The Girl Who Lived ☆ D. MALFOY

Chapter 45

"Walk with us," he says with a weak smile. I simply nod in response and follow him back to the cluster of Gryffindors despite the many annoyed looks from my fellow Slytherins.

We walked in silence down to the lake where hundreds of pristine white chairs sat facing a podium. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of people whispering, surrounding us and flowing past my ears like a gentle breeze as we took our seats. I hardly acknowledged Harry's hand on my shoulder, guiding me to my spot in between him and Hermione with Ginny on his left and Ron to the right of Hermione.

Only moments after we'd sat down, serene yet sorrowful music made up of many voices jolted me out of my thoughts. I followed everyone else's eyes to the black lake where a group of mermaids with their shining green skin and flowing purple hair were singing as a way of mourning the loss of the Professor.

I drowned out the monotonous voice of the unfamiliar wizard reading Dumbledore's eulogy. Instead, I stared at my slightly trembling hands. They hadn't stopped shaking since that night, something my friends were very concerned about while I couldn't care less. I had a feeling it had something to do with my powers, but I also had no idea why or how. I didn't start paying attention to the real world around me again until Harry was tapping gently on my shoulder and pointing in the opposite direction of the lake toward the small aisle. Hagrid was walking slowly in between the chairs, what little of his could be seen was glistening with tears and in his arms, wrapped in a deep purple sheet decorated with miniscule gold stars, was what I immediately knew to be the body of Albus Dumbledore.

I could no longer hold back the tears as they spilled freely over my flushed cheeks at the sight of my old mentor. Though I couldn't see him through the cloth, the very presence of his unmoving body seemed to suck the warmth from the summery day. For the rest of the funeral, all I could do was look down at my hands in my lap and regularly wipe the salty liquid from under my eyes.

I looked up to see Ron holding Hermione and stroking her hair as he sobbed into his shoulder, then turned to see Harry stand and turn away from Ginny. I rose from my seat to join him, and we walked away in glum silence before it was rudely interrupted.

"Harry, Y/n," someone called from behind us. We both turned simultaneously to see the Minister, Rufus Scrimgeour, limping rapidly in our direction. I quickly rubbed the tear stains off my cheeks before looking at the Minister with an obviously annoyed expression. "I've been hoping to have a word with the two of you. Do you mind if I walk with you?" he asks, leaning on his walking stick.

"No," Harry says blankly before I can tell the Minister to leave us alone. We begin walking again, not waiting for Scrimgeour to catch up, but he does anyway before he starts speaking again.

"This was a dreadful tragedy," he starts softly. "I cannot tell you how appalled I was to hear of it. Dumbledore was a very great wizard. We had our disagreements, as you know, but no one knows better than I-"

"What do you want?" I ask dully, doing my best not to shout. Harry didn't even scold me, and had an equally annoyed expression on his face identical to mine. Scrimgeour gaped at me for a moment before changing his face back to one of remorse.

"You are, of course, devastated," he said. "I know that you were both very close to Dumbledore. The two of you may have been his favourite pupils in his whole time of being at Hogwarts. The bond between you-"

"What do you want?" Harry repeated, nearly as forcefully as I had earlier. We both came to a sudden halt, making the Minister stop with us. He simply stared at us with his mouth agape as though he were extremely offended. I honestly hoped he was.

"The word is that you were with him when he left the school the night that he died." the Minister says, looking at Harry. I pressed my lips into a firm line.
"What's it to you?" I snap, crossing my arms over my chest. Harry mimics my action, crossing his arms and glaring at Scrimgeour.