Promise You'll Never Forget

Chapter 30

"Obliviate."

Her whisper chilled my bones, it was cold and sinister, spoken into my ear from only multimeters away, so close I could feel her breath on the side of my neck. She gripped my shoulder tightly, digging her nails into my skin as I flinch in pain. With a subtle wave of her wand, Bellatrix had cast the memory curse on her own nephew.

He turned around at the sound of her whisper and locked his eyes with mine.

My heart sunk hearing the enchantment, hoping that it hadn't worked, that he'd blink and still remember every moment we spent together. But my hope shattered as I witnessed the light from his eyes fade, the memories and feelings drained from his soul, all the laughs and smiles stolen from his dreams.

I was erased from his mind without a second thought.

He bore down his eyes, now cold and senseless, with no emotion stirring except confusion and anger. The tears that had been welling up in my eyes started to fall as my breathing quickened, shaking my head in disbelief. This can't be happening.

"No." I mutter under my breath, pleading that this was all a nightmare. My voice pulled him out of his initial trance of confusion and triggered a scowl that grew on his face.

"What did you do? Why are you staring like a lost fucking puppy?" He scolded at me, making me take a step back at this new side of him. When I didn't answer he looked me up and down, furrowing his eyebrows in disgust and scoffed. "Dirty mudbloods."

Within seconds our relationship was destroyed and in just a few words my faith in him faded into nothing. The boy I once knew, the blonde bully who closed himself off from outsiders, who only let a few people see who he truly was and made me realise all the misconceptions about him, he was gone. In his place an imposter, an actor who followed the directions of his Lord.

A stranger stood before me.

I watched through the tears that stung my eyes red and puffy as Draco Malfoy followed his fellow death-eaters along the hall.

I felt my knees was buckle under the weight of my body, feeling heavier than ever as I collapse onto the stoned floor, damp and cold. The vibrations of Bellatrix's cackle sent shockwaves through my ears, bouncing off the walls which only strengthened her voice.

Just before Draco turned the corner at the end of the corridor he glared back at me, sobbing uncontrollably on the floor of an ancient castle, the same one we met and fought and kissed and loved in, and had only a look of nausea and hatred scratched onto his face.

I had lost him. And he lost himself.

He was so focused on not losing me, so worried that I'd be caught and killed, so concentrated on his task at hand that he neglected the idea that it could be the other way around. That I'd be the one left at the end of tonight, lonely and broken.

For only a second Draco looked back, it was shorter than any second I'd experienced, but it was still a moment of hesitation before fully committing to his new life under the control of Voldemort.

I stayed, watching him walk away, forgetting everything about me as Bellatrix skipped down the hallway in pride at her chosen form of torture.

She not only took his memories, she stole the love from his heart and crushed every ounce of it, she made it vanish and with it the sparkle from his eyes that had shone once again this year.

For minutes I kneeled on the ground, crying, trying to get my head around the horrifying fact I was nothing in his eyes, nothing more than a dirty mudblood who somehow witnessed the murder of Albus Dumbledore.

I pulled myself up from the ground, slowly and shakily walking to find a teacher and inform them of what happened to the beloved headmaster. The walls felt hostile around me, like they knew the events of tonight.

Turning the corner I see two second year girls running hastily towards the courtyard. Unable to hear the majority of their conversation I managed to pick up the last few words.

"I hope it's not true." The one with fiery red hair optimistically said, I was almost certain I knew what they were referring to so I followed behind them, only a few meters or so between us until I saw the crowed gathered in the courtyard at the bottom of the astronomy tower.

The entire nights purpose had been pushed from my mind the moment I held Draco in my hands, the assassination of Dumbledore had been successful and he's dead, he's really truly dead.

Gasps and sobs were heard from students and professors alike as the crowd grew with more people hearing about the tragedy.

I saw two girls I recognised instantly as Luna and Cho and worked my way through the mourning children to be by their sides. I linked my hands in theirs as I came between them, letting them know I was there. They looked up analysing my tear stained cheeks and swollen eyes, assuming they were shed for the death of our headmaster.

Harry knelt down before Dumbledore's body, personally dealing with the loss of a trusted friend whilst the rest of the school watched on, saying goodbye.

Through the cries of students I heard tiny taps on the ground as though a thousand pins were dropping all over the cobblestone that lay beneath everyone's feet. I look down, dragging my gaze away from the scene in front of me to see the last charm from the bracelet Draco gifted me fall to the ground. Gold stars were scattered across the grey brick, bouncing amongst each other. My heart shattered for the final time realising that Draco thought nothing of me anymore.

Any shred of hope I had left was taken from me when those stars hit the stone, I bend down to pick them all up, one by one reading them and remembering what times spent together made them appear in the first place. My eyes fell upon a star which had the date

30/06/97

Today's date. A star was made and taken away in the same number of hours. It dawned on me that we could have lived happily in love with each other if not for Bellatrix's second agenda.

A thin stream of light from above pulled me out of my thoughts, picking the final charm off the ground and standing up to join my friends once more. Profesor McGonagall had held her wand into the air to cast the dark mark away. Everyone soon followed her lead and began lifting their wands in solidarity with each other, slowly wiping away the mark of death from the sky to bring the little bit of light left in this dark time.

I shot my wand towards the sky to join the others, not just for respect of the fallen wizard but for the love I have in my heart for the accomplice of his murder. I held the charms tightly in my hand across my heart as a singular tear rolled down my left cheek.

Why did he have to show me who he really was? Why did I have to fall for his charms? Why did I have to fall in love with him?

Despite the questions playing in my head, I would chose to fall in love with him time and time over, and I may not forgive him for his actions right now, but...

I promised I'd forgive and he promised he'd never forget.

I won't let us break those promises.

Word Count - 1305