He raised his wand in a swift movement, pointing it directly at the man in front of him and clenching his teeth tightly together. He could do this. He would do this. He had to do this.

Dumbledore opened his mouth but Draco quickly shouted, "Don't even think about it!" in order to silence him. He knew that if the man said anything it would weaken him and he may not end up being able to do it.

Taking a deep breath, Draco brought the words that he needed to the front of his mind. Just two small words and it would be over and he could walk away knowing he'd succeeded. But he could almost imagine the look on Hermione's face as she discovered Dumbledore dead and knew who had done it.

He suddenly shook his head sharply, clearing his thoughts away and raising his arm a bit again as it had dropped slightly.

"Please just let us ta-"

"Shut up! I don't care what you have to say." Draco snarled, his eyebrows narrowing. Why was his Headmaster leaning against the ledge, appearing so weak?

"I want to help you." Dumbledore said sadly.

"I don't need your help!" Draco shot back, his heart pumping fast. "Because I'm going to kill you as my first msision. Yes, that's right. The Dark Lord let me join." In a moment of pride, he moved to push up the sleeve of his left arm, exposing his dark mark.

"You're not fooling anyone, Draco," Dumbledore said quietly. "We both know that if you had wanted to kill me you would have done so already."

Draco let go of his sleeve and pointed his wand back at Dumbledore again, eyes blazing with anger at being so offended. Of course he was going to kill him! It was what he had been working at doing all year!

"I don't believe you've been very determined to kill me throughout the year with your other, smaller plans," Dumbledore continued. "Perhaps something has been distracting you?"

"Shut up!" Draco snapped again. "You think you know everything, but you don't. I have to do this!"

The door behind Draco which opened to stairs leading down into the castle was flung open then and Draco glanced over his shoulder in panic, but relaxed again as he saw Death Eaters. Bellatrix walked over to him and smiled one of her sickly smiles which terrified Draco.

"Well done," she murmured to him. "Now finish him."

Sweat broke out on Draco's head and he felt as though all sound around him had suddenly vanished and all he could hear was the thumping of his heart. It hurt his head each time it pounded and he wished he could make it go away but knew he had to focus on what he was about to do.

He opened his mouth to speak the two words which would finish his task but suddenly found his throat dry and his tongue wasn't working. He saw Hermione in his mind and her terrified face as she looked down at Dumbledore's dead body. He was vaguely aware of Bellatrix saying something else to him when suddenly he was shoved backwards and Snape stepped in front of him.

"No," Draco croaked out, his voice sounding weak. He didn't want Snape to do this!

But in the next second he saw a flash of green and Dumbledore was falling backwards, disappearing over the edge. A hand grabbed Draco's arm and he was pulled back to a world of sound in a sudden, startling instant. He found himself racing down the stairs and through the castle with the other Death Eaters, images of terrified students flashing past as they ran.

Everyone was going to know him for who he was.

"Draco!" someone screamed, and Draco couldn't help but turn his head to look as he ran. He stumbled then, his eyes widening in horror as he saw Hermione sprinting out from another corridor nearby, but someone helped steady him and he continued running. He forced himself not to look back and fought against the urge he had to vomit.

"Coward!" someone else yelled from behind as Draco and the other Death Eaters made it out onto the grass, running as fast as they could for the gate so that they could disapparate once they were out of the Hogwarts grounds.

Bellatrix grabbed Draco's arm to pull him along faster just as Snape fell back.

"Let me go!" Draco suddenly shouted, fighting against Bellatrix.

"You can't go back now, you idiot!" she replied just as stubbornly. "You made that decision when you agreed to the task!"

Draco turned to look over his shoulder, watching as Snape fired a curse at Harry which sent him hurtling backwards. But then something else caught his eye and his mouth fell open as he saw Hermione running far along to the side between trees and behind bushes, doing her best to keep up with them.

What on earth was she trying to do? Get herself killed?

Did she honestly think she would be able to save him, still? She couldn't possibly still be in that dream. She had to be smarter than that.

The grinding sound of gates opening made Draco snap his head around to the front again and he found himself being pulled through the small gap between them and then being shoved down onto the ground as Bellatrix turned to help shut them again.

"Wait for Snape!" someone called out, making Bellatrix and the other Death Eater who had been trying to shut it back away again.

"He can shut it himself when he gets through, then." Bellatrix said as she pushed some of her hair out of her face. "Oh, get up Draco." She then reached down and pulled him off the ground forcefully.

"Who's gonna take him?" one of the other Death Eaters asked, glancing at Draco.

"Snape can, seeing as he just effectively saved his life back there." Bellatrix said, sneering at Draco before disappearing before his eyes. The others all followed suit and Draco suddenly found himself standing there by himself.

But not for long.

In only a moment, Hermione had dashed through the gap in the gate and attached herself to his arm, breathing heavily and staring up at him with red eyes sore from crying.

"Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Draco snapped instantly, not allowing her appearance to affect him in any way and instead channelling his frustration from not carrying out his task into his voice. He wanted her to understand just how angry he was right now.

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" Hermione said, biting her lip and avoiding his eyes.

"You do, do you? Well, I know where I'm supposed to be going right now and I'm going to go there. Either you can let go of my arm right now or come with me." Draco hissed at her. She was silent for a moment, still not looking in his eyes, when they heard the tell-tale sounds of Snape getting closer.

"I..." Hermione looked worried, glancing over her shoulder and then looking up at Draco again.

"Hold on tight then." he murmured, carefully sliding his arms around her to pull her close to him and then closing his eyes, turning on the spot and disapparating.