It Is Better To Have Loved and Lost...

“There must be another way!” Albus yelled frantically, startling all of us. “What about the Sorcerer’s Stone?”

I looked up at Poppy, hoping that the Stone would enable me to stay here.

She shook her head sadly.

“Why won’t it work, Poppy?” I demanded. “The Stone is supposed to make you immortal, as long as you drink the Elixir of Life!”

“That is true,” she began, “but in this case, you would slip into a coma. You would still technically be alive, but your mind wouldn’t be here.”

What was left but for me to return to my own time? The only other way to stave off death was to drink the blood of a unicorn – and I would never kill something so pure and innocent. Even if I did, the blood would probably have the same effect as the Elixir of Life. If the Sorcerer’s Stone could not keep me here, I doubted anything could.

I buried my head in Albus’s chest again, once more letting my sobs overtake me. Penelope had let go of Poppy’s leg and flung herself onto my lap where she was crying as well. How could this happen to us? I finally had loved and been loved – for the first time in my life. I could not return to my own time, where Albus was so cold and impersonal towards me. I could not bear seeing Janet with him, and their child, when in this time, Albus and I had our own beautiful daughter!

Oh, Albus! He had lived without me for seven years after my death in this world. Then I returned. How could he go on living when he was given everything back, just to have it taken away from him again? And Penelope, my darling daughter, my only child. She had never met her mother until yesterday – she was given only one day to spend with her mother! How was that fair? My only child must grow up without a mother – one that she had for a day and then was gone.

How could I leave this world behind? It is said that it was better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, but right now, I could not see how that was possible. I do not think I could bear to return to my own time, knowing what I could have and should have had.

I fought down yet another wave of nausea as Poppy cleared her throat before beginning to speak. “Minerva, you need to go back to your own time. I’m afraid you are only getting sicker by the minute.”

I knew she was right. It would be so painful for all parties for me to leave, but Albus and Penelope would be in even more pain if I died in this time again. How could Albus survive his wife dying again? How could Penelope live her life knowing that her mother died at her birth and then again seven years later after one day of knowing her daughter? They could not survive. I knew then that both Albus and Penelope would be in so much more pain if I did not leave now.

“Oh, Albus, darling, I love you more than anything!” I sobbed, kissing him one last time, trying to fix every detail of him in my memory.

“Darling, I will love you forever and ever,” Albus responded as tears ran down his own face. He took off a chain from around his neck and unfastened the clasp. Slipping both the diamond engagement ring and the plain gold band onto my left ring finger, he said, “Keep your rings, dearest, and never forget!” He burst into the sobs that he had tried so hard to keep from releasing.

Next, I said goodbye to Poppy, urging her to take care of Albus and Penelope.

Finally, there was only Penelope left to say goodbye to.

“Oh, Mummy, I don’t want you to leave us!” Penelope bawled, squeezing my waist so tightly I almost could not breathe.

“Oh, sweetie, I don’t want to leave you either,” I said, choking on the tears I tried to suppress, “but I have to go. I love you so very much, my dearest. Take care of your father, honey, and always remember that I love you!” With that last pronouncement, I removed the bracelet given to me by my grandmother before her death when I was seven. Slipping it onto Penelope’s wrist, I whispered in her ear, “This was given to me by my Grandmother McGonagall, sweetie, and I want you to have it. I’ll always love you, no matter where I am.”

With one last sob, I unfastened the brooch that was pinned to my dress. Handing it to Albus, I gave him and Penelope each one last kiss. Closing my eyes, I turned the time-traveller and felt the dizzying sensation of being sucked through time.