Let Loose
Scrabble Challenge: Loose
Loose: Free from confinement or imprisonment; to release pressure or obligation from; to release from domination or control; to become free, independent etc.
They were free. Free. No one could remember the last time they truly felt free. Yes, they were supposed to have grown up in the time of peace, but suddenly all of their childhood memories seemed to have Dark shadows cast across them. They knew it was probably just their imagination, but they also knew that they had all been touched by the war long before they thought they had.
Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George – they all remembered that first war. Bill had been almost eleven when it had ended, and even the twins had been three. The five eldest Weasley's had grown up with memories of the fear and terror that surrounded everyone. They all had nightmares of seeing the Dark Mark above their Uncles' house. They knew what it was like to lose loved ones to the enemy.
Ron, Ginny – they had no memories of the first war, but Ron especially remembered that first few years, when people still lived in survival mode, when every shadow could have been that one Death Eater the Aurors had been unable to capture. They grew up with stories of the first Order, looking at the photos of their parents' friends. Ron had grown up knowing that he had two friends before the end of the war. Two little boys whose lives had changed forever after Voldemort's defeat. Ginny grew up listening to the heroic tale of Harry Potter, positive she would meet and marry him one day.
Luna, Hermione – they were the most untouched of the group. When your parents are either muggles or the outcasts of your society, you tend to not get involved in the wars between good and evil. But, unbeknownst to them, they had been affected. Oh yes, no one left that war unscathed. The war had led the Lovegoods deeper into their solitary existence, convinced that one of Mr Lovegood's animals or one of Mrs Lovegood's spells would provide a way to end the war. All of Luna's grandparents had been killed in the war, and after her mother died all she had left was her father. Even muggleborn Hermione had been seriously affected by that first war. Her older brother, already showing signs of magic at only five, had been found dead in the local park with no signs as to how. Her parents' practice had been vandalised and robbed by a gang of tens in dark cloaks. Yes, Hermione and Luna had been affected, though they didn't find out until after the second war had well and truly started.
Harry, Neville – almost anyone would argue that these two had been affected the most. Both had been lumped with a prophecy before they had even been born, and both had their lives changed because of it. Harry, who had lost his parents and all knowledge of the world he was born into. Neville, who had to live his whole life visiting parents who had no idea who he was. Both having to grow up with people who could never truly appreciate them for who they were. Both who had to sacrifice much to end the war.
But now it was over. The dead were buried, the funerals were over, the castle had been rebuilt. Those who had been wrongfully imprisoned, by both the Dark and the Light, had been released, and all remnants of the dictatorship that the Ministry had become had finally been done away with. Now they were just a group of young adults, standing on the cusp of a brand new age, each with new cars – both physical and emotional – but each a whole lot braver, stronger hardier than they were when they had first stepped foot in this castle.
None of them really knew why they were here, but by some unspoken agreement they had all ended up back here, where it both started and finished, to wander the halls that housed both their best and worst memories. But it was soon clear that this was not to be a sombre occasion – they had attended way too many of those in the past few months. No, here they were, the heroes of both wizarding wars, running through the castle laughing and screaming, happy, joyful screams once more, instead of the anguished terrified screams that echoed off these walls only months before. They were sure many would have been scandalised to watch Harry and Neville – the two boys who both started and ended the second wizarding war – being dumped unceremoniously into the lake by the Weasley brothers. Nor would much of the public be pleased to see Luna, Hermione and Ginny – those brave, strong heroines – chasing each other across the grounds, throwing dirt, grass and who-knows-what-else at each other before joining the boys in the lake.
But the public didn't understand. All of the ordinary witches and wizards had been bound by fear, and maybe the odd injury here and there if they were really lucky, throughout the whole wizarding war, first and second phases alike. But these young adults, they had been held captive by a lot more, both literally and figuratively. These kids – because really, that's what they were – had lost more loved ones in a year than many lost in a lifetime. They had acquired more scars in one night than a whole family could if they combined all the scars they got throughout all their lives. They had been held captive, they had been tortured, but above all, they had been given the responsibility of ending it all. Bill, Charlie and Fleur had all been in the Order from the beginning, and Fred, George and Lee joined later. Harry never had a choice, and so neither had Ron and Hermione. Neville, Luna and Ginny had all been so close to those fighting that they too had no choice – it was fight with them or be used against them by the enemy. But today none of that existed anymore. Today they were free. They had been let loose from the chains that had bound them their whole lives, and they could finally live their lives, because surviving didn't seem so hard anymore.
A/N. Well, that escalated! I really hope that made sense! Anyway, thanks once again for reading, and reviews are greatly appreciated. Constructive criticism is welcome, just keep it polite :) Thanks again, NG.