Ten Years Ago (the night Ron died)
Harry had found the letter on Ron's bed, with a few droplets of blood spilling its contents. The sheets were messy and Ron's lamp had been knocked over to the ground, shattering its fragments. From what Harry took it, Ron had been kidnapped. He quickly read the letter, and dropped it, his face deathly white. He ran towards the portrait hole, determined to find Ron before it was too late. He bumped into an unsuspected Elizabeth, who was coming from Quidditch practice, drenched in sweat. She was knocked to the ground, her broom beside her.
"Harry! What was that for?!" She cried out as Harry hastily helped her up. "Quick! Elizabeth, Ron's been captured by Voldemort! He's being held at the Forbidden Forest! I got to go before it's too late!" Harry drastically cried out. Elizabeth's face turned pale.
"Oh my god, no! I'm coming with you!" Elizabeth picked up her broom and ran out the portrait hole, Harry behind her. They climbed onto the broomstick once they reached outside; the moon hiding behind the frightening cloudy skies, attempting to shade Ron's body from the two. Harry muttered a quick lightning spell and spotted something at the edge of the forest, twitching slightly. Elizabeth spotted it as well and accelerated to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry jumped off the broom before it even touched the ground, not bothering to cover up the sound of his muddy sneakers. Elizabeth raced behind him and gasped when she saw the pitiful sight.
The moon had come out from behind the clouds, but somehow, that made it much worse as she spotted Ron's limp body, so fragile and skinny, as opposed to the way it usually was. His bright red hair was swept across his forehead and seemed even brighter than ever, even in the darkness. His usual blue dazzling eyes were open wide, the moon reflecting off the pools of the topaz-like color. His face was ghastly ashen and pasty, swallowing him. On his upper left arm, his sleeve was rolled up all the way and even in the vague, hazy dimness, they could both see the symbol of Voldemort's followers- the Dark Mark. Harry turned sallow; the only color in his face was his green eyes, looking over Ron's body with a burning, fierce desire of hatred and loathing. He turned towards Elizabeth slowly, meeting her sapphire-olive eyes, startling her.
"Harry, don't..." She whimpered, her hand trembling as she made a move to touch Ron. She noticed his shirt was stained red and tore it open to reveal a long, deep gash in the middle of his chest, dipping with crimson blood. Then, she looked back to his face, glancing up to meet his blank, vacant eyes. This distressed her greatly and she began to weep, clinging onto Harry. He didn't bother to hide his tears either as he couldn't stand the sight of his best friend, brutally murdered by his worst enemy. He heard pounding footsteps and voices from somewhere distant, but he didn't care about those right now. He felt himself being pried away from Elizabeth and through his tear-stricken eyes; he noticed that it was Remus Lupin, who looked mortified at the sight in front of him. Harry spotted Hermione and Ginny running towards them.
Suddenly, he felt tremendous surge of pain and hopelessness rush through him. He broke free from Lupin's grasp, despite the anguished shouts and ran towards Ginny, arms open. He knew he didn't want her to see her brother like this, no matter what. He had just lost his best friend; he didn't want to lose his girlfriend either. He knew that if she saw him and saw the Dark Mark and the way his blood poured out, she would just hate him for life and he didn't want that on his conscience. On his other side, he noticed vaguely that Elizabeth was restraining Hermione from seeing. Harry felt a lump in his throat. Hermione would be devastated if she saw her boyfriend like that. He knew that Hermione and Ron had been hiding their feelings for over six years now and had finally admitted to each other just a year ago that they loved each other. Now, Hermione would end up alone forever. Harry couldn't bear such a thought and buried himself in Ginny's hair, who was still attempting to free herself from Harry in order to see what was going on.
"Harry, what are you doing? I heard something happened to Ron! Come on, why won't you let go? Why can't I see Ron? What happened to him? Is he...oh my god...Harry, is he dead?" She was holding her breath, waiting for Harry to reassure her or to break her. Harry didn't know what to do, but he knew somewhere deep down inside his hollow, breaking heart that he ought to tell her the truth. He looked down into her eyes, tears still streaming down his face and leaked onto hers. He brushed one aside and admitted quietly, "Ron's dead."
It was only two little words, but they took her away. She looked positively faint, tears starting to well up inside her eyes. She looked past Harry, trying to catch a glimpse of her brother, but Harry was still struggling to not let her. She started pushing him harder, but Harry held on for dear life.
"Harry, let me go! I have to see him! Harry James Potter, you better let me go or I'll..." But she never finished her sentence because she broke down in a fit of sobs. She sank slowly to her feet, her head in her hands, sniffling. Harry sank down with her, holding her tightly in an embrace, soothing her. He glanced over to where Elizabeth was and sighed with relief that she had managed to restrain Hermione from seeing Ron and she too, was in a heap of tears. Then, he noticed that Elizabeth was also talking with Andrew, who had apparently just arrived at the scene and was drenched in sweat, his damp hair plastered to his face.
Harry turned his attention back to Ginny, who was still crying but had regained her composure long enough to look at him in the eyes. Harry held her tightly and whispered, "Ginny, promise me that you'll never let go. No matter what's the case, never let go, not like your brother. You're going to die an old, old woman, not like your brother did, not like tonight. You're going to live a healthy, rich life full of promises and dreams. Promise me that you'll never let go Ginny, because if you do, I'll never forgive myself."
Ginny looked frightened and startled at Harry's words but managed to give him a nod, hiccupping between her tears. "I-I p-pr-promise H-Harry, t-that I-I w-will n-never l-let go-go." Feeling satisfied, Harry embraced her again.
"Thank you Ginny, you don't know how much that means to me. You'll never let go. Never." He looked into her loving eyes and planted a lasting kiss on her faint lips, brushing strands of clammy hair aside. He gazed at her, but without much energy to muster, Ginny fell limp and fainted.
Elizabeth watched as the Aurors were carrying Ron's dead body away. Hermione was still crying, and she herself felt weary from the recent crying, holding Andrew's arm as they slowly began to walk back to the school. Unexpectedly, she noticed how strong Andrew was, she could feel the lean and muscular body underneath that sweet and sensitive man she had grown up with. She looked up to meet Andrew's eye and blushed unceremoniously.
"What is it?" Andrew asked, half-curious. His golden-brown hair flickered in the soft, gentle breeze and his light green eyes were glistening with tears in the pale moonlight. Elizabeth couldn't believe that at such a critical moment she was starting to develop feelings for him. Or maybe she had them all along but had kept them secret in her heart, locked deep beneath the rest of her common goodness. In truth, she had to admit to herself that she had always loved Andrew, although to her, it seemed more of a brotherly sort of love, the love she had for Harry and Ron. But Andrew was a different story now that she thought of it. Andrew was more of a passionate crush love, something she read out of fairy tales, but never expected to come true. That prince charming that could make her smile, laugh, and cry all at once, except that he gave dramatic kisses. True, they had kissed before; a kiss on the cheek or on the hand, or maybe theatrical smacking ones on New Year's, but nothing more. Yet here, in the midst of an unbearable loss, her heart was pounding furiously as she kept gazing up into Andrew's eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and just waved the issue off.
"No, Andrew, I...I'm just thinking of what it is to lose someone so precious to you. Look at Hermione, she's devastated. She loved Ron, and now he's dead, leaving her to fend for herself, just before graduation too! For that was someone I loved so dearly and so truly, I'd...I'd probably understand what Hermione was going through. I mean, I love Ron, but not in the way that Hermione does. That kind of love is this sacred, mysterious, passionate thing I can't explain. If only I could, then I could go over there and tell my best friend I understand what she's going through. But I don't understand because I don't know what love is, and if I told her I understand what she's going through, and then I'd be lying." She spoke truthfully. Not wanting to see Andrew's expression, she had turned to look at Hogwarts instead. It was a beautiful castle really, but now while death still hung in the air and murder still rung in her ears, the castle looked frighteningly menacing.
"Wow. I never thought you actually would say that Elizabeth. But I guess that's true. Neither of us has had that feeling that Hermione and Ron had, or Harry and Ginny had. It's something that has to be experienced in order to understand it. I have to admit though; I've never felt such a sensation like that before. I know that Hermione must feel so heartbroken now; she wants to be with Ron right now. But...that's probably why we've never experienced this before. It's too heartbreaking when the person you love is gone from your life. Then, you wait...and wait, until someone else either fills that spot or you're waiting until death comes, and you celebrate that death because it brings you closer to the deceased. But then, it's gone," He snapped his fingers, "and it never comes back."
.
Harry had found the letter on Ron's bed, with a few droplets of blood spilling its contents. The sheets were messy and Ron's lamp had been knocked over to the ground, shattering its fragments. From what Harry took it, Ron had been kidnapped. He quickly read the letter, and dropped it, his face deathly white. He ran towards the portrait hole, determined to find Ron before it was too late. He bumped into an unsuspected Elizabeth, who was coming from Quidditch practice, drenched in sweat. She was knocked to the ground, her broom beside her.
"Harry! What was that for?!" She cried out as Harry hastily helped her up. "Quick! Elizabeth, Ron's been captured by Voldemort! He's being held at the Forbidden Forest! I got to go before it's too late!" Harry drastically cried out. Elizabeth's face turned pale.
"Oh my god, no! I'm coming with you!" Elizabeth picked up her broom and ran out the portrait hole, Harry behind her. They climbed onto the broomstick once they reached outside; the moon hiding behind the frightening cloudy skies, attempting to shade Ron's body from the two. Harry muttered a quick lightning spell and spotted something at the edge of the forest, twitching slightly. Elizabeth spotted it as well and accelerated to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Harry jumped off the broom before it even touched the ground, not bothering to cover up the sound of his muddy sneakers. Elizabeth raced behind him and gasped when she saw the pitiful sight.
The moon had come out from behind the clouds, but somehow, that made it much worse as she spotted Ron's limp body, so fragile and skinny, as opposed to the way it usually was. His bright red hair was swept across his forehead and seemed even brighter than ever, even in the darkness. His usual blue dazzling eyes were open wide, the moon reflecting off the pools of the topaz-like color. His face was ghastly ashen and pasty, swallowing him. On his upper left arm, his sleeve was rolled up all the way and even in the vague, hazy dimness, they could both see the symbol of Voldemort's followers- the Dark Mark. Harry turned sallow; the only color in his face was his green eyes, looking over Ron's body with a burning, fierce desire of hatred and loathing. He turned towards Elizabeth slowly, meeting her sapphire-olive eyes, startling her.
"Harry, don't..." She whimpered, her hand trembling as she made a move to touch Ron. She noticed his shirt was stained red and tore it open to reveal a long, deep gash in the middle of his chest, dipping with crimson blood. Then, she looked back to his face, glancing up to meet his blank, vacant eyes. This distressed her greatly and she began to weep, clinging onto Harry. He didn't bother to hide his tears either as he couldn't stand the sight of his best friend, brutally murdered by his worst enemy. He heard pounding footsteps and voices from somewhere distant, but he didn't care about those right now. He felt himself being pried away from Elizabeth and through his tear-stricken eyes; he noticed that it was Remus Lupin, who looked mortified at the sight in front of him. Harry spotted Hermione and Ginny running towards them.
Suddenly, he felt tremendous surge of pain and hopelessness rush through him. He broke free from Lupin's grasp, despite the anguished shouts and ran towards Ginny, arms open. He knew he didn't want her to see her brother like this, no matter what. He had just lost his best friend; he didn't want to lose his girlfriend either. He knew that if she saw him and saw the Dark Mark and the way his blood poured out, she would just hate him for life and he didn't want that on his conscience. On his other side, he noticed vaguely that Elizabeth was restraining Hermione from seeing. Harry felt a lump in his throat. Hermione would be devastated if she saw her boyfriend like that. He knew that Hermione and Ron had been hiding their feelings for over six years now and had finally admitted to each other just a year ago that they loved each other. Now, Hermione would end up alone forever. Harry couldn't bear such a thought and buried himself in Ginny's hair, who was still attempting to free herself from Harry in order to see what was going on.
"Harry, what are you doing? I heard something happened to Ron! Come on, why won't you let go? Why can't I see Ron? What happened to him? Is he...oh my god...Harry, is he dead?" She was holding her breath, waiting for Harry to reassure her or to break her. Harry didn't know what to do, but he knew somewhere deep down inside his hollow, breaking heart that he ought to tell her the truth. He looked down into her eyes, tears still streaming down his face and leaked onto hers. He brushed one aside and admitted quietly, "Ron's dead."
It was only two little words, but they took her away. She looked positively faint, tears starting to well up inside her eyes. She looked past Harry, trying to catch a glimpse of her brother, but Harry was still struggling to not let her. She started pushing him harder, but Harry held on for dear life.
"Harry, let me go! I have to see him! Harry James Potter, you better let me go or I'll..." But she never finished her sentence because she broke down in a fit of sobs. She sank slowly to her feet, her head in her hands, sniffling. Harry sank down with her, holding her tightly in an embrace, soothing her. He glanced over to where Elizabeth was and sighed with relief that she had managed to restrain Hermione from seeing Ron and she too, was in a heap of tears. Then, he noticed that Elizabeth was also talking with Andrew, who had apparently just arrived at the scene and was drenched in sweat, his damp hair plastered to his face.
Harry turned his attention back to Ginny, who was still crying but had regained her composure long enough to look at him in the eyes. Harry held her tightly and whispered, "Ginny, promise me that you'll never let go. No matter what's the case, never let go, not like your brother. You're going to die an old, old woman, not like your brother did, not like tonight. You're going to live a healthy, rich life full of promises and dreams. Promise me that you'll never let go Ginny, because if you do, I'll never forgive myself."
Ginny looked frightened and startled at Harry's words but managed to give him a nod, hiccupping between her tears. "I-I p-pr-promise H-Harry, t-that I-I w-will n-never l-let go-go." Feeling satisfied, Harry embraced her again.
"Thank you Ginny, you don't know how much that means to me. You'll never let go. Never." He looked into her loving eyes and planted a lasting kiss on her faint lips, brushing strands of clammy hair aside. He gazed at her, but without much energy to muster, Ginny fell limp and fainted.
Elizabeth watched as the Aurors were carrying Ron's dead body away. Hermione was still crying, and she herself felt weary from the recent crying, holding Andrew's arm as they slowly began to walk back to the school. Unexpectedly, she noticed how strong Andrew was, she could feel the lean and muscular body underneath that sweet and sensitive man she had grown up with. She looked up to meet Andrew's eye and blushed unceremoniously.
"What is it?" Andrew asked, half-curious. His golden-brown hair flickered in the soft, gentle breeze and his light green eyes were glistening with tears in the pale moonlight. Elizabeth couldn't believe that at such a critical moment she was starting to develop feelings for him. Or maybe she had them all along but had kept them secret in her heart, locked deep beneath the rest of her common goodness. In truth, she had to admit to herself that she had always loved Andrew, although to her, it seemed more of a brotherly sort of love, the love she had for Harry and Ron. But Andrew was a different story now that she thought of it. Andrew was more of a passionate crush love, something she read out of fairy tales, but never expected to come true. That prince charming that could make her smile, laugh, and cry all at once, except that he gave dramatic kisses. True, they had kissed before; a kiss on the cheek or on the hand, or maybe theatrical smacking ones on New Year's, but nothing more. Yet here, in the midst of an unbearable loss, her heart was pounding furiously as she kept gazing up into Andrew's eyes. She swallowed the lump in her throat and just waved the issue off.
"No, Andrew, I...I'm just thinking of what it is to lose someone so precious to you. Look at Hermione, she's devastated. She loved Ron, and now he's dead, leaving her to fend for herself, just before graduation too! For that was someone I loved so dearly and so truly, I'd...I'd probably understand what Hermione was going through. I mean, I love Ron, but not in the way that Hermione does. That kind of love is this sacred, mysterious, passionate thing I can't explain. If only I could, then I could go over there and tell my best friend I understand what she's going through. But I don't understand because I don't know what love is, and if I told her I understand what she's going through, and then I'd be lying." She spoke truthfully. Not wanting to see Andrew's expression, she had turned to look at Hogwarts instead. It was a beautiful castle really, but now while death still hung in the air and murder still rung in her ears, the castle looked frighteningly menacing.
"Wow. I never thought you actually would say that Elizabeth. But I guess that's true. Neither of us has had that feeling that Hermione and Ron had, or Harry and Ginny had. It's something that has to be experienced in order to understand it. I have to admit though; I've never felt such a sensation like that before. I know that Hermione must feel so heartbroken now; she wants to be with Ron right now. But...that's probably why we've never experienced this before. It's too heartbreaking when the person you love is gone from your life. Then, you wait...and wait, until someone else either fills that spot or you're waiting until death comes, and you celebrate that death because it brings you closer to the deceased. But then, it's gone," He snapped his fingers, "and it never comes back."
.