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.

The sun was starting to peak over the clouds on the horizon when I made it back to Gryffindor Tower. I still had a couple of hours before people started waking up so I shuffled up to the dormitory and crawled into bed.

I was so exhausted that I fell asleep without dreaming right away but I was woken up not even three hours later by Florence and Evanna. I guess they assumed I had been sleeping longer than I had and I didn't want them to feel bad so I got up and got dressed even though I felt like I was running on fumes.

"So what happened last night?" Florence asked gently.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. Florence, Evanna and everyone else in the school didn't know about the Death Eaters. They didn't know about Dumbledore being dead and they didn't know who was involved.

I gave Florence and Evanna a hasty explanation as I didn't want to dwell on last night too much yet. They seemed to understand this after I told them that Dumbledore was dead so we walked down to breakfast together in comfortable silence.

We didn't pass the corridor where the fight happened but I wondered idly if the collapsed corridor had been repaired yet. As we came into the Entrance Hall, I noticed that everything was cleaned and it looked like nothing had happened there last night.

I froze at the entrance to the Great Hall as I spotted Professor McGonagall seated beside the empty chair that the Headmaster usually occupied.

"Ginny, are you okay?" asked Evanna.

I shook my head. "McGonagall is probably going to give a speech explaining last night and I really don't think I can deal with that right now."

"If you want, you can go catch some more sleep since you look exhausted and Florence and I can bring you food after breakfast," suggested Evanna.

I nodded. "That would be great."

While Evanna and Florence went into breakfast, I roamed the castle instead of going back to sleep. In a way, I was punishing myself by not letting myself sleep. I deserved to feel all sorts of awful because of what I did.

I shoved my hands into my pockets as I passed the entrance to the Owlery and was jolted as I felt cold metal meet my right hand. I slowly pulled the Malfoy signet ring from my pocket and stared at it as it sat in my open palm. Without realizing it, I had put on the same jeans I had worn last night and now I was staring at proof of my betrayal. I felt my legs start to shake and I hastily sat down against the wall.

How could I have been stupid enough not to ask about what the Vanishing Cabinet was going to be used for? If I had asked, I could have put a stop to Death Eaters entering Hogwarts. I could have prevented Bill from being attacked. I could have prevented Dumbledore's death. I could have told Dumbledore everything and he would have offered Draco and his family protection from Voldemort.

My mind started painting a picture of how things could have been and I had to hold back tired tears. There was Bill—unscarred and handsome as always—smiling and dancing with Fleur at their wedding. Dumbledore would be alive and no doubt he would have a plan to defeat Voldemort. Draco would be safe from Voldemort and after seeing how invested Draco was in the right side, we could actually have a shot at having a real relationship.

I closed my fingers around the cold metal and settled my fist in my lap.

I realized now why Draco, Astoria and the others had been avoiding me before the attack. Draco didn't want me involved in it and he didn't want me to get mixed up with the Death Eaters. He knew that he would have to lie to me about his plans and he knew I would know when he was lying. In a messed up way, he was protecting me.

I struggled to my feet and squared my shoulders. I shoved the ring back into my pocket and made my way back to Gryffindor Tower. In the girl's dormitory, I wrapped the ring up in some socks and shoved the socks to the bottom of my trunk. I changed into sweatpants and a tank top and crawled into bed. I turned on my side, saw the glass dragon Draco had given me sitting on my nightstand and I angrily threw it to the floor.

"Of course Draco would give me something unbreakable when I need to break something," I muttered, reaching down and rolling the dragon statue under my bed.

Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days—apparently the Patil twins were gone before breakfast on the morning following Dumbledore's death and Zacharias Smith was escorted from the castle by his haughty-looking father. Seamus Finnigan, on the other hand, refused point-blank to accompany his mother home; they had a shouting match in the Entrance Hall which was resolved when she agreed that he could remain behind for the funeral. Seamus told me that she had difficulty finding a bed in Hogsmeade because witches and wizards were pouring into the village, preparing to pay their last respects to Dumbledore.

Some excitement was caused among the younger students, who had never seen it before, when a powder-blue carriage the size of a house, pulled by a dozen giant winged palominos, came soaring out of the sky in the late afternoon before the funeral and landed on the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister of Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle. Harry told Ron, Hermione and I that he was avoiding them since he was sure that sooner or later, he would be asked by them to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts.

I sat in the library a lot with Florence, Evanna, Adrian, Luna and Nicholas. Only Luna could really understand how I was feeling since we were the only ones from our group who actually saw Dumbledore's dead body. Luna could also understand since we fought the Death Eaters together. The weather was beautiful outside and it seemed to mock us as we sat in the dim library. No one felt like going outside and enjoying the warmth. It felt wrong to all of us when Albus Dumbledore was no longer among the living.

I visited the Hospital Wing often, usually accompanied by Ron, Hermione and Harry. Neville had been discharged, but Bill remained under Madam Pomfrey's care. His scars were as bad as ever; in truth, he now bore a distinct resemblance to Mad-Eye Moody, though thankfully with both eyes and legs, but in personality he seemed just the same Bill Weasley I had grown up with and idolized. All that appeared to have changed was that he now had a great liking for very rare steaks.

"…so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me," said Fleur happily when we found out as she plumped up Bill's pillows. "Because ze British overcook their meat, I 'ave always said this."

"I suppose I'm just going to have to accept that he really is going to marry her," I sighed later that evening as I sat with Harry, Ron and Hermione in the common room.

"She's not that bad," said Harry.

"Well, I suppose if mum can stand it, I can."

"Anyone else we know died?" Ron asked Hermione, who was perusing the Evening Prophet.

Hermione winced at the forced toughness in his voice. "No. They're still looking for Snape, but no sign…"

"Of course there isn't," said Harry. He became very angry every time this subject cropped up. "They won't find Snape until they find Voldemort, and seeing as they've never managed to do that in all this time…"

"I'm going to bed," I said, standing up and stretching. "I haven't been sleeping that well since…well…I could do with some sleep."

I lay in bed for what felt like hours, just staring up at the scarlet canopy over my bed. Tomorrow was when we laid Dumbledore to rest. Thoughts of Dumbledore swirled through my mind until they eventually lulled me into a fitful sleep.

I rose early the next day to pack; the Hogwarts Express would be leaving an hour after the funeral. As Florence, Evanna and I came down into the Great Hall for breakfast, I found the mood subdued. Everybody was wearing their dress robes and no one seemed very hungry. I glanced up to the staff table out of habit and saw a few changes. Professor McGonagall had left the throne-like chair in the middle of the staff stable empty and Hagrid's chair was also empty. Sitting in Snape's place was Rufus Scrimgeour and to his right sat Percy. I jerked my gaze away from Percy and stabbed a piece of kipper with anger.

Over at the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle were muttering together. I found that they looked oddly lonely without the tall figure of Draco with them, bossing them around. Blaise and Astoria were sitting with their backs to the Gryffindor table but I still glared at the back of their heads anyways.

My thoughts were interrupted by a nudge in the ribs from Florence. Professor McGonagall had risen to her feet and the mournful hum in the Great Hall died away at once.

"It is nearly time," she said. "Please follow your Heads of House out into the grounds. Gryffindors, after me."

We all filed out of our benches in silence and followed Professor McGonagall. The Ravenclaws followed Professor Flitwick, the Hufflepuffs followed Professor Sprout and the Slytherins followed Professor Slughorn. When we reached the Entrance Hall, we found Madam Pinch standing beside Filch, she in a thick black veil that fell to her knees, he in an ancient black suit and tie reeking of mothballs.

We were heading, as I saw when I stepped out on to the stone steps from the front doors, towards the lake. The warmth from the sun caressed my face as we followed Professor McGonagall in silence to the place where hundreds of chairs had been set out in rows. An aisle ran down the centre of them: there was a marble table standing at the front, all chairs facing it. I couldn't believe that it was the most beautiful summer's day.

An extraordinary assortment of people had already settled into half of the chairs: shabby and smart, old and young. I didn't recognize a lot of people but I did know a few, including the members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kinsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Tonks, with her hair miraculously returned to its usual shade of vivid pink, Lupin, with whom Tonks seemed to be holding hands, Bill supported by Fleur, mum and dad, and Fred and George who were both wearing jackets of black dragonskin.

And then there was Madam Maxime, who took up two-and-a-half chairs on her own, Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, Harry's neighbour who he said was a Squib, the hairy bass player from the Weird Sisters, Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, Madam Malkin, owner of the robe shop in Diagon Alley, and some people I only knew by sight instead of names, such as the barman of the Hog's Head and the witch who pushed the trolley of candy on the Hogwarts Express. I even made out the ghosts from the castle, though they were barely visible in the bright sunlight.

I filed into a row after Florence and Evanna. Adrian, Nicholas and Luna quickly found us and filed into our row beside me. People were whispering to each other; it sounded like a breeze in the grass, but the birdsong was louder by far. The crowd continued to swell to proportions I hadn't anticipated.

Cornelius Fudge walked past us towards the front row—his expression miserable—twirling his green bowler hat as usual. I also recognized Rita Skeeter, who had a notebook clutched in her hands. With a jolt of harsh anger, I spotted Dolores Umbridge, an unconvincing expression of grief upon her toad-like face, a black velvet bow set atop her iron-coloured curls. At the sight of the centaur Firenze, who was standing like a sentinel near the water's edge, she gave a start and scurried hastily into a seat a good distance away.

The staff was seated last. I could see Scrimgeour looking grave and dignified in the front row with Professor McGonagall. I wanted to say something to Evanna about how much I hated him but then I heard music, strange and otherworldly music. I totally forgot about my dislike for Scrimgeour and the Ministry as I searched for the source of the music.

"In there," whispered Florence from the other side of Evanna.

"The lake," Adrian clarified from beside me, pointing to the water.

And then I saw them in the clear green, sunlit water, just inches below the surface; a chorus of merpeople, singing in a strange language I didn't know and didn't understand. The music made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up but the music wasn't unpleasant. I found that it spoke very clearly of loss and despair which was very fitting for this funeral.

I was still looking at the merpeople when Evanna nudged me.

"What?" I hissed.

"Hagrid," she whispered back, pointing to the aisle.

I turned around in my seat to look around for Hagrid where Evanna had pointed.

Hagrid was walking slowly up the aisle between the chairs. He was crying quite silently, his face gleaming with tears, and in his arms, wrapped in purple velvet spangled with golden stars, was what I guessed to be Dumbledore's body. A sharp pain rose in my throat at this sight; the strange music and the knowledge that Dumbledore's body was so close seemed to take all the warmth from the day.

Tears started to slowly escape my eyes and I dug my nails into my knee in a vain attempt to distract myself. I felt Adrian reach down and he laced his fingers with mine, giving my hand a gentle squeeze of comfort. I squeezed back as a thank-you and wiped my face with my free hand.

I couldn't clearly see what was happening at the front but it seemed that Hagrid had placed the body carefully upon the marble table. I saw Hagrid retreating back down the aisle, blowing his nose with loud trumpeting noises that drew stares from some as the music slowly drew to a close.

A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes got to his feet and moved to stand in front of Dumbledore's body. I couldn't make out what he was saying but now and then, odd words like 'nobility of spirit'…'intellectual contribution'…greatness of heart' could be heard.

To my left there was a soft splashing noise. I turned to see that the merpeople had broken the surface to listen. Finally, the little man in black had stopped speaking and resumed his seat. I assumed that there would be speeches from others but no one else got to their feet.

And then several people screamed. Bright, white flames erupted around Dumbledore's body and the table upon which it lay; higher and higher the flames climbed until they completely obscured the body. White smoke spiralled into the air and made strange shapes in the sky. And then the flames vanished and where Dumbledore's body had lain, a white marble tomb had taken its place—encasing Dumbledore's body.

I jumped in my seat and Adrian clenched my hand as a shower of arrows soared through the air. A few people cried in fright but the arrows fell short of the crowd. Everyone turned to see the centaurs turning tail and disappearing back into the trees from which they had come. Likewise, the merpeople sank back into the green water and were lost from view.

Adrian squeezed my hand again and I looked up to see that his face was tear streaked. He was no longer crying but Luna and Evanna were. Nicholas just looked dumbstruck, like he couldn't believe that this was all happening. Florence wasn't crying anymore so she was wiping the moisture from her tears off her face with the corner of her shirt.

"I-I need to walk," I said, letting go of Adrian's hand and standing up.

No one offered to accompany me which I was grateful for; I just wanted to be alone for a moment. I turned away from my group of friends and started walking towards the Quidditch pitch. What I hadn't accounted for was running into Astoria and Blaise as they walked. All three of us stopped and regarded each other.

"Ginny…" said Astoria.

"Hi," I said weakly.

"How are you Weasley?" asked Blaise.

"How do you expect me to be?" I asked, my voice sounding weird to my own ears. "We just attended Dumbledore's funeral."

"I don't know what to say," said Astoria. "Nothing we can say will make anything better."

I nodded to myself. "Of course you knew what was going to happen, Astoria."

"Don't be like that, please," said Astoria.

"Be like what?" I asked sarcastically.

Astoria just pressed her lips together and Blaise shifted uncomfortably. That was the first time I had ever seen Blaise uncomfortable in a situation.

I turned to Blaise. "Did you know what the Vanishing Cabinet would be used for?"

Blaise looked anywhere but my eyes. "Look, Ginny…we both knew the Vanishing Cabinet wasn't going to be used for good."

"So you knew? You knew Death Eaters were going to come into the school and kill Dumbledore? You knew why Draco had to fix the Vanishing Cabinet?"

"Weasley…"

My anger was definitely getting the better of me. My anger at myself was torturous and the only way I knew how to feel better was to let it out. Not to mention the grief and the pain and self-loathing that was eating at me. The Death Eater attack shouldn't have happened. I could have prevented it and I hadn't…

"Did you know!?" I yelled.

Blaise glared at me. "Of course I knew! Happy?"

I heard footsteps behind me and I felt a warm hand on my shoulder. Without turning, I knew it was Adrian.

"Ginny, what's going on?" he asked tentatively.

I couldn't answer him; I was over boiling with emotions. I was thankful that it was only us four around and we were far away from the crowd as I completely lost any restraint I had on myself.

"Happy!? How can I be happy when Dumbledore is dead!? How can I be happy when my brother Bill's face was mangled by Greyback!? How can I be happy when Death Eater's attacked the school!? How can I be happy knowing that I was the one person that enabled it to happen!?"

"Ginny…" said Astoria, her eyes wide.

Adrian grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. "Ginny…it's okay. Let's go and we can talk about this later; maybe where there isn't Ministry officials that might overhear you."

"You don't get it! It's all my fault Adrian! I'm the one who found the spell to repair the Vanishing Cabinets! I'm the one who tested them to make sure they worked! I'm the one who refused to know why the Vanishing Cabinets needed to be repaired! I'm the one who knew what Draco was trying to do and I didn't tell anyone!"

"Calm down, Ginny, please," said Adrian.

"Don't tell me to calm down! I killed Dumbledore! I mangled my brother! I let the Death Eaters into the school! I did it all!"

And with that confession, I broke into uncontrollable sobs. My legs felt weak and I probably would have collapsed if Adrian hadn't wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I pressed my face into his chest and cried, my body racking with sobs. I was clutching at him and he was essentially holding me up.

Adrian rubbed my back and let me lean against him. "Shh, Ginny. It's alright. Everything is going to be alright."

"We're really sorry for not insisting on telling you what the Vanishing Cabinet was going to be used for," said Astoria after I seemed to get most of the sobs out of my system. "We are so sorry for letting you help us blindly without any knowledge of what you were truly getting into."

"And we're sorry for avoiding you," added Blaise. "After the attack, we should have come and found you right away to explain."

"We're going to go now. It looks like you need some time to yourself," said Astoria. "We are truly sorry for hurting you though. Please don't blame yourself for this."

"Write to us over the summer if you want," said Blaise. "I will always enjoy a letter from you Weasley."

"Have a good summer," murmured Astoria. "We are so sorry for how this has affected you."

I sniffed and turned out of Adrian's arms to watch their retreating backs. I could see Florence, Evanna, Luna and Nicholas standing together off to the side. Thankfully, they were far enough away that they wouldn't have been able to hear a word I said.

Adrian spun me back to face him with his hands on my shoulders and regarded me at arm's length. "Is everything you said true?"

I nodded numbly and swiped at my soaking wet cheeks.

"You helped repair the Vanishing Cabinets that let the Death Eaters into the school?"

"Yes but I didn't know what the Vanishing Cabinet was going to be used for. I told Draco I didn't want to know…and I was so stupid. I should have found out, told Dumbledore and Dumbledore would still be alive right now."

"You have to understand something Ginny," said Adrian, after a couple moments of silent thought. "You may have had something to do with getting them into the castle but you didn't fire the spell that killed Dumbledore and you weren't the one that attacked your brother."

"But it might have well been me," I moaned. "I enabled it all to happen."

"Remember what Dumbledore said once?" asked Adrian. "What choices?"

"Dumbledore said a lot of things," I said, sniffling and wiping my cheeks.

"It is our choices…that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities," said Adrian.

I frowned. "That doesn't have anything good to say about this, Adrian. I chose to help Draco. I chose not to know what it was for."

Adrian flashed me a small smile. "Yes, you chose those things and I guess they were bad choices. But you chose to help the Order to guard the school that night. You chose to fight the Death Eaters when they attacked the school. You made those choices and to me, those choices speak more about you than a couple of bad ones."

I gave Adrian a watery smile. "There's no way I can forget this guilt but you made me feel a little better."

Adrian pulled me to him and wrapped his arms tightly around me. "I won't tell anyone."

I hugged him just as fiercely back. "Thank you."

He smoothed his hand over my hair in a comforting gesture. "It's being to be okay. Everything is going to be okay."

And in time, maybe it would be.

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Ta-da! The storyline for Half-Blood Prince is now finished! Thank you, everybody who stuck with this story and reviewed and basically just kept me writing this story. I'm currently working on the Deathly Hallows storyline so sit tight and patiently wait for Chapter 22 which will be the first chapter in the Deathly Hallows storyline!

I love all my readers!