Him - A Harry Potter Love Story

Chapter Fifty

A/N I can't believe I've actually written fifty chapters to this book. I've never gotten this far in a story, especially not with the lengths of each chapter. What has urged me to continue this is you guys. I started this about five months ago because I was bored and wanted to rewrite something I had done once before, and it has turned into something much bigger than I imagined. I have 28 thousand reads for this book, which is more than I've ever had. I love you all so much. Thank you for motivating me to continue a story, and let's hope I'm able to thank you for motivating me to finish it as well!

"Listen, both of you," Dumbledore demanded, his hands resting on the edge of the bowl. "I need you to make me drink this all. I don't know what it will do, but I am certain that I will plead you to let me stop. You cannot."

"Sir, with all due respect...are you serious?" I asked with a nervous laugh. "It's poison."

"I am more serious than ever, Cassandra," he confirmed. He picked up what looked like a sort of scoop from the side of the bowl, and without warning, dunked it into the liquid and poured it into his mouth. I let out a small gasp, and Harry's hand immediately found mine.

We waited.

The Professor set down the cup, taking deep breaths. His eyes looked down into the bowl, foggy and unfocused. He glanced once towards us before he collapsed to the ground.

"Dumbledore!" Harry cried, immediately letting go of my hand to run around the pillar to his side. I could feel my chest tightening up as I looked at my Headmaster, sitting on the ground, his face buried in his hands. I then looked at the bowl, my breaths becoming harder to get in and out. But I picked up the cup, scooping more of the poison into it and coming to crouch next to them.

"Are you okay, Professor?" Harry was asking repeatedly.

He was shaking his head, his eyes scrunching shut as soon as he saw me approach with the cup. "No. I don't want it anymore."

"Sir, you told us to make you do this," I whispered, my eyes becoming blurry with tears threatening to fall down onto my cheeks. "Please. Drink it."

He shakily took the cup again and drank the liquid. Harry held his arm, keeping it steady so he wouldn't spill it. I was sure that there was an enchantment on it so that you couldn't simply pour it out.

"Get another cup," I told Harry, my voice breaking. He nodded, going back for another drink. I could feel Dumbledore trembling, and I put my hand on his shoulder, trying to whisper comforting words to him.

"Here, Sir," Harry said, trying to hand him the cup. He shook his head, letting out a small sob.

"I don't want to!"

"Please, Professor, you told us to make you drink this, remember?!" I cried out. "You can do it. Do it for us."

This continued maybe five or six more times.

By the end, Dumbledore truly was pleading with us to let him stop. He was yelling, saying things I never thought I'd hear him say. He looked worse than I ever could imagine I would see him.

However, after the last drink, he fell silent.

"Water," he whispered.

Harry and I both got up, Harry immediately going toward the bowl. Knowing what he was thinking, I took out my wand and grabbed the locket that sat there and then cast water into it.

Harry began trying to get the water into the cup, but after dunking it into the bowl a few times, I realized that there was also an enchantment against people getting water afterward.

"Go talk to Dumbledore, make sure he's okay. I have an idea," Harry told me. I nodded and pocketed my wand, sitting down and gently placing my hand on the Headmaster's arm.

"How are you feeling, Sir?" I asked, smiling at him. He was staring at the ground, his lips partly open, moving slightly as if he were trying to speak. However, he didn't answer. "Harry is trying to get water, Professor. Everything will be okay."

I wasn't sure what made me glance over to Harry, but I didn't know what would have happened if I didn't. It was right then when Harry was crouching by the edge of the water that a hand reached out, grabbing his arm and forcefully pulling him into the water.

I didn't think. I didn't hesitate. I stood up and ran to where the water finally was being disturbed, and dove into it.

I could barely see anything, only a few inches in front of my face. This water stung my eyes even more than the water outside, although it helped then that my eyes weren't always underwater. I finally had spotted Harry, struggling in the arms of slender white figures, when thin, harsh hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from him.

I tried to scream, only resulting in letting in a mouthful of water. I immediately found myself too short of breath to stay under much longer. A sudden from above brought my attention upward, and I saw a storm of fire raging just at the surface. I felt the hands release me, and, despite fully knowing that I wasn't going to be able to stay under much longer, swam in the direction of where I had seen Harry.

We found each other all in an instant, our bodies pressed up against one another's as we swam to the surface. I came up above the water gasping for breath, coughing and sputtering. Harry was pulling me towards the shore, where Dumbledore stood, waving his wand a final time before the flames diminished; it was he who had summoned the fire. Dumbledore saved us.

"Cassie," Harry gasped as I climbed onto the land. I continued to cough, then throwing up the water I had swallowed. It took me another minute to fully recover, shaking and gasping for breath.

"Are you okay?" I forced out, looking up at him for the first time. His glasses had somehow stayed on, but they were askew on his face, and he hadn't yet bothered to fix them. His hair was a mess, the weight of the water pulling a section of it down over his face. His eyes stared at me with such concern, I thought that he wouldn't let me near water ever again.

"Am I okay?!" he exclaimed. "You almost drowned, Cassie! Why did you jump in?!"

I pushed myself to my feet. "Because I love you."

He stared at me for a long moment, slowly rising as well.

"I love you too. But you could have-"

"You would've done the same, Harry. You can't deny it," I interrupted, wringing out my hair a little and then checking my pocket to make sure my wand was still there. "Now let's go. We have the locket."

My words were enough to stun Harry into silence. I turned to Dumbledore, who, while looking slightly stronger, still was obviously in pain.

"Come on, Professor. You did it," I said with a smile, walking over to the boat. Harry and I helped Dumbledore in, and then got in ourselves to float back to the cave.

The rest of the trip back to Hogwarts was a blur to me. I barely noticed Harry cutting his hand to open the wall again. I barely paid attention to the waves as we swam back to the rock. I barely realized that we had apparated back to Hogwarts, into Hogsmeade.

The Headmaster simply turned to us right away. "Bring me to Professor Snape."

Harry and I exchanged a glance.

"Professor, you should go to the hospital wing," Harry told him.

"No. We will go to Snape," he insisted. His eyes traveled up to the castle. "The astronomy tower."

So, we brought him to the astronomy tower, as he asked us to do.

We didn't yet know that, for the first time, listening to Albus Dumbledore was the wrong decision.