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You watch the girl you love die.
You watch her die and you’re sure it is because you weren’t fast enough.
Because you weren’t by her side, because you didn’t warn her in time about the spell that was coming.
You’re both fighting in a war that could have been prevented easily, yes, but nevertheless splits apart numerous different families in more ways than you care to name.
You make it to her side just as she falls. And as she falls into your arms, you can’t help but think it’s your fault.
You had not been protecting her back, as you had promised, as she had been doing, because you had tried to reason with your sister, your twin , one final time.
It had been pointless endeavor and you had known it, but you felt the need to try anyway.
And now Ginny is dead.
You sit there on the ground, holding your dead partner, and begging her to wake again.
It doesn’t work. That doesn’t stop you.
You don’t know how much time passes until someone else discovers them.
It’s one of Ginny’s brothers. Fred, you think. It’s hard to see through your tears.
“What are you doing here, Carrow?” he spits out.
“She’s crying over Ginny,” someone states. Luna, the part of your brain that is still working through all this manages to place the voice. “Just like you’re doing.”
“Yes, but I’m her brother . What’s she doing here?”
You can’t bring yourself to reply. You try, but instead of it working as intended, you choke on your tears.
“Didn’t you know that they were dating for the last three years?” Luna informed him. “I thought people knew that. Didn’t you want to start telling people, Hestia?”
You had wanted to. You had gotten around to exactly Harry and then everything went wrong and the two of you decided that maybe keeping it secret a bit longer might not be so bad.
“Well, they didn’t tell me!” Fred turns towards you. “Is that true?”
You nod. It’s the most you can do, right now.
But it doesn’t feel like it’s enough.
You wipe the tears from your face and try again. “Yes,” you say. Your voice isn’t strong, but it’s there. “Yes, we were dating. I love her. I don’t — didn’t deserve her, but she chose me. I don’t know why, but she did. She is — was — amazing like that.”
Fred’s face softens. He moves to sit next to you.
“Come here,” he says, placing an arm over you.
The two of you sit there, crying together over Ginny’s body until someone else finds you.
(It’s hours later, long after the Dark Lord has fallen, long after you’ve discovered the corpse of your father in the Great Hall, that you realize you never noticed Luna arriving or leaving.)