It was Halloween and the world was burning.
Buildings crumbled and ashes rained from the sky to litter the streets. Charred embers shattered on the ground and glittered like diamonds in the dark. The sky was black with clouds and smoke. He drifted among the rubble, not daring to hope that anyone else was alive. Every noise that reached his ears sounded like the agonized screams that rang in his memory. In his mind's eye, he could see the bodies of the other Aurors who had so blindly followed him to their deaths. He was bound and forced to watch as they writhed in agony and finally went still, free from the pain he had brought upon them. He knew he would never be free of their final cries; his punishment for his deadly arrogance. Dimly, he realized that the glass shards on the sidewalk didn't crunch under his feet. The falling cinders passed right through him. His last memories flashed behind his eyelids. Red eyes narrowed with glee and the high whispered "Avada Kedavra". The next thing he knew, he was waking up on this broken avenue with only one thought.
The war was over. They had lost.
It was Halloween.
"Help me! Please, somebody help!" The frightened yelp yanked Harry back from his memories and into reality. This isn't a dream. It's really over, he thought. "Please! I need help!" Another frantic cry rang out and Harry began to search for the source. After a minute of searching, he found a pudgy, middle-aged man trapped under a pile of broken wood.
"Hey, are you alright?" Harry bent over the man.
"Do I look like I'm alright? I'm – "he broke off and stared wide-eyed at Harry. "You're a ghost!"
"Am not." Harry countered, rolling his eyes at the little Muggle.
"Yes you are! Look, you're glowing!"
"Oh, leave off. There's no such thing as ghosts."
"How can you say that? You're clearly a ghost!"
"And you're a loony."
The man struggled again under the jagged wood. "Well then, can you help me?"
"Sorry pal. Can't lift things when you're intangible." Harry raised his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
"Ha! I told you you're a ghost!" Harry rolled his eyes again and began to float way.
"Wait! Where are you going? You can't leave me like this!" The man coughed weakly and struggled again.
"I'm going to find someone who can get you out. Keep your shorts on and don't go anywhere."
Harry could hear him mumbling, "Where does he think I'll go?" as he flew down the street looking for any survivors. It was nearly ten minutes before he spotted a live person. The girl was sitting on the curb, a few blocks from where he'd left the whiny Muggle. Her clothes were filthy and one side of her head had most of the hair burnt off.
"Miss! Are you in any condition to – "he gasped as she raised her head to look at him. "'Mione!"
"Harry! You're – "she ran to hug him and went straight through his chest. "– alive."
"Umm...not so much." He looked sheepish as she sat back on the curb in shock.
"'Mione...where's Ron?" The two of them had been living together since they'd all left school.
"Dead," she answered flatly. "Ron is dead, Neville's dead, Arthur's dead, you're dead...God, I wish I was too!" Silent tears made white paths on her sooty cheeks as she stared at nothing.
"What happened?" Harry asked quietly.
"They came to our flat. Three of them. The youngest Death Eaters I've ever seen, probably just out of school. When they broke down the door, Ron shoved me in a broom closet...oh my Ronnie...he wanted to protect me. Neville and Arthur too. But when all three of them were dead, those monsters set fire to the building! And I was trapped in that closet and Ron's b-his body was in front of the door. The roof was already falling in and I couldn't even get them out so they could be buried!" At this, she broke down into sobs that wracked her frail body. Harry almost put his arms around her until he remembered that being hugged by a ghost is far from comforting.
"Hermione, love, there will be a time to cry for them, but now we have to try to help as many people as we can, before it's too late for all of them too." She smeared the dirt on her face by trying to wipe her eyes and looked at him.
"I thought I was the only one left alive in all of London," she sighed miserably.
"Nope, there's at least one other. A rather fat little Muggle a few blocks back, trapped under some wood. I couldn't help him, so let's go back and find him, ok?" Hermione nodded and rose to follow him. On the way, he told her of his last few hours alive. How Shacklebolt, Zabini, and Patil had come with him when he sought out Voldemort's hiding place. How they had all been killed, Harry last. It was odd, talking about his own death as if it were a commonplace occurrence. Not many people get this chance, he mused, to tell the story of how they died.
The pudgy Muggle was wailing again. Harry hung back as Hermione shifted the rubble from him and helped him stand.
"Lord love you, miss. I thought I was going to die here. I even thought I saw a ghost, how silly is that?" He let out a nervous giggle and Hermione almost smiled.
"It's perfectly normal to see things when you're under – "
"A great pile of wood?" the man offered.
"Well, I was going to say 'a lot of stress' but I guess that's appropriate too." Hermione did smile now and Harry felt a bit of his concern for her lift when he saw she hadn't lost her sense of humor. The little man thanked her again and went in the opposite direction from Harry. Hermione walked back to where Harry was hiding.
"Harry, do we know for sure if anyone else survived tonight?" Her face betrayed her fears. Voldemort had more supporters than ever before and they had been out in droves tonight for a sort of purge. Unbidden, a face swam before Harry's eyes. Waving, raven hair, eyes blue like a warm summer sky...
"Romilly," he breathed.
"Romy? Where is she?" Hermione looked puzzled.
"In the mountains up north. I sent her there two weeks ago."
"Two weeks? Why? We've only known about the plans for tonight for three days."
"She's pregnant," Harry said bluntly.
"Pregnant? Oh my...is it yours?"
"Is it...no, 'Mione, Romy got knocked up by some other bloke, but I'm still marrying her anyway."
"Can ghosts get married?"
"Oh shut up. I need to think for a minute." He wracked his brain for some way to..."Hermione! Can you still ride a broom?"
"Badly, why?"
"We're not far from my flat. I've got the old Firebolt there."
"Why can't we just Apparate?"
"Two reasons. One, you don't know where it is. Two, I can't do jack to save her by myself. Now come on!" He set off towards his flat with Hermione jogging behind.
"Does this thing still fly?" she asked in distaste upon seeing the old broom.
"Of course it does! Sure, it's got a few miles on it..."
"Harry, you've literally flown it around the world." Harry grinned at the memory.
"Yeah, I sure did. Hey! That reminds me, you never did take that trip to Nepal with me like we talked about all – "
"I think we have more important things to do right now, don't you?"
"Right. We'd better get going."
"Merlin, this thing is going to fall apart with me on it." Hermione said when they got to the street. "Harry...I've just thought of something. Don't you think Romy will be safer if we don't go see her?" She furrowed her brow in thought.
"He knows where she is, 'Mione, and he knows she's carrying my child. He saw it all in my head tonight. Merlin, I've screwed everything up, haven't I? I didn't finish him off five years ago like I should've, I let Kingsley and Blaise and Padma get killed, I gave away everything because I couldn't close my mind...I didn't even make it to the afterlife properly!" He pulled at his hair in frustration.
"Harry, it's ok. We'll save Romy, but we've got to get going now!" Harry nodded bleakly and led her to a cul de sac where she could take off easily, muttering, "I'd beat my stupid head off a wall if I wasn't so bloody spectral..."
They took off from the street, Harry leading and Hermione following unsteadily on the ancient Firebolt.
Buildings crumbled and ashes rained from the sky to litter the streets. Charred embers shattered on the ground and glittered like diamonds in the dark. The sky was black with clouds and smoke. He drifted among the rubble, not daring to hope that anyone else was alive. Every noise that reached his ears sounded like the agonized screams that rang in his memory. In his mind's eye, he could see the bodies of the other Aurors who had so blindly followed him to their deaths. He was bound and forced to watch as they writhed in agony and finally went still, free from the pain he had brought upon them. He knew he would never be free of their final cries; his punishment for his deadly arrogance. Dimly, he realized that the glass shards on the sidewalk didn't crunch under his feet. The falling cinders passed right through him. His last memories flashed behind his eyelids. Red eyes narrowed with glee and the high whispered "Avada Kedavra". The next thing he knew, he was waking up on this broken avenue with only one thought.
The war was over. They had lost.
It was Halloween.
"Help me! Please, somebody help!" The frightened yelp yanked Harry back from his memories and into reality. This isn't a dream. It's really over, he thought. "Please! I need help!" Another frantic cry rang out and Harry began to search for the source. After a minute of searching, he found a pudgy, middle-aged man trapped under a pile of broken wood.
"Hey, are you alright?" Harry bent over the man.
"Do I look like I'm alright? I'm – "he broke off and stared wide-eyed at Harry. "You're a ghost!"
"Am not." Harry countered, rolling his eyes at the little Muggle.
"Yes you are! Look, you're glowing!"
"Oh, leave off. There's no such thing as ghosts."
"How can you say that? You're clearly a ghost!"
"And you're a loony."
The man struggled again under the jagged wood. "Well then, can you help me?"
"Sorry pal. Can't lift things when you're intangible." Harry raised his hands in a gesture of helplessness.
"Ha! I told you you're a ghost!" Harry rolled his eyes again and began to float way.
"Wait! Where are you going? You can't leave me like this!" The man coughed weakly and struggled again.
"I'm going to find someone who can get you out. Keep your shorts on and don't go anywhere."
Harry could hear him mumbling, "Where does he think I'll go?" as he flew down the street looking for any survivors. It was nearly ten minutes before he spotted a live person. The girl was sitting on the curb, a few blocks from where he'd left the whiny Muggle. Her clothes were filthy and one side of her head had most of the hair burnt off.
"Miss! Are you in any condition to – "he gasped as she raised her head to look at him. "'Mione!"
"Harry! You're – "she ran to hug him and went straight through his chest. "– alive."
"Umm...not so much." He looked sheepish as she sat back on the curb in shock.
"'Mione...where's Ron?" The two of them had been living together since they'd all left school.
"Dead," she answered flatly. "Ron is dead, Neville's dead, Arthur's dead, you're dead...God, I wish I was too!" Silent tears made white paths on her sooty cheeks as she stared at nothing.
"What happened?" Harry asked quietly.
"They came to our flat. Three of them. The youngest Death Eaters I've ever seen, probably just out of school. When they broke down the door, Ron shoved me in a broom closet...oh my Ronnie...he wanted to protect me. Neville and Arthur too. But when all three of them were dead, those monsters set fire to the building! And I was trapped in that closet and Ron's b-his body was in front of the door. The roof was already falling in and I couldn't even get them out so they could be buried!" At this, she broke down into sobs that wracked her frail body. Harry almost put his arms around her until he remembered that being hugged by a ghost is far from comforting.
"Hermione, love, there will be a time to cry for them, but now we have to try to help as many people as we can, before it's too late for all of them too." She smeared the dirt on her face by trying to wipe her eyes and looked at him.
"I thought I was the only one left alive in all of London," she sighed miserably.
"Nope, there's at least one other. A rather fat little Muggle a few blocks back, trapped under some wood. I couldn't help him, so let's go back and find him, ok?" Hermione nodded and rose to follow him. On the way, he told her of his last few hours alive. How Shacklebolt, Zabini, and Patil had come with him when he sought out Voldemort's hiding place. How they had all been killed, Harry last. It was odd, talking about his own death as if it were a commonplace occurrence. Not many people get this chance, he mused, to tell the story of how they died.
The pudgy Muggle was wailing again. Harry hung back as Hermione shifted the rubble from him and helped him stand.
"Lord love you, miss. I thought I was going to die here. I even thought I saw a ghost, how silly is that?" He let out a nervous giggle and Hermione almost smiled.
"It's perfectly normal to see things when you're under – "
"A great pile of wood?" the man offered.
"Well, I was going to say 'a lot of stress' but I guess that's appropriate too." Hermione did smile now and Harry felt a bit of his concern for her lift when he saw she hadn't lost her sense of humor. The little man thanked her again and went in the opposite direction from Harry. Hermione walked back to where Harry was hiding.
"Harry, do we know for sure if anyone else survived tonight?" Her face betrayed her fears. Voldemort had more supporters than ever before and they had been out in droves tonight for a sort of purge. Unbidden, a face swam before Harry's eyes. Waving, raven hair, eyes blue like a warm summer sky...
"Romilly," he breathed.
"Romy? Where is she?" Hermione looked puzzled.
"In the mountains up north. I sent her there two weeks ago."
"Two weeks? Why? We've only known about the plans for tonight for three days."
"She's pregnant," Harry said bluntly.
"Pregnant? Oh my...is it yours?"
"Is it...no, 'Mione, Romy got knocked up by some other bloke, but I'm still marrying her anyway."
"Can ghosts get married?"
"Oh shut up. I need to think for a minute." He wracked his brain for some way to..."Hermione! Can you still ride a broom?"
"Badly, why?"
"We're not far from my flat. I've got the old Firebolt there."
"Why can't we just Apparate?"
"Two reasons. One, you don't know where it is. Two, I can't do jack to save her by myself. Now come on!" He set off towards his flat with Hermione jogging behind.
"Does this thing still fly?" she asked in distaste upon seeing the old broom.
"Of course it does! Sure, it's got a few miles on it..."
"Harry, you've literally flown it around the world." Harry grinned at the memory.
"Yeah, I sure did. Hey! That reminds me, you never did take that trip to Nepal with me like we talked about all – "
"I think we have more important things to do right now, don't you?"
"Right. We'd better get going."
"Merlin, this thing is going to fall apart with me on it." Hermione said when they got to the street. "Harry...I've just thought of something. Don't you think Romy will be safer if we don't go see her?" She furrowed her brow in thought.
"He knows where she is, 'Mione, and he knows she's carrying my child. He saw it all in my head tonight. Merlin, I've screwed everything up, haven't I? I didn't finish him off five years ago like I should've, I let Kingsley and Blaise and Padma get killed, I gave away everything because I couldn't close my mind...I didn't even make it to the afterlife properly!" He pulled at his hair in frustration.
"Harry, it's ok. We'll save Romy, but we've got to get going now!" Harry nodded bleakly and led her to a cul de sac where she could take off easily, muttering, "I'd beat my stupid head off a wall if I wasn't so bloody spectral..."
They took off from the street, Harry leading and Hermione following unsteadily on the ancient Firebolt.