Wow, the last chapter of Book Six...To be quite honest, I never thought I'd make it this far. Big thanks to all of my reviewers/supporters!

Disclaimer: Yeah, I still own Levina, and I'm proud of it! :') ...But not Harry Potter, still don't own him, sadly. Just thought I'd add that.

All lessons were suspended, all examinations postponed. Some students were hurried away from Hogwarts by their parents over the next couple of days—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. She had difficulty in finding a bed in Hogsmeade, Seamus told Harry, Levina, and Ron, for wizards and witches 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 Forest. Levina watched from a window as a gigantic and handsome olive-skinned, black-haired woman descended the carriage steps and threw herself into the waiting Hagrid's arms. Meanwhile a delegation of Ministry officials, including the Minister for Magic himself, was being accommodated within the castle. Harry was diligently avoiding contact with any of them; he was sure that, sooner or later, he would be asked again to account for Dumbledore's last excursion from Hogwarts.

Even Destiny Levesque had come along, riding in the carriage from Beauxbatons to pay her respects. The second she was off the carriage, she plowed through the crowd of students until she found Levina, throwing her arms tearfully around her. Eric and Uncle Nicholas were still already there, from the battle, and had decided to stay behind for the funeral. Eric ended up having to send a letter to Romania, explaining his dilemma to his girlfriend and the dragon sanctuary workers.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Levina, and Ginny were spending all of their time together. The beautiful weather seemed to mock them; Levina could imagine how it would have been if Dumbledore had not died, and they had had this time together at the very end of the year, examinations finished, the pressure of homework lifted…

They visited the hospital wing twice a day: Neville had been discharged, and although Levina had been kept there for a fair amount of time, she was released sooner, as well as Eric. 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 as ever. All that appeared to have changed was that he now had a great liking for very rare steaks.

"You'll get used to it," said Levina reassuringly, eyeing the steak hungrily until Hermione slapped her.

"...so eet ees lucky 'e is marrying me," said Fleur happily, plumping 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," sighed Ginny later that evening, as she, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat beside the open window of the Gryffindor common room, looking out over the twilit grounds.

"She's not that bad," said Harry. "Ugly, though," he added hastily, as Ginny raised her eyebrows, and she let out a reluctant giggle. Levina smirked.

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

"She's all right," said Destiny, who'd come to stay in their common room (although it took the Fat Lady some convincing). "Can't believe she's already getting married, though…Seems like an eternity ago that we had dance class together."

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

Hermione winced at the forced toughness in his voice.

"No," she said reprovingly, folding up the newspaper. "They're still looking for Snape, but no sign..."

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

"Any word on Lydia Russell?" Levina asked. She had a feeling Eternity and her sister would probably not be doing very well now, getting much displeasure from the other students.

"No," said Hermione, shaking her head. "How's Eric doing?"

"Pretty badly. He refuses to drop the subject, and he keeps beating himself up about it," said Destiny, sighing. "He's blaming himself for everything, I swear…"

"I'm going to go to bed," yawned Ginny. "I haven't been sleeping that well since…well…I could do with some sleep."

She kissed Harry (Ron looked away pointedly and Levina laughed), waved at the other two and departed for the girls' dormitories. The moment the door had closed behind her, Hermione leaned forwards towards Harry and Levina with a most Hermione-ish look on her face.

"I found something out this morning, in the library..."

"What?" said Levina and Destiny together.

"R.A.B.?" said Harry, sitting up straight.

"No," she said sadly, "I've been trying, Harry, but I haven't found anything…there are a couple of reasonably well-known wizards with those initials—Rosalind Antigone Bungs…Rupert "Axebanger" Brookstanton…but they don't seem to fit at all. Judging by that note, the person who stole the Horcrux knew Voldemort, and I can't find a shred of evidence that Bungs or Axebanger ever had anything to do with him…no, actually, it's about…well, Snape."

She looked nervous even saying the name again.

"Oh," said Levina, disappointed as she sank back onto her knees.

"What about him?" asked Harry heavily, slumping back in his chair.

"Well, it's just that I was sort of right about the Half-Blood Prince business," she said tentatively.

"I don't think 'I-told-you-so's" are the best thing right now," said Levina.

"D'you have to rub it in, Hermione? How do you think I feel about that now?"

"No—no—Harry, I didn't mean that!" she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. "It's just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see…she was Snape's mother!"

"I thought she wasn't much of a looker," said Ron. Hermione ignored him.

"I was going through the rest of the old Prophets and there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince marrying a man called Tobias Snape, and then later an announcement saying that she'd given birth to a—"

"—killer," said Levina.

"—murderer," spat Harry.

"Well…yes," said Hermione. "So…I was sort of right. Snape must have been proud of being "half a Prince", you see? Tobias Snape was a Muggle from what it said in the Prophet."

"Yeah, that fits," said Harry. "He'd play up the pure-blood side so he could get in with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of them…he's just like Voldemort. Pure-blood mother, Muggie father…ashamed of his parentage, trying to make himself feared using the Dark Arts, gave himself an impressive new name—Lord Voldemort—the Half-Blood Prince—how could Dumbledore have missed—?"

He broke off, looking out of the window. Levina and Destiny exchanged a nervous expression.

"I still don't get why he didn't turn you in for using that book," said Ron. "He must've known where you were getting it all from."

"He knew," said Harry bitterly. "He knew when I used Sectumsempra. He didn't really need Legilimency...he might even have known before then, with Slughom talking about how brilliant I was at Potions…shouldn't have left his old book in the bottom of that cupboard, should he?"

"But why didn't he turn you in?" said Levina.

"I don't think he wanted to associate himself with that book," said Hermione. "I don't think Dumbledore would have liked it very much if he'd known. And even if Snape pretended it hadn't been his, Slughom would have recognized his writing at once. Anyway, the book was left in Snape's old classroom, and I'll bet Dumbledore knew his mother was called 'Prince'."

"I should've shown the book to Dumbledore," said Harry. "All that time he was showing me how Voldemort was evil even when he was at school, and I had proof Snape was, too—"

"'Evil' is a strong word," said Hermione quietly.

"You were the one who kept telling me the book was dangerous!"

"I'm trying to say, Harry, that you're pulling too much blame on yourself. I thought the Prince seemed to have a nasty sense of humour, but I would never have guessed he was a potential killer..."

"None of us could've guessed Snape would…you know," said Ron.

Silence fell between them, each of them lost in their own thoughts, and Levina drew her knees up to her chin. The very thought of the following day made her sick, thinking of Dumbledore lying dead in a casket…She shivered. How could he be dead? It felt impossible, like he would suddenly appear at her shoulder, asking if she would like a licorice wand or some Every-Flavor beans.

But no. He was gone forever.

Levina rose early to pack the next day; the Hogwarts Express would be leaving an hour after the funeral. Downstairs she found the mood in the Great Hall subdued. Everybody was wearing their dress robes and no one seemed very hungry. Professor McGonagall had left the thronelike chair in the middle of the staff table empty. Hagrid's chair was deserted too: Levina thought that perhaps he had not been able to face breakfast; but Snape's place had been unceremoniously filled by Rufus Scrimgeour. Among Scrimgeour's entourage Levina spotted the red hair and horn-rimmed glasses of Percy Weasley. Ron gave no sign that he was aware of Percy, apart from stabbing pieces of kipper with unwonted venom.

Over at the Slytherin table Crabbe and Goyle were muttering together. Hulking boys though they were, they looked oddly lonely without the tall, pale figure of Draco between them, bossing them around. She had refused to think about him for a while, thinking it best to push the very thought of him from her mind, but this proved difficult. As much as she despised Draco, the tiniest drop of pity mingled with her rage. Where, Levina wondered, was Draco now, and what was Voldemort making him do under threat of killing him and his parents? She shivered and drew her cloak tightly around her shoulders.

Levina's thoughts were interrupted by a nudge in the ribs from Destiny. Professor McGonagall had risen to her feet and the mournful hum in the Hall died away at once.

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

They filed out from behind their benches in near silence. Levina glimpsed Slughorn at the head of the Slytherin column, wearing magnificent long emerald-green robes embroidered with silver. Somewhere below him, she saw Eternity Russell filing in, clutching her little sister Riley's hand tightly. She had never seen Professor Sprout, Head of the Hufflepuffs, looking so clean; there was not a single patch on her hat, and when they reached the Entrance Hall, they found Madam Pince 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.

They were heading, as Levina saw when she stepped out on to the stone steps from the front doors, towards the lake. The warmth of the sun caressed her face as they 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. 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. Most Levina did not recognize, but there were a few that he did, including members of the Order of the Phoenix: Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Uncle Nicholas Levesque, Eric, his dark golden eyes focused firmly on the sky, his chin resting on his hands, Tonks, her hair miraculously returned to vividest pink, Remus Lupin, with whom she seemed to be holding hands, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill supported by Fleur and followed by Fred and George, who were wearing jackets of black dragonskin. Levina's heart leapt at the sight of them, and her heart desperately wanted to be with him, but he was too jam-packed into the crowd of people. Then there was Madame Maxime, who took up two-and-a-half chairs on her own, Tom, the landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, Arabella Figg, Harry's Squib neighbour, the hairy bass player from the wizarding group the Weird sisters, Ernie Prang, driver of the Knight Bus, Madam Malkin, of the robe shop in Diagon Alley, and some people whom Levina merely knew by sight, such as the barman of the Hog's Head and the witch who pushed the trolley on the Hogwarts Express. The castle ghosts were there too, barely visible in the bright sunlight, discernible only when they moved, shimmering insubstantially in the gleaming air.

Harry, Ron, Levina, Destiny, Hermione and Ginny filed into seats at the end of a row beside the lake. 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; with a great rush of affection for both of them, Levina saw Neville being helped into a seat by Luna. They alone of all the DA had responded to Hermione's summons the night that Dumbledore had died, and Levina knew why: they were the ones who had missed the DA most…probably the ones who had checked their coins regularly in the hope that there would be another meeting…

Cornelius Fudge walked past them towards the front rows, his expression miserable, twirling his green bowler hat as usual; Levina next recognized Rita Skeeter, who, she was infuriated to see, had a notebook clutched in her red-taloned hand; and then, with a worse jolt of fury, Dolores Umbridge, an unconvincing expression of grief upon her toadlike 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. Levina smirked. That's right, run little toad, she thought. She wondered whether she should change her hair color or something, but she figured it might cause an unnecessary disruption.

The staff were seated at last. Levina could see Scrimgeour looking grave and dignified in the front row with Professor McGonagall. She wondered whether Scrimgeour or any of these important people were really sorry that Dumbledore was dead. But then she heard music, strange otherworldly music and he forgot his dislike of the Ministry in looking around for the source of it. She was not the only one: many heads were turning, searching, a little alarmed.

"In there," whispered Destiny.

And she saw them in the clear green sunlit water, inches below the surface; a chorus of merpeople singing in a strange languages he did not understand, their pallid faces rippling, their purplish hair flowing all around them. The music made the hair on Levina's neck stand up and yet it was not unpleasant. It spoke very clearly of loss and of despair. As she looked down into the wild faces of the singers she had the feeling that they, at least, were sorry for Dumbledore's passing.

Destiny nudged Levina. "I can understand them," she whispered softly in her ear, her voice grim. "They're singing about the good he brought to Hogwarts, and about how he won't be easily forgotten."

Then Hermione broke into their conversation. "Look," she said, pointing.

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 Levina knew to be Dumbledore's body. A sharp pain rose in Levina's throat at this sight: for a moment, the strange music and the knowledge that Dumbledore's body was so close seemed to take all warmth from the day. Ron looked white and shocked. Tears were falling thick and fast into both Ginny and Hermione's laps.

That's when Levina broke down. Fat tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes and trickled down her robes. She could hardly breathe through her nose, and she sniffled and hiccupped several times, her shoulders trembling violently and her cheeks darkening into a deep red.

They could not see clearly what was happening at the front. Hagrid seemed to have placed the body carefully upon the table. Now he retreated down the aisle, blowing his nose with loud trumpeting noises that drew scandalized looks from some, including, Levina saw, Dolores Umbridge…but Levina knew that Dumbledore would not have cared. Levina glanced through teary eyes at the back row to which Hagrid was heading and realized what was guiding him, for there, dressed in a jacket and trousers each the size of a small marquee, was the giant Grawp, his great ugly boulder-like head bowed, docile, almost human. Hagrid sat down next to his half-brother and Grawp patted Hagrid hard on the head, so that his chair legs sank into the ground. Levina had a wonderful momentary urge to laugh. But then the music stopped and she turned to face the front again.

A little tufty-haired man in plain black robes had got to his feet and stood now in front of Dumbledore's body. Levina could not hear what he was saying. Odd words floated back to them over the hundreds of beads. "Nobility of spirit" ... "intellectual contribution" ... "greatness of heart" ...it did not mean very much. It had little to do with Dumbledore as Levina had known him. She suddenly remembered Dumbledore's idea of a few words: "nitwit", "oddment", "blubber" and "tweak", and again, had to suppress a grin…what was the matter with her? This was a sad time, not happy…

There was a soft splashing noise to her left and he saw that the merpeople had broken the surface to listen, too. She remembered Dumbledore crouching at the water's edge two years ago, very close to where Levina now sat, and conversing in Mermish with the Merchieftainess. Levina wondered where Dumbledore had learned Mermish. There was so much she had never asked him, so much she should have said…

Levina could not prevent hot tears spilling from her eyes: she looked away from Destiny and the others and stared out over the lake, towards the Forest, as the little man in black droned on…there was movement among the trees. The centaurs had come to pay their respects, too. They did not move into the open but Levina saw them standing quite still, half-hidden in shadow, watching the wizards, their bows hanging at their sides. And Levina remembered her first nightmarish trip into the Forest, the first time she had ever encountered the thing that was then Voldemort, and how she had faced him, and how Draco gone back to aid her, to help carry her away from the area…How she had shouted at him for not getting Harry, too…She almost laughed at the memory, but then shook her head and thought better of it.

And then something horrible began to sink into Levina's mind: Dumbledore had always been a shield of sorts for Levina, a kind of protector. He was like the parent she never had, watching over her shoulder as she grew. But now? Now he was gone, and Levina felt more vulnerable and open to attack than ever before.

The little man in black had stopped speaking at last and resumed his seat. Levina waited for somebody else to get to their feet; she expected speeches, probably from the Minister, but nobody moved.

Then several people screamed. Bright, white flames had erupted around Dumbledore's body and the table upon which it lay: higher and higher they rose, obscuring the body. White smoke spiraled into the air and made strange shapes: Levina thought, for one heart-stopping moment, that she saw a phoenix fly joyfully into the blue, but next second the fire had vanished. In its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table on which he had rested.

There were a few more cries of shock as a shower of arrows soared through the air, but they fell far short of the crowd. It was, Levina knew, the centaurs' tribute: she saw them turn tail and disappear back into the cool trees. Likewise the merpeople sank slowly back into the green water and were lost from view. Destiny watched them disappear through teary eyes.

Levina looked at Ginny, Ron and Hermione: Ron's face was screwed up as though the sunlight was blinding him. Hermione's face was glazed with tears, but Ginny was no longer crying.

Suddenly, Harry said something. Levina turned, having forgotten he was there, and her canine hearing perked up to hear what he was whispering to Ginny.

"Ginny, listen…" he said very quietly, as the buzz of conversation grew louder around them and people began to get to their feet. "I can't be involved with you anymore. We've got to stop seeing each other. We can't be together."

She said, with an oddly twisted smile, "It's for some stupid, noble reason, isn't it?"

"It's been like…like something out of someone else's life, these last few weeks with you," said Harry. "But I can't…we can't…I've got things to do alone now."

She did not cry, she simply looked at him.

"Voldemort uses people his enemies are close to. He's already used you as bait once, and that was just because you're my best friend's sister. Think how much danger you'll be in if we keep this up. He'll know, he'll find out. He'll try and get to me through you."

"What if I don't care?" said Ginny fiercely.

"I care," said Harry. "How do you think I'd feel if this was your funeral…and it was my fault…"

She looked away from him, over the lake.

"I never really gave up on you," she said. "Not really. I always hoped…Hermione told me to get on with life, maybe go out with some other people, relax a bit around you, because I never used to be able to talk if you were in the room, remember? And she thought you might take a bit more notice if I was a bit more—myself. Levina always knew there was something going on," she added. "She said she could see it in your eyes, too, and she kept teasing me that someday we'd be together."

"Smart girl, that Hermione," said Harry, trying to smile. "I just wish I'd asked you sooner. And of course Levina knew, she always does…We could've had ages…months…years maybe…"

"But you've been too busy saving the Wizarding world," said Ginny, half-laughing. "Well…I can't say I'm surprised. I knew this would happen in the end. I knew you wouldn't be happy unless you were hunting Voldemort. Maybe that's why I like you so much."

A small smile crossed Levina's face, but it fell as she saw Ron, now holding Hermione and stroking her hair while she sobbed into his shoulder, tears dripping from the end of his own long nose. Levina sighed, got to her feet, and turned her back on it all, leaving without seeing if Destiny was following behind her.

"Levina!"

But it was not Destiny's voice. Rufus Scrimgeour was limping rapidly towards her around the bank, leaning on his walking stick.

"I've been hoping to have a word…do you mind if I walk a little way with you?"

"Yes," said Levina flatly, and set off again. She knew enough from Harry to not want to talk to him.

"Levina, this was a dreadful tragedy," said Scrimgeour quietly, looking uncomfortable. "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—"

"Do you need something?" Levina demanded still walking.

Scrimgeour looked annoyed but, as before, hastily modified his expression to one of sorrowful understanding.

"You are, of course, devastated," he said. "I know that you and Harry Potter were very close to Dumbledore. I also know that you talked a lot, and it was quite the—"

"Spill it or leave me alone," said Levina dryly.

Scrimgeour stopped and leaned on his stick and stared at Levina, his expression shrewd now.

"Word is some of the Death Eaters wanted to take you captive, no?"

"So?" said Levina.

"I had been thinking You-Know-Who, perhaps, had forgotten you," said Scrimgeour softly. "I thought he had given up, finding your…ah… 'abilities' not worth his time."

"Are you going somewhere with this?" said Levina hotly.

Scrimgeour hesitated, then said, "So this means you are still quite valuable in his eyes, and therefore your powers are not as overlookable as I originally thought."

"Oh, so now the Ministry remembers I exist," said Levina, her eyes narrowing as she came to a halt, turning to look at him with cold eyes.

Scrimgeour looked both nervous and irritated. "The Ministry can offer you all sorts of protection, you know, Levina. I would be delighted to place a couple of my Aurors at your service—"

Levina snorted. "Right, because that's going to save me from Voldemort. If he wants my 'powers', he's going to find a way to get them, one way or another. A couple of Aurors aren't going to save me, so forget about it. Don't bother calling me up the next time you remember I'm still alive."

Scrimgeour glared at her for another moment, then turned and limped away without another word. Levina could see Percy and the rest of the Ministry delegation waiting for him, casting nervous glances at the sobbing Hagrid and Grawp, who were still in their seats. But Scrimgeour was heading not for the Ministry's workers, but for Harry, most likely to interrogate him next.

Suddenly, someone else tapped Levina on the shoulder. She whirled around to see Fred standing behind her, his eyes filled with grief and his expression grim.

"Hey, Levina."

"Hi."

It was as though a light switch had been flipped; all at once, Levina was bawling into Fred's chest, her eyes streaming with tears, and Fred was clutching her tightly to him. Everything, all the weight on her shoulders, came crashing down at once. And the worst part was, Fred didn't even know half of the reason she was sobbing, the reason her heat felt so stomped on: Draco. The combination of the loss of a father-figure and a friend hurt her so much that she couldn't hold herself back, couldn't keep herself from losing it.

"It's all right," said Fred, pulling away from her finally, wiping stray tears from her face.

"Thanks," said Levina, still sniffling slightly. "How's Bill? Have you seen him yet?"

Fred looked slightly pale. "Yeah. He's doing all right, just very hungry for meat. Like you," he added, and Levina forced a small smile.

"I guess you're wanting to hear about that night, then," said Levina, knowing Fred all too well.

"I want to know why my girlfriend looks so ripped apart," said Fred. "I hear you got into a tussle with Greyback."

"Yeah…Lydia Russell knocked off my necklace, and I kind of lost control." Levina shrugged. "I didn't fully change, I just went a little wild—"

"Levina, do you even know how much I worry about you?" said Fred in a very off voice.

Levina sighed. "Yes, yes, I know—I need to be more careful and—"

"But that's just it!" said Fred, his face turning into annoyance. "You aren't ever careful, you never think before you do anything."

Levina scowled. "So I like to play it by ear. And besides, I was helping the others, did you want them to be hurt, too?"

"You are so bloody persistent!" said Fred angrily. "That's your problem, Levina. You think you're some—some hero, like it's your job to protect everyone. But guess what? You're just going to bite off more than you can chew, and then you're going to get yourself badly injured, like Bill—"

"For doing what was right!" said Levina, her own anger fuming. "I'd rather die a 'hero' than run off as a coward, it's what being a Gryffindor is all about—"

"Being a Gryffindor, and being brave, does not mean running into battles that aren't your own," said Fred. "You act like you're invincible, but you're not. You're capable of being hurt, and you will be. Just look at yourself!"

Levina sucked back tears forming at her eyelashes, and then forced herself to look into a nearby puddle on the ground. Her red, usually decently tamed hair was now messy and undomesticated; scars from Greyback ran down her arms and legs, and several bruises were forming on her body. She looked a downright mess, and she had a feeling she couldn't blame anyone who'd mistake her for a guy.

"So it's not a pretty reflection," said Levina with a careless shrug. "But it's still me."

"You can't keep your anger down," said Fred. "You can't even keep your mouth shut! One day, you're going to piss off the wrong person, and they're going to do something about it, I promise you that. If you would just swallow your pride and stop saying every first thought that comes to your mind, then maybe I wouldn't always be so frightened for you. How can we maintain this relationship if every five seconds you're getting yourself hurt?"

Levina bit her lip so hard that it bled. "I can't help it; it's who I am, Fred! Why can't you accept the fact that maybe I'm not like other girls? If you wanted someone normal, then you shouldn't have come to me. If you wanted someone who didn't make mistakes, then you should have picked someone else."

"You're not listening to me!" said Fred fiercely, moving in so close to her it was as though they were about to kiss, but Levina felt no passion, just his deep fury. "Levina, I love you, but this isn't going to work if you keep doing dumb things. If something were to happen to you—well, I don't even know what I would do! If you care even the smallest bit about me, you'll stop looking for trouble."

"You do the same things!" Levina protested, knowing full well that her argument was defeated. "Don't be such a hypocrite. Remember when you were in school? Where's the Fred I know that lived for trouble? The one who did stupid things and always got himself into danger? I never judged you for that."

"This isn't about pulling pranks at school," said Fred. "This is different. This is life, and in the real world, you can't act the way you do." Fred sighed. "I just don't want you to get hurt more, okay? I can't stand seeing you like this."

Levina took a deep breath in, knowing she was the 'bad guy' in this situation. "All right. I'm sorry, Fred, I just—I'll try to think before doing things more, all right?" I hate it when he's right, she thought, annoyed.

Fred nodded, then reached down to pull her into a tight embrace, burying his face into her shoulder. However, Levina knew that she couldn't do what he was asking—telling her to not have anger issues and say what was on her mind in the face of enemies was like telling her to stop breathing or eating—it just wasn't possible. When they finally broke away again, Levina turned away, heading down the path, feeling as though everything was crumbling around her.

As she thought, Harry was bothered, and Scrimgeour didn't look too pleased at the end of their conversation, either. Ron and Hermione hurried over to him when he was alone, and Levina followed.

"What did Scrimgeour want?" Hermione whispered.

"Same as he wanted at Christmas," shrugged Harry. "Wanted me to give him inside information on Dumbledore and be the Ministry's new poster boy."

Ron seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then he said loudly to Hermione, "Look, let me go back and hit Percy!"

"No," she said firmly, grabbing his arm.

"It'll make me feel better!"

Harry laughed. Even Hermione grinned a little, though her smile faded as she looked up at the castle.

"What did he say to you?" Hermione asked Levina.

"Basically that the Ministry remembered that I'm 'valuable' to Voldemort," said Levina, shrugging.
"Same old crap, just being brought back, I suppose."

There was a pause.

"I can't bear the idea that we might never come back," said Hermione suddenly. "How can Hogwarts close?"

"Maybe it won't," said Ron. "We're not in any more danger here than we are at home, are we? Everywhere's the same now. I'd even say Hogwarts is safer, there are more wizards inside to defend the place. What d'you reckon, Harry?"

"I'm not coming back even if it does reopen," said Harry.

Ron gaped at him, but Hermione said sadly, "I knew you were going to say that. But then what will you do?"

"I'm going back to the Dursleys' once more, because Dumbledore wanted me to," said Harry."But it'll be a short visit, and then I'll be gone for good."

"What?" Levina demanded.

"But where will you go if you don't come back to school?"

"I thought I might go back to Godric's Hollow," Harry muttered. "For me, it started there, all of it. I've just got a feeling I need to go there. And I can visit my parents' graves, I'd like that."

"And then what?" said Ron.

"Then I've got to track down the rest of the Horcruxes, haven't I?" said Harry, his eyes upon Dumbledore's white tomb, reflected in the water on the other side of the lake. "That's what he wanted me to do, that's why he told me all about them. If Dumbledore was right—and I'm sure he was—there are still four of them out there. I've got to find them and destroy them and then I've got to go after the seventh bit of Voldemort's soul, the bit that's still in his body, and I'm the one who's going to kill him. And if I meet Severus Snape along the way," he added, "so much the better for me, so much the worse for him."

There was a long silence. The crowd had almost dispersed now, the stragglers giving the monumental figure of Grawp a wide berth as he cuddled Hagrid, whose howls of grief were still echoing across the water.

"We'll be there, Harry," said Ron.

"What?"

"At your aunt and uncle's house," said Ron. "And then we'll go with you, wherever you're going."

"That's right," said Levina, slightly less confidently. What would Destiny and Nicholas say?

"No—" said Harry quickly.

"You said to us once before," said Hermione quietly, "that there was time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"

"You didn't think you could get rid of us that easily, did you?" said Levina with a smirk.

"We're with you whatever happens," said Ron. "But, mate, you're going to have to come round my mum and dad's house before we do anything else, even Godric's Hollow."

"Why?"

"Bill and Fleur's wedding, remember?"

Harry looked at him, startled; apparently the idea that anything as normal as a wedding could still exist seemed incredible and yet wonderful to Harry.

"Yeah, we shouldn't miss that," he said finally.

"Hold on—I have someone I want to talk to," said Levina; she'd spotted Eternity not far away, unaccompanied by her sister, who seemed to have gone somewhere. She hurried up to the Slytherin girl and nudged her shoulder.

"What." Eternity's lips barely moved.

"All—all right?" said Levina hesitantly. "I guess you heard stuff about last night, huh?"

"Kind of hard not to if your mum's a Death Eater," said Eternity.

"…Right," said Levina. "Er…well, you know, your cousin left last night, too," she added. Eternity looked up at her.

"Draco," said Eternity.

"Yeah. I saw him, and…um, we had a bit of a…fight. He left with Snape."

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Eternity asked, not unkindly.

"Well…I wanted to ask you about him," said Levina. "Do…do you think he ever actually wanted to be my friend?"

Eternity raised her eyebrows at her, but said nothing.

"He acted suddenly like we should stop being enemies, but then he ran off with the Death Eaters and left me. And…well…" Levina shook her head. "I don't understand why he did that…I thought maybe it was just a Slytherin thing—"She broke off, remembering Eternity was a Slytherin as well.

Strangely enough, Eternity didn't look the least bit surprised. "Uh-huh. Go on."

"And—and he acted like there was something…I dunno." Levina felt like tearing her hair out. "I'm just so confused! I was hoping you might understand—I mean, you knew him probably better than I ever did…"

Eternity snorted. "You want me to feel sorry for you? Is that it? Levina, I probably waited the entire first half of our fourth year for Oliver Carter to ask me to the Yule Ball. He's a Ravenclaw. I dropped tons of not-so-subtle hints, and do you know what he asked me? He asked me to leave him alone. He called me a dirty rotten bitch who was trying to mislead him, and I didn't even end up going to the ball. And you're complaining because you have two guys, both probably head-over-heels for you. Weasley's yours, right?" she added.

"That's not true—" Levina protested; she didn't "have" Draco…did she? No! She just felt heartbroken because…because he acted like he was her friend and betrayed her! That was all. Why was Eternity suddenly acting so heated up, and accusing her of being lovesick? "Draco isn't mine, he's Pansy's. And I told you, I'm confused, all right?"

Eternity rolled her eyes. "Wow, he was right. You are ignorant."

"Hey—" Levina snapped, but Eternity cut her off.

"Yeah, him and Pansy dated. What's your point?" Eternity shook her head. "You overhear a lot of stuff in the Slytherin common room, and trust me, I've heard plenty to know that you're not 'just friends.'"

And with that, she walked away, leaving Levina rooted on the spot.

It was weird, but for no apparent reason, she felt…better. It didn't make any sense whatsoever, considering how Eternity had called her thick-headed, but…What exactly did she hear in that common room?

Levina returned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, her tears finally gone from her eyes. She joined them by the lake, sitting down on her knees, a small smile plastered on her face as they watched the Merpeople swimming out on the lake.

And knowing full well that someday Voldemort would have his way, both she and everyone she cared for would be in danger, and the word would be in chaos, Levina still, oddly enough, felt as though the sun had come out, peering curiously down at them through the clouds. Things would definitely never be the same, but she was okay with it. In fact, when had there ever been a "normal" year?

The question on everyone's mind is: Drevina, or Frevina?

...Or, on my mind, at least. Post in your review who you're shipping, for the final book and battle are finally here! I promise to post the next one as soon as I can, though I've been pretty busy lately.

Flower gettin' Lady: Yup, she just partially transformed. Trust me, things would've been a lot messier if she'd actually become her wolf form; she can't talk when she's actually in it. (:

Thanks to all of my loyal fans who have stuck with me since Book One! Love all of you!

See you in the final battle. Are you ready for it?