integrity ━━ george weasley

-35 || Death of a Leader

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xxxv. THIRTY-FIVE

DEATH OF A LEADER

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             USING THE VANISHING CABINET TO ENTER HER OLD SCHOOL WASN'T NEARLY AS PAINFUL AS SHE EXPECTED IT TO BE. Anticipating an experience similar to Apparition, she was quite relieved to find that it was full of far less internal twisting and stretching. All that happened was that she fell short of breath for a moment.

     As the cabinet doors swung open, she was greeted by silence. They were in the Room of Requirement; that was what Draco had explained to them. She, Bellatrix, and the Carrow siblings had arrived first. Shortly after them, came both Thorfinn and Atlanta Rowle, Fenrir Greyback, and two other Death Eaters.

     "Where's the Malfoy boy?" Thorfinn Rowle asked, clearly quite annoyed that the most important person within the entire attack was absent. Beside him, Atlanta glowed a little pink from embarassment. Her father was not one to be kept waiting, but Melora's mother was not one to doubt, either.

     It was the middle of the night, so sneaking through the castle undetected wouldn't pose as too difficult. Each of them knew about the caretaker that would wander the corridors at night, but if they could time it well enough, he would never catch them. Draco then appeared in the room, and announced that there were people - students, professors, Aurors - who were expecting the attack. It only received a few grumbles and eyerolls, as though the Death Eaters believed it would still be an easy victory for them all.

     Draco wasted no time in leading them out of the room. In order to spare them from being seen, he used Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder once they were in the corridor that was being patrolled.

      Draco's task didn't involve too much battle, and so therefore taking all ten of the Death Eaters to the place where Dumbledore was due to die wouldn't be necessary. They weren't all there to witness the death of their ex-headmaster. The majority of them were there to assist in any fighting that might break out later, and to keep guard on any passers-by. It was Melora and her mother, and the two Carrows that would actually get to Draco. The rest of them were supporters. And technically, Melora should be one of those who did not get up close to the action as well, but she descended from a family that was far too high up in the ranks for its own good. This gave her a fast pass into the higher class tasks.

     As they reached the tower, the other six Death Eaters stayed by the door, whilst she and the more loyal and reliable ones actually headed up the steps to the tower. Bellatrix seemed to view the entire thing as some sort of adventure rather than an illegal attack, and as she bounded through the door, Melora heard her gasp in awe at the sight before her. Being a few paces behind, she had to wait to view what her mother was seeing. Her reaction to it was slightly less entertained that Bellatrix's.

     Albus Dumbledore stood defenseless before Draco as he pointed his wand intimidatingly towards the man. But his body showed slightly less power than his stance did. His arm was shaking by a small amount and his breathing was jittery and heavy. She was surprised to see that her former headmaster remained rather calm. Other than his eyes that were wide with fear at the idea of Death Eaters being in the school at night, there was no visible terror within him.

     Everyone else seemed to be oblivious to Draco's panic, as they were all watching the event unfold with glee. But Melora just couldn't continue to watch him be forced into murder - not when she had experienced the exact same thing.

      "Go on then, Malfoy," Amycus Carrow spat at him when he remained unmoving. "Do it."

      But Draco did nothing. The others must've seen his hand as it trembled, as there were snickers from behind her. It became clear to her that once you were involved i the Dark Arts, being childish and immature seemed to stick by you much more than usual. And although she tried to hide her sorrow for her cousin, she made it a bit too obvious by not mocking him.

     "Malfoy!" Alecto sneered, her voice just as harsh as her brother's, as she continued to taunt the boy. "Stop wasting our time and just kill him!"

     "Draco," Bellatrix hissed, but not following with any more words. She simply warned him with his own name, which was enough to scare him into it. He raised his wand once more, the quivering in his hand still visible, and his breathing remaining heavy and panicked.

     Bellatrix had told Melora that their task would not fail, and that Draco would receive help if he somehow managed to mess up what had been asked of him. It still came as a wonder to her what it was that they were going to do; Draco was still stood before the headmaster, and the man he was supposed to murder was still breathing. But as she stood there awkwardly, awaiting some sort of instruction, someone else burst in through the door to the tower.

     Although she shouldn't have done, she jumped. If she were going to be honest, she had been expecting someone like Professor McGonagall or a few Aurors to turn up and capture the five people who were scheming against Albus Dumbledore. But it wasn't anyone whom she had been thinking of. Instead, it was her past Head of House, Severus Snape, who appeared in the room. He moved Draco aside, and it was he who then pointed his wand at Dumbledore.

     She was caught off guard, she could give them that. When her mother had mentioned assistance, she never suspected that Snape would be the one to step in. As Draco stood to the side, she watched as he continued to shake and breath unevenly. Not only was it distracting, it put her on edge too. Feeling as though she had no choice, Melora then moved over to stand with her cousin as the rest of the event unfolded.

     "It's OK," she whispered to him as quietly as she could, so that the others would not be distracted from an event they were clearly so fond of. She then added, "You don't have to do it now."

     "I have to! You don't understand," he said, but he was shaking far too much to be talking logically. His words were mainly formed around his fear for what would happen to him next, Melora could tell. He whispered, "He'll kill me."

      She shook her head at him, "No, you don't have to do it, Draco. You don't. Not anymore."

      And as the two of them looked back over to where Dumbledore stood, they each had to stifle a cry of shock (or fear - but either way, it would have been looked down on had they voiced it) as Snape so quickly cast the Killing Curse upon the headmaster. The actual aftermath of the curse must have only lasted a few seconds, but for the two cousins, time seemed to slow down far too much. As his life was sucked from him, a look of hurt remained glued to Albus Dumbledore's face. He had trusted Snape before. But in those last few moments, it became clear that trust was a rare thing to find. Everyone was against everyone now.

     As his body disappeared from her view, Melora felt a burning feeling on her forehead, and a large ache spread through her head. Her eyes seemed to burn as she fought the urge to cry. The tears she desired to spill weren't out of grief, however. They were out of fear. She had just been part of the murder of one of the most powerful wizards, and if she were fighting on the side that had such strong capabilities, then she didn't even want to know what the night could turn into.

     "Morsmordre!"

      When Dumbledore's body had collapsed over the edge, her mother had rushed forwards to cast the Dark Mark across the skies. Melora watched, slightly intrigued, as the serpent emerged from within the mouth of the skull, its head easing away from where it had originally been placed. But the sole purpose of its appearance was only to allow the students and professors within the castle to become aware of their location and the destruction they had so far caused.

      But she came to realise that the night was far from over.