There's so many wars we fought, there's so many things we're not, but with what we have. I promise you that we're marching on. ~ OneRepublic
So Many Wars We Fought
I couldn't be more proud of my grandson.
Tonight, he really lived up to his parents' name. He used his father's mantra; 'Fight until there's nothing left to fight for', he stood up to Voldemort and for all of us when we thought all hope was lost. He killed the snake that was so often slithering along beside him. He fought like his father.
It almost brought a tear to my eye at the sight of my grandson ducking and weaving through all of the death eaters, shooting spells at every possible opportunity. Who would've thought that Neville Longbottom, the child that I'd gotten more letters home about his education than I had scarves, would be leading a Hogwarts revolution against the death eaters.
"Hey Gran," Neville said glumly, sitting down next to me in the great hall, surrounded by the dead.
"Hello, Neville." I said, putting an arm around him.
"Are you alright?" he asked, looking down at me.
"Yes," I said, looking up at him. He looked far worse than me, blood was spattered across his face, his cardigan was ripped and he was limping badly, "are you?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, few minor injuries but nothing too badly damaged, listen, Gran, a couple of my friends, Dean, Seamus, Parvati and Luna are going down to the Three Broomsticks for a drink, could I go with them." He asked tentatively. I smiled at him. What the hell, he had done me proud, he could go and have a little drink with his friends.
"Of course," I said, taking a tissue out of my pocket and attempted dab the blood off of his face. He ducked away.
"Gran!" He whined, "I want to show off my battle scars!"
"I seriously hope you're joking, Neville Longbottom." I said sternly as Neville laughed.
"Of course I am Gran." He gave me a one armed hug and began to walk away, "I'll see you at home, yeah?"
"Alright," I said giving him a little wave as he ran off to join his friends. I laughed and shook my head as I sat back down on the step. Just like his father. I thought. I was seeing more and more of Frank in Neville every day, and to think that I thought he would be a chubby klutz for the rest of his life.
I could still hear shouts from within the great hall, the anguished cries of the people who had lost their loved ones. So many tears had been shed today, much too many.
I didn't want to go into the great hall, it reminded me too much of the first wizarding war, the war that I had all but lost my son in. It reminded me of the stench of the dead when you walked through the streets. It reminded me that even though Voldemort was gone, he still reigned victorious because he had ripped our loved ones from our hands and taken them with him.
Memories from the first wizarding war flashed through my mind. Sitting with Neville in the living room of the house while spells flashed outside, coming home one day to find my husband dead on the kitchen floor with no signs of a struggle, the news reaching my ears through word of mouth and the daily prophet that more and more of my family members had died; my sister, April was the first to go, then my brother David, my second son, Matthew, my daughter Rebecca, then Frank and Alice were tortured to insanity. The only family that I had left was my husband's elder brother Algie and a few of Alice's sisters.
Everyone was dead and gone. Never to return again, others like Frank and Alice were rendered insane. It was just Neville and I, here in this world that was scarred by war.
There are some days when love is what I hate the most about life. If you don't love, you have nothing to lose, but what is life without love? There isn't one day since I was fifteen that I haven't opened my eyes in the morning to see someone that I loved. There hasn't been a day since I was fifteen that I didn't think about loving someone.
And now He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone, and now we have to rebuild our world like we did all those years ago when little Harry Potter defeated him for the first time. The wizarding community is like a phoenix rising from the ashes. They can wait for us to grow old and weary, but eventually we will be reborn with more fight in us than ever before. That was what Voldemort had failed to see in us when he tried to take over. He hadn't seen the fight in our eyes; he hadn't seen the intense love we had for those closest to us.
Love is painful, love is kind but most of all, Love is love and at the end of the day, even if it is the darkest day on earth, like it was for some today, there is always a new sunrise that brings a fresh start and most importantly, there will always be someone there for you to love and cherish even more than you loved the person that you have lost.
AN: For the "After the War" Competition
The Character Diversity Boot Camp Challenge – Prompt #32: Tears, Character: Augusta Longbottom.
I would love it if you could give me a review :)
Potter on
~The Original Horcrux~