Cowardice
Summary: He had been particularly brave during his lifetime.
A/N: Was going to be a story about Nick and Myrtle, but became a character study about Nick instead.
I've not forgotten Eternal Courtship, to those two of you who actually care. The next chapter is being written but it's dragging on a bit, and I may just decide to make it a standalone story and post it separately instead. But we'll see.
(o/o/o)
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington was known to have been particularly brave during his lifetime. And why should that surprise anyone? He was a Gryffindor, was he not? Yes, he'd been a very brave man in his life, facing any challenge that was presented him with no thought of the danger. He had saved many lives, had helped many people, and had attended many parties. He'd even been a member of King Henry VII's royal court.
It was in his death that he had been a coward. It was when faced with his inevitable death that he'd lost it, that his renowned bravery had left him. Even in death he'd remained a coward. He'd seen the Veil before him, heard the voices of the people who'd gone before him, but had stopped short, unwilling- afraid- to pass through it. His fear, his shameful cowardice, had anchored him to the world of the living, a mere shadow of himself.
And with the shame of his cowardice upon him, he'd gone to the place that those other cowards who couldn't face death go- Hogwarts, his old school, the place where everyone knew how brave he was.
Gryffindor had no ghost at the time- how could it? Gryffindors were brave, a true Gryffindor would not fear death, would have no trouble passing through the Veil to whatever waited Beyond.
Most living did not understand that ghosts existed because they feared death. Most of them never even gave it a thought; those that did were too polite to ask. Sometimes a student, mourning the loss of someone close to them, would think to ask, desperate for the chance to see their loved one again, to have them back. But these cases were rare, and even rarer were the students who thought about the revelation afterward. It didn't matter to them- all that mattered was their loss. They did not care for the person who stood before them, did not care for the circumstances that led to that person's existence.
It was as it should be. One does not mourn a coward.