𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐀𝐑━︎━︎H. Granger ︎✓︎

❝︎CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX❞︎

▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐒𝐢𝐱 ━︎━︎ 𝐈 𝐂𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐃𝐨 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐃𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 way back to the castle, walking through the now empty corridor. The silence was deafening, and Juniper didn't even want to know how many they had lost. "Where is everybody?" Hermione asked, squeezing Juniper's hand a little tighter.

     "I guess we're about to find out." Juniper whispered.

Ron pushed the doors open, and the silence in the room was even worse than the one in the courtyard. Those who were alive were sitting on the side, some were being tended to while others were taking a minute to breathe. They all walked in and as soon as Ron spotted his family crowding around someone, he went to them. George turned to look at his little brother, immediately pulling him into a hug as he cried. Fred was dead.

Juniper watched them with heartbreak before turning her head to look at the others who had fallen, and suddenly the entire world stopped. Time froze, her breath hitched in her throat. Her wand fell from her hand in what felt like slow motion. She took one step forwards and fell to her knees.

     "Not you," she whispered, voice cracking. "They didn't have to take you too." Tears filled her eyes as she looked up to the ceiling, closing her eyes tightly before looking back down. She let out a choked sob before her walls began crumbling and she fell apart. Juniper sobbed, leaning her head on his chest. It was like losing her mother all over again. The pain that came with grief and loss wrapped around every part of her body. It crawled up her neck, choking her so tight to the point she couldn't breathe.

     A hand was placed on her shoulder as a voice said, "He died saving my life."

     Juniper lifted her head, turning to look at him. Her face contorted into one of both relief and heartbreak. "Daddy," she cried. Sirius kneeled down beside her, holding onto her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. Sirius stroked her hair, his own eyes filling with tears and he looked at the body of his best friend and his best friend's wife.

     "I'm so sorry I couldn't save him." Sirius whispered, trying his best to keep his own emotions at bay. "I'm so sorry."

Juniper held onto him tighter as she sobbed harder. They were supposed to be on opposite sides of the castle, but Juniper knew her father, and she knew he would run to where there was most danger. Remus had been on the side with the most danger, and now he and Nymphadora were dead, leaving behind their baby boy. She hated this. She hated every second of this. She wished she could go back in time and fix it somehow. But she couldn't. And now Remus and Nymphadora and Fred Weasley were all dead.

     "I can't do this," Juniper sobbed. "I can't do this anymore, dad. I can't, I can't, I can't." She shook her head. "I don't want to. I'm so tired. I'm so. . . so tired."