A/N: This is an ascending piece, with sections that go in intervals of ten from ten words to a hundred. I didn't think of it – it is for an old challenge over at the HPFC. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.
You cried.
Sobbed.
For so long.
But nobody else…
(… gone.)
~DL~
Three days after the funeral, nothing had changed.
Something, anything, should've been different.
Because everything was different.
With him…
(… gone. )
~DL~
Those who had known were silently shocked.
They expected an emotional mess.
Grieving.
Breakdowns.
Not smiles.
But they had never liked him much, so secretly, they were glad.
(… gone.)
~DL~
It was just too hard.
Just too…
It wasn't right.
It wasn't right for him to be lying there like that: cold, alone, forever.
Everyone would say, 'how perfectly fitting.'
"He deserved it."
But you… you knew differently.
(… gone.)
~DL~
A year ago, maybe you would have felt differently.
A year ago, he was the person everyone thought he was.
A year ago, he hadn't changed yet.
So much can happen over a single year, but in a single second, none of it mattered.
In a single second…
(… gone.)
~DL~
You remember that fateful day.
The day when it all started.
The day when you first thought he might still be good.
The day when you first thought he might be more.
The day when he first looked at you in that way that took your breath away.
Soon the memory will fade.
Soon, it'll be like him.
(… gone.)
~DL~
You sawhim that night.
You confronted him that night.
Minutes, moments, before it happened.
You spoke.
He didn't.
Silence is damning.
If you'd stayed, maybe you could have kept it from happening.
If you'd stayed, maybe you could have stopped him.
Maybe he would have explained everything.
But you left the tower, tears in your eyes.
You left him standing there.
You never thought he'd end up…
(… gone.)
~DL~
He'd been so different.
Change of heart, you said.
It happened so fast.
Insanity, they said.
When he told his story, you believed him.
Lies, they said.
You helped him.
Just you wait, you said.
He smiled at you.
You're wrong, they said.
He laughed with you.
He's playing you, they said.
He kissed you.
Playing your heart, like strings on a harp.
You're wrong, you said.
Who was right?
You still didn't know.
You would never know.
(… gone.)
~DL~
They looked for proof.
You never did.
They never found any.
You did that.
The morning after the night he kissed you.
You had run away.
Just friends, you had always rationalized.
But that kiss pushed the boundaries of friendship, morphing it into something… else.
You had risen early, never having slept at all.
Walking the halls, roaming aimlessly.
Then you heard his voice.
You froze, unable to face him.
But you couldn't help but listen.
His words pierced your heart.
Death Eater.
Dark Lord.
Suddenly you felt…
(… gone.)
~DL~
Silence.
"Hey, Hermione?"
"Is she alright?"
As if you're deaf.
"Do you know what happened?"
"I know you lied to me."
You say the words expecting, hoping for him to refute it.
Instead, he freezes, his eyes widening.
And there it is, folks: the soundtrack of the world collapsing.
Despite what you already said, the shock of the truth is painful.
"I believed you, you know. Every single word."
You stare at them, wondering why you're broken, too.
It's not like you loved him or anything.
Not really, that is.
Not that it matters now anyway.
Because now he's…
(… gone.)
