Harry Potter and The Bound Prince (BP1)
folder
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,985
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
Harry Potter › Slash - Male/Male › Harry/Draco
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
37
Views:
50,985
Reviews:
155
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Lost Hope
Chapter Number/Total: 34/37
Chapter Title: Lost Hope
Words: 6844 Words
Notes: Italics sections are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
It had not happened .… It could not have happened.
"Get out of here quickly," said Snape.
Harry watched in frozen horror as Snape grabbed Draco by the scruff of the neck and forced him through the door. The other Death Eaters followed quickly behind.
"Draco!" Harry cried out automatically, realising he could move.
He threw his Invisibility Cloak off and pushed off from the wall.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled, aiming his wand for the last Death Eater leaving. The man fell to the ground and Harry scrambled over him.
He sprinted down the dark staircase, moving as fast as he possibly could. He couldn't bring himself to believe that Dumbledore was dead, but he could hardly let himself think about anything at all besides Snape and having to get to him.
He finally reached the end of the stairs. All around him was chaos. There were spells firing all over the place, people running around, shouts, and yelling. He looked around, trying to find Snape in the dark, trying to look for Draco.
"It's over! Time to go!" Harry heard Snape yell, as he and a struggling Draco disappeared at the far end of the corridor.
Harry flung himself forward. He had to get to Draco. It wasn't even about Snape anymore, although, in his mind, getting to Snape would solve everything. He just had to get to Draco. Harry was confused beyond belief, but he couldn't let Snape take Draco wherever it was he was running to.
As Harry ran down the corridor, one of the Death Eaters flung themselves at him. It was the werewolf, Fenrir. Harry fell backwards under his weight and felt his hot, disgusting breath at his throat.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled again, and he felt Fenrir collapse.
He shoved the man off of him with all his might and got quickly to his feet again. He ducked down and continued running, a roaring in his ears. He could feel himself slipping and sliding in what could only be blood, but there was no time to stop and look.
All around him were people fighting and firing off hexes. Harry could see Ginny in front of him, dodging hexes thrown at her by the Death Eater, Amycus. Harry flung a hex at him and continued forward, not having any time to stop. He saw Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Neville, but he couldn't stop for them either. He couldn't hear anything they were saying to him. He had to get to Snape and Draco. Harry looked around wildly, trying to see a flash of that blond hair.
"Snape and Malfoy ..."
Harry snapped his head around to look at Neville who was talking to him.
"What?!" asked Harry madly.
"Snape had Malfoy ... I saw them run past ..." Neville said.
Harry took off without another word, feeling like he was going to pass out.
He aimed another jinx at a large blond Death Eater who seemed to be causing most of the trouble. The Death Eater howled with pain and stumbled along behind the brother and sister Death Eaters.
Where had Snape taken Draco? He'd had such an immense head start. Could he have already reached the cabinet in the Room of Requirement? Harry's stomach dropped at that thought. Perhaps the Order members had thought to secure it. He looked around wildly and spotted a bloody footprint on the floor that showed at least one of the Death Eaters was heading towards the front doors. Perhaps the cabinet was blocked off --
A Death Eater fired a curse at him as he skidded around the corner. Harry dove out of the way and tried to fire a hex of his own, but he only managed to hit a painting. He spun around quickly and flew down a shortcut, hoping to pass the brother and sister and close in on Snape, who surely must have reached the grounds by now.
He finally reached the entrance hall and had to push his way past several confused students standing around. He heard Ernie Macmillan saying something, but he didn't stop to hear it out..
The oak front doors had been blasted open and Harry passed them and ran out into the dark grounds.
He could see Death Eaters sprinting around and far ahead of him. He could see Snape and Draco, who still seemed to be struggling.
The cold night air tore at Harry's lungs as he ran after them as fast as he could. There were bursts of light all around him that he ignored.
Something suddenly caught him hard in the small of the back and he fell forward, his face hitting the ground and blood pouring out of both nostrils. He knew that the brother and sister had caught up with him.
"Impedimenta!" he yelled as he rolled over. His jinx actually hit one of them and he hurriedly got to his feet again, sprinting after Snape.
Harry took aim at Snape's back and roared, "Stupefy!"
He missed; the spell flew over Snape's head.
"Draco!" he yelled hoarsely, desperately, while he took aim at Snape again.
Harry roared with anger. "Incarc --" he yelled.
Snape casually deflected the spell with a flick of his arm, sneering.
"Fight back!" Harry screamed, thinking briefly of throwing his wand and simply pouncing on Snape. "Fight back, you cowardly --"
"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "Your father was the coward, never attacking unless it was four to one."
Harry glared at Snape and his eyes shot to Draco again. "Don't bring my father up!" he screamed. "That's all you ever want to bring up, you son of a bitch! Give me Draco! What do you need him for! Give him to me!" Harry was desperate, but he tried not to show it.
"Draco isn't your concern anymore, Potter. You can't do anything more to him," sneered Snape. Then he yelled to the other Death Eaters, "Now come! It's time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up!"
Harry raised his wand again. "Stupe --"
"Blocked again and again, because you can't shut your mind or mouth, you fool!"
In the distance, Harry could see the large Death Eater literally carrying Draco through the gates. The boy was slung over the Death Eater's back, not moving.
Harry's breath caught in his throat. He didn't even care about Snape anymore. The idiot could stand and blather on forever for all Harry cared. He took off after Draco; he would wrestle him from the man if he had to.
There came a screech of, "Crucio!" and Harry hit the ground in excruciating pain, curled in on himself. He writhed, screaming at the top of his lungs. When the pain stopped, he couldn't think anything at all for a moment.
"Stop!" Snape was shouting. "Let's go! Your orders are to leave Potter for the Dark Lord." The other Death Eaters obeyed, running towards the gates.
"No!" Harry cried out weakly. He struggled to his feet. "No! Draco!" He turned to Snape again. "Give him to me, you coward!"
There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backwards, hitting the ground hard, his wand flying from his hand.
Harry was disoriented for a moment, but then he dove for his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" and Harry was, once again, unable to move. He could only watch from where he lay as Snape ran for the gates and disappeared from sight.
Harry's entire body went numb as he lay there, watching as Draco was taken from him. He couldn't even open his mouth to shout for him, to let him know that he was there. Harry's heart beat madly inside his chest. His eyes filled with frustrated, angry tears, and he could only lie there as Snape and all the others disappeared with Draco. Draco. He tried to struggle like he had upon the tower, but the magic wouldn't let up, and soon, the robe of the last Death Eater had billowed out of sight and Harry felt completely empty.
"Yeh all righ', Harry? Yeh all righ'? Speak ter me, Harry ...." Hagrid's face appeared above Harry.
"Hagrid!"
Harry could hear a familiar voice shouting, but he still didn't move his eyes. "Hagrid! Where's Harry? A couple people said they saw him -- oh my -- Harry! Finite!"
Harry found he could move again. He looked up and saw Ginny.
"Draco," he croaked.
Ginny looked confused.
"Draco. Snape took Draco." He began to stumble his way over to the gates, knowing that there would be no one there.
"Harry, what are you talking about? What's going on? Ron and Hermione told me to patrol with them and then there were Death Eaters and --"
Harry froze at Ginny's words.
"Dumbledore," he whispered, and then he took off towards the castle.
Harry was shaking uncontrollably as he ran. He saw that many of the castle's windows were lit now.
He could imagine, clearly, the scenes inside as people moved from room to room, telling each other that Death Eaters had got in, that the Mark was shining over Hogwarts, that somebody must have been killed …
The oak front doors stood open ahead of him, light flooding out onto the drive and the lawn. Slowly, uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were creeping down the steps, looking around nervously for some sign of the Death Eaters who had fled into the night. Harry's eyes, however, were fixed upon the ground at the foot of the tallest tower. He imagined that he could see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass there, though he was really too far away to see anything of the sort. Even as he stared wordlessly at the place where he thought Dumbledore's body must lie, however, he saw people beginning to move towards it.
Harry finally reached the castle front and he heard Hagrid. He must have followed quickly behind him.
"What're they all lookin' at?" said Hagrid, Fang keeping as close as he could to his ankles. "Wha's tha’, lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply, heading now towards the foot of the Astronomy Tower, where a small crowd was congregating. "See it, Harry? Righ’ at the foot o’ the tower? Under where the Mark … blimey … yeh don' think someone got thrown --?"
Hagrid fell silent, the thought apparently too horrible to express aloud.
Harry had paused, standing now at the back of the crowd gathered around the black mass at the foot of the tower. As his breathing sped up, he walked slowly alongside Hagrid, feeling the aches and pains in his face and his legs where the various hexes of the last half hour had hit him, though in an oddly detached way, as though somebody near him was suffering them. What was real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in his chest … as he moved closer to what he knew was...
He and Hagrid moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the very front, where the dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap.
Harry heard Hagrid's moan of pain and shock, but he did not stop; he walked slowly forward until he reached the place where Dumbledore lay, and crouched down beside him. Harry had known there was no hope from the moment that the full Body-Bind Curse Dumbledore had placed upon him lifted, known that it could have happened only because its caster was dead; but there was still no preparation for seeing him here, spread-eagled, broken: the greatest wizard Harry had ever, or would ever, meet.
Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the wise old face and tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again would Dumbledore speak to him, never again could he help …
The crowd murmured behind Harry. After what seemed like a long time he became aware that he was kneeling upon something hard and looked down.
The locket they had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out of Dumbledore's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which it had hit the ground. And although he could not feel more shock or horror or sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, as he picked it up, that there was something wrong …
He turned the locket over in his hands. This was neither as large as the locket he remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Slytherin's mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been.
Automatically, without really thinking about what he was doing, Harry pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind him:
To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
Harry neither knew nor cared what the message meant. This was not a Horcrux. Dumbledore had weakened himself by drinking that terrible potion for nothing. Harry had let Draco be captured and taken away from him. He felt numb. He crumpled the parchment in his hand and his eyes burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl.
C 'mere, Harry ..."
"No."
"Yeh can' stay here, Harry. ... come on, now ..."
"No."
He did not want to leave Dumbledore's side, he did not want to move anywhere. He felt that things would be worse if he moved. He would be forced to take in what he had let happen. He would have to take in that Dumbledore was dead ... that Draco was gone.
Hagrid's hand on his shoulder was trembling. Then another voice said, "Harry, come on."
A much smaller and warmer hand had enclosed his and was pulling him upward. He obeyed its pressure without really thinking about it. Only as he walked blindly back through the crowd did he realise, from a trace of flowery scent on the air, that it was Ginny who was leading him back into the castle.
Incomprehensible voices battered him, sobs and shouts and wails stabbed the night, but Harry and Ginny walked on, back up the steps into the entrance hall: faces swam on the edges of Harry's vision, people were peering at him, whispering, wondering, and Gryffindor rubies glistened on the floor like drops of blood as they made their way toward the marble staircase.
"We're going to the hospital wing," said Ginny.
"I'm not hurt," said Harry, voice dead sounding.
"It's McGonagall's orders," said Ginny. "Everyone's up there, Ron and Hermione and Lupin and everyone --"
Fear stirred in Harry's chest again: He had forgotten the inert figures he had left behind.
"Ginny, who else is dead?"
"Don't worry, none of us."
"But the Dark Mark - I heard that there was a body ...." His steps faltered as he remembered who he had heard that from. Draco. He nearly collapsed.
Ginny grasped his arm, looking at him very worriedly. "It's Bill, but its all right, he's alive."
There was something in her voice, however, that Harry knew boded ill.
"Are you sure?" His voice was nearly a whisper.
"Of course I'm sure … he's a -- a bit of a mess, that's all. Greyback attacked him. Madam Pomfrey says he won't -- won't look the same anymore …" Ginny's voice trembled a little. "We don't really know what the after-effects will be -- I mean, Greyback being a werewolf, but not transformed at the time."
"But the others … There were other bodies on the ground …" He could still only whisper.
"Neville’s in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey thinks he’ll make a full recovery, and Professor Flitwick was knocked out, but he’s all right, just a bit shaky. He insisted on going off to look after the Ravenclaws. And a Death Eater's dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge blond one was firing off everywhere -- Harry, if we hadn't had your Felix potion, I think we'd all have been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us --"
They had reached the hospital wing. Pushing open the doors, Harry saw Neville lying, apparently asleep, in a bed near the door. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Tonks, and Lupin were gathered around another bed near the far end of the ward. At the sound of the doors opening, they all looked up. Hermione ran to Harry and hugged him; Lupin moved forwards too, looking anxious.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
"I'm fine ... how's Bill?" Harry asked, but he felt dead. He wondered if he was going to go mad, wondered where this alarming calm was coming from.
Nobody answered. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw an unrecognisable face lying on Bill's pillow, so badly slashed and ripped that he looked grotesque. Madam Pomfrey was dabbing at his wounds with some harsh-smelling green ointment.
"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked the matron.
"No charm will work on these," said Madam Pomfrey. "I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites."
"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron, who was gazing down into his brother's face as though he could somehow force him to mend just by staring. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a -- a real --?" :
He looked uncertainly at Lupin.
"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," said Lupin, "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and -- and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."
"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Ron said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state --"
"Ron – Dumbledore’s dead," said Ginny.
"No!" Lupin looked wildly from Ginny to Harry, as though hoping the latter might contradict her, but when Harry did not, Lupin collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face. Harry had never seen Lupin lose control before; he felt as though he was intruding upon something private, indecent; he turned away and caught Ron's eye instead, exchanging in silence a look that confirmed what Ginny had said.
"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"
"Snape killed him," said Harry and his voice shook as tears threatened his eyes. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was … Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak -- and then... Draco came through the door and Disarmed him --" Harry felt like he was slipping sideways, and his voice cracked. Ginny grasped his arm again to keep him upright.
Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron looked shocked.
"Draco?" he asked
Luna's mouth trembled.
Harry simply continued. "-- more Death Eaters arrived -- and then Snape -- and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Harry couldn't go on.
Madam Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except Ginny, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!"
Gulping, Madam Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had never heard before: a stricken lament of terrible beauty. And Harry felt, as he had felt about phoenix song before, that the music was inside him, not without: it was his own grief turned magically to song that echoed across the grounds and through the castle windows.
How long they all stood there, listening, he did not know, nor why it seemed to ease their pain a little to listen to the sound of their mourning, but it felt like a long time later that the hospital door opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like all the rest, she bore marks of the recent battle: there were grazes on her face and her robes were ripped.
"Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said, and the spell of the music was broken: everyone roused themselves as though coming out of trances, turning again to look at Bill, or else to rub their own eyes, shake their heads. "Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he -- when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some --"
"Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry.
She stared at him for a moment, then swayed alarmingly; Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall.
"Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. "We all wondered … but he trusted … always … Snape ... I can't believe it ..."
"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We always knew that."
"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't ..." .
"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Professor McGonagall, now dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "I mean … with Snape’s history ... of course people were bound to wonder … but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine …wouldn't hear a word against him!"
"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks.
"I know," said Harry, and they all turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."
They all stared at him.
"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin incredulously. "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James …"
"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, feeling dead and detached again. "because she was Muggle-born ... 'Mudblood’, he called her ..."
Nobody asked how Harry knew this. All of them seemed to be lost in horrified shock, trying to digest the monstrous truth of what had happened.
"This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."
"It isn't your fault, Minerva," said Lupin firmly. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way ..."
"So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eaters' side?" asked Harry, who wanted every detail of Snape's duplicity and infamy, feverishly collecting more reasons to hate him, to swear vengeance.
"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. "It's all so confusing … Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case … Remus, Bill and Nymphadora were to join us ... and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered …"
"I do," said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. "So they got in through the Room of Requirement."
Almost against his will he glanced from Ron to Hermione, both of whom looked devastated.
"I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. "We did like you told us: We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Crabbe and Goyle on it, so we thought they must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny and Neville went to keep watch on it ... but they got past us."
" They came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch," said Ginny. "They were on their own. They must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment they saw us they threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black --"
"-- Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."
"We tried everything -- Lumos, Incendio," said Ginny. "Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. I don't know how they could see, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."
"Luckily," said Lupin hoarsely, "Ron, Ginny and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Crabbe and Goyle obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; they seemed to have exhausted their supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the Tower stairs --"
"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry, voice quiet again.
"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Lupin. "But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."
"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione, "were you --?"
"Outside Snape's office, yes," whispered Hermione, her eyes sparkling with tears, "with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened … we didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the Marauder’s Map …it was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and -- and --"
"What?" Harry urged her.
"I was so stupid, Harry!" said Hermione in a high-pitched whisper. "He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he -- while he went to help fight the Death Eaters --" She covered her face in shame and continued to talk into her fingers, so that her voice was muffled. "We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor … and, oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realise, Harry, we didn't realise, we just let Snape go!"
"It's not your fault," said Lupin firmly. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."
"So then he came upstairs," said Harry, who in his mind's eye was watching Snape running up the marble staircase, his black robes billowing behind him as ever, pulling his wand from under his cloak as he ascended, "and he found the place where you were all fighting ..."
"We were in trouble, we were losing," said Tonks in a low voice. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback ... it was all dark … curses flying everywhere … I saw the Malfoy boy, and heard something about him finishing some sort of mission and they pushed him up the stairs then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stairs behind them with some kind of curse … Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air --"
"None of us could break through," said Ron, "and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us …"
"And then Snape was there," said Tonks, "and then he wasn't --"
"I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eater's jinx just missed me right afterwards and I ducked and lost track of things," said Ginny.
"I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," said Lupin. "I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville ..."
"He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered McGonagall. "After all -- he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher ... I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the Tower ..."
"He was," said Harry savagely, a sudden burst of anger flaring up inside him, but emotion hurt him. Even hatred for Snape made him hurt for Draco. "but to help them, not to stop them."
"The big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Lupin. "We all ran forward -- those of us who were still standing anyway -- and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust -- obviously, none of us attacked them --"
"We just let them pass," said Tonks in a hollow voice, "we thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters -- and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again -- I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what --"
"He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry quietly, horrible emotion nearly closing his throat. "He'd done what he'd meant to do." He was silent, but then turned to Ron. "Where was Draco on the map? Did you see him? Did you ever get a chance to speak to him at all?"
Ron winced. "He never came back up. We weren't looking at the map after we figured Crabbe and Goyle were in the Room of Requirement. We never saw him until the battle in the corridor next to the steps."
"What happened to him, Harry? Where is he?" asked Hermione, eyes shining with tears. Most of the others were silent and staring.
Harry began shaking. "I thought it was obvious before," he said, voice quiet to keep himself from losing it completely. "Snape took him. Draco's mission from Voldemort was to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it." His voice cracked again. "He stepped between the Death Eaters and Dumbledore." He bowed his head, shaking even worse now. "Snape killed Dumbledore and then took Draco. He took him."
"Oh, Harry, I --" Hermione began.
"Nothing you say will help," Harry said, voice thick and angry now.
They all fell silent. Fawkes's lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside.
The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr and Mrs Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.
"Molly -- Arthur --" said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry --"
"Bill," whispered Mrs Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"
Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr and Mrs Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.
"You said Greyback attacked him?" Mr Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"
"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.
"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case, possibly unique … we don't know what his behaviour might be like when he wakes up …"
Mrs Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds.
"And Dumbledore ..." said Mr Weasley. "Minerva, is it true … Is he really…?"
As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry felt Ginny move beside him and looked at her. Her slightly narrowed eyes were fixed upon Fleur, who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face.
"Dumbledore gone," whispered Mr Weasley, but Mrs Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill's mutilated face.
"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks … it's not r -- really important ... but he was a very handsome little b -- boy … always very handsome … and he was g -- going to be married!"
"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, 'e was going to be married?'"
Mrs Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. "Well – only that --"
"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?" demanded Fleur. "You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"
"No, that's not what I --"
"Because 'e will!" said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"
"Well, yes, I'm sure," said Mrs. Weasley, "but I thought perhaps – given how -- how he --"
"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you 'oped?" said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. "What do I care how ‘e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" she added fiercely, pushing Mrs Weasley aside and snatching the ointment from her.
Mrs Weasley fell back against her husband and watched Fleur mopping up Bill's wounds with a most curious expression upon her face. Nobody said anything.
"Our Great-Auntie Muriel," said Mrs. Weasley after a long pause, "has a very beautiful tiara -- goblin-made -- which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."
"Thank you," said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."
And then -- Harry did not quite see how it happened -- both women were crying and hugging each other. Completely bewildered, wondering whether the world had gone mad, he turned around: Ron looked as stunned as he felt and Ginny and Hermione were exchanging startled looks.
"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!
"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely --"
"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times …"
And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-coloured hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumour someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all. His heart hurt and he thought of Draco.
"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor … too dangerous ..."
"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said Mrs Weasley over Fleur's shoulder as she patted her on the back.
"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."
"But she wants you," said Mr Weasley, with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."
He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them.
"This is ... not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead. ..."
Harry took a shuddering breath, feeling like he was going to need to get out of here very soon. No one even cared about Draco. Not a single person in here and he could not bear to listen to people argue about being together.
"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital doors opened again and Hagrid walked in.
After McGonagall's comment, Harry got to his feet. He couldn't even bear to hear that word - love. He was trembling and lost, and he hadn't the first clue about what he should do. He made to walk out, passing Hagrid and ignoring everyone calling out to him, simply speeding up until he couldn't hear their voices. It was a minute before he heard hurried footsteps behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see Lupin, Tonks, Ron and Hermione attempting to follow him. He sped up until he was running, not even knowing where he was going. His feet seemed to be carrying him off on their own.
He finally slowed down when he was sure he had lost them. What now? He stuffed his hands in his pockets and simply stared ahead, just walking. He had half a mind to set off on his own to try and look for Draco, to try and do something. But then what about everything that had just happened? How stupid would it be to go off alone without any clue where to look? Very stupid. And he knew that he couldn't do that to Dumbledore.
He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, and he couldn't bring himself to even go up to Gryffindor Tower. He wandered around the castle for a good long time, not even really thinking anything at all anymore. The place was in ruins; there was blood all over and pieces of the walls and ceiling on the floor.
He heard voices becoming louder the closer he got to rounding a corner. He finally came to the end of the corridor he was in, what floor was it? He didn't know. He saw Ministry Aurors and some Order members standing a bit away in a small crowd. They didn't notice Harry. They were all talking amongst themselves seriously and in hushed tones.
Harry looked around and saw that he was standing in front of the Room of Requirement. He stared at the stretch of blank wall, realising that the Aurors and Order members were guarding it. He finally stepped out of the bit of shadow he had been standing in and moved very quickly in front of the stretch of wall three times.
One of the Aurors looked up. "Hey! You can't go in there!" she said.
"Harry!" said another, but Harry was already opening the door and going quickly inside.
He wasn't surprised to find himself in the familiar sitting room. The people outside began pounding on the door, but when Harry wished it would stop, it did. He sat down on the sofa and stared blankly at nothing. The room couldn't give him what he required right then.
Chapter Title: Lost Hope
Words: 6844 Words
Notes: Italics sections are taken directly from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
It had not happened .… It could not have happened.
"Get out of here quickly," said Snape.
Harry watched in frozen horror as Snape grabbed Draco by the scruff of the neck and forced him through the door. The other Death Eaters followed quickly behind.
"Draco!" Harry cried out automatically, realising he could move.
He threw his Invisibility Cloak off and pushed off from the wall.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled, aiming his wand for the last Death Eater leaving. The man fell to the ground and Harry scrambled over him.
He sprinted down the dark staircase, moving as fast as he possibly could. He couldn't bring himself to believe that Dumbledore was dead, but he could hardly let himself think about anything at all besides Snape and having to get to him.
He finally reached the end of the stairs. All around him was chaos. There were spells firing all over the place, people running around, shouts, and yelling. He looked around, trying to find Snape in the dark, trying to look for Draco.
"It's over! Time to go!" Harry heard Snape yell, as he and a struggling Draco disappeared at the far end of the corridor.
Harry flung himself forward. He had to get to Draco. It wasn't even about Snape anymore, although, in his mind, getting to Snape would solve everything. He just had to get to Draco. Harry was confused beyond belief, but he couldn't let Snape take Draco wherever it was he was running to.
As Harry ran down the corridor, one of the Death Eaters flung themselves at him. It was the werewolf, Fenrir. Harry fell backwards under his weight and felt his hot, disgusting breath at his throat.
"Petrificus Totalus!" he yelled again, and he felt Fenrir collapse.
He shoved the man off of him with all his might and got quickly to his feet again. He ducked down and continued running, a roaring in his ears. He could feel himself slipping and sliding in what could only be blood, but there was no time to stop and look.
All around him were people fighting and firing off hexes. Harry could see Ginny in front of him, dodging hexes thrown at her by the Death Eater, Amycus. Harry flung a hex at him and continued forward, not having any time to stop. He saw Professor McGonagall, Tonks and Neville, but he couldn't stop for them either. He couldn't hear anything they were saying to him. He had to get to Snape and Draco. Harry looked around wildly, trying to see a flash of that blond hair.
"Snape and Malfoy ..."
Harry snapped his head around to look at Neville who was talking to him.
"What?!" asked Harry madly.
"Snape had Malfoy ... I saw them run past ..." Neville said.
Harry took off without another word, feeling like he was going to pass out.
He aimed another jinx at a large blond Death Eater who seemed to be causing most of the trouble. The Death Eater howled with pain and stumbled along behind the brother and sister Death Eaters.
Where had Snape taken Draco? He'd had such an immense head start. Could he have already reached the cabinet in the Room of Requirement? Harry's stomach dropped at that thought. Perhaps the Order members had thought to secure it. He looked around wildly and spotted a bloody footprint on the floor that showed at least one of the Death Eaters was heading towards the front doors. Perhaps the cabinet was blocked off --
A Death Eater fired a curse at him as he skidded around the corner. Harry dove out of the way and tried to fire a hex of his own, but he only managed to hit a painting. He spun around quickly and flew down a shortcut, hoping to pass the brother and sister and close in on Snape, who surely must have reached the grounds by now.
He finally reached the entrance hall and had to push his way past several confused students standing around. He heard Ernie Macmillan saying something, but he didn't stop to hear it out..
The oak front doors had been blasted open and Harry passed them and ran out into the dark grounds.
He could see Death Eaters sprinting around and far ahead of him. He could see Snape and Draco, who still seemed to be struggling.
The cold night air tore at Harry's lungs as he ran after them as fast as he could. There were bursts of light all around him that he ignored.
Something suddenly caught him hard in the small of the back and he fell forward, his face hitting the ground and blood pouring out of both nostrils. He knew that the brother and sister had caught up with him.
"Impedimenta!" he yelled as he rolled over. His jinx actually hit one of them and he hurriedly got to his feet again, sprinting after Snape.
Harry took aim at Snape's back and roared, "Stupefy!"
He missed; the spell flew over Snape's head.
"Draco!" he yelled hoarsely, desperately, while he took aim at Snape again.
Harry roared with anger. "Incarc --" he yelled.
Snape casually deflected the spell with a flick of his arm, sneering.
"Fight back!" Harry screamed, thinking briefly of throwing his wand and simply pouncing on Snape. "Fight back, you cowardly --"
"Coward, did you call me, Potter?" shouted Snape. "Your father was the coward, never attacking unless it was four to one."
Harry glared at Snape and his eyes shot to Draco again. "Don't bring my father up!" he screamed. "That's all you ever want to bring up, you son of a bitch! Give me Draco! What do you need him for! Give him to me!" Harry was desperate, but he tried not to show it.
"Draco isn't your concern anymore, Potter. You can't do anything more to him," sneered Snape. Then he yelled to the other Death Eaters, "Now come! It's time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up!"
Harry raised his wand again. "Stupe --"
"Blocked again and again, because you can't shut your mind or mouth, you fool!"
In the distance, Harry could see the large Death Eater literally carrying Draco through the gates. The boy was slung over the Death Eater's back, not moving.
Harry's breath caught in his throat. He didn't even care about Snape anymore. The idiot could stand and blather on forever for all Harry cared. He took off after Draco; he would wrestle him from the man if he had to.
There came a screech of, "Crucio!" and Harry hit the ground in excruciating pain, curled in on himself. He writhed, screaming at the top of his lungs. When the pain stopped, he couldn't think anything at all for a moment.
"Stop!" Snape was shouting. "Let's go! Your orders are to leave Potter for the Dark Lord." The other Death Eaters obeyed, running towards the gates.
"No!" Harry cried out weakly. He struggled to his feet. "No! Draco!" He turned to Snape again. "Give him to me, you coward!"
There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backwards, hitting the ground hard, his wand flying from his hand.
Harry was disoriented for a moment, but then he dove for his wand.
"Petrificus Totalus!" and Harry was, once again, unable to move. He could only watch from where he lay as Snape ran for the gates and disappeared from sight.
Harry's entire body went numb as he lay there, watching as Draco was taken from him. He couldn't even open his mouth to shout for him, to let him know that he was there. Harry's heart beat madly inside his chest. His eyes filled with frustrated, angry tears, and he could only lie there as Snape and all the others disappeared with Draco. Draco. He tried to struggle like he had upon the tower, but the magic wouldn't let up, and soon, the robe of the last Death Eater had billowed out of sight and Harry felt completely empty.
"Yeh all righ', Harry? Yeh all righ'? Speak ter me, Harry ...." Hagrid's face appeared above Harry.
"Hagrid!"
Harry could hear a familiar voice shouting, but he still didn't move his eyes. "Hagrid! Where's Harry? A couple people said they saw him -- oh my -- Harry! Finite!"
Harry found he could move again. He looked up and saw Ginny.
"Draco," he croaked.
Ginny looked confused.
"Draco. Snape took Draco." He began to stumble his way over to the gates, knowing that there would be no one there.
"Harry, what are you talking about? What's going on? Ron and Hermione told me to patrol with them and then there were Death Eaters and --"
Harry froze at Ginny's words.
"Dumbledore," he whispered, and then he took off towards the castle.
Harry was shaking uncontrollably as he ran. He saw that many of the castle's windows were lit now.
He could imagine, clearly, the scenes inside as people moved from room to room, telling each other that Death Eaters had got in, that the Mark was shining over Hogwarts, that somebody must have been killed …
The oak front doors stood open ahead of him, light flooding out onto the drive and the lawn. Slowly, uncertainly, dressing-gowned people were creeping down the steps, looking around nervously for some sign of the Death Eaters who had fled into the night. Harry's eyes, however, were fixed upon the ground at the foot of the tallest tower. He imagined that he could see a black, huddled mass lying in the grass there, though he was really too far away to see anything of the sort. Even as he stared wordlessly at the place where he thought Dumbledore's body must lie, however, he saw people beginning to move towards it.
Harry finally reached the castle front and he heard Hagrid. He must have followed quickly behind him.
"What're they all lookin' at?" said Hagrid, Fang keeping as close as he could to his ankles. "Wha's tha’, lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply, heading now towards the foot of the Astronomy Tower, where a small crowd was congregating. "See it, Harry? Righ’ at the foot o’ the tower? Under where the Mark … blimey … yeh don' think someone got thrown --?"
Hagrid fell silent, the thought apparently too horrible to express aloud.
Harry had paused, standing now at the back of the crowd gathered around the black mass at the foot of the tower. As his breathing sped up, he walked slowly alongside Hagrid, feeling the aches and pains in his face and his legs where the various hexes of the last half hour had hit him, though in an oddly detached way, as though somebody near him was suffering them. What was real and inescapable was the awful pressing feeling in his chest … as he moved closer to what he knew was...
He and Hagrid moved, dreamlike, through the murmuring crowd to the very front, where the dumbstruck students and teachers had left a gap.
Harry heard Hagrid's moan of pain and shock, but he did not stop; he walked slowly forward until he reached the place where Dumbledore lay, and crouched down beside him. Harry had known there was no hope from the moment that the full Body-Bind Curse Dumbledore had placed upon him lifted, known that it could have happened only because its caster was dead; but there was still no preparation for seeing him here, spread-eagled, broken: the greatest wizard Harry had ever, or would ever, meet.
Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for the strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have been sleeping. Harry reached out, straightened the half-moon spectacles upon the crooked nose and wiped a trickle of blood from the mouth with his own sleeve. Then he gazed down at the wise old face and tried to absorb the enormous and incomprehensible truth: that never again would Dumbledore speak to him, never again could he help …
The crowd murmured behind Harry. After what seemed like a long time he became aware that he was kneeling upon something hard and looked down.
The locket they had managed to steal so many hours before had fallen out of Dumbledore's pocket. It had opened, perhaps due to the force with which it had hit the ground. And although he could not feel more shock or horror or sadness than he felt already, Harry knew, as he picked it up, that there was something wrong …
He turned the locket over in his hands. This was neither as large as the locket he remembered seeing in the Pensieve, nor were there any markings upon it, no sign of the ornate S that was supposed to be Slytherin's mark. Moreover, there was nothing inside but for a scrap of folded parchment wedged tightly into the place where a portrait should have been.
Automatically, without really thinking about what he was doing, Harry pulled out the fragment of parchment, opened it, and read by the light of the many wands that had now been lit behind him:
To the Dark Lord,
I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can.
I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more.
R.A.B.
Harry neither knew nor cared what the message meant. This was not a Horcrux. Dumbledore had weakened himself by drinking that terrible potion for nothing. Harry had let Draco be captured and taken away from him. He felt numb. He crumpled the parchment in his hand and his eyes burned with tears as behind him Fang began to howl.
C 'mere, Harry ..."
"No."
"Yeh can' stay here, Harry. ... come on, now ..."
"No."
He did not want to leave Dumbledore's side, he did not want to move anywhere. He felt that things would be worse if he moved. He would be forced to take in what he had let happen. He would have to take in that Dumbledore was dead ... that Draco was gone.
Hagrid's hand on his shoulder was trembling. Then another voice said, "Harry, come on."
A much smaller and warmer hand had enclosed his and was pulling him upward. He obeyed its pressure without really thinking about it. Only as he walked blindly back through the crowd did he realise, from a trace of flowery scent on the air, that it was Ginny who was leading him back into the castle.
Incomprehensible voices battered him, sobs and shouts and wails stabbed the night, but Harry and Ginny walked on, back up the steps into the entrance hall: faces swam on the edges of Harry's vision, people were peering at him, whispering, wondering, and Gryffindor rubies glistened on the floor like drops of blood as they made their way toward the marble staircase.
"We're going to the hospital wing," said Ginny.
"I'm not hurt," said Harry, voice dead sounding.
"It's McGonagall's orders," said Ginny. "Everyone's up there, Ron and Hermione and Lupin and everyone --"
Fear stirred in Harry's chest again: He had forgotten the inert figures he had left behind.
"Ginny, who else is dead?"
"Don't worry, none of us."
"But the Dark Mark - I heard that there was a body ...." His steps faltered as he remembered who he had heard that from. Draco. He nearly collapsed.
Ginny grasped his arm, looking at him very worriedly. "It's Bill, but its all right, he's alive."
There was something in her voice, however, that Harry knew boded ill.
"Are you sure?" His voice was nearly a whisper.
"Of course I'm sure … he's a -- a bit of a mess, that's all. Greyback attacked him. Madam Pomfrey says he won't -- won't look the same anymore …" Ginny's voice trembled a little. "We don't really know what the after-effects will be -- I mean, Greyback being a werewolf, but not transformed at the time."
"But the others … There were other bodies on the ground …" He could still only whisper.
"Neville’s in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey thinks he’ll make a full recovery, and Professor Flitwick was knocked out, but he’s all right, just a bit shaky. He insisted on going off to look after the Ravenclaws. And a Death Eater's dead, he got hit by a Killing Curse that huge blond one was firing off everywhere -- Harry, if we hadn't had your Felix potion, I think we'd all have been killed, but everything seemed to just miss us --"
They had reached the hospital wing. Pushing open the doors, Harry saw Neville lying, apparently asleep, in a bed near the door. Ron, Hermione, Luna, Tonks, and Lupin were gathered around another bed near the far end of the ward. At the sound of the doors opening, they all looked up. Hermione ran to Harry and hugged him; Lupin moved forwards too, looking anxious.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
"I'm fine ... how's Bill?" Harry asked, but he felt dead. He wondered if he was going to go mad, wondered where this alarming calm was coming from.
Nobody answered. Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder and saw an unrecognisable face lying on Bill's pillow, so badly slashed and ripped that he looked grotesque. Madam Pomfrey was dabbing at his wounds with some harsh-smelling green ointment.
"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked the matron.
"No charm will work on these," said Madam Pomfrey. "I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites."
"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron, who was gazing down into his brother's face as though he could somehow force him to mend just by staring. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a -- a real --?" :
He looked uncertainly at Lupin.
"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," said Lupin, "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and -- and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."
"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Ron said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state --"
"Ron – Dumbledore’s dead," said Ginny.
"No!" Lupin looked wildly from Ginny to Harry, as though hoping the latter might contradict her, but when Harry did not, Lupin collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face. Harry had never seen Lupin lose control before; he felt as though he was intruding upon something private, indecent; he turned away and caught Ron's eye instead, exchanging in silence a look that confirmed what Ginny had said.
"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"
"Snape killed him," said Harry and his voice shook as tears threatened his eyes. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was … Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak -- and then... Draco came through the door and Disarmed him --" Harry felt like he was slipping sideways, and his voice cracked. Ginny grasped his arm again to keep him upright.
Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron looked shocked.
"Draco?" he asked
Luna's mouth trembled.
Harry simply continued. "-- more Death Eaters arrived -- and then Snape -- and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Harry couldn't go on.
Madam Pomfrey burst into tears. Nobody paid her any attention except Ginny, who whispered, "Shh! Listen!"
Gulping, Madam Pomfrey pressed her fingers to her mouth, her eyes wide. Somewhere out in the darkness, a phoenix was singing in a way Harry had never heard before: a stricken lament of terrible beauty. And Harry felt, as he had felt about phoenix song before, that the music was inside him, not without: it was his own grief turned magically to song that echoed across the grounds and through the castle windows.
How long they all stood there, listening, he did not know, nor why it seemed to ease their pain a little to listen to the sound of their mourning, but it felt like a long time later that the hospital door opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like all the rest, she bore marks of the recent battle: there were grazes on her face and her robes were ripped.
"Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said, and the spell of the music was broken: everyone roused themselves as though coming out of trances, turning again to look at Bill, or else to rub their own eyes, shake their heads. "Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he -- when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some --"
"Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry.
She stared at him for a moment, then swayed alarmingly; Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall.
"Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. "We all wondered … but he trusted … always … Snape ... I can't believe it ..."
"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We always knew that."
"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't ..." .
"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Professor McGonagall, now dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "I mean … with Snape’s history ... of course people were bound to wonder … but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine …wouldn't hear a word against him!"
"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks.
"I know," said Harry, and they all turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."
They all stared at him.
"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin incredulously. "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James …"
"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, feeling dead and detached again. "because she was Muggle-born ... 'Mudblood’, he called her ..."
Nobody asked how Harry knew this. All of them seemed to be lost in horrified shock, trying to digest the monstrous truth of what had happened.
"This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."
"It isn't your fault, Minerva," said Lupin firmly. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way ..."
"So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eaters' side?" asked Harry, who wanted every detail of Snape's duplicity and infamy, feverishly collecting more reasons to hate him, to swear vengeance.
"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. "It's all so confusing … Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case … Remus, Bill and Nymphadora were to join us ... and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered …"
"I do," said Harry, and he explained, briefly, about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. "So they got in through the Room of Requirement."
Almost against his will he glanced from Ron to Hermione, both of whom looked devastated.
"I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. "We did like you told us: We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Crabbe and Goyle on it, so we thought they must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny and Neville went to keep watch on it ... but they got past us."
" They came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch," said Ginny. "They were on their own. They must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment they saw us they threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black --"
"-- Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."
"We tried everything -- Lumos, Incendio," said Ginny. "Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. I don't know how they could see, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."
"Luckily," said Lupin hoarsely, "Ron, Ginny and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Crabbe and Goyle obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; they seemed to have exhausted their supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the Tower stairs --"
"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry, voice quiet again.
"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Lupin. "But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."
"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione, "were you --?"
"Outside Snape's office, yes," whispered Hermione, her eyes sparkling with tears, "with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened … we didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the Marauder’s Map …it was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and -- and --"
"What?" Harry urged her.
"I was so stupid, Harry!" said Hermione in a high-pitched whisper. "He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he -- while he went to help fight the Death Eaters --" She covered her face in shame and continued to talk into her fingers, so that her voice was muffled. "We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor … and, oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realise, Harry, we didn't realise, we just let Snape go!"
"It's not your fault," said Lupin firmly. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."
"So then he came upstairs," said Harry, who in his mind's eye was watching Snape running up the marble staircase, his black robes billowing behind him as ever, pulling his wand from under his cloak as he ascended, "and he found the place where you were all fighting ..."
"We were in trouble, we were losing," said Tonks in a low voice. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback ... it was all dark … curses flying everywhere … I saw the Malfoy boy, and heard something about him finishing some sort of mission and they pushed him up the stairs then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stairs behind them with some kind of curse … Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air --"
"None of us could break through," said Ron, "and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us …"
"And then Snape was there," said Tonks, "and then he wasn't --"
"I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eater's jinx just missed me right afterwards and I ducked and lost track of things," said Ginny.
"I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," said Lupin. "I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville ..."
"He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered McGonagall. "After all -- he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher ... I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the Tower ..."
"He was," said Harry savagely, a sudden burst of anger flaring up inside him, but emotion hurt him. Even hatred for Snape made him hurt for Draco. "but to help them, not to stop them."
"The big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Lupin. "We all ran forward -- those of us who were still standing anyway -- and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust -- obviously, none of us attacked them --"
"We just let them pass," said Tonks in a hollow voice, "we thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters -- and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again -- I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what --"
"He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry quietly, horrible emotion nearly closing his throat. "He'd done what he'd meant to do." He was silent, but then turned to Ron. "Where was Draco on the map? Did you see him? Did you ever get a chance to speak to him at all?"
Ron winced. "He never came back up. We weren't looking at the map after we figured Crabbe and Goyle were in the Room of Requirement. We never saw him until the battle in the corridor next to the steps."
"What happened to him, Harry? Where is he?" asked Hermione, eyes shining with tears. Most of the others were silent and staring.
Harry began shaking. "I thought it was obvious before," he said, voice quiet to keep himself from losing it completely. "Snape took him. Draco's mission from Voldemort was to kill Dumbledore, but he couldn't do it." His voice cracked again. "He stepped between the Death Eaters and Dumbledore." He bowed his head, shaking even worse now. "Snape killed Dumbledore and then took Draco. He took him."
"Oh, Harry, I --" Hermione began.
"Nothing you say will help," Harry said, voice thick and angry now.
They all fell silent. Fawkes's lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside.
The doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr and Mrs Weasley were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.
"Molly -- Arthur --" said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry --"
"Bill," whispered Mrs Weasley, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"
Lupin and Tonks had got up hastily and retreated so that Mr and Mrs Weasley could get nearer to the bed. Mrs Weasley bent over her son and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.
"You said Greyback attacked him?" Mr Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"
"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.
"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case, possibly unique … we don't know what his behaviour might be like when he wakes up …"
Mrs Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds.
"And Dumbledore ..." said Mr Weasley. "Minerva, is it true … Is he really…?"
As Professor McGonagall nodded, Harry felt Ginny move beside him and looked at her. Her slightly narrowed eyes were fixed upon Fleur, who was gazing down at Bill with a frozen expression on her face.
"Dumbledore gone," whispered Mr Weasley, but Mrs Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill's mutilated face.
"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks … it's not r -- really important ... but he was a very handsome little b -- boy … always very handsome … and he was g -- going to be married!"
"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, 'e was going to be married?'"
Mrs Weasley raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. "Well – only that --"
"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore?" demanded Fleur. "You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"
"No, that's not what I --"
"Because 'e will!" said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"
"Well, yes, I'm sure," said Mrs. Weasley, "but I thought perhaps – given how -- how he --"
"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you 'oped?" said Fleur, her nostrils flaring. "What do I care how ‘e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" she added fiercely, pushing Mrs Weasley aside and snatching the ointment from her.
Mrs Weasley fell back against her husband and watched Fleur mopping up Bill's wounds with a most curious expression upon her face. Nobody said anything.
"Our Great-Auntie Muriel," said Mrs. Weasley after a long pause, "has a very beautiful tiara -- goblin-made -- which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."
"Thank you," said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."
And then -- Harry did not quite see how it happened -- both women were crying and hugging each other. Completely bewildered, wondering whether the world had gone mad, he turned around: Ron looked as stunned as he felt and Ginny and Hermione were exchanging startled looks.
"You see!" said a strained voice. Tonks was glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!
"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely --"
"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times …"
And the meaning of Tonks's Patronus and her mouse-coloured hair, and the reason she had come running to find Dumbledore when she had heard a rumour someone had been attacked by Greyback, all suddenly became clear to Harry; it had not been Sirius that Tonks had fallen in love with after all. His heart hurt and he thought of Draco.
"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor, "that I am too old for you, too poor … too dangerous ..."
"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said Mrs Weasley over Fleur's shoulder as she patted her on the back.
"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."
"But she wants you," said Mr Weasley, with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."
He gestured sadly at his son, lying between them.
"This is ... not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead. ..."
Harry took a shuddering breath, feeling like he was going to need to get out of here very soon. No one even cared about Draco. Not a single person in here and he could not bear to listen to people argue about being together.
"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital doors opened again and Hagrid walked in.
After McGonagall's comment, Harry got to his feet. He couldn't even bear to hear that word - love. He was trembling and lost, and he hadn't the first clue about what he should do. He made to walk out, passing Hagrid and ignoring everyone calling out to him, simply speeding up until he couldn't hear their voices. It was a minute before he heard hurried footsteps behind him, and he looked over his shoulder to see Lupin, Tonks, Ron and Hermione attempting to follow him. He sped up until he was running, not even knowing where he was going. His feet seemed to be carrying him off on their own.
He finally slowed down when he was sure he had lost them. What now? He stuffed his hands in his pockets and simply stared ahead, just walking. He had half a mind to set off on his own to try and look for Draco, to try and do something. But then what about everything that had just happened? How stupid would it be to go off alone without any clue where to look? Very stupid. And he knew that he couldn't do that to Dumbledore.
He knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep, and he couldn't bring himself to even go up to Gryffindor Tower. He wandered around the castle for a good long time, not even really thinking anything at all anymore. The place was in ruins; there was blood all over and pieces of the walls and ceiling on the floor.
He heard voices becoming louder the closer he got to rounding a corner. He finally came to the end of the corridor he was in, what floor was it? He didn't know. He saw Ministry Aurors and some Order members standing a bit away in a small crowd. They didn't notice Harry. They were all talking amongst themselves seriously and in hushed tones.
Harry looked around and saw that he was standing in front of the Room of Requirement. He stared at the stretch of blank wall, realising that the Aurors and Order members were guarding it. He finally stepped out of the bit of shadow he had been standing in and moved very quickly in front of the stretch of wall three times.
One of the Aurors looked up. "Hey! You can't go in there!" she said.
"Harry!" said another, but Harry was already opening the door and going quickly inside.
He wasn't surprised to find himself in the familiar sitting room. The people outside began pounding on the door, but when Harry wished it would stop, it did. He sat down on the sofa and stared blankly at nothing. The room couldn't give him what he required right then.