Chapter 118

The Sting of Betrayal

Note from J.M Jackson: Sorry for the delay, been a rough week.

Lily's entire body was practically frozen as the scene played out in front of her, almost as though everything was moving in slow motion. Snape's wand was pointed at Dumbledore, after the man had pleaded with Snape to help him, and he had cast the killing curse. Dumbledore's body lifted from the ground as the green light struck him, his body falling through the window of the astronomy tower. Lily could see Dumbledore's eyes as his body was falling out of the window.

The light that was his life had already left them; there was no twinkle, no sign of the man who had been her headmaster, and protector, for the last six years. No sign of anything, though Lily felt the sting of betrayal, as if she could see it in his eyes. In truth, she couldn't, but that pain was there.

She was barely aware of Snape grabbing Zabini, and marching out of the tower, with Bellatrix and the others following. Bellatrix was, of course, cheering and laughing as she practically danced.

As the last of the Death Eaters left the tower, Lily reached down, able to move, and picked up Dumbledore's wand. She placed it in her pocket, before meeting Ginny's eyes. She was silently pleading with Lily, but her mind was made up.

Lily raced from the tower, running down the stairs after Snape. After everything that had happened, she was starting to trust him. He had given her what she had always wanted earlier that day! He had been instrumental with her transition, and she had been starting to like him.

She felt like there was a sharp dagger in her back which Snape had just twisted, painfully. Had this always been his plan? To get Lily to trust him, only to betray her and make it hurt? To destroy her? She felt broken completely. She was barely registering anything, not even hearing Ginny's voice from behind her, or passing Hermione and Fleur.

Lily saw a Death Eater who was retreating, and immediately cast the Crucio curse. She wanted to make it really hurt, and in that moment, she understood what she had been told; how she really had to mean it for the curse to work, and of course she did. The Death Eater, Rookwood, was on the floor, crying out in pain, screaming in agony, but Lily didn't care.

She saw Snape turn his gaze briefly and met her eyes. She locked her gaze on him, full of hatred and anger. She didn't see anything reflected in his eyes, no sign of remorse, or anger, or hatred. If anything, she thought he didn't even seem to be there, not really. Snape kept moving forward, as did his party, leaving the entrance of the school.

Lily began to cast several spells, aimed at the party, but as she did, the spells were reflected back by a shield charm. She didn't see any of the group who could cast the charm. She followed the group outside, and this time, she saw that Snape had been stopped by someone ahead of them.

"COWARD!" Lily screamed, as she became aware of Ginny, Ron, Draco, Pansy, Hermione, and Fleur joining her. Snape turned and looked at her, and saw a hooded woman speaking to Zabini, before he was led away by Bellatrix. Snape met Lily's gaze before turning and leaving.

Lily went to follow, but the hooded woman stepped forward. "You have lost, Potter," the voice said. Lily frowned; it was a voice she knew, but she also knew it couldn't be. The woman's voice was one that Lily knew well.

"I know you have questions. Let's just say that Draco's father helped me concoct this plan," the voice said.

"Who are you?" Draco asked, though Lily could see Fleur's face going pale. The hooded figure raised her hands, and removed her hood, revealing one person that Lily would never have expected to see helping Snape, Bellatrix, or Voldemort – Fleur's sister, Nicolette!

"N…Nic…Nicolette?" Fleur struggled to speak as she looked at her younger sister. Nicolette was only Fleur's junior by two years; she was in her last year at Hogwarts and had switched to the school when Fleur's family moved over to Britain. "What are you doing? You can't be helping them!"

"In a sense, she isn't," Nicolette replied, looking at them. "But you'll figure this soon. There's much you don't know, Potter, including how you have failed so badly that you'll never be able to succeed."

"Nicolette, what are you talking about? Did they put you under the Imperius curse?" Hermione was practically pleading with her. Lily could see it in her eyes, hear it in her voice, but this wasn't an Imperius curse.

"You've been helping them since you arrived here," Lily stated. It wasn't a question, but Nicolette treated it like one.

"I have," Nicolette confirmed. "Zabini wasn't making good progress with the vanishing cabinet, and so needed help. I took over when I got here and finished it. The boy did well enough but needed a little extra help."

"Which you gave, all whilst hiding in the room of requirement," Lily surmised. "You were the reason Fleur's parents moved over here; you needed to be closer."

"Yes. I had hoped to remain hidden amongst you for a while longer, Potter, but that time has passed. Now, it's not needed. My loyal followers have left, and you can keep this school. I will have everything I want soon, don't you worry, but for now, I give you this time to allow you to bury your dead, and to recover. Soon, the real war begins," Nicolette said.

"Nicolette, this isn't you, you're not like this!" Fleur exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

"Potter can tell you everything, I'm sure. She's already starting to put this together, aren't you?" Nicolette asked, a dark smile on her face. "It was Lucius's mistake that allowed me this victory. Draco, you might not want to return just now, but you will return, and I will welcome you with open arms. Your Aunt made a mistake and has been punished for her actions."

"What do you know about my aunt?" Draco demanded angrily, as Lily thought quickly.

"Remember what was to happen to dear Ginny?" Nicolette asked, and in that moment, everything made sense. Lily closed her eyes, and began to mourn for Nicolette, knowing what had happened.

"Yesssss," Nicolette said, the dark smile growing wider. "You've figured it out, haven't you Potter. I must say, now I know why you wanted to be a girl. This one is so… agile, and virile. It's like a new form of immortality, one I had never really considered until Lucius made his error with my diary. I was angry at first, but once Lucius told me everything, I was so proud of him. He had given me the greatest gift I could ever ask for; once I was up to speed with everything, of course. The downside to this is that I didn't have all of my memories, though that was quickly remedied."

"Now there's two of you," Lily stated coldly. "And when you both struggle for power? How will you determine who gets to rule?"

"How little you understand, Potter. I am not as egotistical as you would wish me to be. I do not make mistakes; I execute brilliant plans, and I shall take over everything," Nicolette replied.

"Lily, what the hell's going on?" Hermione demanded.

"Please…no…" Ron whispered.

"You've figured it out as well, haven't you, Weasley," Nicolette said, smiling. "I must confess, I did not expect that. I clearly underestimated you; I won't do that again, especially not after you fought well during Christmas and tonight."

"Leave her, you disgusting piece of shit!" Ron snarled angrily. Nicolette laughed evilly at the comment.

"My, my, aren't you full of anger, Weasley," Nicolette asked. "Even if I wanted to, it's too late. But don't worry; you'll find me again, and when we do, I'll be kind and put you all out of your misery. Consider tonight a kindness; I let you live as a farewell gift, in thanks to my taking of her."

"Nicolette, it isn't too late. Come home with me," Fleur pleaded.

"Fleur… I'm sorry Fleur, but she… she's gone," Lily said, as Nicolette smiled. She waved her wand, a large shield coming between them, before she turned and ran after Snape and the others, disappearing from view quickly.

Fleur looked at Lily. "What… what do you mean?" Fleur asked weakly, tears rolling down her face.

"That…isn't Nicolette, not anymore," Lily said weakly. "In our second year, Ginny was given a diary of Voldemort's from when he was a student, and it had become a Horcrux."

Fleur looked at her, a little confused, so Lily continued. "The part of Voldemort's soul was starting to take over Ginny's body, trying to destroy her soul and claim her. He failed, because I destroyed the diary," Lily said.

Hermione fell to her knees, crying as she held onto Fleur. "He…he did it…"

"He must have gotten to Nicolette over Christmas," Lily surmised. "I'm so sorry Fleur. He must have given her a Horcrux… and killed her."

"But… she is not dead…" Fleur's voice was breaking.

"Yes… she is. That isn't Nicolette anymore," Lily felt completely defeated. "Nicolette's gone…and now, her body is inhabited by a second Voldemort!"

"C'est impossible," Fleur was practically pleading, crying and almost screaming. "I… no, she cannot be gone… there must be a way… Dumbledore… he can…"

Lily felt her heart shattered; Voldemort had truly won this evening. He had destroyed them in multiple ways. Was there even a way to recover from this? Was the war lost? Had Dumbledore known this was coming? Lily realised they were near the astronomy tower and shook her head.

"Dumbledore… he…" Lily's voice was breaking. Hermione looked at Lily, her eyes wide, again pleading, but when they saw the pain in Lily's eyes, all hope practically shattered in Hermione, who broke down crying.

"He what?" Draco asked.

"Snape… Snape killed him," Lily replied. She realised the shield was gone, so she helped Fleur and Hermione up, and led the way over to the Astronomy tower, where Dumbledore's body was laying, broken. Fleur, Hermione, Ron, and Pansy all fell to their knees, breaking down in tears, just as Ginny waved her wand, sending up sparks, and sending a message.

Lily fell to her knees in front of Dumbledore's body, looking at the broken remains of the man who had been so much to her. She felt her own tears flowing freely now, as she gently took Dumbledore's hand, holding onto the man, just as she became aware of Fawkes landing next to her.

Fawkes began to sing a sad melody; at least, that was how it sounded, like he was saying goodbye to his master. Lily remained there, crying, and rocking back and forth, unaware of the students and teachers now surrounding them all.

A bright light began to shine in the sky as everyone raised their wands; the Dark Mark in the sky vanished, as the clouds began to part, a light almost beaming down on Dumbledore. There were sobs and tears everywhere; but none of that mattered to Lily in that moment.

She had lost so much. She saw on the floor the locket that had been in her pocket; when had it fallen out? Had Dumbledore taken it? She couldn't remember, but she surmised Dumbledore had gotten it. Or had she given it to him? She vaguely remembered when they had left the cave, but that felt like so long ago now.

What drew Lily to it was that the locket was open. How had that happened? Was another part of Voldemort's soul loose? It was then Lily noticed a small piece of paper hanging out of the locket and felt a cold chill down her back. She heard Hagrid howling as she opened the paper and read the words to herself.

'To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this, but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B'

Lily felt so empty as she put the locket, and the note, in her pocket. Everything they had gone through that evening, everything they had suffered; it had been for nothing? The real locket was already gone, and Lily didn't know where. Had R.A.B managed to destroy it? Or was it out there somewhere?

Why hadn't she realised? Why hadn't she known they would need to remain at the school? Would things have been different if they hadn't gone after it? Just one more night, they could have waited one more night, but Lily had been so eager to find the first Horcrux and destroy it.

She felt… broken, and worse, tainted. She had been taking the potion for her transition for two years now, three if she included the first potion, the Masculinity Suppressing potion, and she had been thankful to Snape for it.

Snape! How could he have done this? He had apologised to Lily for betraying her parents before; how could she have been so wrong about him? How could she have not known he was a traitor?

Her potions, everything, it felt tainted now. It felt…she didn't know how she felt, but she did feel Ginny holding onto her. She barely noticed when Hagrid gently picked up Dumbledore's body, just as she felt the strong hands of her uncle's, both Remus and Sirius, lifting her up, and carrying her away from the scene.

She had lost, had been beaten, by Voldemort. Once again, he had taken so much from Lily, and her loved ones, but also, he had taken so much from the world. The man who had been like a grandfather, the man who had protected her, and cared for her, was gone, and in return, they had gained nothing.

She couldn't stop crying, even as she felt Sirius holding onto her. Dumbledore had left the world… but worse, he had left her, and it had been her fault, and for that, she knew she could never forgive herself.