The Way Things Almost Were | Harry Potter Drabbles

A Year After

"moving on, through the good times and the tears...we'll go on." - promise, kellie coffey.

Draco Malfoy

The first anniversary of Hogwarts had changed so many people, but none so much as Draco Malfoy. He stood next to her, the Gryffindor who had saved him from complete and utter demise as he stood in the newly built courtyard of his former school. It felt like a dream, it felt like a nightmare. He pulled her closer to him, letting go of a shaky breath. His hair was longer now, almost to his shoulders, it reminded him of his father. It reminded him to be better than his father. There was another moment of silence, his one hand was around her waist, the other, grazing the stone wall of the school before he entered into the school. So many people were there, so many somber faces, and he had been a part of this destruction. But she was there, she was supporting him, and nothing else mattered. 

Cedric Diggory

A year later and they had arrived early. She bounced a child on her knee, their child, a symbol of hope that would last for years to come. Cedric was jovial, especially in such a somber atmosphere. He got to see some of the people he had graduated with, and together, they mourned and celebrated the lives of those who were not so fortunate to be there. She had recently accepted a new position working in administration at Hogwarts, and she often spent her days in the castle, but this time felt different, it felt like a celebration, instead of work. From across the hall, Cedric smiled at her. How far they had all come, since the days of the Tri-Wizard Tournament and the Second Wizarding War, and how far they had yet to go. There was much work to be done, and they would do it together. 

Fred Weasley

They spent most of their time in Hogsmeade and enjoyed when students visited. It gave life to something so serious. The first year, post-war had been rough for them, they would not lie. Fred woke up screaming most nights and she was there to comfort him, brushing away the nightmares with tea and sweets to cheer him up. They had gotten through it though and it was with much consideration that they revisited the memorial one year later. It seemed to be both the longest and shortest year on record, but they visited graciously, they were honorees after all and the students that visited the Hogsmeade joke shop stared in awe as they stood, back among the crowd. It wasn't until nearly everyone had dispersed that a first year caught them sitting on a staircase, Fred's head in his hands, and his partner tenderly stroking his hair. 

George Weasley

They were traveling. And they weren't able to come home, home, though, was a vague concept. They were somewhere in remote, northern Europe, they hadn't had time to get back, but they were high in the mountains and it was peaceful. They had sat amongst the pines and the snow and fallen back into talking about their school days, pausing when names passed their lips that they knew had long departed the wizarding world. There was silence, and then the deafening roar as streams of fire emanated from their wands, together, hands interlocked, eyes closed in silent thought. They intended for it to be a moment just for them, but far off in the distance, the students of Durmstrang bowed their heads in silence, they knew what day it was, and so they remembered the fallen just the same.  

Neville Longbottom

He had accepted a position with Professor Sprout and she had followed. True to their word, they had married on the grounds of Hogwarts itself, in the springtime before the May anniversary. They had carried on their lives, quiet and simple, and she had taken up residency in the library, assisting in taking care of the books in the restricted section that she had been barred from not so long ago. They remembered every night, Neville watched proudly as the first years came to him, particularly the Gryffindors, inquiring about his feats as if he were a legend or a myth. There was always silence as he told his stories, as they told their tales together, and then finally, a somber wave goodbye as they left, feeling just a bit more confused than when they had walked in. Neville never fancied himself a hero, but to his wife he was much more than that, he was the reason they were all where they were. They trudged slowly on the hill to Hogwarts's Great Hall, arm in arm, thinking back into when it had been reduced to rubble and stone and all they had helped to rebuild in the year after. 

Oliver Wood 

They had gone their separate ways, cordial and friendly, but Oliver wasmarried now, and she, well, she was quite the opposite. She was working as adeputy minister under Kinglsey Shacklebolt and although the Minister could notbe here to mark the occasion, she stood in his place, prominent in deep blackrobes among all the friendly faces, all the people she worked with and thefriends she had made. There was a moment of silence, and then her speech, andwhen it was all over and people talked quietly together, she found herself wanderingthe halls until she was back in front of the Slytherin common room. A handfound hers, warm and perfectly matched with hers and she didn't have to turnaround to know who it was. He held her as she sobbed, they had all lost toomuch, and she had seen the aftermath of it all. So, she sobbed as he held herto him, and she felt comfort for the first time in months.