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No Bravery

I see no bravery, no bravery in their eyes anymore, only sadness, only sadness. There is only sadness now. I don't think anyone knows how to feel anything else now. So many, too many, have been lost. We have been left behind. I do not yet know if this is a good thing. There are so few of us left. So few to re-make a world which is long since buried under the rubble of this war. A whole generation has been wiped out. The last few of us will not be able to cope under the pain and grief. Even as I stand on the killing field of the last battle I do not know whether any of us will have the strength to try and build our lives again. Everyone of us has had loved ones ripped from us times and again. Husbands, wives, lover, mothers, fathers, sisters, brother and friends. They have all been taken from us in one way or another. We have won, but at a great price. Too high a price.

Where do I even begin to start with the dead?

Harry, dear, kind Harry. The war ruined him beyond all repair. After they took Ginny he lived only to kill. And kill he did. Voldemort never stood a chance. But then, niether did Harry. Their bodies lie a few feet from me where they killed themselves trying to destroy each other.

Ginny. They took her in a lighting raid on one of our base camps. We found her tortured mangled body a few weeks later in a woodland near another of our camps. We barely recognised her. She never told them anything, died with her head held high. These are the mad mutterings of Lavender Brown who was taken with her.

Lavender. Under permenant suicide watch at St Mungos. She was taken with Ginny and driven mad by the Crucio. The day we found her was the day Fred Weasly died inside

Fred. After we found his wife he calmly took his wand, his her once and marched outside. He dissappated and came back three months later with a wounded George. The only person in the world that mattered as much to him as Lavender. They live now, but for how long I do not know. Luna stays near them, hoping to comfort as best she may.

Luna. A dedicated Mediwitch. She brought us all back from the brink at one point or the other. She was in love with Ron But never got the chance to tell him.

Ron. Threw himself in front of a killing curse not two hours ago to save Harry and allow him to reach Voldemort. He was the one that found Dean and Seamus three months ago.

Dean and Seamus. Good fighters. Fierce and proud they would have died for anyone in the cause. In the end they died for each other. The were captured in a minor battle and brought before Voldemort. He cast Imperio on Seamus and made him torture and kill his lover. Dean's last words were "I forgive you, I'll see you soon". After Voldemort lifted the spell Seamus took one look at what he had done and turned the killing curse on himself before anyone could move. This we learned from Blaise Zambini.

Blaise. Our spy in Voldemort's inner circle. He turned in seventh year. He saved our lives many times over by giving us information in the nick of time. We lost him when Voldemort found out he turned spy and had him publicly executed in front of the Death Eaters. We had to pull Draco out in case he was found as well.

Draco. Also one of our spys, In the end the good in him outweighted the evil. He fought side-by-side with me today and I have never been so proud to call himn friend. I do not know if he yet lives, but if he does I plan on telling him what I should have told hima long time ago.

Me. Hermione Granger, I have endured captivity, torture and all manners of things a eighteen year old should never have to see. I have lived through these terrible times and must now try to build something out of the ashes of our lost world. Even now the survivors begin to look to me to lead them and I feel a small spark of hope. We should not let our lives fall apart completely. We must honour those who are gone by living our lives to the very fullest they can be. To live each day in honuor of them and all the have done.

We have our freedom at last. It is fragile and precious but in the end it is the only thing worth having.

Freedom.