Chapter 28

- Hogwarts Invaded! -

Teddy was surprised to see the familiar light haired Slytherin walking through the large stone doors. Draco had a grim expression on his usually smug face. Teddy noticed how pale and tired he looked, his hair was ruffled and untidy and he looked as though he'd lost a bit of weight. In other words, he was a wreck.

By then Teddy had, had enough of school bullies, so instead of going up to Draco he hid behind a large wardrobe. He pricked his ears for the sound of Draco's shoes on the stone floor. It was late, way past curfew. What was he doing in there? Teddy's breath caught in his chest as he glanced at a mirror, propped up against a large golden harp, and saw Draco facing the exact wardrobe he was hiding behind.

Teddy's mind was going one hundred miles per hour. 'Does he know I'm here? If so, why is he just staring at the door like that?' Draco's reflection suddenly raised his wand, pointing at the doors of the wardrobe. Suddenly, an image flashed through Teddy's memory.

He was crouched on the roof near Borgin and Burkes, watching Draco move towards a large old fashioned wardrobe. He looked further into the mirror's reflection. Although he could see little of the wardrobe itself, he knew instantly it was the same wardrobe... or an identical one.

Draco mumbled something, a spell, but Teddy couldn't hear the words he was so quiet. He squinted his eyes at the reflection. The door handles appeared to be moving ever so slowly. All the sudden the doors creaked open ominously and a woman's foot, strapped in a black leather boot, stretched out from inside the wardrobe and lowered onto the floor.

The rest of the woman's body slid out from within the shadows of the wardrobe. The woman had long, black, curly, matted hair, deathly pale skin, was dressed in completely black and had a large tattoo of a snake and a skull on her arm. The Dark Mark. Teddy felt fear and anger bubble hot in his gut as he watched Bellatrix Lestrange take in the endless, cramped room.

Harry had been right, Draco was one of them... a Death Eater!

Bellatrix smiled, showing off black and white teeth before sauntering forwards past Draco. Neither she nor Draco seemed to have yet to realize Teddy was there and for a second he thought he could possibly stun them both and run to warn Professor Dumbledore. But suddenly the wardrobe's door creaked further open and several more Death Eaters filed out one by one, each one looking extremely excited.

All thoughts of over powering them and escaping blew from his mind. Instead he stayed still as a statue, hoping Marcus wouldn't wake up from where he was hidden.

"Well done, Draco." Bellatrix cooed in a whisper that reminded Teddy of a snake. "Now, you know what you have to do."

There was movement, the silence. Teddy didn't move, he had to be sure they were gone. Finally, he leaned around the wardrobe, his green eyes searching the room. One step. Then another. He picked up the pace and headed straight for the door.

Wham!

Something flew into Teddy's face hard. He fell to the ground, wand gripped in one hand, the other raising to his broken, bleeding nose. It didn't hurt, not yet, Teddy guessed that was due to the shock soon he would feel the pain. Sure enough, seconds later the pain flooded through where the cricket bat had hit him.

Thump! Thump!

Large feet stood on either side of Teddy's out sprawled body. He looked up and gasped at the sight of Fenrir Greyback, grinning with sharp, uneven canines. "Hello, Tesdon." Teddy was on his feet in an instant but Fenrir had grabbed his shirt. "Your reflexes is abysmal!"

Teddy wrinkled his nose but then instantly regretted it. "Yeah, to bad my eyes work just fine!" He looked the Werewolf up and down in disgust. Fenrir burst out into laughter, a cruel, booming cackle that reminded him of thunder. Teddy yelled in effort as he tossed a punch at Fenrir's jaw. The Werewolf released his grip, rubbing his jaw in pain. Teddy rubbed his fist in equal pain before running to the door.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The sixth year fell to the ground ridged. He opened his stinging eyes and blinked through the tears. In the distance Marcus was stirring, he stared at Teddy, first in anger then shock. Teddy flicked his eyes in the direction of Fenrir as a warning and Marcus slid back into hiding, tugging out his wand slowly.

"Wrong move, Lupin." Fenrir leaned down to Teddy's ear. "I expected more than this."

"Reducto!"

Fenrir flew back and smashed into a pile of chairs that came crumbling down. Marcus' wand twitched slightly as he glanced down at Teddy, eyes wide and fearful. "Finite." The curse binding Teddy's limbs to his body broke and he stood up, picking his wand up from the floor and glancing at Fenrir's body.

"Thanks." He panted.

"I didn't do it for you!" Marcus snapped.

"I know... but still." He said between pants. Suddenly, he remembered what he had to do. He ran to the doors bursting through them, not caring if Marcus was following. He ran alone through the corridors. The blood in his mouth tasted bitter and made him want to throw up, but he continued running. Where to he had no idea, but hopefully he'd bump into someone, anyone.

Somehow he ended up in the Great Hall. He spun around as footsteps came from behind. It was Bellatrix, followed by the Aurors, Draco and... Snape! Surely not!

Bellatrix laughed, jumping on one of the long tables. She was beyond excited.

"What did you do?" Teddy demanded, his voice croaky. His eyes bore into his professor's, but Snape's face was pallid and emotionless. Bellatrix barely noticed Teddy, as if he wasn't worth her time, and simply skipped up and down the tables. He wand flicked forward and all the windows shattered. Teddy fell to the ground in a tight ball, his arms protectively over his head. When he looked up he stared straight at Draco with acid eyes.

Draco didn't look back at him, he looked in pain and tears were rushing down his face. What had they done? The floating candles above the blew out all at once, leaving the room dark and the ceiling just a stormy as outside. They all left hall, but Teddy stayed where he was, unable to move. His breath was shaky and his heart pounded like a hammer.

Mad-Eye's voice rang through Teddy's head, a memory from his time in Grimmauld Place. 'Focus. Only you have the power to control your fear. Make a plan, follow it through.'

"Okay, okay." He said to himself. "Find Dumbledore, he'll know what to do." With that he was able to pick himself off the ground and ran out of the hall. Students were also running through the corridors and out into the courtyard. What was going on?

Crack!

Lightning shot from the Astronomy Tower and up into the dark sky. The cloud swirled, forming a blood chilling shape. A large skull with a huge snake slithering from its open jaw. Teddy's eyes slid down to the ground and rested on the limp form lying inches away from him. "Oh no-" His knees wobbled but he refused to collapse.

Hundreds of eyes stared down at Dumbledore's body, stretched out across the ground. Someone was pushing through the crowd and Teddy let Harry pass him and walk towards the Headmaster's body. A terrified scream left a girl's lips from somewhere in the crowd of students. Arkie's hand grabbed at Teddy's arm to steady herself.

"He's... he's..." She stuttered and Teddy pulled her close. He needed her comfort just as much as she needed his. but comfort was the last thing either of them felt that night. Teddy stared up at the Dark Mark in the sky. How dare it be there! How dare it celebrate such a gruesome act!

Without even thinking, he raised his wand, the tip lit up as if to drown the Dark Mark with light. But of course it had barely any effect, the only difference it made was a small tiny lit on the skull's forehead. Still, he continued to point upwards, gripping the handle of his wand so tight his fingers turned white. Another light filled his vision, coming from Arkie's wand.

Then another came from McGonagall's. Then Madame Pomfrey. Luna. Ron. Flitwick. Hermione. Freddie. Terry. Leonard. Lavender. Daniel. Anna. Cormac. Neville. Even Hagrid's umbrella glowed softly. Everyone's light was alit and pointed at the mark which was drowned by light and disappeared without a trace. Teddy's eyes watched as it disappeared a tear rolled down his blood stained cheek.