Chapter 36 – Together

I heard loud wailing after a few minutes. I had no clue how long I stared at Dumbledore's body. When I heard the loud cry, I turned my attention the moaner. It was Hagrid. Harry was next to him. Harry slowly walked over to Dumbledore, closed his eyes, straightened his glasses and put a hand on his, as if seeking comfort. I saw him take out something from Dumbledore's hand. I assumed it looked like a locket. He opened it and pulled out a small piece of parchment. After reading it, he put it back in the locket and put the locket in his pocket. He continued looking at Dumbledore. I wondered what he was thinking.

The others present there, sent out little orbs of light into the sky. It was a sign of respect and admiration everybody had for Dumbledore. Only then I realised that I my abdominal wound was bleeding again. It must have started again when Prof. Snape threw me into a wall. That's why everyone was asking me if I was alright. Makes sense now. I placed my hand on the wound to put some pressure on it.

Some of the teachers were making attempts to make Harry leave. During one of her attempts, Prof. McGonagall saw me. I don't know what she said to Harry but he immediately looked in my direction. He looked shocked. He walked over to me and knelt down near me so he was looking straight at me.

"Let's go to the infirmary." Harry said sternly. But I could sense some hurt in his voice as well.

"It's okay, we can be here a little while longer." I insisted. I needed him to wake up. He said he would protect Draco. I didn't want to believe he was truly gone.

"You're bleeding a lot. Please, let's go." He took hold of my hand and tugged on me gently.

I got up. Once again, I was reminded of the effects of the fight. Every step hurt.

"How come you got hurt?" Harry asked me.

"I got distracted. But then maybe I should have taken that potion." I tried to giggle but it hurt.

"What? Why didn't you? You could have gotten hurt." He shouted.

"Not so loud please! Well, I was about to have some of it but when a drop touched my lips, I stopped myself from having it. We were six of us, I didn't think it would be enough."

He left my hand and put an arm around me, "You are crazy."

"Thanks but could you not squeeze me because I got thrown into a wall as well and everything in my body hurts right now."

He loosened his grip. He looked serious again, "Did someone die?"

"Not that I know of. But we all were pretty tired by the time, I went to check on H and Luna."

"Where were -"

Harry was about to ask me something when we reached the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey came rushing over to me. My brothers were behind her.

"Young lady, you should have come here immediately." Madam Pomfrey looked angry. "That may leave a scar now."

"A scar is not much of a problem as long as you stop the bleeding. Also please check for head injuries," I told her.

She pointed to the nearest bed but I took the bed next to the crowded bed. She started healing me. Mike, Will and Andy looked pretty stressed out about me being hurt. Mike had a bandage on his right calf muscles. Will and Andy both had scratches and cuts but nothing serious. I, finally, saw that the occupant next to me was Bill Weasley. Neville was on a bed on the other side.

Madam Pomfrey did her work and gave me some bitter tasting potion. The talk started with Dumbledore's death. Soon after, the talk turned to the battle. Everything was recounted for Harry. Harry told us what happened on the tower. Draco was supposed to kill Dumbledore. That was the task Voldemort gave a seventeen year old. What the hell is he thinking? What shocked me most was Prof. Snape killing Dumbledore! I guess he's not going to be teaching anymore, ah! But something struck me odd. Even as Harry said it, it sounded odd. Prof. Snape in a strange way saved me.

When I spoke to Dumbledore on Christmas about Draco, he told me that he and Prof. Snape would protect Draco. Then I remembered the Unbreakable Vow. Mrs. Malfoy made it with Prof. Snape to protect Draco. I'm guessing one of the vows must have been that Prof. Snape must perform the task himself. Dumbledore knew about the vow. So, he was aware that Prof. Snape was going to betray him? He still went along with it? This doesn't make sense. Why would anyone be okay with being killed? I don't think anyone will be okay with that.

My head began to hurt. Prof. McGonagall walked in, well, I guess, she's the headmistress now. She asked Harry what he and Dumbledore were doing? As expected, Harry did not answer. Between all this talking, we all heard a sad… I didn't know what to call it. It was a cry or a song…I didn't know.

"It's a Phoenix's Lament." Mike answered my unasked question.

Made sense. Dumbledore had a Phoenix named Fawkes. It was sad but it made me feel better. It was like, Fawkes was doing all the grieving for me. It was as if a burden was being lifted from my heart. The comfortable silence in infirmary was broken by the entrance of my parents, Ron's parents and Fleur Delacour.

Mrs. Weasley started crying when she saw Bill. Fleur kept staring quietly. My Father and Mr. Weasley looked at Prof. Lupin with questions.

"What does this mean for Bill and Mike?" My father asked.

"I am not sure, but there maybe some contamination. Mike will be okay. His wounds were not as deep as Bill's. They both may exhibit some wolf characteristics from now on. I don't think they will turn." Prof. Lupin explained doubtfully.

My mother looked at me cautiously. Scrutinising me from head to toe, taking a measure of my injuries. After Madam Pomfrey explained what she had done with Bill, she came over to my bed and explained what she had done for me, to my mother. I could tell that she was a little scared.

"Mom, I'm fine. You don't have to be so scared." I told her. She threw her arms at me as tears started falling from her eyes. "OUCH! Mom, not so hard! I'm still in pain."

"Oh, sorry, honey!" she loosened her grip on me.

My father by then hugged my brothers and then got to me. He hugged over my mother.

"Can't… breath!" I told them. They, reluctantly, let go off me.

Suddenly, we hear a loud accented voice and turn towards Bill's bed, "You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps you 'oped?" Fleur said in anger. "What do I care how 'e looks? I'm 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 snatched the ointment from Mrs. Weasley and started dabbing it on Bill's face.

Everyone was quiet. Suddenly, Mrs. Weasley said something about borrowing a goblin made tiara from their Aunt Muriel, and both Fleur and Mrs. Weasley hugged each other and cried.

This exchange shocked everyone who knew about the tension in between the soon to be mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.

"See!" Tonks said with suppressed anger. "She wants to be with him even though he's bitten."

"It's different!" Lupin replied.

Suddenly my eyes began to droop. No, no, no, no, no… I don't want to lose conscious now. I want to know where this is going. No matter how much I tried I couldn't keep my eyes open for long.

"It's ok, sweetheart. Go to sleep. Everyone is safe." Mom coaxed me.

Yes, only for now. And my vision was enveloped in black.

While I was in the infirmary, Harry, Ron and Hermione visited me as often as they could. Ginny went straight to Bill's bed as soon as the four of them would walk through the doors. The classes were cancelled and the exams postponed. Some of the students were take back home by their parents while some fought to stay till the funeral. They updated me on everything I had missed. The locket that Harry and Dumbledore found turned out to be fake. 'R.A.B' had stolen it from there. He took it with the intension of destroying it.

We were the only ones who knew that the original one is gone. We found the locket in Grimmauld Place. Ron destroyed it with a basilisk fang in the Chamber of Secrets. That means R.A.B is Regalus Black, though we don't know his middle name. Though one of the Horcruxes was gone, Harry was not cheered by this. Because this one cost him.

"Harry, it's fine." I try to push some of the guilt away.

"It's not. If I had - "

"There was no one way to find out if the horcrux in the cave was a fake one or real one, unless you went in." I cut Harry before he can complete his sentence.

"Nat is right," H puts a hand on his shoulder and rubs the area gently in circles.

"Besides there is no use lamenting it now." Ron said with a straight face.

We all are shocked by the serious tone.

"Yup, the only thing we can do now is move forward and find the others and destroy the rest of them." H broke the silence.

Harry nodded grimly but didn't say anything else.

Every vacant moment, I kept thinking about Draco. I kept wondering what sort of 'mission' would Voldemort give Draco now. What did he do to him when he found out Draco was not the one who killed Dumbledore? I just want him to be alive. As long as he is alive, there is hope. I worried about Draco a lot but I couldn't tell anyone. I think even my family is slowly starting to lose faith in him. If I want all this to end then I will have to help Harry end it.

There's a small part of me that wants to stay away from Harry for a while. But the bigger part in me told me to 'suck it up and deal with it later.' I kept going back to the conversation I had with Draco before the death eaters' attack. I kissed him and he kissed me back. Minutes later, Harry kissed me. What was that about? Isn't he supposed to kiss his girlfriend Ginny for good luck? Honestly though, I liked it. Yes, I've been angry with Harry all this time but it's not like the feelings went away. I was losing them slowly but then he kissed me and ignited something in me. But that night the way I felt for Draco, I can't explain it. Would I have run away with him had said yes? Yes. For Draco, yes. Best friends do that for best friends.

I was discharged the day before Dumbledore's funeral. Harry came to walk along with me. When I eyed him suspiciously, he said, "They are waiting in the common room."

We walked in silence for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say to him.

"How do you feel?" Harry asked.

I smile a little, "I feel good now." I can't stop myself anymore, "Harry, why did you kiss me?"

He was not expecting that, "Ahhh…"

"You must have figured this would come up, right?

"Yes. Honestly, I don't know. I saw you and I couldn't stop myself. For a moment, I forgot we were broken up. Old habits, die hard."

"Wow." I wanted to be disappointed by the answer but somehow I wasn't.

He held my fingers gently, "You have to know that I still have feelings for you but I have feelings for her as well. I don't know why. I thought I had all of this under control but… clearly I don't."

I understood how he felt because for the first I felt somewhat similar. I've always loved Draco in a platonic way but just for that one moment when we kissed, I felt something more. I've had a crush on Harry ever since I can remember.

"It's okay, Harry. We don't have to decide anything now. Right now, there are more important things to deal with. When we get back to happier times in our lives, we can decide what we want. For now, our path is set."

He looked at me with shock, slowly it smoothened out into a smile. "You are right."

"Yup! Let's go finish the rest of them and end this." I say with renewed determination.

My hand is pulled back. When I turn back, I see that Harry had stopped walking and since my hand was still in his, I felt the tug. He was looking down on the stone floor.

"What is it?"

"About that… I will do it myself. I don't want to endanger any of you. I have to do this myself." There was a strain in his voice like he was forcing himself to say it.

"Oh Harry!" I moved close to him. He looked at me. I put my arms around him, "Do you really think we'd let you do this alone?" He put his arms around me, both of us seeking comfort.

When we went to the common room, Ginny kissed Harry and went to her dorm stating that she needed to sleep. The four of us sat down in our usual seats. H revealed to us that Half Blood Prince was indeed Severus Snape. Prof. Snape's mother was a witch and his father was a muggle. At the information, Harry got angry.

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to hate or be angry with Prof. Snape. I can't help suspecting that he killed Dumbledore to save Draco. 'Killing someone is a very difficult thing to do. Not everyone can do it. Killing someone changes something in you.' My mother once told me. If Draco had killed Dumbledore he would have changed forever. The way I see it Prof. Snape saved Draco's soul. Maybe this is the reason why I can't stop calling Prof. Snape, Professor Snape.

After chatting for a short while more, H and I went back to our dorm.

"H, I don't want to sleep yet."

"I feel the same way."

"So, Harry wants to go on the search all by himself." I started.

She snorted, "I figured, he may say something like that."

"I told him that's not going to happen though."

"I'm sure he is still thinking it." H pointed out.

I nodded. Silence followed after that, neither knew how to move ahead.

"I heard Hogsmeade is filled up with people coming in from everywhere." H stated. "Guess, everyone wants to pay their respects." I could tell she was avoided saying Dumbledore's name.

"Yes. You could love him or hate him but people sure respected him. That's the reason why Voldemort chose someone else to do the job for him." I said bitterly. "Someone against whom he was sure Dumbledore wouldn't fight against." He is going to pay for all of his sins.

"You've not heard from him?"

I shook my head. "It would be foolish of him to contact me now. I'm sure he is being watched."

"Tomorrow is going to be difficult." H whispered sorrowfully.

"I feel tomorrow is going to be easier than the days that will follow." H's eyes widened. "I mean after tomorrow we don't know how everything is going to change. Dumbledore is the epitome of liberal thinking in our world and now with no one left to oppose the orthodox shits, who knows what will become of the wizarding world now."

"I didn't think about all this. I told myself I will think of the consequences after the funeral." She fisted her fingers. I put a hand on one of hers.

"I wouldn't have either, if Draco hadn't pointed out that this was the beginning of the war." I told her. Something had been bothering me for a short while so I decided to ask her. "By the way, H, what are you going to tell your parents? How are you going to keep them away from this?"

She bit her lip in nervousness, "I've not thought that yet."

"Come on, I'm not dumb enough to believe that. I'm sure you have some plan in place."

"I've not finalised the plan but I'm thinking of using a memory cha-"

"Are you mad!" I half yelled at her. I didn't even let her finish. "Why on earth is it so difficult for you to ask for help?"

"Like I said I'm not sure but this seems like a good idea. I can get them to move somewhere safe. I can go back and change it back after all this is over." She has tears in her eyes.

"You don't have to do everything on your own, you know! No one will think you are weak if you ask for help."

"Then what do you suggest I do?" She screamed and cried.

I put my hand around her shoulder and hugged her, "there there." I consoled her. "There is something I can do."

She looked at me with teary eyes and asked, "What?"

"During times like these, we hide our close muggle or squib relatives in a mansion on a secret location. Very few people in the family know the location of this mansion. And it is connected through just one of the fireplaces at my grandparents' place. The mansion is equipped with everything necessary."

"What?" This time she asked in surprise.

"So I can get my grandparents to let your parents stay there until the war is over. All you have to do is convince them."

"Are you serious?"

"Would I joke about something like this?"

She wiped her face quickly, "This means I wont have to cast a spell on my parents without their permission?"

"Ya." She hugged me in relief.

The rest of the night we spent taking about all the things we'd need on the hunt for horcruxes. We figured we'd have to leave without a moment's notice so we needed to be prepared.

Dumbledore's funeral was held on a beautiful sunny morning. The weather was so good, I wanted to smile to acknowledge it but we were all there for a sombre occasion. So, I bit back my smile. I wanted to sit with Mike. My eldest brother knows how to console me in situations like this. It's not like I'm crying already but he knows me. I need something familiar in a time like this. But alas, all the students were to be seated as per their houses.

Once everyone had settled down, some weird kind of music began that scared me a little. Everyone turned towards the lake, we saw the Merpeople sing in their strange language. Hagrid came out carrying Dumbledore's body wrapped in a purple velvet cloth, which had stars on it. A small smile escaped because wrapping cloth seemed perfect for him. Hagrid looked like he hadn't stopped crying since that night. He left the body on the table and went right at the back and he sat next to Grawp, his stepbrother.

Some man I didn't know said some things I didn't pay attention to. I know I'm supposed to but funeral talk makes me sad. Instead, I looked at the body on the table, wondering how many of us were going to be dead by the end of this. I shook my head out of such thoughts and looked at the backs of the heads of the people in front of me. I wondered how many people were actually sad.

After the man finished talking, Dumbledore's body burst into white flames and all sorts of weird shapes formed, some of us gasped at the sight. The flames vanished as soon as they appeared. When the flames vanished they was a white marble tomb encasing Dumbledore's body and the table it was resting on.

A shower of arrows fell from the sky and landed in the gap between the tomb and the people. There were loud gasps from people in the front. Calculating the trajectory, I looked towards the forest and saw the last of the centaurs gallop back into the depths of the forest. The Merpeople also sank back into the lack. These magical creatures seemed to be moaning more genuinely then us humans.

Seeing the tomb brought a sting to my eyes. H and Ginny were crying. I wanted to cry but I couldn't. If I cry, all this will be too real. No matter how much I tried, a few tears escaped. Harry was talking to Ginny and it looked like a serious talk from Harry's expression. H was in Ron's arms crying and Ron was crying a little too. Now, everyone was talking and moving around. I looked down at my hands. Was there anything I could have done to prevent it all? I don't think so. But a small voice said 'Maybe.'

"Hey." I felt someone sit next to me and take me in their arms. "How are you holding up?"

It was my brother, Mike. His voice was my undoing. I started sobbing into his chest. "I miss him." I whispered.

He placed his chin on my head gently, "I know." He understood whom I'm talking about.

"Will he come back?"

"I dunno. Maybe." he placed a gentle kiss on my forehead.

I pulled back. I nodded at him. Telling him silently 'I'm okay now.' I saw Ron and H waiting for me. Harry was nowhere to be found.

"I've to go now, Mike."

He understood, "I know. But if you need anything, you know we all are here."

I smiled at him, not my usual big one but a small one and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Big bro!" I walked up to where H and Ron were waiting. "Where's Harry?" I wondered if he slipped out already.

Ron pointed to somewhere near the lake. I saw Harry talking with Scrimgeour. We slowly walked over to where they were walking, knowing that Harry wouldn't mind if we heard their conversation. Scrimgeour started walking away from Harry in anger. When we caught up with Harry, H asked him what Scrimgeour wanted.

"Same. Wants me to be their poster boy, blah blah…"

"Let me go hit Percy," Ron said.

H caught him and said, "No. It's not necessary."

"It'll make me feel better." Ron said and we all let out small smiles.

H sighed, "Can't believe that the school may not reopen after the vacation."

"Maybe that won't happen." Ron added.

"I still think Hogwarts is way safer than any other place." I said. "It's not like the magic around Hogwarts failed."

"Whether or not it's reopening, I'm not coming back." Harry said seriously.

Ron gaped at him. I bit my lip and H sighed, "I knew you were going to say that. But what will you do?"

Harry explained he would go to the Dursleys' for a short while and then go to Godric's Hollow because he felt like he should visit his parent's graves. After that he would go on the hunt for the Horcruxes.

"Harry, we'll be there." Ron spoke for all of us.

"What?"

"When you go to the Dursleys'." Ron said.

I took Harry's hand and smiled, "When you visit your parents."

"And on the hunt for the remaining horcruxes." H finished.

Harry looked shocked. "What? No no no no no… no… no. I don't want you guys getting hurt. I'm not asking you to do this."

"Well it is our choice, Harry." I told him firmly.

"Besides you once told us that we could turn back then if we wanted to but we didn't." H said. "So, why would you think we'd do it now?"

"We're all in this together." Ron declared. "But before Godric's Hollow and the hunt, you have to come to my home, Harry."

"Why?" Harry looked confused.

"Bill and Fleur's wedding, duh!" he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Harry looked like he was thinking something. I realised that my hand was still in his hand. Old habits, die hard. I was about to pull my fingers from his when he squeezed them gently and said, "Yeah, we shouldn't miss that." He smiled.

So one happy event before we face the grim and harsh realities of our path. We group hugged and looked back at the castle.

I'm very very sorry. I had writer's block. Actually, it was more of self-doubt than writer's block. For some reason, I began to feel like I was not really doing a good job. But then there are so many of you waiting for an update so i told myself 'I should just suck it up.' So, here I am! Please forgive me!

Please read and review! I hope you like it! Enjoy!

Neepa... :-)