Disclaimer: I have never, nor will I ever, own Harry Potter.
A/N: So I've noticed a whole slew of fanfics that deal with missing moments from Deathly Hallows...so I decided to take it a bit further and create a collection of missing scenes from the whole series! Hope you enjoy it!
And to my faithful readers, don't worry...Getting Through It isn't on hiatus, or even losing momentum...I just had to get this prologue out before it consumed me!
If any of you recognize the title, I stole it from my favorite episode of Lost. Lost/Harry Potter: life's two basic necessities! Enjoy!
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Flashes Before Your Eyes
I. Prologue: Do You Remember?
The countryside, bathed in a silvery-white glow, was peaceful.
The only sounds to be heard were the soft, chirping songs of crickets and frogs, the rhythmic splashing of the creek against the bank, and the almost-nonexistent whisper of wind in the swaying willow trees.
None of these, however, stained the silence. Instead, they blended together, each complimenting the others, weaving seamlessly into the quintessential song of the night.
The quintessential scene of tranquility.
Overhead, the moon was undecided, lazily drifting back and forth between clear sky and a smattering of clouds…one moment washing the rolling hills and lush meadows with a comforting light, the next only shining halfheartedly through slits in the thick cover to dapple the ground below.
And it was through the stillness of this nighttime scene that Ron ran.
The grass underfoot was left wilted, hopeless, as the two-size too small trainers pounded mercilessly across the ground; the woebegone laces flapped uselessly in the wind created by his hurtling body, tiny white flags announcing…even begging for…surrender. His eyes, usually bright and exuberant with laughter, were darkened with an indescribable emotion, locked determinedly on his flashing feet. His senses were heightened almost the point of superhuman; he could hear every rasping breath his lungs struggled to take in. He could feel the water hugging the corners of his eyes, by-products of the sharp sting of wind. And he was intently focused on the rhythmic swinging motion of his arms, as they propelled him forward through the still air.
Ron Weasley was running for his life.
Or at the very least, running as though his life depended on it
Around him, the night seemed to pause, seemed to be holding its breath as it watched his progress. Atop a branch in a towering oak, a tawny owl…startled into consciousness by the pounding feet below…removed its beak from its wing with an indignant hoot. Round yellow eyes followed the sprinting outline, as Ron slowly made his way in the direction of a sprawling manor house perched majestically on the hilltop.
Due to the lateness of the hour, there was no light flooding from the many mullioned windows…however, tiny pinpricks of light shining from the rows of little garden lights that lined the property illuminated the sweeping driveway. Working as though on instinct, Ron directed his footsteps down the wide walkway, his eyes locked on the elegant wraparound porch, the arch of the front door…
And then the night was alive when the thudding of flesh to wood. Ron had not bothered to slow down, but merely thrown himself into the door, fists hammering…the echo was ear-shattering in the otherwise-deathly silence.
"Harry! Open this door right now!" his voice was hoarse, coated with the cold air he'd been heaving into his lungs for the past quarter of an hour. His tone was desperate. Terrified.
For a heart wrenching moment, there was nothing but silence on the other side of the door. Then, just as Ron raised his hand for another barrage of knocks, there was fumbling movement from within, accompanied by a familiar voice.
"What in the name of Merlin…hold on a bloody second! Never a moment's peace, I swear to…" there was a sudden bang, followed immediately by a shrill yelp of pain. "Sodding desk…light…" a scrabbling on the inner wall, undoubtedly his fruitless efforts to find the power-switch. "Damn! Lumos!"
There was the sound of a bolt being scraped back, and finally…at long last…the door swung open. Squinting past the flaming tip of the holly wand, Ron caught only a brief sight of his raven-haired best friend before rasping out, "Harry! You've got to…!"
"Ron! What the bloody hell are you doing here, mate? It's…" he trailed off as he consulted his watch. "…almost three in the morning!" he was clad in only a pair of boxer-shorts, decorated with fluttering Snitches; his black hair was in a state of utter disarray, and his normally-friendly emerald eyes were sparkling with the dance of impatience.
"Harry…its Hermione. Its time."
Harry's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and for the first time, it seemed, he took in his friend's terrified expression, and the gasping pants that came from his winded body. The impatience disappeared instantly, to be replaced with unmistakable excitement. "What! Are you serious? But…what're you doing here?"
"Wrong…need…Ginny!"
Harry hesitated, obviously confused. "What?"
"I NEED GINNY!"
"Oh," Harry was clearly still very wrong-footed, but he nevertheless drew back, allowing Ron to stagger over the threshold into his home. "Hang on, I'll get…"
"Harry?" as though she'd sensed her help was needed, Ginny appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, tugging on a thick robe. "What's wrong?" her brown eyes widened in shock at the sight of her brother. "Ron? What in the world is going on?"
"I was about to ask the exact same thing," Harry informed her.
"It's Hermione!" Ron burst out. "She..." but despite himself, he trailed off as he caught sight of Ginny's bedtime outfit, which was peeking out from beneath the robe. She was dressed in a two-piece, rather flimsy lingerie set...he recognized it immediately, seeing as how Hermione owned a set exactly like it, although hers was a pale blue, whereas Ginny's was a fire-engine red. Seemingly completely thrown off track, Ron threw a glance back at Harry, only to catch his best friend surreptitiously tugging his pajama bottoms back up around his waist...he had missed them during their first encounter, seeing as how they'd been tangled haphazardly around Harry's left foot.
Catching the look on his friend's freckled face, Harry held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, mate. We're married, remember?" to offer assistance, the light from his wand fell across his hand, glinting off the small golden ring. "Just thought I'd remind you," Harry offered teasingly, as Ginny blushed scarlet and pulled the robe tighter around her body.
"Yeah well..." Ron grumbled. "Still doesn't mean I want to know about..." suddenly, his reason for being there came flapping back into his head. "What the bloody hell am I saying? HERMIONE'S HAVING THE BABY!"
Ginny's expression slid from indignation to delight in a matter of seconds. "She is? Ron, that's great! It's..." she paused, a frown creasing her forehead. "But wait...she's only in her eighth month, isn't she? I thought she wasn't due for another month?"
"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Ron bellowed in frustration. "She's not due yet, its too early! But the contractions hit her out of nowhere...I can't get her to St. Mungo's! You have to come...now! We have to help her!"
Ginny had already turned on her heel and disappeared into the bedroom, summoning her clothes as she went. Harry too went straight into action, dropping into an armchair to tug on his shoes. "Don't worry, mate," he said seriously, his fingers clumsy as he tied the knots. "Hermione'll be fine...Ginny got through it well enough, remember..."
He was cut off as another loud knock sounded at the door. Harry crossed the living room in two huge strides, and pulled open the door wide enough to allow Fleur to edge into the house. She was wearing a thick satin cloak of bright pink, her blue eyes sleep-heavy and her blonde hair plaited. "I 'ave just received Ginny's Patronus," she said haltingly, sparing a quick glance for Ron before returning her attention to Harry. "She said I was needed. I Apparated 'ere as queekly as possible."
"Yes, thank you Fleur," Ginny said briskly as she reappeared in the living room, fully dressed and tucking her wand in her pocket. "Hermione's having the baby and needs our help...would you mind watching James for us, please?"
"But of course," the older woman agreed immediately, sweeping past the three of them into their son's room. The moment she disappeared, Ginny caught Ron by the arm and dragged him out onto the porch, Harry hot on their heels.
"My question," he panted, as they quick-stepped their way out to the fence, where the Apparition boundary was, "is why for the love of Merlin did you run all the way here?"
"Do you honestly think I could Apparate at a time like this?" Ron snapped. "Blimey, Harry...I'd have splinched myself twelve times over!"
"Alright, alright," Harry conceded; after all, he too could play the part of the anxious father quite well.
"Well let's hope at least part of you ends up back at your place," Ginny said grimly as they passed the Apparition point. "Here...take my hand and hang on tight."
With Ginny on one side and Harry on the other, Ron allowed the panic to subside for five seconds...and in that time, the trio had turned on the spot and vanished into thin air, reappearing almost immediately at the small and cozy bungalow Ron and Hermione shared.
Thankfully, all body parts were intact.
The panic that Ron had managed to fight down returned tenfold as they rushed through the door and up to the bedroom. To his immense relief, Hermione looked no worse for the wear than she'd done before he left...despite the fact that her cheeks were a bright, blistering crimson and she was gripping the sheets so hard her knuckles were turning white.
"For God's sake!" she bit out as her husband, best friend and sister-in-law crowded around her bed. "Were they on vacation in Greece? Is that what took so bloody long?"
"So sorry, love," Ron said quietly as he gently wiped a bead of sweat off her already-glistening forehead. "You know I have no love for high-pressure situations..."
"WELL I'M REALLY SODDING SORRY TO HEAR THAT RON, SEEING AS I'M HAVING THE TIME OF MY LIFE HERE!"
"Okay, Dad," Harry said quietly as he grabbed Ron's shoulders and tugged him back. "Let's give her some breathing room, shall we..."
"How far apart are the contractions, Hermione?" Ginny asked with the patience of a trained veteran. "Maybe it's a false alarm, maybe..."
"If this is a false alarm then I would bloody well hate to be in an emergency!" Hermione snapped, releasing her death-grip on the sheets and latching onto the nearest substitute...which in this case just happened to be a hank of Ron's shoulder-length auburn hair.
"Whoa now," Ron said cautiously, reaching up and gently transferring her grasp from his hair to his hand. "Easy there love..."
He was cut off yet again as Hermione threw back her head and whimpered, grinding her nails so far into his palm she drew blood. "It...hurts..." she almost cried, her eyes pleading as they landed on her husband.
"I know, baby," he whispered, fighting the urge to break down and bawl himself. "Just please...stay strong. For me...and for him..."
"Still with the 'him," then, are you?" she asked through gritted teeth. "I hope you're not forgetting our little deal..."
"As if you would ever let me," he countered, smiling as he stroked her wet brown hair off her forehead. Ron's confident assertions that his first child would be a son had greatly annoyed Hermione, who longed to have a daughter. The bickering had finally led to a deal, the pay-off being that if Ron won, he would be granted the honor of naming their child...something else the couple had fought over. And if he lost, he would finally concede to Hermione's persistent nagging and learn how to drive a Muggle car.
So as it was, he was rather anxious for his son to make his appearance and take his father's side.
Harry and Ginny...who had been whispering inaudibly in the background...now approached the bed-side. Harry smiled at his best mate and his wife, remembering all too well exactly what Ron was going through. "I'm about to pop over to St. Mungo's," he told Hermione softly. "Bring back a Healer. Maybe they can make the pain a little easier, yeah?"
Her response was an affirmative squeak. Harry gave her free hand a squeeze, nodded to Ron, and took off at a sprint for the Apparition boundary; Ginny followed, intending to give the about-to-be parents a bit of privacy.
"I can't believe this is really it," Ron said wonderingly.
"I know," Hermione agreed wearily, eager to have something to concentrate on other than the pain. "Seems like only yesterday you were trying to show out on the Hogwarts express, what with dirt on your nose and all..."
Ron smiled. "Ah...those were the days, huh?"
"As though you can remember them...," Hermione retorted sharply as another contraction made her wince, "when you can barely remember to put your socks in the laundry. I bet you can't even remember anything from before our sixth year, can you?"
The expression in her pained chestnut eyes was odd...it was almost accusatory. But even as the words left her mouth, images began to flash through Ron's mind...it was as though someone had put his life on a swiftly-playing slideshow, and memories were flooding his inner eye...
"On the contrary, love," he whispered adoringly as he wiped a series of pain-induced tears from her shining eyes. "I remember it quite vividly."
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A/N: So...rubbish or wonderful? Eh or awesome? Read and review? Love if you do!
Note the rhyme. It was not intentional. ;)
