Remus and Bill had immediately leaped to their feet when I'd appeared, rushing over to see me and hug me tightly as they welcomed me back. Tonks was as subdued as ever, her lank, mousey hair reflecting her inner feelings but she gave me a smile and said it was good to see me again as I gave her a firm hug. I asked what all this extra security was about, wondering if they knew why Dumbledore was leaving the castle but no one had any answers, so we just sat down to have a drink together which Madam Rosemerta brought over.

We waited until it was dark before heading up to the castle, having to be let in by McGonagall who looked me up and down with a careful and analytical look as she took in my wild, untamed hair, my scuffed, frayed and slightly muddy clothes and the numerous bruises and scrapes all over my arms. "I see your first year out of Hogwarts has not been kind to you." She said most disapprovingly but made no comment on where I had been, merely ushered me inside and offered a rest in her office, a decent cup of tea and a meal as, according to her, I sorely needed one. "You're all skin and bones, what have you been feeding yourself?"

"I've been eating perfectly fine, professor, it's stress and the constant moving that did me in, though I'm fit as a fiddle now. I can hike over any mountain without too much trouble, and the fresh air has done me wonders." She merely clicked her tongue and insisted that I at least got myself cleaned up, directing me towards the prefects baths so I looked at Remus who chuckled and assured me that it was alright, as Dumbledore hadn't left yet and that I had some time to freshen up and change. I'll admit, I had missed those baths.

I'd purposefully guttered the bathrooms at home in Grimmauld Place in order to completely refurbish it after these same baths at Hogwarts, with a large pool like bath, a fountain of taps for every scented soap you could think of and other functions such as temperature control, a bubbling function which, according to Hermione, was reminiscent of a muggle invention of something called a Jacuzzi, as well as hundreds of other things to make the bathroom one of the best features of the house. Here, it was rather nostalgic to sink into the water with Orion perched by the door to keep watch, allowing me to wash away the stress and aches of the year and clean myself up so that I was presentable.

I found a fresh set of clothes, dried off then left with my rucksack slung over my shoulder, though I now handed it to Orion for him to grab onto with his talons. "Take it back home for me, okay? Grimmauld Place. I'll see you there tomorrow." Stroking his feathers I then released him out a window and watched him fly off into the bright orb of the moon, quickly disappearing from sight. I joined the others once more, now smelling like a fresh daisy, making Bill grin and say that I smelled much more tolerable now so I punched him lightly on the shoulder. Then we took to patrolling the halls and corridors, the sweeping staircases and checking rooms to ensure that firstly, there were no students out of bed and secondly, there were no intruders. It was impossible that anyone would manage to get in, the place was too well protected and all of the secret entrances were covered, as I had been able to point out the lesser known ones to ensure that there was no way that anyone would be able to get in.

Everything seemed quiet, and for the longest time nothing stirred until suddenly, I heard a commotion in the direction of the astronomy tower. Launching myself forward, I dropped to the ground and landed on the thick pads of my paws, all four limbs stretching in order to run faster as a lion then I could as a human. I was there in minutes, racing up the stairs to stand up but then immediately duck as all hell had broken loose. Everyone had converged here, but not just McGonagall and the Order, but also Ginny, Neville and Ron. I had no idea they were even out of bed, but now I could see that they were all fighting Death Eaters, who had somehow managed to break into the castle.

I didn't ask questions, merely raised my wand to let off a golden burst of flame like light past Ginny to hit the Death Eater she was fighting, throwing them back in order to jump into the fray. Everything was so confusing, the sounds of shouts, magic bursting in all directions and the distinct sounds of a snarl before suddenly, I heard tearing flesh and Bill screaming in pain. "NO!" Flinging myself around, I launched myself at the werewolf who'd ravaged Bill with a snarl of my own, shifting into a lion in order to bury my own fangs and claws into them and rip them off. He whirled around to face me, unkempt and sinister, blood dripping from his mouth and all the way down his neck as he then sprung for me.

We collided but I was stronger, as tonight wasn't a full moon and the werewolf wasn't transformed. Within seconds I had him pinned and was about to bury my fangs into his neck when a spell hit me against my side and I was flung off, Neville yelling in horror as his spell had been deflected and struck me instead. I was back on my feet in an instant, bouncing upright and brushing it off as the other Death Eaters had fled up to the tower but the way was now blocked with what seemed like an invisible wall which only they could get through with a couple of Death Eaters remaining in order to hold the rest of us back with curses flying past us, several flying dangerously close to my head.

My attention was diverted to Bill and Neville, however, focusing on them as they were the most grievously injured as the others tried to blast their way through. There was another body on the floor, however when I turned it over I didn't recognise them and I quickly saw that they had the Dark Mark tattooed onto their wrist so I ignored them, as they were not my problem or even a remote concern of mine to be dealing with right now. They were dead anyway, it wasn't something I needed to trouble over. Bill, however, was bleeding severely so I worked on trying to clean the wounds, drawing out the venom of the werewolf bite as much as possible before cleaning them. Neville was also badly injured from where he had tried to run at the barrier but been thrown back, his eyes rolling as he lay slumped against the wall so I tried to help him as well.

That was when Snape came sweeping through, running past us all and didn't even spare any of us a glance before he managed to rush through the invisible barrier and up the stairs in order to go after the Death Eaters. Thinking that the barrier had been removed Remus attempted to get through, but he was also thrown back with alarming force like a sharp backlash which made me cry out and catch him with a wave of my wand, keeping him from hitting the ground. With Bill and Neville down for the count, I used magic to raise their bodies up and move them out of the way, turning just in time to see a hex shooting upwards which burst against the ceiling and caused it to collapse in on itself, so with a sweep of my wand I dragged Ginny and Professor McGonagall out of the way before they could be crushed and sent some of the debris flying at the two remaining Death Eaters with a smart flick, two huge rocks slamming against their chests and knocking them out cold.

The barrier came down with the ceiling and we all closed in, intending to go up and chase after the Death Eaters but then almost as quickly as he had gone up, Snape came sprinting back down with none other than Draco Malfoy at his side, gripping his shoulder firmly as behind them came all the other Death Eaters. Not one of us stopped them, naturally thinking that Snape had gone up to rescue Malfoy and the pursuing Death Eaters were after them both, and so they passed us all without a single hindrance. The fighting resumed immediately with the return of the enemy and seeing Bellatrix Lestrange, I leaped to the side to dodge a hex and ran towards her as she launched a curse at Tonks, who barely dodged it in time before we were fighting together against her. They forced their way out of the spiral staircase in a matter of seconds, completely overwhelming us with their wildfire spells which forced us to back up and dodge them until they were escaping from us, and to my complete and utter shock, Harry then appeared from the stairs.

Before I could even shout at him, the werewolf from before sprung at Harry with his teeth bared which tore a blood curdling scream from my lips as I launched myself at the werewolf and collided with him once more, tearing him away from Harry as I rose up onto my hind legs, now a lioness once more, and slashed my lengthy claws down his face to create deep gashes which only served to anger the werewolf further. As we all fought with more or less a Death Eater each, they gradually began to siphon off, choosing to run as Harry had also disappeared, and with the werewolf being the last one to leave, we both tumbled down the stairs from where our fighting had pushed us before the rest of the ceiling collapsed behind us, blocking the way.

With a powerful blast at me from a spell, I was ripped back and struck the wall with a squeal of pain before I dropped, transforming back into a human in order to raise my wand and create my strongest shield, holding off the bombardment of curses and hexes as the Death Eaters all chose to run instead of finish what they'd started. A shout came from behind me, so I turned, seeing more of the ceiling start to crumble so I began to swish my wand in order to catch the falling debris, stopping some of the rocks from hitting Bill who was still unconscious before beginning to mend them, everyone else gasping and exhausted.

McGonagall took charge, having Bill and Neville moved to the hospital wing whilst the rest of them followed, announcing that she was going to pursue the Death Eaters and I agreed to go with her. Ginny also came, white faced and trembling slightly but the grip on her wand was strong, following us as we chased after where Harry had disappeared. The students of Hogwarts had already started to get up and coming investigating in their dressing gowns, having heard the noise but upon seeing them congregating in order to view the Dark Mark that had been launched into the sky over the Astronomy Tower, we three slowed down with sharp tremors of fear cascading through our bodies at the knowledge of that Mark's meaning, and praying desperately that our fears would not be realised.

They were whispering and moving, drifting towards something laying on the grass at the foot of the tower and when I saw Harry and Hagrid there, I realised that something had to be wrong. Ginny, McGonagall and I all pushed our way forwards and I wasn't ready or prepared to see what had everyone's undivided attention after I broke through the final cluster of students to reveal the sight of Dumbledore lying lifelessly on the grass, broken and dead. Harry began to howl in agony and grief, Hagrid staring in utter shock as his towering frame blocked the view of everyone behind him as I gaped open mouthed, unable to comprehend what my own eyes were telling me.

This was wrong. It had to be. There was no way…he was merely stunned, that had to be it. Dumbledore couldn't be…dead. Beside me McGonagall had gasped in shock and begun to cry, staggering under the shock and gripping my shoulder in order to steady herself as we all stood there looking at the form our most beloved headmaster, the best that Hogwarts had ever seen. Above us the Dark Mark continued to fill the sky, the grotesque sight of the skull and snake gleaming with a greenish glare to signify the death at the hand of one of Voldemort's own, and all I could think about was how we were going to manage without Dumbledore there to guide and protect us now. It was all wrong. This shouldn't have happened, I don't understand it, what had happened? How did the Death Eaters even get in? I can't…I can't…

An indescribable pressure weighed itself down against my chest as silent tears began to stream down my cheeks, looking at Dumbledore and almost willing him to move. No one was able to speak, though a great many of the spectators were now crying with grief as Harry's mourning gradually died away as he lay over Dumbledore's body. McGonagall pulled herself up, tight lipped as she drew her wand and raised it silently, the tip glowing a bright white and I hastened to copy, until one by one, everyone in the courtyard raised their wands, and even the younger students who did not understand fully what was happening, lifted their wands which began to gleam in reaction to others.

To honour our fallen, a moment of reverent silence followed to allow the grief of his passing truly settle it's cold clutches into our hearts, and as the lights from our wands brightened, the Dark Mark was chased away into the clouds, removed from over our school. In a burst of inspiration, I released a bright golden red bird into the sky and it took flight to then spread its wings and hover over the tower, a huge phoenix in remembrance of Albus Dumbledore. I could hear Fawkes crying now, lamenting somewhere in the distance as Ginny managed to pull Harry away and I felt her take my hand in order to pull me around and lead me away also as McGonagall quietly asked Hagrid if he would move the body, though her voice cracked like her throat was completely dry, Fawkes's songs filling the ground with his mourning voice which only added to the pressure until finally, I could scarcely draw breath under the weight of it.