Tears of Those Left Behind by elfandtroll

Rating: PG
Genres: Angst, Drama
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 19/03/2005
Last Updated: 19/03/2005
Status: Completed

Tears fall for the fallen when a time of joy and celebration turns to one of sorrow and
mourning. A songfic to Evanescence's "My Immortal" that focuses on Hermione's
reminiscences on her past, present, and future with- or without- her fallen friend.




1. Tears of Those Left Behind
-----------------------------

The Harry Potter Universe is owned and operated by J.K. Rowling and is available in stores
everywhere. Any resemblance to characters created by J.K. Rowling is purely intentional, but as
luck would have it, we don’t make any money from this.

A/N: All italics are taken from the song "My Immortal" by Evanescence. Please read the
lyrics, as I think they really add to the story and express what’s going on. I rearranged parts of
song, so they’re in a different order than in the actual song. It just made the story flow more,
IMO. Sorry if that irritates some of you, didn’t mean to. :D

**Tears of those left behind**

The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky overhead. A slender young woman with curly brown
hair stood next to a patch of freshly dug earth, the green grass a startling contrast to its
bleakness.

That day should have been a day of celebration, of laughter, joy and dancing. Voldemort, who had
been terrorizing the wizarding world for countless years, had finally fallen, killed the day before
in the final battle between himself and Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

And who was now The-One-Who-Died-For-Us.

Hermione stared vacantly ahead, a spark of anger struggling to surface at the brightness of the
day. There should gave been fierce storms, howling winds, dark clouds, anything other than the
sunny, mild weather that dawned on the day of Harry’s funeral.

*I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone*

*But though you're still with me*

*I've been alone all along*

She felt numb and empty, all emotion drained from her after what had transpired. The day before,
Voldemort had attacked Hogwarts, and Harry, grim-faced and determined, had gone to face him.
Hermione and Ron had stayed behind, helping to fight the Death Eaters that had broken through and
to try and heal those who had been injured.

*Cause your presence still lingers here*

*And it won't leave me alone*

The last words he had said to her were, "Be safe." He had smiled at her, but it was a
sad, resigned smile, as if he had known what he was going to face. What was going to happen.

A tear rolled down her cheek.

She had never imagined that the last time she would see him would be surrounded by pain, fear,
and the haunting screams of the dying.

*These wounds won't seem to heal*

*This pain is just too real*

*There's just too much that time can not erase*

They had been together for seven years, ever since the day where they had met on the train. She,
a bushy-haired know-it-all, and he, a small, scrawny boy with a mess of black hair and broken
glasses. They had overcome countless obstacles together, faced innumerable challenges together. And
had always been triumphant.

Except in that one final battle.

*When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears*

*When you'd scream, I'd fight away all of your fears*

*And I held your hand through all of these years*

A troll had brought them together, and they had formed a bond strong enough to withstand
countless tests and trials, powerful enough to last through everything they encountered.

Except death.

*I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone*

*But though you're still with me*

*I've been alone all along*

She knelt, tears falling unnoticed down ashen cheeks, and slowly traced the name carved into the
headstone.

**Harry James Potter**

**1980-1997**

**Beloved son, student, and friend**

**"He sacrificed himself to save us all."**

She couldn’t believe that he was gone. That she would never again see his smile, hear him laugh,
or scold him for leaving his homework until the last minute and complaining about teachers. They
would never sit together again in the common room, laughing and teasing each other.

The previous day had dawned bright and clear. Hermione had never imagined that by its end, her
world would be in shambles, her life and happiness destroyed in two hate-filled words and an eerily
beautiful flash of green light.

She both hated and loved the color green. Green for the Avada Kedavra spell. Green for Harry’s
vivid eyes.

How ironic that the color of a killing curse represented hope, peace, harmony, and safety.
Everything that fateful day had not been. Everything she desperately wished it had been.

*You used to captivate me by your resonating light*

*Now I'm bound by the life you left behind*

*Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams*

He had been buried next to his parents’ grave, and Sirius’ empty one. All of them killed by
Voldemort and his minions. All leaving behind shattered lives and broken hearts.

Thousands had attended his funeral; Friends, teachers, classmates. Most of the wizarding world
had come to mourn the loss of their savior. Hermione had wanted to scream at the masses of people
crowding around his grave. For years they had scorned him, belittled him, turned him into a
scapegoat, yet now they were mourning him. They had *no* right to stand beside his grave. It
was for them that he had died, to free them all from the web that inextricably bound them to
Voldemort, to a madman’s desire to dominate, conquer, and destroy the world that had turned their
backs on him. As they had turned their backs on Harry.

He had been determined to save them from the horrors that Voldemort craved to force upon them,
and for determination had paid his life.

*I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone*

*But though you're still with me*

*I've been alone all along*

"Goodbye Harry," she whispered. "Rest in peace. Be happy, wherever you
are."

With those final words to her fallen friend, she stood, and walked slowly away, to try and
rebuild her life with what broken pieces she had left.

*But you still have all of me*

A/N: Wow, that was sad. My dad was the one who first played this song for me, and said it would
make a "kick-butt Harry Potter song". I said yeah, if it was in something where Harry
died. I’ve wanted to write this for a while, so here it is. Hope you enjoyed it. Please, review, as
it’s my first Harry Potter fic!



