To everybody else, it was a victory. A victory. He would never see the victory; all he would see are the faces of the dead, the tears rolling down the cheeks of their families. But nevertheless, they would call it a victory.
He remembered walking down the great hall after the battle. He didn't want to look at the faces, at the people who had died because he was too much of a coward to finish it. He had dragged these people into the fight and now they were dead. He couldn't forgive himself for that. He wouldn't let him forgive himself. These were his demons, and he deserved for them to haunt him. But as he walked, he looked. He soaked in every detail of every still body there. They were friends, family, people who had died to protect him. Just like his parents.
He wouldn't allow himself to be near people anymore; everybody he came into contact with ended up dead. His parents, every one of his parents' friends, his own friends. No, he'd remain alone and everybody would be safer for it. He resolved to disappear, just as his godfather had once done. He'd only go out when he had to and only under his cloak, and he'd stay in his godfather's home.
Voices called to him as he walked through the entrance hall and onto the grounds, but he ignored them. A couple of people tried to chase after him, but he kept moving. He had to distance himself now. The more people that hated him now, the easier it would be to be alone later. His motions were almost mechanical, his face blank and what few people were outside gave him half-hearted smiles laced with traces of awe and pity. But he kept walking until he found himself on the edge of the black lake.
He sighed. There was nowhere left where he could go without dragging up painful memories of the friends he once had. The last time he was here, there was a shaggy black dog watching his every move with his tail wagging nonstop. There were two red-headed freckled boys here, taking bets that he'd come out on top. As he looked down the bank of the lake, he imagined the scene and it sprang up in his mind like a pop-up book. Several rows of stands filled with cheering people, all with smiles on their faces. Three faces looking back in his direction as they prepares to jump into the freezing depths of the lake. But as he looked on the image faded from his mind, starting with the seventeen year-old Hufflepuff with the happy smile and the exited look in his eyes. But nobody was smiling anymore, and everybody's eyes were either hollow or filled with tears.
He wiped the tears from his eyes as he took one last wistful look over the forest, the lake, and the castle. "Goodbye." He turned and was gone.
Eh, I was in a mood. Hope you enjoyed this short little piece