I SPY || 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕚𝕦𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕗𝕠𝕪

Chapter 58. Reward

As Astrid sobbed into her hand an uneasy feeling filled her. Hermione covered her ears, also sensing the strange feeling inside her.

            "You have thought valiantly, but in vain.... I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat... in their absence dispose of your dead with dignity..."

            The voice of Voldemort filled their heads, as if he was whispering from inside them.

            "Harry Potter, I now speak directly to you... on this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you, rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonour. Join me in the Forbidden Forrest... and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman and child who tries to conceal you from me."

            Astrids body trembled at the Dark Lords words. His threat was very real, she knew it first-hand. He would kill everyone in the castle to get to Harry. Astrid reached up to Severus' face and softly closed his eyes. She closed her own for a moment and thought back to how he had so rudely awakened her from her slumber just hours ago... and now he was dead.

            Pushing herself to her feet, she unsteadily joined the golden trio outside the boathouse. Hermione wrapped a comforting arm around the professors back. She didn't understand the sorrow she felt for Snape, unable to comprehend why the young professor was so heartbroken at the monster's death. Hermione wondered if Astrid had succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome, or had simply been driven mad by him.

            "Let's head back to the castle." Ron said with a deep sigh.

            "I need to go to that pensieve." Harry told them with a nod.

            And the four of them set off up the stone stairs to the courtyard, Astrid's legs trembling with each step.

            When they arrived at the courtyard, they were shocked to find it eerily empty. A huge contrast the chaos that had filled it just minutes prior. The death eaters, spiders and giants had vanished, leaving only rubble and smears of blood on the stone ground in their wake.

            Entering Hogwarts, they were greeted with death and pain.

            Death was everywhere. Lines of bodies covered with sheets filled the Great Hall.

            The four of them made their way down the lines nervously, scared of who's corpse they would find. Perhaps a friend, or a family member?

            For Ron that was very much his reality when he spotted the pale, unmoving face of his brother Fred on the floor of the Great Hall. Molly poured herself over him, sobbing at the loss of her son. Ron approached in disbelief. George pulled him into hysterical embrace before realising his younger brother, and allowing him to drop to his knees besides Fred.

            Astrid stood helplessly next to Hermione, unsure what to do or say.

Then on the floor, not too far away. Astrid spotted others that she knew....

Bringing her hand to her mouth she gasped.

"Tonks!" Astrid cried, rushing over to her friend's pale, cold body. She dropped to the floor like a stone, and held Tonks hand in her own, squeezing it. Her husband, Remus, lay next to her, equally unmoving. Astrid shook her head, no, no this could not be!

Harry hovered behind Astrid, frozen. Taking a deep breath, he turned on his heels and headed out of the Great Hall.

Astrid spied him over her shoulder, and dropping Tonks' hand called after him.