I don't own any of the characters apart from Melanie Malfoy. All of the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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I tore my eyes away from the table in front of me and started to walk towards the many rows of seats lined across the grounds. It truly was amazing how many people were here. I knew he had helped many people in his time, but I could never have imagined numbers like this at a funeral.
I took my seat in the middle. I didn't want to be near the front where attention could be brought on me, and the back was to suspicious looking. At least that's what I'd learnt from Draco. No doubt if he was here with me now, that's exactly where I would be.
The middle felt right. I felt the need to be close to where he would be seen for the last time. I mean, he had tried to save my life as he was on his own deathbed. If you could call it that. He was standing as he took his final breath. Well, you know what I mean...
I could see Cho sat a few rows in front of me. Her shoulders were moving and I could tell that she was silently crying even from here. The sudden urge to be sat by her right now, and be there for her like she was for me, was overpowering. I fought it though, someone would realise who I was if that happened.
You'd think it would be alright for me to show up in my own school without having to fear for my life. It clearly wasn't. I knew that everyone had seen me running like a coward out of the gates a week ago. And if they hadn't? Well, I'm sure Potter was more than willing to tell the true identity of me, Melanie Malfoy.
I should've known it wouldn't be that simple for me to get through my school year. Everything just felt right at the start. I'd been waiting to come to Hogwarts for six years, and I finally did. It was amazing. Nothing is going to take my memories away from this school year. They'd have to fight me for them, and trust me, I don't go down without a very good start.
I saw the old Minister for Magic walk past my chair, but didn't falter my position. He was followed by that reporter that Draco fawned over during his fourth year (he didn't really, but I thought he would've married her given the way she talked about Potter) and a woman I'm guessing is Umbridge.
Trust me when I say, I've heard a lot about her, especially in the last summer. Draco loved her as well...
The teachers were seated last along the front rows. The Minister for Magic was sat next to Professor McGonagall. Every single person on the front row looked grave, and I almost had to do a double take to check these were the people that had been joking around with students for the last year.
A screeching noise echoed around the crowd I was sat in. It sounded like music, but nothing you would normally hear. Many heads turned to try and find the source of the 'music' obviously wondering why they'd be playing something like this in our situation.
Until I saw someone point in the direction of the lake, I never realised that the sound was indeed coming from the merpeople. They'd all risen to the surface and the look of sadness could be seen on their faces. I could only hazard a guess, but even they seemed like they would miss Dumbledore's presence.
I turned my head away from the sight, suddenly unable to look at them. Hagrid was slowly making his way down the aisle in between the chairs carrying a gold and purple starred blanket. The threat of tears came so fast I had no chance of stopping them. The realisation of what was under the blanket caused so much grief and regret, I thought I was going to collapse.
The body was placed upon the table at the front and it was becoming harder for me to see what was happening around me. The witches and wizards on either side of me could be heard letting out sobs every so often, but no one was trying to hide their tears. Something which I was pleased for. I have no idea why, but I felt like it should be that way.
A small tufty-haired wizard had come to stand in front of Dumbledore's body and was addressing the large crowd, talking about Dumbledore's life. At least that's what I'm guessing. The only thing my mind could focus on now was the memory of Dumbledore falling off the Astronomy Tower.
The tears continued to flow down my cheeks but I made no move to stop them. I had come for this reason, to see him for the last time and to realise what I'd done. The enormity of the task me and Draco had performed was hitting me bit by bit, causing the air to be swept from my lungs.
The rest of the merpeople were breaking the surface, coming to listen to the words the little wizard was saying. I heard a rustling as well and could see the centaurs out the corner of my eye. It hit me how many people had had someone taken away from them, in one little act performed by two teenagers.
How could we be so stupid?
The small man now stood down from the front and sat down into his seat, leaving the view of the body for everyone to see. I couldn't take my eyes off it, unlike some people who couldn't even bear to look at it. After a few moments, when no-one had moved, everyone started glancing around, wondering what was going to happen next.
I screamed, along with a few other people, as bright, white flames erupted from the front. They encircled Dumbledore and the table he had been placed on making it impossible to see what was happening. I almost wished that this was a trick performed by Dumbledore, expecting him to be stood at the side of the hundreds of people.
Almost...
The fire vanished, leaving a white tomb enclosing the table with the body on top of it. The idea that he was inside the tomb made even more tears appear in my eyes. I think my previous thought had given me too much hope. Wishing for the impossible never gets you anywhere, unfortunately.
A shower of arrows soared through the air. If I had it left in me to feel shock, then I probably would have shrieked as well. A numbness was washing through my body when the arrows landed just short of the crowd. The creatures were leaving the scene of the funeral and this gave everyone else their cue to start leaving.
A loud chatter arose over the crowd and everyone around me had already stood up and were walking out of the gates. I knew I should follow them, but no part of me was willing to leave the castle just yet. This could be the last time I see this place, I wasn't going to miss out on this.
I turned my head to look up at Hogwarts, remembering all the times me and Cho had ran through the corridors to lessons, the party, tutoring lessons with Dean. All of them as painful as the last. My head was saying its final goodbye, much to my annoyance, but stopped suddenly.
My legs started moving, walking towards a small group of people. I didn't know what was happening until the voices travelled over to me.
"It's going to be okay Cho," Ben was saying. Toby was rubbing her back sympathetically. The twins both seemed oblivious to the other people around them, their attentions surely focused on my best friend. "I know you wish Mel was here, but she's no good. You wouldn't want to be with her today."
I couldn't help but feel he was right. I had been upset when the twins had first urged their backs on me, shouting at insults at me because of who my family is. Only, they didn't know the truth. Cho does. They judged me on a fake personality, one that had been forced upon me.
"Don't act like you know her!" Cho snapped, her sobs suddenly disappearing. "You judged her before you gave her a chance. What if I'd done the same to you?"
"Well, there's a difference there, we're not from a family of Death Eaters following You-Know-Who, are we?" Toby said, turning slightly to check if anyone was listening in.
"Please leave," Cho said softly, "I thought you'd be able to help, but you can't. I need to be by myself right now."
I could see they were about to argue with her, but one sharp look made them walk ahead of her. Every so often, they shot a worried look in her direction, but soon they were so far into the crowd, I was sure they couldn't see her. So I took my chance.
I walked up beside her from an angle and was stood slightly behind her, knowing she wouldn't be able to see me properly. "Look, I told you guys that-"
"If you think I'm a guy, then I'm worried. If you think I pass for two guys, well, then you've been lying to me when you said I didn't look fat..." I joked, quickening my steps so I was by her side.
She turned to face me, her eyes lighting up when she'd confirmed it was actually me and pulled me into a famous bear hug. I laughed lightly, hugging her back, feeling a small sense of happiness that I got to see her at least once again.
"Mel! What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling away from the hug to check me over. As I'd walked over to her, I'd made sure my hair was back to its normal colour. She wouldn't have recognised me otherwise. Sure, she knew I was a metamorphmagus, but she'd never seen me with a changed appearance before. The timing wasn't right, and I'd just told her I was a Death Eater, I didn't want to freak her out too much.
"What do you think? I've been on lock down for the past week, and I heard that the funeral was today. I felt like I needed to be here. You know apologise for everything, even if I didn't end up finishing the job," I explained, glad to see no sympathy on Cho's face.
"So it's true?" she asked, a curious expression taking over her face, "Snape was the one to finally kill Dumbledore?"
I nodded, unable to speak as the memories came back to me once again. I couldn't seem to escape them now a days. I only needed to close my eyes and there he was. Draco had said yesterday that I looked like death. My blonde hair no longer shined and I had permanent black circles under my eyes.
Our conversation had took us to the castle doors. I wasn't sure whether or not I should enter. The trespassing feeling I'd had during the Battle wasn't one I was keen to relive anytime soon. Before I could open my mouth to voice my opinions to her, she'd grabbed hold of my arm and hauled me through the doors.
"I knew it was you!" Ben spat. My brain was still going through its numb stage, so I didn't have chance to react to the spell that he'd shot in my direction. The force of it took me off my feet and blasted me into the wall behind me.
I doubled over choking, trying to get some feeling back into my body. I could see a crowd of feet stood around me, obviously wondering what the huge commotion was about. I stood up, much to the protest of the pain in my body, and faced Ben.
"You know, you really shouldn't just aim a spell at someone who isn't expecting it. That's the sign of a coward. I thought you would have a bit more class about you," I stated, brushing the dust off my cloak calmly.
"You know, you should really think before hiding your identity and the killing our headmaster. I never thought you'd be such a coward to do it when he had no wand," he said, spinning his wand around between his fingers for effect.
I'm not going to lie, I saw red. He was accusing me of a crime that I never committed. Something I never wanted to do in the first place. I took a step forward, wand in hand, ready to hex him when a body jumped in front of me.
I looked over Cho's shoulder and saw the frightened look on Ben's face. A wave of pleasure washed through me. He had no right to say what he just did and I was glad I could make him feel just a fraction of the fear I'd felt for the last year.
Cho said something, and all hell broke loose. Both the twins were fighting the crowd to reach me, not caring that they would hurt Cho, or their fellow class mates in the process. The students around us were all trying to reach one of us. Some were fighting Cho and others were helping to push Ben and Toby back.
I felt a hand on my waist pulling me away from the crowd. A scream was working its way up my throat and the other person put their hand over my mouth to stop me making any noise. I don't think it made any difference to be honest, the crowd was that loud, there was no chance of anyone hearing me.
I was pushed behind a tapestry and the hands let go of me. I took this as my chance to try and escape. With no luck, I might add...
"Why did you come back?" the voice asked. A sense of familiarity crashed over me and I turned to face Dean Thomas, the only guy to ever make me nervous.
"Why do you need to know?" I asked, avoiding looking into his eyes. I wasn't sure if he knew what had happened and I felt like my eyes could give me away. He continued to look at me waiting for my answer, "I came to the funeral."
"When everyone knows your true identity and the reason you'd been placed into the castle?" he asked, lifting his hand to cup my chin and make me look at him. He didn't look annoyed or upset, just confused. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding in and tried to decide how best to answer.
"Well, I was disguised at the beginning, but I needed to see Cho, so I took it off. I thought it would be safe. Stupid move, I know."
He laughed, smiling down at me. The butterflies suddenly filled my stomach again and all thoughts of my reason for returning quickly left my mind.
"It was. So, I wasn't going to get a goodbye?" he feigned hurt, placing his hand over his heart for effect. It was my turn to laugh now, hitting him lightly in the chest.
"What can I say? I only say goodbye to those that are special to me." I joked, waving my hand so it looked like I was brushing him off.
"I'm not one of them?" he winked and I could feel my heart melting.
"No." Lies.
"Harsh," he said, placing his hands on my waist. My breathing picked up against my will as he pulled me closer. I felt my head rest against my chest and my breathing slowed down again as I realised he was only hugging me.
I pulled away sooner than I would have liked. As I looked up to say my goodbye to him, I realised how small the distance between us actually was. He still had his hands on my waist and our noses were almost touching.
"Er..."
I wanted to say more, but I knew that my brain wasn't working properly. I looked away, embarrassed. Dean moved his hand up to my chin and pulled my face so that I was looking at him again and placed his lips on mine.
I was shocked at first as his lips moved against mine, but soon replied. My eyes fluttered close and my hands snaked their way up to his neck. His hand on my chin moved to tangle itself in my hair and he pulled me impossibly closer.
We both pulled away, panting for breath. He had a small smile playing at his lips, while a blush crept its way up my neck.
"Promise me this isn't goodbye, Melanie Malfoy?" he asked, his eyes locking with mine.
"I promise."
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It's over :'(
I hope you like this chapter, I especially love the ending :) you might be a bit confused, but all will be explained soon. An authors note will be posted soon, explaining certain...things...but I'm not giving anything away, so just be patient, it will be up soon.
C x