I didn't hear Harry and Ginny speak all the way up to the hospital wing, their voices turning into indistinguishable murmurs until the door opened and I looked up to see everyone gathered around Bill's bed where Madam Pomfrey was doing everything she could for the wounds. Remus immediately turned and started to move towards us, glancing between Harry and I before asking if we were alright. "I'm fine…how's Bill?" As everyone remained quiet I had managed to drift on over where I touched Madam Pomfrey's shoulder in order to make her draw back so that I could take a look myself, having studied the properties of werewolf venom. Harry looked at Bill before grimacing. "Can't you fix them with a charm or something?"
"No charm will work on these. I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites." Madam Pomfrey said as I started to try and wet my throat in order to speak, still leaning over Bill to see the extent of his injuries.
"I need wolfsbane, if you've got some, Madam Pomfrey, as much as you can get me, and some other things too." I began to rattle off a list and she hurried to get them as Ron stared at his brother, who was now almost unrecognisable under the savagery he had suffered.
"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon." He said quietly as everyone just looked at Bill who was yet to stir. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a…a real…?"
"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf." Remus said in order to try and reassure him, but he himself didn't look or sound particularly convinced. "But that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and…and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."
"Dumbledore might know something that'd work though. Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him. He can't leave him in this state…"
"Ron, Dumbledore's dead." Ginny delivered the news softly, but she may as well have screamed it at the top of her lungs as everyone reacted with alarm and fear. Remus collapsed into a chair and burrowed his face into his hands as Madam Pomfrey returned with the ingredients I'd asked for and so I pulled out my wand in order to magic myself a small cauldron and filled it with water before starting a fire underneath it as I began to dice, squeeze and powder ingredients with mechanical movements. Barely speaking above a whisper, Tonks was the one to finally ask how it happened as Hermione trembled out the corner of my eye, covered her mouth with her hands.
"Snape killed him." My hands jerked so violently that the powdered unicorn horn went up in a cloud of smoke until I hastened to wave my wand and make it gather once more into the mortar as I then allowed myself a reprieve from my work in order to stare at Harry. It was impossible, I mean…we'd always disliked Snape as much as he'd hated us, but for him to actually be the one to kill Dumbledore…there had to be some mistake. "I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was…Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realised it was a tap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilised me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the invisibility cloak – and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him…"
"Lucius?" I questioned sharply, not remembering seeing him at all but Harry shook his head and looked at me, eyes as dead and drained as mine were as the two of us shared a quiet moment together.
"No, Draco." Draco! "More Death Eaters arrived, and then Snape…Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." All at once Madam Pomfrey was sobbing but Ginny hushed her firmly but not unkindly in order to hear the sound of Fawkes's crying lament, a song which thrummed through each and every one of us as if we were part of the music, our own inner voices joining the cry of his grief until I murmured his name under my breath, hoping he would hear me.
"Fawkes." He appeared in a bright flash of flame and I instinctively raised my arm for him to land upon my forearm, reaching to stroke his beautiful feathered chest as Fawkes continued to cry and weep. Quietening slightly as I comforted him, I lifted him up so that our faces were level and he looked at me with those magnificent dark eyes of his. "I need your help, Fawkes, and I am sorry to ask right now, but may I have one of your tears?" I was crying as well now, the both of us gazing at each other as his song continued to echo all around us without diminishing, lulling through the silence to fill it with something other than inescapable grief.
Knowing exactly what I wanted, Fawkes leaned himself over the potion that was now bubbling before me blinked until a single tear fell into it, causing it to burst with smoke and froth with a liquid gold hue. He cawed softly at me, bowing his head before then disappearing once more within a cluster of flames to resume flying around the castle with his haunting song ebbing and flowing as he went. It was then that McGonagall entered, sweeping into the hospital wing with her usually tightly coiled hair tumbling down her back in a single curl from where it had been tucked up in a bun. "Molly and Arthur are on their way. Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he…when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some…"
"Snape killed Dumbledore." The anger and bitterness could not be hidden in Harry's voice as he repeated again the exact manner in which Dumbledore had been killed. Betrayed, by someone he trusted. The man whom Dumbledore had encouraged all of us to trust, and having the respect and confidence in Dumbledore that we did, we followed his wishes.
"Snape!" McGonagall now fell into a chair as Remus had done, her face clenched in pain and disbelief as she struggled to hold back tears. "We all wondered…but he trusted…always…Snape…I can't believe it."
"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens. We always knew that." Remus pointed out as I continued to brew quietly to the side, focusing on my work as a means to distract myself.
"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" Tonks breathed, looking livelier and expressing more emotion than I had seen from her all year. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't."
"He always hinted that he had an iron-clad reason for trusting Snape. I mean…with Snape's history, of course people were bound to wonder, but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine…wouldn't hear a word against him!" McGonagall reasoned as she shook her head, accepting a drink of calming tea from Madam Pomfrey as she flitted about, trying to deal with injuries as everyone remained anchored to their spots.
"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him." Tonks muttered darkly, but then Harry spoke up, making us all look to him again.
"I know. Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realised what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead." Remus was as disbelieving as the rest of us, exclaiming that Snape despised James Potter and that for Dumbledore to believe it was…well. None of us could believe it, anyway. "And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn, either. Because she was muggle-born. Mudblood, he called her." I looked away again, uncertain whether or not I could actually process this information.
"This is all my fault." McGonagall whispered as she gripped her handkerchief in her hands and twisted it repeatedly and so tightly that the tears it had caught were wrung out of it. "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."
"It isn't your fault, Minerva. We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way." Remus consoled her before Harry asked if that when Snape arrived he joined the enemy straight away.
"I don't know exactly how it happened. It's all so confusing…" McGonagall began, drawing in deep breaths though the sound shook with every inhale. "Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case…Remus, Bill, Nymphadora and even Euphemia were to join us…and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in, there were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered."
Once again, Harry was the one with the answers. He proceeded to tell us all about the vanishing cabinet, the one that Fred, George and I had stuck Montegue's head in last year after he tried to dock points from us. Harry explained that the cabinets were actually twins, and the other was in Borgin and Burkes, forming a pathway between them so that when someone stepped into the cabinet, the could exit through the other, and that was how they got into the Room of Requirement, where the other cabinet had been stowed after mine and the twins' little punishment scheme. Harry finished explaining and then looked at Ron almost expectantly as the potion began to finish brewing.
"I messed up, Harry. We did like you told us, we checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny and Neville went to keep watch on it, but Malfoy got past us." Ron informed Harry forlornly, scuffing his shoe against the floor whilst his ears turned pink with embarrassment.
"He came out of the Room about an hour after we started keeping watch…he was on his own, clutching that awful shrivelled arm…"
"His Hand of Glory, gives light only to the holder, remember?" Shooting her brother a look at his interruption, Ginny then continued.
"Anyway, he must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch black-"
"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder." Ron supplied once more, interrupting his sister. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."
"We tried everything – Lumos, Incendio, nothing would penetrate the darkness, all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile, we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Malfoy could see because of that Hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone." Ginny finally finished with no further interruptions from Ron as Remus then continued croakily.
"Luckily, Ron, Ginny and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch, he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Instant Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up to the tower stairs…"
"To set off the Mark?" Harry guessed and Remus nodded his head solemnly.
"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement, but I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a killing curse that just missed me." I shuddered at the thought of Remus almost dying because of a single curse, to be lost forever just like…just like…
"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville, were you…?" Now turning to Hermione who had been quietly crying all this time, she nodded her head with a miserable sounding squeak.
"Outside Snape's office, yes, with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened, we didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the Marauder's Map…it was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and…and…"
"What?" Even at Harry's gentle nudge, Hermione burst into tears.
"I was so stupid, Harry! He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he…while he went to help fight the Death Eaters. We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor, and…oh it's so obvious now, Snape must have stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realise Harry, we didn't realise, we just let Snape go!" Reassuring her that she wasn't to blame, Remus pointed out that if either Luna or Hermione had attempted to stop him, he would most likely have killed them as well.
"So then he came upstairs." Harry continued, wanting to know every part of the story so that we could all understand what happened. "And he found the place where you were all fighting…"
"We were in trouble, we were losing." Tonks admitted quietly with a distraught expression. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback…it was dark, curses were flying everywhere, the Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs to the tower, then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stairs behind them with some kind of curse. Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air."
"None of us could break through, and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us…"
"And then Snape was there, and then he wasn't." Ron and Tonks supplied consecutively, Ginny adding that she had seen him running towards the fight as I had done, but lost track of him soon after.
"I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there. I tried to follow him but was thrown back just like Neville." Remus added as McGonagall then began to whisper lightly, still sitting in her seat clutching her handkerchief and barely touched cup of tea.
"He must have known a spell we didn't, after all, he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher…I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower."
"He was, but to help them, not stop them…and I'll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier." Harry muttered darkly before asking what happened next.
"Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs." Remus continued as I removed the fire from underneath the cauldron and allowed it to begin cooling, testing the consistency and colour to see that it was exactly as it needed to be. Light, clear and watery. "We all ran forwards, those of us who were still standing, anyway, and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust – obviously none of us attacked them…"
"We just let them pass, we thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters, and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again. I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what." Tonks narrated, all of us bowing our heads as we each replayed the events that we'd witnessed over and over again.
"He shouted 'it's over', he'd done what he'd meant to do." With Harry's final words, all of us lapsed into silence. The potion was ready, so I began to drench a cloth with the potion before beginning to clean Bill's wounds with it in order to purify the surface, having bandages put in the bottom of the cauldron for them to steep and absorb it for a minute or two. At that moment, the hospital doors were flung open to reveal Molly, Arthur and Fleur rushing inside so McGonagall sprung to her feet in order to meet them, apologising even as Molly rushed past her in order to go to Bill, whispering his name fearfully.
"You said Greyback attacked him?" Arthur questioned in a quiet murmur, staring at Bill as Molly plucked the cloth out of my hand in order to clean his injuries herself. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"
"We don't yet know." McGonagall admitted truthfully as Arthur went visibly paler still.
"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur. It is an odd case, possibly unique, we don't know what his behaviour might be like when he wakes up. Mia is concocting something, I don't know…" He looked to me then but I could only give a tiny shrug, not yet having found my voice as Arthur then asked about Dumbledore and whether the rumours were true. Arthur gasped when McGonagall had nodded, but whilst everyone else was thinking of Dumbledore, Molly was utterly and completely focused on her son.
"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks…it's not r-really important…but he was a very handsome little b-boy…always very handsome…and he was g-going to be married!" That was when Fleur spoke for the first time, roused from her state of silent shock as a flash of anger and rage shattered her beautiful features as she rounded on Molly with a heavily accented flair. I instinctively took a step back.
"And what do you mean by zat? What do you mean, 'e was going to be married?" Molly jumped at the sudden lash of Fleur's tongue, stuttering in order to try and explain but Fleur continued sharply and completely cut Molly off. "You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore? You theenk, because of these bites, 'e will not love me?" She demanded of Molly who again tried to explain what she meant, but Fleur was not to be stopped. "Because 'e will! It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!" In that moment, I had never had more respect for Fleur than after these words. It made me admire her, as it hadn't even occurred to her at first she would be the one to stop loving Bill because of the bites, assuming that Molly believed that her son would turn her away instead. It showed me how utterly devoted she was to Bill, and I approved of her all the more for him because of it.
"Well yes, I'm sure, but I thought perhaps, given how he…how he…"
"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you 'oped?" Raising herself to her full height, Fleur continued to bear down upon Molly as the rest of us just stared. "What do I care how 'e looks? I am good-looking enough for both of us, I theenk! All these scars show is zat my husband is brave! And I shall do zat!" Snatching the cloth from her, Fleur muscled her way to Bill's side in order to begin delicately tending to his injuries as Molly stepped back, staring at her in shock. It took a long time for Molly to process everything, and once she had done, she then spoke in a small, almost timid voice.
"Our Great Aunt Muriel, has a very beautiful tiara – goblin-made – which I am sure I could persuade her to lend you for the wedding. She is very fond of Bill, you know, and it would look lovely with your hair."
"Thank you. I am sure zat will be lovely." Then they were both crying, sobbing freely as they poured their grief over Bill together, whilst the rest of us just stood there, utterly stunned until I managed to tell them that the bandages were ready and I needed to lay them over the bites and wounds in order to begin trying to heal Bill, so Fleur insisted on helping, constantly wiping away her tears as we delicately lay the soaked bandages over Bill's bare chest and face as I also got him to drink some of the potion too as Tonks suddenly burst out, like she had tried and failed to hold her tongue.
"You see! She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!" Tonks rounded on Remus who looked at her with alarm, going stiff and rigid whilst refusing to meet her eye.
"It's different, Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely…"
"But I don't care either, I don't care!" Raising her voice, both Fleur and I watched as Tonks seized my uncle by his clothes in order to rattle him, like she were hoping to shake some sense into him. "I've told you a million times…"
"And I've told you a million times, that I am too old for you, too poor, too dangerous…"
"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus." Molly finally spoke, having calmed down a little from her sobbing thanks to Arthur's tender attention and comforting.
"I am not being ridiculous, Tonks deserves someone young and whole."
"But you aren't broken, Uncle Rem." I told him bluntly, folding my arms and shooting him a scowl as my focus on him finally made that heavy feeling in my chest lift slightly.
"Besides, she wants you." Arthur agreed, all of us who knew what was going on seemingly ganging up on Remus in order to tell him what an utter prat he was being. "And after all Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so." With a gesture at Bill, Remus paled a little.
"This…this is not the moment to discuss it. Dumbledore is dead…"
"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in this world." McGonagall interrupted him smoothly with a simple matter of fact which left Remus struggling to find more excuses as to why he and Tonks shouldn't be together. With a heavy sigh I rolled my eyes slightly, still shooting my uncle looks as his mouth opened and closed helplessly.
"I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, Uncle Rem. You are not a monster, and you deserve love and happiness just like the rest of us. You're not dangerous, not when the right precautions have been taken for that particular evening that happens for one evening each month. Every other day of the month you're a wonderful guy, and I'm back now, so I can continue brewing your potion every month. You're holding yourself back, and you shouldn't, you know. Besides, look what's happening to Tonks because you keep on pushing her away." Gesturing at her, Remus finally actually looked at her, and the moment he did, his expression looked as if he wanted to sob.
Before I could lay into my uncle any further, Hagrid walked in to inform McGonagall in between sobs that he'd moved Dumbledore's body, that Professor Sprout had the other students back in bed, that Flitwick was lying down and someone named Slughorn had informed the Ministry, so she rose up steadily but slowly, as if unwilling to take on the responsibility which now fell upon her as the new headmistress. "Thank you, Hagrid. I shall have to see the Ministry when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of Houses – Slughorn can represent Slytherin – that I want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like you to join us, too." Then she turned to Harry, asking to speak with him first, and so he nodded his head and let himself be led away from the rest of us.
For a few moments there was quiet, but then I looked to Ron, Hermione and Ginny who were still trembling and shaking. "Madam Pomfrey, perhaps three sleeping draughts for these three here. I think they need some good rest." I suggested, Madam Pomfrey having long since collapsed into a chair from the shock of learning about Dumbledore's demise, but promptly sprang back into action and ushered all three to take a bed, taking charge of their welfare with professional authority. Arthur and Molly went to Ron and Ginny, persuading them to settle down and take the draught in order to sleep. I left Bill's side momentarily in order to go to Hermione, holding her hand and brushing back her hair until she was fast asleep, and I stayed there for a minute or so longer before letting go. "There are people who should be notified of Dumbledore's…I mean, they will want to know. I will begin sending messages."
"Mia." Remus said to me and I finally stopped in order to look at him. My expression cracked but before I could spiral into a fit of crying, my uncle was holding me in his arms with a gentle hushing sound, stroking my hair as I gripped onto him and took as many deep breaths as I needed before I felt somewhat more stable. Once that was done, I waved my wand to create patronus after patronus with the same message, but altered depending on the person. To Moody, I added that it would be wise to vacate Grimmauld Place immediately since now Dumbledore was gone, everyone who had been given the secret of it's location was now Secret Keeper, and that included Snape. They needed to leave before he could leave other Death Eaters there.
Another I sent to my parents and dad, telling them what happened, another went to other Order members I knew who needed to be made aware of the situation, and to Madame Maxime and anyone else I could think of. I didn't sleep the entire night, and when my dad finally appeared, bursting into the hospital wing, he paused only to search for me and once I was found by Bill's side, continuing the treatment I was hoping would actually work, he strode inside and gathered me up in his arms and refused to let go of me for ages afterward. I stayed against him, burying myself in his familiar scent and the feeling of comfort and security rushed over me, as everything else in the world around us seemingly crumbled into nothing, giving way to a darkness and evil which was now set free from the one chain that had bound it in place.