Part III: Revelation

Chapter VIII: In Which the World will Never be the Same

They made it to the hospital wing. Corinna pushed the doors open to reveal Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Dora, and Lupin all gathered around a hospital bed. They all looked up at the sound of the doors opening and Hermione ran towards them. Corinna had just stepped to the side when Hermione tightly hugged Harry. Lupin stepped forward, looking anxious. "You all right, Harry?"

"I'm fine…how's Bill?" When no one answered, they looked over at the figure on the bed. He seemed to be doing better than how Corinna had left him, but only slightly. His breathing was still ragged and his wounds still looked grotesque. "Can't you fix them with a charm or something?"

"No charm will work on these," said Madam Pomfrey. "I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure of werewolf bites. He is lucky that Miss Crouch was at least able to clean his wounds and give him a Blood-Replenishing Potion. Without those, he might not have made it this far."

Corinna looked away from the others, feeling her face burn. "I just did what anyone else would have done," she mumbled.

"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron, who looked almost as white as Bill as he looked down at his eldest brother. "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," said Lupin, "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," said Ron and his words were like a stab to the gut. No one else knew of Dumbledore's fate. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state—"

"Dumbledore's dead," said Corinna. The words coming out of her mouth sounded fake, even to her.

"No!" Lupin stared at Harry as if hoping that he would contradict her statement. When he did not, Lupin collapsed into the nearest chair with his hands over his face.

Dora was immediately at his side with a hand on his shoulder. "How did he die?" Her voice wasn't more than a whisper. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him," said Harry, and Corinna looked at Harry sharply. "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 realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak—and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him—more Death Eaters arrived—and then Snape—and the Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra…" When he couldn't go on, Corinna stepped back up to him and put her arm around his waist.

Madame Pomfrey burst into tears but was instantly silenced by Ginny. "Shh! Listen!" Madame Pomfrey put her fingers to her mouth, and they all strained to listen. Somewhere outside, a phoenix was singing, a lament of terrible beauty. Corinna was shaking as she listened to the song that reverberated inside her chest. How long they all stood listening to the song, she had no idea. The night was already entirely much too long.

The dormitory doors were thrown open, breaking everyone from their trance. McGonagall came rushing up the aisle. "Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said as everyone seemed to act that they had woken from a deep slumber. "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."

McGonagall swayed dangerous when Harry bluntly gave the news. Madam Pomfrey summoned a chair that fell underneath McGonagall just in time as she collapsed into it. "Snape," she repeated. "We all wondered…but he trusted…always…Snape…I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin harshly. "We always knew that."

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side," said Dora. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered McGonagall. "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!"

"I'd love to know how Snape convinced him," said Dora, who was now rubbing Lupin's back. It was a testament to what was going on that he didn't seem to have a problem with it.

"I know," said Harry, and everyone turned to look at him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."

"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin. "Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James…"

"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, "Because she was Muggle-born…'Mudblood,' he called her…"

Corinna had very little respect for the man to begin with. Even if he hadn't killed Dumbledore, hearing him call anyone that made her automatically hate him.

"This is all my fault," said McGonagall. "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," said Lupin. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way…"

"So, when he arrived at the fight, he joined the Death Eaters' side, asked Harry.

"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. "It's all so confusing. Dumbledore told us that he would be leaving the school or a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case. Remus, Bill, and Nymphadora 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 possible have entered…"

"I do," said Harry. "Malfoy fixed the Vanishing Cabinet that Montague was put into last year, and it was linked with one that was in Borgin and Burkes. So, they got in through the Room or Requirement."

"Oh, Merlin," said Corinna, looking miserable. "I saw the Vanishing Cabinet when I went to hide, er…something. I had walked past the thing used to get Death Eaters into the castle and not even know."

She looked over at Ron and Neville and they each took turns explaining what had happened while they were guarding the Room of Requirement, and Lupin and Dora chimed in when they had come into their explanation. "So, if Ron, Corinna, and Neville were watching the Room or Requirement…" He turned to Hermione. "Were you—?"

"Outside Snape's office, yes," said Hermione, tears in her eyes, "with Luna and Ginny. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened. We didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the 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 we 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 and—and—"

"What?"

"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. Oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realize, Harry, we didn't realize, we just let Snape go!"

"It's not your fault," said Lupin. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you, Luna, and Ginny."

They then continued to when Snape had gone upstairs and gotten through the barrier. They each took turns filling in details. "We just let them pass," said Dora. "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—"

"He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry. "He'd done what he'd meant to do."

Silence followed his words as the Phoenix finished up their lament. Corinna didn't realize how much it seemed to fill the void until it was gone.

The doors burst open, causing everyone to jump from the sudden noise. "Molly—Arthur—" said McGonagall as she quickly got to her feet. "I am so sorry—"

"Bill," said Mrs. Weasley as she bustled passed everyone and they parted away from Bill's bed to allow her clearance. Dora and Lupin moved closer to Harry and Corinna, and she noticed them holding hands. "Oh, Bill!" As they explained to the newcomers what the cursed wounds could mean, Mrs. Weasley had taken the ointment from Madame Pomfrey and dabbed Bill's wounds herself. Mr. Weasley collapsed into the chair by Bill's bed when they confirmed that Dumbledore was dead. "Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks…" Mrs. Weasley seemed to only be focused on her eldest son, not paying any attention to the rest of the world around her. "It's not really important…but he was a very handsome little boy…always very handsome…and he was going to be married!"

"And what do you mean by zat?" Corinna looked up sharply, not realizing that Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons champion during the Triwizard Tournament, had also came in with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "What do you me, 'he was going to be married?'"

Mrs. Weasley looked up, looking startled. "Well, only that—"

"You theenk Bill will not wish to marry me anymore? You theenk, because of these bites, he will not love me?"

"No, that's not what I—"

"Because 'e will," said Fleur. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"

"Well, yes, I'm sure, but I thought perhaps—given how—how he—"

"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you hoped? What do I care how he 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!" She took the ointment from Mrs. Weasley and Fleur started cleaning up the wounds instead.

Everyone else was very still, as if waiting for an explosion. Corinna stood stock still as she assessed what was going on.

"Our Great-Auntie 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."

And feeling like this night couldn't take any more twists and turns, both women were clutching each other as they cried over Bill. Harry was looking around wildly as if everyone had gone mad, Ron looked stunned, and Ginny and Hermione were exchanging startled looks.

"You see!" Corinna turned to see Dora fully facing Lupin and a smile slowly crept on her face as she watched her cousin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely—"

"But I don't care either. I don't care! I've told you a million times…"

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, unable to meet Dora's eyes, "that I'm too old for you, too poor…too dangerous…"

"Oh, shut up," said Corinna, not caring that people were looking at her again. "You're being ridiculous."

"I am not being ridiculous," said Lupin, taken aback that Corinna had spoken up. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."

"But she wants you," said Corinna.

"After all, Remus," Mr. Weasley added, "young and whole men do not necessarily remain so." He motioned towards his own son suffering from a very similar fate as Lupin, even if it wasn't exactly the same.

"This is not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, changing tactics when it seemed that everyone was on Dora's side. "Dumbledore is dead…"

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said McGonagall.

The doors to the Hospital Wing opened again and Hagrid walked in, his face blotchy underneath his strangely beard. "I've…I've done it, Professor. M-moved him. Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed. Professor Flitwick's lyin' down, but he says he'll be all righ' in a jiffy, an' Professor Slughorn says the Ministry's bin informed."

"Thank you, Hagrid," said McGonagall and turned to face the group. "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." Hagrid nodded stiffly and left. "Before I meet them I would like a quick word with you, Harry. If you'll come with me…"

Harry seemed to reluctantly pull away from Corinna's embrace. He looked between her, Ron, and Hermione. "See you in a bit," he mumbled and then turned to follow McGonagall out of the Hospital Wing.

It was odd how empty Corinna felt once Harry was gone as she turned back to the group. Madam Pomfrey was insisting the students should head to bed, and Mrs. Weasley wholeheartedly agreed. Lupin and Dora volunteered to take the students upstairs to their respective dormitories as they were all Gryffindor except for Luna, but her dormitory wasn't that far.

"They'll probably talk about closing the school," said Lupin when Hermione asked what McGonagall had called a meeting about. "Something like this…isn't good for Hogwarts' reputation. I wouldn't be surprised if parents started pulling students out starting tomorrow."

The rest of the walk up to the Towers were silent. Dora broke off to escort Luna to the Ravenclaw Tower and she waved them all goodbye, but she gave Neville a lingering smile. Lupin ushered the rest of them towards the Fat Lady's portrait hole, who swung open without even waiting for a password. They all bid goodbye to Lupin as they walked through the portrait hole.

As expected, the common room was crowded with people. They were all talking loudly until the five of them had walked in and now all eyes were on them. Ginny ignored the stares and went over to where Seamus and Dean were sitting and Neville went to find an isolated spot in the corner. Ron and Hermione whispered lowly to themselves and split off to their own dormitories. Corinna considered staying up to wait for Harry, but exhaustion won out and she followed after Hermione.

Hermione sat on her bed, staring down at the floor. She made no move to remove her dust-covered robes. Corinna stripped off as she went, not really caring at this point.

"What do you think is going to happen now?" asked Hermione. "Do you really think they will close the school?"

She shoved on a nightshirt and flopped unceremoniously onto her bed and stared up at her canopy. "I don't know," she admitted. "They might have to if no one wants to send their kids here." Corinna wasn't even fully convinced if her aunt and uncle would let her come back. Then, she remembered, she was going to be seventeen soon. Technically, they wouldn't have a say.

"I just hope Harry's and Dumbledore's mission was a success," said Hermione as she went to change into pajamas. "Something needs to go right tonight."

"Hopefully more than one thing if Lupin pulls his head out of his arse."

"You knew about them, didn't you? Harry, Ron, and I thought it was Sirius."

Corinna had to sit up and look at Hermione over that one. "Seriously?" She shook her head and laid back down. "Dora has been trying for almost a year to convince Lupin that they should be together."

"Between that and Mrs. Weasley finally accepted Fleur as a future daughter-in-law, some good things are going to be borne out of this tragedy."

"Good," was all Corinna said as she mustered up the rest of her strength to crawl under the covers. Despite how exhausted she was, sleep would not come to take her away.

As she hadn't even fallen asleep, she was wide awake when McGonagall barged into their dormitory early the next morning to collect Parvati as her parents were there to pick her and her twin up. There were some protesting and some crying from Lavender, but they left all the same.

Hermione also looked as if she hadn't slept much as they dressed for the day. They went down to the Common Room to see a bulletin announcing that all lessons were suspended and examinations were postponed. At the very least, they figured that would happen, and Hermione and Corinna agreed that they would probably send the students home within a couple of days. However, Harry, during his meeting with McGonagall, vouched for the students that they would want to be there for the funeral, and so the Hogwarts Express would leave an hour after the funeral.

The funeral just happened to be on Corinna's birthday. She didn't mention this to anyone else, not that she was interested in celebrating her birthday in the first place. The only one who mentioned it was Terry and she told him pointblank that if he did anything for it, she would castrate him.

Terry dropped it, mostly because they were walking in on Seamus having a row with his mother about staying until the funeral. At least it ended amicably as Mrs. Finnigan promised to find a place to stay in Hogsmeade until then. However, she had difficulty finding a bed, he told Terry and Terry told Corinna, as witches and wizards were pouring into the village to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.

This was, of course, also in between Terry complaining about how he wasn't invited yet again. "We sent a message through the DA coins," she reminded as they walked down to the Great Hall, "so if you didn't get the message, it's your own fault." He did admit that he had his coin in the bottom of his bag, forgotten after all these months.

Even Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted were coming in for the funeral, but they wouldn't there until the day of due to their schedules. It meant that Corinna wouldn't even take the train home to London as they would just floo from Dora's Hogsmeade flat. If they were plagued down by exams, she might have been a little miffed, but it seemed that Harry and Corinna were spending as much time together as possible, mostly outside. The bright sunlight and warm breeze seemed to mock them. She found herself imagining what her life would look like if Dumbledore hadn't died and they were relaxing like this after revisions and exams, and actually doing something for Corinna's birthday. Instead, there was an edge to their time together, as if there was something that Harry wanted to say but couldn't bring himself to say it.

He told Corinna and Hermione about the fake Horcrux the morning after Dumbledore's death. They were probably irate that Dumbledore was weakened for no good reason which lead to his downfall. But this also meant that there were still three Horcruxes to find, not to mention finding a way to kill Nagini, Voldemort's precious snake. It was an unenviable task, to be sure.

While some students were being filed out, others were coming in in droves, and not just to Hogsmeade. The Beauxbatons carriage came by, carrying Madame Maxime, landed on the grounds the afternoon before the funeral. There were also representatives from the Ministry, including the Minister of Magic himself, were also staying in the castle. Harry avoided them like the plague, even sending Ron, Hermione, or Corinna to filch some food for him when he was spotted in at the staff table sitting next to McGonagall. No one, it seemed, dared to sit in Dumbledore's place in the middle of the table.

They had taken the pilfered food up to the Common Room the evening before the funeral, but no one seemed to be in the mood to eat much, only eating enough to show the others that they were eating. They sat in the chairs by the window with it open to let in the cool evening air.

"Anyone else we know died?" Ron and Hermione as she read the evening edition of the Prophet. Normally, it would only be on special occasions that they were release two issues in one day, but it seemed after Dumbledore's death, there was a lot to discuss in the Wizarding World.

"No," she said, wincing at the harshness of Ron's tone. "They're still looking for Snape, but no sign…" She carefully folded up the newspaper and set it off to the side.

"Of course, there isn't," said Harry as he braced his head on his fist as he stared out the window. "They won't find Snape until they find Voldemort, and seeing as they've never managed to do that in all this time…"

Corinna wished she could find some sort of words of comfort, but none came to her. Ask her for a sarcastic comment and she was there, but she couldn't find any sort of thing to say to Harry.

"Harry, I found something out this morning, in the library," said Hermione, her voice sounding rehearsed.

"RAB?" Those were the initials on the letter in the fake Horcrux. That was the only clue as to where the real one might be, but none of them believed for a second that whoever this RAB person was knew how to actually destroy the Horcrux. It was still out there somewhere.

"No," she said softly. "I've been trying, Harry, but I haven't found anything…there are a couple of reasonably well-known wizards with those initials, but they don't seem to fit at all. Judging by that note, the person who stole the Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can't find a shred of evidence that they had anything to do with him. It's actually about Snape."

"What about him?"

"Well, it's just that I was sort of right about the Half-Blood Prince business."

"Do you have to rub it in, Hermione? How do you think I feel about it now?"

"No—no—Harry, I didn't mean that! It's just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see…she was Snape's mother!"

"I thought she wasn't much of a look," said Ron.

"I was going through the rest of the old Prophets," Hermione continued, ignoring Ron, "and there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince marrying a man called Tobias Snape, and then later an announcement saying that she'd given birth to a—"

"—murderer!"

"Well, yes. So I was sort of right. Snape must have been proud of being 'half a Prince,' you see? Tobias Snape was a muggle from what it said in the Prophet."

"Yeah, that fits. He'd play up the pure-blood side so he could get in with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of them. He's just like Voldemort. Pure-blood mother, muggle father. Ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name—Lord Voldemort—the Half-Blood Prince—how could Dumbledore have missed—?"

Harry fell silent, completely lost in thought. He was sitting up straighter now as he looked out the window.

"I still don't get why he didn't turn you in for using that book," said Ron. "He must've known where you were getting it all from."

"He knew. He knew when I used Sectumsempra. He didn't really need Legilimency. He might have even known before then, with Slughorn talking about how brilliant I was at Potions. Shouldn't have left his old book in the bottom of that cupboard, should he?"

"But why didn't he turn you in?" asked Corinna.

"I don't think he wanted to associate himself with that book," said Hermione. "I don't think Dumbledore would have liked it very much if he'd known. And even if Snape pretended it hadn't been his, Slughorn would have recognized his writing at once. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'll bet Dumbledore knew his mother was called 'Prince.'"

"I should've shown the book to Dumbledore," said Harry. "All that time he was showing me how Voldemort was evil even when he was at school, and I had proof Snape was, too."

"'Evil' is a strong word," said Hermione.

"You were the one who kept telling me the book was dangerous!"

"What I'm trying to say, Harry, is that you're putting too much blame on yourself. I thought the Prince seemed to have a nasty sense of humor, but I would never have guessed he was a potential killer."

"None of us could've guessed Snape would, you know," said Ron.

They all fell silent as twilight settled around them, absorbed in their own thoughts. Corinna had mixed feeling about tomorrow where she knew she should be excited to finally be in her majority, but she knew it was going to be a somber affair as the Wizarding World said their final goodbyes to the only man You-Know-Who ever feared and, with it, their hopes of getting through this war.

She tried not to think about next year where it was still so uncertain if Hogwarts will even be open. Even if they did open their doors to students again after the tragedy, she had a feeling that Harry wouldn't be among them. He was only really safe here because of Dumbledore. Plus, he needed to find those last Horcruxes, one of which was a mystery. She knew that is what Harry needed to talk about, but they avoided the subject.

Eventually, they all broke away to head to their dormitories. Both Hermione and Corinna were silent as they changed into their sleep clothes. As she had every night since Dumbledore died, she stared up at the ceiling until sleep finally overcame her in the early hours of the morning.

Everyone was silent as they woke and dressed. Although there was only one missing from their ranks with Parvati's bed untouched, it created a chasm between the other girls. It was tantamount to a white flag being raised by Lavender as she was now courteous to Hermione as the three of them descended the stairs to go to breakfast.

Hermione and Corinna found Harry and Ron and sat down next to them. Breakfast was a subdued affair as no one seemed interested in eating. Students were all dressed in various colored dress robes, but all were in muted colors. Corinna was glad she had asked for new dress robes for Christmas as she couldn't imagine going down to Dumbledore's funeral wearing gold. She reached under the table to take Harry's hand as it seemed to be shaking.

After what felt like an eternity, McGonagall rose as the hall, which was quieter than usual, immediately silenced. "It's nearly time. Please follow your Heads of Houses out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

The only sounds in the hall were those of scraping benches as it seemed that the students were on their best behavior for once. All the heads had to do was lead the way out into the Great Hall and down onto the grounds. They all filed out to the Black Lake. Hundreds of chairs had been set up in rows with a middle aisle that lead to a marble table that glistened brilliantly in the sun.

There were people already filling out the seats. Many she recognized, and most she did not. She had immediately spotted Dora due to her hair being pink again. She was sitting down next to Remus and Corinna tried to hide a smile when she noted that they were holding hands. On her other side were Aunt Andromeda and Uncle Ted. She spotted the Weasleys not far from them as they seemed to be an island of red hair with a beacon among them being Fleur.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Corinna filed into seats right by the lake. They were seated behind Terry, Seamus, Dean, and Ginny. In the seats by the aisle, Neville and Luna were sitting next to each other, and they glanced over at the four of them. They had answered the call for help as they were the ones who wanted the D.A. to come back the most. When Terry, of course, mentioned how he, yet again, was not invited into the action, she reminded him that he should have had his D.A. coin on him. Even now, she was certain it was in his sapphire dress robes.

Next was a procession of three irksome individuals. First was Cornelius Fudge, who had lost the re-election due to his mishandling of You-Know-Who coming back to power. Not that Corinna thought that Rufus Scrimgeour was much better. Then there was Rita Skeeter, who although wrote the piece for the Quibbler that told the truth about what happened during the third task, was still a horrid woman who told untruths about people. And then there was Umbridge. Her blood boiled when she saw the toad-like woman and, indeed, the time when she spit in her face was a memory she used to conjure a Patronus, she just could not believe the vile woman had the audacity to show up to the man's funeral whom she had usurp for political gain.

Up at the front of the sat Professor McGonagall and Scrimgeour. It was obvious that McGonagall was keeping a cool exterior when all she wanted to do was cry for her good friend, but Scrimgeour sat there looking grave. She doubted anyone with strong ties to the Ministry was actually there for Dumbledore, but only there to save face. She knew the type all too well. If her grandfather was alive to attend the funeral, that's the only reason why he would go.

Corinna paused her recollection when she heard beautiful, otherworldly music fill the space around the funeral. It sounded oddly familiar as she looked over at the lake and saw, just below the surface, with the green water tinting their skin, were a chorus of merpeople singing. Although she had ended her studies on the Mermish language the summer before her fourth year as she did not continue with the tutors her grandfather hired, she recognized a few phrases in the mournful melody. As Harry was still looking around for the source, she pointed it out to him.

She looked passed Harry to see Hagrid coming down the middle aisle and she nudged Harry again to draw his attention away from the merpeople. He was carrying a bundle in his arms, a spot wet from his tears on the dark purple velvet adorned with golden stars. Corinna felt tears welling up in her eyes as it dawned on her that Hagrid was carrying Dumbledore's body.

From where they sat, Corinna couldn't see the front as she stupidly sat down behind Dean. She could see the Hagrid's shaggy hair as he bent down over the marble table, and she could only assume that he had placed Dumbledore's body upon it. His arms were free as he came back up the aisle and went to the back with another giant dressed in what was supposed to be formal wear. She glanced over at Harry and he whispered, "I'll explain later."

They turned back to the front and Corinna had guessed that a man was now speaking, presiding over the service. She did not hear much of what was said as she stared at the back of Dean's head, blurry from the tears that were threatening to fall again. She felt Harry shift and she glanced over at him with a small smile on his face. Figuring he was thinking of a happy memory he had with Dumbledore, she turned to face the front. She didn't know how long she sat there. Harry next to her seemed restless, and Hermione on her other side was oddly still, letting tears fall down her cheeks and into her lap. Corinna wiped at her own tears and they were left heavy and dry. The murmured speech ended and the crowd was enveloped in silence.

Soon, there was a scream, but no one else seemed to move as there appeared to be a pillar of fire rising from where Dumbledore's body laid. Once the ceremony would end, she would see that the table would be replaced with a white marble tomb where Dumbledore can look over his beloved school. He would never truly be gone from this school, even if he was gone from this life.

She glanced over at Harry and her heart sank. His green eyes dazzled in the sunlight, but hardened from the last few weeks, months, and years. She knew that look. He had that same look when he went into the maze, when they went into the Department of Mysteries, and just recently when he was going off with Dumbledore to get the Horcrux. His set jaw and curled fists said more than she cared to admit.

"Corinna, listen," he said very quietly and she glared at him as if she knew what he was going to say next. "I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."

"No." Harry was taken aback by the simple word, simply put. She didn't even put any emotion into it even if she felt like her heart was going to explode. "You're doing this for some stupid, noble reason and I'm not here for it."

"But, Corinna—"

"I knew what I was getting into when we started dating." The crowd around them were slowly getting to their feet, as if waking up from a dream.

"Even if Hogwarts is going to open next year, I won't be coming back. I have a job to do."

"Good for you," said Corinna. "I don't care."

"I care. How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral and it was my fault?"

"And how do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral and it was my fault because I wasn't around to help save you?"

"We're on your side, Harry," said Hermione. Although tears were still shining in her eyes, she looked determined. "We've been with you this far."

"I can't ask any of this from you," said Harry. "I'm going back to the Dursley's as that was what Dumbledore asked, and then I have to go find the Horcruxes."

"You told us once before that there was time to turn back if we wanted to," said Ron. As that seemed like something Ron wouldn't remember off the top of his head, Corinna wondered if he and Hermione have been discussing this when Harry wasn't around. "We've had time, and we're still here, aren't we? But, mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else for Bill and Fleur's wedding."

Harry seemed to take it all in as he looked at the three of them. "Yeah, we shouldn't miss that."

"Wotcher," said Dora, bringing them back into reality. "Cor, Dad went to grab your things. We need to get going as Mum has to get to work soon."

"I'll meet you by the gates," she said. "I need to say goodbye first."

Dora nodded as she straightened to and went back over to Remus. "We'll figure it out," said Hermione once she was gone.

Corinna nodded as she looked at Harry. His resolve had faded as he now looked conflicted. "But I have to get going," she said. She leaned over and gave Harry the tightest hug she could muster, and he crushed her right back. "I'm not letting you go that easy, Harry."