Paying Attention
Harry should have been paying attention.
Harry, himself an empty shell, bereft of all thought and almost all feeling, numbly but tightly, held a hysterically sobbing Hermione. All he could do was hold her and keep her away from the horror that lay just a few feet away.
He should have been paying attention to his red-headed love as she, silent as a cat, moved past him, knelt beside her dead brother, cold hands intertwined.
Ginny's voice, mumbling a forbidden spell, slowly penetrated Harry's brain.
Harry spun, still gripping Hermione, trembling, aching, screaming, "NO, GINNY!"
Ginny slumped over. Ron stirred.