Before The Past

Ch. 52

"Class dismissed, except for Mr. Malfoy and Miss Hawthorne." Snape announced at the end of our Defense Against the Dark Arts class. 

Everyone shuffled out of the room quickly while Draco and I stayed behind like instructed. Both Draco and I knew exactly why Snape wanted to talk to us. A week ago we gave Slughorn the mead, and just last night it was used, but on the wrong person. Somehow Ron Weasley fell victim to it and happened to be the only one affected. Either he intentionally snuck a few sips of it, or he was tricked into consuming it. There was no way he was 'accidently' given it. 

"Professor Snape we-" 

"Not a word out of either of you. This is the second incident and Dumbledore is getting increasingly suspicious. The Dark Lord remains unaware of these attempts, but should anything else go wrong you'll wish you had been the ones to be poisoned." Snape interrupted Draco. 

"Yes sir, we understand." Draco nodded. 

"If I may ask, what exactly did happen? It's awfully suspicious that Weasley was the one to receive the mead." I questioned. 

"Mr. Weasley was given a love potion and was taken to Slughorn by Potter. He was given an antidote to which after Slughorn chose to 'celebrate' by opening the bottle you two just so happened to poison." Snape explained. 

His tone got increasingly more annoyed as he spoke. The moment I heard the news about Weasley I had gotten irritated to. I was frustrated with myself that we had failed for a second time. Dumbledore was surely more suspicious and wouldn't take anything as a gift. Our options of execution were low, and I was afraid we may be left to only one. 

"It's obvious that you two were not ready to follow through with this task. My offer still stands shall you need someone to come running back to." Snape continued, looking at us sternly "You're dismissed." He waved his hand at us and turned around, making sure to flip his cloak out of the way while he walked back to his office. 

"Katie Bell isn't even out of the hospital yet because of what we've done. Now we've almost killed Weasley." Draco spat. 

"Better him than anyone else." I shrugged. 

He looked over at me, shocked about what I had just said. I wondered if I had meant it, but I didn't feel anything as I said it. Over the past few weeks I've felt myself grow more numb to everything. The reports of the muggle attacks, the protections around the castle, even the rumors that have been flying around. 

The only thing I was truly concerned about was getting Dumbledore's death over with. Maybe we should let Snape do it. He'd probably walk into Dumbledore's office tomorrow and cast the spell without a thought. Maybe we wouldn't even have to use the cabinet, we could simply leave. In a perfect world that could be possible, but the Death Eaters infiltrating the school was a necessary intimidation tactic. 

If Death Eaters could get into Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore, then not even the most infamous school was safe anymore. There were already suspicions about it's security, so this would only increase the worry. More parents would grow fearful and it would show just how powerful The Dark Lord and his followers have become. It would likely cause many to join out of fear too, losing hope that the Resistance would win. 

Was it truly possible for The Dark Lord to win? 

The more time we spent in this war and the more ruthless he grew I began to question the chances less. It was likely, meaning that this could be the rest of my life forever. I'd have to truly earn my place in order to survive. 

Maybe that's what made doing this so much easier. I realized that if there was a chance of his side winning, I'd have to make my loyalties painfully obvious. I couldn't just stall and hope for a quick ending. There would be no getting around it or even putting the responsibility on someone else. Perhaps knowing this was why I was so driven to finish this task. I wanted it over with, I wanted to prove myself now rather than later. I wanted to get the job done right the first time and not have to make up for a detrimental mistake.