He knelt in the dry grass, wishing that the day wasn't so clear – that the weather reflected his mood – and rested his head against the sun-warmed stone. Already, it was looking slightly weathered; the letters fading and the stone chipped. In a way he felt it was fitting; that this small representation of her could grow old when she never would.
He reached out to trace the letters, ignoring the presence behind him, and finally let the tears fall. He knelt there until the sun began to set, kneeling and shaking in the tall grass. The man behind him remained a solid presence the entire time, silent and unmoving, in a way that he found more comforting than he was willing to admit.
"She loved you Godric, you were a dear friend to her," he finally whispered, shattering the silence which had seemed unbreakable only seconds before. This was perhaps the wrong thing to say; it felt as though he had been hanging from the edge of a cliff this entire time, and had finally gained the courage to let go.
"Then why? Why is she not here?" He roared, wanting to destroy the silence so completely that it became a long-forgotten memory. This was not how things were supposed to happen; he was not supposed to be here mourning her whilst she moved on to the other world without him.
"She rests with her daughter now," he said with that infuriating calmness that was just asking to be removed with physical violence. Maybe that would help him to make sense of this; she was supposed to be stronger than him – stronger that this – if anyone deserved to live forever it was her. Instead she lay rotting beneath the ground in a way that was unbefitting of someone as special – as perfect – as she had once been.
"I do not care," he whispered, voice getting lost in the slight breeze. "I do not care," he repeated, louder, enough that his companion could only just hear. "I do not care," he repeated for a final time, volume high enough to startle several birds out of a nearby tree.
His companion remained silent – once they had been friends; once they had been brothers; now they were nothing more than casual acquaintances – he had loved her, too. They had both been completely devoted to this woman whose heart had belonged to another.
Now, they were left to pick up the pieces without her.