janus ~ hermione granger

lxxvii

"c'mon," harry turned towards the church, signaling that they could cross the road and head to their destination.

the singing grew louder as hermione quietly pushed the kissing gate open, reminding them all of holidays at hogwarts.

"look at this, it's an abbott, could be some long lost relation of hannah's!"

"keep your voice down," hermione begged, glancing behind her to see maddy staring at a tree.

they waded deeper and deeper into the graveyard, leaving tracks in the snow and squinting at the areas around them to make sure no one was following them while they looked for the corresponding headstones.

"guys, here," hermione waved them over.

"is it-"

"no, but look!"

harry and maddy both crouched down, reading the words kendra dumbledore, her dates of birth and date, and a quotation:

where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

"are you sure he never mentioned-"

"no, let's keep looking," harry walked away.

moments later, hermione called out again, but was just mistaken.

"come back a moment," maddy mumbled, and hermione quickly complied, but harry seemed to be annoyed.

"what?"

"look," she pointed out the symbol.

"that's the mark in the book!" hermione exclaimed.

"yeah--it could be."

"it says ig--ignotus, i think," hermione lit her wand and pointed at the headstone.

"i'm going to keep looking for my parents, alright?" harry once again left them, trudging around the graveyard alone.

"i was actually born here," maddy fidgeted with her jumper, "i just never told anyone."

"why?"

"i'm related to salazar, and you-know-who, someway. i-it'd be kind of odd to say i'm from a place that has godric in its name. godric gryffindor and salazar slytherin weren't great friends, you know?" she lowly chuckled.

"are their tombstones here?"

"i doubt it," maddy glanced around, sighing and jumping up to her feet. "let's help harry before he goes even more crazy."

after looking in the dark for a couple of minutes, hermione's voice broke the silence, and the other two instantly knew she had found where harry's parents were buried by the tone of her voice.

james potter, born 27 march 1960, died 31 october 1981
lily potter, born 30 january 1960, died 31 october 1981

the last enemy that should be destroyed is death

harry slowly read the last phrase out loud, panicking as he carefully looked at maddy, who quickly understood.

"why is that there?"

"it doesn't mean defeating death in the way the death-eaters mean it, harry. it means, you know, living beyond death. living after death."

maddy made a wreath of christmas roses blossom before them as harry began to cry. the boy caught it, placing the wreath on his parents' wreath.

the girls had both taken a hand of harry's, gripping it tightly, receiving the same pressure.

they sat in silence for a couple moments, and harry finally stood up, wrapping his arms around the two girls and heading out of the graveyard, but hermione stopped them when they reached the grave of the unknown abbott.