𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 | √

⎡81⎦

There was a blinding green flash of light, sending chills down my body. Dumbledore flew over the railing of the tower and went tumbling down. With a yell, Bellatrix shot the Dark Mark into the sky.

The Death Eaters made their way down the astronomy tower. Harry followed close behind. I dared not to say a word as I sped after him. We made our way out of Hogwarts, all the way down to Hagrid's hut where Bellatrix sent it up into flames, along with my tree. The tree that I sat at since my first year was up in flames. I felt tears prickling my eyes as I watched it go down in flames.

"Snape, he trusted you!" Harry yelled. I sprinted after him. Snape made the others continue without him.

"Incarcerous!" Harry shot at him. Snape blocked the spell with a simple arm movement.

"Fight back, you coward! Fight back!"

Bellatrix shot a spell at Harry sending him back and landing on my feet.

"Harry! What are you doing?!" I shrieked as I was hit with the same spell, sending my flying. Despite my protests, Harry stood up pointed his wand.

"HARRY NO!" I screamed, still lying on the floor trying to regain my strength.

"Sectumsempra!"

Harry was shot back again flying onto me, just as I was getting up. OKAY SERIOUSLY?!

"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" Snape asked, looming over us. "Yes, I'm the Half-Blood Prince." He stayed looking down at us, as we weakly fought for breath. He kicked Harry's wand away and walked towards the retreating Death Eaters. I lifted my head to look at them and could see Draco staring right back. When Snape reached them, they disappeared into the forest.

Harry and I regained enough strength to walk back to the castle where everyone was in the courtyard, crowding around something. We worked our way through the crowd and saw Dumbledore's dead body on the cold ground. I stopped when I stood next to Hermione, but Harry kept walking until he was right next to the dead old man.

Kneeling down, he pushed Dumbledore's hair away from his face then picked up what looked like a locket. Placing his hand on Dumbledore's chest, tears began to slowly fall down his cheeks. I was already crying, and my hair looked like a rat's nest.

Ginny came out of the crowd and walked up to Harry, crouching down next to him and hugging him, letting him sob into her shoulder.

Slowly, McGonagall raised her wand, lighting up the tip. The teachers followed suit, as did all the students, lighting up the courtyard as we mourned. The Dark Mark above our heads dissolved into the clouds as we lowered our wands and we kept silent in our vigil.

. . .

The next day, after Dumbledore's death, the trio and I went to the Astronomy Tower. Harry, Hermione, and I stood at the railing of the tower while Ron sat down behind us.

"Do you think he would have done it? Draco," Hermione asked.

"Of course not Hermione," my voice cracked, "I know him, and I know that he would never murder someone. He doesn't have the heart. If he did, he would feel guilty forever. He was lowering his wand anyway."

"In the end, it was Snape. It was always Snape. And I did nothing," Harry handed me the locket. "It was fake. Open it."

I looked at him and looked back at the locket. Opening it up, I pulled out a piece of parchment and read it out loud.

"To the Dark Lord

I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret.

I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more.

R.A.B."

"R.A.B.?" Hermione asked.

"Don't know. But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux. It means it was all a waste," Harry explained turning to look at Ron. "All of it."

"Ron's okay with it, you know. You and Ginny." Hermione said turning back to look out of the Astronomy Tower. "If I were you when he's around, I'd keep the snogging to a minimum."

Harry laughed a bit. "I'm not coming back, Hermione," he denied. "I've got to finish whatever Dumbledore started. And I don't know where that'll lead me, but I'll let you two and Ron know where I am... when I can."

"I've always admired your courage, Harry. But sometimes, you can be really thick." I said looking at him. He met my gaze. "You don't really think you're going to be able to find all those Horcruxes by yourself, do you?" I asked taking his hand. "You need us, Harry."

We turned back to the view of the tower and released our hands.

"I never realized how beautiful this place was," Harry said.

There was a squawk in the distance. We watched as Fawkes the Phoenix flew into the sky, away from Hogwarts. We all walked to the other side of the railing to watch him soar away, just as we were going to do next year.