Annabeth Chase and Things Are Getting Intense

Chapter Forty One

A/N: Y'all, yesterday was crazy. We went on a four hour hike in the negev (the desert) and most of it was directly in the sun, but the drive back was two hours so we got to relax.

Also, pretty much as soon as I got out of the shower at home we had to go chill in the bomb shelters. Hurray for Iranian rockets. Don't worry, everything was fine and my biggest issue was that the WiFi wasn't working and I ran out of ramen.

Anyway, I had time to finish the chapter last night after all that, so here it is!

Annabeth's mind was reeling. She longed to take her hat off, stomp over to Malfoy, grab him by the shoulders, give him a good shake, and demand who. Who was dead? But Malfoy continued talking, and Annabeth continued being paralyzed.

"I don't know who," he said, "it was dark... I stepped over the body... I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way..."

"Yes, they do that," Dumbledore said, still no tension in his voice.

There was a bang and more shouts from below, but much louder this time. It sounded like the fight was moved onto the spiral staircase that led up to the tower. Annabeth's mind went in spirals, imagining who had died, thinking of the worst.

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

"My options!" Malfoy exclaimed loudly. "I'm standing here with a want—I'm about to kill you—"

"My dear boy, let us have no more pretense 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's voice was shaking now, just like his wand. "I've got to do it! He'll kill me! He'll kill my whole family!"

"I appreciate the difficulty of your situation," Dumbledore said. "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. I did not dare speak to you of the mission with which I knew you had been entrusted, in case he used Legilimency against you. But now we can at last 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 said. His voice broke just a little, and again Annabeth couldn't help being reminded of Luke, begging her to run away with him. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."

"Come over to the right side, Draco, and we can hide you more completely than you can possibly imagine. What is more, I can send members of the Order to your mother tonight to hide her likewise. Your father is safe at the moment in Azkaban... when the time comes, we can protect him too... come over to the right side, Draco... you are not a killer..."

Malfoy stared at him for a moment before he spoke again. "But I got this far, didn't I?" he salad slowly, like he was trying to convince himself. "They thought I'd die in the attempt, but I'm here... and you're in my power... I'm the one with the wand... you're at my mercy..."

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

Malfoy's wand dropped by a fraction of an inch, and he opened his mouth, almost convinced, when—

The door burst open and Malfoy was pushed out of the way as four people in black robes spilled out onto the ramparts. Struggling against the body binding hex intently, Annabeth stared at the four strangers, feeling completely helpless; the Death Eaters had won the fight below. Fuck wasn't a strong enough word.