I stood stock-still, unable to move. Unable to breathe. The stone tablet stared blankly at me, whispering of secrets. Secrets forgotten. Secrets forever lost. The hood of my cloak hid the undecided emotion etched upon my face.
Leaves swirled around, creating small funnels in the crisp autumn breeze. They too whispered of her secrets. I could still feel the softness of her skin against mine, her silky brown hair between my fingers, her piercing eyes reading my every thought. I remembered the sound of her voice and the sound of her laugh as clearly as the night air. Vivid memories came rushing back, filling every corner of my mind, as the bold letters stared me in the face. I couldn't escape them. They had haunted my dreams every night since it had occurred.
"They are coming," she whispered in my ear.
I looked desperately into her brown eyes, searching for the hidden answer. "Who's coming?" I asked. "Tell me, I want to help you."
She bit her lip and glanced quickly around; I could see the internal battle raging within her. "I can't. I'm sorry."
Without another word, she kissed me firmly on the lips and slipped out of my grasp, forever. In the pit of my stomach I knew that something was going to go terribly wrong. But before I could do anything to stop her, she had vanished. Everything in my world was now unanswered, incomplete.
I didn't understand because of one simple thing, the war was over; it had been over for some time. The enemy had been killed, the three of them had done it together, and the last of his followers had either been put to death or sent to prison. None of it made sense. None of it.
How is it that someone had wanted her dead? Who had hunted her? Some figment of her past or a mortal enemy that he had never known about? Who had wanted her dead? What had she possibly done to have this happen to her?
I fell to my knees, hunched over in pain. I didn't want to move. I didn't want to live. There was nothing left to live for. My mind wouldn't focus, I couldn't think. I put my hands in my head and continued to kneel there for what seemed like an eternity. The sound of leaves churning and the bare branches of the trees swaying in the breeze met my ears. It was a perfectly peaceful spot, anyone would be content there. But I wasn't. Nothing would ever be the same again, even though she would have wanted me to forget about her. But that was just it, she was unforgettable.
I looked up with dead eyes, the letters etched in stone still staring at me, reminding me inexplicably of my pain. How was it that simple letters could form words that hurt so much? I stood up, unable to take it any longer. Taking one last glance at the stone tablet, I wrapped my cloak around me tightly and then turned to leave.
Snow started to fall, showering my uncovered freckled skin with small flecks of cold. I looked up at the sky. It was dark grey and foreboding. The sun was trying to break free, trying desperately to show its warm, comforting face to the world but to no avail. Rays of light barely pierced through the thick blanket of clouds, a plain reminder that hope had been lost, for me at least. The one thing that I lived for, the one thing I fought for in the war, the one thing I tried so hard to protect, was gone. She was gone, forever. Leaving far too many secrets. Far too many unanswered questions.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled and a shiver ran down my spine. It was a feeling that had been experienced far too many times during the war for me to ignore it. I whirled around, facing the stone tablet that jutted up from the frozen ground. There was nothing there. My eyes scanned the woods, looking for whatever had caused me to feel uneasy. Then I saw it, movement across the way, it was coming in my general direction. Quickly, I found a place to hide, behind one of the larger memorials commemorating someone who had already passed.
I quickly made sure that my black hood sufficiently covered my face and then peeked my head out from behind the hiding spot. My blue eyes saw a slim figure standing over her grave. It was a woman. She was clad in a black cloak of mourning same as me. I couldn't make out her face or her expression but I could clearly see that she was trembling, whether it was from the cold or of sadness I did not know. She placed a token near the grave and then turned away, as if she could no longer bear to look at it. However, she did not move from the spot, instead she waited.
I was confused. Why was there a visitor coming to repay their respects three days after the funeral? I had not attended the funeral because I was far too bitter and angry. I was angry, no infuriated, that I couldn't save her. I wasn't strong enough to save her and because of that, she lost her life.
A familiar faint pop shattered my questioning thoughts. I looked back at the woman to see that a man had apparated near her but his back was to me, making it impossible to see who he was. However, I was just close enough to decipher their low conversation.
The woman in a nervous voice said, "You're late."
"Yes, but the important thing is that I'm here now and it has been finished," the man said, his voice lacking apprehension and fear unlike the woman's which was dripping with panic and uneasiness.
"It doesn't make up for the fact that you were late and I thought that you had been found out. How was I supposed to know that you hadn't been killed?" she hissed.
"You know that never would have happened. Nobody suspects me," he said calmly.
"How do you know that you have succeeded?" she asked.
"Because I saw it with my own eyes, I saw her die and him as well," he said.
"But she was a powerful witch, one of the best Aurors! And not to mention that he was—"
"Don't say the name," he said clamping a hand over her mouth. "You never know who may be listening. You can rest assure that they are both dead, the Order has nothing to fear now. Nothing stands in our way."
"Then we must inform the others," she said quietly.
He nodded as he looked over at her grave. The woman apparated as he turned. My stomach plummeted as I saw the man's face. I was unable to move, unable to breathe. I knew him from first year and all throughout my schooling at Hogwarts. We had been through everything together. He apparated before I could do anything.
I stumbled out from my hiding spot and to her grave. I fell before it, crashing onto my knees. The letters swam in and out of my vision. I knew they would haunt me forever. The fifteen letters that created her name would never let me rest until I found her murderer. Only two words.
My name is Ron Weasley. My lover and best friend has been murdered. Killed. Taken away from me forever. To my knowledge, my best friend, one who I have trusted since our first year of schooling, has betrayed me. We were all Aurors, the best of the best. We defeated Voldemort and his loyal followers. The wizarding community has been told by the Ministry that everything is at peace. But everything is not okay. Everything is not at peace. They either have no awareness of this or trying to cover up something that they have known about for a very long time. My world is now filled with secrets, lies and deception. Everything that I once thought to be true is false. Everyone who I have ever trusted I can no longer trust. The war and everything that I fought for has been in vain. It was farce.
Hermione Granger, my lover and best friend has been murdered. Harry Potter, my best friend, one who I have trusted since our first year of schooling, has betrayed me. My name is Ron Weasley and this is my story.