Disclaimer: If you know it, I do not own it and it is likely from Order of the Phoenix by JKR. "The Song is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)" music by Irving Berlin, lyrics written by Beda Loehner.

Cat's Out of the Bag

The article appeared the next morning in the Daily Prophet announcing the return of Voldemort. Draco glanced through it, noting the reporting was solid. The group was seated under a tree on the grounds trying to enjoy the warm weather. Draco wasn't sure what the deal with Tom was, but he was seated in the sunlight rather than the shade, letting the bright sunshine hit his pale face. Draco didn't begrudge him this due to the fact the boy hadn't felt the sun for nineteen years. He did begrudge that neither Harry or Tom were talking about how and why Tom was solid.

Everyone had healed: Neville's nose instantly fixed, Ginny's ankle healed in a thrice, Luna put right in a few hours, and Sirius' head fixed so no one would know he'd been partially bald for a few hours. There had been nothing wrong with Harry, Tom, Hermione, or Draco other than a few cuts and bruises, or in Tom's case being alive. Madam Pomfrey had dithered, but in the end let them all go, only telling them she'd have to see Tom for the next few days till the end of term to make sure he was…still fine.

Draco wasn't sure what that meant, but he figured it had to do with the fact Tom Riddle was now a real boy.

He was solid.

And Draco did not like that at all. (Nor did Sirius.)

"He's 'the Boy Who Lived' again," Hermione sighed, folding her copy of the Daily Prophet. "No longer the show-off maniac. Well, that's…good."

"Well, it is an amazing feat he's still alive," Draco drawled without much feeling behind his words. "He has a death wish."

Harry threw a pile of dead leaves at Draco. Draco brushed them off himself and with a quick flick of his wand shot a stream of water at Harry's face.

"Boys!" Hermione warned.

They ceased and silence fell upon the group.

"When is the funeral?" Neville awkwardly asked. "I only ask…because I'll have to tell Gran and convince her to let me go."

"It's the day after we get back," Tom said, turning his face away from the sun. "I'll have Professor Lupin send you a portkey. She's being laid to rest…somewhere Voldemort will never find her."

"Can we all get those?" Ginny asked, eyeing Tom as if she still wasn't sure what to make of him. She had admitted he did not look or behave as the Tom Riddle she was familiar with, but at his core he was still Tom Riddle and Ginny knew it.

"Of course. Professor Lupin wouldn't begrudge you of paying your respects to your best friend," Tom said, looking a little put out that Ginny would even wonder.

Ginny swallowed and wiped at her face. Luna patted her on the back.

"She was in pain, now she is not," Luna quietly said, setting down The Quibbler she'd been reading upside down. "Death is another journey, an adventure."

"She was…she…" Ginny struggled to put her thoughts together. "We should have stopped her from running off."

Tears streamed down Ginny's face, yet it was clear she was fighting tooth and nail not to cry.

"Nothing stopped her once she'd made up her mind," Tom quietly said.

"Stubborn brat," Ginny muttered, wiping her face again.

Hermione sniffed, flicking the corner of her eye. Draco moved closer to her, moving his arm to pat her back. He didn't get to pat her back before she moved and suddenly was pressing herself into his side. Draco's arm hung awkwardly for a moment before he put it around her, feeling glee and alarm at the same time.

It was all too bizarre. And it felt wrong to be taking pleasure when Atlanta had been murdered. Yet, he knew Atlanta wouldn't begrudge him. She'd expect them to carry on.

"Flitwick got rid of the swamp," Neville said a little too loud into the heavy silence. "Did it in about three-seconds, though he left a tiny patch under the window. He roped it off."

"Why?" Harry asked, looking at Neville as if he'd saved the world.

"Said it was a really good bit of magic," Neville admitted, shrugging.

Ginny beamed. "He left it as a monument to Fred and George. Oh, and they sent me these."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a huge bag of Chocolate Frogs. She grinned a little as she opened the bag and set it in the center of the circle they were all seated.

"I guess they heard about the way we got rid of Umbridge, using a few of their new products."

"The balloon that took her away?" Harry guessed.

"Wasn't actually part of the plan," Ginny admitted, shrugging. "It was a test product that accidentally got mixed in with what they'd left Lee."

Tom snorted.

"Where did Dumbledore find her?" Hermione asked. She'd still not moved away from Draco, even when she reached into the bag for a Chocolate Frog.

"The balloon was near where Gwarp lives, but the centaurs carried her off at some point. No idea how Dumbledore got her out or found her, but she's laid up in the hospital wing," Harry said, giving Hermione a look.

Hermione hummed a pleased sound and bit the head off her Frog. Draco shook his head, letting himself lean a little into Hermione. Even though they'd not planned to have Umbridge carted off to the Forest, she still wound up there—via a big red balloon rather than being led by Harry and Hermione.

Maybe Time hated Umbridge as much as they did?

"Looks like Trelawney and Firenze are going to teach Divination next year," Ginny offered, chomping on a Frog. "And Hagrid's returned last night. Or at least I think so, as I saw smoke coming from his hut this morning."

"Likely came back when Dumbledore did," Harry agreed. He stood up and brushed the grass off his trousers. "I'm going to head in. Tom?"

Tom stood up, brushing the crease out of his clothes with a small look of glee. He ran his hand through his shorter hair (which made him look insanely pleased with himself) and followed Harry, stuffing his hands into his pockets and casually strolling while Harry was almost jogging to keep up with the long-legged Tom Riddle.

"Where'd he get clothes?" Ginny asked, watching Harry and Tom leave.

"Their mine," Draco said. "He was rather eager to shed his uniform he's worn day in and day out for nineteen years."

Ginny shuddered while Neville looked bewildered, then shook his head as if he didn't really want to think very hard on the topic.

"I like his hair. You can see his pretty eyes better," Luna remarked, flipping The Quibbler over and going back to reading.

"Did he trim it?" Ginny asked.

"No. Harry trimmed it, I believe with a lot of instruction from His Royal Highness," Draco drawled.

Hermione elbowed him hard enough to knock him over. Ginny giggled while Neville looked torn on if he should laugh or look upset on Draco's behalf.

"Harry doesn't want to talk about Atlanta," Hermione quietly told Draco three days before the end of term.

"Should he?"

"Yes. He witnessed her being murdered," Hermione whispered.

"He'll speak about it with Tom, like he did with Cedric," Draco said, though he didn't like it any better than Hermione judging by her expression. Nor did he think Harry actually spoke to Tom about what happened in that graveyard.

"They both were there when she died," Hermione needlessly reminded Draco.

Neither Harry or Tom was very willing to talk about how Tom was made solid, but Hermione and Draco had pieced it together from what they were saying and not saying. Atlanta's death had something to do with it.

"Well, I guess Harry didn't see due to the fact his horcrux was being ripped out of his head and Tom was busy becoming solid. So, technically, only Marv witnessed the event," Hermione tried to reason. "I don't really fancy talking to him."

"We don't know any of that."

"I'm pretty sure that's what she did when she said she needed a bit of his soul," Hermione said. "From what little I've researched on the topic, to make something that's not living alive, you need to give it a life. It's very, very, very dark magic, which is why I think Tom rejected it."

"A life for a life?" Draco asked, feeling sick.

"I snuck a peak at his research when we were at the house over Christmas break," Hermione admitted. "He snatched it before I could really get a good look, but that's what he'd found. And judging by the amount of paper wadded up in his waste bin, he'd not found a way around it."

"Well, okay, but how did she know a bit of Voldemort's soul was in Harry's head?"

Hermione thought for a moment before making a frustrated noise.

"Okay, maybe she didn't. But, I have no doubt the bit of soul that made Tom solid came from Harry rather than Voldemort."

"Well, I'd rather have a bit of soul that lived with Harry than one that came straight from Voldemort," Draco remarked.

"Yes. Me too," Hermione agreed.

The day before term ended, Umbridge escaped— or tried to. She crept out in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, Peeves was still stalking her, so he seized his last chance to do as Fred had asked and chased her gleefully from the grounds, whacking her with a sock full of chalk and pelting her with water balloons that turned her into a multicolored wonder. Granted, no one saw as they were all asleep, but Peeves was happy to tell anyone and do demonstrations on the IS members moodily roaming the school.

Nott was indeed surly. He cast dark looks every time he saw Harry and twitched for his wand, yet never drew it. Everyone gave him wide berth, as his father had been listed as one of the arrested Death Eaters in the papers. Granted, Draco's had as well, but the entire school knew where Draco stood when it came to Death Eaters. Everyone knew he'd gone along with Harry to the Ministry to do whatever. The rumors raged from close to the truth, rescue mission to save someone Voldemort had kidnapped, to a little far-fetched, Voldemort had taken the Ministry and Harry had gone to stop him. Others said Voldemort was trying to steal a weapon from the Ministry and Harry had gone to stop them (along with his new friend, who had appeared on the front page with Harry and Dumbledore in a photo snapped by someone at the Ministry. Tom hadn't been identified, but the gossip columns were alive with speculation where he'd come from).

On the morning they were to leave, Draco noticed lines drawn at the Slytherin table. Usually, the entire table sat by year, but today they were clearly split into those who supported Voldemort and those who didn't. The group wasn't all that large— but it was there.

"Why are you staring at the Slytherin table as if it holds the answer to all the questions of the universe?" Harry asked, looking at the table as well. "Is it a big deal Blaise and Ronald are seated at the other end today?"

"Yes. The end they're seated at, those are all the students who are against Voldemort," Draco whispered. "Or, well, they weren't actually on any side as far as I knew. Zabini was mostly out for himself last time, whatever did the best for him. He really only hung out with me sixth year, and acted as if he was disgusted by Muggleborns and blood traitors."

"Only acted?"

"He had the biggest crush on Ginny Weasley," Draco whispered. "Denied it, but everyone knew."

Harry snorted. "So, it's a big deal then, them sitting like this?"

"Yes. Very big deal," Draco agreed.

The journey home on the Hogwarts Express started off with a bang.

Literally.

Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle pounced, clearly waiting for an opportunity to strike without a teacher to witness. They jumped Harry on his way to a compartment. He was running behind for some reason, thus he was alone as he wandered down the corridor looking for Draco, Hermione, and Tom. Fortunately for Harry and unfortunate for Nott, they attacked outside a compartment full of DMC members. Upon seeing Harry in trouble, they came to his aid.

The loud bang caused by one of the jinxes set off was what caused Tom, Draco, and Hermione to enter the corridor to find Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle lying on the ground looking like slugs.

Draco laughed. Hard. Mostly because it wasn't him that was a slug on the ground. He gleefully helped Finch-Fletchery and Macmillian hoist the three onto a luggage rack. He watched the trio ooze for a moment before heading back to the compartment to join his friends.

"That happened last time, didn't it?" Tom asked when Draco sat down.

"Yes."

Tom shook his head and settled into the corner with a thick book that Hermione would called light reading.

Draco and Harry began a game of Exploding Snape. Hermione joined Tom in reading a huge book. The afternoon past and by the time the train began to slow as they approached King's Cross, Draco wondered what would happen if he simply refused to get off the train. He was dreading going to Atlanta's funeral. He'd never been to one before for someone he actually cared for. He'd been to funerals: his grandfather's, various dead distant relatives, Dumbledore's, but he'd never had someone he really cared for die.

They silently gathered their belongings. Draco caught sight of Lupin on the platform, looking pale and lost. Sirius was standing next to him, looking as if he wanted to comfort Lupin yet didn't know how.

"Is Professor Lupin here for you?" Hermione inquired, glancing at Tom who handed Harry the huge book to put in his trunk.

"Yes," Tom said. "I'll see you all tomorrow?"

He appeared desperate not to leave the train and go to home with Lupin.

"I'll come by later if you want," Harry offered. "And I'll portkey over with you tomorrow, yeah?"

Tom nodded.

The four of them made their way out to the platform. Narcissa crushed both Harry and Draco to her chest and didn't let go for a full five minutes. Sirius crushed them next and finally Lupin grabbed Harry, hugging him and crying on him a little. By the time they'd untangled from the adults, Hermione had gone and Tom looked as if he didn't know what to do.

"Nice to meet you, Tom," Narcissa said, who'd been told the cover story about Tom. "I wish it was under better circumstances."

Tom nodded stiffly, bowing to Narcissa.

"Tom, let's go. You're, er, father awaits," Lupin said, sticking his arm out.

They vanished with a loud pop.

"Well, let's get ourselves home," Sirius said. "Dobby?"

Dobby appeared out of nowhere and took the trunks, then popped them all back to Grimmauld Place. Narcissa fussed over Harry for a few minutes before Harry managed to escape to Park Quad. Draco went to his room and simply sat on his bed, staring into space.

"Hey," Sirius greeted, standing on the door. "Mind if I come in."

"Sure," Draco said, motioning for Sirius to enter.

"So…uh…"

"I've seen people die before, Sirius."

"But you've never had a friend die."

"Yeah, I have. Kind of. Crabbe died the night I time traveled. Died by his own cursed fire he set," Draco quietly said.

"Oh, uh, sorry?"

"I never really had a lot of time to digest his death. It seems rather unreal now," Draco admitted.

"Well, I lived through a lot and I lost friends. It does help to talk about it. Even if it's just to remember the better times. I mean, I didn't know her very well, but I'll listen."

Draco gazed over at his cousin. He was about to dismiss him completely, but saw something in those grey eyes that was almost pleading with him to share something happy, so Draco told the story of how he'd met Atlanta Siria Lupin nee Black in France during the summer and how she'd like his hair.

The portkey dropped Draco, his mother, and Sirius in a field somewhere cold and wet. Sirius reasoned they were in Northern Scotland. It was a large field and very green with a bunch of trees off the side. It was peaceful, even with the strange looking house sitting near the tree-line.

"This way," Sirius said, motioning to the fairy lights that lit the way off towards the trees.

They walked past the building, which didn't seem to actually have a working door (odd) or windows and into the woods. They walked a little ways till they came to another clearing. This one opened up to reveal babbling brook that emptied into a small lake. The trees and rocks were covered in moss. It was utterly gorgeous and peaceful.

"A perfect place to rest," Narcissa murmured, before steering the two males towards the gathered people. There were no seats, nor was there a coffin. There was at the front of the group a rather strange looking tree, which Lupin stood next to, a little red around the eyes, but dry-eyed.

Draco spotted Hermione and went to stand next to her. She instantly took his hand and squeezed.

"Where's Harry?" Draco asked.

"Over there with Tom," Hermione whispered, indicating where Harry stood on the other side of the group with Tom, who looked miserable.

Draco glanced at those gathered. Ginny Weasley and her mother were present, standing next to Luna and a man Draco assumed was Luna's father. Neville was there with his grandmother. Dumbledore and Tonks stood together near the back of the group. Standing up front with Lupin were two people Draco didn't know at all, but he could guess they were products of a Black-Hilderbatch union.

"Who are they?" Draco whispered to Hermione.

"Atlanta's brother and sister from America," Hermione answered as Lupin cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for coming today," Lupin began. "Atlanta left..she left…"

"She left instructions on how she wished for her funeral to proceed," finished the man standing next to Lupin in a very strong American accent free of the Southern hints Atlanta's had held. He put a hand on Lupin's shoulder and squeezed. Lupin sucked in a lot of air and nodded at the man. "She didn't wish to buried, but rather wished to be transfigured into something that would go on living."

He motioned to the tree.

The woman stepped up and smiled softly. Like her brother, her accent was strong, solid, but free of Southern. "It wasn't easy, but we managed to carry it out. She requested to be planted here so she'd…"

Lupin flapped his hand and the woman nodded.

"So she'd be able to keep her father company during the full moon."

The woman's sharp eyes scanned the crowd for a moment, almost daring someone to act out at the news Lupin was a werewolf. It wasn't actually news to most of those gathered and if it was, no one reacted.

"My little sister always loved music," the woman went on, now smiling softly. "Those who knew her knew she was always singing or humming. Even though she didn't request it, we," she motioned to the two men and herself, "felt that a song ought to be sung to close."

Lupin moved away from the guy and pulled a record player out from behind the doorless house (which made sense now that Draco knew it was where Lupin locked himself up during full moons). He put the pin on the record and set it down.

An unfamiliar song began to play. However, it must not have been unknown to Lupin or Atlanta's siblings, as they all looked a little misty eyed.

The song is ended, but the melody lingers on

You and the song are gone, but the melody lingers on

The night was splendid and the melody seemed to say

"Summer will pass away, take your happiness while you may"

There 'neath the light of the moon

We sang a love song that ended too soon

The moon descended and I found with the break of dawn

You and the song had gone

But the melody lingers on

Draco blinked away the tears as the song ended.

"Thank you for taking the time to join us to say goodbye," the woman said, flicking tears away from her eyes. "She was taken from us too soon after going through so much. I hope…I hope she's happy wherever she is."

The woman looked up at the tree and joined hands with her brother. He gave her a small smile and they both walked through the little crowd away from the tree. Lupin followed. Sirius quickly joined him, putting an arm over Lupin's shoulder.

Ginny and Luna left flowers at the base of the tree before leaving with their parents. Neville did the same, but spoke to Harry and Tom before leaving with his grandmother. Harry left Tom alone and joined Draco and Hermione.

"Did you get a chance to speak with Atlanta's brother and sister?" Hermione inquired.

"Yeah. They were at the flat before we came here. They're actually really nice and were horrified with what Altair had wanted to use Atlanta for. Neither Cassie or Dre knew what had happened to Atlanta till after her mother died."

"I noticed Altair wasn't here," Hermione remarked.

"He's been rather keen on trying to get Atlanta away from Lupin," Harry explained. "Evidently that was a big drama."

"Altair wanted Atlanta to give to Voldemort?" Draco asked, shivering.

Harry nodded. "Cassie and Dre aren't for what Voldemort stands for. For a members of a conservative pureblood family, they are rather open minded."

"Well, that's nice," Hermione said, wringing her hands together in front of her. "Here comes Tom."

Tom joined them and sighed deeply.

"Let us depart."

The four of them walked into the clearing, where Sirius and Narcissa waited with Lupin. Sirius and Lupin were both holding the portkeys. Harry and Tom bid one another goodbye and broke apart. Tom and Lupin vanished first, followed by Hermione, Draco, Harry, Narcissa, and Sirius.

"Thank you for allowing me to portkey with you," Hermione said to Narcissa and Sirius as she picked herself up off the floor. She'd forgotten to move her feet during the trip.

"I can take you home," Sirius offered.

"No, I'll find my own way," Hermione insisted. "My parents aren't far from here. They're meeting me at a cafe."

"I can walk you there. Then I'll take Harry to his Aunt and Uncle's house."

Hermione was about to insist she was fine, but caught sight of Harry's face and nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

Everyone said their goodbyes. Narcissa hugged Harry and said she'd see him in two weeks. Hermione hugged Harry as well. Sirius steered both out the front door. Draco watched them walk off down the street and vanish around the corner.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"How are you?"

Draco turned around to face his mother.

"I don't know," Draco admitted. "She's been in my life since I was three. I cannot believe she's really gone. Or a tree."

Narcissa let out a sharp breath through her nose that might have been a laugh.

"I can believe she's a tree," she muttered quietly, smoothing Draco's hair back.

"Yes, I can as well," Draco admitted.

"It is a very Atlanta thing do to."

Draco nodded. It was. It was also quite like her, all three of her, to want to be near Lupin. All three understood the woes of the full moon.

Narcissa squeezed Draco's shoulders and they stood in silence for about five minutes before Narcissa let go and began to discuss plans for Harry's birthday in a few weeks. Draco took a deep breath and turned around to follow his mother into her study to help her with the finer details. Not something he usually would do, but he wanted to spend some time with his mother.

"When were you planing to tell me you are a time traveller?" Narcissa inquired as if she was simply asking how OWLs went.

Draco stared at her wide eyed and had no clue how to answer.

A/N: So ends year five. Thank you so much for reading and sticking with this series after my long absence! I will be going away (in a sense) once more, but do not fear, as of yesterday (24 May 2015) I had begun writing year six. I've got a lot of ideas, so hopefully they'll roll out in a timely manner and I won't be MIA long from this series.

Once more, thank you for your reviews, favorites, and follows. To check on my progress or get more random thoughts on this series, check out my tumblr account, scotlandevander dot tumblr dot com.