Sixth Year Part Two
Hermione flipped through the pages in her lap, "I think we should stop completely after this. I need everyone to be alert and paying attention for seventh year."
"Fair enough," Lily conceded.
"So, Harry and Ron spent Christmas at The Burrow. Neither of them could figure what Malfoy was talking about but at least Harry had been proven right in so far that Draco was up to something. Harry also told Arthur about his suspicions but Arthur had already checked the Manor thanks to Harry's tip in the summer and had found nothing incriminating. Arthur also talked about how much trouble the Ministry was having fighting the war. There had been major arrests but really none of them were worth anything but of course the Ministry wouldn't want to put that out to the public."
"I'm getting really sick of politics," Sirius moaned.
"Actually Pads, I think I understand this one to a point," Remus said heavily. "The best thing is for the public to remain calm and vigilant, but if it looks like the system is failing, people might go to extremes. People might go to Voldemort simply to save their skins."
Dumbledore nodded, "Very true Mr. Lupin, and if you need evidence Mr. Black look no further than old acquaintance Peter Pettigrew. He asked what was there to be gained by refusing Voldemort in a time when it seemed like he was going to win and kill us all. Not to mention Mr. Pettigrew is in the Order, he knows firsthand the kind of destruction and chaos Voldemort has caused and how little we can do to stop it."
"But this is when you fight the hardest," Sirius protested. "This is when you rally yourself and give it everything you have. By siding with Voldemort, you are guaranteeing more people will die, at least if you fight, you may win."
"Unfortunately not many people see it like that Sirius," Hermione shook her head. "At the Burrow, Harry voiced his concerns about Snape. After finding out that the man was a Death Eater, Harry was not very keen on trusting him but Dumbledore swore he had an iron clad reason for believing him."
"Which was…" Sirius ventured.
"He wouldn't tell. Despite insisting that there was a reason, Dumbledore never told a soul what it was and this caused a lot of people to doubt it. Remus, who had been listening to Harry and Arthur's discussion, was firm – as long as Dumbledore trusted him, he would too and it wasn't anyone's place to question the Headmaster's decision."
Remus mulled that over a bit, "While I strongly want to agree with myself I can't help but feel a little worried too. Maybe it's just the times we live in but you must have a really good excuse to trust a Death Eater."
"I'm with Remus," James pointed his thumb at his friend. "That's nastily difficult call to make."
"Remus also talked about being bitten by Greyback and him going underground to live with a pack of werewolves and convince them not to side with Voldemort. Unfortunately he wasn't having much luck with that."
"At least you tried mate," Sirius clapped Remus's back.
"They also discussed the Half Blood Prince. Harry had sort of hoped it was James's but Remus shot down that idea along with any of the other Marauders. He suggested that Harry check the publication date to figure out when the Prince had been at school and the book was fifty years old."
"Not another one," James slapped his head. "The last fifty year old book Harry found ended up being more trouble than anything else."
Same for this one, Hermione thought derisively. "Then at Christmas breakfast the next day, Percy arrived with the new minister Rufus Scrimgeour in tow."
"Not a social visit then I take it," Sirius said scornfully.
"Not in the slightest although the Minister pretended it was. He called on Harry to escort him around the garden when really he had a proposition for him. Become the Ministry's poster boy."
"Meaning…" Lily's nostrils flared and her voice became threatening.
"He wanted Harry to be seen coming and going from the Ministry to give the illusion that they were working with the Chosen One in the name of being a public morale booster."
Sirius laughed unkindly, "Even Lockhart's idea of a morale booster was better than this one."
"I bet Harry handed him his ass for that one," James smirked.
"Indeed he did, especially when the Minister was smart enough to mention Umfudge in Harry's presence, Harry gave him a flat out no. Harry was clear that he disapproved of how the ministry was operating and would not stand by it. Back at school, Harry filled me in on what happened but I was still unsure about Malfoy even though I reminded him that we had heard Malfoy mention Greyback at Borgin and Burkes."
"I suppose it could sound far-fetched but Reg joined at sixteen too," Sirius shrugged.
"Good point," Hermione allowed that. "In more romantic news, all was not well in the land of love. Ron was getting quite sick of his girlfriend especially when she gave him a necklace with the words 'My Sweetheart' and expected him to wear it. Ginny and Dean had a row over something, but it wasn't their first so things looked a bit rocky for them too."
"That last bit must've made Harry's day," James laughed knowing how uncharitable a teenager could be when it comes to his crush.
"Actually both pieces were good news. We were rather sick of Lavender too, she was quite annoying and all they ever did was snog in public."
"I can see why that would be uncomfortable," Remus grimaced.
"Harry also had another lesson with Dumbledore. There were two memories this time. The first was from Morfin, Voldemort uncle on his mother's side if you recall, Voldemort had gone to see him and discovered what happened to his family. Morfin's memory faded after retelling Merope's tale but soon after all three Riddles, Tom Riddle Sr. and his parents were found murdered by their maid. The muggles would blame the gardener Frank Bryce but with no identifiable cause of death he was released. The Ministry however knew that this was a magical murder and that a man who was convicted for attacking the same dead muggle lived nearby. That's right, Morfin was accused and they say he provided a full confession, knowing details only the murderer would and his wand proved to be the murder weapon but he didn't do it. At sixteen, Voldemort stunned his uncle, took his wand, went to the Riddles, killed his father and grandparents, transplanted memory in Morfin's mind, took Morfin's ring as a keepsake," to put it lightly Hermione tacked on in her head, "and left without anyone catching him."
"What in the name of Merlin…" James stuttered. "If he wasn't a bleeding murderous psychopath I might actually be impressed."
"Too bad the same couldn't be said for Slughorn. The next memory was from him but it was crudely modified to change what he'd said about Voldemort while he was in school and his response to Voldemort's question about Horcruxes." Only Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Sirius stiffened.
"He's just twisted enough to do it," Sirius murmured to himself.
"I have to agree with you Black," McGonagall shook herself a little.
"Anyone want to explain them to us?" James asked.
Hermione spoke before anyone else could, "Not right now James. Because the memory was incomplete, Dumbledore assigned Harry the task of getting from the Potions Master."
"That's not going to be easy," Lily said dubiously.
"His first try was the very next potions class. We were studying complex poisons but Harry couldn't figure it out and the Prince had no cheats to offer except to shove a bezoar down their throats so what did Harry do? He went and got a bezoar from the store cupboard and gave to Slughorn at the end of class. Slughorn ended up giving him points for sheer cheek."
"That boy has nerve," McGonagall grudgingly complemented.
"Why the hell didn't I think of that?" James muttered under his breath. "Mine damn near blew up in my face. Anyway," he said in normal tones, "how did it go with getting the memory from Slughorn?"
"An abysmal failure, Slughorn shot him down flat and for every class after that, he managed to dash out before Harry could catch him. Apparition lessons started and Harry overheard Draco telling Crabbe that something was taking longer than he expected and that Crabbe's job was just to stand guard and mind his own business."
"Oh I just know that kid is playing with fire," James's jaw worked a little.
"So Harry went to check the Marauders Map and it was Ron's birthday so he, Ron, thought that the box of chocolate cauldrons Harry had actually tossed in his search for the map was one of his presents, except it wasn't. They were the spiked ones Romilda gave Harry before Christmas. Ready for some nostalgia Remus?"
"Oh dear god…" Remus breathed out. "What happened to that poor innocent boy?"
"He believed he was head over heels in love with Romilda to the point where he actually punched Harry for not believing him."
"How…chivalrous?" Lily's lips quirked up.
"Very. But alas it was not meant to be, Harry immediately took him to see Slughorn with the excuse that she took extra potions lessons with him, bumping into Lavender along the way I might add -"
"HA! I bet she won't like that," Sirius cackled.
"Particularly when Ron basically pushed past her and declared that Harry was going to introduce him to Romilda."
"So this is love…" James sang in exaggerated sultry voice. Right on point, Lily, Hermione, and Remus, hummed the next notes.
"Muggle song mate," Remus said to Sirius who looked a little hurt at being left out.
"Man I hate being a pureblood," Sirius pouted.
"Really we couldn't tell," Hermione snorted. "Slughorn set him right and offered the boys some mead to toast for Ron's birthday. But the mead was poisoned, Ron drank his and collapsed to the floor. Luckily Harry remembered the bezoar and gave it to him, saving his life."
"Between the poison and the love potion, it'll be a miracle if Ron doesn't become another Moody," James said awestruck.
"He didn't. But he told me once that he was tempted to. Turned out the mead was meant for Dumbledore, Slughorn was supposed to give it to him as a Christmas gift but ended up keeping it. It was hard to figure out who was the target here, Slughorn or Dumbledore. Harry was inclined to believe Dumbledore but then again Slughorn did hold that valuable memory that Harry was meant to get. On our way back from the hospital wing, Hagrid told us that he had overheard Snape and Dumbledore arguing. Something about Snape not wanting to do it anymore, that Dumbledore took a lot for granted, and that he, Snape, was supposed investigating into Slytherin house."
"I don't know about the last bit," Sirius mulled over. "But maybe the mysterious 'it' is his role as double agent. It can't be easy going in between the two sides."
"We'll have to ask Peter about it," James grumbled.
"Harry did not have much time to dwell on it since McLaggen jumped on him the minute he came back. He was less concerned about Ron's health and more about replacing him as keeper in the upcoming match."
"Is now really a time for Quidditch?" James asked exasperatedly.
Lily nearly fell out of her seat, "Who are you and what have you done with my husband?"
"I am capable of being serious," James groused.
Sirius opened his mouth but then closed it, "Nah too easy. But how did the match go?"
"Not well. McLaggen annoyed Harry all week about how much better he'd be in the position of keeper but when it came time to play he didn't do his job. He was too busy telling everyone else what to do even going so far as to demonstrate to the beaters how to beat a bludger mid-game! Funnily enough, that same bludger ended up hitting Harry and cracking his skull. Needless to say, Gryffindor lost and Harry ended up in the hospital wing with Ron."
"THAT IDIOT!" the marauders roared.
"He cracked my son's skull open?!" Lily nearly growled. "Alright he's on my list; right after Umrbridge and Skeeter."
"Shouldn't Voldemort be on that list?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"He is, but we all know we're dealing with him first."
Hermione allowed herself a short laugh, "Back to the story, Harry was now in the hospital for the night and he thought about Malfoy. He'd seen him prior to the disastrous match with two girls going in the opposite direction. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the Slytherin was up to and that's when he decided to have Malfoy tailed. He summoned Kreacher, and Dobby came along, and told them to follow Malfoy with carefully worded instructions that made sure Kreacher could not tip off Draco."
"Is it just me or does Harry come up with stuff that are a cross between brilliant and downright crazy?" James asked mildly.
"He's YOUR son," Lily said by way of an answer.
"The next day, Luna gave Harry a message that he had another lesson with Dumbledore but when he got there he found Trelawney, clearly she was having an argument with the headmaster. She didn't much like enjoy having Firenze around and sharing classes with him so she threatened to leave. Of course Dumbledore couldn't allow that but neither could he make Firenze go back to the centaur herd since he was banished."
"That's a mess right there," Remus laughed once.
"Part and parcel with the position Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore sighed.
"Harry felt guilty for not getting the memory from Slughorn yet but they still two other memories to view. The first was from a house elf named Hokey, she worked for a witch named Hepzibah Smith. After leaving school, Tom Riddle had gone to work for Borgin and Burkes, his job was to persuade owners of valuable objects to sell and Smith was one of his clients. In that particular memory Tom visited and Ms. Smith showed him two of her most precious objects. The first was the cup originally belonging to Hufflepuff and the second was Slytherin's locket that she had purchased from Burke."
"That must have been a surprise for him," Sirius said lowly.
"This can't end well for Hepzibah," Lily shuddered.
"Hepzibah Smith died two days later," Hermione confirmed grimly. "Hokey was blamed for accidently poisoning her mistress's cocoa. She remembered putting something inside that turned out not be sugar but a little known poison."
"That doesn't make sense," James protested. "How could you possibly believe that someone could poison and sugar mixed up? What? Smith just happened to have a rare poison and sugar sitting next to each other?"
"That's the ministry approved explanation for it. Hokey was charged and besides the memory proved nothing but that Riddle knew about the cup and locket. The second memory featured Riddle and Dumbledore some years later. He had come to ask for the position of DADA professor at Hogwarts."
"You're kidding me! He wanted to be a teacher?" Remus's jaw dropped.
"That was what he originally wanted," Dumbledore answered for Hermione. "He actually asked for the post right out of school but Dippet said no because he was too young but he invited Tom to come back in a few years to try again. When he did, he was already deep into the dark arts and I refused him. Ever since that day, I've never been able to keep a teacher for longer than a year." The marauders and Lily were all silent for moment following this pronouncement; their entire world had been redefined in a single second. How much had Voldemort really had a hand in?
Finally Hermione broke in, "The next night Harry, Ron and I sat around by the fire to discuss it when Kreacher and Dobby showed up to give their reports. According to Dobby, Malfoy had been doing nothing out of the ordinary except making regular trips to the sixth floor with different people each time. That's when it hit Harry – the Room of Requirement! Whatever Malfoy was doing it was in there and the 'variety of people' were actually just Crabbe and Goyle polyjuiced to look like different people and stand guard while he was in there. Harry tried to get in there for himself but he couldn't. During one attempt, he ran into Tonks who was on her way to see Dumbledore about some rumours she'd heard."
"I wonder what's eating my cousin," Sirius thought aloud.
"You'll see," Hermione smiled softly. "Aside from figuring out what Draco was doing, Harry had renewed his attempts to get the memory from Slughorn. While Ron and I were taking our Apparition tests, Harry tried the old method of impressing Slughorn with his Euphoria potion but that didn't work because the Potions Master still took off before he could corner him. When we returned, Ron had failed his test by half an eyebrow and I passed, I was the one who suggested using the lucky potion so he tried it. It worked like a dream, it led Harry to Hagrid who had owled us earlier to tell us that Aragog the spider had passed away."
"Should I be sad?" Remus raised an eyebrow.
"I'd go with that," Hermione gave him a look. "On the way, Harry met with Slughorn and convinced him to come along. Slughorn was a bit more interested in the Acromantula venom but nonetheless, he came along with wine to toast Aragog's memory. Harry kept refilling the wine bottles surreptitiously and so the others became drunk. Hagrid passed out and Harry managed to wheedle the memory from Slughorn before he, Slughorn, fell asleep too. Harry found out that Dumbledore was still up so he went immediately to the headmaster to show him. In the memory, Riddle asks Slughorn about Horcruxes which are objects that contain pieces of the owner's soul and essentially stop the person from dying. Riddle wanted to know in particular what would happen if you made more than one, he specifically cited the number seven as it is the most powerful magical number."
"Are you trying to tell me that he was interested in splitting his soul seven times?!" Lily nearly screeched.
"Not just interested Lily," Hermione stared at the woman meaningfully until she understood.
"That's how he survived the rebounding curse," the redhead muttered. "He's split his soul."
"I'm not sure about now," said Hermione. "But by the time Halloween rolls around, he'd have five out of the six horcruxes made."
"What are they?" Sirius asked. "It's not like we can account for every object he's ever possessed."
"Well thankfully Voldemort is a bit grandiose is his choosing. He liked objects that made him feel bigger and better than everyone or else highlighted his power and – ahem – blood purity. This first thing was the diary, it was the only proof that he was the heir of Slytherin."
"So in that vein I'm guessing the next thing would be his mother's necklace that he stole Hepzibah," Remus supposed.
"Correct, then there was a ring, that Marvolo had gotten from his father that had the Peverell coat of arms on it. Remember the day Tom came to see him, he'd lost some time after he'd blacked out."
"Some keepsake Mya," Sirius recalled her earlier description.
"Okay that's three," James said evasively, not wanting to bring up the other events of that memory.
Hermione continued, "Then there was the cup of Hufflepuff also in Smith's possession. Voldemort has an affinity to objects belonging to the founders which means that there's a relic either belonging to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw as well."
"And you won't be telling us," James inserted.
"Not yet anyway, the final one at the time was his snake Nagini. At least that's one you don't t have to worry about. This made six and the final piece lay in Voldemort's regenerated body."
"So technically he completed his goal assuming he got something belonging to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw," Lily added.
"That was the idea. As you know Harry destroyed the diary and Dumbledore had found the ring in the Gaunt's abandoned cottage and destroyed that one himself, injuring his hand in the process. The headmaster had also managed to find another possible location for one and promised to bring Harry along when he went after it."
"Is that wise?" James questioned.
"It turned out to be for the best," Hermione replied, if not then we wouldn't have known about Malfoy sneaking the death eaters into the castle, plus Dumbledore would've died in that cave. "The next day was filled with heartbreak. As a result of Harry excursion, two couples had broken up that night. The first was Ron and Lavender because Harry happened to be under the invisibility cloak as we were leaving the boys' dormitory and so she thought we, me and Ron, were there alone. The second was Ginny and Dean because Harry had accidentally brushed them on the way through the portrait hole causing Ginny to think that Dean was trying to help her through again which he did a lot and she had always found highly irritating."
"Does Ginny know the truth?" Remus queried.
"I made him suck it up and tell her a little while later. She wasn't impressed but there had been other issues with her relationship with Dean too and she was a lot happier with Harry so she let it go."
"Why would you break up over that?" James said perplexed. "I mean the bloke was only being nice."
"Sweetheart its only nice once in a while," Lily explained. "If you had done it every single time I went through the portrait hole I would gotten annoyed too. It's a little patronizing."
Hermione still thought that bit was a little petty but had to admit that would get old really fast, "Katie also returned but she had no memory of what happened after going into the bathroom. Harry decided to check on Malfoy with the Marauders Map and saw that he was in the bathroom with Moaning Myrtle. He went to eavesdrop and overheard Malfoy crying, he was scared, clearly Voldemort had threatened his family."
"Oh that poor boy," Lily frowned. "I know he's been an idiot but being in the Dark Lord's service is not meant for a teenaged child. The pressure, the fear, it gets to even the strongest of men."
"I don't know my sympathy was limited especially after what happened next. Harry confronted Malfoy and it turned into a duel. Malfoy was going to use an Unforgiveable on Harry but he managed to fire back with a spell, Sectumsempra, which he had found in the Half-Blood Prince book but didn't know what it did. It caused large gashes to appear on Malfoy's chest, like cuts only deeper and bigger."
"Wait a second," James said softly running a hand down the side of his face and neck. "You don't think…" he looked at his friends.
"It definitely sounds like it," Sirius instinctively held his upper arm while Remus had an odd expression on his face.
Lily realized what they were talking about, "Oh no!" she said in hushed tones.
Hermione just kept talking, "Snape appeared and healed Malfoy on spot. Then he demanded to know where Harry had learned that spell from and, when he couldn't get an answer, demanded to see his potions book."
"So he knew," Remus settled. "That must mean he's the prince. Why else would he ask for the potion book?"
"Harry didn't consider that but ran back to the tower to take Ron's book while hiding his in the Room of Requirement. Snape didn't buy it obviously and gave Harry detention for a month and that included the Quidditch Final."
James let his entire head roll, "If he's not in the hospital wing, the match is cancelled. If the match isn't cancelled, the entire Quidditch season is cancelled. If the entire Quidditch season hasn't been cancelled, he's been given a lifetime ban. And now, if none of that is happening, he gets detention. Seriously what's next?"
He drops out of school, Hermione silently answered. "At least he got to play in third year to win Gryffindor the cup in the first place. Anyway with Katie back, Ginny could take up the position of seeker one more time and Dean stayed on as replacement chaser. Harry was made to rewrite old detention cards, Snape chose boxes specifically with the Marauders' exploits in them."
"I suppose you're going to go off on us again?" James looked at his wife.
Lily sniffed, "Well I imagine you must've given him at least a hundred cards to write."
Not wanting to acknowledge the veracity of that statement James turned back Mya, "So how did the match go?"
"Come on it's us," Hermione giggled. "Of course we won again but it was your son who stole the show." She looked down at the baby in her lap who smiled at her as if he knew what was coming.
"How?" asked Lily.
"He and Ginny shared their first kiss in front of the entire common room," Hermione grinned brightly. "And don't worry James I'm fairly sure he did well, a lot of girls had to fan themselves. During AND after."
"Well done Prongslet," Sirius cheered.
"Atta boy Harry, that's living up to your family," James smirked wickedly.
"Too bad for Romilda, she must've been heartbroken," Remus faux-moaned.
"Heartbroken? HA!" Hermione couldn't think of anything farther from it. "She was constantly trying to plumb Ginny for information on Harry. Especially in the dorms, it was ridiculous but Gin held up pretty well. Also, it's interesting you guys came up with your own Prince theory because I had one too. I did some digging and discovered a former student named Eileen Prince who was incredible at Potions."
"That's his mother," Lily nodded. "His parents fought a lot so Sev never let me come to the house but I did meet her on the train platform and when she'd occasionally come out in the summer. Snape was always very proud of his mother's abilities, claimed no matter how good he was, she would always be better."
"How come you didn't recognize the nickname?" Sirius asked.
Lily shrugged, "I can't be sure but if that book was meant for NEWT potions then Sev and I had already stopped talking by the time he came up with it. I know for a fact he wasn't using it before."
"Well we didn't know that she was his mother at the time, I thought she was the prince but Harry didn't. Then Harry got a message to meet Dumbledore, it was time to go after the next Horcrux. Harry ran to meet him and saw Trelawney, she had gone to use the Room of Requirement when someone forced her out, apparently they were very happy until they realised there was someone else present."
"She managed to find Malfoy," James's mouth twisted. "And if he's happy, his pet project must be going well."
"That's not all," Hermione shook her head. "I know you guys already understand that you shouldn't jump to conclusions and really hope you don't but this will be bad." Everyone shifted uneasily. Hermione bit her lip, "Harry also heard the full story from Trelawney about the she was hired which of course was also the day she made the prophecy. It was Snape who overheard it and told Voldemort which led him to go after you guys on Halloween."
"Did he know?" Lily asked through gritted teeth. "Did he know that it was us?"
Hermione felt happy she could at least say this much in Snape's defence for now, "No he didn't know. He didn't hear the entire prophecy either which is why they were after it in fifth year."
"And you gave him a job," James looked not at Hermione but Dumbledore. "You placed a confirmed death eater, a man that brought about the deaths of my family and who knows else, in charge of children. Then to make things better, all you do is claim that you trusted him without providing a single reason. How could you…"
"Mr. Potter I realise this news is upsetting but I will not stand being accused of placing my students in danger," Dumbledore said with a cold tone.
James went to argue but Lily laid a hand on his arm, "James don't."
"That's not true James," Hermione said emphatically. "Dumbledore did reveal his reasoning…in part. Snape felt sorry for what happened to you and Lily that night, like I said he had no idea Voldemort would target you." Mya so desperately wanted to elaborate but that was all she could say.
Remus laughed a little hysterically, "With all due respect Professor, I doubt very much that Snape would feel sorry that James was dead, Lily maybe but according to the ideologies of the people he associates with…" That made Lily wonder, how would Snape feel if she died in the war? Would he even care?
Sirius, who had been uncharacteristically silent up until this point, spoke up, "How long till we find out Snape's story Mya?"
"Tomorrow," Hermione replied. "You've been awfully quiet."
"I was in Snape's position a little while ago," Sirius muttered and everyone froze. "I'm not defending the man but I was accused of bringing about my friends' deaths and I did in a way however unintentional it was." They were all stunned into silence; Sirius was the last person they expected sympathy for Snape from.
"Wow," Mya said under her breath. Sirius had really surprised her; she felt her admiration for the man rise. Louder she called, "If no one else has anything they want to say…" but really who could follow up that pronouncement. "Alright then, I'll just continue. With his concerns about Snape temporarily quelled, Dumbledore sent Harry to fetch his invisibility cloak and meet him in the entrance hall. When Harry got back to the dorm, he gave me and Ron his lucky potion and warned us about Malfoy and whatever he had planned. Then he came back to Dumbledore who led him into Hogsmeade so that they could apparate."
"I'm not going to like this field trip am I?" James's mouth twisted.
"Nobody did," Hermione shook her head. "Harry and Dumbledore reappeared on a rock near a sheer cliff and the sea all around them. According to Dumbledore, there was village nearby that the orphanage would take the kids to on day trips but during one excursion young Tom Riddle led two others away from the group and whatever they did, the two were never the same again. It was high tide so they had to swim a little to get into a cave. Dumbledore managed to pick up on the magic and discerned that blood was required to gain entry into the inner sanctum so to speak where the Horcrux was supposed to be housed."
"Not actually an uncommon idea that," Sirius commented. "It's old yes, but very popular especially in previous centuries as a way of proving your identity which tended to mean more often than not whether you were of magical descent."
"I can see why Voldemort liked it," Lily put mildly.
"Inside was a huge lake that had something green glowing in the middle. Dumbledore again managed to locate a boat that was able to ferry them to a stone island with basin filled with a strange green potion. Dumbledore drank it but was unable to complete it himself, forcing Harry to make him drink the whole thing and at the bottom was a locket. Unfortunately there was no victory here, the potion caused Dumbledore to become delirious and Harry couldn't fill the goblet they had used with water for some reason so he had to take from the lake and that's when the Inferi rose and began to attack." Hermione looked down at the baby in her lap, tousling his hair just remind her where she was and they were safe…for now. Her audience hung onto every word, "The entire lake was filled with them and they almost got Harry when Dumbledore seemed to regain his senses and created a ring of fire around them that repelled the creatures. Harry got a cut so he paid the blood tribute and got them out of there as quickly as possible."
"Thank god that's over," Lily leaned on James.
"Our problems weren't done yet," Hermione reminded the woman. "When they came back to Hogsmeade, Dumbledore was still very weak and requested Snape to come help him but Harry did not want to leave him alone in his condition. Then Rosmerta came running out and that's when they saw the Dark Mark had been cast over the astronomy tower." This was met with a number of gasps but no one said anything. "Rosmerta lent them some brooms and they flew straight to the tower where they were ambushed by none other than Malfoy. Harry was under his cloak and Dumbledore had petrified him so he couldn't do anything but that also met that Dumbledore couldn't protect himself from Malfoy disarming him. Draco revealed that he had mended the Vanishing Cabinet Nick had broken all those years ago to help Harry get away from Filch. There was another one in Borgin and Burkes and that established a passage through which the death eaters came through. More than that, Draco had imperioused Rosmerta into sending the poisoned mead and passing the necklace to Katie in the washroom. Dumbledore tried everything to stall Draco and convince him to come over to the good side but just when he might of done it, more Death Eaters arrived. Alecto and Amycus Carrow and Fenrir Greyback all came up but Draco still could kill him. Snape appeared, there was some kind of moment between the two of them, then Snape killed Dumbledore, blasting him clean off the tower."
There was an immediate uproar from everyone except Dumbledore and Hermione but the mingling shouts and loud expletives scared the baby in the room and he began to cry. This effectively stopped the adults' raving and Lily took her child, rocking him gently to calm him down. McGonagall was clearly working to remain calm, "Unbelievable, to do something so horrid. After all the trust you put in him!"
Remus paced around, "Ok I get he needed to maintain his cover in front of the death eaters but did he really have to kill?! I mean couldn't he have done a silent stunner or something?"
"But there's still the fall," James pointed out. "Snape arrived last, he was behind them. He could have taken them without anyone realising it was him."
"Do you think it's the Vow?" Lily asked quietly over Harry's head.
"If he vowed to help Draco and Draco's mission was to get rid of Dumbledore, then I suppose that could be one reason," Sirius allowed.
Lily suddenly realized something, "Oh Professor I'm so sorry, we're sitting here discussing your death. And you -"
"Think nothing of it Ms. Evans," Dumbledore said heavily. "Your theories are interesting and necessary for the cause because we must understand the motivations and circumstances in order to change the events accordingly. Besides it means more to me that Harry and I were successful in our mission and are one step closer to ending Voldemort's reign."
"You're so focused on the effort," Sirius said. "Aren't you the least bit concerned with the fact that you've just been murdered?"
"I have lived a long life Mr. Black," Dumbledore responded. "True I have accomplished more than most but that does not make me more than an ordinary man. Far from being a martyr, I find myself oddly at peace with my quick and painless exit. We need not dwell on it, please go on Ms. Granger."
"There had been battle go on below the entire time the others were at the top. Snape and the rest of the death eaters fled and Harry was now free of his body bind so he went after them. He chased them through the battle, out on to the grounds. Harry and Snape duelled and it was then that Snape revealed he was the Half-Blood Prince before running off to apparate beyond the gates. Hagrid's hut was set on fire as a distraction and Harry helped Hagrid put it out. They went back to castle and saw everyone grouped around the body of Professor Dumbledore, the locket had fallen from his pocket. It was fake, the locket had a note inside saying that someone else had figured out Voldemort's secret and had stolen the real locket with the intention of destroying it. It was signed R.A.B." Sirius's head lifted slowly, staring unseeingly, no… "Ginny took him to the hospital wing. A death eater had died in the fight but no one else although there were some injuries. The worst off was Bill, he'd been attacked by Greyback even though the full moon hadn't risen. It was then everyone was told that Dumbledore had died and how it happened. As far as the death eater attack went, we checked the map and couldn't find Malfoy so Ron, Ginny, and Neville staked out the Room of Requirement when Malfoy came out and threw something into the air. Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, one of Fred and George's products. Malfoy had his Hand of Glory to guide him and the death eaters but the others had to grope until they escaped and met some Order members on patrol. They caught up with them at the Astronomy Tower and the fight broke out. One sent the Dark Mark but then came back to the fight, then Malfoy went ahead to meet Dumbledore. Not long after that, the other Death Eaters went up and blocked the stairs so no one could follow but Snape managed to get through with no problem. See while this was happening Luna and I were by Snape's office when Flitwick came screaming about Death Eaters. He went into the office and then Snape came out saying Flitwick had passed out and we were to go help him while he went to fight the intruders and you know what happened next." She glanced at the page in front of her and saw what came next.
"Um Mya…" James's tone clearly questioned her sanity. "Why are you are smiling?"
"There's always a bit more time for some romance," Hermione grinned. "Fleur burst into the ward with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and became very annoyed at the insinuation that she might not want to marry Bill because of his scars. She was fierce that she still loved him regardless of what he looked like finally earning her future mother in-law's respect."
"Bill is lucky man," Remus half-smiled.
"He isn't the only one," Hermione bit the inside of her lip. "Tonks had been trying to be with you all year long."
"REMUS!" Sirius cried. "And you call ME the dog."
"Slow down Sirius," Hermione giggled. "I should put a lot emphasis on TRYING. She really loved him, her patronus actually changed to a wolf but Remus was stubborn on the matter. He claimed he was too poor, too old, and too dangerous for her and refused to entertain any kind of romantic relationship whatsoever hence why -"
"Hence why she was so upset," Lily finished for her. She glared at Remus, "You find a woman who genuinely wants you and loves you and you push her away?!"
"She could do better…" Remus trailed off feebly under the four - don't forget McGonagall - intense dirty looks he was getting. Out of nowhere Sirius hit him upside the head, "OW! What was that for?"
"That was for hurting my cousin," Sirius answered curtly. "And that -" he added another hit, "was for being an absolute idiot."
"I haven't done anything yet," Remus protested.
"Call it an advance warning," Sirius shrugged.
"We'll be having a word with you later anyway Mr. Lupin," James swore.
"I'm still innocent," Remus mumbled quietly.
Hermione chuckled, "Of course you are Remus. So Professor, now Headmistress, McGonagall took Harry to her new office to discuss what happened when they had left the school together but Harry wouldn't tell her. The Heads arrived, with Slughorn acting as Head of Slytherin, they discussed funeral arrangements for Dumbledore and they agreed to have him buried at Hogwarts. Harry argued to let the students stay and pay their respects, which was allowed but then the minister arrived and Harry went back to the tower before he had to deal with him too. Most of the students stayed for the funeral while wizards from everywhere came to attend. I found out about Eileen Prince being Snape's mother but got nothing on whoever R.A.B. could be. The funeral was beautiful, people from all walks of life, including the dead as the ghosts were in attendance, were there. Unfortunately for Harry, it also meant the end of his relationship with Ginny. He couldn't risk her safety when things were so uncertain. Harry went for a walk when Scrimgeour approached him again but he shot the Minister quickly. Ron and I went to talk to him and he told he wasn't coming back next year and we promised to stay with him. And that's how our sixth year ended." Hermione shut the folder wearily.