Transfixed: A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction

Chapter 22

We sat in silence, just Dumbledore and I in his office. Cassady was safely in the hospital wing and Harry was back with Ron and Hermione in the common room. Miraculously, neither he nor I were injured at all.

I sat across from Dumbledore, both of us looking at each other. He seemed to be searching me for some kind of anger, some kind of sadness. It was as if he almost wished I would explode, because then it would mean I was alive. But I didn't feel alive. I felt hollow, like a shell. I had just held my dying father in my arms after saving my sister who was only inches from death herself. Not to mention the fact that I was manipulated by Draco into ignoring her in the first place, so that he could kidnap her. I felt nothing. I was too tired. Dumbledore opened his mouth, searching for the right words.

"Audrey, do you know what your father did at the Ministry?"

"Department of Mysteries. That's all I know," I said shortly. Dumbledore nodded.

"He worked with prophecies. He collected them, curated them, organized them, protected them. Once Voldemort had infiltrated the ministry completely, he became even more interested in the prophecies than ever before. Voldemort began to see them as potential weapons that could be used against any witch or wizard who stood in his way. The only roadblock in his plan was your father."

I sat silently and listened, my gaze never wavering from his.

"Your father panicked. He was trapped in the ministry, and he could see that there was no way out. So, he found his own prophecy and listened to it."

My jaw hit the floor. "He found his own prophecy? I thought you couldn't find your own."

"Indeed, most of us would not be able to. However, your father was different. He understood prophecies in ways few of us ever could. You do know he was Professor Trelawny's most talented student?"

I sat there, stunned. I had no idea. He never told me anything of the sort. I merely shook my head.

"Well, once he listened to his prophecy, he knew how it would unfortunately end for him. He knew he would die there, with you by his side. Once Cassady was captured, he knew it was only a matter of time before you would come to save her, Audrey."

"So.... the letters..."

"He wrote those to assist you in any way he could think of, so that once you came to the Ministry, you would succeed. He had to keep it as vague as possible since there was a high chance the letters could be intercepted. He did the best he could with the knowledge that he had."

"And it worked. We were able to save her. He... he was brilliant."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "Yes, yes he was."

"How... how did you know all of this?" I asked, confused.

"After Michael discovered his fate, he contacted me and told me what was going to happen. If you are wondering if I knew that Cassady was going to be kidnapped, I did not. We only knew what would happen to him, but he clearly saw you next to him at the Ministry as he died. So I knew that there would eventually be a time you would need to leave Hogwarts, and when you came to me after your dream, I knew it was time."

"So you knew that my father was going to die all this time, and you never thought to tell me," I said through gritted teeth, a wave of anger forming deep inside me.

"Audrey, these prophecies, they are extremely dangerous. I simply couldn't..."

"Don't condescend me," I growled. "I don't care what the prophecy said. There was still a chance that I, or you, or anyone could have saved him. But now that chance is gone."