Smile To The Sunset

Smile To The Sunset

I watched as Lara stepped forward, lay the flowers down, and stepped back, next to her husband. Luke fell in behind her, set down the white rose, and stepped back to allow his wife the same courtesy. My niece, Marina Dursley stepped up, kissed the white rose, and lay it atop the coffin. All this happened to slowly, I felt as if I was watching a movie. Tossing a strand of hair from my face, I stepped forward to the coffin, just as Malcolm Weasley and his sister steeped back, tears in their eyes.

* * *

Deep in my mind, I knew it was a terrible idea, going back to do this. But he had insisted, swearing that it would all be all right. I believed him, after all, he was the great Harry Potter. I still remember how the breeze chilled my bones, standing outside the darkened fortress. The breeze ruffled my hair, and I felt his hand slip into mine. Suddenly, it would be all right. To my left stood Lara, my eldest daughter, and her twin brother, Luke. Conrad Finnigan stood just behind Lara, Marina Dursley to his far left. Malcolm and Daynia Weasley stood on the opposite side of Harry. Daynia was the same age as my Lara, only she was not yet married.

For a second my mind flashed to Lara's new baby girl, beautiful red hair, sparkling ice blue eyes. Then I thought of her being left alone, like Harry, if Lara and her husband were killed in this battle. That's the moment I swore to myself that I would die before that happened. Little did I know, Harry was swearing the same thing.

Leagued behind us stood our friends from school, Ron and Hermione Weasley were the closest. Then Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, and of course, Fred and George Weasley. Then my children's friends, all fine wizards and witches. But right behind me stood my youngest girl, my baby, Kayla Potter. She had only just graduated years before, and insisted on coming.

We stood together, on the rain slicked mountain side, watching the firelight flicker in all the windows. At first, Harry just stared up at the walls, his eyes wide. For the first time since he was a baby, he was going to defeat Voldemort. Almost sixty years before, he had saved the world from near ruin, and now he had to do it again. I squeezed his hand, as if to say that he wouldn't be alone.

The stench of the fortress was repulsive, the scent of rotting flesh, mingled with perspiration, and blood. I felt my dinner climbing my throat, but forced it back, feeling the flutter of butterflies in the pit of my stomach. We moved along the corridors, deep within the belly of the serpent. Voldemort's own right hand man selling him out had been the only way we could cross into the darkness unannounced. Silently, I turned to peer at him. The man that had betrayed the Dark Lord to protect his daughter from joining Him. Draco Malfoy was staring up at the beams with terror, his eyes wide in their sockets.

By the time we reached Voldemort's quarters, my heart was hammering, and I felt for sure that he would hear it. But Harry motioned for us to stand back, motioned for us to run if he knew. I knew no one would do it, not without taking him with them. For a moment, just seeing him there, just seeing him as they saw him, I thought of who he reminded me of. A mixture of Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and of course, the Harry Potter I knew for all this time. I saw him for the first time that night.

My heart all but stopped as Harry flung open the door, revealing the cozy fire, the armchair, the bedroom of the darkest man I had ever met. Something moved in the chair as we filtered in, spreading into the room. I saw him before I knew what was going on... He leapt from the chair, roaring an unholy roar of anger. Harry shouted something, and everyone began to scatter, taking their places.

That's when it began... The chant that Lily Evans had said all those years ago, in a report for Defense class. The Chant of Light. "For those whom speak but give no name, for those that seek all but fame, for those who take but never give, for those that kill just to live. Give yourself, feed into the light, beat the dark, defeat the night!"

Suddenly, the power of a hundred wizards and witches tumbled into my body. I was the only one that could make the chant work, the only one that had it in her blood. Energy coursed through me, slamming me into Harry, fighting to control the path. In his last moment, he cried out the words that almost stopped my heart. "Avada Kadavra!"

There was a flash of green light, and I tried to spin to see who it hit. The world darkened, and I heard Harry scream out in fear, terror, pain. Falling to my knees, I struggled to catch my breath. Collapsing into someone's arms, I looked up, and recognized the swatch of bright red hair streaked with gray. "Ron," I muttered, grabbing his hand. "Ron, who was it?"

He choked back tears as he looked toward the place I wouldn't, and his eyes brimmed with tears. "Sleep, Kalli," he whispered, covering my eyes. "Just sleep." And I did, a dreamless sleep, for many days.

* * *

Watching the flowers sway in the wind, I waited until I felt the familiar touch on my shoulder. Harry stood behind me, tears in his eyes as well. "Why?" I choked, grabbing his hand. He pulled my close, held me as I shook. I heard a soft voice behind me, one I'd grown to recognize. Hermione stepped up beside us, Ron at her side. "She... She didn't deserve it."

Lara stared at the coffin, aware of her husband standing beside her, holding their baby daughter in his arms. She'd risked her life for Lara, and she knew it. "I love you, baby sister," Lara whispered into the wind. And for only a second, Lara swore she heard As I love you. Joining her parents at the coffin as they lowered it into the ground, Lara felt a familiar breath on the wind, and she smiled to the sunset.

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(A/N: If you're confused about the characters, that's probably because you haven't read any of my stories. Kalli Damia... Harry's wife and the person telling the story... Is from "Quidditch Field" and "Not So Picture Perfect Past", and the children are from "Family Ties". And the rest are self-explanatory. Thanks for reading, please review.)