Chapter 15: Sorrow and Hope

Gathering the four students took longer than Hagrid anticipated. Lumbering through the grounds was difficult enough on its own, but Dumbledore seemed to see no need to inform any of the professors that some of their students had to be taken out of class today. Sprout was rather difficult to convince; they were working on something particularly unique, apparently. But eventually, everyone was gathered back at the grove.

"What's going on?" Arthur asked

"Wind an' Gold are gonna be leaving now. Dumbledore said you oughta say yer goodbyes. I'll be jus' outside if ya need me."

He left as quickly as possible. Experience told him he didn't want to be there when it got emotional.

Luna immediately went to hug Wind, who touched her beak to the girl's back. Stepping away, Luna held up her rock, which still held the Pansy's tiny star.

"I think I'm going to make a pendant out of it. What do you think?"

Wind cooed. She took a feather from a pile that was under her wing, of the feathers she used in her nest, and pushed it into Luna's hand. Luna turned to Neville, who snapped out of his stupor and rushed in to hug both of them. For a while they just stood together, saying nothing at all. Soon, though, both Luna and Neville stepped back, sensing that the time to go was nearing. Wind then reached for a small branch, which she gave to Neville; there were more of her feathers tied to the end. She looked over at Gold, where Arthur held his own gift – a small red stone. Draco, who stood somewhat farther away, clutched something metallic in his hand. Both gryphons then stepped back, bowed to their former pupils gracefully, and lifted off into the sky. Neville gave a small wave to their shrinking forms, hastily wiping off stray tears.

They flew home slowly, striving to remember the details of the countryside below, engraving the events of the past year into their minds as deeply as possible. When they finally returned, Gold added the names of their latest students to the growing list they diligently kept. Gold's paw shook even as he was writing. Setting the pen down, he turned to Wind. She, of course, understood him perfectly well. These were no longer mere students of theirs. They felt like children that were taken away from them all too soon. So Wind placed a wing around her mate and soothed his pain. They will send their children off as though they were their own.

They asked Light, Gold's sister, to make pictures of them from the memories they both had and put them up near their nest; Arthur's was framed by oak twigs, Draco's by dried rose vines, Luna's by willow branches, and Neville's by living moss. When the wedding date comes, they will put Pansy's picture next to Luna's and arrange the branches to surround her picture too, but for now it remained hidden.

Both made their way to the square. This was the largest cave in the system, where, according to tradition, mourning was done in public. They came to the middle and sat down, gathering strength. At first, there was silence, but then,

They wailed.

The cried for grief of losing children they knew for so short a time, cried for the little knowledge they could impart to then. They cried for sadness, for the unfairness they would suffer at the hands of their peers, for the pains of war that they would suffer at so young an age, for the hardships that would nearly tear them apart. They cried for the deaths that their children would see, the scars that would be left on their souls and their bodies. They cried for the crippling terror that was to come.

They cried for joy – that their wayward son will finally stand up for himself and choose the right side, that through everything their children would survive, and that eventually love will fill their hearts and homes. They cried for the sons and daughters that their children will have, that they will never see or speak to. They cried for their children's successes and failures and the knowledge that though they be human, they will live according to what they've been taught. They cried for the bright future that will be.

They cried the tears of ancestors long gone, who too have been parted from their children. They cried tears of their own grief, and they cried the tears of the grandchildren that were not yet born. They cried, and as they did, others joined them. The caves echoed with the sound of a thousand creatures weeping.

Today, the tribe will mourn.

A/N: It's finally done! Sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it.

Thank you to all the readers who stuck with this for so long and have been so patient with me. You're amazing 3