We flew into the Astronomy tower, searching for people or signs of a fight. We saw neither, so we dismounted our brooms.

"Go fetch Severus," Dumbledore said to Harry and I. "Tell him what has happened and bring him to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else, and do not remove the cloak. I'll stay here."

Harry and I obeyed and ran to the door that led into Hogwarts. We stopped however, as we heard footsteps from the other side. I brought Harry against the wall, making sure we were still under the cloak.

The door burst open and Draco and Star entered, both looking terrified and sick, but they held their wands high.

"Good evening," Dumbledore said calmly.

I looked at Draco again. He was breathing heavily and his face was absent of colour. His eyes were wide and he was shaking, but he was pretending to be brave. Next to him, Star genuinely looked angry and ready to attack, but she appeared just as sick as Draco.

"Who else is here?" Star demanded.

"A question I may ask the two of you. Or are you acting alone?" Dumbledore asked. His voice was steady, despite the fact that he nearly died not even ten minutes ago.

"No," Star answered. "I've got backup. There are Death Eaters here in your school tonight."

"Well. Very good indeed. You found a war to let them in, did you?"

"Yeah," Star said proudly. "Right under your nose and you never realised!"

"Ingenious. Forgive me, but where are they now? You seem unsupported."

"They met some of your guards. They're having a fight down below. They won't be long, we just came on ahead. We have a job to do."

"Well, then, you must get on and do it."

Draco shook harder, but he moved closer to Star, holding up his wand.

"Draco, you are not a killer."

"How do you know?" he cried childishly. His face flushed red at his own question. "You don't know what I'm capable of," Draco added with some force. "You don't know what I've done!"

"Yes, I do. I know that you have been trying to kill me all year. Forgive me, but they have been feeble attempts. To be honest, I wonder whether your heart was actually in this or not."

"It has been in it!" Star interjected. "We've been working on it all year, and tonight--"

The two paused as someone yelled from downstairs.

"Somebody is putting up a good fight," Dumbledore said calmly, as if he were talking to an old friend rather than someone who was about to kill him. "How did you manage to bring the Death Eaters into my school?"

Neither of the Malfoys spoke. Both were standing still, listening to the fight below. They were terrified.

"Perhaps you should get on with the job alone. What if my guards stopped your backup? And you don't really need help, I don't have my wand with me." Dumbledore stopped and leaned against the railing to rest a bit.

Draco and Star just stared at Dumbledore.

"Are you afraid to act until they join you?"

"We're not afraid!" Draco yelled, sounding quite scared.

"You're the one who should be scared," Star added.

"Why? I don't believe either of you will kill me. While we wait for your friends, why don't you tell me how you smuggled them in?"

Draco sighed, trying to brush away his fear but failing. "I mended the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement."

Star looked at Draco as if he were insane, silently asking why he told Dumbledore.

"Very clever," Dumbledore said.

"Yeah, it was!"

"The other times, however, were much less. The necklace and the mead were both feeble attempts, Draco."

He started to respond, but stopped as something crashed loudly. Star glanced over her shoulder and Draco flinched.

I turned to Harry, the two of us still hidden beneath the Invisibility cloak. He was glaring at me, as if to say "I told you so." I just shook my head and whispered an apology, then I asked about the mead. He said it was a long story and I let it go.

I keep telling myself that Draco and Star weren't actually going to hurt anyone. They couldn't. But they had gone through so much trouble, taking up the whole length of the school year, to bring the Death Eaters into Hogwarts. They were definitely serious about this.

There was more shouting and crashing, but this time it sounded much closer, as if it were on the stairs at the entrance to the tower. Draco began shaking much harder.

"There is little time, one way or another. Let us discuss your options--"

"Our options?" Star cried. "We're standing here with wands. We're about to kill you!"

"Let's have no more about that. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it when you first found me. You would not have stopped for the pleasant chat."

"We haven't any options!" Draco said, suddenly white as a ghost. "We have to do it! He'll kill us! He'll kill my whole family!"

"I understand the difficulty. Why else do you think I refrained from confronting you? I knew that Lord Voldemort would kill you if he knew that I suspected you. I can help the two of you."

"No, you can't!" Draco said shakily, his wand trembling in his hand. "Nobody can. He told us to do it or he'll kill us. We've got no choice."

"Come to the right side, both of you. We can hide you and your mother better than you could ever expect. You are not killers."

"We've gotten this far, haven't we?" Star said, fury burning in her eyes despite her trembling hands. "Everyone thought we would die in the attempt, but you're here, and we're the ones with wands. You're at our mercy."

"No, Star, it is my mercy, not yours, that matters right now."

Star hesitated, her arm trembling. She seemed ready to stand down, but then the door burst open and four Death Eaters ran in.

A stout man and what could be his sister ran in first, giggling. "Dumbledore's corned! Well done, Star."

I noticed Draco scowl. I couldn't tell whether it was because the man left out his name or their presence bothered him, but he looked angry.

"Ah, Amycus and Alecto Carrow. Charming," Dumbledore said sarcastically.

The woman, Alecto, giggled harder. "Think your jokes will help you on your deathbed?"

"Jokes? These are just manners."

"Do it," growled a Death Eater near me and Harry to Star. His voice was raspy and his face was hairy, like a werewolf.

"Is that you, Greyback?"

"Pleased to see me?"

"Not particularly. I am surprised to see you attacking even when there isn't a full moon, though," Dumbledore announced.

"Ah, yes. Children are quite delicious," Greyback said, licking his lips.

"Hurry up and finish this, Draco," said the fourth Death Eater. "Fenrir," he said to the werewolf, "back away from Dumbledore."

I heard more shouting from the other side of the door; the Order wasn't finished.

"Hurry up!" yelled Amycus.

Draco and Star held their wands up, but they were shaking so badly they couldn't keep their wands pointed at Dumbledore.

The door burst open.

"Do it!" screeched one of the Death Eaters.

Next to me, I noticed Harry mumbling to himself. "Don't hurt him," he was saying under his breath.

Snape ran onto the tower and Harry cursed quietly.

"Snape, these two won't do it," someone complained. "What are we to do?"

"Severus," someone else groaned in a completely different way. I was surprised to see Dumbledore's mouth moving; he was the one who spoke.

Snape stomped through the tower, shoving everyone out of the way as he approached Dumbledore. Draco stumbled backwards and nearly fell, wiping tears from his defeat out of his eyes.

"Severus, please," Dumbledore pleaded.

Realisation hit Snape like a spell and he pointed his wand at the Headmaster.

"No!" Harry whispered angrily. He sniffled as his eyes welled with tears at the mere thought of Dumbledore dying, especially at the hands of someone he trusted.

"Avada Kedavra."

Green light shot out of Snape's wand and hit Dumbledore square in the chest. He fell backwards onto the railing, then toppled over the side, falling to the ground like a doll.

Harry covered his mouth to keep from screaming. I was shocked, and I sat there, unsure of what to do. This couldn't be happening.

But it could be, and it did. Dumbledore was dead, and Harry and I didn't know what to do.