We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley

- After The Fall -

"When the greatest light is extinguished, even the strongest hearts must learn how to find their own."

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The silence that followed was somehow louder than the Killing Curse itself.

For several endless seconds, neither Harry nor Katherine moved.

The Astronomy Tower seemed frozen in time.

The wind still drifted through the broken battlements.

The torches continued to flicker.

Dumbledore's body lay impossibly still against the stone below.

And yet somehow...

everything had changed.

Her chest felt impossibly tight, as though someone had wrapped iron chains around her ribs and pulled them tighter with every heartbeat.

She stared blankly at the place where Draco had stood only moments before.

Where Severus Snape had raised his wand.

Where green light had filled the tower.

Where Albus Dumbledore had fallen.

Harry was still gripping her shoulders, though his own hands were shaking so violently they could barely keep hold of her.

His breathing came in harsh, uneven gasps.

Neither of them could tear their eyes away from the tower above.

"They..."

Katherine's voice cracked beyond recognition.

She swallowed hard.

"They killed him."

Saying the words aloud made them real.

The tears she'd been desperately holding back finally broke free.

Harry's own face had turned ghostly white.

His glasses were streaked with rain and tears alike, though he seemed completely unaware of either.

For the first time since she'd known him...

Harry looked completely lost.

Then something inside him snapped.

His grief transformed into something far more dangerous.

Rage.

Pure, blinding rage.

His head whipped towards the staircase leading back onto the tower.

"We're going after them."

The words were frighteningly calm.

Katherine looked up sharply.

"What?"

"We're going after them." His voice grew stronger. "They're not getting away."

He was already climbing to his feet.

Already reaching for his wand.

Already moving.

"Harry."

He didn't stop.

"Harry!"

Still nothing.

She scrambled after him, grabbing the sleeve of his robes with both hands.

"What are you doing?"

"They murdered him!"

"So you're going to get yourself killed too?"