Disclaimer: Harry Potter and his world are the work of the lovely and talented JK Rowling. This piece is merely the product of a devoted fan, and is not intended for profit of any sort.

Roadside

It was, perhaps, hours later that she found herself still standing there, by the side of the dirt road where he had bid her goodbye. The gravel had long since settled from their departure in a flurry of robes and promises. Promises that she knew full well none of them had any right to make. But she still took them, blindly accepting as truth his confession that he would die if he had to watch her go through what he knew he was facing. It was stupid, he had said, and completely selfish on his part; perhaps the only truly selfish thing he'd done in a very long while. That admission had shaken her deeply; he would forego his own unspoken rule of selfless nobility for her. He could not psychologically and emotionally function without at least thinking that she was safely elsewhere. Almost idiotic logic on his part, but true nonetheless.

And so she stayed behind as the three left, stranded on a country road with the other woman in his life—a snowy owl deemed too conspicuous to make the journey safely. Absently, she reached up and stroked the white feathers, a gentle nip on her fingertips seeming to convey the same deep-seated fears she herself felt. At least someone understood.

--

At dusk she rose from her resting place underneath a convenient nearby tree, finally ready to face what lie ahead. She called softly to the owl nestled on a branch several feet above and turned towards the lane once again. A flurry of wings later she felt the warm weight of the bird on her shoulder. "Here we go, girl. It's just you and me for a while, right? He'll be back before we know it." A low, mournful hoot answered her, and she sighed, "I know, but if we keep telling ourselves that, we might even start to believe it." The ruffled feathers of her companion clearly indicated disagreement, and she almost laughed at the owl's perception of the situation.

"Okay. Fine. Let's just go home then, yeah?" The owl took flight moments later as the girl spun and disappeared, reappearing several miles away in front of a lopsided house that somehow seemed much emptier than it had earlier that day.

--Fin

Author's Note: I am slowly picking up the pieces of my writing that were so precipitously abandoned two and a half years ago when I left for all things military. I don't remember what this was supposed to be a part of, but something about it begged not to be deleted.