August 11, 2004
Ginny Weasley woke up on a Monday morning, yawning. Her limbs ached and she struggled to breathe as she sat up. Over the past few weeks, her condition had been growing steadily worse each day. She had known that her time was arriving.
Today was her 23rd birthday. Today would be the day.
"Hermione? Draco?" she called out. It took her more effort than it should have to just raise the volume of her voice to above normal.
"Yes?" came Hermione's answer from downstairs. Ginny had owled her two friends the other night, asking them to stay with her during her last few days.
"Can you two come up?" Ginny asked in as loud of a voice as she could manage.
"Sure thing," replied Hermione. Ginny could hear her yelling at Draco to wake up, and smiled to herself. Hermione would always be Hermione.
A few minutes later, Hermione and Draco rushed into the room. They both looked slightly disgruntled and sleep-deprived. Draco's white-blonde hair was sticking up in all directions, a change from his normally combed back hairstyle. Hermione was wearing her shirt backwards, and kept blinking every few seconds.
"What were you two doing together down there?" Ginny teased.
"Nothing," replied Hermione in a rushed voice. A blush spread on her cheeks, and she avoided Ginny's gaze.
She laughed, and said jokingly, "I should get a chaperone for you guys."
"We weren't doing anything," insisted Draco. "What was it you wanted to talk to us about?" he asked quickly, cleverly shifting the topic.
Ginny's smile immediately fell, and she said, "Today's my 23rd birthday."
Hermione's eyes widened in realization. "Has it started yet?" she asked in a soft voice.
Nodding, Ginny pushed back her covers. The parts of her body that weren't covered by her nightdress were nearly see-through. "It's happening slowly," she explained.
"Oh Ginny!" cried Hermione, rushing over to her friend and embracing her. "I can't believe it."
Draco had also moved over to the bed, and he now stood with his head bowed gravely.
"I can't either," agreed Ginny. She winced as she faded a little more; the process was not painful, but fading away from existance wasn't exactly the greatest feeling in the world.
"Maybe I should go call a healer," Draco said uneasily.
"No, Draco, I'll be fine," Ginny said firmly. "I want only you two to be with me right now. I want to talk about...about them."
"I should have guessed," Hermione said in response.
"The first night we met them...I never had so much fun playing a Muggle game," Draco started off as he sat down on the bed.
"Likewise," said Hermione wistfully.
"It really brought us all together," speculated Ginny.
Her friends nodded in agreement. "The entire trip brought us together; not only to each other, but to the Marauders too," Hermione remarked.
"Speaking of them, how are you handling things with Remus?"
"He told me that he still remembered me and loved me. He'd known all along, from the very first day he met me. And...I think I still love him too. We both know we can't be together though, so I guess I've moved on -" Hermione stole a glance at Draco, then continued "- and hopefully he has too."
Ginny smiled sadly. "That's good." She was now more transparent than not, and her voice was echoing - much like it had on the night they had to leave. "I think the only thing that got me through the second war was remembering everything we went through with them."
Hermione and Draco both agreed again. "You're fading, Ginny," Draco added in a whisper.
She could barely find the strength to nod her head, so she simply answered, "Yeah. You know...I never felt completely whole, not ever in my life, because the disease had started eating away at me since day one. But when I met James, it's like he filled in that hole for me."
"I know what you mean," Hermione said. Tears fell down her face as she helplessly watched her friend disappearing before her eyes. She leaned against Draco for support.
"I'm glad you two got together," Ginny murmured as she closed her eyes. A few seconds passed in silence, then she said, "I just wish...I could be with him one last time."
A silent sob wracked Draco's body, and Hermione wept freely as the last few visible parts of their best friend moved from their world to the next.
For hours, Draco held Hermione in his arms. They were both sharing the same anguish and distress. Over the years, the three of them had become closer friends than anything else, and their bond had only grown stronger after they survived the second war. Now, one of them was gone, and the pain was overpowering.
As the sun rose high in the sky, their tears continued to fall.
August 15, 2004
Draco and Hermione sat at the kitchen table of their apartment, eating lunch. They were talking about the Daily Prophet's report on Ginny's death. Even four days later, they were still flooded with grief.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang.
"I'll get that," Draco said with a sigh. He pushed his chair back, and walked over to the door. When he opened it, he was surprised to see Remus standing there.
The older wizard gave him a strained smile, and asked, "Where's Ginny?"
"She's..." Draco said, trying to force the words out, "she's gone."
Remus seemed to tense up. He shook his head in sympathy, and said, "I'm so sorry."
"We are too," replied Draco in a low voice. "Is there anything you wanted?"
The visitor sighed, and said, "Fate was against Ginny. They just gave me this letter...it was a letter from James to her, and the crystal was in it. The investigators found it in the remains of the Potter house just yesterday, and immediately sent it to me." He gave a folded piece of parchment to Draco, along with a golden chain with a silver crystal attached to it.
Draco's heart broke for Ginny. I can't believe this, he thought numbly. That it had to come 4 days after her death... Out loud, he said, "Thank you, Remus."
Remus nodded, and turned to go. "Tell her...tell her that what's in the letter is true. The part about me," he added before he left.
Raising an eyebrow, Draco said he would, then closed the door and went back inside.
"Who was it?" asked Hermione curiously as he sat back down at the table.
"Some investigator who found a letter from James to Ginny," he said carefully. Hermione always got extremely emotional whenever Remus's name was mentioned, and he didn't want to add to her unhappiness.
Hermione gasped. "Are you serious?" she said in a choked voice. "Oh my God, why couldn't they have found it sooner?"
He shook his head helplessly, then said, "She'd want us to read it, right?"
Hermione nodded. She alone had known Ginny better than anyone else, and she was sure that if her friend could contact them at the moment, she'd want them to know what James had said.
"Open it," she whispered.
Draco placed the necklace gently on the table, then unfolded the letter. With one last glance at each other, the two of them turned their eyes to the letter and began to read, allowing themselves to be pulled 23 years into the past by James's last words...