Author's Note: I warned you at the beginning. Don't feel bad if you hate it… so do I.
Tragedy Is The Color Of The World
The last of the giants had fallen. The casualties were great on all sides. Eighty-seven giants, to the last, had been slain. Forty-three centaur bodies lay mangled on the field.
Twenty nine students…
…
killed.
…
One hundred and eight more were wounded.
…
Ron looked across the bloody battleground.
"What have I done?"
Ron landed on his knees next to the bodies lain so carefully in rows.
"I am a madman…"
His fists clenched so tightly that blood ran from where his fingernails dug into his palm's flesh.
"… I am a fool!"
He wept and the tears fell to the earth.
Luna stood a footstep away. How do you console a man who led lives to victory and death? How do you console a boy who saw people he laughed and cried with through seven years, murdered before his eyes? How do you console a soul torn asunder by horrible loss?
She rested her hand on his neck and ran her fingers through his sweat soaked hair. Perhaps you cannot. Perhaps all you can do is simply stand next to them and watch them grieve.
--- ---
Hagrid stared hard at Madame Pomfrey.
"What do you mean? That can't be right… Try again…"
"I'm sorry Hagrid. It is beyond a healer's capabilities. Her back and neck were broken. The bones are literally crushed. She has lost more blood than a body can lose and still function. There's simply nothing I, or anyone else can do."
Ginny looked up at Hagrid and choked out a soft whisper, "my … friend"
She closed her eyes and died in his arms.
--- ---
Dumbledore and Dobby ran towards the entrance to the cave. They were almost there.
Suddenly Hermione stumbled out. Her naked body was torn. Her right arm broken at the shoulder and dangling lopsided at her hip. A deep gash in her head dripped blood upon her face, her shoulders, her breasts…
A few feet in front of Dumbledore she collapsed in exhaustion and agony. Her weak voice could barely be heard.
"He died… he died…
… what will happen now…"
Dumbledore felt tears brimming from his eyes. He reached down and touched her wrist. Her heart was still beating. Terribly weak… but she was still among the living.
Snape was coming up from behind.
"Severus, you will bring Ms. Granger to Madame Pomfrey immediately. Do you understand?"
"Of course."
Without a word Snape lifted Hermione into his arms and turned and walked away.
"Dobby. You will wait here."
"Of course, yes I am happy to do as you say."
Albus steeled his heart and walked inside. His eyes were closed so very tightly. For what he knew he would see. For what he had to face. This is not the happy ending he had always hoped so deeply for. Fate had not been a kind mistress.
Inside, he felt the cool shadows against his wrinkled face. The room smelled of blood and death. He opened his eyes slowly…
…
There destiny stood in the darkness.
…
A bruised and broken form lying on the ground. Far beyond any imagined chance of survival or rebirth.
…
Kneeling above the figure, covered in tears and blood was Harry. His head in his hands sobbing. It was over now. It was over…
--- ---
Time had passed and the twilight of years had befallen two ancient unicorns in a deep and magical forest. They both lay their bodies onto the ground and closed their weary eyes together. This world was too great a burden. Two enchanted beasts journeying toward the last great adventure. If you looked closely two spirits pranced into the wide sky, next to them was the slight figure of a red-haired girl dancing toward heaven.
--- ---
Many months had come and gone. Hermione had not spoken since that day. The smart and pretty girl, turned mad, turned wild… was now but a broken shell. When Luna looked into her eyes, she saw nothing at all.
Harry had disappeared into the wilds after the battle was over. No searching revealed anything about him or where he might have gone. Dumbledore had sent not tens or hundreds, but thousands who had gathered and they walked from one end of the forest to the other. Not a single trace of him was found.
Luna held Hermione's hand in this small room. Outside was darkness and the cold breath of autumn's November winds. Luna wore a simple, but beautiful ring. She was as happy as it was possible for her to be, that she was engaged to Ronald Weasley. He was everything she had ever hoped for. Though he never smiled anymore. What price to pay to overthrow the Dark Lord of shattered dreams…
--- ---
The crescent moon had risen high into the sky. Luna had fallen fast asleep by Hermione's side. The small window slowly slid open and he slipped inside. His body now healed, his strength now returned. He quietly stepped towards her sleeping form.
"I've come for you Hermione."
He lifted her up. Her eyes opened and she saw him there. No words came out, but there was a sparkle that had not been there for so very long. Harry had finally come for her. The wounds would never truly be gone, but together they would somehow survive inside of these broken lives.
Luna awoke just as the two lovers disappeared forever. She let out a small smile and watched the 'wild' carry them away.
--- ---
Closing Notes: Did you see it coming? Did you know how it would end? Do we ever truly see how the story will end, or do we just put words to paper and somehow hope that when the last page is written, we will find happiness, some sense of closure… if not in this life, then perhaps in the next.
To those of you who believe that there is nothing past the veil of death… I tell you that there is… there must be… nothing else makes sense in this world gone mad.