Forbidden and Mistaken

The pain was intolerable. I couldn't feel the inside of my left wrist at all. He muttered something in Parseltongue. The pain...Now I knew exactly what Draco was going though. Something worse. We were in a room, lined up with all of the Death Eaters. Draco was forced to watch. But I could see that the look in his eyes was...was paining him. It hurt both of us.

"Now, tell me, since you are of age, Miss Allen...Where is Harry Potter?" The Dark Lord asked. He more like hissed, not asked. It was in fact, a bit weird.

"H- Hogwarts." I tried to say.

"Hogwarts...what?"

"Hogwarts...Master." I said.

"Good. What should I know...?" He pondered. "Ah, does Harry know where my horcruxes are?" He asked me.

"..." I didn't know what to say.

"Answer me..." He commanded.

"Yes." It was true. Harry had told me everything after Slughorn apparently spilled the beans to him when he visited Aragog's funeral a couple of weeks ago.

"And has he destroyed any?" He snapped.

"The diary...He destroyed your diary, in the Second year. And a ring...a ring..." I stammered.

"Don't show weakness. This is your future. Get up." He told me, as I walked over to Draco. I held his arm tightly, the sight of this appealed the Dark Lord immensely. "Love. Is it?" He suspected. His Legilimency ran straight through Draco. But not me, I was a fair Occlumensist. "Love is not real. Power...now Power is what makes us stronger, Malfoy." He stared at him.

"My Lord." I requested to speak.

"Allen..." He hissed.

"May I ask of you something." He didn't reply, he just turned around, where I gazed into his blood red, power-thirsty eyes. "I would like to assist Draco in the assassination of Albus Dumbledore." I asked.

"I admire your bloodlust, Eliza." He said as this was the very first time I had ever heard him call my name. "But this...is Draco's task. You'll have many more opportunities, little Gryffindor." He hissed.

"Yes, My Lord." I replied. The tattoo was beautiful, I must admit. But it wasn't me...it wasn't me. I didn't know what I was doing. Death Eaters. Voldemort. Dumbledore. Gryffindor. It didn't fit into place.

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When I got back from break, I knew right away that something was wrong. I wore long sleeves now, even on weekends, and wouldn't show anyone the tattoo of death unless it was Malfoy. I didn't hang out with the other Slytherins, or any Gryffindors. I sat in the library, with Luna mostly, just reading. Life was boring. Ron had the pleasure of snogging Lavender Brown these days, Gryffindor prevailed against Slytherin, and even Malfoy didn't care, something I wasn't used to.

Hermione was pissed at the sight of Lavender and Ron, Harry didn't seem too interested. Yeah I thought, Life sucks for me too.

"I think it's almost finished." Draco told me, one evening that we were working on the vanishing cabinet in the Room of Requirement.

"I think so too. Did the bird come back from Borgin's?" I asked.

"Yes, and...Mr. Borgin proved that it works. He killed it." He told me as I bent over to look at the bloody, white dove that lay helplessly in the cabinet.

"Or something." I said.

"Do...Do you think that he'll be pleased?" Draco asked me.

"Pleased with what? This? Pleased, maybe. But not impressed...The Dark Lord is never impressed." I told him.

"Well, you know what I mean." He told me.

"Look...Draco."

"Yes, Ellie." He answered.

"I know you. You won't do it." I admitted.

"Do what?" He exclaimed.

"Kill Dumbledore." I responded.

"Oh, enough of this nonsense! I have to! Don't you understand!" He raved.

"Of course I do. But I don't think you have it in you, if I must say." I told him.

"If you're on the line...If mum's on the line...I'll do it."

"Fine. But I did offer to do it for you." I told Draco.

"And what? The Dark Lord responded with a no." He snapped.

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Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed. There was only one more week of school...and I didn't know what I would do. The date was set. And now...now was the time. Draco and I planned it perfectly. We conjured the Dark Mark over Hogwarts.

"Morsmordre." I whispered as the clouds gave way to a big, eerie shape that filled up the entire night sky. It all happened so quickly.

Dumbledore and Harry flew back to the Astronomy Tower just minutes after I had spoken the Dark Lord's spell of darkness. Draco and I burst through the doors.

"Expelliarmus!" Draco shouted as he disarmed Dumbledore.

"Ah, Draco...You are not a killer..." Dumbledore spoke.

"You don't understand!" I sobbed quietly.

"But yes, I do, young Eliza."

Draco's hand was shaking...He wasn't a killer! He wasn't...He...He wasn't...

"Just do it, Draco." I cried some more. I really didn't want Draco to kill Dumbledore! I loved them both! Dumbledore was the only one that could help the wizarding world...But then again, we would all die if Draco didn't kill him. All of us. Me, mother, his mother...

"But, may I ask..." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "How did you do it?"

"The Vanishing Cabinet." Draco snapped. "The other one's at Borgin and Burkes."

"Interesting..." Dumbledore pondered.

"And the necklace! That was meant for you too!" He snapped again.

"I suppose the mead was too?" Dumbledore asked.

"We're so...s- so sorry Dumbledore..." I sobbed.

"A genius idea, I must admit..." He thought again. How could he be so close to death but not care about dying?

Then, the doors burst open again, and the familiar squeal of Bellatrix was heard.

"My two favourites!" She squealed. "Draco and Eliza!"

The rest were led by Snape...I could smell the rancid stench of Fenrir Greyback, the horrifying werewolf.

"Nice to see you, Amycus...and you've brought Alecto here too...charming." He said as he smiled.

"Do you think your jokes will help you when you're lying on your death bed?" Alecto smirked.

"Jokes? No...no, these are manners." Dumbledore replied.

"Kill him." Bellatrix demanded.

"Draco..." I tried to say.

He struggled to say the words...did not succeed. After a while, I was just going to say the words and get it done with. But then, out of all the things that could've happened, Snape stepped up.

"Severus...please..."

"Avarda Kedavra!" Snape yelled as a ray of green light shot out of his wand, killing Dumbledore. He flew off the tower...He was gone.

Seconds after he died, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Tonks stepped through the door, firing curses left and right. The Death Eaters fought back with the Unforgivables...and so did Draco and I.

"Crucio!" I yelled at an auror. Wait...what did I just do? I grabbed Draco's wrist and ran with Snape.

He looked at me in disbelief. I looked back at Snape in utter uncertainty.

"So- you- huff, killed him." I tried to say as we ran.

"Well- huff, Draco-" Snape tried to explain.

"Yeah, yeah...W- Where are we going?"

"Follow." Snape ordered.

And the thing that I dreaded most...happened. Harry ran towards Snape and yelled,

"Sectumsempra!" I heard him yell.

Snape blocked the curse and muttered something under his breath. Draco beckoned for me to continue to run to the portkey hidden in the Forbidden Forest, but I wouldn't leave Snape's side. I had to...I had to listen to what Harry had to say. Or at least, to apologize. He was there, Harry was there, under the telescope in the Tower the whole time. He saw everything from underneath his invisibility cloak. And from that moment, I had regretted all the things that I had done beforehand. Harry...

"How dare you use my own spell against me?" Snape yelled at him. I ran, back next to Snape...Harry looked at me with disappointment and anger in his eyes.

"Eliza..." He tried to say.

"Harry..." I started to cry. "Harry, I'm so sorry...I never meant for this to happen..." I told him.

He ignored me, and turned to face Snape again. He was weak, lying on the ground. Bellatrix shouted in the distance.

"Yes, Harry...I am the Half Blood Prince." Snape admitted before grabbing my wrist and heading off.

"Sorry" I mouthed to Harry as I continued off.

Bellatrix tried to use the Cruciatus curse against Harry, but Snape caught her.

"The boy is for the Dark Lord, Bellatrix." He snapped. She rolled her eyes and cackled.

"I'm sorry." I said again. And this time, it was for myself.