Her words hung in the air long after they were spoken. Severus kept his shock hidden as Angelina sobbed out an explanation.

"It was so strange. I have no idea how… We were out of pine and I was going to go get some more this afternoon but Madame insisted that she would go get it. You don't have to go that deep into the forest to get pine so I got a bit worried after she didn't come back… I found her so deep in... I had just finished cleaning out the infirmary and noticed that she wasn't back yet. I went to the forest and I just couldn't find her until…" she paused as tears ran down her face.

"Angelina, where's Dumbledore?" Severus broke in gently but urgently.

"He was with the ministry in the forest but he might be back in his office now… Oh! I was supposed to go this morning but she insisted…" her stream of broken narrative then ended as she no longer could contain her grief. Slowly, Snape moved forward and folded her in his arms. She laid her head softly against his chest and hugged him fiercely. Snape wrapped his arms around her tightly as his mind and his heart raced. It had to have been Bellatrix. There was no other explanation. Severus set his jaw as he came to the sad realization that this was the first of what would undoubtedly be many tragedies. The murders had begun.

As the shock began to wear off, Snape felt his mind begin to push him to search for answers. He had to figure out what had happened and fast. He needed to piece together what had happened to know how to properly react. He hated himself for having to interrupt her sadness, but it was a necessary evil.

"Angelina, did you… did you see any trace of anybody else around the area where you found her?" he worded his sentence carefully. He had to keep the anxiety out of his voice, he had to seem like he was shaken and just naturally enquiring. She looked up at him in surprise.

"What do you mean? Why would there have been anyone else in the forest?" she asked him with confusion. Feeling as though he was missing an important part of the story, he backtracked quickly.

"How did she die?"

"She accidentally poisoned herself." A long pause filled the room as Severus ingested this confusing and unexpected piece of news.

"How do you know that?" he asked her quietly. She stared at him harshly and answered his question slowly.

"Because, I'm a healer and I know what a poisoning looks like. Moreover, I found what she had eaten. Deadly nightshade. The bush wasn't far away from where I found her." Angelina's voice had gained an air of suspicion. Severus knew that she thought he was acting strange but he had to know.

"Why would an experienced healer accidentally ingest nightshade, it doesn't make sense." Severus avoided her gaze as he was finding it difficult for one of the first times in his life to conceal the truth about what he suspected.

"St. John's Wort berries look strikingly similar to deadly nightshade. These cases have been… documented before. Why are you so disbelieving?" The last part of her question was asked carefully. This was a sharp woman; he could not conceal anything from her.

"I'm not disbelieving, I'm just trying to figure out what's going on." Moving to the door he prompted her to exit,

"We need to go find Dumbledore."

As they stood on the revolving spiral staircase Severus ran the core facts in his mind over and over, yet nothing seemed to be making any more sense than it did when he first had heard it. An experienced healer goes into the forest just a couple days after the Meeting and just happens to eat Deadly Nightshade berries and die. It was almost comical how ridiculous that scenario sounded. Bellatrix must have gotten through the wards and stumbled upon the old woman by accident and covered up the murder by planting the berries on her .The spell that she would have needed to use to fabricate the evidence was extraordinarily complex but Bellatrix was an extremely skilled witch. But why would Bellatrix need to hide the murder? She had never bothered in the slightest before. The answer hit him instantly. The entire point of the scouting mission was to observe and remain inconspicuous. The last thing that Bellatrix would have wanted was to get caught once she had found a break in the wards. Therefore Madame Pomfrey had to be killed and the deed had to be covered up. Severus set his jaw as he came to the ultimate realization: Bellatrix had found out how to get onto the grounds.

Questions flooded into his mind endlessly: How should he tell Dumbledore? Would he be able to find out exactly what happened and how Bellatrix was able to find a way onto the grounds at the next meeting? And most importantly, how was Dumbledore going to safeguard the school without blowing Snape's cover? Pushing all these questions to the back of his mind he opened the door to Dumbledore's office and allowed Angelina entrance. Dumbledore was sitting behind his great desk looking as wary as ever; however his eyebrows rose slightly at the appearance of Snape as he entered the office behind Angelina.

"Hello, dear. How are you doing?" Dumbledore asked Angelina kindly. Snape was impressed to see the lack of any trace of tears in her eyes as she answered Dumbledore,

"As well as can be expected, Headmaster. Thank you for your concern." Dumbledore shot Snape a glance. Snape instantly understood what it meant. We'll talk later. Let me deal with her first. Snape moved to his seat in the corner of the room and watched. Dumbledore then turned his full attention onto the solemn woman sitting in front of him.

"I've talked with the Ministry and we've confirmed the cause of death and gotten all of the technicalities out of the way. I've moved her into the infirmary and the ministry is sending someone tomorrow to prepare her. I think that we should hold the funeral the day after tomorrow, in the morning. That was her favorite time of day." Dumbledore stated this all simply and gently. Angelina, however, could not believe her ears. She forced herself to address the Headmaster as politely as she could.

"What do you mean 'the Ministry is sending someone tomorrow to prepare her'?" Dumbledore simply looked at Angelina, puzzled.

"I thought I would be the one to prepare her for her funeral. It is my right. It is an honor that I won't have denied to me!" Dumbledore smiled in admiration as he realized the source of her anger.

"I do apologize! I assumed that it would be more comfortable for you if someone else dressed her for the funeral. That is, I suppose, my mistake. One should never assume. Of course you may do that and forgive me for my thoughtlessness." Dumbledore could not suppress the smile that dominated his face. This was a rare woman indeed! He reached across the desk and gave her hand warm squeeze.

"Go try and get some sleep." Angelina gave him a grateful smile and left the office. He now turned to Snape expectantly.

"Now, Severus what do you need?" Dumbledore's smile vanished as Severus relayed his suspicions.