Lilies & Baby's Breath
Life is tough enough without having someone kick you from the inside.
--Rita Rudner
Dedicated to: all of those people who don't like the typical canon pairings.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter, that all belongs to Jo Rowling. Quotes that you recognize were in the chapter "The Flaw in the Plan" in Deathly Hallows and are not mine (I believe that there are two).
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoy this. I have tried to take some clichés and make them less typical or random in this story, so I am trying to work with some more difficult material. If you want to participate in the challenge, it is called "The Anti-Cliché Challenge". Just so you know, I usually stick to Marauder-era characters so the Trio's generation is a bit more difficult for me to write. Thank you to worldsapart for the challenge and Severus/Lily for the title suggestions. A million thanks to SiriuslylvnSirius25 and EmilyBaybee on HPFF.
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CHAPTER ONE
Hermione stood in the Great Hall as the final battle against the Death Eaters took place. She had just been shoved out of Bellatrix's firing range as Mrs. Weasley came running in fury. Before she was really able to grasp what was going on, Bellatrix and Mrs. Weasley were sending curse after curse at one another at lightning speed. People slowly inched backwards, being sure to leave plenty of room for the two duelling women. However, Ginny Weasley stayed put watching her mother intently.
"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" Bellatrix cried, eyes flashing, as she ducked a jet of violet light. "But I'm getting ahead of myself, let's start at the beginning… CRUCIO!"
Hermione's scream mingled with that of Mrs. Weasley's, though both were muffled by the evil laugh of Bellatrix. Ginny was being held back by Luna while she threatened and swore at Bellatrix. As Bellatrix lifted the curse, Mrs. Weasley's screams stopped and she regained proper speech. In a cold, clear tone she said, "You -- will -- never -- touch -- our -- children!"
At that moment Luna lost her grip on Ginny, who made a beeline towards a laughing Bellatrix. "I wouldn't place money on that… not that you have any money."
Before she could continue, Ginny gave her a swift punch in the head. Luna and Hermione were among the group who gave loud cheers at the stunned look on the Death Eater's face. Reaching behind her, Bellatrix grabbed Ginny by the hair and pulled her in front of her body like a shield. "Lovely daughter you have Weasley; she has the same temperament as her mummy, doesn't she? It would be a pity if she had to die."
Mrs Weasley got a look on her face that Hermione had never seen before and wished that she would never see again. "You are not going to attack my daughter you bitch. Kill me if you must but don't you dare use a single curse on Ginny!" Her voice got higher and higher as she continued to speak, shrieking by the end.
"Don't tempt me," Bellatrix said dryly. "Although, there would be no fun in killing you at the moment. Let's see just how brave your precious Ginny really is." Before anybody had the chance to do anything, Bellatrix pointed her wand at Mrs. Weasley. "Petrificus Totalus!" Turning to the younger witch, she exclaimed, "Crucio!"
Bellatrix was clearly enjoying herself. "Not so strong is she?" Bellatrix asked Mrs. Weasley, who was stiff as a board. Ginny was curled up in a ball on the floor, yelling at the top of her lungs. Bellatrix's eyes were suddenly full of life; she was focusing entirely on causing pain to the teenager in front of her. She was oblivious to Mrs. Weasley being helped by a student on the sidelines, now back on her feet.
"Aguamenti!" Mrs. Weasley cried, a jet of water shooting out of her wand, shooting just over her target's head before she corrected her aim and hit her around her stomach. Bellatrix, unaware of what was happening, took a step back and fell. There was a nasty crunching sound as she landed on her left wrist, which appeared to have been broken.
Sneering, she pulled herself off of the floor, dripping water as she went. Ginny, who was still on the floor whimpering, tried to pull herself away but was grabbed by Bellatrix before she had the chance to get far. She was pulled up by her clothing and forced to stand in front of Bellatrix, trembling. "Stop it you pathetic girl," Bellatrix hissed. "I think I need to remind you of the situation you're in… crucio!"
Hermione and Luna winced as Ginny dropped down to the floor again, writhing in the pain Bellatrix was putting her in. Hermione was shocked at the utter loathing that she was feeling towards Bellatrix, she hadn't felt this much resentment to anybody else; and it was only Mrs. Weasley sending a curse at Bellatrix that stopped her from running out to go attack the woman herself.
"Crucio!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, causing Bellatrix to end up beside Ginny. Hermione knew that sweet Mrs. Weasley had finally been pushed too far. However, it seemed that Bellatrix was still ready to duel.
"Not bad, Weasley," she sneered. "You've got the basics of the Cruciatus curse, though you must admit that you would need to work at it. I think you need another demonstration, don't you?" Her voice had become sugary sweet and she had the air of somebody who had been merely helping another student with a difficult assignment. She grabbed Ginny by the hair again, forcing her into a sitting position.
"No," Mrs. Weasley said. "Don't! You've done it enough; I don't want to see it!"
Much to everybody's relief Bellatrix let go of Ginny's hair, leaving her shaking, her wide brown eyes looking up at the Death Eater in shock. "Yes, I think I have shown you as much as you are going to need to know about the Cruciatus curse. I think we should move on now." Ginny whimpered, pushing herself as far away from Bellatrix as she could manage for being so shaky. Her mother looked absolutely livid, heading towards Bellatrix very quickly.
Two spells were cast at the same time; one bright green, the other a blood red. Hermione and Luna screamed, grabbing onto each other. Hermione was silently pleading for Ginny to be all right. It didn't look good though.
Bellatrix, all of her beauty wasted, was pushing herself back up; breathing heavily. She carefully examined Mrs. Weasley; now that she had cast two of the Unforgivables at the mother's only daughter she seemed slightly more worriedShe walked over to a spot not to far from where Ginny was lying, and picked up her fallen wand.
Ginny's red hair partially covered her face and she appeared to be sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position. As much as Hermione wished it not to be true, she knew that Ginny was dead.
Luna seemed to have this fact sink in first, beginning to sob. Hermione knew that it was very difficult for her to accept that one of her friends had passed away, as she always had a difficult time making friends. She gave Luna a hug and whispered what she hoped were soothing things in her ear, wetting Luna's hair with her own tears.
As Hermione conjured a tissue for Luna, she heard the noise level increase again. Looking back towards Mrs. Weasley and Bellatrix, she saw Mrs. Weasley sobbing and yelling while Bellatrix taunted her. They were starting to duel once more, curses flying left and right.
"You're going to pay for this you bitch!" Mrs. Weasley roared, sending a curse just off of the target. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!"
Bellatrix laughed, throwing her own curse wide of the mark and hitting a seventh year who was watching the duel. "You're going to make me pay, you little blood traitor?" A jet of red light hit Bellatrix in the arm before she could continue. She screamed, high-pitched and loud, but managed to stay upright. "So you did pay attention then, though you still have a lot to learn." Bellatrix twirled her wand with her fingers and ducked a blue light that was heading right for her head. "I don't think you will have the chance to do that though, what a pity. Goodbye Weasley. AVADA KEDAVRA!"
There were several screams, Hermione's included. She thought time seemed to be moving in slow motion, falling towards the floor with a slight look of surprise on her tear-stained face. As Bellatrix started to laugh, clearly pleased with herself; Hermione sank to the floor, crying. Through her tears, Hermione saw Bellatrix turn and look at the group who had been watching the duel between her and Mrs. Weasley. "Who's next? Who here is brave enough to fight me?"
There was only one person in the crowd who made a move to the centre of the circle to join Bellatrix. Luna whispered to Hermione in awe, "That's Neville's gran!"
Hermione wiped her eyes and looked to where Luna was pointing. There was no mistaking the woman who was pointing her wand at Bellatrix. "Shut up Lestrange. Nobody puts my son in St Mungo's and doesn't pay for it."
Bellatrix's face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Frank Longbottom's mum, are you? Your son was an interesting person, though I think it's safe to assume that he's even more interesting now, isn't it?"
"Don't you dare insult my son!" Mrs. Longbottom snapped, sending three consecutive curses at Bellatrix. "You are an absolutely despicable person. You really are going to deserve what you get."
"And you think that you're the one who is going to be able to stop me." Bellatrix raised an eyebrow. "I think we're going to have to see if you're any more talented than your pathetic son then, won't we? Let's see how long you last before you're begging for mercy. Crucio!"
Mrs. Longbottom managed to avoid the curse, quickly sending her own back. The two women moved quickly, surrounded with different coloured flashes. The duel was very high paced, but nobody seemed to be making much headway. After several minutes, Bellatrix decided that enough was enough. "Avada --"
She was interrupted my Mrs. Longbottom. "Stupefy!" she cried, not letting Bellatrix finish her curse. "Bellatrix, I think it's the end for you… stop moving! Stupefy. I didn't hope it would come down to this, but I guess it has." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Avada Kedavra."
Bellatrix's eyes widened but before she had the chance to do anything, she slumped onto the floor; lifeless. Hermione cheered, pulling Luna into a tight hug. As the celebration went around the circle of onlookers, Voldemort seemed to realize what must have just happened and screamed. There was a rush to get away as Voldemort raised his wand, but Hermione and Luna were too slow. Hermione heard a curse being yelled, followed by a very hazy feeling. Unaware of what had just happened, she slumped to the floor.
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When she woke up, the first person she saw was Luna. She was braiding and un-braiding her hair as Hermione looked up at her, grinning when she saw that her friend was now awake. "Madam Pomfrey fixed your head, though she said that you should drink this when you woke up." Luna handed a cup of potion to Hermione, who promptly drank it while making a face.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, pushing herself into a sitting position. Looking around she could see groups of people looking over the bodies of dead family members and friends, people being told what had happened after they had been injured, and people still lying unconscious on beds.
"Harry won of course," Luna said in a dreamy voice. Seeing the confused look on Hermione's face, she proceeded to explain that Harry wasn't actually dead and how he had managed to defeat Voldemort once and for all. "It's a pity you missed it really, it was good to have something positive happen."
"Does he know about Ginny and Mrs. Weasley?"
"Yes, he does. He says that he was under an Invisibility Cloak at the time. I think that's pretty interesting, you know, because nobody realized that he had it in the Forest, or they would've realized that was how he disappeared when he was supposed to be dead. It must have been the Ladelfurkles that helped Harry."
"It must have been the what's that helped Harry!?"
"Ladelfurkles. Don't tell me you've never heard of them. They look similar to pinecones and can affect your luck. Harry must have been lying in some when they thought he was dead. But where was I? Oh yes, his Cloak. Well, he pulled it off right after you passed out. He and You-Know-Who had a discussion before they started to fight. Did you know that Snape's patronus was a doe because of Harry's mum?"
"Snape liked Harry's mum?"
"Yes, didn't I just say that? That's not the main point though. He Who Must Not Be Named tried to kill Harry, but he cast Expelliarmus at the same time. You-Know-Who's spell rebounded on him and he died. I'm surprised that the noise of the celebration didn't wake you up, it was much louder than anything else I remember. He tried to get away for a bit, but now he's off with Ron and the rest of Ron's family looking at the bodies of Ginny and Mrs. Weasley."
"Do you think I could go join them?" Hermione asked, getting nothing more than a shrug from Luna. Although her body was stiff and sore, she wanted to go see her friends. Logic was telling her that it would be smarter to stay put and wait to be checked up on by the matron. She did try to convince herself that she would be helpful by freeing up one of the beds for other injured people.
"If you're going to go see them, I'm going to go owl Daddy and tell him that I'm fine, Harry won, and to send me some tree sap for the Ladelfurkles who helped Harry. I'll come back and see you when I'm done."
"Okay, see you Luna," Hermione called as Luna waved and walked away. It didn't take much looking for her to find the Weasley family and Harry, since they were a very large group and all of the red hair stood out. As she passed through the Hall she saw several other people who she knew, both alive and dead. Oliver Wood was standing with his family over the dead body of a man who seemed to be about ten years older than her. The woman who had been Head Girl when Hermione was in third year was very pregnant and sobbing beside the body of a man who appeared to be her husband. Remus and Tonks were lying beside one another, with Andromeda standing beside them in shock. Just as Hermione was continuing on she saw a very pretty woman with light blonde hair put flowers on the two bodies, her equally blond son giving an awkward hug to Andromeda.
When she arrived at the place where Ginny and Mrs. Weasley were laying, she took a few calming breaths to try and help the lump in her throat and the stinging in her eyes. Mrs. Weasley had been like her second mother, the one who she had been able to talk to ever since she had made her own parents move to Australia. She was the one that Hermione had talked to about the wizarding world when she needed to. Ginny was like her little sister and one of her closest friends. She had always wished that she had a sister, but now the closest thing she had to one was no longer alive.
She walked silently between her two best friends, once she had managed to calm herself down somewhat. Harry was on her left, staring blankly at the two bodies as though he didn't fully believe what had just happened. Hermione knew that Mrs. Weasley was the closest thing he had had to a mother since Lily gave her life for him on Halloween nearly seventeen years ago. Despite no longer dating Ginny, Hermione was pretty sure that he still had some feelings for her. If he didn't, she was positive he thought of her in a similar manner to how Ron thought of her.
On her right, Ron was in much worse condition. He had tears rolling down his cheeks, his breathing mixed with hiccups. His face was tearstained, and his eyes were approaching a colour similar to that of his hair. Ron had grown up in a family with his parents and his six siblings, which was dropped to his father and five brothers within a few minutes. He seemed to be unaware that his friends were there, staring at the bodies of his mother and sister without much moving.
The remaining Weasley's seemed to be more or less in the same condition that Ron was in, standing around the two bodies. Mr. Weasley was perhaps worst of them all, holding his wife's hand, shaking and crying uncontrollably.
Once her head cleared a bit, Hermione gently pulled on Harry's hand. "Harry, we should probably give them a few minutes by themselves," she whispered. "Come with me, I'm sure we could find somewhere to go."
He nodded, though Hermione wasn't entirely sure how much he had been paying attention. After hugging all of the Weasley's, she pulled Harry away. They walked silently through the crowd of people, Harry giving small greetings to all of the people who called out congratulations and thanks to him. Almost mechanically, the two made their way out of the Great Hall and towards the seventh floor.
Before she was really aware of what was going on, Hermione found herself standing outside of the Fat Lady's portrait. She looked at Harry, wondering what they were going to do now, since neither of them knew the password. Much to their surprise, the Fat Lady didn't seem too upset about this. In fact, she seemed rather excited just to get to talk to them after the night's events. "I heard all about what happened, it was rather hectic don't you think? I know I saw more than one duel, of course I was hoping that the Death Eater was going to die and I let him know it! But I suppose that you two would like to go in, wouldn't you? I know I really shouldn't do this, but it's empty after all. How about you tell me your first password here as a security measure?"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, both hoping that the other one would remember what the password had been. Looking up at the portrait, who was eyeing them closely, Hermione said, "Er… caput draconis?"
With the beam that she received Hermione knew that she had picked correctly. "Yes, yes that's the one! And Harry dear," she paused, smiling down at him. "Congratulations!"
Mumbling their thanks, the pair walked into the common room. It was deserted and quite messy, as people seemed to have forgotten things in their rush out of the castle. There were the remains of essays, sweet wrappers, and yesterday's Daily Prophet scattered over the chairs and tables. Harry flopped onto the couch closest to the fire, which appeared to have long gone out. After contemplating whether she should leave him alone to his thoughts or not, Hermione sat down beside him.
"Harry, are you okay?" she asked, trying not to make it sound like a big deal.
He turned to face her, hair sticking up more than usual and green eyes brighter because of the slight pink tones around his eyes. "Hermione," he began slowly. "Do you think I would be fine if I lost two people that important to me? They are- they were like my family. I'm not sure if you know what that's like, but it is bloody difficult!" His voice was louder when he ended than when he started, and Hermione knew that he was trying to keep everybody away in fear that they didn't know what it would be like.
"I modified my parents' memories and sent them to live on the other side of the world without knowing if or when I would be able to see them again. Yes, maybe they're not gone forever but they don't know I exist right now. To get my parents back I have to re-modify their memories and hope that I don't screw it up. If I lose them, then I don't have a family any more either. Ginny was like my sister Harry and one of my best friends. Just because I didn't want to snog her doesn't mean I won't miss her."
"I never said that you wouldn't!" Harry said, pushing himself farther away from her until he was resting against the arm of the couch. "You don't know what it's like when nobody loves you Hermione. Not now that you have Ron."
"Yes, Ron and I have been rather affectionate," Hermione admitted, inching closer to him. She knew what Harry could be like when he got into one of his moods, very touchy and full of self-pity. "But that doesn't mean that it's love Harry, at least not the kind you're thinking of. Love is a strong word. And don't you dare insist that people don't love you now that Ginny's gone. You know as well as I do that the entire Weasley family and I love you, so don't pretend to think otherwise."
"It's not the same thing Hermione," Harry insisted, turning to face her. "I really doubt that, say, Charlie would want to marry me." She saw the small smirk that he was trying to hide, happy that he was smiling.
She pulled him into a quick hug, happy that he wasn't pushing her away. "I know that you're upset about not being an official member of the Weasley family, unless you want to marry either Ron or his brothers; but that doesn't really matter, does it?"
He sighed. "It's not whether it's official or not that I would miss, that isn't the most important thing about Ginny being gone. It's the fact that she and I are never going to have the chance to get married, that she and I won't have the chance to have kids, that she and I are never going to have the chance to do anything from now on."
She pulled him close to her, giving him the best hug she could manage. "I know you're going to miss her," she whispered. "We all will." She pulled away for a second, going to give him a kiss on the cheek.
Much to her shock, she found her lips on Harry's. She knew that his head must have turned to look at her after she finished talking to him, but she still worried that he might think that she had done that on purpose. She looked down, feeling her cheeks grow warm and muttered, "Sorry."
"Hermione," he said softly, pulling her chin up.
Next thing she knew, her lips were back on his and her head was spinning. She knew that she shouldn't be kissing her best friend not long after she had agreed to go on a date with their other close friend. She knew that he was probably not thinking straight, that he just wanted Ginny and she was there. She knew that she should pull away at that moment and refuse to do anything else. She knew that she should insist that they go back to see Ron and his family, before they wondered where they had disappeared to.
But she also knew that she was really enjoying this kiss, that her heart was pounding, and that she didn't want to leave. Despite what her brain was telling her, Hermione followed her heart and threw logic out the window for once in her life. Ignoring everything that she usually followed, she gave in to Harry and ran her hands through his hair. She slowly got off the couch, bringing the boy she was snogging with her.