THE LIGHTNING STRUCK TOWER

☆☆☆

As Cassiopeia heard a pop, she knew the sound. She closed her eyes for a moment, listening intently as she heard a grunt and a gasp. She could hear voices, one of which is very familiar to her.

Harry.

Will he ever forgive her?

As she heard shuffling, Cassiopeia looked back to see Draco. His eyes were gloomy, and he nodded his head. The cabinet had worked perfectly, and the Death Eaters were in the castle. They walked up the stairs, before her eyes landed on Dumbledore.

In an instant, she raised her wand. "Expelliarmus!" She said, her voice sharp. Her headmaster's wand flying out of his hand.

Standing against the ramparts, very white in the face, Dumbledore still showed no sign of panic or distress. He merely looked across at his disarmer and said, "Good evening, Cassiopeia." He smilee, turning to Draco. "Ah...the Malfoy twins..."

Cassiopeia and Draco stepped forward, Draco glancing around quickly to check that they had Dumbledore alone.

"Who else is here?" asked Draco, his voice shaking a bit. Cassiopeia watched Dumbledore's gaze, seeing his eyes landed flickered down. Cassiopeia's head shook a bit, knowing that Harry was there...listening.

"A question I might ask you two," said Dumbledore. "Or are you both acting alone?"

Draco's pale eyes shift back to Dumbledore in the greenish glare of the Mark. "No," he said. "We've got back-up. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."

Cassiopeia's eyes remained on Dumbledore, it held little to no emotion. Her wand stretched out, along with Draco's.  "Well, well," said Dumbledore, as though Draco was showing him an ambitious homework project. "Very good indeed. You found a way to let them in, did you?"

"Yeah," said Draco, who was panting. "Right under your nose and you never realised!" Cassiopeia sent him a glare before she looked back at Dumbledore, her eyes gazing at the dark mark on the sky every now and then.

"Ingenious," said Dumbledore. "Yet ... forgive me... where are they now? You seem unsupported."

"They met some of your guard. They're having a fight down below. They won't be long... I came on ahead. I - I've got a job to do." replied Draco, Cassiopeia lets out a breath. She didn't want to do any of the talking.

"Well, then, you must get on and do it, my dear children,"  said Dumbledore softly. There was silence, Cassiopeia could hear the Death Eaters' distant fight, and Draco casted his sister a glance.

Dumbledore incredibly, smiled.
"Draco, Cassiopeia, you are not a killer." He said. 

"How do you know?" said Cassiopeia at once. She seemed to realise how childish the words had sounded.

"Yeah! You don't know what I'm---we're capable of," said Malfoy more forcefully, "you don't know what we've done!"

"Oh, yes, I do," said Dumbledore mildly. "You almost killed Katie Bell and Ronald Weasley. You have been trying, with increasing desperation, to kill me all year. Forgive me, children, but they have been feeble attempts ... so feeble, to be honest, that I wonder whether your heart has been really in it ..."

"It is there," said Cassiopeia, her voice quiet as she stared at Dumbledore, her hand shaking a bit.

"We've been working on it all year, and tonight--" said Draco, Cassiopeia could hear a distant muffled yell in the depths of the castle. Her heart was pounding against her chest.

"Somebody is putting up a good fight,"  said Dumbledore conversationally. "But you were saying... yes, you have managed to introduce Death Eaters into my school which, I admit, I thought impossible... how did you do it?"

But Draco said nothing: he was still listening to whatever was happening below and seemed almost paralyzed.

"Perhaps you ought to get on with the job alone," suggested Dumbledore. "What if your back-up has been thwarted by my guard? As you have perhaps realised, there are members of the Order of the Phoenix here tonight, too. And after all, you don't really need help ... I have no wand at the moment ... I cannot defend myself."

Cassiopeia felt her heart ache, and she shook her head a bit. Draco merely stared at Dumbledore, she knew he was afraid.

'I see,' said Dumbledore kindly, when they neither moved nor spoke. 'You are afraid to act until they join you.'

Cassiopeia knew Dumbledore was stalling time, time enough for her to kill him. Its her task after all. Hers. She was asked to do it, no one else.

"I'm not afraid!" snarled Draco, though he still made no move to hurt Dumbledore. "It's you who should be scared!"

"But why? I don't think you will kill me. Killing is not nearly as easy as the innocent believe... so tell me, while we wait for your friends ... how did you smuggle them in here? It seems to have taken you a long time to work out how to do it."

He was stalling, Cassiopeia felt her breath hitched in her throat. She threw the spell, she knew it. She saw it in a vision.

Draco looked as though he was fighting down the urge to shout, or to vomit. He gulped and took several deep breaths, glaring at Dumbledore, his wand pointing directly at the latter's heart. His sister, still remained silent.

Then, as though he could not help himself, he said, "We had to mend that broken Vanishing Cabinet that no one's used for years. The one Montague got lost in last year."

"Aaaah." Dumbledore's sigh was half a groan. He closed his eyes for a moment. "That was clever... there is a pair, I take it?"

'The other's in Borgin and Burkes," said Cassiopeia, "and they make a kind of passage between them. Montague told me that when he was stuck in the Hogwarts one, he was trapped in limbo but sometimes he could hear what was going on at school, and sometimes what was going on in the shop, as if the Cabinet was travelling between them, but he couldn't make anyone hear him ... in the end he managed to Apparate out, even though he'd never passed his test. He nearly died doing it. Everyone thought it was a really good story, but I was the only one who realised what it meant - even Borgin didn't know - we were the one who realised there could be a way into Hogwarts through the Cabinets if I fixed the broken one."

"Vry good," murmured Dumbledore, although the girl knew he already knows this information. "So the Death Eaters were able to pass from Borgin and Burkes into the school to help you ... a clever plan, a very clever plan... and, as you say, right under my nose ..."

"Yeah," said Draco who, bizarrely, seemed to draw courage and comfort from Dumbledore's praise. "Yeah, it was!"

"But there were times," Dumbledore went on, "weren't there, when you were not sure you would succeed in mending the Cabinet? And you resorted to crude and badly judged measures such as sending me a cursed necklace that was bound to reach the wrong hands ... poisoning mead there was only the slightest chance I might drink ..."

"Only to get the job done," said Cassiopeia, the guilt eating her up alive.

"Yeah, well, you still didn't realise who was behind that stuff, did you?" sneered Dracl, as Dumbledore slid a little down the ramparts, the strength in his legs apparently fading.

"As a matter of fact, I did," said Dumbledore. "I was sure it was you, Draco."

"Just me?" asked Draco, frowning. Cassiopeia clenched her jaw.

"I did not expect it at all from you, Cassiopeia...given the fact that you sre after all...Harry's girlfriend?" He asked, Cassiopeia felt like Dumbledore was taunting her. She felt her blood boil, she didn't respond.

"Why didn't you stop me, then?" Draco demanded.

"I tried, Draco. Professor Snape has been keeping watch over you on my orders---" said Dumbledore.

"He hasn't been doing your orders, he promised our mother--"

"Of course that is what he would tell you, Draco, but---"

"He's a double-agent, you stupid old man, he isn't working for you, you just think he is!" spat Draco, not knowing that his sister is too...

"We must agree to differ on that, Draco. It so happens that I trust Professor Snape---" said Dumbledore, his voice softer.

"Well, you're losing your grip, then!' sneered Draco. "He's been offering me plenty of help---wanting all the glory for himself---wanting a bit of the action."

'Very gratifying,' said Dumbledore mildly. "We all like appreciation for our own hard work, of course. Although, you must have an accomplice?"

"Madam Rosmerta had been a great one," said Cassiopeia, taking a step forward. Her blood was boiling, her heart was pounding against her chest.

Dumbledore closed his eyes again and nodded, as though he was about to fall asleep. "How did you communicate?"

"Enchanted coins," said Draco, as though he was compelled to keep talking, though his wand hand was shaking badly. "We had one and she had the other and I could send her messages---"

"Isn't that the secret method of communication the group that called themselves Dumbledore's Army used last year?" asked Dumbledore. His voice was light and conversational.

"I was in the DA," said Cassiopeia, her voice becoming determined. "I got the idea from them."

"I got the idea of poisoning the mead from the Mudblood Granger, as well, I heard her talking in the library about Filch not recognising potions..." spat Draco, a twisted smile on his face.

"Please do not use that offensive word in front of me," said Dumbledore. Draco gave a harsh laugh.

"You care about me saying "Mudblood" when we're about to kill you?" He laughed, Cassiopeia bit the insides of her cheeks.

"Yes, I do,"  said Dumbledore, and Cassiopeia saw his feet slide a little on the floor as he struggled to remain upright. "But as for being about to kill me, children, you have had several long minutes now. We are quite alone. I am more defenceless than you can have dreamed of finding me, and still you have not acted..."

Draco's mouth contorted involuntarily, as though he had tasted something very bitter.

"You decided to spring a trap on me," commented Dumbledore,  looking at the Dark Mark.

"I decided to put the Dark Mark over the Tower and get you to hurry up here, to see who'd been killed,"said Cassiopeia, her voice hinting of nothing but a tinge of guilt. "And it worked."

"Well yes and no ..." said Dumbledore. "But am I to take it, then, that nobody has been murdered?"

"Someone's dead," said Draco, and his voice seemed to go up an octave as he said it. Cassiopeia's eyes darted at him, her eyebrows furrowing. "your people ... I don't know who, it was dark... I stepped over the body... I was supposed to be waiting up here when you got back, only your Phoenix lot got in the way..."

"Yes, they do that," said Dumbledore.
There was a bang and shouts from below, louder than ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the actual spiral staircase that led to where Dumbledore, Cassiopeia and Draco stood.

''There is little time, one way or another,' said Dumbledore. "So let us discuss your options."

"Options!" said Draco loudly. "We haven't got any options!" said Draco, and he was suddenly as white as Dumbledore. Cassiopeia's hands shook as she stared at Dumbledore, she got feel the tension in her body. She felt as if her lungs were giving up on her.

"I once knew people who made the wrong choices..." said Dumbledore, his voice solemn. "Let me help you."

"We don't want your help! We've got to do it! Or he'll kill us! Our family!" Draco sneered, Cassiopeia could hear the desperation in his voice.

"I appreciate the difficulty of your position," said Dumbledore. "Why else do you think I have not confronted you before now? Because I knew that you would have been murdered if Lord Voldemort realised that I suspected you."

Draco winced at the sound of the name. Cassiopeia took another step forward.

"Cassiopeia..." said Dumbledore, his head tilting. He looked at her with pleading eyes, as if to make her remember the task that she agreed to do. "I can help you."

"No, you can't," said Draco, his wand hand shaking very badly indeed. Cassiopeia's remained still a bit, though it kept faltering. "Nobody can. We've got no choice!"

"You are not a killer," said Dumbledore, "You have got to make the choice."

Cassiopeia lets out a breath as she shook her head, Draco's wand faltered a bit but hers remained steady. "I got this far, didn't I?" She asked, her voice above whisper.

"But what of the relationship you had established, Cassiopeia?" Dumbledore stared into her eyes, Cassiopeia wanted nothing more than to lower her wand.

Dumbledore was asking these questions for Harry's sake who was listening into the conversation. She knew he was, she could sense him.

But suddenly footsteps were thundering up the stairs and a second later Draco was buffeted out of the way as four people in black robes burst through the door on to the ramparts. Cassiopeia, still steps away from Draco, her wand trembling in her hands, though she tried to keep it steady.

A lumpy-looking man with an odd lopsided leer gave a wheezy giggle.
"Dumbledore cornered!'' he said.

"Dumbledore wandless, Dumbledore alone! Well done, Draco, well done!' laughed Bellatrix, Cassiopeia could remember this scene from a vision. It was starting to happen.

"Good evening, Bellatrix," said Dumbledore calmly, as though welcoming the man to a tea party. "I think introductions are in order."

Bellatrix gave an angry little titter.
"Think your little jokes'll help you on your death bed, then?" she jeered.

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

"I'm afraid we're on a bit of a tight schedule," sneered Bellatrix, she approached Cassiopeia, and she placed a hand on her shoulder. She moved Cassiopeia's long blonde hair aside, and she whispered in her ear.

"Well done, my dear, well done..." her breath was hot and it made Cassiopeia shiver. Her Aunt let out a laugh.

"They haven't got the stomach!" said Fenrir, a big, rangy man with matted grey hair and whiskers, whose black Death Eater's robes looked uncomfortably tight. Despite him being quite far, Cassiopeia could smell a powerful mixture of dirt, sweat and, unmistakeably, of blood coming from him. His filthy hands had long yellowish nails. "Just like their father!"

"Is that you, Fenrir?" asked Dumbledore.
"That's right,' rasped the other. "Pleased to see me, Dumbledore?" He raised a yellow fingernail and picked at his front teeth, leering at Dumbledore. "I could do you for afters, Dumbledore...how about I'll kill you?"

"No," spat Bellatrix, her eyes glaring at Fenrir. She looked at Draco, who seemed to have his wand lowered, she looked at Cassiopeia. ''We've got orders. Either one of them has got to do it. Now, Cassiopeia, and quickly."

Dumbledore tilted his head, watching Cassiopeia's eyes. "You haven't answered my question, Cassiopeia."

"Those fools were stupid enough to trust me," she spat, though she could feel the pain in her chest. "They gave me things that that could only benefit me."

"What of Harry, then?" asked Dumbledore, he frowned. He knew by asking this questions, maybe Cassiopeia could get angry. "Do you love him?"

She hesitated for a moment, she glanced at Bellatrix who moved away, sneering. She whispered, in a voice that could barely be heard by anyone else but Dumbledore. "More than anything."

Dumbledore nodded his head, and he looked into Cassiopeia's eyes, the hint of the promise lingered.

"I'm only doing this...to protect him," she said, knowing that full well. Her voice was soft, so soft. Though it was more of a reminder to herself.

Bellatrix growled and she walked closer to Cassiopeia, the familiar voice that she had heard before. Her aunt whispered in her right ear, her voice sending chills down her spine. "Kill him," said Bellatrix.

"Kill him..." the voice of Bellatrix hissed in her right ear. Cassiopeia swallowed a lump on her throat as she held her wand in her shaking hand, pointing it towards Dumbledore.

She knew this memory too well, she had relived it through nightmares, through visions before. Cassiopeia felt tears slide down her face as her wand trembled.

"Cassiopeia...please..." said Dumbledore, though his tone was not begging to not die. He was asking her to do it.

But Cassiopeia's hand was shaking so badly that she could barely aim. She sneered, her teeth bared.

"Avada Kedavra!" She yelled, closing her eyes. Cassiopeia felt the green light escape the tip of her wand, she didn't hear anything.

Bellatrix sneered, and she chuckled evilly. Cassiopeia opened her eyes to see Dumbledore, still alive. She frowned...she must have...missed.

"Do it again!" yelled her aunt, grabbing Cassiopeia's arm. "It's okay, my sweetheart, just---"

"Stand aside so one of us could end him instead--" screeched the man, but at that precise moment the door to the ramparts burst open once more and there stood Snape, his wand clutched in his hand as his black eyes swept the scene, from Dumbledore slumped against the wall.

"Cassiopeia, its okay," said Dumbledore, seeing her tear-streaked face. A sob escaped her lips, and she shook her head.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, Snape walked towards Dumbledore, next to Cassiopeia. He had put a hand on her shoulder, indicating for her to put her wand down. The touch almost felt...gentle.

But somebody else had spoken Snape's name, quite softly. "Severus..." said Dumbledore.

Snape gazed for a moment at Dumbledore, and there was revulsion and hatred etched in the harsh lines of his face. "Severus..." he said, his tone more pleading.

Snape raised his wand and pointed it directly at Dumbledore. "Avada Kedavra!"

A jet of green light shot from the end of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Cassiopeia's scream of horror never left her; silent and unmoving, she was forced to watch as Dumbledore was blasted into the air.

Cassiopeia felt as though her entire heart was ripped out of her body, her eyes blinked, her blue eyes reflecting the dark mark on the sky. For a split second he seemed to hang suspended beneath the shining skull, and then he fell slowly backwards, like a great rag doll, over the battlements and out of sight.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, Cassiopeia looked up to see Snape's face staring down at her for a moment. He grabbed her, roughly, and he pulled her away. Draco grabbed her quickly, and he helped her down the stairs. Her hair moving as the wind blew.

She could hear Bellatrix's loud laugh, and she watched with emotionless eyes.
It had happened, and it felt as if the world around her turned upside down.

It has been done.

a/n:
oh no...anyways...tehee
please let me know your thoughts in the comments! I'd love to know!