Title: Cemetery Roses

Warnings: None

The soft crunch of boots on old stone echoed over the cemetery grounds. The cool mist partially concealed a young woman making her way through the maze of gravestones. She stumbled over the ground, unkempt for almost fifty years, and had to catch herself several times, grabbing a corner of broken stone or the arm of a crumbling angel. She finally stopped at an old, cracked marble slab.

She paused for a moment to stare down at the golden lettering before reaching into the messenger bag at her side. She carefully extracted a skull covered heavily in runes. "Hey. We're here," she said quietly into what had once been the skull's ear.

There was a flare of soft gold light amidst black smoke and a man materialized by her side. He was looking down at the single rose on the grave, a vague smile on his face.

The rose was old, black from lack of water, as dead as its surroundings. The wind and rain had swept most of its petals away, but there was peace in the image of the only flower left in the cemetery.

The two stood for a long time over the grave, thinking about the man who was buried there. A cool wind swept through, disturbing the woman's short dark hair. It passed the man gently, leaving him as unrumpled as if it had never touched him.

Finally, she bent down and set a new rose next to the old one. She stood and put her hands in her pockets. She watched the grave a moment longer before turning her eyes to the man.

"He sounds like a great person. I wish I had been able to meet him."

The man nodded. "'He died doing the right thing.'" He quoted softly, knowingly, from the grave stone. He turned to her slowly and smiled after a moment. "Thank you."

She nodded and smiled back. Several sarcastic things about debt came to her mind, but she suppressed them and began to walk away. The man followed closely behind, seemingly unbothered by the uneven ground.

Soon the two had left the hallowed ground to its mists and crumbling stone and the soft color of cemetery roses against white marble.

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A/N: In 'Grave Peril,' Harry got a white marble grave stone and its own spot in the graveyard. I figured he would go there when he died.