Trust Me (Drarry)

Chapter 45

HERMIONE POV

Dumbledore's funeral was beautiful. Almost the whole school was there, as well as Madame Maxime from Beauxbatons, the Order, some Ministry officials and the merpeople.

The merpeople sang a chilling, beautiful song at first, and I couldn't stop the tears falling down my cheeks as Hagrid walked between the hundreds of chairs with Dumbledore's body in his arms. A small man said a speech as the music stopped, but the speech seemed to have little to do with Dumbledore - it felt impersonal and insignificant.

Finally the man stopped speaking, and several people screamed. Bright, white flames erupted around the table, rising higher and higher until the body was obscured. White smoke rose from the flames, and for a second I was sure I saw a small phoenix in the smoke. Then the fire vanished, and in its place was a white marble tomb, encasing Dumbledore's body and the table.

There were a few moments of silence, and then I saw that Harry was standing and walking away up to the castle. Ron and I followed behind slowly - he might have wanted a few minutes alone.

We followed him to the Astronomy tower, where he opened the door and went outside. He leant against the wall, looking out across the funeral and the lake and holding a locket in his hands.

"Harry," I said softly, and he jumped. We hadn't spoken much about what happened that night, since other people had been around constantly since Dumbledore's death.

There were tear tracks on Harry's cheeks as he turned to us. "I can't believe he's gone."

I pulled him into a tight hug, and I heard a small sob over my shoulder.

"Draco was there," he said suddenly, pulling away.
My mouth went dry. "He was?"
"He let them in," he let out a hollow laugh. "He fixed the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. They came in that way. They put a Dark Mark over the Tower to make Dumbledore come up here. Then he trapped him."

He fell silent, more tears falling down his cheeks. "It was all him, Hermione. He was going to kill Dumbledore."
"Did he... did he do it?"
"No." He almost sounded relieved. "He was lowering his wand. He asked Dumbledore for help, to hide, but then the other Death Eaters came up. And in the end it was Snape. It was always Snape. And I couldn't do anything..."
"Oh, Harry..."
He sniffed. "I didn't think he would become one of them. Can you believe that? I trusted him. I loved him..."

His voice broke again, and he turned his back to us, his shoulders shaking with tears. Ron and I shared a glance, and I walked over to the wall, placing an arm on Harry's.

He passed me the locket he had been holding, and I turned it over.

"It's fake," he said hoarsely. "Open it."

I did just that, and read the note inside. "Who is RAB?"
"I don't know," he replied bitterly, taking it back from me. "But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux. Which means it was all a waste. All of it."

We were silent for a minute.

"I'm not coming back, Hermione," Harry said suddenly. "I have to finish what Dumbledore started. And... I don't know where that will lead me, but I'll let you and Ron know where I am, when I can."

I smiled slightly. "I've always admired your courage, Harry. But sometimes you can be really thick. You don't think you're going to be able to find all those Horcruxes by yourself, do you?"

He didn't say anything, so I continued. "You need us, Harry."
"We're with you whatever happens, mate," Ron came and stood on Harry's other side. "But we have to go back to my parents' house before we take off. For Bill and Fleur's wedding."