The Other Black - Book 7

Chapter 33 - The Forest Again

They had known for months that neither Harry or Voldemort could live while the other survived. The only way to defeat Voldemort was for Harry... for Harry...

Aurora couldn't even think it. There were many names on her list of names, many of them people she considered friends, but that was one of the few names she knew she never, ever, wanted to add to her list.

She looked at Harry, who barely met her eyes.

Would he be in pain? Aurora wondered. Would it hurt, being killed? Dying?

The two of them sat in silence for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts, neither sure what to say. What did she say to Harry, aware that it was among the last things she ever would? What do you say to your best friend, knowing he only has hours to live?

It was in silence that Harry stood up, and it was in silence that he walked out out of the office, Aurora behind him, and it was in silence that he closed the office door.

"Keep the others safe for me, will you?" Harry asked Aurora as they descended a flight of stairs. He tugged out the Invisibility Cloak.

"Come back to me, will you?" Aurora asked, even though she knew it was a promise he couldn't keep. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wrapped him in a hug. A large, familial hug that she didn't want to break. "Come back to us."

She met Harry's eyes, and he made a small nod. They both knew he couldn't keep it, they both knew it, but he still promised anyway because anything was better than nothing.

She was left there, alone, as Harry put the Cloak on and left her there, standing still, adding another name to her ever-increasing list.

James. Lily. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. Mad-Eye. Hedwig. Bekker. Ted Tonks. Dirk Cresswell. Pettigrew. Dobby. Fred. Snape.

Harry Potter.

She made her way back to the Great Hall, passing by Neville who rounded onto her as though he'd just had a conversation with Death.

"Aura!" He exclaimed. "Harry just told me about the snake, like he's... like..."

Aurora didn't counter Neville's fears.

"He said that I had to kill the snake if Ron, Hermione, or you weren't able."

Aurora slumped against the wall, outside the Hall, the hurt and the pain and the grief, because she knew... The boy she onced defended, she would defend no more. She was tired. She was so, so tired. Neville left her there, looking worried, and went into the Great Hall. Aurora didn't want to move.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know where Ron and Hermione were. She couldn't tell them. She couldn't grieve with them. Had they gone to find the snake? Were they still grieving Fred and Tonks and Lupin and Lavender and little Colin and...

She buried her head in her knees, curled up in a little ball. Her tears were flowing freely behind her knees.

"Aura!"

It was Ginny who found her. She started at the sight, seeing Aurora crying against the wall.

"Aura, where's... where's Harry?" She sounded scared to ask.

Aurora couldn't even respond.

"He's gone... out there? But why? Aura-"

"It's the only way-"

"And you let him?"

"I couldn't stop him." Her voice, which had been quivering, barely together, broke again. Aurora whispered to her knees, "I couldn't help him."

She could feel that feeling in her throat. That feeling in her gut. The one she had when someone was about to die. The feeling that she'd had so constantly this battle. The feeling that had alleviated some with the pause Voldemort had given but had now returned.

"He's walking to his death right now. I can feel it."

Ginny sat down beside her, an arm around Aurora.

"What do I do, Ginny?" Aurora asked the redhead. "What do I do?"

Ginny looked out of the window in the corridor where they sat. She looked towards the sky, as though she thought Harry might already be up there. "You fight. You stand and you fight. If Harry's gone to... If, as you said, it's the only way... Then we fight back and he doesn't... He..." Ginny shook her head. "It's not in vain."

She had stood up while she was talking, inspiring herself, and faced Aurora, holding a hand towards her.

"Deal?"

Aurora nodded.

"Deal."

She took Ginny's hand and had just started to stand, when she doubled over again. She felt more than just sick. It almost felt like pain. Like something sharp had pierced her inside and she knew.

"He's dead."