and I stand with you

thirty

I hadn't noticed I was standing over the Black Lake until I heard a voice behind me.
"Octavia?" His voice could only belong to one person.
"Fred!" I exclaimed, running to him.
"You're okay!" Tears spilled out of my eyes as I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he picked me up.
"No, Octavia, I'm not." He sighed as he set me down.
"I thought I heard someone." My dad stepped out from behind Fred, and I stood in shock for a moment. My mind was fuzzy, I didn't exactly remember what had happened, or what I was doing here in the first place.
"But- but you're-" I squeezed my eyes shut as my head ached, and I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands for a second.
"Dead, yes. 'Technically.'" He rolled his eyes, holding up air quotes.
"And- and you, Freddie? You too?" I met his eyes again, and he grabbed my hand as he wiped away a tear on my cheek.
"No-no-no, this wasn't supposed to happen." I started to sob, and he pulled me into his chest.
"All I wanted was for you to be safe!" My voice cracked, my knees giving out as I dropped to the ground in Fred's arms. It kept replaying over and over in my head, watching Fred meet my eyes and then watching the life leave his. Molly had practically lost two kids, now, and my heart ached for her. Ginny, George, Ron, Arthur, and even Percy too.

Harry.

Draco. Draco.

My head hurt the more I thought about what could possibly be happening to any of them. 
"I've got it from here, yeah?" Fred sent my dad off, and I heard his voice with a few others as he wandered off. We sat in silence for a bit, as he held me and we watched the sun go down over the lake.
"Via?" He softly said.
"What?" I whispered back, pulling my knees up to my chest.
"Was George alright?" He was quiet. I turned around as his arms fell off me, grabbing his face with both my hands. His eyes were glossy, and I knew he was sad.
"Yes, Freddie." I smiled through tears, chuckling a bit. "Ginny too, shes doing just fine. Ron, Percy, everyone is okay. Hell, your mother blew Bellatrix LeStrange the fuck up!" He started laughing with me and I wiped my tears away.
"I killed him, though, Fred. Augustus, I mean. I couldn't control myself- I just snapped." I admitted to him quietly as I slumped back down into his arms.
"It's okay." He was calm. "What about Harry?" He added.
"I think he's okay." I sighed.
"Do you think he'll beat him?"
"I don't know. It could be over by now, we won't know." I couldn't lie and say I was totally confident in Harry, but there was a part of me that hoped, with everything in me, he would put an end to Voldemort.
"Fred?" I said after a while of silence.
"Yes?" He hummed back.
"I'm sorry." I whispered.
"For what?" He looked down at me.
"Everything."

It was silent again, for a bit, before he eventually said anything.
"I never stopped loving you." He didn't even look at me as he said it, just out at the water.
"Me either." I admitted, fixing myself so that my head was laying in his lap. His hand unconsciously started running through my hair, stroking it softly. "Sorry." He pulled back after a second.
"No- it's okay, you can keep going." I told him, and he did.
"Fred, do you think you'll ever forgive me?"
"I never blamed you in the first place, love." He smiled down at me, his ginger hair somehow even more red than usual as the golden hour came on us.
"Maybe- maybe everything will be okay." I sighed, looking up at the sky that was becoming dark, the stars with faint outlines.
"I supe hope so." A man walked up to us both, looking down on me.
"Remus!" I jumped off the ground, enveloping him in a hug.
"I'm so sorry, I never meant what I said!"
"I know, kiddo, it's quite alright. I was just hoping not to see you here." He pulled back, pointing at me, before turning his attention to Fred. "You either, young man, didn't see that one coming." He chuckled to himself.
"Hey! I died! Be nice!" Fred laughed with him.
"Who else should we be expecting to see?" I asked, hoping none of our friends names would come up.
"I'm sad to say, Ms. Brown and Mr. Creevey should be here somewhere. Professor Snape as well." He sighed.
"Professor Snape? What happened to him?" I took a deep breath in, hoping what he was about to tell me wasn't so awful. He was always really on our side.
"Not quite sure on that, but I'm sure once you find him he will tell you himself." He rubbed my head, messing up my hair.
"Best get a move on it then? You two looked busy." He smirked at us, before giving us both a half hug and walking away.
"Want me to show you around?" Fred started to walk away, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly, holding him for a minute.
"Don't let go." I whispered, but he did.
"Fred!" I hit his chest with my hand. "I just said-" but his lips came crashing down on mine, his hands snaking around my waist and his fingers slipping under the back of my shirt, resting on my skin softly. When he pulled back, my lips were left tingling, like they always had when he kissed me.
"You taste like strawberries." He grinned, kissing me once more.
"Better than firewhiskey." I got off my tiptoes as he took my hand and led me out of the forest.
"Octavia, nothing is better than firewhiskey." He laughed and rolled his eyes.
"And I stand with you!" I rolled my eyes back, leaning into his shoulder while we walked away.

I'm dead.

It's over.

My story had to end at some point, didn't it?

Life never truly stop at death, though.  An end of one book, can almost always be the start of an even longer series. Maybe, you don't live long enough to see the end, so what? Not everyone does.

Some might have natural luck, or a stray bottle of felix felicis just laying around, but with death,

comes a whole new adventure.