Watch Me Stand

Ch. 1 – Help Me See

Hemione sat at the window seat of the living room in The Weasley Boarding House. Since all of Ms. Weasley's children had moved out, she had gotten lonely especially since Mr. Wealey had died in the war. She had decided to open a boarding house. It was a nice house, well placed on the far edge of a mixed wizard and muggle community. Hermione and some order members, as well as a few of the DA were staying there.

She stared through the rain soaked window. Lightning light up the sky, illuminating the yard in front of the house. A silluete could be made out of the darkness. A single tear slid down Hemione's cheek as she watched the figure standing, staring at the sky, his eyes closed. She cried for Harry.

Dumbledore had always said that there were things worse than death. He was right. After the battle that ended the war, something happened to Harry. No one was quite sure what. Now he was just a shell. He didn't talk anymore. Harry was simply existing. Not really living.

Hemione sat, tears dripping down her face. He would never know how much she cared for him. Ginny, she shuddered at the thought of her. Harry had been s good to her and the moment that everyone realized that something was wrong with Harry; she had run way to bloody America. And stupid Ron had run with her, leaving Hermione. They had practically abandoned them. Hermione got furious just thinking about it. She alone had stayed by Harry's side. She was the one to who watched him at night. She alone knew how he would lay in bed some nights, staring at the ceiling. She alone watched him on those nights when the nightmares would claim him. She watched as he screamed and clawed at the sheets. His screams on those nights were bone chilling.

Her attention returning to the present, she noticed that Harry had turned he was looking directly at her. His eyes were captivating. Still as green as ever, there was something more. They both swirled with emotion and yet were void of all feeling. They showed all of his vulnerability, weakness and longing, for what? Hermione wasn't sure. Yet, something seemed to be hidden. A shield, placed to keep the rest of the world out as if there was something he was hiding form everyone. Some thing he didn't want them to know. The look in his eyes was impossible to describe.

Remus Lupin and Neville Longbottom stood in the doorway to the living room. They watched Hormone as she huddled in the window seat. Her sobs could be heard down the hall.

" I hate watching her like this," Neville whispered to Lupin.

" I'll try talking to her," Lupin walked through the door.

As he entered the room, Neville watched intently.

"Hermione?" Lupin asked tentatively.

Hermione ignored him. She sat up and stared out of the window, wiping away her tears.

"You should really come to dinner with the rest of us," Lupin sat, placing himself on the window seat beside her.

She continued to stare at Harry in the rain. His face was turned upward and arms were held aloft.

"Death really isn't the worst thing," Hermione whispered, her voice rough from lack of use.

Lupin pulled her into a tight hug. Hermione stiffened; No one had hugged her like this since the war. The last time she had been hugged like this was right before the final battle. The famous trio has rounded up the deatheaters into a single room. The group was preparing to bust through the door when Harry, out of nowhere, wrapped his arms around both Ron and Hermione. It was then that he uttered his last words anyone would ever hear him say.

"I love you both," he said, "I will miss you both." Hermione had not had time to think about what was uttered in those few moments. They then rushed into the room, the final battle beginning. In hindsight, Harry had probably known what was about to happen to him.

Thinking about this caused her to lose all sense of composure. Sobbing, she reached her arms around Lupin, gripping him tightly. He ran his hand comforting over her back. It felt strange to her, to be this close to a person. Everyone had decided to leave her alone after the war. They thought it better to let her come to terms with things herself. They were wrong. She needed someone to hold her like this. She had all but forgotten this feeling. The two of them sat like this for some time. Her cries finally subsided and her breathing returned to normal.

"Remember what Dumbledore said," Remus whispered softly to her," We mustn't forget to live."

"So?" Neville looked at Lupin, expectantly.

"Hopefully she will come to dinner with the rest of us," Lupin said, putting his hand on the boy's, no, man's shoulder. Neville had grown up during the war. Gone was the bumbling boy who could barely hold a wand. In his place stood a young man of twenty. He still was the same old Neville. He had retained his forgetfulness and horrid inferiority complex, but he had honed his magical ability and had become a force to be reckoned with.

Neville pulled Lupin into a quick hug. It had been difficult for everyone. First of all, seeing Harry so lost was hard enough but with the added difficulty of Hermione's reaction to the entire situation. It had forced all of the people living in the boarding house to become much closer to each other in order to take care of everyone. They had become a very close-knit group and weren't about to let anything break them apart.

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