The Mark of a Death Eater

The Fall

Four black-clad figures stumbled forwards through the door. Draco was shoved aside, the spell Dumbledore seemed to have cast over him broken.
What had I been about to do?

"Dumbledore cornered!" shrieked Amycus. He turned to Alecto, grinning in his glee. "Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone!" she laughed. "Well done, Draco, well done!"

I might as well have been invisible.

"Good evening, Amycus," said Dumbledore coolly, as if they had not attempted to kill his people and cause havoc in the school. "And you've brought Alecto too... How charming."

Alecto sneered. "Think your little jokes'll help you on your death bed, then?"
"Jokes?" Dumbledore shook his head. "No, no, these are manners."

"Do it!" Fenrir snarled at me.
I wasn't about to take orders from him.
"Is that you, Fenrir?" asked Dumbledore, a little sharply, as opposed to his calm tone tonight.
"That's right," Greyback answered. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?"
"No, I cannot say that I am."
Fenrir Greyback grinned, showing off his pointed teeth. Blood glinted off them, and around his mouth.
"Ah, but you know how much I like kids, Dumbledore," he taunted.
"I am a little shocked that Draco and Emma invited you, of all people, here, into the school where their friends live..."
"We didn't," Draco said, slowly. "I didn't even know..."

"We are wasting time! Draco, we have orders. One of you, do it."
"He's not long for this world anyway, if you ask me!"
"Look at him!"

I was aware that my hands were shaking violently.
Before they came up the stairs, what had I been about to do?

A loud scuffling broke my thoughts and I heard voices downstairs. "They've blocked the stairs - Reducto! Reducto!"

"Now, quickly! One of you..."

Draco was shaking so badly that he could barely point his wand straight.

"Emma, you have orders!" shouted Alecto. But I seemed to have become struck dumb, frozen in horror. I couldn't move.
"Do it, or stand aside so one of us-"

At that precise moment, the door burst open and in strode Professor Snape, wand in hand, his eyes narrowed as he surveyed the scene. I realized how silly we must look. Four death eaters, standing behind two children, so afraid that they're unable move, all of them facing one man, old and pale, almost sliding down the ramparts.

"We've got a problem," said someone. I couldn't take my eyes off Snape to see who. "The girl, she doesn't-"

And then I heard something that made my insides freeze completely.
"Severus..."
The word was spoken softly, but there was no mistaking that it had come from Dumbledore, and that he, unbelievably, was begging.

Snape said nothing, but he strode forward, knocking both Draco and I out of his way. I fell into Alecto, and she was holding tightly onto my arm as Snape pushed past. All
The death eaters fell behind, as if Snape was death himself.

"Severus... Please..."

I understood too late what was going to happen.

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest.

It seemed as if he froze, for a second, and in the green hue of the mark, his face didn't look afraid at all, maybe a little sad. And then he was blown backwards, and he fell from the ramparts, his cloak trailing in the air.

I heard a scream, so harsh and raw I wondered where it was coming from, and I fell forward, onto my knees.

But I wasn't allowed to stay there. Someone grabbed my arm and pushed me out of the door. Snape, I realised. He was making me move.

"Emma, come."

I followed him downstairs, with Draco on my left and a group of death eaters in my wake.

Downstairs was absolute chaos. There were people everywhere. Spells are bouncing off walls, and there was a body on the floor.
Dumbledore's guard was standing around the door, but when Snape, Draco and I ran past, they moved aside and turned their attention to the rest.

Snape led Draco and I trough the thick of the fight, nothing hurting us as we ran.
We made it to the end of the corridor and hurtled around the corner. We sprinted past an empty corridor, and I realized that Snape was heading us out of the castle, towards the front doors. As we ran around another corner, and I heard the distinct sound of voices, despite the ringing in my ears. People seemed to have awoken.
We made it to the ground safely, and we didn't stop running. The night air was cold, and my lungs hurt like mad, but I realized where we needed to go. We had to get to the gates to Disapparate. There were screams and shouts behind me. I heard the sound of Hagrid's the gamekeepers voice.

Then someone ran out past Hagrid, and pointed his wand straight at us. "Stupefy!"
The stream of red nearly hit me, but Snape pushed me out of the way. "Take her and run, Draco!"
He turned to face the attacker.

Draco took my hand and forced me into a sprint. I couldn't do it. I couldn't run anymore. I didn't want to. But it was just to the gate... Almost to the gate...

We made it. The second we passed the gate, Draco Apparated, pulling me with him.

What little air I had was sucked out of my lungs as I moved, and then, very suddenly, there was silence.

It was overwhelming.

I fell onto familiar worn stone, then stood and ran up the stairs that I knew of from Christmas. I burst into my loaned room and fell on the cold floor.

And for the first time in years, I CRIED.