In the End (Please Vote at the Start of the Month)

Bang!

As if someone had pulled out his spine, Harry dropped to his knees. The world was so quiet at that moment that he could even hear the blood rushing through his veins.

Ron and Hermione, his two best friends, lay motionless atop a pile of rubble. They did not groan in pain or struggle to get back up. They simply lay there quietly, their lifeless eyes staring at the sky.

The three of them had met on the Hogwarts Express four years ago. Though it had not exactly been a pleasant first meeting, Harry still had not forgotten a single detail.

As if it had been destined, they became friends at Hogwarts. Together, they had passed through the many trials guarding the Philosopher's Stone and kept Nicolas Flamel's stone from Quirrell and Voldemort. Together, they had brewed Polyjuice Potion in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and charged into the Chamber of Secrets to save Ginny. Together, they had followed Hagrid into the Forbidden Forest and rescued Sirius from a Werewolf and Dementors.

At Hogwarts, they attended classes together, ate together, played together, and snuck out together at night.

Outside school, they had gone to watch the Quidditch World Cup together and visited the orphanage where Professor Breen had grown up.

Hermione was the cleverest young witch Harry had ever met. She always helped him at crucial moments, while Ron had shown him how wonderful it felt to have a close brother.

Harry had always believed that their friendship would last forever. Even after they left Hogwarts and had families and lives of their own, it would remain the same—just like his parents, Sirius, and Remus.

But now, they lay on the ground, completely still.

Harry knelt there, but he felt hollow from soul to body, as if he were sinking into