Amy Riddle - Volume 2: The Half Blood Prince (A Voldemort's Daughter Story)

Part 30 (Part 3 of THE END)

Chapter 30

Amy's POV

I briskly followed Draco and the other Death Eaters through the halls of Hogwarts. Bellatrix Lestrange led the group, while other, less important Death Eaters made up the middle. Draco and I hung at the back, close enough that we could still keep up but subtly enough that we could talk without being heard.

"What did you do that for?" Draco hissed.

"It's not like I had any choice!" I whispered angrily. "That stupid Death Eater said my name."

"You could have used a memory charm again," Draco suggested.

I shook my head. "It's no use anyway. I can't come back next year."

"Why not?"

"Dumbledore knows. He's always known."

Draco was silent for a moment, obviously contemplating this. It wasn't a huge deal to me anymore. I would just never have to come back here, which, the more I thought about it, was both a relief and a damn shame. Our group turned the corner quickly. Even after following them for a few minutes, I had no idea where I was being led. I hated being out of the loop.

"How are you doing?" I asked him.

"Better." He didn't look me in the eyes.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

Draco shook his head. "Of course not. I've been waiting to do this all year."

His words were confident, but something about the way he said it indicated that he was not ready. He was anxious and scared and he wanted to go home. Just like me.

The two of us fell into a silence following that conversation and hurried after the Death Eaters ahead of us. I kept looking behind me, because although we had gotten past the initial threat of Ron, Ginny, and Neville, there was still a good chance that other kids would be out in the castle tonight. I kept throwing nervous glances down every hallway we passed. I didn't want any Hogwarts student to be killed by the Death Eaters tonight, and although I knew I wouldn't be coming back next year, I didn't want to be seen with them. Guilty by association, you know?

Our little group of evil came to a crossroads in the building, Bellatrix turned to me. "Amelia."

I shot a few more nervous glances over my shoulder but then turned back to her.

"Go see where Snape is," she instructed.

I frowned. I never liked her much, and I still held a strange grudge against her for killing Sirius Black. "Why?"

I caught Draco's eyes and he sent me this glance that basically said, do what she says.

I hated taking orders from her because technically she couldn't tell me what to do. I was higher up than she was on the Hierarchy of Evil. Second only to my father. But I sighed despite myself and nodded, turned, and ran down the hallway towards Snape's office.

The minute I ran away, which was purely by luck, I heard shouting behind me. I came to a screeching halt and whipped my head around, seeing flashes of light behind me. My eyes widened and I had to deploy every piece of common sense in my head to not go running back after Draco. I knew he was in a rocky phsyical condition, so I was most worried about him being killed. Plus, you know, I loved him and all that.

Instead I kept running down the hallway, briefly closing my eyes and telling myself that everything was going to be okay. I turned down a corridor with a large window and ran past without a second thought until I heard a loud shout, saw a bright flash, and a sound like a thunderclap. I stopped in my tracks and looked out the window, feeling my stomach drop. The Dark Mark slowly began materializing in the cloudy, dark sky. I bit my bottom lip nervously, but then turned back to face the hallway before me.