Unmasked (George Weasley Love Story)

Unmasked Ch.18

Ch. 18

It was the day the attack would occur. I knew everything would be chaos when we landed on school grounds. I was going to be flooing in using Severus’s fireplace in his room, while the others were getting through the shrieking shack or from Hogsmeade. To be honest this would be easy considering Dumbledore had contacted me and told me he was going to be telling Harry about the Horcruxes today. Dumbledore knew he was dying too, and it was for that reason that he was okay with his death coming this quickly. This didn’t stop the sadness that rushed through me every time I thought about it.

So here I was again getting ready to head into a battle where I would try to protect all the people I could, it would be harder now than ever. This time I wouldn’t be in a mask. This time I would be going as myself and not the secretive Girl in the Mask that hid her identity.

I put on short green dress with a high neckline. It had long sleeves with diamond cuffs. To add to the Slytherin look of the dress, the back had a plunging V with a diamond snake brooch where it ended. I added silver high heels and silver dangling earrings.

“You look beautiful though I’m not the biggest fan of the color,” George said as he looked me over. “You’d be even more beautiful if you weren’t putting yourself in harm’s way.”

“It’s my job, we go over this every time.” He sighed, leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets.

“I know it is, it’s just sometimes I like to believe this whole thing would be over and we could live like any other normal couple.”

“Haven’t you said being different is better?” I asked with a smirk.

“Yes, but that doesn’t apply here.”

“I think it does, after all, we’d be bored if our lives weren’t like this.”

“Sometimes it’s good to have a little boring,” he said with a sad smile, walking over to me and cupping my face in his hands. “I love you, stay safe.”

“I love you too,” I stepped over to my fireplace that was untraceable. I threw some floo powder in the fireplace, and stepped in, thinking of appearing in Severus’s room. In a flash I was in his room and stepping out of his fireplace. Severus stood in front of me.

“Are you ready?” he asked. I nodded just as shouting began echoing through the halls, accompanied by screams. An alarm went off, announcing that the castle was being attacked, but it was too late to put up any shields, and everyone was already on the property.

Explosions were echoing everywhere and Severus took off, leaving me in the room. I took a deep breath before heading out. The kids that were running toward their rooms froze when they saw me. None of them knew what to do, so instead they began running in the opposite direction. I continued walking through the castle at a slow pace; not bothering to run because I knew there was no need to.

Once the halls were pretty much clear, either hiding in their rooms or heading outside, I started looking for the others. The others including Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, since they were the main people I cared about right now.

“Abby!” Ginny shouted when she saw me, running over and leaping into my arms. I noticed a few people had glanced over as they were running, their eyes wide as Ginny neared me. She apparently noticed too because she pulled out her wand as if going to battle me. “How dare you do this to my family,” she said loud enough that the others continued running, showing their lack of courage to help a fellow student.

“What are you doing out in the open?” I asked as more screams came from outside. I knew it was time for me to get to the tower.

“I just had to come see you,” she said with a worried expression.

“Everything’s going to be okay. Just be careful, and please forgive me for what’s about to happen.” I gave her one more hug before running off to the tower, quickly making my way up to where I knew the other death eaters would be.

As I made my way up the tower I saw Harry was trying to listen in on what the others were saying on the floor above us. They had Dumbledore cornered and Draco had his wand pointed at him. Sneverus came up behind me and hurried over to Harry, giving him a sign to not make any sound no matter what. He glanced over and saw me walking up to the top floor of the tower and didn’t say anything as Severus followed me up.

All the laughter stopped as I got up there and I watched as Dumbledore turned to look at me, sadness on his face.

“You should be careful Abigail, you never know who to trust in this world.” He said, his eyes never moving from mine. “You and George make a wonderful couple, my dear. I just apologize that I won’t be able to make it to your wedding that I expect will come at some point.” His eyes twinkled and I knew then it would be the last time I saw him alive. “My time has come,” was the last thing he said.

Draco didn’t seem to have the heart to kill him, so Severus grabbed his wand, pointing it at Dumbledore so he could complete the mission himself. “Avada Kedavra!”

I couldn't believe my eyes as the twinkle I had always seen in Dumbledore's eye disappeared. All that was left was a lifeless body that fell backward over the railing. It was as if everything was moving in slow motion. When I snapped out of it I heard Bella's cackling laugh and saw all the death eaters rushing out of the tower, shooting off spells whenever anyone came near them. I walked out slowly, still in shock that he was now dead. I followed the others as they all began leaving, knowing that they're mission was now over for now.

As I walked I noticed that Severus had gotten confronted by Harry and I walked on, feeling strangely empty. My thoughts were clouded over and the only thing I could think of was the fact that everything was now chaos. I knew that so many people would lose their lives, but I never thought it would affect me in this way.

I was so out of it that I barely realized that a few prefects were now standing in my way.

“You've betrayed everyone!” one girl said as I recognized her from when I was there.

“No, you don't realize how much I've done to help you,” I whispered, shaking me head, anger flashing through me as I saw them try to stand against me. My thoughts were so clouded that I whipped my wand out, causing them all to flinch as they realized who they had just stood up. I fought off the darkness and walked toward them, avoiding all the spells that were sent my way. Once I stood in front of them they stood frozen in spot. “You must look after all the students. When war comes you will be faced with great difficulties, but stay strong.”

I walked away, fighting everything in me that told me to destroy them. Someone ran up to me, grabbing my arm and turned me to face them. In front of me was Sal and I could tell he realized the inner fight I was having.

“Come on,” he pulled me into a hug, but something caused me to pull away and I felt a tear drop. I looked back and could see Ginny had started running toward me.

“Abby!” she yelled, realizing that I was losing it because of what I had just seen.

“Stand back, Gin!” Sal yelled. “She's trying to fight it.” She stopped where she was. Other students and professors tried to pull Ginny away, making sure I would do anything to anyone. They had their wands pointed at me, but I knew they wouldn't be able to fight me, even with their combined power. Once the anger was unlocked, no one could stand against me.

A gush of wind blew my dress and hair around me. It must have been quite the scene, but I didn't care as I melted away from the scene with Sal by my side. I landed in my house, Sal no longer with me.

Immediately I was pulled into a hug. “It's okay, love. It's all okay,” he said as I began sobbing. Dumbledore had been there for me and had trusted me and now his life was gone. Never again would anyone watch as he offered someone one of his cherished lemon drops or shared an important life lesson.

“He's dead.” I said, but this didn't stop him from tearing up as well.

“There's always a sacrifice that must be paid to find peace.” he whispered in my ear as we collapsed on the bed next to each other, finding comfort just by the others presence.