✔️| Azalea Hogwarts 4 (Harry Potter Love Story)

15| My Goodbye

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The fighting had ceased, only when the night was drawing to a close and it was a snippet of apparent mercy from Voldemort, though Azalea knew as she entered the Great Hall to confront the dead, that it was all a ploy. The leader of the Dark side thought that if he showed them all that they had lost, they would back down, out of fear of losing more, and give in to him. It wasn't likely to happen. Pools of people crowded around the Great Hall and her eyes met Neville's. The boy smiled solemnly at her where she walked, her parents having vanished into non-existence the second he recalled his troops.

Luna and Neville were crowded at the bedside of Colin Creevy and in a beautiful, silent memorial, his photo album that he had dedicated so much time to, was placed on his chest, his arms draped over to cradle it. It still broke her heart to see the angelic face of the boy. 

Padma was cuddled into Seamus at Parvati's bedside but the girl was still breathing, at least for now. And that was all thanks to Lavender Brown who weaved through the rubble and temporary beds. The people of Hogwarts trusted her to save them, that much was clear. It didn't matter that she wasn't fully trained, they knew that she could save them when they were dying. She received the utmost respect from those she healed. 

Azalea sat firmly beside Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin. The woman quickly pulled her into a hug, seeing that she definitely needed one. All around the room, people were mourning loses, including the Weasley family. The Weasley's had lost a son that night, despite how hard they tried to prevent it. They had lost Percy. He had joined them and betrayed the ministry in the midst of a war, and he had died fighting for the family who accepted him back even after what he had done. The Weasley's were in various states of grief, the twins holding onto one another for dear life.

And that was when Ron and Hermione entered, with the noticeable absence of one Harry Potter who Azalea was most eager to see. The ginger boy ran instantly to his brother's bedside, breaking into sobs for the boy even if he had teasingly claimed to hate him at various times in the past year. Percy was still Ron's brother, even through war and conflict, you couldn't always choose your family.

Hermione averted her gaze as Ron sobbed, almost as if she didn't want to see the pain on his face, as if she knew he wouldn't want her to see him weak. At that moment, Ron didn't really care. Alastor walked up and down the rows, making irritating clattering sounds with his staff to break up the silence.

They had all survived relatively well but the war wasn't over yet.

"Mione" Azalea breathed as she hopped up and made her way to the other brunette girl. The muggle-born girl pulled her silently into a tight her, holding onto her as if letting go would mean she disappeared for good. "You made it" she breathed in relief, not having seen them since the battle first broke out all those hours ago. 

"And you did too" Hermione smiled and held her at arm's length, taking in the replica diadem that still sat atop her brown curls and the black dress that clung to her body. To Hermione, she couldn't understand how the girl could fight wearing that, but to Azalea, it felt normal. It was how she had fought a hundred times and she would happily fight a hundred more. Despite all the loss, and the lingering fear of war restarting, Azalea couldn't help but feel proud that they had made it that far.

"Where is he Hermione?" she questioned with glittering eyes and Hermione instantly looked down, not wanting to answer but feeling the girls piercing eyes on her face. 

"I think he went to Dumbledore's office" she informed and Azalea's eyes lit up as she nodded and scampered away. Hermione Granger couldn't find it within herself to tell the brunette girl, to crush her heart in a few simple words. So she lied, and she knew she'd regret it later but she loved Azalea too much to tell her what had happened. Harry had been too agonised by the thought of leaving Azalea to tell her himself and that would crush the girl too, the fact that she didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

The Daughter of Hogwarts ran along the corridors as fast as her little legs could power her to Dumbledore's office, ready to throw her arms around Harry in victory. She knew they hadn't won yet, that much was clear, but they had survived the fight and that was a victory in itself. She had survived, as she promised him she would and as she clattered into the office, she grinned in victory, only to frown when she didn't find him there...

[Authors note: Hello everyone, some of you may be wondering- I have tried to keep everyone's favourites alive but war cannot always be won without sacrifice. A family as big as the Weasley's could not survive on the front line of a battle, fully unscathed and as sad as it was to kill one of their members, things have to happen sometimes. As for Remus and Tonks, as much as Remus wants to be reuninted with Sirius and James, he had something more to fight for now. He has a little boy of his own and he will join them eventually, but now is not the time. I think that Remus deserves to have a happy life, at least for a moment, he was miserable for such a long time with his curse and his friends being gone. I'm just giving him the opportunity to live. Draco has been redeemed, which is something I really wanted to see happen and Neville was the one to kill Bellatrix. As powerful as Molly's fight against Bellatrix was, I just felt like the death meant something more coming from Neville, he deserved to avenge his parents. Please comment what you think and let me know what you would like to see in the coming chapter.]