#hand pops out of the ground. Both their faces are indifferent to the spell they’ve cast.

[little-bullheaded-shit]

I am once again imagining an animatic far beyond my art capabilities

[upset-hufflepuff]

Withered Sunflower

02/05/1998

Catherine knew she wasn't supposed to be outside. Her place was inside, in the Great Hall, with the rest of the healers. So why was she outside in the courtyard, running around with her professional auror friend?

"Careful, Catherine!"

She dodged a bright spell that had been flying their way. What was she even doing?

.

Some time has passed. Tonks had been lost in the crowd for some time now. "She's with her husband", Catherine thought. "Everything's okay", she told herself. But her anxiety was moving her feet. Maybe she was with her husband, fighting and saving lives. But maybe not. And she couldn't risk it. To be frank, she knew that if an auror couldn't fight back then a healer wouldn't be able to either.

A scream coming from a young voice caused her to stop and turn around. A boy in Ravenclaw robes, and a girl in Gryffindor robes. Hell, those kids were supposed to be whining about homework. Not fighting in the war.

The girl had fallen down, her leg bruised. The boy was kneeling next to her, while pointing his shaky wand-holding hand towards an approaching masked, cloaked man.

Catherine was absolutely NOT going to stand around and watch two innocent students be killed. Before she knew it, she was standing in between the children and the Death Eater.

"Expelliarmus! Flipendo!" The Death Eater's wand flew out of his hand, and he followed.

"Crucio!" another voice from behind her exclaimed, and Catherine dropped on the floor, screaming in pain. It felt as if all the bones in her body had somehow caught on fire. As if all of her veins were bursting, as if her internal organs were being twisted.

She could see the children limp-running away while the Death Eaters were focused on her. At least the kids were safe.

She tried to stand up again, only to be hit by the cruciatus curse once more.

She was going to die, right there and then.

.

"Confringo!"

The deafening sound of explosions made her raise her head in terror. The two Death Eaters tormenting her had been blasted apart.

Her vision cleared enough to let her see the witch responsible. The messy brown hair and those shiny violet eyes were truly unforgettable.

Catherine stood on her feet and held out her wand alarmingly. The witch glared at her, before lifting up her almost torn apart sleeves. No dark mark. Not a trace.

The woman immediately melted into her arms in relief.

"I'm so sorry, ofcourse you're not one of them! I'm so sorry I even assumed that!"

"Merlin, Sunflower, your whole body is vibrating and you're apologizing for being alert?"

She pulled away and looked into her eyes. She smiled.

"Had to repay you for the portrait vault, you see. It was the cruciatus curse wasn't it?"

Catherine nodded shakily.

"Twice, maybe three times. I'm fine now, though. Thanks to you, that is."

She stared at Catherine in shock. She wasn't supposed to have survived that. She could remember her own traumatic experience with the curse. She had felt like she was going to die on the spot. And it had been only once.

"Right. Tonks, you seen her anywhere around here?"

"Come again?"

"Have you seen Tonks?" she repeated, more clearly, trying to get her accent out of the way.

"Can't say I have. I saw some red-heads heading inside, though. Must have been the Weasleys."

"Right. Off I go, then."

Catherine took a step towards the castle, before stopping and turning around again.

"Please come with me, Merula. I feel like I'm going to collapse any minute now" she said with a polite, modest smile, as if she was asking her to help with the groceries.

.

They made their way to the Great Hall, where they did, in fact, spot the Weasleys. Catherine left Merula's side and walked towards them.

"Bill?"

The tall ginger turned around. The scar covering his face, the haunted eyes. It had been so long.

Catherine could now see what the family was facing. The body of a young red haired man, lying dead on the floor. One that looked nearly the same, was kneeling next to him and crying his eyes out, while Mrs Weasley was trying to calm him down.

Last time she'd seen Fred and George had been at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, when Tonks had taken her along to buy some acid pops. They'd looked so happy.

"I'm...so sorry."

Bill fell into her arms. He wasn't crying, but he was shaking as if he was so desperately trying to hold it in.

After some time, he pulled away and looked at her up and down.

"What happened to you? You're trembling."

"Cruciatus curse. Don't worry about it."

"What isn't there to worry about?!"

He looked over her shoulder, where Merula was standing quietly.

"She's with us. She helped me escape."

"Right, ofcourse. Hello."

Merula looked at him, but didn't say anything.

"Oh, right." Catherine remembered. "This might be a bad time- Have you seen Tonks? She left my side and I want to make sure she's okay, is all."

She felt someone staring at her, and turned around to face none other than Harry Potter, the boy who lived himself. Poor boy. He was so young. So terribly young. Why was he going through this?

He didn't speak. He, instead, made his way out of the Great Hall. Something was wrong.

Bill put a hand on his forehead, as though he was trying not to break down. He looked to his right, and Catherine's eyes followed.

Next to her white-haired colleague and childhood friend, was lying a couple.

She walked, if not ran, next to them. She only knew one person with that obnoxious, yet sweet, shade of pink on their hair. She was holding hands with a tall, slim man, with gray strands on his hair and scars on his face.

"How long?"

"They've been here for about half an hour or so." Chiara responded, her voice breaking.

Catherine's eyes filled with tears, which started making their way down her face and falling on the ground.

"If I had been there... If we hadn't seperated, I..."

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this too, Sunflower, Merlin." Merula, who had appeared next to her, said in a scolding tone. She had put her small hand on her back, to show comfort.

Nymphadora Tonks, who spent all her time at Zonko's during their Hogsmeade trips, who had the best Binns impersonation she'd ever seen, who changed her hair to blue to calm Catherine down in bad days. Was gone. Forever.

.

Voldemort was dead. His body lay still on the ground, like a pathetic, normal human being. It was over. Everyone was safe. No more deaths, no more people to grieve over, no more danger.

The atmosphere had changed so quickly she felt as if she was part of a book whose chapter had just changed.

Her vision started to turn blurry, and dark. Everything sounded distant.

"Sunflower!"

Her legs gave in. She lost all consciousness.

.

"Cat? Catherine? I think she's awake!"

She opened her eyes. She was lying on a bed, she assumed. In front of her was a dear, familiar face, whose different-coloured eyes were flooded with worry.

"Hey, J..."

Her brother put his arms around her and squeezed her into a hug.

"You're going to break her, Sunflower. She's already on a hospital bed."

She turned around to see a slightly bruised Merula Snyde standing near her bed.

"What? Am I wrong?"

"Merula..."

"What?"

Jacob looked at the former Slytherin too.

"Did you not expect me to be here, or something? Had to fill in for the Weasleys, who obviously couldn't be away from home at this time."

Little Fred's body. George sobbing. Tonks was dead. All the memories started coming back.

"Do you really have nowhere else to be right after the battle?" Jacob asked. He sounded quite emotionless, to the point she couldn't tell whether it was a genuine question or a mocking one.

"I do not. I'm so free I spent hours in Catherine's workplace, waiting for her to open her damn eyes after she passed out."

Catherine looked at her with those stupid eyes of a kitten that she had.

"Thank you" she said tiredly but genuinely.

There was some silence in the room.

"My parents are dead" Merula suddenly announced. The Sunflower siblings both looked at her in shock.

"I mean, they were asking for it. Got out of Azkaban only to become Death Eaters again. After what it had done to them. And to me."

Merula had seemed so cold and indifferent during the battle, it seemed that this was the time it was all going to come out.

"Though they probably didn't have a choice, anymore. They shouldn't have become his followers in the first place... And they never reminded him I existed. He never came after me, to recruit me. Thanks to them."

Her voice sounded teary. Catherine had only heard that voice few times, during their Hogwarts years. She remembered it during Christmas in their 1st year. At the time, Merula seemed to have been aged down to her 11 year old self again.

"At last. I don't have to worry about them anymore."

"Just so you know", Jacob said, "You can come at our place for the time being. Since you're all alone."

Catherine was surprised Jacob was the one to propose something like that. Merula looked at them both. She didn't smile, but her eyes were filled with hope, which they didn't have before.

"We'll get through this. Together"

"Yes" Merula replied. "Together."