mirrorball

chapter twenty two

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Clara dashed up to the door of the Astronomy Tower. She pulled open the door, and before she could get two feet in the tower, she was pulled against a wall. A familiar hand snapped over her mouth, muffling the scream that threatened to escape Clara's mouth. Harry stood in front of her, and put his finger to his lip, signaling for silence. Clara nodded and let Harry pull her to a hidden spot. They turned their heads upward to where Dumbledore stood, and Clara held in a gasp as she saw Draco next to the Headmaster, his wand pointed straight at him,

Dumbledore showed no sign of panic or distress, but Harry was obviously feeling both of those emotions. Clara squeezed his hand as Dumbledore looked across at his student and said, "Good evening, Draco."

Draco stepped forwards, glancing around quickly to check that he and Dumbledore were alone. 

"Who else is here?"

Clara crouched further to Harry, hoping they truly were out of sight. "A question I might ask you. Or are you acting alone?" retorted the Headmaster. Clara saw Malfoy's pale eyes shift back to Dumbledore in the greenish glare of the Mark above them. 

"No," he said. "I've got back-up. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."

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

"Yeah,' said Draco, panting slightly, "Right under your nose and you never realized!"

Harry's hand once again went to Clara's mouth, covering the surprised sound that was bound to come out of her mouth. She locked eyes with a moment for Harry and he shook his head slowly. She returned her attention to the scene above them.

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

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

"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear boy," said Dumbledore softly. There was silence. Clara and Harry crouched imprisoned within their own paralyzed bodies, staring at the two of them. Clara's ears strained to hear sounds of the Death Eaters' distant fight, and in front of her, Draco Malfoy did nothing but stare at Albus Dumbledore who, incredibly, smiled. A small, yet clear smile. "Draco, Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" said Malfoy at once. He seemed to realize how childish the words had sounded; Clara saw him flush in the Mark's greenish light. He looked so old despite his kiddish remarks. His eyes were heavy, and the weight of the world seemed to be on his shoulders.

"You don't know what I'm capable of," said Malfoy more forcefully, "you don't know what I've done!"

"Oh, yes, I do," said Dumbledore mildly. "You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. 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..." Clara turned her eyes to meet Harry's, and he simply put his finger to his lips and shook his head.

"It has been in it!" said Malfoy vehemently. 'I've been working on it all year, and tonight -" Somewhere in the depths of the castle below Clara heard a muffled yell. She held back a gasp, and the urge to run out of the tower. Malfoy stiffened and glanced over his shoulder. "Somebody is putting up a good fight," said Dumbledore conversationally. "But you were saying ... yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school which, I admit, I thought impossible ... how did you do it?"