"Remember me," He whispered as he closed his eyes. That was it, the final words he spoke to her. No comfort, no profession of love. Just a last ditch effort to not end in death as so many in history have.
And she had tried, within the battle that followed, she tried to keep him in her mind. Even after, once the dead had been buried.
Too many dead, too many buried.
He was in her mind. But he wasn't the only one.
Many more had died, didn't they deserve remembering too? Or was 'the boy-who-lived' more important and somehow more worthy of memory? There were too many, but all deserving.
So she had tried. Tried to keep them all in her mind, tried to keep them all 'alive is spirit' as she had heard someone once say. But there came a point, she wasn't quite sure where that point was, but there came a point where it seemed the dead should be left dead. Wasn't it best just to let them go?
So she had tried that, tried to let them go. Not remember the many faces, the blood stains that never seemed to fade, the un-fitting aroma of flowers around all the fresh graves.
Too many graves.
But that seemed impossible, there were so many.
Too many memories.
They didn't leave her alone. Every time she closed her eyes, a new face would appear, looking hurt, faded, but still seeming alive. Why was she burdened with remembering them? Didn't they all have family members to do that? But no, she guessed many of them didn't. It was a long war, bitter and violent.
Too much violence.
So she was stuck, trapped, haunted. There was no way out of remembering the dead, except of course, joining them. She imagined it, imagined one moment not seeing any more faces. No more thoughts, no more memories, no more voices and screams of the dead in her ear.
Too much death, too many voices.
There were so many dead, what did one more matter? She could be the only one left, the only one remembering. If she was gone, they'd all be gone. The dead would be dead, gone.
Too many gone.
She could fix it, all it would cost was her life. She smiled as she found a knife, it would be easier than a wand. Better that it end without magic. And then she would be gone, they'd all be gone. No more pain.
Too much pain.