Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or Twilight.

Well guys, this is it for What You Should Know. I'm actually really surprised how fast it came up on me. The chapter is up so early because I didn't want you guys to be waiting on the edge of your seats for, like, a month. I'm mean, but I'm not cruel. Lol.

Now, for the final time, here is a chapter for What You Should Know.

I opened my eyes...wait...I blinked some more. Yup, I definitely was opening and closing my eyes; but, I thought that I was dead.

"No, Allie, you aren't dead...just mostly dead"

I looked around to see where the voice was coming from. It was then that I realized that I was sitting under my tree by the lake. There was no battle raging on around me like the last thing I remembered; it was just peaceful and calm.

I searched around and didn't see anyone. I narrowed my eyes. "And what does that mean?" I asked the unknown person that was totally creeping on me. "That I am mostly dead?"

"You are in limbo." The voice said, now right behind me.

I quickly turned, as if this person would disappear before I could catch a glimpse of him, and froze when I saw who it was. It had been a long time since I had seen this person, sure I had seen him in dreams, but now he was here in front of me—as alive as ever.

Cedric smiled down at me. "Hello, Allie."

I continued to stare up at him with wide eyes.

He chuckled; I must have looked stupid the way I was staring at him. Cedric Diggory sat down next to me against my tree like we had done so many times before. He ran an hand through his brown hair.

Cedric hadn't changed a bit since the days when we were together. Even in death, he was in his khaki's and button up navy blue shirt. It was too normal, too unimaginable for me to believe. He was sitting here with me in...limbo.

"Hi." I managed to get out before blinking a few times, making sure he was really there.

His smile grew. "How's your life been?" He asked casually.

I scrunched my eyebrows up. What the hell was this? "Are you seriously going to sit there and ask me how I am? You-you died and I see you for the first time in two years and you ask me how the hell I am? Really?"

Cedric just shook his head at me and let a grin slip onto his lips. "There's the Allie I know; yelling at people for trying to have a civilized conversation."

I pursed my lips...pain in the ass ghost.

"I'm not a ghost." He corrected me.

I glared over at him. "Since when can you read minds?"

He smiled again. "I can't. I told you, this is limbo, things are different here."

I paused and look over at him, studying my first boyfriend ever. Suddenly, I threw myself onto him and gave him a hug. "I'm sorry." My voice was not any louder than a whisper.

"For what?" He asked gently.

I pulled back as tears started to run down my face. "For..." How did I put it?

"My death" He prompted sadly.

I nodded my response.

He put his hand on my shoulder and I felt his touch for the first time in two years—it was something real and concrete. "Oh, sweetheart, never blame yourself for that." He told me. I just shook my head again.

"If I wasn't there-"

"I would have died anyway...it was my time. If you weren't there Allie then it would mean that I would have never met you and you would have never changed my life." He said, sounding almost thankful.

I looked up at him and sniffled. "What are you talking about? I didn't change your life."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Yes, you did. Before you came to Hogwarts I was just...there. Sure, I had Qudditch and school and my friends but there was still something missing. Then you, Miss Cullen, came along and taught me how to have fun and to goof off...to be myself. I will always be grateful to you for that." He told me with glowing eyes.

I looked down and started to play with my fingers. "You didn't get to enjoy it long."

"Allie, that's not the point. We all have to die sometime, mine was just sooner than most, and I have accepted it. But you, you have a choice to make."

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back at Cedric, still not able to believe he was sitting here with me. "What are you talking about?"

The boy, no man, stood up and held his hands out to me; I grabbed hold of them and stood up. He let one hand drop but kept the other intertwined with mine. He led me down to the water's edge.

"Do you remember what happened to you before you ended up here?" He asked.

I nodded. "Of course, I got hit with the killing curse...again."

"Well, something like this has never happened." He started to explain. "And it's- how do I put it?- messing with the balance of things- and they have sent me to give you the choice of whether you want to live or die." He dropped my hand and went closer to the water; he bent down and put his hand in, causing small ripples to glide across the surface. "If you want to move on from this life and go to the next, then, I suggest you take a dip in the lake. But, if you want to go back to your life, right where you left it, then you have to go up to the castle."

He stood up and looked back at me. "The choice is yours and yours alone, Allie."

I looked at the lake then up at Hogwarts. I had to chose ? I got a choice? To live or to die, that was the bizarre question.

I pondered it for a moment before something came to my mind.

"If I chose to move on, will I be able to be with my parents and the rest of my family?" I asked him.

Cedric smiled then nodded. "You will reunite with them, and I will be there too, as an added bonus." The boy chuckled at his own joke.

But, to me, it was not a joke; the offer sounded really...amazing. I missed my parents so much that it physically hurt at times. It was hard to grow up without a mother and a father. Sure, I had Jake, but it was never the same. There was always a hole in my heart that was reserved for my parents.

But, then again, could I really give up the family I had back in the living world? Could I just leave Jake by himself? Could I leave Harry to deal with our burden alone?

"What are you thinking?" Cedric whispered, not truly wanting to break my concentration.

"I'm thinking it would be easier to die." I said with a small smile. "I think I'd enjoy the afterlife."

Cedric crinkled his nose and shook his head. "Nah, it'd be too boring for you; besides, if you die you'll be taking the easy way out and Allie Cullen would never take the easy way out."

I scuffed and poked him in the shoulder. "What kind of crap ghost are you? First, you try to convince me to die and now you want me to live so I'm not coping out?"

"Firstly, I'm not a ghost, I'm your guide. And secondly, I'm just playing Devil's Advocate. This is your life we are talking about, Allie. You have to know that this is a really big decision that effects the rest of...well, forever." He explained.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Can't you just tell me what to do?"

He laughed and shook his head. "That's not how it works." He paused. "Just try to think what is most important to you."

Think of what was important to me... "Well, Jake is important to me." I admitted. "My friends are important but...I don't really think they would care right now if I died."

"Why?" Cedric asked as he rolled up his pant legs, took off his shoes, and put his feet into the lake.

"Because I screwed up." I told him simply.

The man shrugged without looking back at me. "They will get over it." He told me like that was obvious.

"You don't know what I have done." I told him, semi-angry that he was doing the 'Harry thing' by trying to make me feel better when I didn't deserve to.

He looked at me over his shoulder. "Yes, I do, Allie. Don't think we aren't checking up on you up there." He pointed up at the sky and gave me his gorgeous grin. "You made a mistake, people make mistakes every day. You know that and I know that."

"So, I guess, you would also know that if I go back it'll be to a world where Harry and I don't work out." I sighed as I went over to join him by the water. "I could just stay here with you, Cedric...things were easier when we were together."

He shook his head and narrowed his big gray eyes at me. "There you go again, saying what would be easier and not what truly matters to you...Allie, I think we both know what you are going to do but you are just stalling."

I glared at him over my shoulder. "Is it so bad that I want to be with the people I love, the people I have lost? Since when is it a crime to die and be happy about it?"

Cedric took a deep breath before taking my shoulders and shaking me slightly. "It's not a crime, Allie: it really isn't. But you have so much more in your life that you have to accomplish...if you die right now the only person you will be helping is yourself. Harry needs you! He cannot defeat Voldemort alone...he needs you. Jacob needs you; and, sooner or later, you will realize that you need them just as much as they need you."

His grasp on my arms loosened and he wrapped me in them then. I rested my head against his chest—there was no heartbeat. Tears rolled down my cheeks again, realizing that he was still dead. "I miss you." I sobbed slightly. "I miss all of you."

"We are never far, Allie." He told me as he pulled back from the hug; he put a hand on my face. "Just know that when you feel alone and defeated in your world that you have a bunch of people in the next cheering you on...you are loved, Alice Rose Cullen, do not forget that."

I nodded then, realizing what I was going to do; I had no choice but to go back. Yes, I was scared to go and disappointed that I would not see my parents for a long while but this was the right thing to do. My gut was telling me that Harry needed me: not as his girlfriend or even his friend for that matter, but as a partner. He needed me there to defeat Voldemort...we were in this together until the end.

I stood up and watched as the sun began to set; my time in limbo was up.

Cedric stood up beside me and smiled for the hundredth time. I was going to miss that smile when I went back to the real world because Cedric would not be there. He was going back to his world as I went back to mine.

Without any words, the two of us turned and began to slowly make our way up to the castle.

"I wish we could have worked out." I told him as we climbed the hill.

Cedric shook his head. "No, it was always supposed to be you and Harry."

"You know," I started, thinking back on my newest image of Cedric before today. "I had a dream about you before the new term started. You were alive and..." I trailed off, kind of embarrassed about the next part. "And we were married and we had a kid. It was nice."

We came to the door then and Cedric sighed. He turned to face me head on and ran a hand nervously through his hair. "Allie, that wasn't a dream; it was a premonition of what could have been for us." He paused and looked over at the setting sun. "If I hadn't broken up with you, we would have gotten married and had that little girl you saw...it was our future."

I tilted my head in confusion. It was what could have been. I thought I might understand. "What could have been...not what it should be."

He nodded. "We would have been happy but there would always be a part of you that ached for Harry."

I nodded, too. "Well, it seems like that future I saw with Harry is gone, too. I will be immortal and alone. But like you said, I will accept my fate as you dealt with yours."

Cedric's face fell. "Allie-"

I shook my head, cutting him off. "No, no. It's okay."

I said no more, for nothing else needed to be said, so I just stared at him. I wanted to make sure that I had every contour of his face memorized so that I would remember it when I woke up. I would remember the stubble on his chin from not shaving that morning and the way his mouth would naturally curl up in a cute grin. I would remember his kind gray eyes and the way he stood casually in front of me with his hands it his pockets.

Those things would never be forgotten.

"It's time to go." He said, nodding in the direction of the setting sun. "No more stalling, honey."

I nodded. "I'll be seeing you, Cedric Diggory."

He smiled. "Not too soon, Allie Cullen."

I couldn't help it; I had to run up to him and give him another hug. It was just one for the road. He was the first to pull back from it again only seconds later.

"Would you get out of here already?" He teased me while pushing me toward the entrance to the school.

I chuckled sadly as I walked toward the door; I was just about to open it when Cedric called out to me.

"Hey Allie," He said, causing me to turn back to him. "Do you remember that book I bought you in Hogsmeade during our first date?"

I thought back to the book with the dusty old cover—it was still sitting in my trunk. I nodded.

"Well, keep it close. I think it will come in handy in the times to come." Cedric winked at me before waving goodbye.

I put a hand up as my own gesture before turning back to the large wooden door. I took a deep breath...this was it. Now or never, right?

I pushed the door open to reveal a blinding white light. The next second, it sucked me in and I was going back to reality.

I shot up and gasped for air. It felt as if I hadn't breath in years and I took the oxygen in greedily.

"Allie! Thank God!" I was suddenly engulfed in large, bearlike arms. They crushed me to a huge chest and I couldn't breath again, but I didn't care. I didn't know what was going on. Confusion was stuck in my mind like a paste and the feeling was terrifying.

"What-what happened?" I asked the bear holding me.

The arms unwrapped themselves from around me to reveal my bear was actually Jacob Black. My werewolf had tears rolling down his cheeks and a look of utter relief on his face. Never in my life had I seen Jake cry, not even after my mother died, whatever happened must have been serious.

Jake's brown eyes left mine and turned to look at the person on my other side. My head spun to see that Harry was on the other side of me in a state of shock and fright.

He his whole body was visibly shaking as he took deep, gasping breaths. "You-" He cut off and shook his head. "You are alive." He got the words out but they still weren't connecting to his brain.

"Of course, I'm alive! Why wouldn't I..." I trailed off as my mind flashed back to the last thing I remember. "Draco tried to kill me." I paused, trying to wrap my own mind around it. Everything was so fuzzy that it was hard to concentrate on anything. I looked back over at Jake. "Why are you here?" I questioned.

My guardian pursed his lips together. "That's not important, kid." He shook his head as his eyes still searched my face as if to make sure it was really me. He shook his head in disbelief before pulling me in for another bone crushing hug.

"Jacob," A voice, Professor McGonigal's, called as she came into the room. "We have to move her body. The students already know that she is..." The elderly woman trailed off and her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped as she took a step closer. "Dear Merlin..."

"Jeez, Professor, I haven't been out a minute. You weren't even going to give me a chance to wake up before sending me to the morgue?" I asked, kind of annoyed.

"Allie," Harry said my name slowly. I looked at the boy I used to call my own. "Your heart hasn't been beating and you haven't been breathing for over an hour."

I wrinkled my forehead as I put my hand to my heart. My pulse was there, as slow and as abnormal as it usually was. I didn't-couldn't- believe it.

"What?" I asked automatically. "No, no. I couldn't have been..." I turned back to Jake who was looking at my hands. "Jake?"

He looked up at me and nodded sadly. "It's true, sweetie. You were...dead."

I furrowed my eyebrows and shook my head, still unbelieving. This couldn't be true, it was improbable and impossible. I looked up at McGonigal, knowing she would give me an honest answer. "How is this possible, Professor?"

She took a deep breath and shook her head. "I do not know...perhaps it was your vampire strength that saved you...I do not know." Her eyes drifted to my forehead. "It's a miracle."

It was then that I felt a pain surging in my forehead. It was like electricity was shooting through me; I hissed in pain. My hand automatically went up to my forehead but it jumped away when in made contact with a cut.

I stopped breathing and froze; I knew what was on my forehead. I didn't want to admit it was there but I knew it was.

I looked over at Harry who looked like he was cringing away from what he was seeing. I gazed at his green eyes and then up at the lightening bolt scar on his forehead. "Harry...I have one, too, don't I?" I asked slowly. God, I hoped his answer was no and that I was just, in fact, going crazy.

Instead of shaking his head, the gesture was so common now that I assumed he would use it, he nodded. "I don't-I don't know how but you now have a scar that matches mine."

I nodded, also. "Okay." I stated simply, not knowing what else to say when you get another scar that tells the world you survived the killing curse. I looked down at my old scar that was partially covered by the bracelet that Jacob gave me at the beginning of the school year. It was faded and old while the one of my forehead was not even a scar yet; it was fresh, open, and stinging. I looked up at McGonigal, who still looked at me like she thought I was dead, and smiled slightly.

She didn't return the gesture though. Something in her face was telling me that there was something else that was bigger, much bigger, going on outside of this room. For a second, I listened intently to the sounds around me but everything was silent: no wind, no voices, no anything.

I looked over at Jake and then at Harry. It was Harry's face that gave it away for me. His expression was heart wrenchingly sad, incredibly so, and his eyes were puffy and red like he had been crying.

My heart sank as I looked around; they all had been crying. "What happened?" I questioned. Jake, Harry, and McGonigal all looked at each other but not directly at me. "Please, just tell me. Nothing can be worse than it already is..." I trailed off as they all went pale. "...Right?"

"Listen, honey..." I looked at Jake as he fought to find the words. Instead of finishing what he was going to say he just wrapped me in his arms again. I saw him look up at McGonigal from the corner of my eye. "It's nothing you need to worry about right away...you need to focus on getting strong again, okay?"

I pushed myself away from Jake. By the way he was avoiding telling me whatever it was I needed to know, I could tell that it was very important. I looked over at Harry; I knew he would tell me the truth no matter how bad it was. "Harry, just tell me...please?"

He took a deep breath and looked down at his hands, as if the thought of what happened hurt him too much to talk about; I wouldn't put him through talking about it. I was scared, then, to learn the truth.

"Allie-" He started, again, trying to work through it himself. Harry looked up at me with his green eyes. "It's still too new for me..."

I nodded my understanding. It was then that I turned to McGonigal, the only one who had yet to deny me what I needed to know. The wrinkled teacher pursed her lips together before shaking her head.

"Miss Cullen...right after Draco Malfoy..."

"Killed me?" I prompted, causing her nod. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jacob grind his teeth together in his anger toward the Slytherin. I wrapped my tiny, cold hand around his large, warm one; it was fire against ice.

"Some Death Eaters, the ones Malfoy let it, gained entrance into the Astronomy Tower and..." A tear rolled down her aging face.

"And...?" I asked slowly. McGonigal only shook her head as a few more tears fell from her eyes.

I looked around the Astronomy Tower, searching for something I wasn't sure of yet. My eyes stopped on the spot where I last saw the headmaster before I blacked out.

No, I thought. That is not what happened...

I turned back to Professor McGonigal. "Where is Headmaster Dumbledore?"

Jake's hand wrapped tighter around mine as I stared at the Transfiguration teacher. She was just standing there, crying.

"Sweetheart," Jake started. I turned to my guardian who looked as pained as everyone else did. "He...died. Snape killed him."

My mind went blank as I stared at Jacob. Everything around me seemed froze and altered as if I had made a wrong turn while coming back from limbo and this was an entirely different world than the one I had left.

I shook my head. "No, no. You are lying." I fought back, not accepting this answer. Dumbledore couldn't be dead...and killed by Snape? Yes, Snape was a creep but he was trusted by Dumbledore, he was his friend.

But then again, Draco was my friend and he killed me...

I looked over at Harry, who once again was looking down at his hands in disbelief. I felt hot wet tears come to my face as I looked at him. Feeling my eyes on him, Harry's gaze shot up to look at mine; he simply nodded to tell me that this was no lie.

"I-I-I can't breath." I said as I stood up. Jacob copied my movement, making sure I had the strength to stand.

My hands went to my head and I began to pull my hair. I wanted to scream; I wanted to kill Snape; I wanted to go back to being dead. I still couldn't breath.

My feet moved to the outside of the room and I leaned against the window's ledge, counting as the wind blew over my face. I began to calm down after what felt like hours but in reality it was only minutes. I opened my eyes to see the clear night sky before me.

I heard voices below me and my gaze drifted downward. Students filled the court yard below but they were not just standing there to morn the lose of their headmaster; they were gathering the injured. So, there was a battle after all.

"Was anyone else killed?" I asked, praying that Red and Hermione were okay.

"No, Bill got in a pretty nasty fight with Greyback but he will survive." Jacob answered quietly. I closed my eyes again, poor Bill. I didn't know him that well but I knew that he was a good guy that did not deserve whatever happened to him at the hands of that murderous werewolf.

"Allie," McGonigal said from behind me, still standing in the door where she froze upon seeing me alive. "I'm afraid I need you to come with me."

"Oh, give her a minute, Professor. She hasn't even had any time to wrap her mind around what happened yet." Harry said in my defense. I didn't turn around to acknowledge them. I just kept staring at the scene below me.

"Potter, none of us has had the time to process this yet. But the students need to know that she is alive." McGonigal fired back.

At this comment, I turned to face her. "Why do they think I'm dead?"

The teacher pursed her lips again. "Because Bellatrix LeStrange was singing "Little Draco killed the vampire!" throughout the entire battle. And when Potter came running down from this Tower and started chasing after them, the students assumed it was true." She paused. "Losing Professor Dumbledore will be incredibly difficult on them; but, when they find out that you are still alive it will regain some of their hope."

I rubbed my hands over my face. So, those Death Eaters thought I was dead? Well, all I had to say was nice try and better luck next time-wait. The light bulb in my head lit up as an idea came to me. I looked over at McGonigal. "Let's not tell them I am alive." I said.

Harry, Jake, and the professor all looked at me like I was still in shock and not making any sense. "Miss Cullen, I don't think you understand. This news has devastated the other children. For them to lose two of the wizarding worlds largest beacons of good, it is crushing-"

"I understand, Professor. I really did feel for them but...the Death Eaters think I am dead, right? They saw Draco send the spell my way and they saw me drop dead. They are going to give that information to Voldemort..." I looked around to see if any of them were catching onto my plan. Jake and Harry both seemed to understand but I still had to convince McGonigal some more. "He is going to think that he only has to worry about Harry now and if I know anything about Voldemort, which I think I do, then he will get cocky and cocky will lead to sloppy...Don't you get it? He will be expected only Harry to be coming for him and he won't know what to do when both of us are there to finish him."

McGonigal furrowed her eyebrows as she thought it over. She began to pace.

"Professor, I think this will work." Harry agreed with me.

"I do, too." Jake added.

McGonigal looked at the two of them before letting her gaze fall back on me. "We had better get going." She stated. My heart sank; she wasn't going to let us go through with this plan.

I looked down and felt defeated.

"We have two funerals to arrange." She said sadly, a second later, causing my head to shoot up. "But, Miss Cullen, this plan must not be known outside of the Order, do you understand me? I do not even want Miss Granger or Mr. Weasley knowing until it is absolutely necessary...you will stay hidden at all times by means of Harry's invisibility cloak or by a Polyjuice potion. Am I clear?

I looked back up at her and smiled slightly; I nodded my head to show my understanding.

She nodded back at me before sighing. "Alright then, well Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, we had better get down to the court yard and let the students know the official report." The next second she was gone down the staircase.

Jake came up to me and wrapped me in his large arms again. I hugged my guardian back, realizing then just how long it had been since I had seen him. I remembered then that I had saw him in his wolf form right before dying. I looked up at him and released myself from his grip. "You blew your cover tonight, didn't you?" I asked.

Jake smiled. "Kid, don't worry about it right now, okay?"

I frowned. How did he expect me not to worry about it? He was going to be hunted, targeted, now. It was frightening to think about.

"I'm gonna go down with Minerva. Will you be alright?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay..." He trailed off as he looked me in the eye. The next instant I was back in his arms, feeling the breath leave my lungs. "Alice Rose Cullen, if you ever try to be a hero again I will rip off your arms and legs and burn them, do you understand me?" He told me.

I chuckled humorlessly. "Jacob, I promise, now go grieve for me and make sure it's believable."

I let go and he glared at me with his big brown eyes. He was going to say something but just shook his head instead. Jake waved at me once before walking away and disappearing down the stairs also.

So, that left Harry and me alone. I looked over at him but did not say anything.

He sighed before coming over to stand in front of me.

Harry held out his invisibility cloak out to me. "Here," He said quietly. "So, you should use this until we can get some Polyjuice potion brewed."

"Thanks." I told him as I took the cloak.

He just nodded before we lapsed into an awkward silence. Neither of us knew what to say. We didn't know how to act when we weren't a couple; it was just strange. He didn't have to say anything for me to know that nothing had changed between us. Harry still couldn't trust me and I knew I didn't deserve his trust. And, quite honestly, I would have been mad at him if he took me back just because I died; it would be too cliché.

"I-" He started again. "I'm glad you are alright...I really am, Allie, but...why did you do it?" He asked.

"Do what?" I raised an eyebrow at his question.

"Tell Draco to kill you." He paused. "It was stupid and reckless, Allie. You-you aren't invincible!" He said, suddenly furious.

"I know I'm not." I told him quietly. "I thought that if I sacrificed myself that Dumbledore would live...he's more valuable than I am."

"Well he didn't live, did he?" Harry's voice was laced with venom. "Don't you see that we could have lost both of you? Then where would I be?" He asked before turning away from me. He went over to where I was standing earlier and looked down at the mayhem below.

"I'm sorry." That was all I could think to say.

Harry nodded once before pushing himself off of the sill. "I have to get down there." He said, looking anywhere but at me. "I should go find Hermione...after all, her best friend is dead and I should be with her." He said sadly.

"Harry!" I stopped him before he walked out of the door. He turned his head back to look at me with a sad expression etched into his face. Without thinking, I ran up to him and threw myself into his arms. He didn't react, at first, but eventually his arms wrapped me up, too. "I know you are mad at me and I know we are done but just know that I am here no matter what." I looked up at him. "We are in this together."

He unwrapped his arms from around me and nodded. Without saying anything else, he descended the staircase and left me alone in that godforsaken tower.

I remembered when Harry and I had been up there only mere days before the world turned upside down. I remembered thinking that this place seemed calming and peaceful to me. But now it was not calming but threatening and no longer peaceful but filled with death. This place was ruined for the rest of eternity and that made me feel awful; not just the tower, but the school.

Voldemort and his minions had taken it from me, from all of us. They had taken our hope by taking Dumbledore from this world. They had taken our faith and left us scared of what was to come next; but, we were going to get it back, I vowed.

We were going to take it back.

I threw the cloak over my head, disappearing into nothingness before following suit of the only people in the world that knew I was alive. I wanted to go to my friends and be with them as we all grieved but I couldn't, it would ruin the plan. Instead, I was going to go steal from that bastard Snape's storeroom; I had a Polyjuice potion to start making.

The next day was the day that they decided to bury Dumbledore and me. It was strange, seeing people gathered to mourn me when I wasn't even dead. I figured that most of these people were here to honor their fallen headmaster but, surprisingly, I knew there were some there to morn me too.

The headmaster from Duchesne Academy came to say goodbye, which, I thought, was was kind of strange since the old bag hated me...yeah, we spent a lot of time together over the three years that I was there seeing as I was in trouble every other day. Billy, Jake's dad, came along with Quill, Embry, and Sam came to support Jacob through his rough time. I thought that was nice of them.

I'm sure they would try to convince him to come back to Washington with him but Jake's story, the one that we agreed on, was that he still hadn't completed what he wanted to do. Once Greyback was dead, Jacob would go back to La Push and rejoin the pack.

My eyes scanned the crowd and stopped when I came to Harry, Hermione, and Red. Harry had his arm around a crying Hermione while Red sat on her other side, holding her hand. Both of the boys looked down, showing their own form of sadness. Harry's face was like stone: etched with anger and grief. Ronald just frowned as he fought to keep his tears at bay.

I wish I was down there with them; I wish I could say goodbye to Dumbledore, too. But Harry, McGonigal, and I decided that it would be too risky to rely on the invisibility cloak when there were some many people around.

So here I sat in the Owlery, watching as the funeral service took place. I couldn't quite hear anything that was said because I was too far away but I'm sure it was nothing but amazing things about the headmaster.

Then I wondered what they would say about me. "Allie Cullen died alongside Albus Dumbledore." I said, making up my own eulogy. "She was a muggleborn, halfbreed vampire who, by some miracle, survived the killing curse that He Who Must Not Be Named cast but could not survive one Draco Malfoy. She died like she lived: pathetic."

I heard a squeal come from behind me. I turned my head to see Hedwig looking at me with, what seemed like, furious eyes. "Don't give me that look, bird." I teased her.

She squealed again before turning back to her business and I did the same.

I looked down now to see that they were sealing Professor Dumbledore's marble sarcophagus that would stand right next to the lake and not terribly far from my tree for the rest of eternity.

Unlike the headmaster, I did not have a cassette to close. Jake told everyone that I had been cremated, which was smart since there was no body for me, and so they set my "ashes" on a pedestal next to Dumbledore.

The people, creatures, and even ghosts began to stand and disperse themselves near the lake. Some went to pay their last respects to Dumbledore whereas a few went to my urn. The Weasley's, along with Hermione, went to talk to Jake while Harry went over to the sarcophagus. He placed his hand on the white marble and shook his head sadly.

Poor Harry, like me, he was so used to loss and I would not wish that on anyone, especially not him.

The parade of mourners saying their goodbyes and talking amongst themselves went on for another hour before people began to part ways and head home. I stayed up in the Owlery throughout the whole event.

The door eventually clicked open and revealed Harry coming in. He was wearing a black suit, unlike most of the students who were in their school robes, to mourn properly. I remembered that I did the same when Cedric died. It just didn't seem right not to dress properly to a funeral of someone you loved.

"How is Hermione?" I asked as he came to sit across from me on the window sill.

Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "She's a wreck. Merlin, I wish we could tell her and Ron."

"I do, too. But you heard what McGonigal said...we can't risk it."

Harry nodded before looking down at the scene I had been staring at. "It all seems so unreal."

"Yeah..." I paused to collect myself. My eyes went down to watch as I played with my fingers; tears before to form. "Dumbledore was never supposed to die." I shook my head. "What are we going to do, Harry?"

The boy put a hand over my mine to calm the restlessness. I looked up into his green eyes. "We are going to do what he wanted us to: find the rest of the horocruxes and destroy them." He paused. "I'm not coming back to school next year,Allie. I have to finish this thing with Voldemort once and for all."

"Excuse me? Did you just say I?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

Harry rolled his eyes. "Allie, you don't have to come. This wasn't your mission; it will be dangerous."

I scuffed. "Harry James Potter, we didn't just fake my death for no reason. And as for whether or not it will be dangerous, well, it's a good thing I'm pretty damn near indestructible. I'm going with you..." I trailed off; I remembered that things were different. "Unless there is another reason you don't want me to go..."

Harry removed his hand from mine and stood up from the sill. I watched as he paced slightly before saying anything. "Allie, this has nothing to do with us. We aren't together anymore, that doesn't mean that we cannot work together, right?" He asked.

I just nodded.

"We should try to be...friends." He added.

"Friends..." I trailed off. Yeah, I have heard that before. Cedric said that he wanted to be my friends but it didn't turn out so well. But with Harry...perhaps it could. "We can be friends."

Harry nodded, a small smiled came to his face. "Okay, then." He paused. "Are you ready for this, Allie? I mean, are you ready to do what needs to be done?" He asked.

The answer was on the tip of my tongue but I could not say it. I had heard that question before but it wasn't from Harry's lips. "You know, last year, after the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore asked me that same question." More tears came to my eyes as I said the words.

Harry just stood there, waiting for me to continue.

"I'm going to tell you the same thing I told him, Harry, because I've never been more ready for anything in my life."

I stood up from my perch and walked over to him. "We are going to take Voldemort down. He has hurt too many of the people we love and..." I paused, thinking about what I wanted to do him. "And I need revenge."

Harry nodded. "Well, we'll get it for the both of us."

I nodded my head firmly because I knew we sure as hell would. The room around the two of us was dark now and I knew that it was getting late; late enough for me to sneak into my room and grab the stuff I forgot to gather before my "mad dash" from the school last night. It had completely slipped my mind that I had left a picture of my parents under my mattress and I could not go anywhere without it.

I pulled the invisibility cloak out of my jeans pocket. "I better get going." I told him with the hint of a smile on my face; I gave Harry a pat on the arm. "Take care of yourself this summer. I'll be in touch."

I began to walk away, not wanting to get wrapped up in a cheesy goodbye, but was stopped by Harry nonetheless.

"I heard that Jacob was going to be staying with the Weasley's this summer. You already said that you couldn't go back to La Push since that would put Jake's pack in danger...so where will you go?" Harry asked.

I turned back to him and shrugged. "I don't know. Where ever the wind blows me, I guess...I'm thinking Italy...there are some friends there that owe me a favor." I told him with a wink. "Just don't tell Jake that's where I'm headed."

"When will we be seeing you again?" He asked me.

I took a deep breath. "I told you: I'll be in touch. When you need me, I'll be there."

I could tell he was going to ask another question but he stopped himself. Instead, he just nodded. With that, I gave him one last little smile and waved before throwing the cloak over me and descending the staircase.

I walked through the silent hallways on my way to the dorm without even a second glance at anything. When I said I wasn't going to be coming back to Hogwarts I had meant it. Now it was not just because of the people I had hurt here but because of the people I had lost here. Cedric's death was a tragic loss and almost too painful for me to bear. Now, that Dumbledore was gone, it was too painful.

As I walked up to my dorm room for the last time, I didn't reminisce about the late night conversations that Hermione and I would have over ever topic known to man, but pondered on whether or not we could go on without the headmaster to guide us. He knew me better than I knew myself and he always knew what to say when life was beating the crap out of me.

He was one of the greatest men that I had ever met and now he was gone.

I opened the door to the to reveal that all my roommates were asleep; I didn't blame them for passing out early; it was a trying day.

I moved passed Lavender and Parvarti's beds and slipped passed Hermione's and over to mine. It was strange to see my section of the room cleared out. My picture of Harry and me was no longer on the nightstand next to the place where I kept a picture of me and Jake. My ACDC poster was down off of the wall and the whole place just looked a little...lost.

I walked over to my bed and pulled the mattress up slightly. I slid my hand under and found the picture easily enough. I looked down at the aging photo I now held in my hand. It was a picture of my parents from my mother's eighteenth birthday party. She was in a green dress, that I was guessing my aunt Alice picked out, and my dad was in a black suit. The sight of them made me smile; they were so beautiful.

Quickly, I stuffed it into my pocket and turned around to leave. It was then that I noticed Hermione was not in her bed. It was disappointing to me because I wanted to kind of say goodbye to her without letting her actually know I was there. I assumed she was with Ron and Harry, grieving for the losses. It was probably better this way, anyway.

"Bye, 'Mione." I whispered to her bed instead.

I walked by Lavender and Parvarti and gave them each a little wave. Yeah, we were never friends but I would probably never see them again so I might as well.

And that was it.

I walked out of Gryffindor Tower, down the halls and stairs, and finally through the foyer until I came to the front entrance.

That was it and, quite honestly, I didn't care. Nothing seemed to matter much to me anymore except finding Voldemort and destroying him. My heart was full of anger, sorrow, and a need for justice.

I opened the door, took a step outside, and took a deep breath.

I once heard song lyrics that said "this life is anything but certain" and those words never seemed more true than they did at that moment.

I didn't know where I was going and I didn't when I would come back. I didn't know if I was going to live or die and I didn't know what would happen in the future. The only thing I did know was that I was free of this place and the memories I had there. I was leaving this all behind me for a life full of danger and seeking revenge.

And I was okay with that.

I walked down the stairs, over the grounds, and into the Forbidden Forest. I ripped the invisibility cloak off and stuffed it into my pocket before continuing on through the thick trees until I came to the point that I was no longer on Hogwarts grounds.

I smiled to myself as I stood there in the open; I was nothing more than a ghost to the world now. I took a deep breath before deciding that instead of Apporating, I would rather run.

And that was what I did. I ran, letting my feet take me in whatever direction they wanted to, and kept running until I could not run anymore.

I hope you enjoyed it! I loved writing it. The next, and final, installment will be called What You Need To Know and should be up within the next couple of weeks. Thank you all for reading and I hope you continue to find out the end of Allie Cullen's story.