He turned to her, pain apparent across his ashen face. His eyes were drawn, nearly hidden by the purple of his eyelids. A goofy smile crossed his lips as he looked upon her one last time.
"I hate to ask, but does anyone have a spot of chocolate?" He barely got the words out before collapsing in her arms.
Her eyes were tear streaked, how could this have happened? He had to still be there with her. He couldn't leave her, not again. He couldn't leave all that they had built together. He couldn't do it now, not today, not the anniversary of the victory that they all fought so hard for.
Not him. Anybody but him.
The morning broke like any other, she woke up alongside her husband of five years. Their two young children could be heard down the hall babbling in their own language to each other. It was a simple but perfect life for her - a loving family, a number of good friends, and a job that she would have to get ready for momentarily. But in this moment, her quiet sanctuary surrounded by those who love her and she loves, all is well.
The day went on like any other: she prepared the kids for their grandmum's house, made breakfast, then went off to her job at the Ministry of Magic.
Hermione Jean Granger-Weasley was content.
By noon she was preparing for her afternoon meetings before an emergency alarm resonated through the halls of the Ministry. Grabbing her wand, she flew out her office door, and down the myriad of hallways to the atrium of the Ministry of Magic.
Today may have been May second, the day that Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, Tom Riddle, fell to the hands of Harry Potter. Most of the wizarding world took today as a holiday, as they do every year, but to Hermione, Ron, and Harry it is a day to be more vigilant.
One day her children will know what today means. But this morning, she just wanted it to be like every other day.
She thought of all that she lost those few years ago on this day. Every name came flying by her as she made turn after turn towards the atrium and the emergency.
There used to be a greying tower alone on the sea
You became the light on the dark side of me
At the other end of the atrium the aurors were already fighting what looked to be a losing battle. There were numerous witches and wizards that were clad in dark colors that were throwing spell after hex after curse the way of the aurors. At the front of the pack leading the charge was the Chosen One - Harry Potter - alongside his best friend Ron Weasley.
She busted through one of the lesser known doorways off the atrium, behind the enemy lines, to see the pandemonium that lay ahead. She was able to make out the shapes of some of the dark wizards, but there was something much more nightmarish behind them - dementors. She immediately felt their affects: the cold that curses through your veins, the melancholy, the fear. She gathered all her Gryffindor courage and strength to cast a patronus to hopefully chase them away from the melee.
The skirmish lasted longer than she imagined it would. Wizards on both sides fought with a ferocity that even the great battle didn't see. For her, she was fighting for her normalcy, for what she fought for then and now; she fought for equality for all.
A thunderous crash resonated throughout the atrium, sending earthquake-like tremors through the building, causing glass to shatter and wizards to fall to their knees. She looked around frantically to see what could have caused such a commotion and who all were injured, readying herself to help wherever she was needed.
What caught her eye chilled her to the bone. There, in front of the remnants of victory fountain that was the focal point of the atrium, lay her husband with a dementor floating overhead. He looked to be losing his soul, something she saw firsthand in her third year.
Like a woman possessed, she cast her patronus in the direction of her love, hoping beyond hope to be in time to save him. She didn't notice the spells cast around her, her tunnel vision was focused on the red haired man lying in a heap ahead of her. She didn't acknowledge the sounds of screams nor the hands grabbing at her, trying to hold her back from the fray that she was barreling straight towards.
All she saw was him, her husband. All she did was pray and run on instinct towards him. Everything that she did was natural, second nature, from those years past when that was the only thing that kept her alive. Now she had to do the same for her husband. For her children, they needed him. She needed him. His family. His friends.
It didn't register to her that no one, minus her, seemed to have noticed this past war hero fall. No one was coming to his aid. Yet she didn't notice that the battle that surrounded her was coming to an abrupt end. Whatever or whoever this band was after, they seemed to have been victorious as they scrambled away.
She slid on the dark marble floor alongside him. He was battered, she had seen him worse when he came home from a raid or some missions. He was broken in ways she never wanted to see.
Her eyes poured silent tears as she took in every angle of his face, memorized the color of his eyes, the freckles on his nose. He couldn't leave her. He would be healed. He had to be.
A warm, comforting hand found hers as she lifted his head to her lap, leaning in to kiss him. His face was cold, as if he had spent an extended trip to the arctic to play quidditch. He didn't kiss her back.
"I hate to ask, but does anyone have a spot of chocolate?"
The room around her went quiet as his last words were spoken and her whole world collapsed. She fell right there, alongside her one true love.
Author's Notes:
Title and quote from Kiss From a Rose by Seal
House: Slytherin
Year: 5
Standard
Prompt: (Speech) "I hate to ask, but does anyone have a spot of chocolate?"
Word Count: 1046