all good things (come to an end) ((invite))

Hermione was "backstage" in the clearing a few blocks or so away from the podium doing a last minute preparation for her New Years speech. She simply could not believe how quickly the year had gone by, and she was so excited to ring in another exciting year.

Even though people would find it hard to believe, she was actually rather nervous about her speech. She hadn't gotten it exactly right yet.

"Okay, Hermione, you can do this."

Azazel was fighting with his thoughts, could he just run off and not be found? Would he be able to actually go through with the task that he was assigned? What would James think? All these thoughts ran through his head as he began his search for Hermione his boyfriend's aunt, he finally found her back stage getting ready to ring in the new year, sighing as he approached her trying to act like nothing was wrong but he was far from okay.

Hermione looked over and saw a young man approach her; she recognized him as being one of James' friends.

"Hello! Why aren't you out there with everyone else? Is it too noisy?"

Azazel was starting to shake slightly, why did it have to be her? He could not help but wonder if it was too late to back out, no he was dead if he didn't follow through. "Umm I just wanted to wish you luck," He said hoping that she would accept that as he couldn't do anything else but hope.

He was starting to feel the pressure, he could not help but he had to do this he had no choice.

"Oh, thank you. I wish you a Happy New Year," Hermione responded with a smile. A smile quickly turned into a concerned frown seeing the young man become nervous.

"Are you alright?"

James, in a bit of a romantic mood, began looking for Azazel so they could hopefully kiss once the countdown into the new year ceased. The timer was rapidly approaching midnight, and he was wondering where his boyfriend had gone.

"Azazel, where are ya?"

"Yeah I am fine," he replied though he was clearly not, biting his lip as he tried to get his nerves under control. Azazel needed to calm down if he was going to do this, he had to be in control and not his emotions, he needed to remember his training as this was the time to prove that he was still aligned with the DE, though he really just wanted out.

His hand reached for his wand and fiddled with it for a few minutes, 'you can do this, you were trained to do this nothing will be in your way.' He thought to himself though he could not stop thinking on how James would react when he found out when he accomplished his task, what would his entire family think, they were so welcoming.

"Are you sure? You don't seem alright..."

Hermione had become more concerned for the young man's well-being than she was about the speech.

Azazel just nodded and swallowed hard. He closed his eyes for a minute and wondered why the two people he trusted did not get his hints; he was trying to tell them that he needed to get out of the country as he knew about this task for several weeks. He thought that he would be able to do this no problem, but that Christmas celebration proved how hard that it would be.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Azazel stepped back when she placed her hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "I am sorry," He said as he raised his wand his hand noticeably shaking.

"What for?"

Hermione looked at the young man straight in the eyes worried for him.

Tears streamed down Azazel's face, he steadied his breath before saying those two words, the words that would wreck his boyfriend's family's lives, "Avada kedavra," he said as he watched her body fall to the ground before, dropping his wand and running off he could not believe what he just did, he killed her just like he was instructed to do yet it felt so wrong.

James had finally found Azazel and it appeared he was talking to Hermione. What was going on? He was approaching the two and stopped as soon as he heard those words and saw a green flash illuminate.

For a while, he just froze where he was unable to believe what he had just seen. James eventually ran over to the now-lifeless body and shook it attempting to wake it up.

"Hermione... 'Mione. Aunt Hermione. It's me James. Wake up. Please wake up!"

Harrison had run off from the main gathering to get to the coordinates where the unforgivable was used.

He made it to the scene admittedly confused just seeing James crouching over something. Moving closer to the young man, his hopes fell when he noticed her. This wasn't good. This wasn't good.

"I'll arrest who it was later. I can already determine it wasn't you."

This was dreadful. It was time to return to the festivities to announce the news.