Title: Creation & Destruction
Character: Hermione Granger & Draco Malfoy.
Prompt: Write a story revolving around the five elements (fire, wood, metal, water & earth).
Words: 956
AN: This is a completely new version of a story I once wrote called Creation & Destruction. The reason that I changed it was because I was given valid critique and I felt extremely dissatisfied with the story. Hence, the changes that eventually justified deleting the old story and publishing it as a new one.
The world consists of processes. One process is required to create something. Another is required in order to destroy it. The biggest flaw of the human race is believing that they are a necessity in order to do either of those things. Human beings have never been relevant in either creation or destruction.
Nature has always been able to do that for herself. Muggles, wizards and witches alike looked at nature and missed the grand powers it held. They didn't see that creation and destruction was going on all around them without their interference. They only noticed when they were the ones responsible. They missed what was hidden in plain sight. That nature and the five elements – fire, wood, metal, water and earth – were always at work and changing things. The nature around Hogwarts was no different.
Wizards, witches and muggles sometimes looked upon nature and believed that they would ruin it. One day nature would not be able to fix itself. But they were wrong. Because not even the worst war could overpower nature. The world would keep turning despite the damage they caused; the world would not stop even if they suffered great pains from losing their loved ones.
2 May, 1998
Hermione Granger sat on the grass outside of the school.
The school was in ruins. The place where she had spent the best years of her life so far was nothing but a shadow of its former self. The towers of Hogwarts no longer rose towards the skies with a pride and gracefulness that gave Hermione the feeling that anything was possible. The earth surrounding the school was scorched and left a weird smell of fire mixed with magic in the air. There were holes in the towers revealing the wooden structure underneath. The wind howled as it passed through it and somewhere in the distance Hermione could hear the sound of fire crackling. Even the water looked more untamed than it had been before and when she looked down at the quidditch pitch there were pieces of broken metal. Hermione never thought she could cry at the sight of broken pieces of metal.
Her entire body ached and for the first time since she could remember her mind was completely blank. It was all over. The war that they had been fighting for so long had ended. This is what they had been fighting for. This is what they had wanted. And yet, now that they were there Hermione didn't know what to do. She could do anything. And that only made the pain in her chest stronger. Because it reminded her that so many couldn't anymore.
She had lost her best friend.
She had lost her parents.
And now, she had lost her fist love. Someone very unlikely that she had hoped would be her last love. She looked across the yard. A blond boy stood alone by the great lake. Even from that distance Hermione could tell that there were tears running down from his cheeks. Tears of sadness that came from losing the one person he could call his friend. The one person that had defended him and after all seen the goodness in him. Harry Potter had after many years of hatred done just that. And he died the way he lived; he fought for others and he believed that he could make it. Hermione never knew if he truly did believe that or if he was just faking it for their benefit. It didn't matter much now.
Life and death were a natural process. It was just as much a part of nature as creation and destruction.
And what those two processes had in common where the presence of nature, the five elements – fire, wood, metal, water and earth – and the fact that it did not discriminate. People died regardless if you could box them as kind or evil. Destruction hit places whether they could be considered beautiful or not. The processes of nature did not discriminate. It hit all humans equally; wizards, witches and muggles alike. But it also brought them closer together. Because in face of pain, loneliness and no hope the things that kept people separated, that had them hating each other, all of the sudden made very little sense. Why would they argue when they could heal together?
Hermione stood up and walked towards Draco. She hadn't been able to forgive him; not like Harry did. While Harry was alive he reminded her that he was a victim in this just like everyone else. Hermione didn't listen. She didn't believe that helping in the last second meant that he was worthy of forgiveness. Draco was not worthy of forgiveness after the years of bullying that he had put her through. In hindsight, Hermione no longer understood her reasoning. It didn't matter what he had done to her when he was a teenager. Nothing of it mattered. His insults may have burned like fire but like earth Hermione didn't vanquish. No, she grew stronger and once again she was going to be strong and she was going to forgive him; for Harry.
She didn't know what she was going to say once she sat next to him but then again maybe speaking was unnecessary at this point. They could just sit and watch as nature used its combined forces to fix everything that they had broken. They could watch as the process started over. Nature would use its power to feed nature, to make things grow, and then one day without any help from humans the process would be complete. Nature with the power of the five elements would fall back into the natural process that was creation and destruction, life and death.
The end