Black!" A small voice said coming from the stairs. Murmurs came around the common room like a buzz.
"NO YOU IDIOTS! DEATH EATERS!" Ron yelled once more. No one dared utter a word. "Dumbledore's not here. We have to protect this place!"
"What about Potter?"
"Yea! Bring us Potter!" Cried students.
Ginny's eyebrow twitched angrily as cries for Harry became dominant. Ron looked towards the others for help. "Oh god..." She whispered.
"What shall we do?" Ron asked.
"We shall have to fight one way or another." Hermione said. "And with Dumbledore and Harry missing our winnings look weak. If we fight like this we've got no chance. Half the school would be killed."
"I'm not planning on dying tonight. I have no reason to die." Ron replied glancing towards the Gryffindor students.
"Then what are you willing to die for?" Ginny said looking at him coldly. She walked towards the edge of the table. The students close by turned and stared at her. "You will listen to me. LISTEN!" The room went silent once more. "The rest of the Houses will be looking to us for guidance. For Gryffindor to lead! And what shall they see? Frightened students too afraid to fight for themselves? No! No...They shall see the reason we were selected into this House. They shall see courage...and bravery!" Ron smirked at his little sister. He could see the common room listening intently to her.
"And what the enemy shall see is the force of our strength! The will of our hearts! The might of our wands! They shall see us and they will know what we can do! By the friendships we've made and the courage that lies hidden beneath us...I ask you- no, I demand that you protect this school! Protect this place so that those Death Eaters learn to fear us! That they should not mistake being young for a sign of weakness!" She took a moment breath. She knew she had them. "Everybody...are you ready to fight?"
"YES!" Dean Thomas yelled out. "FOR HOGWARTS!"
"Yes! FOR DUMBLEDORE!"
"FOR HARRY!" Seamus shouted. "WE'VE GOT THE ORDER ON OUR SIDE LADS! THAT'S ALL WE NEED!"
"FOR HOGWARTS!" The students cried out, cheering their wands rose high above their heads.
"Then everybody! HUZZAH!" She jumped off the table and strode towards the portrait. The students following her. She walked towards the top of the staircases. "WHO DARES TO INTRUDE HERE?" She yelled using her wand for a megaphone. "FELLOW HOUSES! JOIN US AGAINST THE DARK LORD!" Chambers burst open from down below and upstairs. Shouts of students echoed all throughout the tall tower. Some of the first years, overcome by the excitement raised their House Flags high in the air like they did at Quidditch Matches.
"FOR HOGWARTS!" They cried out. The battle had begun.
--
Harry stared at Hogwarts something was not right. Too many lights were on. Shaking his head he quickly turned his attention back to Dumbledore. He had just thrown up and was now shaking. "Sir?" He asked, his voice betraying how worried he was. Dumbledore gave him his wishful smile. Dumbledore looked slightly disorientated with the way his hair was plastered to him. He
"I'm fine Harry. Once we return back to the Castle...find Snape." He said, and for the first time Harry had ever known him, Dumbledore sounded slightly scared. Harry nodded. "Good." He gave Harry's shoulder a squeeze but it froze when he stared in the sky. "Tonight seems much brighter."
"I only know the North Star sir..." Harry replied. Dumbledore chuckled.
"My library in my office contains many things about the stars. I'm sure Miss Granger would like." Harry had to smile. It was like each second he seemed to be getting better.
"Who's there?" A shrill of a woman's voice shouted. The two males turned round, Harry was startled to see that it was Madame Rosmerta, a broom in on hand and her wand in the other. "Albus? What on earth are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the school?"
"Rosmerta! I was taking a stroll with young Harry here." Dumbledore replied quickly.
"Albus the school is under attack! LOOK!" They turned round and were amazed and horrified to see that glowing above the school was the Dark Mark.
"Ginny!" Harry whispered feeling the wind leave him. "Sir!" Dumbledore nodded.
"Put your invisibility cloak on!" He grabbed Harry's wrist and held fast onto Harry as he apparated them back to the Castle.
--
Ginny grabbed Hermione behind an overturned desk. They were fighting against Crabbe and Goyle's fathers. "STUPEFY!" Hermione shouted. Aiming her stunning spell towards Crabbe Sr. She quickly hid under the desk.
"Brackium Emendo!" Ginny yelled firing it at Goyle Sr. She smiled at Hermione's stare. "I learnt it off Guilderoy."
"CISTEM APERIO!" The desk flew aside and Goyle Sr. stood his left arm limp and in his right his wand fixed at the two girls. Crabbe Sr. Happened to be lying motionlessly against the wall. "Crui-"
"EXPELLIARMUS!" A deep voice cried out belonging to Ginny's older brother Bill. Ginny dashed to her brother's side. "Stupefy!" Goyle Sr, quickly joined Crabbe Sr side. "Jesus Christ, are you ok?" He asked as he looked at them.
"Yea'...how did you know this was happening?" Ginny asked glancing quickly at the unconscious Death Eaters.
"You've got portraits and Tonks was in Hogsmeade." He replied. "Now come on!" Hermione dusted her skirt and followed him.
"NEVILLE!!" They froze as Neville dodged a spell aimed by Antonin Dolohov. Bill aimed his wand at the old man but was tackled by Fenrir. "BILL!" Ginny screamed but Hermione pulled her away.
"Drink the potion!" Hermione said distraughtly. Ginny nodded quickly and drank the remaining of the good luck potion.
Ginny aimed her wand at Dolohov who was trying to curse Neville. He was behind a broken door that wouldn't hold long. "Stay away from my friends!" She shouted. "Ruptispecktis!" Dolohov looked up and suddenly he was on all fours moaning and withering in pain. "Come on!" She shouted hurrying towards the Great Hall.
--
Harry hurried down the astrology tower. "Expelliarmus!" Harry whipped round and tried to run back up but found he was immobile. He looked up and with a mixture of the Dark Mark and the odd claps of thunder he saw Dumbledore's wand hanging in the air. But how come he wasn't moving? He had wordlessly done it...probably the second before...he's lost the chance to defend himself...Harry looked up sharply. Who would dare attack Dumbledore? It couldn't be Voldemort...Harry would definitely know that.
Somehow Dumbledore showed no signs of fear...but rather amusement. He turned to face the steps. Harry sensed another figure was present. "Ah...I wondered when you'd come." The figure stepped out from under the shadows. Harry stood aghast at the person.
"No...Way..." He whispered. The person was none other than Draco.
"Good Evening." Dumbledore continued. "Put down your wand. You have mine."
"Who else is here?" Draco demanded looking round wildly.
"No one other than myself. What can an old man do for you tonight?"
"Shut up!" Draco yelled, Harry noted how nervous he sounded. Draco regretted saying them. He didn't know the old man but he had not harmed him...like his father... "You have no idea what I've done..."
"By your hand?" Draco stared at him confused. "Did you act alone in this invasion?" Dumbledore explained glancing towards the glowering Mark.
Draco bit his bottom lip; he glanced towards the Mark to Dumbledore to the tip of his wand. "I can't...No...I had help."
"Don't worry. They have not arrived. I believe that they are being...detained." Dumbledore replied calmly.
"I found a way to let them in...No one knew...Not even you!" Draco replied. The pressure was seeking into him like toxic. He felt like if anything else happened now he'd snap.
"I know your situation." He replied. "You have a father who wishes favour and in doing so he will use any ways of doing so." Draco snapped up and stared at him. "You have a mother who sees no way out. You yourself are like her...but there are others who are willing to help you."
"No one can help me. I have to do this...not for my father...but for two people." Draco replied glancing quickly towards the stairs.
"Miss Granger will be more distraught at your betrayal than your reason for doing so." The old wise man took a step back. "But we must remember your mother."
"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" Draco roared. "You have no idea what I suffer! You claim to know me, but you have no idea! None what so ever!"
Harry couldn't bear it any longer. He had to move but Dumbledore would not let him. "I know that you are not a killer." Somewhere in the depths of the Castle below the tower, Harry heard a yell. Draco stiffened at the sound. "Somebody is putting up a good fight..." Draco did not hear his words. He felt like he had been washed in ice. "I know all about your attempts to kill me."
Draco looked up. "I-I..." He looked again to the stairway. "I'm sorry...Wait...if you knew...why didn't you stop me?"
"I tried. I asked Snape to keep an eye on you. He has been following my orders."
"They're not your orders." Draco whispered. He stared intensely at Dumbledore's electric blue eyes. "He's a double agent. All this time he has been working for the Dark Lord."
"Naturally." Albus replied but he wasn't confirming it...it sounded more like irony. "May I ask how you communicated with Rosmerta?" Draco's mouth fell open. "Yes I know about that she was your accomplice."
"I used the same technique that Hermione used when she was in the D.A. She told me she'd seen you two leave Hogwarts together."
"Did Miss Granger know about this?" Draco shook his head. "She wouldn't have been harmed. Nor would your mother had been if you had only faced your options instead of going with the route that is forced by fear. There is a famous quote from a Muggle poet that I once read... If a man harbours any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him landlord to a ghost. It explains that once fear is rooted in you, you can never think clearly."
"You don't know my father."
"I did teach him...I was still this school's headmaster when he arrived."
"I couldn't risk any chances. Do you know what it is like? To love someone so much. To want them with you all the time. Then when someone tells you that they will die if you don't do as they ask? You panic. You don't know what to do...you lose all sense of rationality...You'd do anything to keep them safe..." He broke off and Harry knew he was close to breaking down. "I know what will happen after tonight. They will keep me locked up. Away from her, but to know she is safe and alive...that will be what keeps me going."
Harry let out a small gasp. He understood what he was saying. Didn't his father do the same thing? To protect his mother and son he made sure they lived he sacrificed himself. He looked back up. "I do understand that love. Unfortunately...I have not felt your type of passionate love. I wish I did..." Dumbledore said softly.
"I'm sorry sir." Draco whispered gently. He raised his wand. Dumbledore nodded and between them he didn't need to say sorry at all. Albus had already forgiven him. There came a sharp bang followed by a large cackle.
"Look at this!" Bellatrix Lestrange screeched. "The old oaf cornered!" Behind her were some of the Death Eaters, their wands ready to strike. They came in front of Draco, blocking his view of them.
"Good evening Bellatrix...Avery...and you've brought Alecto..." Albus said like he was greeting them to a dinner party. Alecto gave off a sharp laugh.
"Think that you're funny do ya? They won't help you when you're dead!" She screeched, her cockney accent sounding more like she could only screech.
"I'm only being polite. I might be about to die but I still believe to be polite. Even if I have no reason to."
"This is Draco's night. Go on. Do it. Kill him!" Bellatrix hissed pushing the boy forwards. Draco looked more distraught than calm.
"I'd do it!" Avery muttered.
"No. The Dark Lord wanted it to be Draco. Remember what's at stake Draco." Bellatrix hissed at the boy. He raised his wand but faltered. "DO IT!"
But Harry could see he was having second thoughts. His arms were shaking so badly that it would be impossible to aim. Harry felt his wand in his pocket. His feet may be immobilised but his hands weren't. He felt a tape on his shoulder. He turned his head and saw Snape shake his head at him. Relief flooded in him. Snape was part of the Order. He'd help. Slowly Snape backed away. From where he was he saw the Death Eaters turn their heads to the Snape's arrival. "He can't seem to do it." Avery muttered gesturing towards Draco.
"Severus." Dumbledore said barely a whisper. Harry felt himself go weak. It was the first time he had heard Dumbledore sound like he was pleading. It frightened him to think that. Snape said nothing; he just walked over to him.
"Severus...please."
The room went silent as he pushed Draco aside. He pulled out his wand and for a moment a sort of understanding passed between the two of them. Dumbledore gave him a small nod. "Avada Kedavra!" A shot of green light burst out from Snape's wand. It hit Dumbledore straight into the chest. Harry could feel his legs begin to move...No! No! No! No! His invisibility cloak slid off him.
Dumbledore's body was blasted backwards. His body hung suspended as it reached its peak before descending like a rag doll. A huge bubble of anger seeped into Harry's body. He took out his wand. There came a muffled scream and then hell broke loose.
I'm cruel.I left you all at a cliffie....^^ I gave the Death Eaters a slight dark comedy and Draco and Dumbledore scene...There will be tears in the next chapter so get your tissues ready.
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