The Boy With The Red Hair

Year Seven

I stared at the steps beneath my feet, covered in rocks and dust. I cringed whenever I caught sight of the scarlet blood that had infested the school. It seemed so petty, to be frightened by the sight of blood when I was surrounded by much worse things. Ron had just lost his brother, one of the best men I knew. Fred and George, thick as thieves, made these dark times bearable. You couldn’t help but laugh when they were around. Fred would be greatly missed.

And it wasn’t just Fred that was stolen. Colin, Lavendar, Professor Snape, Remus, Tonks. Every loss, every dead body that I saw in the Great Hall, broke my heart.

Remus and Tonks- two of the greatest causalities of them all. They fought- hard. They didn’t care what anyone thought. Thousands of barriers were built, between them and between the world. But they knocked them all down. They even had a child together, a son who will no doubt be as marvelous as his parents were. He would now grow up, never knowing his parents. But he did have the stories, the glorious tales of Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks, the two people who were stupid enough to fall in love and crazy enough to make it work.

What were we to do now? The battle was yet to end. Voldemort was still out there in the Forbidden Forest, bidding his time. Did he really think Harry would walk into his trap?

I rested my head on Ron’s shoulder and he sniffled. He squeezed his arm tighter around my shoulder, desperate to feel. There was the sound of pebbles tumbling down the staircase behind us as someone walked down. I turned around to face Harry. Ron turned as well, still taking deep breaths.

Harry looked sad, yet resolved. In his hand he held something tightly, but I couldn’t see it. “Hi,” he said simply, offering a small smile.

I shook my head and stood up, running to him. I knew that look in his eye. He was going to do something that I didn’t approve of. I pulled him into a hug, crying now.

“Oh, why do you always have to be the one to save us, Harry Potter?” I asked, stepping back. “Why is it always you?!”

“I’m sorry, Jenna. It has to happen. I have to go to him.” He said and pulled away from me. He grabbed my shoulders and shook them so I made eye contact.

“Wait, what are you talking about?” Ron asked behind me.

“Harry’s going to go into the Forbidden Forest.” I spit out and Harry looks at the dirty ground.

“Why?” Ron asks simply and Harry steps away from me.

“You wouldn’t understand, but it’s out of my control. This is something I have to do. Please just let me go.” Harry looks us both in the eyes before turning to walk past us.

I stand in his path. “No. I won’t let you! After all this time, after everything we’ve been through! You’re just going to hand yourself over! Are your last words to your best friends really going to be ‘stand aside so I can go kill myself’?! Because I damn well will never let you go and give yourself up! What would be the point to this? To the running! Hiding and planning and fighting! Have you even bothered to see who has died? Tonks and Lupin died, Harry. Now little Teddy has no parents-”

“Let him go, Jenna.”

I stop, shocked, and turn to Ron. “What?”

“Let him go.” He walked over to me, his eyes soft. “Do you remember all the times Harry and I would disappear when we were younger? We were off being reckless, stupid, but we always made it out. Without Harry I probably wouldn’t be alive. If he needs to go, we need to let him go.”

“You’re wrong! I won’t let him kill himself! Just stay and we can figure something out!”

“Till when, Jenna?” Harry asks abruptly. “How many people have to die for me until you let me go? It’s either me, or all of them.” He motioned to the Hall, where everyone was waiting.