Spells and Visions; A Harry Potter story

Chapter 12: Never Enough Time to Say Goodbye

There was a moment of silence, where everyone in the Great Hall looked open-mouthed from Harry to the body of Tom Riddle, as if they couldn't believe it was finally, really over.
Then, for the first time that night, I smiled. A genuine smile. It was over.
As everyone broke into cheers and screams, and hurled around Harry, I turned to Neville, who just saved my life, and flung my arms around him.
"J!"
"Nev! You saved my life! And everyone else's life, too!"
Neville just smiled, and strong as he was, spun me around.
He looked at the sword in his hand.
"Guess I am a real Gryffindor."
"Yeah, you definitely are!"

Action was immediately taken. I heard bits of the adults saying that Kingsley Shacklebolt was for the time being Minister of Magic, that all the remaining Death Eaters were taken prisoner, and that the innocent were released from Azkaban.

Everyone hugged each other, Volemort's body was moved from the Great Hall, as the house-elves stuffed the tables with food, because we had been fighting the entire night.
"How did you not die?" I asked Harry. "I was so sure I was right-"
"You were," Harry said. "I was an unintentional Horcrux. It needed to be destroyed, but that didn't necessarily mean I would die too!"
"Well, thank goodness!" I laughed relieved.

Harry later disappeared again, along with Hermione and Ron, but I understood they needed some time for themself, and I went to get some food. In a corner, I saw the three Malfoys sitting. Alive, free from the Dark Lord, maybe they weren't so bad after all.
Draco looked my way, I held up my hand, and he gave me the tiniest of smiles.

Exhausted, I let my head lean against Neville's shoulder, while Luna, the Weasleys, and the rest of the DA sat close by.
McGonagall stood up to talk to all of us.
"We'll repair the castle tomorrow. Eat now, and rest, and worry not."

"Hey, look," Neville said suddenly. He took out his red camera. It was dented, and there was a crack in the screen.
"I think it's broken. I noticed it after Voldemort had thrown me backwards. It's a shame, really, we used it really well."
"Yeah, that's too bad," I said. "You should keep it as a reminder, though."

After a while, the trio returned, and Harry whispered something to McGonagall. I saw her look a bit hesitant, but then nodded, and spoke to us once more.

"Mr Potter has an request. If you accept, you must do as he says."
Then Harry spoke.
"I found the Resurrection Stone, but everyone knows that you can't bring back the dead. They can't live in this world anymore. But... I found out that by holding the stone and thinking of the ones you loved and lost, you can see them. I will allow everyone in this castle, every student, teacher, parent and house-elf, to have that chance. Then I will make sure the stone will be kept safe, I won't bring anyone back to life myself, I promise, but I will put it somewhere where no one can find it. If you want to do this, say a last goodbye, come with me to the Courtyard. One person at a time, so they can say goodbye in peace. Neville, do you want to go first? You helped to destroy Voldemort, after all."

Neville blinked, took a deep breath, and stood up.
"Yeah."
Neville followed Harry to the Courtyard, and came back a few minutes later, with a relieved smile on his face. I knew he had said goodbye to Sirius. He gave the small, black stone, to me, and I understood it was my turn. I actually got a bit nervous. Would I see Sirius and Cedric again? And perhaps Cyril? For the last time? What if they were mad at me? What if they thought it was my fault that they died?

"Turn the stone three times around in your hands, that'll be enough," Harry said, and as I did that, he walked away to give me space. Ghosts, or perhaps more than ghosts, appeared before my eyes, three of them.
Almost immediately I started to tear up, but I couldn't help but smile. Sirius, Cedric and Cyril stood there.

"Hi," I stuttered. They smiled back at me.
"We did it. We destroyed Voldemort. We won."
"That's amazing!" Cyril said.
"Congratulations," Cedric smiled.
Then my smile faded.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, to all of you. You deserved so much better. Nothing went the way it was supposed to go."
"That's the thing of life, isn't it?" Sirius said. "Nothing ever goes how you plan it, and it the end, it'll turn out to be alright. You defeated Voldemort! That is quite an accomplishment."
"I didn't do it. I always try my best to help, and I still managed to get the three of you killed. Cyril, you had nothing to do with anything that played three years ago. You were completely innocent, and I dragged you along when I had a vision, a vision to save Cedric. I'm so sorry, Cyril, please forgive me."
Tears flowed over my cheeks, but Cyril smiled at me.
"It's okay, Jynx, I forgive you. You didn't mean to. I shouldn't have touched you, then I wouldn't have come. But we didn't know. I still believe you are a real hero, you protected Cedric, and you helped with finishing Voldemort. I'm proud of you, if that means anything to you."
I let out a shaky laugh.
"That means the world to me, Cyril, thank you."
I tried to touch his hand, but it felt cold, as when a Hogwarts ghost would touch you.