Because I Love You (D.M)

Chapter 20: Guilty Until Proven Innocent

"Davis, Davis, look!" Ernie shook my shoulder and pointed over the crying students.

I squinted hard and stood on my tiptoes to see what he was pointing at. Ernie, being his height, could probably see for miles, but I was blessed with average height meaning I couldn't.

"What are you going on about?" I muttered.

"Malfoy, that's what."

"Ernie, if he just committed the crime of the century, there's no way he'd hang around the scene!" I hissed in a hushed whisper.

"No, really, he's running toward—oh my god, Hagrid's Hut is on fire!" He exclaimed loudly.

I spun on my heels and caught the familiar scent of charred wood rising through the air. Sure enough, the Gamekeeper's hut was aflame and I was just able to make out six figures fleeing from the fire. One had shockingly pale blonde hair. I could only assume the other five were the Death Eaters that Malfoy had worked closely with throughout this entire year. I couldn't focus on that blonde haired murderer now, the Headmaster was dead and the students were showing an array of emotions. Some cried, some let out screams of terror, others gazed in utter disbelief at Dumbledore's body. It was slowly catching up to me and I didn't quite know how to feel. I never knew Dumbledore on a personal level nor had I spoken one word to him. He had been presiding over all of Hogwarts many years before even my parents were born, but now he was gone. It bore a sense of losing a distant relative in a grandfatherly sort of manner. Professor Dumbledore had always been around to save the day and everything seemed to flow perfectly. Nothing was flowing anytime soon now. There he lay on a bed of dewy grass gazing listlessly into nothing. His peculiar blue eyes didn't witness the sun peaking over the towers or the day start to break.

Professor Dumbledore's body was moved from the scene and everyone was ushered back inside to their Common Rooms. The very air around our Common Room was thick and hazy. No one really talked, but there were several people crying. I stood in the back of the room near the dormitory entrance with Johnny. He was resting his head against my side and I had my arm draped around his small shoulders. The brave little guy wasn't crying, but I could easily tell by his face that he was petrified with fear. How awful it must be for Johnny to come to such a safe place as Hogwarts, meet some wonderful people, and then have that sense of security ripped away so suddenly. Yet it seemed every student in this castle shared the same fear as my brother. The loss of one of the world's greatest wizards and the widely admired administer to this school left us feeling vulnerable.

What could we do? More importantly, what would become of the school next year? Would the Ministry close Hogwarts now that the Headmaster was gone? Would we get a new Headmaster?

I gazed absentmindedly around the crowded room. A few students had gone back to their beds and others were drying their tears and whispering the same questions I was pondering among each other. Ernie was moving among the students offering reassurance as Prefects should in times like this. Johnny pressed himself against my pajamas and looked up at me.

"Davis?" His voice was weak and shook as he attempted to speak the two syllables that made up my name.

"Yeah?" I looked down into those scared blue eyes.

"What happens to us now?" His lower lip trembled subtly as the question left his mouth.

"Well, I suppose we are sent home. I can't say for sure if anyone will be coming back though. Mum and Dad will probably have us back in the public education system. I'm so sorry, Johnny, but I doubt they'd let us come back even if Hogwarts was able to find a new Headmaster," I apologized to him.

He buried his face into my side and started crying. I hugged him tight and stroked his hair. Having to remain strong for my little brother was proving difficult for myself. Fellow Hufflepuffs were comforting each other under Ernie's command. Others retired to their beds nursing puffy eyes and aiding the younger students. I gently walked a still crying Johnny over the doorway leading to his dormitory and crouched down eye level with him.