What No One Remembers
PG-13 (for the war scene)
The war takes it's toll on everyone. Even those no one remembers.
Ernie/Hannah (mostly) mentions of Draco/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, Daphne/Zacharias
Notes: Hannah's mother doesn't have a name so I made one up for her. This is a companion piece to Ernie's story "Actions Of A Nobody", even though it only makes illusions to the things that happen with in its story.
Sometimes Hannah still sees articles about Lily Potter. A thousand words on her heroics, a thousand and a hundred more words about her face, her life, always about her. The stories are always accompanied by a picture of Lily looking happy, carefree and yet strangely, to her witch's eyes still. Lifeless and unmoving against the scrolling stories and Hannah wonders if somehow Lily knows she is dead and refuses to move, just in case the world would forget her face.
Hannah really never paid much attention to these things until Ruth dies. It's the headline Hannah can't stop remembering "Death Eater Attack Kills Five", she must have read the article three hundred times before she accepts that her mother isn't mention. Her mother isn't alone, none of the others have names either. Hannah imagines the haunted faceless men or women who died there along with her mother. Sometimes she dreams that these forgotten, nameless people are haunting the places they once lived. They scream as they wander around, "Did we not exist?" "Were we not men, who bled and died." Hannah wakes up in tears, because she knows one of the anyone of them could be her beloved mother. She learns to be afraid of them because she can not tell which one belongs to her Ruth.
Her father continues to encourage her to return to Hogwarts but she hasn't the will to learn. She is haunted by the ghosts of people she does not know. It's two months after her mother's funeral that she starts her quest to find the other four. It takes her three weeks to track down Amy Starling's daughter Mildred, Hannah stands in front of Amy's house for two hours before she can convince herself to knock on the door. That night another of the ghost fades away. Before she disappears completely Hannah commits Amy's face to memory. Hannah tells herself that she'll never forget the once nameless dead.
It takes another three months to find Jacob Hardley and Steve Mason. At night when she dreams she is continually haunted by the last one, the one who screams and wails and who never fades away.
After Dumbledore dies and the school is in talks to shut down, Hannah panics and wants nothing more than to see the halls of Hogwarts once again.
They start a month late, but Hannah is just happy to be somewhere that doesn't smell of her mother. It only takes two weeks before Hannah can't sleep and takes to wandering the grounds. The strict rules make it difficult, and all Hannah wants is something that gives her hope for the seemingly empty future.
On the third week she sneaks into Ernie's Head Boy room. She crawls in beside him, the surprise in his eyes fades away as he wraps his arms around her.
The last ghost still haunts her but when she wakes and sees Ernie's face she feels safe. And even though that isn't the same as hope, it keeps her warm.
A month into school and it becomes apparent that they weren't sent here to learn. Hannah feels like a prisoner in the school, and Susan likens it to a gilded cage over breakfast. McGonagall is hardly ever around anymore, she's heard Ron whispering to Hermione in darkened corridors that she hasn't just taken Dumbledore's place at Hogwarts but is also a secret keeper for The Order. The rest of the Professors are too busy looking over their shoulders, and peering from fearful eyes to see the way the school has changed.
When night comes and Hannah wanders the halls, she sees Daphne Greengrass making her way toward Zacharias' room. And Ron kissing Hermione like the world will end in forgotten corridors. Hannah often sees Ginny scurrying about the halls, slinking in and out of shadows. Hannah use to believe that Ginny had found a way to see Harry, but when the Prophet's headline shows Harry in some lonely foreign place she abandons the notion that Harry is still waiting for Ginny. And the way Ginny moves in the night Hannah is certain that she isn't wasting away for Harry either.
In time the school falls into disarray. Gone are the days of strict enforcement, when Hannah wanders she sees nothing but silent chaos eating away at the remaining students. These days students are leaving to join the efforts. Attacks at Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, a London street corner, battles that keep piling up and something had to be done. The first to leave aren't surprising, Ron holding hands with Hermione, Neville bravely, ever the Gryffindor standing alone amongst the blowing winter winds. He is followed by Zacharias, who leaves a stoic Daphne, who leaves herself three days later. Everyday another goes and the school becomes less a prison and more a way to count the warriors, in what is being called by the Daily Prophet as "The Last of the Wizarding Wars".
Ernie scoffs when he reads it and talks about how the Muggles had a 'last' war. He becomes quiet and offers only. "It was their Second War too."
Hannah is surprised that Ernie has stayed as long as he has. Susan often tells her that she should tell him how she feels, that she should kiss Ernie before the end of all things. It's not that Hannah hasn't kissed other boys, she has. But she knows that Ernie will be different. If just the thought of his kiss makes her blush and stammer, makes her palms sweat and knees get weak. She can't imagine his real kiss will do anything less.
It happens one night amongst there spread out collection of chocolate frog cards, his hands on her knee, add her face bloomed in laughter. She doesn't expect it but she closes her eyes and falls apart in his presence. His lips move to her jaw and her neck, they climb to her ears and breathlessly she wonders why?
"Because"he answers "you're my Hannah."
And then it's nothing but mummers in her ear, as a thousand faces watch two nameless Hufflepuffs fall in love.
Three days later, Hannah sobs as Ernie leaves to help the war effort. He kiss her in front of the school. She is left in the bright sunlight, with only her shadow for company.
She follows the others a day after her final year is over.
It's five years into the war that the final battle comes. It's strange because they had no clue this is where everything would fall away. But Hannah think it's fitting. Hogwarts is the only place Hannah can imagine the end would come. They grew up, loved, hated, fought and were freed here so it is poetic that some should die in these beloved halls too.
The fights are bloody, everything swims around Hannah, she dodges the killing curse by falling on the floor and staring into the vacant eyes of Lisa Turpin. Hannah quickly turns away and feels blood smear invisible scars across her face. She watches wordlessly as a masked man hits Ginny with a Cruciatus. Hannah unthinkingly moves to help, but her foot slips on Lisa's hair and she falls to the ground. Her eyes go dark and she thinks she might have broken her ribs. When she coughs blood rushes to mouth. When her face focus she sees another Death Eater come up behind the one still screaming out Crucio. Hannah feels around for her wand but only comes up with a broken stick, she panics for a moment then with nothing left to do she buries her face into the ground as she hears a familiar voice scream out Avada Kedavra. Hannah sobs and blood pools onto the floor. She makes an effort to look out into the battle, I want to remember everything, even the horrible ugly things, she thinks. What she sees gives her hope, only one Death Eater is standing, as his mask comes of she remembers the voice. Draco Malfoy. He bends over to pick up Ginny, who's once carrot hair is stained blood red.
Hannah thinks they were stupid to think that this battle would be easier than the others. That the end would come to them in some great victory. With the blackness closing around her she sees He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named backing to the room, followed by Harry. Behind Harry is the back up the so desperately needed. She sees a still vacant eyed Luna, followed by a bloody Blaise, Pansy, and Ernie. Ernie She sees Ernie among them and feels that dying now would be okay. She has fought and struggled and she can die if she knows Ernie will live.
From the other side of the room she hears Harry shout out the Killing Curse, and for a moment Hannah thinks she might have died. There is stillness all around them, which is broken apart by a light so blind that Hannah is sure it is heaven that has opened up to take the warriors home.
They were silly to think that simply because Voldemort was dead that the prejudice would fade away, that the Death Eaters would surrender. It takes another year before fights stop breaking out, but just like the Ministry is famous for doing. They have long since declared the war over. They call the fights silly and condemn both sides for not letting things go back to normal.
Hannah still dreams of ghosts but is no longer afraid of them. She has long come to peace. There is no longer anything for Hannah to be afraid of. She is Hannah Lilah Abbott. She has a name and she bled for the war. Ernie takes longer to learn but Hannah simply reminds him, as long as it you and me, nothing in the world can break us.