I never realized how beautiful it was.
It never seemed beautiful before. But I had never Seen before. I saw, but I had never Seen.
Before, it was a shout, a flash, and a thud as the body fell to the ground. Before, when I saw but did not See, it was the silence suddenness that I noticed, the quick burst and suddenly they were gone. And the battle continued to rage, and lights continued to flash, and people continued to die. And I would continue to fight.
It was different when you died. When I Saw. There was no silent suddenness. It was not quick, and sometimes I think that that is the worst part of Seeing.
I heard it first, and the hearing was part of the Seeing. The curse was whispered, riding on the dying breath of your newly conquered Death Eater. But it smothered all other sound around me, choked all noise from this world. I remember screaming and the air, hungry for sound, soaked it up, feeding it, spreading it, embracing it, until the entire world was echoing my scream.
Then green exploded into existence and I Saw. The light traced its path through space, deadly and wrong, like a virus infiltrating the sick. The world seemed to dull, all colors fading, afraid to outshine this brilliant green. Before, back when I saw but did not See, I would say that the world turned green, that for a moment no other color existed. But now, now that I have Seen, I know. The world turns not green, but black. Black, but for the green that etched itself into reality, green that demanded to be seen, green that would not be ignored. Lightning crawled towards you through the black, new bolts branching off from old ones, death giving birth to death.
The moment the curse hit you, the shock was on your face, as though you never believed you could die. I Saw the scream die in your throat and felt a new one rip from mine in its place. The spark in your eyes, the one that walked hand in hand with laughter and smiles, it sputtered, flashed. For a moment, your eyes met mine, and they smiled again for me, before flickering gently into blackness.
And you fell. I Saw you fall, Saw the terrible wrongness that drifted around you. You seemed to sink gently into the air, into nothingness, into death. Yet you plummeted, sank like a stone into water. Your fall took a lifetime and was over before I could blink.
With a distance thud, a sound that I know I could not have heard beyond my screams, you hit the ground. Then, softly, slowly, horribly, the green faded away, the black retreated, that terrible wrongness was snuffed, extinguished. Colors came back in what I knew was a rush, but seemed to be take forever. Sounds returned, yells and cries and thuds as more fell, dead. The battle was back, blossoming into existence around me.
I did not race to your side, did not run towards your body. For I had Seen. I turned and walked away, softly whispering curses. They came out slow and gentle, but the cursed fell fast and hard.
It was beautiful.
And I walked through the battlefield, with curses on my lips, your name on my heart and your death in my eyes.
And I could See.
