The Sun, Moon & Stars

22. Aftermath

She heard voices. Whispers, faint murmurs, but voices nevertheless. But where were they coming from? It was dark, not a person in sight, yet she heard people. She had always wondered what heaven would be like. In her vivid and wildest dreams, she had imagined it to be like a summer's day. You could read, or walk, or swim--smell flowers, drink tea, play chess--she had always imagined it to be a more welcoming, bright version of the world, where the weather was always perfect, the sun was always shining and you could do whatever you liked, whenever you pleased. She sometimes wondered if you could meet people, in heaven, not just your family; but celebrities even, strangers perhaps. She wondered if she might meet merlin, that would be cool; frolicking in a meadow in heaven with the most famous wizard in the world, that would be something, wouldn't it?

But it was dark. Perhaps she hadn't opened her eyes, or perhaps heaven wasn't at all like she imagined it. Would she even have eyes though? Aren't you a soul, or a spirit, almost like a ghost when you get to heaven? She wasn't sure. After all, she hadn't died before. It was now she regretted not listening to Nearly Headless Nick more when he spoke about his death; maybe he could provide some insight.

But where were the voices coming from? Who did they belong to? Maybe it was Lily and James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew, all waiting to welcome her.

But when she opened her eyes, which she must have had because she could see, she saw white at first. This made more sense to her, at least it wasn't dark anymore. It was white, maybe she wasn't in heaven yet; maybe she was about to get there! But then things started to come into focus, the white was not a bright light guiding her to the angels above, it was a wall and the voices grew louder as she gained more focus.

They also became more familiar, it was the voice of Remus Lupin.

'SHE'S AWAKE!'

And that was Ginger's voice, and suddenly it became evident to her she was not in the afterlife, she was somewhere, where she didn't know, but she was somewhere with her family and for that she was thankful. She looked down a bit, and she saw Ginger, sitting on her lap hugging her torso tightly, looking eagerly up at her.

'Ging.' Ophelia smiled, and then she felt her hand being squeezed and her head being kissed; and she looked up to see Remus Lupin, a very frazzeled looking Remus Lupin at that, who was murmuring inaudible things into her curly black hair as he kissed her head repeatedly.

Then she saw others. Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore, Minnie; and across in a hospital bed, she saw Ron sound asleep surrounded by a couple other redheads. His siblings, of course, minus Bill and Charlie; but also a tall man and plump woman; presumably the infamous Molly and Arthur.

Suddenly it all came back to her. The chess match, the flying keys, all of it; she remembered the moments before she fell unconcious. But most of all, her first priority was Harry. She became frantic, breathing rushed--what had happened to him?

Dumbledore noticed this. Observant, that one. He stood at the end of her bed, explained it was all Quirrell and You-Know-Who to begin with. The Stone was safe, Harry was safe, in fact she had failed to notice he was sound asleep in the bed next to her; and Hermione had managed to bring both of her unconcious friends back to the hospital wing in one piece. Gods, she really ought to be more thankful for Hermione Granger.

'You must be Ophelia!' Suddenly she was being ambushed by a face-full of red hair. It was the plump woman, who was now definitely Molly Weasley, amd she smelled of strawberries and pasteries and home.

Ophelia chuckled, her Dad was discussing something with Madam Pomfrey, so she allowed herself to be distracted though she was aching to talk to him; 'Guilty as charged.'