Too Young to Die

Disclamer: I do not own anything from the world of Harry Potter. It all came from JK Rowling's wonderful mind!

Prologue: November 1998

It was a cloudy day in November. It was gray; everything had been gray since she had been taken away. Harry thought that he would never see color again. The funeral was over, but no one could leave the graveyard.

Everyone came to her funeral. She had been very popular especially in her final years at Hogwarts, so it wasn't surprising that the students present weren't just from Gryffindor house.

All the girls were crying. Many of the guys had an occasional tear roll down their cheeks, as well. But Harry couldn't cry. He had cried for four days straight after she had died, and he now felt only anger. He was angry with the people who had done this to her and angry that he was unable to save her.

She was nineteen. She was too young to die. She was too smart and too sweet to leave this world the way she did. There were tons of others who deserved this fate more than she, and Harry would have taken her place a million times over if he had had the choice.

Harry spotted Ron and decided to go over to him. Ron was standing by himself, and Harry could tell he had been crying.

"Are you alright, Ron?" Harry asked approaching him. For Ron, the news of her death was met with denial and disbelief. The reality of it all was just now hitting him, and it was hitting him hard.

"It's not fair, Harry. She was brilliant and young, and we had our whole lives ahead of us. I loved her, and they just took her away from me. They took away my Hermione." A couple of tears found their way down the boy's cheek and fell onto his dress robes.

"I know, Ron," Harry tried. "It's not fair."

Harry looked around. He didn't know why; more than anything he wanted to forget this day ever happened. He wanted to go back to the way things were before any of this took place, when she was still alive. He didn't want this day to be in his memory, but, for some reason, he took it all in anyway.

He saw a group of girls, many of them crying, huddled a few yards away from the upturned earth. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Granger in the chairs where the Minister had given his speech. He saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley crying full out as if she had been one of their own. He saw Neville Longbottom standing with Seamus and Dean, Neville with quite noticeable streaks down his cheeks. Then he saw Ginny, pouring her eyes out on Luna Lovegood's shoulder, and Luna with a glazed over, vacant expression. Harry felt strongly that Luna, too, must consider death to be a journey, "the next great adventure."

Kingsley Shacklebolt had spoken earlier, before they had lowered her casket. His words rang through Harry's ears. On this day and every day after we celebrate the life and remember the death of Hermione Granger, whose loyalty, kindness, bravery, and hard work should be an example to us all. She had only nineteen years on this earth, but accomplished more than many twice her age. She was an intelligent person and an extraordinarily gifted witch, and her spirit will be missed by many. And so, on this day, we say "farewell" to the beloved Hermione Granger.

Oh, how accurate this description was of this once-loved friend . . .

br

A/N: ok so i found this from a while back and never really like where it was going so i changed it up a bit and i'm going to try it this way. it's my first fanfic (posted) so please R&R and be constructive if you really just hate it. if i get some reviews i'll try and figure out where i can go with this. thanks for reading!