Impossible.

In the faint shadow of a moment, he had been foolish enough to believe that Tom was gone. Vanished, as had been the case nearly fifteen years prior.

Brilliant the monster was—had always been—from such an early age. Cruel, but brilliant. No, Albus thought, he will not have fallen so easily.

A woman was calling for her master. Being barely ten feet away , the anguish should have been much more prominent—perhaps it was his own deafening thoughts that drowned Bellatrix's voice out, but her cry registered as a mere whisper upon his old ears.

A subtle movement from behind broke Albus's stream of terrified confusion, and he found himself intricately aware of every movement in the room.

"Stay where you are, Harry."

His voice echoed off the walls, false clarity and imaginary strength failing to mask the fear that consumed him. Turning slowly, he reached desperately for doubt, clinging to the idealistic ignorance he wish he had.

Please, let me be wrong.

"Kill me now, Dumbledore…"

The boy in front of him was struggling, facing a mental battle that stronger wizards could have no hope of winning. Chosen One or not, he surely could not be expected to fight this alone…

"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"

Albus hesitated. For the first time in nearly a year, he forced himself to stare into Harry's eyes, Lily's eyes, and knew in that moment his deduction was regrettably accurate. Tom stared back at him, bearing the look of one who knows, one who has known far more than even Albus could have feared.

James—no, it was Tom—someone drew a sharp breath, and that piercing look was replaced with the bewildered, exhausted expression of a boy who had been forced to become a man at a cruelly young age. Albus fought a painful sensation in his throat, willing himself to speak.

"Are you all right, Harry?"

He didn't listen for the answer, because he already knew that no, this man—this boy—was not all right, and probably would never be. Harry was shaking violently, and in that instant Albus found that he had never hated himself more. Here was a boy who had already been asked to bear so much, and at no precedent, and here sat Albus Dumbledore—a man who many revered as the greatest wizard of all time—and he could do nothing to stop what he knew was coming.

It took every piece of his will to restrain himself from telling the boy everything. He wanted to beg Harry to forget it all, go into hiding, do whatever necessary to protect himself from the inevitable, but no. That was impossible. Albus knew the boy did not have the ability—even if it were possible, his character was far too noble. When the truth came to reveal itself, Harry would be determined to bring Tom down at any cost.

Cruel injustice it is, Albus thought, that he will have to destroy both to destroy one.