In a small church graveyard in Kent many, many years from now a man will take a shortcut on his way home. Instead of walking around the perimeter of the graveyard, he will cut though the center. When he does this, a pair of graves will catch his eye.
They will catch his eye because of their pure white color. They will seem new, the epitaphs will not look faded or worn in the slightest-but when he looks at the dates on the graves, he will see that they are very old indeed. Then he will notice the names.
David Montgomery (March 22nd 1992-April 7th 1997) - There's little joy in life for me, And little terror in the grave; I've lived the parting hour to see, Of one I would have died to save.
Ava Montgomery (February 23rd 1954-May 2nd 1998) –Loving daughter, sister, wife and mother-And you as well must die, belovèd dust
The man will think it very odd for a mother and child to die so young in such a short timeframe. He will rack his brain and try to remember if such deaths were common back then. Then he will decide that it doesn't matter either way and walk on. He will forget the strange graves of the mother and child that died so long ago.
But today is not many, many years from now. Today is May 11th 1998, and Anne Montgomery is watching her mother's coffin being lowered into the ground. Her sister Karen squeezes her hand when the coffin hits the bottom of the freshly dug grave. Her father, standing on the other side of her sister, moans.
Last week, Anne Montgomery was a hero. She and her sister battled against the forces of darkness that had come to destroy their school. Last week, Anne Montgomery had been relieved to see her mother, come to save them, battling just as hard as Anne across the entrance hall. Last week Ava Montgomery had been an avenger, a just executioner, slaying the monsters that had taken her son away. Last week, when Anne saw her mother approach Fenrir Greyback, she was confident that her mother would avenge her little brother. Anne felt brave.
Today, Anne watches her mother's casket lower into the earth. Her mother's closed casket. Anne does not feel brave. Not at all.
Today, Ava Montgomery will be put to rest. Her daughters and husband will cry over her grave and her husband will put the same everlasting charm on her grave that Ava placed on her son's less than a year before.
Today, Ava Montgomery's grave will be covered in flowers and letters. It will remain that way, more or less, for a few years. Then slowly, the memory of Ava Montgomery will start to die. The letters and flowers will get fewer and fewer. The visits will get less and less. And then there will be nothing at all.
Many, many years from now her grave will catch a man's eye for a moment. Then he too will forget.