Hermione's screams raced through the halls of the Malfoy Mansion like the heartbeat of Ron Wealsey at that moment. Her screams continued to be caused by her tormentor Bellatrix Lestrange as she continued to inflict her evil magic upon Hermione as she giggled jovially.
"It's a copy! All fake. We don't have the real one!" Hermione screamed as she rolled in pain on the floor of the mansion.
"Liar! Crucio, you filthy little mudblood!" Bellatrix yipped at Hermione. At the sound of the curse Hermione crumbled into a fettle position on the ground.
"Please," she begged, "it's copy. We don't have the real one! Please!"
Bellatrix screamed and continued her line of curses. "Lies! How did you get this sword?"
With her last ounce of energy Hermione mustered, "It's fake."
"Avada Kadavra!" A bright red light shot into Hermione's eyes and with a final scream she fell dead on the floor.
"HERMIONE!" Ron screamed as he jumped awake from his dream. Ever since the war had ended his nightmares had become worse. Whenever he closed his eyes he saw Fred perish in the darkness. Whenever he listened to the silence he heard Hermione's screams. Although the war had ended Ron was still fighting.
It was over for him and everyone in the war. They had lost the ability to return to a normal state of life. No matter how well they assimilated to normal life they would never truly be normal. Everyone was somewhat broken or altered.
Ron brushed the sweat from his face as he rose from his bed. He glanced over to his left knowing well that Harry would not be in his bed. Since the end of the war each night was the same for Harry and Ron. They both would have nightmares. However, whoever woke up first would head downstairs to the den of the Burrow. From there one of the two would wait for the other nightmare to occur. The two would then sit in each other's silence in the den. Not a word would be spoken between the two the words didn't need to be.
Slowly Ron gained composure and headed downstairs to the den and Harry. When he reached the final squeaky step he beheld an abnormal sight. Harry was sitting in his normal chair as usual, but he was off. Most nights Harry would just look into the fireplace or look to the stairs. This particular night he was sitting with his head in his hands looking ill.
"Harry?" Ron asked. It was if a spell had been broken, never before had the two young men spoken during their nighttime meetings. The lack of words had become an unspoken rule that Ron had just shattered.
"I saw her die." Harry muttered.
At once Ron knew why Harry was so shaken. "Ginny?"
"Over and over again. Voldermort had taken her from the castle. When I went to go and sacrifice myself there she was. I was so scared for her. Voldermort just smiled and played with her hair as she whimpered. I screamed that if he touched a hair on her head I would kill him.
"He laughed at me. Just laughed. I looked into those beautiful brown eyes of hers and all I saw was a slight hint of brown, they were drowning in tears. It was then I knew it was my fault. She was going to pay for my enemies and mistakes.
"I pleaded with him to spare her. To kill me a thousand times, torture me if he had too. But he just said that this was the greatest torture of all. And he was right.
"Then her killed her… with a knife. It was slow, drawn out. He didn't even kill her with humility. After that he made me watch it, again and again and again.
"I was so broken."
Harry finished with his head still in his hands. Throughout his speech he never opened his eyes. Just remained in the dark in his hands.
Ron in shock made his way to his friend's side. Awkwardly he patted him on the back. At this gesture Harry wiped his tears and nose on his sleeve as if to apologize for his confession.
Suddenly, Ron felt horribly guilty. Had he made his best friend ashamed to share this kind of information with him?
In one swift movement Ron pulled Harry out of his chair and into a hug. The two just stayed there for a minute.
Finally Ron whispered, "I know."
The two pulled away at this and sat in their usual seats. Harry looked at Ron and questioned him with a look.
"Hermione… I see her die too at the Malfoy house. Bellatrix really gets her and I can't do anything. I'm not even there to give her comfort like you are for Ginny. She is alone and dying." Ron said quietly.
After a few moments of silence Harry reasoned, "You saved her life. That day, it was you. You were there, you didn't leave her alone." Ron flinched at Harry's words.
"Yes, I did. Just not that day."
"It wasn't your fault, Ron."
"Yes, it was."
"Look, she cares about you. I reckon she loves you, but you need to remember you were there when she needed you most. As long as you continue to be there you did nothing wrong."
Silence engulfed the room. The two men starred each other in the eyes as if to study them. So much had changed since their first meeting as boys. They had aged, they were stronger, and they were broken. However, they still were the best of friends. Perhaps they were even closer now.
"I love her." Ron whispered.
"I know."
….
"I love her." Harry whispered.
"I know."