Last Will

Her hand trembles as she writes the letter, the normally severe letters become lopsided. With every word, she knows it will end soon.

Dear Harry,

I'm very sorry to tell you this, but Ron and I had a sudden change of plans so you won't be able to visit this weekend. We'll be on a vacation in sunny Spain for a month or so. We can reschedule your visit some other time, okay?

Hermione

She pauses momentarily, feeling as if she has left something out. Suddenly, she remembers. Pulling out another sheet of parchment, and quickly scribbles a single word: Goodbye. She stands up and leaves the desk, but soon returns to it, berating herself for being so careless as to almost forget it. She had written it a few months ago, when tensions between her and Ron were beginning to rise.

"Pig," she says slowly, choking with sobs and unshed tears, "I want you to take this to Harry, okay?" She holds up the first roll. Then she reaches for the second one. "Take this one to Taylor. Make sure he reads it."

She finds it necessary to turn away for a moment prior to picking up the third and very thick roll. She feels she has handled it all with very good grace and controlled her unbearable sorrow...but now? The shaky tears stream down her young and unlined face. Do I really want to go through with this? She moves to the wastebasket for a second, but then the face of Ron passes through her mind, and Hermione clenches the parchment with resolve.

"Pig? PIG? LISTEN TO ME!" The owl had been flitting about the room until her sharp voice startles him. He lands besides her, attentively listening. "Now, this is the most important letter, understand? Deliver this one last. Give it to Molly."

She secures the papers to Pig and watches him soar away, who is weighed down slightly. Hermione takes out her wand. Checking to see if she has everything, she pictures it once more. A forlorn cliff overlooking the sea...she has seen it before. She has been there before.

She knows what she must do.

A mere second and a popping sound later, she stands exactly where she wishes to be. Feeling frightened, Hermione peers over the edge. She finds the crashing waves intimidating but understands this is what she deserves.

She pulls a worn copy of The Scarlet Pimpernel out of her pocket.

"This is for you, Taylor. You were my best friend...and my biggest mistake." She rips the book into a deluge of shreds and watches the sea envelope them.

She takes out the worn piece of parchment. She observes her handwriting hasn't changed much since her fourth year.

"This is for the past, and for what I wish I still lived in." She rips it as well and tosses the remnants into the water.

Trembling, she holds up her wand. I can't believe this! What am I doing?

"This is for the Wizarding world." Shutting her eyes, she snaps it in half and cries in pain as she sees the two halves smash upon the rocks.

Wedding rings were never meant to be taken off, she grumbles silently, struggling with the golden band of matrimony. It takes a few minutes' conflict to release her finger from its bond. A trickle of red trails downs her finger, and as she clutches the ring, her blood smears onto it.

"This is for you, Ron. I love you." She falls to the ground and covers her ears as the ring tumbles forever downward. Face streaked with tears, Hermione staggers onto her feet, blinded by grief. "I will always love you."

She plummets, her body following the ring.

* * *

Miles away, an aged Molly Weasley finds her son's owl pecking at the window. This is strange, she thinks. Ron never sends me anything. Pushing herself off the rocking chair, she retrieves the unusually long letter. Humming to herself absentmindedly, she unrolls it.

"Arthur!" she shrieks.

Arthur Weasley is still the same, tinkering with "Muggle rubbish" in the garage. A hammer still in his hand, he wonders what has caused his wife to yell with such vehemence.

"Molly, what do you need?"

The hammer slips out of his limp hand, cracking the kitchen tiles. His wife has fainted...and next to her -

He picks up the fallen letter. He is much too old to read its contents without his glasses, but the heading bores into his mind and fills him with dread. She...she would never...

Last Will and Testament of Hermione Marguerite Granger Weasley