Chapter 29
- Fallen Hero -
Teddy leaned his back against the railing of the Astronomy Tower. Beside him on his left was Arkie, staring down at the Black Lake in the distance and on his right stood Harry and next to him was Hermione, Ron was sitting on one of the steps. On the horizon the sun was beginning to rise, a new day was dawning. Soon they would bury Dumbledore's body and head home. His father and Tonks had been invited and informed about what had happened in the strangest way Teddy had seen.
He remembered watching as McGonagall summoned a beautiful, sleek cat Patronus which flew off into the sky to find them. After that Harry had found him, saying her wanted to talk to them all in private.
Teddy glanced down at the object in Harry's hand. A small silver locket with a large greenish-yellow gem on the end. A Horcrux. Harry had explained everything. What he and Dumbledore had been doing the night before and what had happened afterwards. It all made sense now. Everyone had been in absolute distraught at the sight of the Head Master's body, so much that it took all night for Madame Pomfrey to control her emotions enough to heal Teddy's nose.
"Do you think he would've done it? Draco." Teddy asked after about twenty minutes of silence.
Harry shook his head. "No. No, he was lowering his wand. In the end, it was Snape." Teddy stared down at his feet again. "It was always Snape. I did nothing."
Teddy had never liked the feeling of hate, he had only felt pure hatred for one person, Umbridge. But strong disliking was something he was used to. Yet he had always tried his best to hide it. Snape had been someone he'd disliked for most of his life. The Professor only picked on his because of his father's past mistakes. Draco had been another person, for bullying him constantly.
But now, Teddy felt sorry for Draco.
"It's fake." Harry interrupted his thoughts, holding up the locket and passing it to Teddy. "Open it." To did so, inside was a small folded piece of parchment. His fingers struggled to open it and his eyes squinted so to read the tiny handwriting.
"To the Dark Lord: I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret." He took a small breath. "I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more." He paused, looking at the initials on the bottom. "R.A.B?"
"Who's R.A.B?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head, taking back the fake Horcrux.
"Don't know. But whoever they are they have the real Horcrux." He crunched up the note in his hand. "It means, it was all a waste. All of it."
They returned to silence. Teddy had never realized how peaceful the Astronomy Tower was, even with the memory of a person falling from it to the courtyard below. "Ron's okay with you, you know." Hermione said to Harry after glancing at Ron, whose eyes were fixated on her. "You and Ginny."
Teddy also glanced at Ron and could read the silent message in his eyes and whispered to Harry. "But if I were you when he's around, I'd keep snogging to a minimum." He smiled, brightly hugging Arkie to his side.
"I'm not coming back." Harry said bluntly and all eyes turned to him, surprised. "I got to finish whatever Dumbledore started. And I don't know where that'll lead me, but I'll let you all know where I am... when I can."
Hermione stared out at the rolling hills in the distance. "I've always admired your courage, Harry." Then she let out a breathy laugh. "But sometimes, you can be really thick."
Harry looked at her confused, then looked at Teddy who gave a soft smile. "You don't actually think you're going to be able to find all those Horcruxes, by yourself, do you?"
"You need us, Harry." Arkie added and looked up as Teddy glanced down at her. He hoped she knew what she was saying. Leaving Hogwarts and heading into a terrifying war. "We all need each other." She added again.
Harry nodded. "You know, I never realised how beautiful this place was."
There was a loud majestic squawk and something flew around the tower. It was Fawkes. The phoenix circled the tower, the sun brightening his fiery feathers before flying off towards the sun. Teddy wondered if he'd ever see Dumbledore's faithful pet again. But the phoenix was doing the right thing.
It was time to move on.
To be continued...