"This is it, Draco."

"Yeah, it is."

"Months of preparing and now we're almost done."

"Mary, please stop talking."

After spending the majority of the day, with breaks in between, prepping for tonight in the Room of Requirement, Draco and Mary felt like they were ready for what was to come next.

Well, almost ready.

It was after dinner, where it was finally nightfall, when the two cast the Dark Mark over the Astronomy Tower before heading back for the Room of Requirement. The corridors were somewhat empty, with a few students lingering by the walls. Once they reached the seventh floor, they entered inside, though they took their time getting to the Vanishing Cabinet. However, it seemed like they were standing in front of it in no time.

Draco and Mary eyed each other and nodded before he opened the cabinet. A rush of cold air blew in their faces, and when a black mist made its way out of the cabinet, that was when Draco spun on his feet and headed back out, followed by Mary.

Their feet became quicker by the minute as they went towards the Astronomy Tower. By the time they entered inside and were close to the spiral staircase it was when they slowed down. But their hearts were going faster with their wands out and ascending the stairs. They thought an extra voice was there. But sure enough, at the top, stood Dumbledore himself, yet he was alone.

"Good evening, Draco. Good evening, Mary," he greeted them, not sounding surprised. "What brings you two here this evening?"

"Who else is here?" Draco asked. "We heard you talking.

"I often talk aloud to myself. I find it extraordinarily useful." He paused, eyeing the two students. "You two are not assassins, you know."

"How do you know what we are?" Draco spat out.

"We've done things that would shock you," Mary added, though her voice became shaky.

"Like cursing Katie Bell and hoping that in return she'd bear a cursed necklace to me? Replacing a bottle of mead with one laced with poison, hurting Ronald Weasley and William Scamander in the process? Forgive me, you two, but I cannot help feeling these actions are so weak, especially coming from, what I would say, skilled students like you two."

"Which is why he trusted us to do this! We were chosen!" Draco rolled up his left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark. "And once we do this, Mary will get hers."

Mary gripped her wand tighter, keeping it pointed at Dumbledore.

"Then I shall make it easy for you." He slowly drew his wand out.

Before Mary could disarm him, Draco beat her to it. "Expelliarmus!"

Dumbledore watched as his wand flew out of his hand. "Very good. Very good." There was a slight pause when the doors below opened and then closed again. "You're not alone. There are others. How?"

"The Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement," Draco replied. "We've been mending it."

"Let me guess. It has a sister. A twin."

Mary nodded. "In Borgin and Burkes. They form a passage."

Dumbledore merely stared at the two. "Years ago, I knew a boy who made all the wrong choices. Please, let me help you two."

"We don't want your help!" Draco snapped. "Don't you understand? We have to do this. We have to kill you. Or he's going to kill us." The boy was whimpering, a few tears falling down his face as he turned towards Mary.

The girl felt the tears from her eyes this time. She shook her head, sniffling. "I've given up so much just to be here, to do what my family wants me to do. This..." She trailed off, choking up on his words. "This has to be done. This can't be all for nothing." She paused, trying to take deep breaths through the crying. "For once, I want to make my family proud. I need to make my family proud."

Before Dumbledore could respond, the door opened once again, followed by many footsteps, coming up the stairs. Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco's aunt, was the leader, with Fenrir Greyback and a few other Death Eaters standing behind her.

Then, Tobias showed up, and Mary's heart sank.

"Well, well, look what we have here," Bellatrix said, raising her eyebrows.

"Good evening, Bellatrix," Dumbledore greeted her. "I think introductions are in order, don't you?"

"Love to, Albus, but I'm afraid we're all on a bit of a tight schedule." She paused, circling around her nephew. "Well done, Draco," she added in a whisper.

"Nice job, little sister," he told her, smirking.

Mary didn't respond, barely looking her own brother in the eye.

"Do it now, Draco," Bellatrix ordered.

"He doesn't have the guts to do it. Just like his father," Fenrir commented. "And this American here is just as bad as he is."

"Don't you dare talk about my sister like you know her," Tobias snapped.

"Both of you, hush!" Bellatrix hissed. "Go on, Draco! Now!"

When he didn't move, Tobias looked at his sister. "Come on, Mary. Finish him!"

It took her a moment to really think about his words, what he was asking her to do. While she knew this was the only way she could make something out of herself, as well as her family and their reputation, she wondered if all of this would be worth it in the end.

Would it be worth it for me?

She sucked in a breath, shaking her head. "I...I..."

He let out a huff of annoyance, his facial expression turning almost angry. "Mary, don't back out now. This is your chance to make something out of the Fowler name."

"Why, because you didn't after murdering Andrew Rowland's family?" she retorted, slowly lowering her wand. "No, I can't do this. I'm not like you, Tobias. I realize that now." She looked over at the blond. "It's okay, Draco."

"Don't listen to her!" Bellatrix barked. "Kill him while you still have the chance!"

"No," a voice came from behind them. Professor Snape strolled at the top, eyeing Dumbledore

"Severus. Please," Dumbledore begged him.

There was a quiet pause before Snape shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" Letting the green light hit Dumbledore, causing him to fall off the Astronomy Tower and down to his death.

A wave of shock flooded through the two students, with their mouths slightly open, as they watched Dumbledore fall over the railing. Bellatrix went to the end and let out a cry of joy, cackling at his defeat.

Tobias looked like he was about to burst with joy and anger at the same time. Joy, because Dumbledore was dead, and anger, because his sister couldn't do the one thing she was asked to do all year.

Mary shook her head, swallowing hard. "Tobias, I-I'm sorry..."

"Sorry? That's all you can say?" he snapped. "You had one shot to make the Fowler name actually mean something, and you just blew it." He gripped his wander tighter, clenching his fist so hard that his knuckles turned white. "You are a disgrace to our family, Mary, and you always will be from this day on."

There was an ache that came over her, hands trembling. "Don't say that, Tobias. You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do," he stated.

"Come now," Bellatrix intervened. "We must get going. Draco!"

The boy merely jumped at his name, looking at Mary before following her down the steps, along with the other Death Eaters.

But the Fowler siblings stayed, not moving from their spots. "Tobias, this life isn't for me. It's obvious that my beliefs are different from yours and Mom's and Dad's. I can't become a Death Eater."

Her brother huffed a sigh, about to head for the stairs. "Fine, then. You stay up here like a coward while I go deal with the Mudbloods."

That was when her blood began to boil. "You take that back."

"Why? That's what they are."

It was at that moment when she realized that her brother was truly evil. "Expelliarmus!"

He quickly blocked the spell. "Nice try, but I think we know who'd win this duel."

The girl wasn't ready to give up so easily. So she began throwing spell after spell, for which he continued to block them. They circled the tower, going back and forth at each other. There was no sign of either one of them stopping, their pride and dislike getting in the way.

Tobias was at the railing, raising his wand to shout a spell. "Impedi--"

"Stupefy!"

In the blink of an eye, Tobias' wand was out of his hands and he was no longer standing in front of Mary, his screams the last thing she heard. It was a sound and a sight that she would not be able to take back, something that would be a part of the story she would have to tell her parents when the time came.

Through the cries and tears, Mary left the Astronomy Tower, Tobias' screams still echoing in her ear as she went to catch up with Draco and the other Death Eaters, not looking back for anything.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Well, RIP Tobias.

I was gonna have this chapter a lot longer, but with how intense the chapter was already, it would've been off to add Oliver and his friends back in (but they'll be in the next chapter).

Song above is Soldier by Fleurie.

Comment, vote, because the last chapter of part one is next!

-A