Disclaimer: Unfortunately, my name isn't J. K. Rowling...which means that I own nothing. While you guys read, I'll go cry in a corner about the fact that I didn't create this marvelous world and these amazing characters.

Everyone wore similar masks of horror and surprise.

"No!" Lupin looked wildly from me to Harry, as though hoping one of us might say that it was a joke. When neither Harry nor I said anything, he collapsed into a chair beside Bill's bed, his hands over his face. I had never seen Lupin lose control before; I felt like I was intruding upon something private, indecent.

"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him," said Harry. "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—"

Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth and Ron groaned. Luna's mouth trembled. I remained stony, refusing to show any emotions. All I wanted at the moment was to find out what I had helped Draco do.

"—more Death Eaters arrived—and then Snape—and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra," Harry continued. His voice cracked with emotion and he seemed to not be able to continue with the story.

Madam Pomfrey burst into tears but no one paid her any attention. I moved to pat her on the arm and whispered, "Shh! Listen!"

Madam Pomfrey gulped and pressed her fingers to her mouth. I could hear—somewhere out in the darkness—a phoenix singing a stricken lament of terrible beauty. Everyone became still and silent as we all listened to the ghostly music that seemed to sing of everyone's grief at the loss of Dumbledore.

How long we all stood there, listening, I didn't know, nor why it seemed to ease a little of everyone's pain to listen to the sound of their mourning. What felt like a long time later, the Hospital Wing doors opened again and Professor McGonagall entered the ward. Like the rest of us, she bore marks of the recent battle; there were grazes on her face and her robes were ripped.

"Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said, and the spell of the music was broken. Everyone seemed to rouse themselves from a trance; either turning to look at Bill or else to rub their eyes wearily.

"Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he—when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some—," continued Professor McGonagall.

"Snape killed Dumbledore," Harry said bluntly.

McGonagall just stared at him for a moment and then swayed alarmingly. Madam Pomfrey ran forward, conjured a chair from thin air and pushed McGonagall into it.

"Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly. "We all wondered…but he trusted…always…Snape…I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin, his voice uncharacteristically harsh. "We always knew that."

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "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 Professor McGonagall, now dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "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 what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks.

"I know," said Harry.

We all turned to look at him, thirsting for information to make sense of what had happened at Hogwarts tonight.

"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 they were dead," Harry explained with a monotone voice.

"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin, incredulously. "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…"

No one asked Harry how he knew this. We all seemed to be lost in some horrified shock, trying to digest the monstrous truth of what had happened.

"This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall suddenly. She looked disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. "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 firmly. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way…"

"So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eater's side?" asked Harry.

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

"I do," said Harry. He started explaining about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. "So they got through the Room of Requirement."

During Harry's explanation, I had to dig my nails into my palm to stop myself from blurting everything out. Maybe I was wrong not to confess about the huge part I had played in getting the Death Eaters into the castle which resulted in Dumbledore's death. Maybe I should go to Azkaban for what I did but no matter how much I knew I had done wrong, there was a little voice in my head that kept me from blurting the truth. I would have to deal with my grief and guilt silently.

"I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. "We did like you told us: we checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we guessed that he was in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny and Neville went to keep watch on it…but Malfoy got past us."

"He came out of the Room about an hour after we started keeping watch," I said, hoping that by distracting myself with an explanation, I wouldn't think of Dumbledore and Draco. "He was on his own, clutching that awful shrivelled hand—"

"His Hand of Glory," said Ron. "Gives light only to the holder, remember?"

"Anyways," I went on. "He must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us, he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black—"

"—Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products—"

"We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio," I said. "Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile, we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Draco could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."

"Luckily," said Lupin hoarsely. "Ron, Ginny and Neville ran into me almost immediately and explained what had happened. We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered, and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs—"

"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry.

"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Lupin. "But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to re-join the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."

"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione. "Were you—?"

"Outside Snape's office, yes," whispered Hermione, her eyes sparkling with tears. "With Luna. 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 Luna and I 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 us and-and—"

"What?" Harry urged.

"I was so stupid, Harry!" said Hermione in a high-pitched whisper. "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—"

She covered her face in shame and continued to talk through her fingers, so that her voice was muffled. "We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor…and 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," Lupin said firmly. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."

"So then he came upstairs," said Harry, staring into space. "And he found the place where you were all fighting…"

"We were in trouble, we were losing," said Tonks in a low voice. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, we had lost track of Bill…it was all dark…curses flying everywhere…the Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs…then more of them ran after him, but one them blocked the stairs behind them with some kind of curse…Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air—"

"None of us could break through," said Ron. "And that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place; they were bouncing off walls and barely missing us—"

"And then Snape was there," said Tonks. "And then he wasn't—"

"I think I saw him running towards us, but that huge Death Eater's jinx just missed me right afterward and I ducked and lost track of things," I said.

"I saw him run straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," said Lupin. "I tried to follow him, but was thrown back just like Neville—"

"He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered Professor McGonagall. "After all—he was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher…I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower…"

"He was," Harry said savagely. "But to help them, not stop the…and I'll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier—so what happened when he came back down?"

"Well, the big Death Eater had fired a hex that caused the ceiling to fall in and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Lupin. "Some of us ran forward and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust—obviously none of us attacked them—"

"We just let them pass," said Tonks in a hollow voice. "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."

Everyone fell silent. Fawkes's lament was still echoing over the dark grounds outside. As the music reverberated upon the air, we all seemed to fall into our own thoughts of grief.

Suddenly, the doors of the Hospital Wing burst open, making all of us jump. Mum and dad were striding up the ward, Fleur just behind them, her beautiful face terrified.

"Molly—Arthur—," said Professor McGonagall, jumping up and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry—"

"Bill," whispered mum, darting past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"

Lupin and Tonks got up hastily and retreated so that mum and dad could get nearer to the bed. Mum bent over Bill and pressed her lips to his bloody forehead.

"You said Greyback attacked him?" dad asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"

"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.

"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case; possibly unique…we don't know what his behaviour might be like when he awakens…"

Mum took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds.

"And Dumbledore…," said dad. "Minerva, is it true…is he really…?"

Professor McGonagall nodded and dad's face seemed to drain of its last bit of colour. "Dumbledore gone," whispered dad.

Mum didn't seem to care at the moment. She only had eyes for Bill, tears falling on his face.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks…it's not r-really important…but he was a very handsome little b-bo…always very handsome…and he was going to be married!" sobbed mum.

"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, 'he was going to be married?'"

Mum raised her tear-stained face, looking startled. "Well—only that—"

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

"No, that's not what I—"

"Because 'e will!" said Fleur, drawing herself up to her full height and throwing back her long mane of silver hair. "It would take more zan a werewolf to stop Bill loving me!"

"Well, yes, I'm sure," said mum. "But I thought perhaps—given how-how he—"

"You thought I would not weesh to marry him? Or per'aps, you hoped?" said Fleur, he nostrils flaring. "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 added fiercely, pushing mum aside and snatching the ointment from her.

Everyone watched this exchange with bated breath. I found I had a new respect for Fleur even though I still figured that Bill deserved someone better. Mum fell back against dad and watched Fleur mopping up Bill's wounds with a curious expression on her face. Like everybody else, I was waiting for the explosion from mum.

"Our Great-Aunt Muriel," said mum, after a long pause. "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," said Fleur stiffly. "I am sure zat will be lovely."

I'm not quite sure how it happened but suddenly, mum and Fleur were crying and hugging each other. I looked around and Ron looked as stunned as I was. Harry looked taken aback while Hermione and Luna exchanged looks.

"You see!" said a strained voice. I turned to see Tonks glaring at Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," said Lupin, barely moving his lips and looking tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely—"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times…"

With dawning comprehension, I realized that Tonks was in love with Lupin. If Lupin was rejecting her, I now understood why Tonks always declined dinner invitations if Lupin was invited. It also explained why she had problem with her Metamorphmagus abilities; she was suffering from heartbreak.

"And I've told you a million times," said Lupin, refusing to meet her eyes, staring at the floor. "That I am too old for you, too poor…too dangerous…"

"I've said all along you're taking a ridiculous line on this, Remus," said mum from over Fleur's shoulder.

"I'm not being ridiculous," said Lupin steadily. "Tonks deserves somebody young and whole."

"But she wants you," said dad with a small smile. "And after all, Remus, young and whole men do not necessarily remain so."

"This is…not the moment to discuss it," said Lupin, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead…"

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the Hospital Wing doors opened again and Hagrid walked in.

The little of his face that I could see that wasn't obscured by hair or beard was soaking wet with tears and swollen; he was shaking and clutching a vast, spotted handkerchief in his hands.

"I've…I've done it, Professor," he choked out. "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 Professor McGonagall, standing up at once and turning to look at our group around Bill's bed. "I shall have to see the Ministry when they get here. Hagrid, please tell the Heads of House—Slughorn can represent Slytherin—that I want to see them in my office forthwith. I would like you to join us too."

Hagrid nodded, turned and shuffled out of the room again. Professor McGonagall turned to look down at Harry. "Before I meet them, I would like a quick word with you, Harry. If you'll come with me…"

Harry turned up and gave a small wave. "See you in a bit," he muttered to Ron and Hermione before following Professor McGonagall back down the ward.

After Harry left, we all sat in silence. I couldn't bear stewing in my guilt; I had to be doing something to prevent myself from thinking. So I stood up and stretched my arms over my head.

"I should go and let Florence and Evanna know that everyone is okay," I muttered as a way to leave.

Mum came around the bed and pulled me into a hug. "Are you sure you're okay Ginny?"

I patted her on the back and pulled away. "I'm fine. Just…tired."

Dad nodded understandably. "You go and get some sleep. You too Ron."

"We should go too," said Hermione, getting up and gesturing between Luna and herself.

I kissed Bill on his mangled cheek, hugged mum and dad, and left the ward with Ron, Hermione and Luna. We walked in silence until we reached the corridor where Luna would have to separate from us to go to the Ravenclaw Tower.

"Umm, I'll walk with you there if that's okay?" I said to Luna.

Ron and Hermione gave me looks of understanding and they continued on their way to Gryffindor Tower. Luna and I continued to walk in silence but once we came to the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, I pulled her into a quick hug.

"I know it's nearly morning but goodnight Luna," I said. "I'm glad nothing happened to you."

Luna gave me a small smile and hugged me back. "I'm glad you're safe too. Now let's both get some sleep."

I waited until Luna was gone from sight before I turned and tore back down the corridor. My footfalls echoed off the stones but I didn't care about noise as I ran all the way up to the Room of Requirement.

I walked past the door three times and ran into the Room of Hidden Things. It looked exactly the same from when I was last in here with Draco. The only difference was that the doors to the Vanishing Cabinet were hanging open.

I slowly walked up to the cabinet and gently closed its door. This was the cause of everything. This cabinet was the reason I didn't study for my OWLs; the reason I pulled away from my friends; the reason I got close Draco; the reason I began doubting everything I thought I knew; the reason Bill was hurt; and the reason Dumbledore was dead.

It was all my fault.

I stepped back from the Vanishing Cabinet and pointed my wand at it. I was going to do everyone a favour.

I swiped a stray tear from my cheek as I shouted, "Reducto!"

And the Vanishing Cabinet—the cause of so much change in my life—splintered into a thousand little pieces.

Review! Please remember to review because your thoughts are important to me!

I hope you liked this chapter. Next chapter is the last one in the Half-Blood Prince storyline! And yes, I'm currently working on the Deathly Hallows storyline. I'm actually really excited to write it because I get to explore how Hogwarts would have been during Snape as Headmaster. I hope you're as excited to read it as I am to write it :)