𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐒 𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐌𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 (OC x OC) - Full Series

[007] CHAPTER 31 - CASTLES CRUMBLING

"people look at me like i'm a monster."
|| taylor swift

Harry Potter

Just when I'm able to get back to my feet, I fall back down, feeling Voldemort crawl into my mind. Not again... When I glance over, Ann, Hermione, and Penelope are covering their ears in pain.

"You have fought valiantly," Voldemort whispers in, most likely, everyone's heads, "but in vain. I do not wish this. Every drop of magical blood spilled is a terrible waste. I therefore command my forces to retreat. In their absence, dispose of your dead with dignity.

"Harry Potter and Makayla Malfoy," the whispers are louder and more clear now. "I now speak directly to the two of you. On this night, you have allowed your friends to die for you rather than face me yourself. There is no greater dishonor. Join me in the Forbidden Forest and confront your fate. If you do not do this, I shall kill every last man, woman, and child who tries to conceal you from me."

We walk back to Hogwarts—all five of us, now missing Makayla. The entire courtyard is abandoned.

"Where is everybody?" Hermione asks.

Then, we make our way to the Great Hall, seeing the tragedy. There is crying and mourning. Bodies everywhere.

My breath catches at the sight of Nora Malfoy lying lifeless. Christopher Lupin is sitting next to her with his knees cuddled to his chest. He must have been crying for at least an hour by now.

We slowly make our way into the Great Hall and I watch all of the grief. That is before I look up to see George crying in Ron's arms.

Where is Fred?

I walk closer as Ron pulls away from George and falls to the ground, crying over a dead body. Fred's dead body.

Louis and Ann are behind me, completely silent until my gaze falls down to the bodies next to Fred. I hear Ann gasp and then a scream from her shortly after.

"NO—"

I look back as she is held by Mattheo. She cries into Mattheo's chest as Louis stares at the bodies of Remus Lupin and Tonks. Dead.

He looks like he's seen a ghost. Like his entire world just fell apart before him. Like the impossible just happened and he can't fix it.

It's as if I can read his mind, because I anticipate him immediately looking up and rushing through the Great Hall. He's searching for one person and one person only. The only girl that could ever truly get on his nerves and make him feel butterflies at the same time. The girl who taught him what it really felt like to love and hate someone simultaneously.

Makayla Malfoy.

But he never finds her.

I'm in the Headmaster's office now. No one occupies this office anymore now that Sirius is dead. Hogwarts lacks a Headmaster. The paintings in the room are all asleep except for one. I recognize the look on his face from 12 Grimmauld Place. That's Phineas Nigellus Black. He looks displeased and annoyed. I wonder if he's always like that.

Ignoring the portrait, I walk over to the pensieve in the corner of the room. I put my hands on both sides of the deep silver disc and toss it to the center of the room, not surprised to see it hover in the air.

I follow it and take the vile with Snape's tears out of my coat pocket. The tears drip into the bowl. Once. Twice. The tears form a black ribbon in the water as I push my face beneath the surface.