Dislaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. The excerts in italics are from J.K. Rowling.
Silence. A silence smothering the grounds. Desolate, like the world waited.. Apprehensively, frightened. The whomping willow laid down its arms, and the Forbidden Forest quieted its depths. The giant squid swam below the surface of the lake. Its surface frozen like dark glass. The moon reflected like a single orb, it hung in a starless deserted sky. Reverence.
And down upon the grass, across the sloping hills, from the grounds keeping house, through the halls of Hogwarts, in dormitories, and the great hall, in every open space, laid lonely bodies of the fallen.
Brothers, twins, sisters, enemies, comrades, monsters, friends, elves, mothers, fathers glass eyed, scarred, for a cause. For an ending. Soldiers who had completed their task. And finally, on a windless, hopeless night, the battle for peace ended as abruptly as it began. And those who had battled for a quiet, peaceful morning had won.
And slowly, like a current, came the sorrow. A phoenix began its tale. A tale of loss and triumph, of war and tranquility, of anger and relief, of trade and consequence, filling every different heart with a different meaning. Singing the notes that rang in every living cell, and joined in the with the wails of grief, and the cries of joy.
And yet, out beneath the shade of a great tree next, next to a dark lake, a boy who lived fell was down upon his bloodied knees. He groped out his hand to grab a set of tattered robes. Secondhand, passed down, a little too short around the ankles. He reached blindly to the space beside to grab a small hand still clutching a wand. Vine wood with a dragon heartstring core. He had been told so long ago. He had remembered. And now he was desperately attempting to cope with what laid before him. And failing.
His legs gave way and he fell. He scrambled forward, speechless. He shook the shoulders of a boy who had just barely become a man, crying out his name. Again. And Again. And again. He screamed until falling onto his chest. Defeated. Much like when he lost a friend years before. Much like when he gripped strongly onto the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory. He had cried then, but nothing compared to these wracking sobs and fruitless gulps of poisonous air. Nothing like the mane of thick red hair he gripped in his hands now. Pulling, as if to drag some bit of life back into that freckled face.
"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a.. a.."
"You sort of made up for it tonight," Harry said. "Getting the sword. Destroying the Horcrux. Saving my life.."Simultaneously they walked forward and hugged. Harry gripping the still sopping back of his jacket.
Through his tears he reached out his hand to clutch onto the other set of robes. The robes clothing a woman with bushy hair, and brilliant smile. A smile quenched suddenly. Behind which came a voice of reason, a voice of honesty. He leaned up and pulled her forehead to his. Her soft skin pushed against his scar. Whispering her name hoarsely. He lay her head down next to his upon the brave chest . He closed his eyes, wishing that he, the boy who lived, could revoke his title.
"Bye Harry!" She said, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.
Remembering.
And then, like a breath of wind.. Barely…
"Don't cry… mate.."
Joy, like fire, burned through his heart, his mind, his cells, burning from his fingertips to his mouth. Gasping for words. A small voice joined in.
"He's right, Harry. Don't…"
He threw himself back onto his knees. A set of brilliant blue eyes gazed at him from heavy lids, and a set of deep brown looked from behind thick tangles of hair. Alive. Breathing. Two heartbeats. Moving limbs. His face cracked into a lopsided grin. His tears mixed with grim and blood, running in rivulets over his chapped lips. His wordless tongue.
"Alive.. You're.. alive. Get up.. Get up! "
They both smiled, softly, barely. The woman reached up her shaking hand and cupped his cheek. He put his hand over hers and smiled. She brushed away his tears gently.
"Harry. I'm afraid."
Her voice caught.
"We're not going anywhere."
Ice. Disappointment. Denial. Like the flame that had strengthened him, the ice tore away his walls. Then an idea. He shook his head and lifted his wand, sending red sparks in the air. His voice quavered.
"Someone will come. They'll help. You.. No. You can't leave me. Listen hold on. Someone's going to come. Stop smiling.. Stop.."
Blue eyes closed gently as he put his arm over the woman's small shoulders. A smile over his lips. The same smile that had followed Harry through countless adventures and laughs. The same shy smile that befriended a lonely boy on a scarlet train. ("Are you really Harry Potter?" he blurted. Harry lifted his hair to show the scar on his forehead.) Brown eyes bore into his green.
Brown eyes that had known more than any witch of her age (She slapped a hand to her forehead. "I've got to go to the library.") and held solutions Harry could have never found himself ("You're a genius," he said. "Yeah I don't know what we would do without you,"..) Brown eyes that had held them all together. They had been unbeatable. A trio. The Chamber of Secrets, the heir of Slytherin, his godfather, the TriWizard tournament, the Department of Mysteries, the Half Blood Prince, the horcruxes.. Memories burning and hazing in and out. Tears burning behind his eyes. A family he never had.
"We were all supposed to grow old together. You two grow old and we all three, still be best friends. Best man."
"You've said to us once before," she said, "that there was still time to turn back if we wanted to. We've had time, haven't we?"
"We're with you whatever happens.." he said.
Harry dropped his head to his hands, mustering words.
"Oh, Harry. Come here."
As a right of acceptance, Harry removed his hands from his face. He rubbed his hands through his tufts of hair and placed his tired, battered body down beside the two people that had changed his life. Hugging them to him. Holding on. Fighting for a few more moments.
Blood soaking through black robes. Eyes closing. Blue, green, and brown.
"I love you both.. Everything. All you've done. I can't.. I don't.. Thank you."
Under the shade of a tree that held thousands of memories, Harry Potter kept breathing.
While Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley slowly, willingly fell silent.