if one of them is dead.

chapter nine.

Dumbledore

Albus Dumbledore sat in his office, at his desk. He was slouching in his chair, one arm in his lap, his other elbow resting on the arm of his chair. His fingers rested on his lips as he stared at the desk in front of him. He thought, and he thought. He had been thinking for an hour, waiting. Waiting for the right time. But he knew that time would never come, and he needed to do this now.

There was a knock on his office door. "Come in," he said. The doors opened and all the professors of Hogwarts walked in, the last one closing the door behind them. Professor Snape and McGonagall were in the front, Slughorn behind them, and everyone else behind them.

"Albus?" Minerva asked, taking in his state.

Dumbledore took a deep breath and sat up straight. "I wouldn't have pulled you all away from your classes if it wasn't urgent," he said. "I need you to go back to your classes immediately, get your students and take them to the great hall. If you don't have a class right now, I need you to clear out the Great Hall completely. There cannot be anything in there when I speak."

"Albus," Minerva tried again. "What is going on?"

"I cannot tell you that right now," he said. "I just need you all to do as I say. You will find out soon enough. Now go."

And they all turned, walking out of the office to do what they were told. Dumbledore waited some more. He knew that he could wait it out a little longer. But after ten minutes, he knew he couldn't wait any longer. So, he started to the Great Hall, where every person in Hogwarts stood.

They stood mixed in together, mostly trying to stay with their houses, while the teachers stood in their own group.

When Dumbledore strode into the Great Hall from the door near the teachers' platform, everyone who was talking went quiet. He stopped and stood in the middle of the platform, like he would have done for his beginning of year speech.

"I will not make you wait any longer," he said, his voice booming across the Great Hall. "You have waited long enough."

Everyone started talking quietly to each other, trying to figure out why Dumbledore might have wanted to talk to everyone. Why, even though it is supposed to be light outside, it was dark. The torches were burning low, the window behind Dumbledore was covered, and the normally enchanted ceiling was just normal again.

"I have some extremely sad news," he said to them all, and they all became quiet once again. "Lilith Snape was found this morning." He paused. "And has been confirmed dead."

Severus Snape's face dropped as people started talking quietly to each other again. He took in a shaking breath, a tear falling from his eye.

Minerva McGonagall let a small gasp escape her mouth, a single tear running down her face as she grabbed Severus's hand. He would have normally looked at her weird, but he didn't even realize she grabbed his hand until she squeezed it.

Draco Malfoy snapped his head up, and his face dropped. He was just joking with Blaise that she was probably still asleep in Mattheo's room. He couldn't comprehend the fact that one of his best friends, the girl that had once punched a kid three times her size, was no longer going to come to breakfast and yell at him. She was no longer going to force him to do things that he knew he didn't have time for, but he so desperately wanted to do.

Blaise Zabini shook his head slightly, not daring to look at Severus or Mattheo or Draco. Their expressions would only hurt him worse. His best friend was gone. His best friend that didn't give two shits what someone thought about her. Who called him names, and was always there whenever someone was rude to him. Who never left his side when his mother married a man that hit him. Who stood up to that man, and almost killed him then and there.

Mattheo Riddle's eyes glossed over. He glanced at Severus for reassurance, but none came. So he looked at the ground, and then back up at the spot in front of him. His finger skimmed the ring that she had given him for Christmas last year.

Why had she gotten him a ring? Why had she gotten him anything? They had hated each other, didn't they? But he loved her, and she loved him.

He was rooted to his spot, but all he wanted to do was go back to his dorm room. He wanted to lay there, with something he had left of her. Why had she left that stupid necklace on his nightstand? She never took that thing off, so why would she have done that?

He hated the thought. The thought of her dead. Her, who bickered with him constantly for months after they met. Yet she would tolerate him every now and then. Her, who was the only person he would ever go to when he got into fights. Her, who cleaned his wounds and scolded him for it, but was just glad that he was okay. Her, who acted like the world was going to end when he was even the littlest bit hurt. Her, who always made sure she was there. Her, who watched every quidditch game. And who bought them chocolate frogs every Hogsmede trip.

Who laughed at Blaise for being an idiot. Who scolded Draco when he was being rude. Who played with Mattheo's hair when he was stressed, and when he wasn't.

Who smiled when she saw him. Who made sure he was comfortable when he had dinner with her and her father at their house for the first time. Who made him smile when he saw her. Who would have killed anyone for making fun of someone for a stupid reason.

"Classes have been cancelled for the rest of the week. Go back to your rooms," Dumbledore said, cutting everyone out of their thoughts.