𝐑𝐄𝐖𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒-ℍ𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 ℙ𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣❥

𝐃𝐇 𝟑𝟏

The dead lay in a row in the middle of the Hall. Emily could not see Fred's body, because his family surrounded him. George was kneeling at his head; Mrs. Weasley was lying across Fred's chest, her body shaking. Mr. Weasley stroking her hair while tears cascaded down his cheeks.

Without a word to Emily or Harry, Ron and Hermione walked away. Emily saw Hermione approach Ginny, whose face was swollen and blotchy, and hug her. Ron joined Bill, Fleur, and Percy, who flung an arm around Ron's shoulders.

As Ginny and Hermione moved closer to the rest of the family, Harry had a clear view of the bodies lying next to Fred. Remus and Tonks, pale and still and peaceful- looking, apparently asleep beneath the dark, enchanted ceiling.

He looked to Emily, hoping she hadn't seen it too.

But she had.

Her face had turned a pale white, her hands now covered her mouth as she shook her head, "No. No."

Before Harry could grab her, she began to walk, still shaking her head and muttering the same words; "No. No. No."

Harry sped up behind her and suddenly she stopped, staring into the distance at her father's body.

"Emily-"

She broke out into a run, screaming and crying, the whole of the Great Hall looked over at her as she screamed out in terror.

As she reached her father's body, her knees buckled but before she fell to the floor, Hermione caught her.

Together, they lowered down to the floor.

Emily screamed, holding her father's body, shaking him, hoping he'd wake up.

"NO!" Emily cried, "YOU PROMISED ME! YOU MADE A PROMISE! YOU SAID YOU'D STAY! YOU SAID YOU'D PROTECT ME!"

Hermione pushed Emily into her arms and Emily fell without a fight, she wrapped her arms around Hermione's back as she lay across her lap.

"It's okay." Hermione whispered into her ears, also crying at the loss of a man she had known since she was eleven, "I've got you, Emily. It's okay."

The Great Hall seemed to fly away, become smaller, shrink, as Harry reeled backward from the doorway. He could not draw breath. He could not bear to look at any of the other bodies, to see who else had died for him. He could not bear to join Emily, could not look into her eyes, when if he had given himself up in the first place, Remus might never have died . . .

He turned away and ran up the marble staircase. Fred, Remus, Tonks ... He yearned not to feel ... He wished he could rip out his heart, his innards, everything that was screaming inside him . . .

The castle was completely empty; even the ghosts seemed to have joined the mass mourning in the Great Hall. Harry ran without stopping, clutching the crystal flask of Snape's last thoughts, and he did not slow down until he reached the stone gargoyle guarding the headmaster's office.

"Password?"

"Dumbledore!" said Harry without thinking, because it was he whom he yearned to see, and to his surprise the gargoyle slid aside revealing the spiral staircase behind.

But when Harry burst into the circular office he found a change. The portraits that hung all around the walls were empty. Not a single headmaster or headmistress remained to see him; all, it seemed, had flitted away, charging through the paintings that lined the castle so that they could have a clear view of what was going on.

Harry glanced hopelessly at Dumbledore's deserted frame, which hung directly behind the headmaster's chair, then turned his back on it.

The stone Pensieve lay in the cabinet where it had always been. Harry heaved it onto the desk and poured Snape's memories into the wide basin with its runic markings around the edge.