Marooned - Fred Weasley

Chapter 84: Aftermath

Sarah watched fondly the exchange, Vanished the bloody water from the bowl she used on Hannah's leg and filled it with pure, clear water so she could rinse her hands. As soon as they were clean and dry, she stood up and offered her hand in between McGonagall and herself.

"Thank you," Sarah nodded and sent her a meaningful gaze. She couldn't dive into all she had done for her, but she made sure her Professor was aware every bit of it mattered, would be remembered, and honored. After Sarah, every single Hogwarts student who had taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts had gathered behind her so they could thank McGonagall as well, moving on to Madam Pomfrey, the Healers, the house elves of Hogwarts, the other teachers and the members of the Order. They would not have made it without any of them, their fights and their courage, the source of inspiration they had been to them had to be acknowledged.

Each hand-shake meant the following:

To the fallen, who will never be forgotten, and to those still standing, brave enough to carry on.

It quickly became a way to honor everyone's presence and fight, and Sarah could see Harry's guilt slowly fading away as he saw all these people pass on hope, swelling up as the seconds flew by.

__

"Coffee?"

"Always," sighed out Sarah, wrapping her hands around the cup. "Thank you."

The Hogwarts Healers were pushing two trolleys with hot beverages, handing them out to everyone sitting in the Great Hall.

Sarah took her place next to Fred, tucked her legs under her, and he brought her back against his chest. He, of course, had asked for every bit of information about what happened. And she told him all she could remember, although it felt more as a fever dream. She could only remember the kind voices of her parents, telling her to be her own hero, and of course the silent call of her promise to him. Wherever she was, she was absolutely certain that she would find him. That they would find each other.

"But now it's your turn, Weasley," she tilted her head up at him and smiled lovingly. "What happened with the pin? When did you even put it on? And how did you know it would help? Why didn't you tell me? And why—"

Fred rested his forehead against hers and smiled, brought a hand up to cup her face. He had to touch her, hold her, it was a need more than anything. His contact made her shut up and she couldn't help but reciprocate the smile.

"Promise me something?" he crooned, his thumb absentmindedly stroking her cheek.

"Anything."

"Never do that to me again."

"I promise," she nodded, her eyes starting to water. She said it once, for him, then twice, for herself as well. "I promise."

"And to answer your question," Fred pressed a chaste kiss on her lips, then the tip of her nose, before pulling back to gaze at her. "When I got knocked out cold for a couple minutes during the battle, there was this voice telling me 'the broach will save her as long as she's unaware' and it's actually embarrassing how long it took me to understand," he chuckled a bit sheepish suddenly. "When you told me you needed to go, I realized what it meant. That pin had appeared in my pocket out of nowhere. When I kissed you for what I thought was the last time—That's when."

His features had tensed up, clenched jaw, a hesitant frown forming and fading on his face like he was torn between the sharpness of his memory and the reality that she was in front of him. Sarah felt her heart sink again. So she shifted and cupped his face, his hands sliding down to the small of her back. "I'm really sorry, for putting you through all that, I'll never apologize enough for it but I swear I'll try. And as for it being the last time, I promise it wasn't," she pressed a kiss on the corner of his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck, drew a line of small pecks over his jaw. To show him just how much she meant it.