Oversight

They're off in their corner - the one that belongs to them, even if nobody will say it out loud - and they're not talking, or even looking at each other. They're carrying on by themselves. One researches, one strategizes, and one wonders. You wouldn't think it, but they're all working together. They can do it without communicating directly. Somehow, they always just know.

Not too long ago, there was life in that corner. Before this war. Before we lost one of our own. Before that night when suddenly, they all became so much older than they ever should have been. It seems obvious now to anyone who knew them before that they might technically be alive, but they won't let themselves live, not really, until it's over and they've ended it themselves. Everyone thinks they've cut themselves off from everything. I know better, though. Just because we can't reach them doesn't mean they can't reach each other.

They don't know I'm here. They don't know that any of us are here. None of us really matter to them, at least not in the way that they matter to each other. It might seem like they're isolated, even from each other, but I know they're not. They're connected and bound in a way that nobody else will ever be able to fathom. It's not a magical link; they may be wizards but it's nothing so mundane, so easily understood, as magic. It's pure luck, pure chance, pure miracle that they found each other and that they were able to grow into this. None of them ever dreamed they'd end up this way. They didn't want it or plan it, but event after event changed them and molded them until they couldn't imagine not living like they do, couldn't imagine being three individuals instead of The Trio.

I wish I could be a part of it. Not just to have the bonds that they have. This isn't because of some stupid crush. I want to be a part of it because I am a part of it. Not as far as they're concerned, obviously. They only need me occasionally; they keep me around because I come in handy sometimes. I know they like me, maybe they even love me, but it's in their own way. They can never let anyone else in, not completely, and by the time I figured that out it was too late.

I was stupid. Stupid for thinking they might need me, stupid for thinking I could have them, stupid for thinking I could be them. I should have known all along that it wasn't going to happen. I'll never mean as much to them as they do to me.

I don't know what it is or why I'm not included. I don't know why they never think to tell me things and then assume I already know. It might be that I'm younger. Maybe I just missed too much in that first year.

Secretly, though, I think it's because I'm redundant. I've got nothing that they don't already have. I'm smart, but Hermione's smarter. I'm logical, but Ron has always been able to outstrategize me. I've faced down Voldemort and lived, but Harry's The Boy Who Lived. I'm a supplement. I'll never be an integral part of the machine, but I'll always be there to help. After all, what else can I do?

Those three will save the world. It's what they were born to do.

And I'll be right alongside them, but they won't notice until it's over.