This Means War | Draco Malfoy [5]

Chapter 23 ~ Tragic Discoveries

I had seen dead bodies before, but not in one room like this.

They were everywhere. I was at the verge of tears as I was walking past all the bodies. People were covering them up, silently crying in the process. Harry and I looked around, trying not to cry.

But I finally couldn't take it anymore when I saw Fred Weasley.

"No," I whispered as I began to cry. "Not Fred. He can't be dead. He can't be dead..."

Ron went over to George and hugged him. Then he got on his knees and stared at his dead brother. I looked beside them and saw Lupin and Tonks dead as well. Their hands were barely touching as they were on the ground.

"No, I can't do this," I said, running out of the Great Hall.

"Max, wait!" Harry shouted, running after me.

I finally stopped running. I was crying my eyes out as Harry caught up with me. "This isn't real. This isn't real..."

"Max..." Harry's voice cracked.

"All those people are dead because of us! It's our fault that Fred and Lupin and Tonks are...are..."

Harry pulled me into his arms and began to cry with me. We had a weight of guilt over our shoulders. It was our fault that so many people were dead. I couldn't help but feel responsible for all of this. I knew Harry felt the same way. I hated feeling guilty about this war.

"We should go see what this memory is," Harry told me as he pulled away, talking about the memory Snape gave us before he died.

"Yeah, we should," I said, nodding my head in agreement.

We walked to Dumbledore's office in silence. When we entered inside, we barely recognized the office. It was so dark and gloomy. Things had changed ever since Dumbledore died and Snape became headmaster. We found the Pensieve and Harry took the vial out of his pocket and poured it in the Pensieve.

"Do you want to look in it first?" he asked me.

I shook my head. "No, you go first."

He nodded his head and looked in it. I sat down, waiting for Harry to look at the memory.

I thought about Fred, Lupin, and Tonks. I thought about the good times I shared with them. I remembered Lupin when he made the Dementors go away on the train in third year. I remembered him giving us chocolate and teaching Harry and I how to conjure a Patronus. He was the best teacher Dumbledore hired.

I thought about Fred Weasley next. I had known him ever since I was eleven. Thanks to him and George, they were the reason why Harry and I had the map. I remembered when he rescued me with George while I was still at Little Whinging. I remembered when me and him were learning to dance for the Yule Ball in fourth year. He was too young to die. What was worse was that George lost his twin, his other half, his best friend. If I had lost Harry like George lost Fred, I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

Tonks was the last person that I thought of. She was a fun person to be around. At least she was still with Lupin, but it was still sad that she was gone.

They were both gone.

I felt Harry tap my shoulder and I turned around. I gave him a funny look when I saw him. He gave me a sad look.

"What is it?" I asked him, standing up.

"You need to see what I just saw," he replied.

"Is it bad?"

"Just go look for yourself."

I obliged and went over to the Pensieve. I looked at Harry one last time before leaning down and seeing what Harry wanted me to see.