"Professor! Professor!"

The door swung open, and Severus Snape appeared on the other side. "Miss Green, what is the meaning of this racket!" he asked, although he looked relieved to see her.

"It's Professor Dumbledore," said Teddie, her breathing rapid from running and pounding on the door. "He - he needs help - I left him with Harry - He drank poison and -"

Snape set a hand on her shoulder and guided her into his office, closing the door behind them. "What kind of potion did he drink, Miss Green?" he asked.

"I don't know."

"Why did he drink it?"

Teddie stopped short. What could she say? Dumbledore had only indicated that he needed Professor Snape's help to counteract the poison but hadn't told her what to say if he asked what kind.

"Miss Green?" Snape repeated, staring at her. "I need to know what poison it was so that I can be sure I am giving him the right antidote."

"I don't know what poison it was, it didn't have a label," said Teddie. "It was neon green, and it sounded like it made him face his worst nightmares or fears. Every time he drank it, he would scream and beg for whatever he was seeing to stop."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "And yet, he continued to drink it, why?" he asked.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Teddie cried. "He just…" she sighed, tears now rolling down her cheeks. "Professor, please, just help him!"

"Where is he?" Snape asked, collecting a black bag from the top desk of his drawer. Teddie recognised it as the one he had used to help Theo after they had learned his father was abusing him. She could only assume that held several antidotes.

"Astronomy Tower," said Teddie. She moved to follow him, but Snape placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You stay here," Snape instructed.

"What? No!"

Snape sighed and removing his wand from inside his robes, pointed it at her feet. "I'm sorry, Miss Green but this is absolutely necessary," he said. He then reached under her sleeve, took her wand, and tossed it onto a nearby desk, just out of her reach.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Teddie yelled after him.

"You will thank me later," said Snape. "Also, do you remember what I said before you left with the Headmaster earlier this evening?"

Teddie furrowed her brow in thought. "That, whatever happens, isn't my fault?" she asked.

"Precisely."

"But what do you mean?"

Snape didn't reply. He merely swept out of the room and disappeared.

~X~

It seemed like hours since Snape had left, and he had yet to return. Teddie, her feet still glued to the floor, had been doing her very best to try and reach her wand, but had only managed to knock it onto the floor and watch it roll away from her.

Accio Wand, she thought, stretching out as far as she could on the floor, her fingers barely brushing the wooden stick. Come on, come on! But it was no use. The wand was just too far away.

She wondered if Snape had made it to the Astronomy Tower in time. Had he been able to help Dumbledore? Had he and Harry taken the Headmaster to the Hospital Wing for monitoring, or where they in his office?

Where was Harry? Was he still with them? Did he still have the locket? Had Dumbledore asked Snape to look at the locket? Given it was a Horcrux and radiating dark magic, and Snape being the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, it would only be logical that he look at it.

BANG!

Teddie sat up; her head tilted towards the ceiling as dust fell from the stone rafters. What was going on up there? Was there a fight. Oh crap, had the assassin got his wish? Had he succeeded in bringing Death Eaters into the school?

Harry had believed it to be Draco Malfoy, and after the fight in the boys' bathroom, Teddie was more inclined to believe him. She still hadn't figured out how he had managed to get the necklace to Pansy if he was in detention with McGonagall, but what with Polyjuice Potion going missing, it didn't take a genius to figure out that Malfoy could've stolen it and disguised someone to look like him to serve the detention, or even used someone to get the necklace to Pansy.

However, he did it, it hadn't have worked, but this time it had. Death Eaters were in the Castle and, by the sounds of it, causing quite a stir.

"Cut them off! Don't let them leave the grounds!"

Teddie looked towards the door as she heard Cruise' voice outside the door. He was issuing orders to his team of Auror's.

"Quinn, find me Teddie!" Cruise called.

"I'm in here!" Teddie yelled, her voice echoing around the classroom. "Cruise! Melanie! Quinn! Johnathan!"

But no one heeded her calls.

The voices and footsteps disappeared further down the hallway, and then all fell silent outside.

Teddie yelled in frustration and threw herself back onto the floor, staring at the ceiling. All my friends are fighting, and I'm here, stuck to the damn floor! She thought angrily.

Why had Snape done this to her? If he had wanted her out of the way, surely, he could've just said.

But would you have listened? Said the nasty voice in her head.

Teddie huffed and rolled her eyes backward; from her peripheral vision she saw her wand. It seemed to have rolled a little towards her, and she reached out her arm, fingers stretching as she brushed the surface with the very tips.

Fingers waggling towards her, Teddie sucked in a breath and - "YES!" she cried, sitting up with her wand in hand. She pointed it at her feet, muttered the reversal charm, and sped out of the classroom.

~X~

Swinging himself around the corner, Harry took the Marble Staircase two at a time and collided with Teddie in the Entrance Hall. The two sprang away from each other, landing with similar thuds on the flagstone floor.

Teddie shook her head and scrambled for her wand as she made it back to her feet. "What the hell, Harry?" she asked, rubbing her tail bone. "Where's the fire? Why can I hear explosions?"

"Where did you go?" Harry asked. More like demanded, but Teddie chose to ignore the tone and focus on the panic.

"I went to get Snape, where do you think I went?"

"Why didn't you come back?!"

Teddie stopped, her eyes narrowing at her friend. Why did he sound accusatory? Like it was her fault something had happened. "What's that supposed to mean, Harry? Why didn't I come back! I wasn't told to come back. I was told to get Snape, and I did," she spat.

"You should've come back."

"Why? What happened?"

Harry shook his head and flung himself across the Entrance Hall. Teddie watched him go and, for the first time, noticed that the doors had been smashed of their hinges and, what appeared to be blood was smeared over the floor.

"What the -?" Teddie murmured, her gaze trailing to the Great Hall where the Gryffindor Rubies littered the floor as the hourglass had been shattered. The other houses had been untouched.

There was a body, Teddie noted, lying between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. They weren't moving. Taking a step forward, Teddie dashed into the hall and rolled the person over. It wasn't anyone she recognised, and the uniform they wore wasn't a standard Hogwarts edition.

Whomever this was, they weren't a Professor or a student.

Auror, maybe? He wasn't part of her protection detail. Cruise had brought him in when he learned there were Death Eaters in the castle, or he was a Death Eater?

Feeling for a pulse, Teddie realised there was one, but it was faint. He had been hit with a Stunner and was just unconscious.

Straightening up, Teddie pointed her wand at the body and muttered "Petrificus Totalus!" The man's arms and legs snapped to his sides, and Teddie checked inside his robes for a wand. She found it and tucked it into her own.

"I'll come back for you," said Teddie, turning and leaving the Great Hall. From the upper floors she could hear shouts, cries, and explosions, and while part of her wanted to go and help, she knew that she would be better off following Harry.

Turning on a dime, Teddie sped through the open doors and out into the cold air. It tore at her chest, stung her face, and whipped her hair behind her. Ahead she could hear raised voices and laughter, and then was an explosive bang and a dancing orange blaze erupted around the edge of the forest.

"FANG'S IN THERE, YER EVIL -!" Hagrid roared.

Teddie felt her lungs burn as she pushed herself forward. She raised her wand as a silhouette of a person appeared in front of her - "Stupefy!" she yelled.

The red stunner hit the person in the back and the fell forward onto the grass. Teddie barely slowed as she passed them, jumping over a second body in her path and continuing route to Hagrid's hut. She skidded to a halt in the wet grass just as Hagrid emerged from the flames, carrying Fang over his shoulder.

"Teddie," Hagrid panted.

Teddie raised her wand. "Argumenti!" she called. A jet of water flew out of the tip of her wand. It hit the flames on one side of the house and extinguished them.

Hagrid raised his pink umbrella. "Argumenti!" he said, and water spilled from the tip.

A third stream of water joined theirs, and Teddie glanced sideways to see Harry standing alongside her. He looked weary. His face was covered in blood, muck, and sweat, his breathing was laboured, while anger, fear, and relief danced in his eyes.

Between the three of them they managed to put out the fire.

Teddie turned to Fang. There were a few blisters on his paws and snout, and he whined as she knelt beside him, carefully petting him behind the ears. "I can't do anything to help him," she told Hagrid. "But Madam Pomfrey can. We can go together. I want to check on my friends."

Hagrid nodded and turned to Harry, who was staring hopelessly at the charred remains of Hagrid's hut. "S'not too bad," he said. "Nothin' Dumbledore won' be able to put righ'."

"Hagrid," Harry choked, tears blurring his eyes.

"I was bindin' up a couple o' bowtruckle legs when I heard 'em comin'," Hagrid continued, sadly. "They'll've bin burnt ter twigs, poor little things…"

"Hagrid…" Harry repeated.

Teddie looked up from Fang, concern coursing through her at the break in Harry's voice.

"But what happened, Harry?" Hagrid asked. "I jus' saw them Death Eaters runnin' from the castle, but what the ruddy hell was Snape doin' with 'em? Where's he gone - was he chasin' them?"

Teddie shrugged as Hagrid swung around to face her. "I don't know," she said. "I'm as much in the dark about this as you are, Hagrid."

"Hagrid, Dumbledore…"

"Dumbledore?" Hagrid echoed, looking back at Harry. "Wha' abou' Dumbledore?"

"He… Snape… he killed…"

Hagrid furrowed his brow as Harry continued to stammer. Almost like the words didn't want to come out and were stuck in his throat. "Snape killed? What're yeh on abou' Harry?"

"Dumbledore," said Harry. "Snape killed… Dumbledore."

Teddie felt her heart drop into her stomach as she stared at Harry. Had he just said that? She knew that he hated him, despised him even, but to say something like this was taking it too far. Snape was loyal to Dumbledore and had gone to save him from the Potion. Why would he have decided to reconsider between his office and the Astronomy Tower and stride in there and kill Dumbledore?

It wasn't real. It couldn't have been.

"Dumbledore wha,' Harry?" Hagrid asked, obviously having a hard a time accepting what Harry was saying as Teddie.

"He's dead. Snape killed him," Harry repeated.

"Don' say that," said Hagrid roughly. "Snape kill Dumbledore - don' be stupid, Harry. Wha's made yeh say tha'?"

"I saw it happen."

"Yeh couldn' have."

"I saw it, Hagrid."

Hagrid shook his head; his expression was disbelieving but sympathetic. "What musta happened was Dumbledore musta told Snape ter go with them Death Eaters," he said confidently. "I suppose he's gotta keep his cover."

Harry stepped away from Hagrid and turned to Teddie. She had yet to say anything, but if the fear and anger reflected in her gaze was anything to go by, he knew she didn't believe him either. "You should've come back!" he said to her. "You should've -"

"I was told to get Snape," Teddie snapped. "I was told to tell Snape that Dumbledore needed help. How was I supposed to know that Death Eaters were already in the school and coming to the Astronomy Tower? How was I supposed to know that their mission was to kill Dumbledore, or that they planned to do it tonight?"

"We've known for almost a year that they planned to take out Dumbledore - the necklace, the mead - all a ploy to kill Dumbledore," Harry argued. "You, and everyone else, didn't believe me."

"I believed you, Harry!" Teddie said. "But you said Malfoy was to kill Dumbledore, not Snape."

"Well, Malfoy couldn't do it, could he?" Harry asked. "So Snape did. You didn't want to believe that Snape was capable of it, even after we heard him offering Malfoy help before Christmas break. He's a Death Eater and shouldn't be trusted. He overheard the prophecy and was the one who told Voldemort about it. He was the one who got my parents killed."

Tears had appeared in Teddie's eyes now and she was furiously shaking her head, her hand clenched into fists at her side. "Stop it," she murmured. "Just… just stop it!"

Harry felt the sheer force of something invisible blast past him. Whatever it was hit Hagrid's hut and the trio watched as it disintegrated into nothing, leaving behind only charred furniture and rock.

Teddie breathed heavily, tears running freely down her cheeks. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed. "Hagrid… I'm sorry," she cried.

"It's okay, Teddie," said Hagrid, patting her shoulder. He had meant it in a gently and affectionate manner, but the force of just a pat almost caused her knees to buckle. "Look, let's get yeh back up ter the school." He lifted Fang over his shoulders. "Come on."

Hagrid walked between the two students, leading them back up the grounds towards the castle. Many of the windows were lit now, even the torches in the Great Hall were blazing brightly; they cast a glow out of the double doors, lighting up the patch of grass just beyond.

Teddie continued to shake uncontrollably as she walked in silence. Her breathing had evened out a little, and she occasionally hiccupped as she trudged along. She was still angry at Harry, how dare he say those things about Snape, how dare he say Dumbledore was dead. If he was, then it had to have been the potion that killed him because she knew, in her heart, that Snape would never do that.

Yes, he's a Death Eater, she thought. But he's not a killer. But what if -

No! She banished the thought before it even had a chance to grow inside her head. Snape was the person that had taken care of her, looked after her, watched her grow, protected her. Yes, they had their difficulties, but what family didn't?

Teddie wiped away the fresh tears that spilled over her eyelids. Snape was far from a good person, she knew that, but he wasn't a killer. No, Harry was mistaken. He had to be. Snape wouldn't have done what he was accusing him of.

"What're they all lookin' at?" asked Hagrid.

Teddie lifted her head, stunned, and confused to find dressing-gowned students encircling something near the base of the Astronomy Tower.

"Wha's tha', lyin' on the grass?" Hagrid added sharply.

He changed his course from the front doors and headed for the group. He pushed between them, his great size carving a large path as students shuffled out of his way.

Then he stopped dead and fell to his knees, a moan of pain escaping his slightly parted lips as his gaze fell on the twisted body of Professor Albus Dumbledore.

Teddie too, stopped. Her eyes blurred again with tears as she fought the urge to collapse. What if Harry had been telling the truth? Was she wrong to defend Snape? Had he… had he really -?

While Teddie and Hagrid stopped walking, Harry didn't. He pushed forward, falling to his knees beside the body of the Headmaster.

Dumbledore's eyes were closed; but for strange angle of his arms and legs, he might have just been sleeping. Teddie watched as Harry straightened the half-moon spectacles and wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Creeping forward, Teddie reached out a hand, paused, and withdrew it. She didn't quite know where she and Harry now stood, especially after she had destroyed Hagrid's hut in a defiant retribution to not believe his supposed lies about Professor Snape.

Was he still her friend? Would he forgive her?

Harry shifted and, looking down, Teddie saw the glint of something gold sticking out from underneath Dumbledore's shoulder. She bent at the waist, scooped it up, and stared at the serpent engraving on the front.

It was the locket from the cave, however, unlike the feeling she had with the diary, where she was drawn to it; Teddie felt nothing toward the locket. No longing, no pull, nothing to indicate that dark magic had ever been bestowed upon the piece of jewellery.

She turned the locket over in her hands; it had scratches on it and the gold casing seemed to be painted on as it was bits missing. The ornate S was also chipped, and it was a lot smaller but chunkier than she remembered.

"It's fake," Teddie breathed, her heart dropping. All they had been through was for nothing. Dumbledore drinking the potion was for nothing. The Inferi attack. Nothing.

Dumbledore's death. Nothing.

"Teddie."

Turning on the spot, Teddie spotted Mason and her friends in the crowd of students. She pocketed the locket and headed in their direction; the instant she was near, Mason wrapped his arms around her middle and hugged her, tears spilling down his cheeks.

He had blood on his head and face, and his eyes were bloodshot. The others also supported cuts and bruises, and the tips of Daphne's hair seemed to have been singed.

"What happened?" Blaise asked quietly. He glanced over Teddie's shoulder and spotted Dumbledore lying on the floor at the base of the Astronomy Tower.

Teddie turned away, her eyes closing in a desperate bid to block out the last few hours. In her pocket, resting against her side, as light as a feather was the fake locket. She wondered if there was anything inside it but decided that to leave that revelation for quieter times.

Right now, the only things that mattered was mourning the loss of a great teacher, and, maybe, figuring out where everything had gone wrong.