This was her fault, her and her stupid pride. She had known that he had no one else to turn to, that he might need help at a moment's notice... and she'd still wasted time researching ways to adapt the spells. Another Protean Charm would been enough, but she had wanted to make it so that he could use it without a wand, so he could just take the enchanted item in his hand and think that he needed her. If only she'd truly realised the danger, she'd have let him brand a Half-Blood crown on her bum to avert this.

With a soft click the kettle switched itself off and drew her from her self-incriminating reverie. She reached for the jars he kept on the counter. She wasn't going to wait for tea to brew so it would have to be hot, sweet, instant coffee rather than hot, sweet tea. She added coffee to his favourite mug, but the spoon met with resistance when she stuck it into the sugar jar.

Reaching into the jar, she pulled out a sheet of writing paper.

"Forget the drinks. It's too late for that. Your Christmas present is in my desk. Use it!"

Too late? How? It couldn't be too late. The mug fell from her hands and she ran back through to the bedroom. She climbed onto the bed behind him, her arm burrowing into his cocoon to find his wrist.

It didn't matter how hard she tried she couldn't find a pulse. She leaned over him, holding her hand just in front of his nose and mouth, hoping to feel his breath, but there was nothing.

She rolled him onto his back and tears trickled down her face as she tried to do CPR, pushing her breath into his whisky-flavoured mouth.

She knew she had to tilt his head back to open the airways, but was it five times you pressed between breaths or eight... or would it really matter. The man was an idiot. If she didn't know better she'd think he'd been trying to kill himself, drinking when he was cold and wet like that. Maybe a Rennervate. She fumbled for her wand, pressing it directly over his heart and cast, over and over.

She only stopped when she could no longer hold her hand steady and her tears had become gasping sobs. She held him close and mourned.