Harry Potter One-Shots

Letting Go (Oliver Wood)

WORD COUNT: 711

Everywhere around me seemed like it was covered in a hazy combination of smoke, dust, and terror. The school that had been my home for seven years, where I had met all my best friends and my fiance and discovered my truest passions in life, was now a smoldering wreck in front of my eyes. The Battle of Hogwarts would undoubtedly go down in wizarding history, but actually living it out felt surreal. Everything felt like it was moving in slow motion - people were emerging from the ruins, bloody and exhausted, but alive.

I tried once again to shift into a standing position, but the pain in my left leg was too much, and I collapsed back to the ground. My wand was just out of arm's reach, and I had never felt so helpless. As I lay, bleeding and alone, on the stone floor of the courtyard, I felt my eyes begin to flutter shut as I shifted in and out of consciousness. The pain was too much, and it would go away if I just went to sleep... but I needed to stay awake in case Oliver came to find me.

The thought of Oliver snapped me back to reality. I felt the engagement ring heavy on my finger, and stared at it as a reminder of when things were good. It was small, and rather plain, nothing too flashy. We didn't have a lot of money, as I was only just getting started at the Ministry and Oliver was waiting for a Quidditch team to scout him and sign him. But, rich or poor, getting to marry Oliver was more than I could've ever hoped for for myself, and I wasn't going to let anything stand in my way.

Time stretched on for what felt like hours, but really it was probably only about thirty minutes. Eventually, I heard footsteps crunching on the broken pieces of stone that littered the ground in the courtyard. I squinted my eyes to see through the impermeable haze and watched a familiar figure emerge from the fog. It was Oliver, sporting a deep gash on his forehead and covered head to toe in a layer of blood, dirt, and sweat. He was limping a little, but that didn't stop him from running toward me as fast as he could.

"Y/N!" he panted, dropping to his knees beside me. I couldn't help but let the tears flow as he pulled me into his arms.

"I was so scared Oli. I thought I'd never s-see you again," I sniffled. Oliver held me as I sobbed into his chest, stroking my hair and whispering comforting things into my ear. The sun rising in the east cast long shadows over the destroyed remnants of my former safe haven.

With a quick swipe of his wand, Oliver set my broken leg ("We'll still have to go to St. Mungo's, I was always rubbish at that spell so it probably isn't very good anyways.") and helped me stand and climb out of the rubble and into the Great Hall, where everyone was gathering after the battle. I saw too many familiar faces laying on the floor of the hall. People I had graduated with, professors I had admired, opponents from past Quidditch matches. I began to cry anew when I saw Tonks and Lupin, hand in hand, their faces turned to the sky with unseeing eyes. I thought of their son, who would begin his life without his two wonderful, loving parents. I thought of Harry Potter, who had lost yet another guardian figure, and of all the other members of the Order of the Phoenix who had lost one of our own.

Oliver wrapped his arms protectively around me as we crossed the hall. We found the Weasley family, whose son Percy graduated in our year, weeping over their son Fred. What unimaginable pain they were going through, losing a son and a brother and a best friend. I thought I could cry no more tears, but still they came. I cried for all the innocent lives claimed by Voldemort and his followers and their evil quest for power. I cried for those still living, whose lives would be forever altered by the loss of a loved one. I cried for myself, and for Oliver, and for all the memories we had shared at Hogwarts that were now destroyed along with the sturdy stone walls of the castle. I cried for the past, the time before the battle, because letting go is always hard, but I knew better things were going to come in the future.

--

In the months following the Battle, Oliver and I grew ever closer, but went about healing in different ways. He internalized his feelings, only letting them out when they grew too much for him to handle and caused him to explode like a pot boiling over. I cried (a lot) and tried to do anything to take my mind off of what had happened. What brought me the most peace was helping out in places where I could see the direct effect I was having with my work. I joined Professor McGonagall and the rest of the remaining Hogwarts staff, along with plenty of alumni and current students, in rebuilding the castle, both magically and by hand. I attended the funerals of all of my friends, and made sure to check in on those who were grieving. By having a tangible positive impact, it made me feel like I was actively creating healing from the wounds of the past.

"Y/N," Oliver said one day over dinner, drawing me out of my day dreaming. It had been almost five months since the Battle, and we had moved into a small flat in downtown London, close to the secret entrance to the Ministry. We were supposed to be getting married in ten days' time, but had decided to indefinitely postpone the ceremony until the timing was right.

"I've been thinking," he started, and I made a surprised face at him, drawing out a laugh from him. "No seriously! I've been thinking, and I know our wedding was supposed to be in a couple weeks. I know we postponed it, but I still want to marry you, with or without the ceremony."

I made a noise to protest, but Oliver continued.

"We can do what the Muggles do and get that paper and sign it so we're married in the eyes of Muggle law, but we can still have the ceremony and the reception later. I just don't want to sacrifice more than we already have. I love you, Y/N, and I know I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so I don't understand why we have to wait for some big fancy party to tell everyone that when I'm pretty sure they already know, and the only two people who really matter is you and me anyway, so what do you say? Will you marry me twice?" he finished, giving me a wide grin. Something about big, goofy smiles always made me give in to what he was asking for.

"Of course I will, Oli. I love you and I can't wait to be your wife!"

"You get to be my wife... TWICE!"

--

A/N: Oof, sorry that got so sad and deep in the middle there... I've been in a funk lately and I was most definitely channeling that energy into this imagine. That, plus the sad music I was listening to while writing, made for a very tragic and dramatic chapter, but I'm pretty proud of it, not gonna lie.