An old, weathered woman sat in an antique rocking chair, staring out the window into the rainy night. Her once brown hair had grayed over time, due to stress and age, but she was still as beautiful as she had ever been. Generally, her eyes still had the same sparkle they did when she was younger, but this specific night they were glassed over and held a distant look. Although her body looked frail, one would be crazy to ever try and cross her. Even though she was well into her 60s, her reflexes and her skills were as good as they ever were—but she had trained hard to be able be as good as she was. Oh yes, she was gifted from the beginning, but it took careful training to be able to master her powers to the extent that she had.
Over the years she had learned to suppress the horrors of her past and was able sleep at night, but for some reason, this night was different. As she sat there, rocking slowly, she began to relive her happiest memories, as well as her darkest moments—times spent at the Black Lake, Hogsmeade, summers at the Burrow, the death of her parents, sneaking behind her friends back, being cast out from the closest thing to a family she had left. Images flashed through her mind, some bringing a slight smile to her face and others brought tears to her honey coloured eyes. After what seemed like hours, a rustling from the other side of the room brought her out of her reverie. She looked over at the sleeping figure tossing and turning in the bed and understood that he too was experiencing the same dream that had haunted the both of them for many years. Then it hit her. This was the night that chaos had began some 50 years ago—the very night that the war had began and ended, the loss of many lives, and the night that children too young lost their innocence. Yes, time had helped to heal the wounds, but there were still moments when not even time could soothe the pain.
These wounds, physical and emotional, were problems faced by all that lived through the war. However, hers were much deeper than many others. According to some, she had betrayed her friends by doing the most unforgivable thing. According to others, she was a hero—gaining the trust of the most unlikely, but highly useful enemy. And still to others, she was one to be hunted and killed for stealing one of their most talented away from them.
But those days were long gone and while most of the pain caused by these memories had subsided, the memories themselves had not. And while the memories still existed, her pain could not completely be released.
The elderly woman had gone back to staring at the rain slipping down the window, but again was soon pulled out of her thoughts by the creaking of a door. Without thinking, she pulled her wand out and pointed it towards the small figure sticking his head in the door. However, when she realized who it was she quickly lowered it and let out a small sigh.
"What's wrong Remus?" she asked quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping man in the room.
"I'm scared of the storm, Gran," he responded, his voice shaking. In that moment a clash of thunder boomed and a flash of lightning lit up the sky, causing the little boy to scamper into the room and jump into the lap of his grandmother.
"Oh, the storm is nothing to worry about, baby," the aged woman whispered, with a little sound of laughter in her voice. "You know what thunder, and lightning, and rain really are, right?" she asked playfully. The little boy shook his head no. "Well thunder is when God is booming out directions to all the angels, the rain drops are tears of the angels when they are sad, and lightning happens when God is sending an angel down to the earth to help someone."
"Really?" The old woman nodded. "Well, then storms don't seem so scary anymore."
"No, I suppose not." However, in the back of her mind, she was thinking about the true horrors of storms—the uncertainty, the brutality, the unpredictableness. She had experienced all of these in her time. Storms, it seemed, had become associated with many of the defining moments of her life.
It was a cold, rainy night in late October. Thunder boomed and lightning crashed but it didn't dampen the mood on most of the students at Hogwarts. Everyone was at the Halloween Feast enjoying themselves, taking their minds off of the atrocities that daily surrounded them. Voldemort was getting stronger, his presence was growing stronger daily. However, one girl was unable to take her mind off of the mayhem in which the Wizarding world was now living in.
She had snuck out of the feast, praying that no one would notice. She made her way down to the Black Lake, the only place where she was truly able to find solace. She knew that it probably wasn't the best idea to wander outside of the safety of the school given the circumstances—Voldemort, Death Eaters, the storm—but she didn't care. Her mind was too full of thoughts other than dancing and trying to sneak Firewhiskey into the punch bowl to stay in that crowded room where she knew she did not belong. The young girl found the spot she was looking for, a cozy little flat area underneath a huge willow tree and sat down.
"At last," she thought. "Now I can think without interruptions."
She let her mind wander all over the place—thinking about the upcoming N.E.W.T.S.; her best friends Ron, Harry, and Ginny and what would happen when she and the former two left Hogwarts in just a few short months, her family and the danger that she knew they were in because of her association with Harry, and finally, Voldemort. The rising power of Voldemort was scary to think about. Disappearances were now a daily occurrence, Muggle and Wizard alike, and everyone knew, though no one said it out of fear, that Voldemort had begun to infiltrate the Ministry of Magic. When that task became completed, complete chaos would break out in the Wizarding world.
The beautiful young girl sat there thinking, letting the rain fall on her not having a caring about anything going on around her until she felt someone else's presence near her. She looked up and gasped, wondering what in the hell this person was doing here and what he wanted.
"What do you want?" she asked icily. The boy said nothing and sat down on the wet ground next to her and stared out into the rainy night.
"I asked you if you needed anything," the girl repeated, with less contempt in her voice.
"Same thing as you," the boy responded simply. "Just a place to think."
Laughter rang out loudly on the Hogwarts grounds. A young girl was running around in the rain like a mad-woman, her arms outstretched and her head facing the sky.
"Come on, it's fun!" she yelled happily. "Don't be Chief No-Fun."
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the boy questioned, grabbing her in his arms and pulling her closely to him. She lost her balance and slipped in the wet grass, causing her to fall on the ground on top of him. He stared at her for a moment, reveling in her beauty. Raindrops fluttered in her eyelashes and due to the rain washing off her makeup he could easily see small freckles decorating her face.
"It's supposed to mean," she began, placing a light kiss on his lips and pulling him from his reverie"to lighten up."
"Well, how's this?" he replied grinning, kissing her hungrily, not wanting ever to leave that moment.
"How could you?" the angry red head screamed. "How could you betray us like that? I mean—him? What were you thinking?"
"What you two have to understand is," the girl began slowly, staring at the rain rolling down the stained glass window.
"And out in the open for everyone to see too. I can't believe you. He's the enemy. Remember?" a raven haired boy said quietly. Even though he wasn't screaming like her other best friend, the disappointment in his voice cut at her just as much, if not worse, than the screaming. Without even trying to defend herself anymore, she ran out of the room crying. The two boys realized their mistake and called after her, but she kept running, intent on not hearing another word of what they had to say.
The Head Girl rolled over sleepily in her bed and listened to the rain falling on the roof. She looked at the alarm clock and realized that it was time to get up. She sighed and got out of bed to get ready for the day. She made her way down to the Great Hall for breakfast and began eating. While eating the post came and a horrified look captured her face as she saw the front page of the Daily Prophet.
Minister of Magic Dead.
"This can only mean one thing," she thought.
The flash of lightning illuminated the Gryffindor common room, the sight of scared faces becoming visible.
"Now, I must ask everyone to remain calm," a steady, reassuring voice called out. "The prefects will escort all those who are not of age and do not wish to remain behind to the Room of Requirement. Those who wish to help the effort will kindly follow me down to the Great Hall where more will be explained."
"Is it true then? Is it really starting?" one of the younger students asked in a frightened tone.
"I am afraid it is Derrick. Now, we must hurry before we run out of time."
The Great Hall was buzzing with people, some from Ravenclaw, more from Hufflepuff, all the Gryffindors that were of age, along with the Order, the Hogwarts teachers, and many others that were against the regime of Lord Voldemort. Soon enough, a booming voice could be heard from the outside. They knew it was time.
Flashes of brightly coloured light were flying everywhere. The rain poured down unmercifully, only making the battle more difficult. Spells were being cast and deflected; friends and foes alike were falling to their death. However, this was not the time to mourn. In this moment everyone had the same goal—to come out on top. Maybe it was minutes later, maybe it was hours, but finally she heard agonizing screams coming not too far away from her. She looked over for a split second and saw the remnants of a flash of green light. She began to run to the spot where she saw the light and heard the screams. She looked down at the ground, tears beginning to stream down her face.
He was dead.
It seemed as storms were present in many of the most significant moments of her life. To her storms brought back a series of mixed emotions—the freedom that came after the downfall of the one of the most powerful wizards of the day, the betrayal by her best friends, the happiness of finding her one true love, and the loss of feeling of what it was like to belong to a family.
She looked down at the small boy that had just moments before jumped into her lap and noticed that he had fallen asleep. Carefully, she stood up and laid him down on the bed that she shared with her husband. Looking down at the two boys that she loved the most sleeping peacefully, a smile crept onto face.
Tonight, I'm going to finally lay the past to rest. I've allowed it to haunt me for far too long. Tonight, the rain is going to wash away the horrible images that I have allowed to plague my mind.
With that, the woman tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs. A flash of lightning light up the hallway, helping her to find her way out of the front door and into the dreary night. She ran out into the middle of the front lawn, her arms spread out wide and her eyes facing the starless night sky. She twirled around, remembering the carefree days of the past and allowing the rain to cleanse her mind of all the dark memories.
A/N: Right now I'm leaving this as a one-shot. However, I do have other chapters that I am working on and some of a plot line worked out if ya'll want me to continue.