Until the end Dramione

Chapter 21 Attacks

A few minutes earlier...

Harry was leaving Hermione's house. It had done him good to see his best friend again after all this time. But now he had to get back to Dumbledore. After a few steps to make sure he was out of sight, he apparated in front of Hogwarts. He'd missed the school so much and would have given anything to be there again with his two best friends... The thought pinched his heart. Unfortunately, he could no longer confide in his best friend, nor witness his daily arguments with Hermione... It made his heart ache, but to go and see Dumbledore, he had to be lucid. So he shook off all his bad thoughts and wandered the castle corridors in search of the principal.

Harry was now walking in the courtyard outside the castle, right by the astronomy tower. Just as he was about to pass through the gate, he heard the sound of a heavy sledgehammer landing on the ground behind him. He turned abruptly to see, in the glow of a few flames, the lifeless body of the man who had always helped him gain self-confidence, his mentor... But he didn't want to believe it. He approached slowly, and his doubts were confirmed. Albus Dumbledore lay on the floor, inert, lifeless. He was nothing more than a mere carnal envelope that could do nothing more, teach nothing more to his protégé... He was sick of losing another important person in his life. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, but nothing came out. He felt powerless, as if all his will to fight had disappeared. He fell to his knees beside the body of his former mentor and looked up in the direction of the astronomy tower. No sooner had he made out the face peering over the tower's railing than his anger was rekindled. He would never forgive the person who had dared to commit this murder. Just as he would never forgive Voldemort for killing his parents, just as he would never forgive Bellatrix for killing Sirius, he would never forgive Draco Malfoy for killing Dumbledore...

But first, he had to get Dumbledore's body to safety. Without further ado, he sent an owl to McGonagall and the Order to warn them, not forgetting to mention the perpetrator of the murderous deed. And the first thing he thought of after completing this task, while the headquarters were abuzz with effusion, was to go and see Hermione to warn her. Without further ado, he apparated to her house.

Back to the present...

In the dark corridors of the dungeons, Draco walked like an automaton. Further along, he came face to face with the flat-nosed monster.

- "Draco!" he exclaimed, his usual grin drawn across his horrible snake-like face. You'll see after this that you should have killed Dumbledore when you had the chance. Finite!

No sooner had Voldemort uttered these words than Draco had a strange sensation, as if everything he did now belonged to him. As if he was finally regaining control of his whole body. Then he remembered what had brought him to this point. Earlier, the execrable Dark Wizard had ordered him to kill Dumbledore to atone for his sins. But he had stubbornly refused, earning Snape the right to do it for him. And Voldemort, in his unquestionable greatness and intelligence, had decided that rather than punish Draco directly by torturing him, it would be better to cast the Imperium spell on him, so that he himself could torture the woman he claimed to love.

- What have you done to me?" exclaimed the apprehensive Slytherin.

- I gave you your chance and you didn't take it," hissed Voldemort. Now you're paying the price.

After which, he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

Pay the price? The young Malfoy was distraught. What had he made him do? He decided to search the dungeons for anything. He himself didn't know what to look for, but he had the horrible feeling he'd done something wrong...

Soon he came to the room where, unconsciously, he had once again tortured Hermione. He entered without really knowing what to expect, but no sooner had he caught sight of the scene before him than he had to restrain a retch. Hermione lay bloodless on the floor, bathed in her own blood. Draco fell to his knees, prostrate. What he was seeing, it was he who had done it... it was definitely him... He felt as if he were sensing the betrayal Hermione must have felt at the moment of the stabbing. His throat knotted and his heart clenched to the point where he could hardly breathe. Worst of all, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know what spell to use to heal her, and he hated himself even more for it. There was no way he could right his wrongs now. To think that Hermione would forgive him after this was to poke himself in the eye. Yet he didn't want to run away, he didn't want to be a coward anymore. And the mere fact that he'd spared Dumbledore proved that he'd changed.