I stood there, looking at my companions, unable to believe that the day had finally arrived. I pinched myself, hoping beyond hope that, maybe, I was just dreaming.
But, alas, it was not to be. Before my very eyes Grimauld Place was disintegrating. I sighed as the last part of the old building collapsed leaving nothing behind to indicate that it had once stood there. A woman with her child walked past, not even glancing at the building. A world hidden from her sight was disappearing.
Right at that moment every magical building in all of England was collapsing. The Ministry of Magic. Hogwarts. Platform 9 ¾. Saint Mungos. The death toll would be humungous, but then again, we had done our best to warn everyone once we had realized what had happened.
"I can't believe this is really happening," Ginny said, from next to me, echoing all of our thoughts, "How could we let this happen?"
"It wasn't our fault," Ron offered, weakly.
"Try explaining that to the rest of them," Hermione sighed quietly.
"I suppose that this is it," Ron said, staring at the place where minutes before Grimauld Place had stood. He picked up the suitcase which stood before him breathing heavily as he realized that the feather-light charm had failed.
"I suppose it is," Hermione nodded. Ron smiled at all of us in a sheepish manner, before he waved and walked down the street. We had said our goodbyes before.
Ginny's eyes followed Ron until he could no longer be seen from where we were standing before she turned to face us, "Do we really have to?" she asked.
"Yes," Hermione nodded, "They'll come looking for us. You know as well as I do that we have to split up."
We had had this discussion before – countless times in the last few months as more and more spells began to fail. In the beginning, magic just seemed to get harder to do until the most complicated spells failed completely. The previous night the last spell – Lumos – had stopped working, too, and we knew that it was time.
Suddenly, Ginny was hugging my neck tightly. "I'll miss you."
"It's not forever," I replied, patting her back awkwardly.
Ginny smiled at me before she pressed her lips to mine, "We should have had our happily ever after," she whispered, "You killed him. You made it."
"Everything has consequences," I replied, sighing, "Had I known what would have happened…"
"You still would have done it. You would still have sacrificed everything." Ginny said and suddenly I realized that, in her own way, she was blaming me. And, she was right – I wouldn't have done anything differently even if I had known that I was destroying magic. This was what made her perfect for her mission. I smiled a little, crooked, smile and wished that I could go instead of her.
"Who knows what the future will bring, maybe our time will come." I said.
"Maybe," Ginny echoed though I knew that we both didn't believe it.
Ginny smiled a little sadly as she hugged Hermione and kissed her cheek.
"Bye," she said, as she picked up her suitcase and walked away, too.
"Good luck," Hermione called after her, causing Ginny to turn around and wave at us before she turned around and was gone.
Hermione and I were left there, alone, neither one of us wanting to be the first person to leave first. "We should get going," I said, suddenly.
"We should," Hermione agreed but still we made no move.
Finally, I picked up my suitcase, "Good Bye Hermione."
"Harry," Hermione said, stopping me in my tracks, "Promise me to take care of yourself."
"You, too," I smiled a little.
"No, I mean it. Promise me." Hermione sighed, "You attract danger. Keep your head down. And don't forget to subscribe to The Mirror…"
"…and read the Advertisements," I finished for her, smiling a little.
"I'm sorry," she sighed, "I'm just worried."
"We all are." I sighed a little, putting my suitcase down to hug Hermione tightly, "I'll miss you."
"Tell me that it'll all be all right," Hermione said, crying into my shoulder.
"It'll be all right," I whispered, "How could it not be? You're the brightest witch of our time and I'm the boy-who-lived turned man-who-conquered turned man-who-singlehandedly-destroyed-magic…"
"Give us some credit, too," Hermione whispered into my ear, "You weren't alone."
No, she was right. I had never been as alone as I was from that day onward. As I picked up my suitcase I was leaving behind the last few years – the happiest years of my life.
I smiled at her, "Do you need help with your luggage?" I asked, indicating the suitcases filled with her personal things that she couldn't leave behind and had thus rescued from the crumbling house.
"No," she shook her head, "I'll manage. It's better if we split up as soon as possible. Do you have…"
"The key?" I finished for her, "Yes, Hermione, I have the key. I won't forget."
"Well, take care. And, good luck," Hermione said, sighing a little.
"I won't need the luck, Hermione, I'm not doing anything dangerous," unlike you, I added in my mind.
"Just walking down the street is dangerous for you, Harry, you know that I wish things had been different…"
"I know, it's just, I feel so damn useless."
"Well, we should get going. I'll miss you."
I nodded a little and turned around, walking down the street, away from the only home and family I had ever known.
September twentieth is the day that magic finally failed completely. I had destroyed the very society I had been trying to protect and save.
And thus, as I walked away from my life I knew that I was leaving something behind that I would miss dearly. I took a deep breath and turned around, once, looking back towards Hermione, who was walking away in the other direction.
I turned around the corner and put down my two suitcases and sat down on them, looking into the distance. I had nowhere to go.
Cars and people passed me by. People who had no idea that this day would go down in history. No idea that this day would change the lives of a whole society.