Hermione looked into the beautiful green eyes that had always been so full of love and warmth. The glasses - broken ...
She shook her head in disbelief, that just couldn't be allowed!
And yet, it was the truth, the reality ...
There was only room for one question in her mind. At first softly, then louder and louder, it echoed in her head until she finally screamed the young witch into the dark night:
"Why?"
But the dark graveyard around them gave no answer. There was no one left to answer her. She shook her head again, close to despair!

Why was he killed?
Why did he have to die?
Why couldn't anyone prevent it?
Thousands of questions and yet she would probably never get an answer. She was alone now, a thought that hit her like a blow in the stomach. She was the last survivor of the resistance, the order ...
There was no one left to mourn with her ... They were all dead or in St. Mungo's - gone mad with grief.

First Ron was gone ...
The wedding of Bill and Fleur, suddenly loud screams, panicked escape and in the middle of it all ... A group of Death Eaters had interrupted the ceremony and randomly cursed everything that moved.
Hermione had run as fast as she could, the panic blinded her to everything that was happening around her! But then she bent over, fell to the ground with a loud scream and lay there.
Maybe they don't see me, she had told herself. But her ridiculous hopes had been dashed, and a tall man with cold brown eyes stood over her.
“Avada Kedavra!” Fateful words, she saw the green beam of light and expected the pain that would take her breath away.
She awaited her death with her eyes closed, but nothing happened.
Ron, he ran to her and threw himself in front of her! Someone shouted “No!” She was later told that it was her own voice that she heard ...That emptiness in her heart, that gaping gap that Ron had heard before! He was dead, he would never come back ... She sagged, weeping, sobbing. It couldn't be true and yet she knew it was real.
She hadn't noticed how Lupine threw the Death Eater to the ground, how he was later sent to Azkaban by the Aurors. She was in a kind of trance, unable to perceive the outside world.

After that, Ginny came along as Harry's friend, a potential victim
She had known and ignored the danger. "Something might as well happen to me if I'm not with you, Harry. Let's enjoy the time we have together."
In her sixth year at Hogwarts that reopened under the direction of Professor McGonagall, it did happen. Neither Hermione nor Harry had returned to school, the shock at the loss of Ron was just too deep.
Hogsmeade, a beautiful autumn morning ...
The leaves were colored red and gold, a warm wind was blowing through the town and the sun was low in the cloudy sky.
Hermione knew every single detail of that day, unlike Ron's death, she had noticed every little thing.
She had met Ginny there, and Fred and George were also there.
Laughing, they had strolled through the houses, the first carefree conversation since Ron's death. Oh how much the guilt gnawed at Hermione but that day she allowed herself to be happy! For Ginny's sake ...
Suddenly Death Eaters appeared out of nowhere! They were surrounded by a large group, too many for the four teenagers.
And yet they fought doggedly to the bitter end! To this day she did not know where she got the strength for this duel ...
The Cruciatus had cost Ginny's life and brought Fred to St. Mungo's. He lay there to this day, he didn't even recognize his family ...
George was badly injured and died a few days later in the hospital, the internal bleeding was too bad for him but he had fought to the end.And Ginny, now there were always fresh orchids on her grave, her favorite flowers.

So many had lost their lives, Lupine and Tonks, Bill Weasley and Minerva McGonagall were just a few names ... And yet, there was not enough time to name them all.
Hermione's eyes were blank, but that was nothing new. She had gone through too much in the twenty years of her life. A ridiculously short time, but so infinitely long, marked by so much losses ...
And now Harry, her best friend, the only one she had left! Didn't he promise to be there for you? He was wrong, he had lied ... A terrible thought and she hated herself for it, but she couldn't help it!
He had left her - just like that!

It was the duel they had been waiting for so long! They had worked, practiced, and prepared to the point of exhaustion.
There was no second chance, now or never! Harry had challenged Voldemort and met him in this abandoned graveyard!
The Ministry had not sent any support, as we refused to work with the two former Hogwarts students.
How desperate was she? She had begged the Minister on her knees to help her, but his only reply - a cold shake of the head.
So she had followed Harry alone, she just had to stand by him.

They dueled bitterly, an eye for an eye ... One curse chased the next and the nearby Death Eaters could only fearfully avoid them!
Harry managed to hit Voldemort with a Cruciatus and for a brief hopeful second thought she had won the fight.
But then ... it was just a trick, a trick Harry hadn't seen through! She saw what happened next as if in slow motion.
Voldemort straightened up in a flash and disarmed Harry, whose wand flew over the cold graveyard earth. Far out of his reach ...The horror in their eyes, which they were now staring into nothing! He knew he had lost. But he would go down with his head held high, as all his friends had done.

He lunged at Voldemort, just trying to hurt him. He succeeded in a well-placed right hook and blood gushed from the corner of the dark lord's mouth.
He grabbed Harry by the collar and threw him hard against a tombstone. He raised his wand, a cold grin in his bright red eyes.
Hermione wanted to help him, so she gave up her cover and ran to him. Blind with tears, tears of despair and hopelessness. He wasn't allowed to leave her too, he was the last one left!
But she wasn't the only one, Snape jumped out and held his wand menacingly at Voldemort. “No, not him too.” Then she understood, her former teacher, whom she had always demonized. He was good, he hadn't meant to ... She was filled with sympathy and pain as he was knocked to the ground by a killing curse.

Two strong hands grabbed her and held her back. She fought desperately, but she wasn't strong enough! Whatever she did, she was not released. Harry!
Voldemort muttered a curse and ended the boy's life. It was dead ... Hermione stopped fighting, all strength had left her.
A part of her had died with him ... She was now alone, alone in this cold, hard world! Everything she had believed in had collapsed and now she saw the rubble at her feet.
The Death Eater released her and she sagged to the ground, feeling the cold frozen ground under her rough fingers.
"I have a special punishment for you. You will live, live in the knowledge that you have lost everything you loved. Day and night they will haunt you, the voices of the dead. Yes, the guilt will weigh you down and." Sometime..."
The dark lord didn't finish his speech, he raised his hands and disappeared with his Death Eaters.Some claimed that at some point you would run out of tears. It was wrong ... She was crying, she was crying more than ever in her life. It hurt so much ...
Hermione sobbed one last time, then wiped her dirty sleeves over her wet face.
She smeared dirt and mud on her cheeks, but she didn't care, any more than her shoes and pants, which were now soaked and made her shiver. It didn't matter - nothing mattered. What did life matter without her friends?
She was to blame for Ron's death, he had sacrificed himself for her ... Had she stopped Harry from practicing more thoroughly with him ... She should have protected Ginny ...
Yes, the guilt weighed them down! And there was no one left to comfort her.

She felt cowardly ... Hadn't the Golden Trio even made a promise that they would do anything to defeat Voldemort? And now she wanted to avoid?
She sobbed, the trio was now a thing of the past like so many other things.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help it. Without you ... No, I can't live without you."
She whispered before reaching for a shard of Harry's broken glasses with trembling hands. She flinched briefly, the broken glass was sharp ...

She placed the shard on the pale skin of her forearm and blinked back one last tear. Slowly, with increasing pressure, she led the piece of glass down her veins.
At first she was flooded with an unbelievable pain, it got stronger and stronger. Her mind screamed at her to stop but ignored him.
Warm blood ran over her cold skin, the red stream grew thicker and thicker. She felt dizzy, the world slowly blurring before her empty brown eyes. Nevertheless, it did not settle, but led the shard on with certainty until it had reached her wrist.
The blood grew more and more, now flowing from the pulsating wound over her arm onto the muddy floor.She felt relief, the weight of the world lifted from her shoulders.
She was finally free, the hole in her soul was starting to get smaller.
She could only make out Harry's silhouette and the green of his eyes. The colors blurred, everything slowly turned black.
Green and black ... She felt nothing more, no feelings of guilt, no despair, just peace.
The cruel world that had played along with her so badly disappeared and gave way to an infinite darkness.
The golden trio would be reunited, she would see them all again ...

Her gaze was drawn to Harry one last time when she whispered softly, barely audible.
"I'm sorry, please understand. All I want is peace ..."