This I Promise You

A solitary tear splattered onto the page, smearing the ink.

She had no idea why she was crying. After all, she had known this was coming. Had seen it coming for what must have easily been ages. It still didn't help, and even the faintest glimmer of a memory could set her off these days. Still, it was oddly comforting, having the parchment in her hands. Taking a deep breath, she looked down and began reading for what must have been the hundredth time.

"I know we've been friends for ages, so why this is only coming up just now is beyond me. I just want you to know that I love you. God, I must seem like a coward, if not worse...but I could hardly bring myself to tell you in person.

I know this letter must sound really stupid, and I'm sorry. I'm also sorry that I may not see you again. I'm not entirely certain I'll make it out of this alive..."

The sobs were quiet, muffled, but they still seemed to reverberate throughout the empty dorm. Everyone else had gone down to the Ceremony; she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Wiping the tears out of her eyes and lifting the page to secure it from falling tears, she continued reading.

"You're probably wondering how long this has been going on. Well...it has been quite some time, actually. Almost since we first met, though I admit I thought you a little...strong, at the time. God, I sound like a complete and utter bastard. Sorry about that. I can assure you, though, my opinion changed greatly throughout that first year...and that's when I found myself in love with you.

I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself. Again. I guess you could say I'm not a man of many words."

He had never needed words to claim her heart. And now the very hands that wrote and delivered this letter were lying cold and folded onto his chest. Lips that had tasted one solitary kiss were now sealed forever, like a tomb surrounded by dead roses.

And yet, here he was. She could almost feel his hand on her wrist again. His smiling face, with just that bare hint of blush, floated before her almost as if he had been looking into the mirror behind her. She even looked up and around her to be certain he wasn't there, because it felt so real.

In truth, she desperately wanted it to be real.

The disappointment, grief, and anguish all mounted and merged together as the fact remained that he wasn't there...nor would he ever be again. She threw down the letter and collapsed into her pillow, screaming and crying with the pain and anger. Finally, after a few minutes (though it felt like hours), she sat up, cleaned herself up as best as she could, collected the letter, and started reading again.

"I can understand how this might take you off-guard. It wouldn't even surprise me if it made you angry. How could I wait this long to tell you? Truth be told, I'm a wimp. Thing is, I had to tell you, wimp or no.

However, if you don't love me, I'll understand. After all, this is a little sudden...and I've always been kind of a freak. Some would even call me obsessive about some things; no doubt, you know what those things are.

God, if only I knew how I could tell you without sounding so insanely stupid! As much as we've been through, one would think a simple, straightforward 'I love you' would work, but never for me. Never Harry Potter, World Savior Extraordinaire and professional oddball...it just doesn't work that way.

I suppose there's only one thing left to say, and it's this: please don't leave me hanging. It's been crazy, I know, and I hate to rush you into a decision. However, if you love me, I have to know. If not...well, like I said, I'll understand.

If nothing else, though, thank you for at least being my friend."

Just a friend? Merlin, how naïve could he be? Couldn't he tell she loved him? She had practically drooled over him the first year, and then pined the next. Is it possible that it was only such a short while ago that they met? There were some days where it had, in fact, seemed as if they'd known each other for ages.

All that was left was a signature, but it was still one of her favorite parts...it was a part of him left behind, given to her. Aside from memories, this was all she had of him, and she would be damned if she didn't hang on until she was there next to him.

She felt an ice-cold presence next to her, and knew that the Grey Lady had come in.

"You seem to mourn him greatly," she said, her voice floating on the air like goose down from a neglected pillow fight.

Resisting the urge to scoff at the understatement of the year, she simply nodded.

"He must have been very close to you, as he was with his other friends. Nick told me that you all used to do wonderful things for Hogwarts. He is especially fond of recalling Harry's fifth year--he tells me you were involved with the...ehm..."

"The D.A.?" she muttered. She wanted to be louder, but her voice, like much of her happiness, had seemed to evaporate when she first heard he had gone.

"Yes, I believe that was it. We were all so proud, the other ghosts and I. Even the Bloody Baron, arrogant as he is, was impressed. I don't think anyone was more proud of the D.A. and its work than he was, of course."

"He was proud...who? I'm not entirely certain what you mean."

"Why, Harry, of course. He was never too vocal about it, but one could tell that he was very happy with his work, and he was especially glad to be able to help out the other students. He wanted them to be happy and safe..."

"He wanted the same thing for himself." Was that anger creeping into her voice? Anything to break the monotony of blank grief would have been an improvement.

"Yes, and he managed to achieve that. And you helped him."

Her eyes shot wide as she turned to look at the transparent young woman next to her, who was smiling lightly.

"Yes, I remember talking to him shortly after they fired that horrid woman. I was floating through the Gryffindor common room, and I found him writing a letter very similar to this one. Naturally, he tried to hide it from my view, but there isn't much one can conceal from ghosts here at Hogwarts," she added with a small laugh.

"He knew he loved you then, but he seemed worried that it was a passing infatuation...and, admittedly, after that fiasco with Cho, he would not want to be so disappointed again. He did say, when I asked him, that you seemed to be the most supportive of his friends, and that he found himself depending on you more and more as time passed, though he never seemed to know why.

"Trying to change the subject, as I knew he was getting somewhat nervous, I asked him what he wanted the most in life. Given all he had been through, I had expected him to say something about 'peace' or something else along those lines. Do you know what he said?"

She simply shook her head. This seemed too strange to be true, even for the magical world.

"He said he wanted your happiness more than anything. Just to see you smile, and mean it; he would give anything you asked him to."

Two more tears found their way down her cheeks. It was amazing that she could cry anymore, as that seemed to be all she could do lately. Cho now had direct competition in the waterworks department. The Grey Lady smiled sympathetically, and continued.

"I know this must be hard for you. It must be terribly difficult to understand that he is gone beyond return. Or is he?"

This last question choked the sob that was rising in her throat.

"Why don't you go down to the Ceremony, dear? I believe you are in for a surprise."

She simply nodded, folded the letter, put it into her pocket, and ran down to the Great Hall, nearly forgetting to thank the Grey Lady. Hope and uncertainty were rising in her throat like twisted snakes, replacing the sob that had been there only moments ago. Could it be possible?

As she came in, she moved toward the Ravenclaw table out of habit, but her eyes never left the bier in the center of the room. There he lay, in his glass coffin like a male Snow White. He almost looked alive, lying there in his school robes, wand straight on his chest. She dearly wished he would sit up, break the lid if he had to, and tell everyone that he was alive, that he'd just taken a bad turn with a curse.

As she sat down, she could hear the murmurs begin. She cried out, asking them to shut up, but who listens to silent cries?

The wake proceeded, with the Minister of Magic, Mrs. Weasley, and Nymphadora Tonks speaking. None of it mattered, and she didn't hear anything until she heard a scraping noise. Shaking her head of her reverie, she saw that four Ministry wizards were raising the bier. She was not all that surprised to see everybody rising from his or her seats. She was greatly surprised, however, to see the whole of the Slytherin table join. Hadn't they all hated him? What sort of mockery could be going on now? Or would they actually happen to be sincere, for once?

The whole of the school followed them out to the graveyard. It was an impressive sight, indeed, watching the old castle empty of all its inhabitants. The caravan wound almost from the school to Hogsmeade even before the last student left. She lagged behind the end of the line, and the crowd was too great for her to see any more when she finally arrived. Out of breath, she collapsed beneath a nearby oak tree. It had been raining slightly only moments before, but had suddenly stopped.

The clouds broke, and a breeze whispered through the leaves. That was when she saw it. Harry, his face etched into the side of a thunderhead, not so large as to be menacing, but large enough for a small light show and considerable rain. And on the wind she heard his voice, barely discernible from nothingness.

"I will be..."

She followed the breeze, until her gaze fell back onto the castle. There seemed to be a white spot in front of the main door. Pulling her Omniculars from her pocket, she adjusted them, then looked back to the doors. There he was, barely visible in the sunlight, waving at her with that unmistakable grin.

Another, breeze, even stronger, blew through the trees, rustling the grass and knocking a small moonflower off its stem and onto her lap.

"I will be with you, Luna. Always."