Redamancy

• Chapter 3 •

The end & the beginning:

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They never talked about it in the movies.

About what happens after the battle is won.

About how it becomes everyone's job to walk around and collect the bodies of the fallen.

Whether it was a total stranger, a friend, a family member, or even an enemy.

Although it was supposed to be a moment of victory and the final step towards Happily Ever After, it didn't feel like it for Nicolai; and the boy was sure that everyone else agreed.

After all the bodies that could be salvaged from the battle were found and placed around the Great Hall, faced covered as an act of respect, the search began.

Cries of anguish and loss could be heard throughout the few remaining survivors who were left to mourn their losses.

Nicolai didnt even have to glance at the faces of those he walked past as he himself searched through the endless lines of bodies, hoping, praying to not see any familiar faces.

However his hopes were crushed as he noticed the familiar figure of his father layed carelessly next to a couple who he recognised as his old Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, and  Nymphadora Tonks.

'Merlin's beard...'

The breath disappeared from his lungs as salty tears threatened to spill from his already swollen eyes.

He had truly loved his father.

Unlike his mother who seemed to hate Nicolai with an unexpected passion for not wanting to follow the family footsteps of serving a greater cause (Voldemort), his father had always supported his son.

Although his father was a weak willed man who had tried in vain to stand up to his mother, Nicolai still held a slight admiration for his strength in supporting his son as much as possible.

And yet he was the one who ended up dead, lying on the cold stone of a crumbling castle, not a single shred of dignity left to revive his image of a once loved father.

Nicolai couldn't help but wonder what had been the cause of his fathers death, and in a pure moment of curiosity, he gently lifted the sheet that covered the man's body.

He immediately regretted this upon seeing the shattered shards of glass piercing multiple parts of his fathers body.

Taking notice of a particularly large piece embedded into his chest was all it took before the sheets dropped back down and Nicolai stepped back.

Trying to take his mind of the current revelation, Nicolai continued his search, now focusing all his efforts on finding, or more likely hoping not to find, his best friend since First Year, Katherine Odium.

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The Weasleys couldn't find it in them to be happy at that moment.

Although they were one of the very few who hadn't suffered the loss of a family member, they had still lost a lot of close friends in the midst of battle, some of which they had in fact considered to be part of their family.

It wasn't long before Molly Weasley reconised the body of Louis Amare, an old friend of hers from her own years at Hogwarts, next to Remus and Tonks.

And so, as a result she noticed the boy who had fought by her side  towards the end of the battle. A boy who she now believed to be Nicolai Amare, Louis's his son.