Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!
The next few days passed in a flurry of activity, because about a week after the final battle there was going to be a ceremony where a memorial would be unveiled to honor those who died fighting Voldemort. The castle had to be rebuilt, and the wounded needed to be healed, so there was plenty to be doing. Oliver and Katie, who were both talented at potions, herbology, and healing spells, were always in the sick ward, where they were needed most. The day of the ceremony they went down to the lake together. A monument was to be erected there with the name of each person who had died during the war against Voldemort.
"Hey Katie," said Oliver as they walked across the grounds, "I've got to get back to training soon, but I was wondering if I'd still be seeing you around."
"Of course you will," she said, "I really want to keep in touch this time. When are you leaving?"
"Almost at once. I wanted to stay for the memorial, but Williams, our captain, needs me back."
"Oh, well don't you sound very important," said Katie in a joking tone.
Oliver laughed, and then took a deep breath a said, "Well, if you're prepared to make good on your promise, you wanna have dinner next week? I know a great place in London, and--"
Katie interrupted him and said, "Sure. I'd like that."
By this time they'd reached the lake, where chairs had been set up. They took their seats along with everyone else, and soon Kingsley stepped up to the podium and began speaking.
"We are here today to mourn a truly terrible loss. So many brave people were lost to Voldemort. Many families were destroyed, many children orphaned, and siblings abandoned. Many parents had to bury their children, and many friends wept. But these brave souls have not died in vain. They have created a new world, where no one will ever walk in the shadow of fear. They died to create a world where their friends, and children, parents and siblings, could all be equal, not matter what their ancestry is. They died to create a free wizarding world, and to them we owe our thanks. These will be difficult times ahead, and while we will never forget those that are no longer among us, we must strive to move forward. We must strive to rebuilt our world, and to uphold the values that our friends died for. And remember, do not pity the dead, for they are at peace. Remember those who we lost, but do not remember only at who's hands they died. Remember the good in each of the souls that are no longer with us. Remember the good times, and they will live on in our memory. Do not become lost in grief, for then they will have died in vain. I ask you now to look to the future, and to help us built a world where all can be free."
He waved his wand and a tall, black pillar appeared by the lake. On it were hundreds of names of wizards, goblins, muggles, and witches, all who had died in the fight against Voldemort. All around people were crying. The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione were all sitting together; crying together. Angelina and Alicia were arm in arm, sobbing into each other's shoulders, not too far from George. Katie wept with her head on Oliver's shoulder, and he cried too. Everywhere people were exposing their sorrow, in hopes that the wounds would one day heal. After a period of time that could not be measured, people started slowly to dry their tears. A feeling of resolve was coming over the crowed as people thought about what Kingsley had said. They were ready to move on; not to forget, because they all knew they would never forget, and not to heal, for healing would take longer still, but they were ready to move forward, with the promise of peace glistening on the horizon, a horizon that had once seemed far off, but was now within reach thanks to those who had died.
As people began to trickle away each touched the memorial gently, running their fingers over the names of their friends and family. Katie walked up to George, who was lagging behind the Weasley crowd, running his fingers over the name Fred Weasley. Tears were streaming down George's face, and Katie couldn't suppress her own as she walked up to him.
"George," she said with a slight crack in her voice.
"What?" he said darkly, "Are you here to tell me that it's gonna be alright? That you're sorry? Cause if you are save your breath. No one can possibly understand this and I'm sick of people trying to tell me that they can."
"George," said Katie quietly, "I know that I don't understand what you're going through, and I know that it won't get better right away, but someday it will, I promise."
"And how do you know?" George burst out angrily. He looked truly desperate. "It's not gonna get any better ever. It's always gonna be this way from now on. Nothing can ever fix this!"
"Then what are you living for?" Katie said in a mixture of anger and impatience, "Fred wouldn't want this. He'd want you to remember what it was like to laugh, to play pranks! He'd want you to remember the good times, and to embrace life for the both of you!"
George looked dumbstruck. It wasn't unlike Katie to speak her mind, but he hadn't expected an outburst like that.
"Katie," said Oliver in a hushed voice, "Let it be. He needs time."
"But--"
"I've got it," interrupted Angelina, who'd come over. She took Georges hand quietly and walked him back up to the castle. What Katie would never know was that those words, Then what are you living for? would stay with George forever. It would be those words, and the words of Angelina that were to come, that would make George pick up the pieces of his life. Because, really, what were they living for? He didn't know, but he wanted to find out.
Katie's shoulder's slumped as they disappeared, and she turned to the black column. Her hands traced over the names, some of which she barely recognized, and others that she knew very well...Colin Creevey, Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Ted Tonks, Rufus Scrimgeour, Cedric Diggory, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Fred Weasley. The last name cut through her like a knife, and more pain came when she realized that the hundreds of other names that she didn't know were all someone's brother or sister, someone's daughter or son, someone's best friend, girlfriend, boyfriend, old friend...Each one of the names that covered the column represented hundreds of people who were hurting like George. Just the name Fred Weasley was hurting so many; Molly, Aurthur, Bill, Percy, Charlie, George, Ron, Ginny, Angelina, Alicia, Harry, Hermione, Katie...
"You ready?" asked Oliver, his voice thick with shed and unshed tears.
"Yeah," she said with a nod, tears still clinging to her cheeks. She resolved as they walked back up to the castle that she was never going to forget the sacrifice of any that had been lost in the war against Voldemort, but she also knew that what she said to George was true. It was time to move forward.
I hope you all liked that chapter!!! I'd really LOVE you if you left me a review, because a whole lot of you have this story on alert, but none of you have reviewed and it hurts my heart! I've never written anything that covers directly after the battle for any of my stories ever, so I really wanna know how it was.
XOXO
GossipGirlHere