(3rd Person P.O.V)

It was time. 

Draco Malfoy had received word. The time had finally come. He sighed. He got up from his bed in the Hospital Wing. Having made a full recovery. And by now. It was late at night. Dumbledore would be coming back. It was time. 

"Let us end this. And be done with it." Draco declared to himself. "Slayton said I was a killer. And tonight. I will become one. I will become what he has wanted me to." And then he went to the Room of Requirement. For what needed to be done. He looked outside the halls. It was thundering without a drop of rain. But it was not the weather of the world. It was a sign. A sign of the coming darkness. If there could be some other way, let it speak to Draco. But there wasn't. Just the dark mark on his arm. "Tonight, the House of Malfoy will perform its greatest deed." He said. And he walked over to the Room of Requirement. 

Snape in the meantime... he was starring outside the windows. He had a note in his hands. A note that had come from Fletcher Snyde himself. And with only several words on it. 'We arrive tonight! It is time!' 

The day that Snape had know would come. Was indeed arriving. He was ready to sacrifice everything that was close to him. He had no choice. "May you give me strength. Whoever is listening." And he walked out of the Potions Room and looked down the dark halls of the dungeons before walking. "Forgive me, friend. I was following your orders." He sighed as he walked up the stairs.

Snyde Manor.

Greyback had carried the Vanishing Cabinet all the way to the Snyde Manor after moving it from Borgin and Burkes. 

Snyde couldn't risk traversing to Knockturn Alley. Not with the Order of the Phoenix most likely breathing down the necks of that place. Which is why he ordered Greyback to retrieve the Cabinet and bring it to Snyde's Manor. 

"One Vanishing Cabinet, free shipping and delivery." Greyback reported removing the cloak to reveal to Snyde.

Snyde marveled at the sight. "Well done, Greyback. Borgin mended it all?" He asked.

 "He needed a bit of persuasion. But it all worked out in the end." Greyback answered grinning. "We got the Cabinet out just in time. The Aurors had launched a raid on Knockturn Alley. By the time I had got out the secret door, The Aurors burst in led by Jae Kim." 

"Who?" Bellatrix asked.

"That Wizard dating some girl I turned into one of us years ago." Greyback answered. "One of Bauer's friends. Anyway, Borgin put the Disillusionment Charm on both me and the Cabinet so we could slip away."

"And you carried that all on your own?" Bellatrix asked surprised.

"Oh, please. This is lightweight, Bellatrix." Greyback assured. "So when do we get to Hogwarts? I want to slice Dumbledore's Head off myself." 

"No!" Bellatrix hissed at Greyback. "The Dark Lord has commanded that Draco be the one to kill Dumbledore! So it shall be Draco!"   

Greyback sneered at Snyde for an interjection. But all Snyde did was shrug. "We do as the Dark Lord Commands, Greyback." He said.

"Fine." Greyback muttered. "But you all owe me fresh blood." 

Snyde opened the Cabinet. "Ladies first." He insisted to Bellatrix.

"Such a gentleman." Bellatrix grinned. "You should take some pointers from him, Yaxley." 

And the rest of the Death Eaters all went inside the Vanishing Cabinet. 

In the meantime. Ryan waited up by the Common Room. And the same was said with Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Neville. 

Hermione paced up and down. "Where are they?" She asked. 

"They'll be back. I'm sure of it." Neville answered. 

Hermione looked at Neville. "How can you say that? Harry and Kassie left with Dumbledore hours ago. And they're not back yet." She said. "I need to show them what I've discovered in the Library! Eileen Prince and-"  

Ryan in the meantime looked at the windows outside. 

"Ryan? Are you okay?" Ginny asked. 

But Ryan continued to stare. He could sense something was wrong. So could Horus. "Something's not right." He pulled out his wand. "I can feel it." 

"I can feel it, too." Anubis said. 

And Hermione, Ginny, and Neville looked in fear. "What? What can you feel?" Neville asked. 

"Something is coming." Horus said. "Something... sinister." 

Ryan in the meantime continued to just stare and think about the spell, Sectumsempra. "The spell, Sectumsempra. In a Potions Book... titled the Half Blood Prince." He said.

"But Ryan. I've already found that answer. "Eileen Prince! She's the Half Blood Prince! I was right-" Hermione started to say. Ready to shove the book in Ryan's face.

"And how Snape just knew how to counter it." Ryan started to say.

"What?" Hermione asked confused.

"Doesn't it seem kind of strange that Snape just knew how to counter the spell that Harry used? Just like that?" Ryan asked leaving the speculation bell on. "And what's more. The Unbreakable Vow that he made involving Malfoy. Whose Father is a Death Eater..." 

"Oh, Ryan. Now you're just being ridiculous-" Hermione started to say.

"One second, Hermione." Ginny insisted putting her book down. "Let him finish." 

"Ginny. You should be studying for O.W.L-" Hermione tried to say. 

But Ryan was stuck now in his own world. Suddenly, puzzle pieces were all starting to click into place. Just like that. He suddenly got up. "I am the biggest idiot in all of Gryffindor." He said as he walked towards the Portrait.

"Ryan... where are you going?" Hermione asked with Ron, Ginny, and also Parvati who had walked down the stairs to see Ryan venturing out.

"Ryan?" Parvati asked following them.

Ryan continued to walk down the halls. "I think I've figured it all out. It just took me a while." He informed.

"Figure out what?" Ron asked.

"Voldemort's Plan." Ryan answered as he turned to face his friends. "Ever since the First Wizarding War. Only one thing stood in the way of Voldemort's conquest. Dumbledore. Albus Dumbledore. For his first attempts. Voldemort had tried to take Dumbledore down from the outside. The First Wizarding War. He failed." 

"We all know that, Ryan." Ginny said. "Get to the point." 

"With Voldemort gone, the Death Eaters were without their leader and many were shipped off to Azkaban. Save one. Iosef Trotsky." Ryan continued. "Trotsky had sought to use the power of the Cursed Vaults to try and bring Voldemort to full strength. In addition to bringing an end to Muggle Kind. There was one thing that stood between his goals as well. The same thing that stood in the way of Voldemort. And that was Hogwarts. Defended to the last man by Ethan Bauer. Who had been trained by Dumbledore himself. Voldemort resurfaced a year after the fall of Trotsky, tapped onto the back of Professor Quirrell's head."

"That still creeps me out to this day." Parvati commented.

"His attempts to bring down Hogwarts from the outside wielded Negative Results." Ron realized. "So his new strategy-" 

"Would be to bring down Hogwarts from the Inside. Infiltrate the School itself like a Parasite to a host and eat Hogwarts from the inside out." Ginny picked up the sentence. 

"He nearly succeeded, too." Ryan added. "Between nearly getting the Philosopher's Stone, using Ginny to frighten Hogwarts into closing down. Having Barty Crouch Jr. disguise himself as Mad Eye and luring Harry to the Graveyard." 

"But all of those attempts ended in failure." Hermione pointed out. "It's always has and it always will." 

"Hold on, Hermione. I'm not done." Ryan interrupted.

Hermione stepped down again. "Go on." She said reluctantly.

"Voldemort wouldn't give up on the plan to take Hogwarts down from the inside. If he was going to bring down Dumbledore. He was going to need something else." Ryan continued.

"Help, or a pawn?" Parvati asked.

"Neither." Ryan answered. "A Sleeper Agent." 

And that shut everyone up. "One that had served under Voldemort in the First Wizarding War. One who could gain Dumbledore's Trust. The Sleeper Agent would have to be use his cunning, have the ambition to see the job done, and use every resource available to them." Ryan continued.

"You just described Slytherin in perfect detail, Ryan." Ginny commented.

"Because Voldemort would need a Slytherin to pull it off, Ginny." Ryan said. "Voldemort always favored his own house above the others. It was too much of a risk to trust another member of the other 3 houses." 

"If you're going to talk about Malfoy-" Hermione started to say again.

"Not Malfoy." Ryan said. "He never had Dumbledore's trust. No... we all loved the idea of a Slytherin being the bad guy.... it was a Slytherin. We just got caught up on the wrong one." 

"Then who is it?" Parvati asked.

"The same one who wrote in the Potions Book, the Potion Master of this School. The wielder of Sectumsempra, and who knew how to counter the Curse perfectly. The Halfblood Prince. Or should I say... Severus Snape!" Ryan answered.

Just like that. The Hallways grew more quiet and darker. Hermione's view had just gotten shattered. Her wand dropped to the floor. Everything Ryan was saying contradicted all of the Research that Hermione had done. 

And yet... yet everything Ryan had said made perfect sense. "Oh my God." Hermione gasped. "I guess I owe Harry an apology about that whole comment I made earlier to him in the day, huh?"  

"We've got to warn Dumbledore, now." Ron insisted.

There was a roar of thunder up above.

"Too late." Anubis said.

Malfoy returned to the Vanishing Cabinet. He threw the tarp off of the Cabinet. And stood back as the door opened of its own accord. He watched as the doors opened to a thick coat of darkness and shadow. And out emerged Fletcher Snyde, Bellatrix Lestrange, Fenrir Greyback, Alecto and Amycus Carrow, Yaxley, Thorfinn Rowle, Gibbon, and some Albanian and Bulgarian Wizards loyal to Voldemort. 

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Malfoy greeted. 

Fletcher Snyde looked around. And the look on his face said it all. He had not been at Hogwarts since he was a student in Slytherin. "It hasn't changed a bit." He commented. "But we're not here to sightsee. We have a mission to accomplish." 

"I've been here before, recently." Greyback said. "When I attacked that one girl, Penny Haywood. Well, she's Penny Bauer now, if we're getting technical." 

"And you did such a wonderful job of it too, Greyback." Snyde smirked. Then he turned to Draco. "Where is Dumbledore?" He asked.

"He'll be on top of the Astronomy Tower. That's what Professor Snape told me." Malfoy answered. 

"Excellent. Well done, Draco. You've made the Dark Lord so proud." Bellatrix praised. 

"What happened to Xin Manh?" Draco asked.

"He's stabilizing India." Bellatrix answered. "But he does send his apologies." 

"Now, come on." Amycus Carrow said. "I don't know about you. But I don't want to be around when Ethan Bauer shows up." 

"Ethan Bauer is here in the school." Draco informed. 

"Then we'll just have to keep him occupied." Snyde said. He then turned to the Albanian and Bulgarian Wizards. "Move around Hogwarts. Cause as much havoc as you can, and keep the Order of the Phoenix occupied. By the time they figure out what's going on, the damage will have been done." He ordered. 

The Wizards saluted and left the Room of Requirement. 

"Now then... to the Astronomy Tower. Lead the way, Draco! Snape will join us shortly." Snyde commanded.

"Yes... sir." Draco said. And he headed up to the Astronomy Tower. 

At the Astronomy Tower. (Kassandra P.O.V)

I knew Apparation worked before I even opened my eyes. The smell of salt, the sea breeze were gone. Harry, and I both grabbed Dumbledore's sides back on the Astronomy Tower. It was all quiet. And at night. Ethan wasn't around either. 

"See, Professor?" I asked. "We did it. We made it back to Hogwarts." 

"And we got the Horcrux!" Harry added.

Dumbledore staggered against him. For a moment, I thought perhaps my inexpert Apparition had thrown Dumbledore off balance; then I saw his face was paler and damper. And to my horror. He sunk to the ground. 

We had crossed the crenellated ramparts. Why couldn't Merula have come with us?

"We need to get you to the Hospital Wing, sir. To Madam Pomfrey!" Harry insisted. "Kassie. Give me a hand." 

"No." Dumbledore said as Harry and I placed him by one of the pillars. "Severus. Severus is all I need. Wake him. Tell him what happened. Speak to no one else. Severus, Harry, Kassandra." 

"Okay... maybe I- I should stay here. You go get Snape, Harry." I suggested. "You're the faster runner. And if you see Ethan. Get him too." 

"Okay." Harry replied. 

The ramparts were deserted. The door to the spiral staircase that lead back into the castle was closed. 

But that was when we heard running footsteps on the other side of the door. I looked at Dumbledore, Harry was on the opposite side of the tower, and our assailant was approaching fast. He gestured for Harry to retreat and for me to join him. 

"Hide yourselves below. Go now." Dumbledore ordered. "Whatever happens. Don't speak or be seen without my permission. It's imperative you stay below. Harry, Kassandra. Do as I say. Trust me."  

I followed over to Harry. We took one look at Dumbledore. I had seen this in my visions. This was where Dumbledore was going to die. "Trust me." Dumbledore said.

"I can't do that." I said. I did trust Dumbledore, but I couldn't just abandon him. 

"I know." Dumbledore replied. But then he had shot both me and Harry with a non verbal spell that paralyzed us both. And he opened up a piece of the floor board and he put Harry and I both down. 

"NO!" I tried to scream but I couldn't say anything.

"I am sorry." Dumbledore told us as he closed up the floor board.

Standing against the ramparts, very white in the face, Dumbledore still showed no sign of panic and distress. He merely looked across and said: "Good evening, Draco."

Oh no. It was Malfoy! Why did he have to come?

Malfoy stepped forward, glancing around quickly to check that he and Dumbledore were alone. "Who else is here?" He asked.

"A question I might ask you." Dumbledore replied. "Or are you acting alone?"

I saw Draco's pale eyes shift back to Dumbledore. 

"No." Malfoy said. "I've got backup. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight. They're currently keeping your guard busy." 

"Well, well." Dumbledore said, as though Malfoy was showing him an ambitious homework project. "Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?" 

"Yes." Malfoy answered, panting. "I figured it out. Right under your nose and you never realized." 

"Ingenious." Dumbledore said. "Yet... forgive me... where are they now? You seem unsupported." 

"They met some of your guards. They're having a fight down below. They won't be long... I came on ahead. I- I've got a job to do." Malfoy answered.

"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy." Dumbledore said softly. 

There was silence. Malfoy did nothing but stare at Dumbledore, while Dumbledore smiled. 

"Expelliamus!" Draco shot the disarm spell at Dumbledore's wand. 

"Very good. Very good." Dumbledore praised. "Draco, you are not a killer." 

"How do you know?" Malfoy asked at once. "You don't know what I'm capable of. You don't know what I've done!" 

"Oh, yes I do." Dumbledore answered mildly. "You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. And Kassandra Bauer. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, Draco, but they have been feeble attempts... So feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has been really in it." 

"It has been in it!" Malfoy vehemently insisted. "I've been working on it all year, and tonight-" 

Somewhere in the depths of the castle below, I heard a muffled yell. Malfoy stiffened and glanced over his shoulder.

"Somebody is putting up a good fight." Dumbledore said conversationally. "But you were saying... yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters in my school, which, I admit, I thought impossible... How did you do it?" 

But Malfoy said nothing. He was still listening to whatever was happening below and seemed almost as paralyzed as Harry and I were. 

"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone." Dumbledore suggested. "What if your backup has been thwarted by my guard? As you perhaps realized, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight too. And after all, you don't really need help... I have no wand at the moment... I cannot defend myself."

Malfoy merely stared at Dumbledore. 

"I see." Dumbledore said kindly, when Malfoy neither moved nor spoke. "You are afraid to act until they join you." 

"I'm not afraid!" Malfoy snarled. Though he made no move to hurt Dumbledore. "It's you who should be scared." 

"But why? I don't think you will kill me, Draco. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe... So tell me, while we wait for your friends... how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it." 

Malfoy looked as though he was fighting down the urge to shout or vomit. One or the other. He gulped and took several deep breaths, glaring at Dumbledore, his wand pointed directly at the Latter's heart. Then as though he could not help himself, he said: "I had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year." 

"Aaah." Dumbledore sighed in half a groan. He closed his eyes for a moment. "That was clever... There was a pair, I take it?" 

"In Borgin and Burkes." Malfoy answered. "And they make a passage between them. Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in Limbo but something he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shot as if the cabinet was travelling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him... In the end, he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed the test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realized what it meant- even Borgin didn't know- I was the one who realized there could be a way into Hogwarts thought the cabinet if I fixed the broken one." 

Oh Gods! It was a well thought out plan. Malaka! How did we not notice this?!

"Very good." Dumbledore murmured. "So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you... A Clever plan, a very clever plan... and, as you say, right under my nose." 

"Yeah." Malfoy said, who seemed to draw courage and comfort from Dumbledore's praise. "Yeah, it was!" 

"But there were times." Dumbledore continued. "Weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the cabinet? And you resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands... poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink..." 

"Yeah, well, you still didn't realize who was behind that stuff, did you?" Malfoy sneered, as Dumbledore slid a little down the Rampart, the strength in his leg apparently fading. 

"As a matter of fact, I did." Dumbledore said. "I was sure that it was you." 

"Why didn't you stop me then?" Malfoy demanded. 

"I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders-" Dumbledore answered.

"He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised my Mother-" Malfoy shot back. 

"Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but-" Dumbledore said. 

"He's a double agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!" Malfoy yelled. 

"We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape-" Dumbledore said.

"Well, you're losing your grip, then!" Malfoy sneered. "He's been offering me plenty of help- wanting all the glory for himself- wanting a bit of action- 'What are you doing?' 'Did you do the necklace, that was stupid, it could have blown everything-' But we I haven't told him what I've been doing in the Room of Requirement, he's going to wake up tomorrow and it'll all be over and he won't be the Dark Lord's favorite anymore, he'll be nothing compared to me, nothing!" 

"Very gratifying." Dumbledore said mildly. "We all like appreciation for our own hard word, of course. But you must have had an accomplice, all the same- someone in Hogsmeade, someone who was able to slip Katie the-"

And the thought came to him, like it had come to me. "So... Madam Rosmerta. How long has she been under the Imperious Curse?" 

Oh Gods! Malfoy put Rosmerta under the Imperious Curse too! I knew it!

"Got there at last, have you?" Malfoy taunted.

There was another yell from below, rather louder than the last. Malfoy looked nervously over his shoulder again, then back to Dumbledore, who continued. "So poor Rosmerta was forced to lurk in her own bathroom and pass that necklace to any Hogsmeade student who entered the room unaccompanied? And the poisoned mead... well, naturally, Rosmerta was able to poison it for you before she sent the bottle to Slughorn, believing that it was to be my Christmas present... Yes, very neat... very neat... Poor Mr. Filch would not, of course, think to check a bottle of Rosmerta's. Tell me, how have you been communicating with Rosmerta? I thought we had all methods of communication in and out of the school monitored." 

"Enchanted coins." Malfoy answered. As though he was compelled to keep talking. "I had one and she had the other and I could send her messages-" 

"Isn't that the secret method of communication Dumbledore's Army used last year?" Dumbledore asked. His voice light and conversational. 

"Yeah, I got the idea from them." Malfoy answered with a twisted smile. "The Poison though. That was Slayton's idea. The Mudblood whispers in my head." 

"Please don't use that offensive word in front of me." Dumbledore requested. "Even if Slayton deserves to be called that." 

Malfoy gave a harsh laugh. "You care about me saying 'Mudblood' when I'm about to kill you?" 

"Yes, I do." Dumbledore answered, and saw his feet slide a little on the floor as he struggled to remain upright. "But as for killing me, Draco, you have had several long minutes now, we are quite alone, I am more defenseless than you can have dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted..." 

Malfoy's contorted involuntarily, as though he tasted something very bitter...

There was a bang and shout from below, louder than ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the actual spiral staircase that lead to where Malfoy and Dumbledore stood

"There is little time, one way or another." Dumbledore informed. "So let us discuss your options, Draco." 

"My options!?" Malfoy asked loudly. "I'm standing here with a wand- I'm about to kill you-" 

"My dear boy, let us have no more pretence about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first disarmed me, you would not have stopped for this pleasant chat about ways and means." 

"I haven't got any options!" Malfoy yelled, and suddenly he was as white as Dumbledore. "I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!" 

"I appreciate the difficulty of your position." Dumbledore replied. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realized that I suspected you." 

He winced once more at the name. 

"I did not dare speak to you of the mission which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you." Dumbledore continued. "But now, at last, we can speak plainly to each other... No harm has been done, you have hurt nobody, though you are very lucky that your unintentional victims survived... I can help you, Draco." 

"No, you can't." Malfoy's wand shook violently. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice." 

"He cannot kill you if you are already dead." Dumbledore countered. "Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you could possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight and hide her likewise. Nobody would be surprised that you had died in your attempt to kill me- forgive me, but Voldemort probably expects it. Nor would the Death Eaters be surprised that we had captured and killed your Mother- it is what they would do themselves, after all. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban... When the time comes... we will move on Erathor and bring him down. Come over to the right side, Draco. You are not a killer." 

I stared at the whole scene. Don't do it, Draco. Don't be like Merula.

Malfoy stared at Dumbledore. "But I got this far, didn't I?" He said slowly. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here...  and you're in my power... I'm the one with wand... and you're at my mercy..." 

"No, Draco." Dumbledore said quietly. "It is my mercy, and not yours, that matters now." 

Malfoy didn't speak. His mouth was open, his wand hand still trembling. And I could've sworn it dropped by a fraction. 

But suddenly, footsteps thundered up the stairs, and a second later, Malfoy was buffeted out of the way as Five people in Black Robes burst through the door onto the ramparts. 

Bellatrix Lestrange! She was there. And so was Fenrir Greyback. And the worst of the worst. Fletcher Snyde. 

"Good evening, Bellatrix." Dumbledore greeted. 

Bellatrix shrugged. 

"Hello, Albus." Snyde said. "Been quite a while." 

"Good evening, Fletcher." Dumbledore greeted. "What brings you here?" 

"Well, let's see. We have you on your knees. Hogwarts is exposed. And Draco Malfoy is about to make the greatest accomplishment which isn't saying much considering his pathetic little life. WHAT DO YOU THINK I'M DOING HERE!?" Snyde yelled. 

He then looked at Malfoy. "You've done well, Draco. You've managed to do what even my failure of a Daughter could not."

Merula was not a failure by the way. 

"Yeah. Imagine what unleashing Shadow Magic as a means to cooperate will do." Draco thought out loud.

"And look at this. The Great Dumbledore, cornered! I've waited a long time for this moment. Those years of Rotting in Azkaban." Snyde continued clearly pushing on ahead. "Thinking of nothing but this moment! Wandless, alone, and at our mercy!" 

"Good evening, Amycus." Dumbledore said calmly, as though he welcomed the Death Eaters to a tea party. "And you've brought Alecto too. Charming..." 

The woman gave an angry little titter. "Think your little jokes'll help you on your Deathbed then?" She jeered. 

"Jokes? No, no, these are manners." Dumbledore replied. 

"Oh, let him joke. After all. I think it only civilized we allow a man to enjoy his final moments in whatever way he sees fit. I allowed Cedric Diggory to give his pathetic words before I killed him. And we did give Sirius Black a last word, did we not, Bellatrix?" Snyde assured. 

"We did." Bellatrix answered. And she smiled evilly. 

"Do it." Came another stranger, a big rangy man with matted grey hair and whiskers, whose Death Eater's robes made him look way too tight. He had a voice like nothing I'd ever heard; a rasping bark of a voice. And I could smell a mixture of dirt, sweat, and blood coming from him. 

"Is that you, Fenrir?" Dumbledore asked. 

"That's right." Greyback rasped. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?" 

"No, I cannot say that I am. But I will remain civilized. How's business?" Dumbledore said.

"Booming." Greyback answered. He grinned, showing his pointed teeth. Blood trickled down his chin and he licked his lips slowly, and obscenely. "You know how much I like kids, Dumbledore." 

Ew. If I wasn't paralyzed, I would find myself shivering. 

"Am I to take it that you are attacking even without the full moon now? This is most unusual... You have developed a taste for human flesh that cannot be satisfied once a month?" Dumbledore asked. 

"That's right." Greyback answered. "Shocks you that, doesn't it, Dumbledore? Frightens you?"

It frightened me. 

"Well, I cannot pretend it does not disgust me a little." Dumbledore admitted. "And, yes, I am a little shocked that Draco here invited you, of all people, into the school where his friends live..." 

"I didn't." Malfoy breathed. He didn't dare even glance in Greyback's direction. "I didn't know he was going to come-" 

"Actually, that was me." Snyde informed like it was a prize. "I thought we could use a little muscle on this one. It worked wonders when they captured Ethan's whore." 

"I wouldn't want to miss a trip to Hogwarts, Dumbledore." Greyback rasped. "Not when there are throats to be ripped out... Delicious, delicious... If only I could've gotten at Penny. The look of her eyes as she cried in a cage. But Trotsky forbade it." He casted a hungry look around. "Perhaps, when this is all done... I'll go find the Little Greek Bitch and feast on her. And then I'll go find Ethan's Wife, feast on her. And have their little boy as an appetizer before I eat Penny."  

That was infuriating to hear.

"No." Snyde ordered. "I will kill the girl, myself."  

Greyback grinned. "You never let me have any fun, Fletcher. Okay, I'll take Dumbledore-." 

"No." Bellatrix shot down. "The Dark Lord has given his orders. Draco has to do it. Draco, you're here, so do it now. It is your destiny." 

Malfoy showed less resolution than ever. He looked terrified as he stared into Dumbledore's face, which was even paler and rather lower than usual, as he had slid so far down the rampart wall. 

"He's not long for this world, anyway, if you ask me!" The Lopsided man known as Amycus said. "Look at him- what's happened to you, then, Dumby?" 

"Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus." Dumbledore answered. "Old age, in short... One day, perhaps, it will happen to you... if you are lucky..." 

"So, really it's more of a mercy killing." Snyde said. Then he glared at Dumbledore. "Well, if that's all you had left to say. We've got a job to complete. And I do so hate waiting." 

"Just like your Daughter." Dumbledore said. 

Snyde grit his teeth. "Do not compare my pathetic excuse for a Daughter to me. She is nothing!"

"Do it." Bellatrix turned to Malfoy. 

But at that moment there were renewed sounds of scuffling from below and a voice, so tragically familiar it scared me. "They've blocked the stairs- Reducto! REDUCTO!" 

All opposition was not eliminated. But they were going to have to move fast. 

"Draco! Do it!" Snyde ordered. 

Harry and I pulled out our wands. Ready to fight. And Malfoy's hand shook so badly that he could barely aim. 

"Forget this! I'll do it." Greyback snarled, moving towards Dumbledore with his hand outstretched, his teeth bared. 

"Greyback. No!" Snyde yelled. "The Dark Lord has clearly ordered Malfoy to do it!" 

"What? He doesn't have the stomach for it! He's just like his Father!" Greyback protested. 

"This is your moment." Bellatrix insisted to Malfoy.

"How about we make this easier for you, Malfoy?" Snyde asked and he pointed his wand at Malfoy, most likely with the intention to kill him.

"Go on, Draco. NOW!" Bellatrix screamed. 

But Malfoy didn't. Instead his wand hand was shaking. He was clearly not going to do it.

"No." Snape walked up the stairs now. His wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall, to the Death Eaters, and finally, Malfoy. 

"You sure took your sweet time getting here, Snape." Snyde commented. 

"Put the wand down, Snyde. There's no need for that." Snape ordered. 

Snyde roared. "Screw it! I'll do it myself!" He pointed the wand at Dumbledore 

"No!" Snape said again. 

"What?" Snyde asked as if Snape was denying him his kill. "I always knew you were weak, Snape. I should've realized that when you failed as Head of Slytherin House! If it wasn't for your weakness, Merula-" 

But somebody else spoke Snape's name, quite softly. 

"Severus..." 

It came from Dumbledore and the sound alone frightened me beyond anything I've experienced in all my life. Dumbledore was pleading. For the first time

Snape said nothing, but walked forward and pushed Malfoy roughly out of the way. The other Death Eaters fell back without another word. Even Greyback seemed cowed...

Bellatrix just stared at Snape. Wondering what move he would make. 

"SILENCE!" Snyde ordered. 

Snape gazed at Dumbledore, and there was a face of revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face. 

"Severus... please..." 

Don't do it Snape. Please don't do it. Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. It was in my visions. I had seen this. And it was going to happen. 

And then Snape muttered the most horrible words. "Avada Kedavra!" 

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. My scream of horror never left me; Harry and I, forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted in the air and off the tower. And then he fell slowly backward and to the ground.