Harry thought nothing could ruin the happiness of defeating Voldemort. It was over. Finally. After all these years, Harry had finally killed Lord Voldemort. You-Know-Who, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Tom Marvolo Riddle was dead. Harry thought of all those who had died because of this seemingly never-ending battle. Lily, James, Sirius, Dumbledore, Mad-Eye, Fred, Tonks, Lupin, the list was too long to bear. He lifted his head, realizing how exhausted he was. He looked around, at all the faces looking down at him. A deadly silence hung in the air, which was soon interrupted by cheering, tired faces lighting up with smiles, tears of sorrow turning into tears of happiness. Harry himself was smiling. He then thought of Ginny, and started searching for her in the crowd. He wanted to hold her, hold her tight and never let go. He finally found her among the other Weasley's, and before he could utter a word, Mrs. Weasley had caught him in a tight hug,
"Oh Harry my dear boy, Harry Harry Harry, you brave brave boy," she said between sobs.
"I'm alright Mrs. Weasley, everything is alright." He detached himself from her, and reached for Ginny, who wrapped her arms around his neck. They stood there for what seemed only a short moment, until Harry remembered his two best friends.
"Where's Ron and Hermione?"
"Hermione went to go find Ron, I saw her leaving the Great Hall, but she hasn't come back yet."
"I need to find them" he whispered, upset that something had already ruined his moment with Ginny. He placed a tender kiss on her lips, and held her face between his hands so he could see her eyes for one last moment,
"I'll be back." and with that, he made his way out of the great hall, in search of his two best friends.
He turned right, and out into the hallway. After a few minutes of calling out their names, he heard a noise. As he got closer, he identified the noise as sobs. He turned another corner and saw Hermione, her hair messy and red with blood, she was screaming and sobbing, her head bent over a body. She was clenching the body's face, and Harry could see strands of red hair between her fingers. With trembling lips, Harry whispered
"Hermione, what's wrong?"
She looked up, and the state of her face made Harry sick. Her eyes were so red and puffy; they were bound to explode at any moment. Her mouth opening and closing, trying to make a sound, but her sobs were too overwhelming. Her forehead was creased into so many lines; it was barely a forehead anymore. Harry found his last scrap of courage, and looked down at the face Hermione was holding.
"No. No, Hermione, this can't be, do something, THERE MUST BE SOMETHING YOU CAN DO!" But Hermione just shook her head from side to side, crying even harder.
Harry fell onto his knees. Everything became blurry, whether it was because of his tears, or the fact that it felt as though he was about to faint, he did not know. Harry thought nothing could ruin the happiness of defeating Voldemort. He was wrong.