Okay, I'm going to start off with a couple of warnings for this piece:
-It's very AU
-There is death!
-Some characters that are supposedly dead in the book are quite alive (like Fred and Tonks)
So be warned!
Oh, and this is a three-shot
"Avada Kedavra!"
A sudden astonished silence filled the Great Hall as those words were muttered by none other than Harry Potter, the raven-haired Chosen One. His opponent was the insane Dark Lord himself, looking menacing with his wand up and cruel smile. But as of now the dark wizard's cruel smile had disappeared, and in its wake was a shocked gape.
The Killing Curse had hit its mark.
Many people surrounding the two gaped, and some even dared to gasp. The Dark Lord proceeded to fall slowly to his knees, a defeated look on his face. Students and Death Eaters alike continued to stare—some in shock, others in disbelief, and the rare few with hope. No one could actually believe that Voldemort—the wizard akin to fear itself—was on his knees, defeated. It was almost too thrilling (or soul-crushing) to believe.
But it was without a doubt true, because a few seconds after the curse had hit him, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named lie dead for all to see, shock eternally etched into his features.
People were afraid to breathe as they all looked on at the dead body of Lord Voldemort and at Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry's face was emotionless as he looked on at his enemy since birth. He looked as if even he couldn't believe that he did it. That everyone was finally safe after many painful years. But after a couple minutes of complete silence and shock, Harry Potter broke out into a small smile. Not a huge one, but a small smile nonetheless. He didn't look proud that he just killed someone, but he looked proud that everyone was out of danger (like the true martyr he was).
Slowly but surely other people also began to break out into smiles and even cheers. The excitement in the air slowly increased, until there was no other feeling in the room (except for the shock and/or denial from Voldemort's loyal followers). The Aurors and Professors who weren't caught up in the thrill that came with Voldemort's death were grabbing the Death Eaters that were still alive while they were caught up in disbelief. The Death Eaters who weren't already caught chose to try and flee...
All accept one.
Bellatrix Lestrange stood up shakily as she looked at her Dark Lord. She wanted to deny what had happened...for the first time in many, many years she actually felt tears wet her eyes. They came from the knot of misery in her stomach at losing her most merciful Lord, and at the thought of being thrown back in her own personal hell—Azkaban. She shuddered at the thought.
It was only when people began to cheer and clap around her did she realize that there was no room for denial or tears over her Lord.
All there was room for was revenge.
Anger quickly filled her veins like fire, scorching and burning up the only few sane and compassionate thoughts and feelings she had in her body. It filled her up until there was no room for tears, denial or any other thought or feelings...
Except one.
She suddenly wanted very badly to hurt someone. She wanted to rip someone to shreds. She wanted to torture and maim someone. She wanted to torture and then—and then...she wanted to kill someone!
...A certain someone.
She lifted her wand and spotted Baby Potter, the man who had killed her Dark Lord. Rage rushed through her, and almost unconsciously she began to whisper, "Avada—"
But it was then that Hermione Granger, one of the best friends and the lover of the Chosen One, saw what was about to happen. She saw Bellatrix was pointing her wand at Harry and whispering the Killing Curse. Panic quickly filled Hermione to the brim...so much she could barely contain it enough to think rationally. Hermione knew she had to act fast...Harry couldn't move in time and couldn't block it either...Bellatrix was too far away to tackle, and it was too late to cast a spell that could take Bellatrix's wand or distract her. Hermione knew if she didn't do something within a few seconds the love of her life was going to die. So she did the one thing that could save her best friend. She stood in front of him defiantly...
Right in the warpath of the Killing Curse
It was just then that Bellatrix finished uttering the spell and a flash of green light exploded from her wand. Thankfully by then Hermione was standing protectively in front of Harry. Harry on the other hand had just realized that Hermione was behind him. He turned around, expecting to see Hermione's open arms waiting to embrace him, lips ready to kiss his and a large smile on her face. He turned around...only to see the green light hit its mark.
It hit Hermione square in the chest.
Time had suddenly slowed for almost everyone in the Hall. They watched as Hermione's expression went from determined to a barely-hidden shock. Her mouth opened into a small 'o', and her eyes became dim. She began to collapse and crumble like Voldemort had done only minutes before, but when she was about to hit the floor two muscular arms grabbed her from behind. It was none other than the man she had saved, who was staring in shock at her as they both fell into a heap on the floor.
Every cheer had died and every smile had faded. Dead silence took place of the cheering and laughter from only a few seconds before. The scene had caught everyone's attention. They saw Harry clutching at a deadly-still Hermione, tears running down his face at a rapid pace. He was muttering incomplete sentences in the girl's ear, but Hermione showed no sign of hearing him. And from afar was a grinning Bellatrix Lestrange, who looked like she might just start to skip and sing.
The moment of silence was shattered instantly though when suddenly everything erupted into chaos.
Ron Weasley was running towards Harry and Hermione with tears forming; Bellatrix started to laugh like a small child; everyone was either crying or staring at the Golden Trio; Professors and Aurors that weren't already taking away Death Eaters began to surge forward to grab Bellatrix...
And finally, it began to rain.
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Celebrations that night weren't as bright as they should've been. The loss of so many people definitely put a damper on things. But they had a celebration anyways...to celebrate the lives of the dead, to celebrate this new golden age, to celebrate that they were finally (at least for that night) going to be free from the pain, the worry, and the suffering that had come when Voldemort came to power.
But at the celebrations that night (and many nights to come for that matter) there were many noticeable faces missing. Like the two living parts of the Trio, and the Weasley clan. And not to mention many mourning people.
That night while many people were happy and partying, Tonks, Harry, and the Weasley clan could be seen in the (large) room full of the dead. They were all gathered around a few bodies, but for the most part they were all mourning over three major losses: Hermione Granger, Charlie Weasley and Remus Lupin.
The three bodies looked as if they were just sleeping, but everyone knew better. It was a heartbreaking scene really to any onlooker. Tonks was bending over Lupin and her body was wracked with sobs. Ron and Ginny Weasley were both kneeling in between Charlie and Hermione, silent tears falling down their faces. Harry was in between Hermione and Lupin, a look of shock and dried tear-tracks still on his face. As for the rest of the Weasley clan, they were all on the sidelines, crying over all three losses (but mostly over Charlie's cold body).
It was as if a mist of pain and sadness had filled the room with no happy soul in sight. All there was was mourning people.
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A couple of days passed since the Final Battle and life hadn't changed like everyone thought it would. Harry and his friends imagined that life would somehow...brighter after the war was over. People would be happy and smiling, no one would live in fear or pain...but nothing had changed. It was still raining outside, many people wore sad expressions, and there were funerals almost every other day.
Harry, the Wealsey clan, and anyone who had loved and cared for Hermione (and even some who didn't) went to a funeral for her just 8 days after her death. The funeral was large, because not only was Harry able to afford a massive one, but also because nobody would let her have a small one. Many people came. Even Draco Malfoy, childhood enemy for most of their lives, showed up and even looked mournful.
Those 3 hours that were spent beside Hermione's closed casket were of torture for Ron, Harry and Ginny.
They all thought they had dealt with their emotions and were ready for the funeral, but they weren't. None of them were. Many people were crying within the first half hour. It began to rain only 10 minutes in and it was strange to think that even the clouds were mourning with them.
The most horrible thing was that Harry was not only mourning for the love of his life that died for him...he was mourning for the child in Hermione's womb that was never born.
It was Poppy Pomfrey who told Harry about Hermione's pregnancy. She told Harry that he had a right to know, since he was the father of the child and all. Hermione herself and Poppy found out only a few days before the war that she was going to have a baby.
"She came to me one morning and demanded a check-up. I asked her what for and she told me there was a possibility she was expecting a child. I was shocked at first but of course I did what she asked. When the test turned out positive, she couldn't have been more overjoyed. She was so excited to have a little girl (I found out the gender of the child while checking up on her)...the only reason she didn't tell you was because she knew you'd sit her out of the Final Battle if she did. So I reluctantly—because even I didn't want her in the battlefield—I did a couple of strong spells to protect the baby from harm. I also did a glamour charm so no one could see the baby bump; specifically you...The funny thing is, they all worked (the glamour and the other spells) the whole time, right up until she died. The only reason they stopped working was because the life-giver had no more life to give." Pomfrey had told Harry a couple of days before the funeral. Harry didn't let anyone know about it—not even Ron—and he was going to keep it that way until the day he died.
He remembered the night they conceived the baby. It had been 2-3 weeks after Hermione had been tortured. She had had a nightmare about him dying at Voldemort's hand and of her being tortured at Bellatrix's. When he had when to comfort his girlfriend and reassure her he was alright, (A/N Yeah, they were a couple throughout DH) he ended up making love to her. It had been the first night in awhile in which he had ever been truly happy. It had also been one of the last nights he had ever been truly happy.
Since it was the first time for both of them, they both had forgotten to cast a contraption charm.
Later on during the funeral as Harry watched Hermione's casket being lowered into the ground, he suddenly realized what he would've named the baby had it been born.
Rain
Rain Lily Potter
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Life didn't get any better after the funeral. Ron's heart was broken after the loss of his brother and best friend, Harry practically hated himself for not being able to protect his lover and child, and Ginny never smiled anymore. But they weren't the only ones mourning. Almost everyone in the Wizarding World was mourning over someone or something.
Mr and Mrs. Weasley (and everyone else in the Weasley clan) were mourning over Charlie; Tonks was mourning over Lupin while also trying to take care of a clueless Teddy. People helped her of course, but it was still tough.
Lavender Brown had tried to comfort Ron (her boyfriend) a month or two after the war. She tried to make him happy again with her sweet smiles and quirky personality, but that was to no avail either.
Funerals were conducted on almost every other day for all of the war heroes and the innocents caught in the crossfire.
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4½ months had passed since the Final Battle and anyone and everyone who had died in or because of the war had gotten their funeral. Almost everyone who had lost someone during the war had finally gained closure. Some people were actually beginning to show happiness(which was essentially the point of defeating Voldemort; to create happiness and freedom for the Wizarding World after so many years of darkness).
But for many people, the dark depression that had consumed them when it was all said and done refused to let go. It also didn't help that the sun hadn't come out ever since the morning before the Final Battle. It was as if even the Earth was mourning over all the losses from the war.
Harry Potter found himself wallowing in this depression one night in front of the fire. He was in the Gryffindor common room (he knew Hermione would've wanted him and Ron back in school for their final year) exhausted from all the homework he had gotten. Sadly in school it didn't matter if he defeated the Dark Lord or not, so he got piled with work just like any other student.
He was just wallowing, dozing and thinking about his years at Hogwarts when he heard it. Humming...A sweet harmony, probably hummed by a woman. At first he thought it was Lavender or possibly Ginny, but Ginny hasn't done anything like that in weeks and Lavender was probably sleeping like a log right about now. It was past midnight after all. Then who...?
"Harry?"
Hermione?
Review pretty please? *pouts*
