Title: Aftershock

Author: Beloved Nightmare

Pairings: HP/OC, RW/HG, NL/LL

Warnings: Character death, ignorance of epilogue, OCs.

Full Summary: After the war's end, I believed that things would be just as good, if not better, than before. I was wrong. I hadn't anticipated the aftershock that was to come, or all the pain that it would bring to me and others. I tried to forget and put my past behind me, including my now deceased family, friends, and beloved. I suppose it was only natural that I would fall in love with someone who was trying to do the same.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any affiliated characters, locations, events or items. J.K. Rowling, whom I am not, owns all of that. I only own this story and its events.

Aftershock: 1. a small earthquake or tremor that follows a major earthquake 2. The effect, result or repercussion of an event; aftermath; consequence

I grew up being told that everything happens for a reason and that things would get worse before they got better. My parents had made it perfectly clear that everything that happened had an effect, even if it was not immediately realized. I always knew that following every earthquake, there would be an aftershock. I just never knew that these seemingly unimportant events could be more devastating than the main event.

Three days after the fall of Voldemort, people were still celebrating. I was invited to a banquet and ball to be held at the home of one of my closer friends, Leona Rader. The guest list was extensive; Leona's stepfather knew nearly everybody in wizarding Britain, and everybody who had been on the "good" side was encouraged to come if they wanted to and were able to. I was asked in helping with making preparations. I didn't mind in the slightest. I was actually quite excited for the festivity. Now that things were good again, why shouldn't we celebrate? Why shouldn't we be happy? It seemed that in war days, happiness had been discarded by me and others in favor of fear and despair. If helping my friends hang some banners and make some dessert meant helping them rediscover joy, I was more than willing to dive into it.

Ever so carefully, I squirted frosting out of a little plastic baggie attached to a nozzle. I was trying (and failing miserably) to make a border of little pink roses on top of the circular cake. What I got instead was a bunch of messy little clumps of icing that looked about as much like roses as a cow looks like a unicorn. I scowled. If only it was one day later, then, I would be seventeen and could use magic to shape them into actual flowers.

"How is the cake decorating coming, Callie?" a voice said in my ear. I didn't have to turn around to know who that voice belonged to: Ginevra Molly Weasley, more commonly known as Ginny. "Wow. Sorry to tell you, Cal, but those are probably the worst roses that I've ever seen in my life."

I turned and raised my eyebrows at her. "Ginny, Ginny, Ginny: sorry to tell you, but there's a price for that insult." I pressed the end of the bag forcefully, and the rosy frosting squirted onto her black shirt. "And that's it."

"Oh, yeah?" Ginny asked, grinning broadly. She grabbed at the nearby bowl that I had mixed the concoction in and stuck her fingers into it before using them to make five lines on my own white shirt. I made an outraged noise and grabbed my icing bag again.

"This means war, Ginny Weasley!"

The redhead and I had known each other since we were probably two years old. That was when my father started to work at the ministry alongside hers. Our mums were both stay at home mothers, used to arrange play dates between Ginny, her brothers Ron, Fred, and George, and myself. Well, the play dates were really just made for me and Ginny, but the boys always found a way to include themselves. I guess that it was because that they rarely got to play with anyone that wasn't one of their siblings. Through constant interaction, I had been informally adopted by the Weasley boys as their honorary sister by age four. Through Ginny and her brothers, I also became friendly with Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, though I was never as close to them as she was.

I was secretly very glad that Ginny and I were having our icing fight. The last time I had seen my friend two days ago, she had been extremely torn up over her brother's death. I had been, too. As an only child, I had always been attached to Ginny's brothers, Fred and George especially. They had taken it upon themselves to protect me from all attackers during the days we were in school together. It was a relief to see that she was, at least outwardly, happier than she had been when I had seen her then.

"Callie! Ginny! What do you two think you're doing? That icing is for the cake, not your clothes!" Leona Rader's exasperated voice said from the doorway of the kitchen. Ginny and I whipped around simultaneously to see the very angry brunette with her hands on her hips. With a wave of her wand, the pink icing removed itself from our garments and flew onto the cake in the shapes of perfect roses. Another flick fixed the damage to my own poorly made flowers. I looked back at Leona. She was now wearing olive green dress robes. "People are starting to arrive, including your boyfriend, Callie. Go get changed into your dress robes."

"Yes, Lee," we said together as we left the kitchen and headed towards Leona's bedroom, which had become the dressing room for the three of us tonight. Ginny got dressed in a vintage cream-colored set that looked very nice on her. I helped her scoop her hair into a loose bun, and she looked very nice with her hair up. I put on my own black and gold robes easily. While I was in the process of placing a decorative black flower comb into my own short hair, the sounds of explosions and screams came into the room.

"What was -?" I started only to be interrupted when the door flew open and Ginny flew out of it. I could only stare after her in shock. "Gin, where are you going?"

The only part of her answer I caught as she ran was "Harry!" I cursed under my breath and reached for my wand on a nearby dresser. I saw that Ginny's was still there and that only made me curse louder. What did she plan to do without her wand? Forgetting for the moment about the high heels I was supposed to put on, I followed her lead with both of the wands clutched tightly my left hand.

As I reached the base of the tall stairs, I caught a sight that terrified me. Several masked death eaters were in the room, attacking those who were still standing. I was terrified by how many bodies I saw on the floor. I tried to keep focused on what I needed to do: I needed to find Ginny and give her the wand. Finally, I spotted her being corned by a large death eater with a raised wand. I surged towards them.

Raising both wands as I ran, I yelled, "Stupefy!" The spell fired and the black-cloaked stranger fell to the ground. Ginny looked for the source of the spell, only to see me. She gave me a trembling smile as I finally reached her. Holding out her wand, I said, "Forget something, Ginny?" My voice was unusually stiff and heavy as I spoke though I tried to keep it light.

"Thanks," she whispered. As she took the stick, I noticed that she was trembling slightly. Looking at me wide-eyed, she asked, "Have you seen anybody?" I shook my head silently, and her eyes got wider.

"Listen, Gin. Leona said that Todd was here, so I'm going to look for him. You should look for Harry, too, and anyone else that you might recognize." I give her a half-smile. "Be careful, okay?"

She nodded, already gone again. I scanned the crowd until I finally saw the one I searched for: my steady boyfriend since third year, Todd Avery. I hurried towards him, only to trip over a body half way across the room. I looked down and realized that I knew that face. I had tripped over my father, who looked at me with unseeing eyes. Bewildered, I looked at to the left, and then the right, and saw my mum's face. I thought for a moment that I might be sick. There wasn't anything that could do for them now, I told myself over and over again. I tried to stand up again and looked for Todd's face. With a start, I realized I couldn't see him.

I caught the sight of two bursts of emerald light coming from the same spot and looked to see two figures falling fast right were I had last spotted Todd. I went towards there, only to find what I had least been hoping to see: the handsome face of the boy I loved, stiff and unfeeling on the ground.

I sank to my knees beside him, letting my wand drop on the floor. I didn't cry or yell like I felt I should have. For the moment, I was unable to feel anything at all. I merely looked at the face I knew so well: thick brown curls, high cheekbones, gray eyes. I could pinpoint exactly where the dimple in his right cheek would have been if he were smiling. I hardly even noticed the battle the raged all around me. I just stared at him, unwilling to believe that he was dead, even if I knew that it was true. I staunchly refused to accept it. In a few seconds, he was going to stand up, dust off, and take my hand. He would pull me onto my feet and the two of us would fight side by side, just like the last time we had been surrounded by death eaters…

"Look what I've found," a male voice above me sneered. I looked up then. The voice was familiar, but the face was unseen behind its mask. In my current daze, I didn't move. I gazed at the tall, lean figure above me. I noticed that he had long, pale-blond hair. I still didn't recognize him, though it should have been obvious. "A little half-blood and her dead blood-traitor of a boyfriend. I suppose you'd like to join him, wouldn't you?" When I didn't reply, he went on. "Out of the kindness of my heart, I'll let it happen." He pointed a wand me, and I looked down at the face of my love once again. I'd get to see him again when I died, I hoped dully. "Avada," he began. I braced myself.

"Stupefy!" a voice behind him called. I looked up again to see the man fall and several familiar faces appear. I faintly recognized the messy black hair and jade eyes of the one directly in front of me. The closest two besides him, a brunette with a concerned face and a bewildered redhead, stared at me, as well as the numerous amount of others behind them. I stared back.

"Callie?" the redhead asked slowly. I knew him after that. It was Ron, I thought immediately. Realizing that it was Ron made me understand the identities of the other two as well: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. "What's going on here?"

I felt wetness on my cheeks, and my eyes stung. "I don't know," I whispered, looking down at the floor. I reached up to wipe away my tears. "I was upstairs with Ginny, and there was a loud noise, and she ran down here, and I did, too, and there was fighting and bodies and yelling, and I was trying to find her, so I could give her her wand, and I did that, and then I was looking for Todd, and then I tripped over my parents, and I- I-," I was suddenly sobbing, fat, salty tears running down my cheeks as I tried and tried to control them somehow.

"Where's Ginny?" Harry asked. His voice was deathly low. He kneeled beside me, hands on my shoulders. "Callie, where's Ginny?"

I shook my head. "I don't know," I whispered. "We split up."

Harry left quickly, Ron and several other redheads following him. I stood up to see two recognizable people, Hermione and Luna Lovegood, standing in front of me. Luna looked less dreamy than usual, a particularly rare event. I looked around; besides the new arrivals, it seemed that no one in the room was left on their feet. The others seemed to be identifying the dead and the injured, though from the distance, I could see that Harry was looking for a particular person. I knew who it was in a heartbeat, and suddenly, he gave a cry and fell onto the ground. The others and I all converged onto the spot, and I felt a new round of tears pour down my cheeks as I looked to see my best friend, eyes wide open and unseeing, clutched in his arms. A murmur went through the gathered crowd, and Harry was the only silent person.

"G-ginny," I whispered, "No." Beside me, Hermione gasped and threw herself into Ron's arms. He buried his face in her hair, and it was so affectionate that I felt sick. Across from us in the little circle, Ginny's mum and dad were doing the same. My breath came in thick sobs now, my crying no longer limited to the moisture from my eyes. I felt shaky. "No. No."

I pushed my way through the crowd, towards where the hole was blasted into the wall was. Ignoring the door, I went through the rubble. I looked back, only to see the mourning of the group and the many bodies. I realized that I wasn't wearing shoes as I noticed the trail of bloody footprints that appeared behind me. I walked for a while before simply sitting down in the grass in my fancy dress robes and crying. As far as I was concerned, my life was over.