Entranced (Draco Malfoy)

•thirty-two•

A/N - sorry...

Dove Taylor races through the halls, trusting Draco to save Dumbledore. She knows now that that was his destiny all along, not hers. Her bad feeling forces her to take a left, her wand at the ready. A whistle sounds in front of her, and she slows to a stop.

Danger, the walls seem to whisper. Danger, danger, danger.

She looks around, eyeing everything in turn. The whistle grows louder, and she turns just in time to see a half-werewolf slinking down the hall towards her, but it's as if he doesn't know she's there. Blood rests on his mouth, chin, and neck, seeping into his shirt. He killed someone.

Speaking before she notices it, she almost screams, "Reducto!" 

The curse blasts right into him, and she only hears a strangled yell before he explodes to nothing before her eyes. She doesn't stop to think about how she just killed him. She doesn't think at all.

The gut feeling that says something is wrong grows even stronger. Following it, she breaks into a sprint, doing more physical exertion than she has in years, it feels. She turns the corner, slipping on something.

She lurches forward, her nose hitting the ground with a resounding crack. She groans loudly, putting her hand over her now-bleeding nose. This is the second time in a year she's broken her nose.

"You've got to be kidding me," she mutters, her voice sounding different. 

She turns in irritation, ready to face what tripped her. She feels the blood drain from her face as she tries to process what she's seeing. A strangled sound leaves her throat, a cry right behind it. Sliding forward, slipping ominously, she wraps her arms around Susan Bones' body, sobs racking her shoulders.

"Miss. Taylor?" Professor McGonagall asks cautiously.

She can't speak. Susan is dead. Susan Bones, the one she's been dorming with for six years, the one who helped her pick out her Yule Ball dress, the one who helped her through Cedric's death, the one who was her close friend, is dead. Another person she loves is dead.

"Oh, my," Professor Sprout gasps. "Susan Bones!" 

"Death Eaters in the Astronomy Tower, we need help," someone pants, turning the corner exhaustively. "Dumbledore--" He stops, looking at the body Dove is cradling to her chest. "Godric, is that Susan?!" 

"Mr. MacMillan, go back to the battle," Professor McGonagall instructs. "Flitwick, go with him."

The short professor hurries after Ernie with one horrified look back at Susan. Ernie runs down the halls, his heart going into overdrive. Susan is dead. How can Susan be dead? Sweet, sweet, Susan. The one who was always there for other people. Ernie admired her so much, and now she's gone. He'll never see his friend again. 

"Dove," Professor Sprout begins gently, knowing she's the only one who can get through to the Hufflepuff right now, "Dove, the battle isn't over. This is hard to hear, but we can't do anything for Susan right now. We need to get justice for her. Can you do that?" 

"Why does everyone keep dying on me?" Dove wails, hugging Susan tighter to her. "I pushed her away! I pushed all of them away! And for what? For them to die because of me?" 

"You didn't do this," Professor McGonagall points out. "Miss. Taylor--"

"Let's fight," she changes her mind quicker than how she killed the wolf. "I can't think right now. I killed the werewolf and Susan is dead."

The professors exchange a look, knowing who the grieving Hufflepuff is talking about: the notorious Fenrir Greyback. Neither can say they're sad he's dead, but they're worried how Dove will cope when the battle is over.

When Dove returns to the Astronomy Tower, she finds Remus Lupin dueling two wizards at once, and she jumps in to help him.

"Protego!" She shouts, defending herself from a stray spell. She points to the man before her, short yet muscular, a mask upon his face, "Petrificus Totalus!" 

The man falls to the ground, glaring at her the whole way down.

"Nice one," Remus praises her. "Expulso!" His remaining enemy flies into the wall, crumpling in a heap. "Petrificus Totalus," he murmurs, ensuring that his enemy won't have the opportunity to get back up.

"Where's Draco?" Dove calls.

"Up there," Remus admits, pointing to the Astronomy Tower. 

Eyes widening, Dove takes off, not looking back. She rushes into the Tower, skidding to a stop. Blaise and Draco have their wands pointed at each other, glares on their faces. Dumbledore is merely watching the interaction, someone beside him.

"Draco, what's going on?" She asks nervously.

"He lied to us," he spits. "Blaise didn't tell us there was someone else!"

"What?" She near-shrieks. "Who would do this?" 

"Me," says the person beside Dumbledore.

"Who the hell are you?" Dove spits, raising her wand.

"Wow," she replies, stepping out into the light, "And here I thought we were friends."

"Megan?" Dove gasps, her world going foggy for a moment. "No. It can't be you."

"But it can and it is," she snorts. 

"Susan is dead, Megan," Dove says scratchily, grief evident in her voice.

"Necessary evil." 

"This isn't you," she whispers.

"But it is," Megan counters. 

"Kill him, Blaise!" Bellatrix Lestrange shouts, stumbling into the room with only one shoe on. "Kill him!"

Professor Snape strolls in, his wand by his side, "What's going on?"

Relief fills Dove, but no such relief shows on anyone else's faces. Her foreboding feeling returns. 

"Please, Severus," Professor Dumbledore pleads. "Please."

"Aveda Kedavra!" Snape shouts, killing the headmaster. 

The force of the spell sends the headmaster over the railing, falling to the ground.

"NO!" Dove screams, falling to her knees. "No!"

"Kill them!" Bellatrix encourages. "They have to die!"

Harry Potter bursts out of nowhere, "Expelliarmus!" Bellatrix's wand goes soaring into his hand, the woman screeching angrily. "Malfoy, Dove, run!" 

Draco takes the three steps it takes to reach Dove, pulling her to her feet and forcing her to run with him. She doesn't know where they're going. She doesn't know why they're even bothering to run at this point. She wants to give up.