Ravenna sunk to the ground beside her best friend, who looked up at her with fear drowning his eyes.

"Ravenna..." His voice was soft, hoarse. He struggled to speak.

"What is that? What do I do?"

It had seemed like charred skin at first. But taking a closer look, Ravenna thought it wasn't charring that caused the dark colour. The skin was wrinkled. Moonlight reflected off some parts, as something liquid was exposed. Around the dark patch, the skin seemed to fold over on itself, as if trying to get away from the affliction. This wasn't charring. It looked more like it was... rotting. Decaying. Much worse, however, was that the dark patch seemed to grow.

"Oh Merlin, it's spreading."

"I know..." Dan whispered, gasping for air. He tore the rip in his robe even further to expose his shoulder and a part of his chest. She could see it slowly crawling up. "I can feel it... Up my arm..."

With trembling hands, she grasped at her wand. "Episkey." When nothing happened, she tried another healing spell, and another, and even one they'd read about but hadn't practiced yet. None of them had any effect on the spreading decay.

It had already reached his shoulder and was now stretching towards his chest. If it got to his heart, his lungs...

Tears blurred her vision, as the blood froze in her veins. Magic crackled around her. This can't be happening...

"I don't know what to do, Dan, I don't know how to stop it." Her voice broke.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, something had changed in them. The fear had gone. In its place was only acceptance. "It's okay, Little Raven."

"What?" Her voice came out too loud and a few octaves too high, but she didn't care. "No! It's not okay, it's going to kill you!"

"I know," he whispered. He groaned with pain, as the skin of his shoulder tore open. Within moments, the exposed flesh deteriorated and pus bubbled up. Before it could flow out, the skin blackened and the flesh soon followed. The decay kept growing.

The magic gathered around her, swirling and churning like an angry thundercloud. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered if she lost Dan.

"You can't just give up. You have to fight it, Dan! You have to survive. We've already lost Willem. Please..."

"Ravenna..." He coughed and took in a rasping breath. "I'm sorry. I don't think I can."

"No..." Ravenna gasped for air, as her heart broke into a thousand tiny shards, each piercing painfully into her chest. The magic roared along with her pain. "Please, I can't lose you."

With his eyes closed, his chest heaved. He fought off the pain, but there was nothing he could do against the decay.

"Dan..." she sobbed. "Please... Please don't leave me."

"Goodbye, Little Raven." His breathing slowed. He was giving up.

A wave of pure and utter despair overwhelmed her. "No!" she screamed, but it wasn't enough. Her best friend was going to die. "No!" He followed after her to try and protect her, and now she'd gotten him killed. "No!" She would lose the only person who had ever fully accepted her. The only person who'd stuck with her through all her ups and downs. She was losing Dan.

She was losing Dan.

She was losing Dan.

Unable to suppress her magic any longer, it converged around her, before exploding outward like a bomb. She screamed as it erupted, crying out with everything she had. All the pain, loneliness, and grief all burst out at once.

She could feel the energy launch into the air, attacking everything it came across. Two male voices screamed in agony somewhere in the back of her mind.

Below her, Dan had opened his eyes once more. Her body had shielded him, so that the magic wouldn't harm him, but the decay hadn't stopped spreading. He lifted his good arm, placing a trembling hand against her tear-stained cheek and rubbing his thumb over her scar. He rasped in a breath.

"Everything will be alright... Little Raven..." he whispered. "Calm your magic... before you hurt yourself."

Tears spilled from her eyes, falling down on the blackened skin on his chest. It crept close to his heart now. "I can't," she sobbed. "I don't know how."

"I believe in you. I love you, my Little Raven."

She froze. Shock stopped her tears from falling. "What?"

He chuckled weakly, his arm falling back to his side. "That surprises you?"

"I didn't..." Ravenna stammered. "I don't..."

"I know it scares you... but it's okay to accept love. Nothing bad will happen. Just listen to your feelings... You are in control. " His eyes fell shut, and with a shudder he added in a quiet whisper, "Listen to your heart, and perhaps the magic... will follow."

Dan lay still, except from his shuddering breathing, as Ravenna tried to process his words. Accept how she felt? Right now all she felt was an overwhelming loss as the one person who ever truly loved her was dying right in front of her eyes.

He'd always been by her side, no matter what. She'd miss him immensely over the summer, and felt like she was coming home when she finally saw him again in September. And despite her teasing, she'd been incredibly relieved when they both failed level five and had to re-do it together.

"I love you too, Dan," she said, tasting the truth of her words. "I always have."

A great weight fell off her shoulder. She'd said it, and it was true. There was no going back, but honestly, she wouldn't want to go back. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was all that mattered. Something like a sob or a laugh escaped her as the magic slowly calmed around them, like a dying storm.

"Dan?"

He hadn't responded to her confession. Hadn't opened his eyes, hadn't even cracked a smile.

"Dan? Dan, please, look at me."

No response.

"Dan, please," she sobbed. "Don't leave me."

A soft screech nearby made her look up. Not far away, a large, red bird landed on the ground. It looked down at Dan and screeched again. Then it lowered its head over his body as if to shield him.

Confusion was the only thing that stopped her from chasing it off. She had no idea where the bird came from, or why it dared to come so close.

But when it pulled away, she gasped. The blackened wound on Dan's shoulder retreated. "How did..."

She looked at the bird. It stared straight back, its fiery head held up proudly.

"You're... You're a phoenix, aren't you? And phoenixes..."

She glanced down at her best friend. The decay had retreated to barely a smudge now. Phoenixes have healing powers.

A hand on her shoulder made her look up. Her heart skipped a beat. "Professor!"

"What happened?"

"Something hit him, I don't know. His arm..." She gestured towards the wound. "I don't know what it was. The phoenix seems to have stopped it, but his wound is still... Please, Professor, save him."

Slughorn nodded, before kneeling down next to Dan. She peered at Ravenna with piercing eyes. "Listen to me very carefully, Miss Inkwood. You will stay here until Professor Fauns arrives, do I make myself clear? The Death Eaters are restrained, and Professor Dumbledore and the aurors are taking care of their master. Do not move. I will do what I can to help Mr Mulberry."

Ravenna nodded, her eyes never leaving Dan's still face. Not even when Professor Slughorn lifted him up, before disapparating, leaving Ravenna alone.

She put her head in her hands and sobbed, praying to Merlin to let her best friend live.

"Ravenna?"

She recognised the girl's voice, but she couldn't bring herself to look up. Instead, she let Ella wrap her arms around her and rock her back and forth as she wept.