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It's quite a cool day to be in the summer.

A light breeze caresses the foliage of the trees. The chirping of birds accompanies the sound of boots pressing against the damp earth and the various pebbles and fallen leaves lying on the ground.

The environment is completely deserted, if not for the corpses six feet underground and a woman who wanders around the place with hesitation. 

The woman finally stops in front of a large family tomb.

┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓

In loving memory

Of

James Potter       •          Lily Potter

Born                                   Born

       27th March 1960         30th January 1960

Died                                Died

   31st October 1981      31st October 1981

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death

┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

Elaine Black sighs. The feeling of tears that begin to form demoralizes her, but the woman refuses to cry in front of them. 

She promised herself not to drop any tears and so it must be.

The brunette bends down and, slightly shaking her wand, makes a bouquet of fragrant lilies appear. 

Then the woman leans her knees on the ground, not bothering to stain the fabric of her clothes. She pulls out of a pocket a folded letter, "Hi Lily, James..." She begins, reading the letters inscribed on the yellowed sheet, but the words die in her throat, the letters begin to move and a sense of nausea envelops her.

She's not doing the right thing.

This is the first time the brunette has visited the couple's grave since their funeral. Eleven years. A very long time, Elaine does not know the real reason why she did not visit. Perhaps fear? Or guilt?

With a deep breath, Elaine Black tries to read again, but the words still don't get out of her lips.

A smothered sob comes out of her mouth. On top of that, the weather changes and the sky fills with gray clouds. Calming down, Elaine shakes her wand again and sets fire to the sheet of paper.

With another deep breath, she closes her eyes and puts her hands on her thighs, "I know it's been a long time. Eleven years," She laughs wistfully, "Maybe it's been so long because I was afraid to reach this moment. I had the anguish of not being able to overcome your death and to end up in an endless abyss with no way out...".

A brief reflective pause follows.

"And I'm still scared. And I know I'm in a hole, but there's a way out. Even if I can't get closer, I know I'm close." The woman sighs, "I saw Harry for the first time in years. The first time I saw him I thought I had gone back in time, he's the same as you, James, but then I met his eyes and that green hope got me back to reality." The brunette tells, "He does not know that we are relatives... and maybe it is better this way, I would only make his life more complicated-" A thunder interrupts her speech, the air gets colder, indicating that soon there would be a violent rain.

"Merlin, I'm a mess..."

Elaine doesn't mind the wind, "You should have seen the look on his face at Hogwarts, pure wonder. I felt it my duty to protect him from the beginning, even though I never knew him. I know the truth will come out eventually, and I know he'll probably hate me for everything I've done and that I've been hiding from him." She sighs faintly.

"And that's okay. I'm not perfect and I understand my mistakes, even if late. I'll tell you honestly, those mistakes formed me into the woman I am today. Some of them I do not regret at all and probably if I had the chance I would repeat them."

"Harry grew up not knowing how great you two were, he'll never see it for himself, but I'll make sure he gets to know it through my memories. I can't tell him everything now, there are a lot of secrets and some of them don't see him involved, but I'll stay as close as I can. I'm willing to die for him." The wind ruffles her hair, but that doesn't stop her from showing off a little forced smile.

"I won't disappoint you a second time." She says firmly, knowing that she is addressed to one person and not to both.

And at that moment large drops of water are created and begin to fall fast throughout the area. Thunder and lightning follow one another and paint the sky in cold and monotonous colors.

Warm tears glide from the autumn brown eyes and make their way to the brunette's pinkish cheeks.

And the promise has not been kept.

Elaine shakes her head, she wants to apologize for so many things to the couple, but she can't do it. She feels it's not the right time for an apology yet.

But when, then, will it be the time? 

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