A/N: This is my first fic, and I'm not too sure on how I feel about it. Suddenly, a lightbulb appears. Hey! Why don't you guys review it and tell me what you think? It's crazy... but just crazy enough to work. (P.S.- I don't own these characters, only J.K. Rowling does. I mean, come on, if I did own them, would I really be writing fics about them? No, I'd be writing novels.)
Harry woke from his sleep with a start as Ron fell from his bed, tangled up in his sheets and screaming. Harry felt alarmed as he looked at his redheaded friend; he was sheet white, sweating, and wild-eyed.
"Ron! Ron, calm down, mate. It was just a bad dream," Harry panted as he rolled out of bed to help his friend from the ground.
Ron's wild blue eyes darted about, his lanky frame shaking with each breath, before he focused on Harry. Harry could tell that he had no clue where he was, so he simply helped Ron back up into his bed, before sliding back into his own.
"No, Harry… It wasn't just a bad dream. Something bad is going to happen, I can feel it…" murmured Ron. And with this ominous prediction, Ron turned to stare at the wall, leaving Harry with his own thoughts.
The next morning, Harry made no mention of Ron's sudden case of night terrors, though Ron didn't seem to notice. Harry shrugged it off, slinking his arms around Ginny's waste as she piled food onto her plate.
"Morning," he murmured, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head before grabbing his own plate.
The trio had arrived at the Burrow after only three days at the Dursley's, and Bill and Fleur's wedding had been wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that Harry had gotten back together with Ginny after much deliberation (and snogging). He was still, however, waiting for his two best friends to realize their true feelings for one another.
Ron, desperately trying to remember what his dream was about, allowed his eyes to wander until they finally fell on Hermione. Hermione, the girl he had loved since… well… forever, if he was going to be honest with himself. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't had feelings for her. Well, unless you were going to count the time before he even actually knew her, but even then, Ron felt as if there was only one person out there for him. And he had found her that first day on the train to Hogwarts, in all of her bossiness and childish beauty. His thoughts were cut short, however, when he noticed Hermione's raised brow and questioning look.
"Oh, er… Sorry, Hermione, thought you had—," but what Ron thought she had was never finished, as he quickly shoved a few pieces of bacon in his mouth.
Hermione shook her head, giving off an almost inaudible sigh and staring back down at her juice. Why couldn't she just tell Ron how she truly felt? Oh, yeah, that whole being 'scared' thing. Giving her head another shake, she got up from her finished breakfast and wandered up to the room she shared with Ginny. She was supposed to finish packing up her trunk, since they were all leaving the next morning, but instead she just flopped down onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Only a few minutes later, Ginny wandered up, flopping down next to Hermione and staring up at the ceiling, as well. After a few moments of silence, Ginny finally decided to speak up.
"Hermione, are you going to tell Ron that you love him before we leave, or are you just going to hold it in forever? Because I don't know about you, but the whole 'sexual tension while fighting evil' thing doesn't sound too fun to me." Wow, Hermione thought. That was… eloquent. Now that the youngest Weasley was coming on the hunt for Voldemort, Hermione felt even less inclined to tell Ron that she liked him. Liked him? Loved him.
"I… I don't know, Ginny. It would be too complicated; we'd both be too distracted and that could get somebody killed."
"Too distracted? It's not like you'll be snogging while Harry is fighting with Voldemort! At least, I hope you won't," Ginny grinned, her head lolling to the side so she could see her friends reaction.
Hermione let out a laugh, "No, Ginny, that's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is that we'll both be so worried about who the other is fighting and where they are that we could get ourselves killed. I'd rather remain focused, you know?"
"Whatever you say, Hermione. But let me say this: If you don't tell my brother you want to snog his brains out after we defeat Voldemort, you'll regret it!" Ginny giggled and dodged out the door before Hermione could give her a playful smack.
Ok, I'll tell him after it's all over. No big deal, Hermione thought. This thought somewhat brightened her thoughts, so she started to pack, humming random songs as she did.
Harry looked up from his second helping of pancakes, giving a small nod to Lupin as he strolled into the Burrow, arm in arm with Tonks. After giving the proper greetings to everyone who was still in the kitchen, Lupin and Tonks sat down on either side of Harry, obviously there to discuss some business.
"Now Harry, we want you to know that even though we destroyed the remaining horcruxes, Voldemort is still a very powerful wizard. We don't want you getting the idea that because he's missing… well, 6/7 of his soul, that he'll be a pushover. So, in other wor--," But Lupin was cut off as Harry raised his hand.
"Don't worry about it, Remus. I've got Ron, Hermione, and Ginny coming with me, they'll lecture me through the entire search about how I have to be prepared and not cocky." Harry gave a small grin, quickly changing the subject to something lighter than the impending battle. "So, I heard that you're engaged."
Lupin and Tonks exchanged nervous glances, both leaning in quickly. "How did you know, Harry?" Tonks squeaked at him. Harry gave a small laugh, pointing to her left ring finger.
"If you don't want people to know just yet, you shouldn't wear the ring around. Well, anyways, congratulations," he whispered. "I'm going to go finish packing, but you two should really tell ever--," but Harry's thought would never be finished.
There was a loud crash as the door flew off its hinges, jets of red and green light flying through windows and doors, a thick dust rising into the air. Everyone dropped to the ground, instinctively placing their hands over their head or crawling to different areas of the kitchen. Harry struggled to grab his wand, noticing that everyone else that was in the kitchen was doing pretty much the same thing. Harry crawled over towards Ginny, stupefying the Death Eater that was sneaking up behind her.
Harry looked up just in time to see Fred and George clothes-lining two Death Eaters, not even bothering to pull out their wands just yet (they seemed much more at home swinging their fists). Mrs. Weasley had just thrown a handful of flour into a Death Eater's face, and had poked him in the eye with her wand while attempting to stupefy him (which, ironically, took him down anyways). Lupin and Tonks were firing off a myriad of spells from behind the now knocked over kitchen table, taking down a couple of the Death Eaters. Ginny had recovered from her close-encounter, and was now mercilessly attacking a short, squatty Death Eater.
But, to Harry's horror, Ron had taken off for the stairs, yelling for Hermione. He was about to yell out in protest, only to watch his friend convulse and scream at the top of the stairs as he was hit with the crucio spell. This drew a terrified Hermione from her room, firing off spells as quickly as she could think of them at random Death Eaters. She paused to kneel down beside Ron, his crumpled form barely moving.
"Ron," Hermione hissed in his ear. "Ron, wake up! Please, wa—Stupefy!—wake up!" Hermione continued to shoot off spells, but was not enough to fend off the seemingly endless supply of Death Eaters. She screamed as her wand was taken and chucked down the hall, trying to fight off the Death Eater that had hoisted her over his shoulder. He tapped her with his wand, and she instantly stopped struggling.
The Death Eaters managed to cover him well enough until he could get to the decimated doorway with her, before he turned and ripped of his mask. It was Lucius Malfoy, his eyes ablaze with hate and triumph.
"Meet the Dark Lord in the graveyard where he regained life by midnight tonight, Harry Potter, or you'll never see the mudblood again!"
Harry rose his head just high enough above the counter where he was crouching to see Draco Malfoy pull his hood off as well, giving a slight smirk before he fired the Avada Kedavra curse at the few inches of Harry's head that he could see. Harry had barely managed to duck out of the way on time, a large portion of the counter now missing.
All of the Death Eaters started to scramble for the door, running and apparating away after they had gotten past the anti-apparition charm that was surrounding the Weasley house. Harry, Ginny, Lupin, and Tonks (the only four still capable of doing so), jumped from their places and began firing various spells after the fleeing Death Eaters, but it was all for naught; most of the Death Eaters managed to get away.
Harry slumped against the counter, surveying the scene before him. Flour and dust had settles over the kitchen, many different pots, liquids, and food scattered everywhere. There were only three Death Eaters left in the kitchen; the two Fred and George were beating ruthlessly, and the one Mrs. Weasley had accidentally poked in the eye. Mrs. Weasley was laying on the floor, breathing heavily, various cuts and bruises covering her face and arms. Fred (or was it George?) had been knocked out, breaking a table when he had fallen; his twin was nursing an obviously broken arm. Lupin and Tonks were holding each other, both murmuring silently to one another. Ginny was still at the doorway, silent tears falling down her face as she stared out at the lawn.
A low groan caused Harry to whip around and raise his wand, only to lower it and bolt up the stairs. Ron! How had he forgotten? He slowly propped his friend up against the wall, wincing as he saw that Ron's eyebrow and lip had split when he had fallen to the ground.
"Hermione," he mumbled weakly, grabbing onto Harry's wrist. "Where is she, Harry? Is she alright?"
"Ron… She… Ron, they took her," Harry said, deciding that he couldn't keep it from his best mate.
Ron bolted up with surprising agility, pushing past Harry and running down the stairs, skipping four or five at a time. Harry followed after him, grabbing onto his elbow and trying to stop him.
"You have to calm down, Ron! There's nothing we can do right now!"
Lupin grabbed Ron's other arm, but was surprisingly being dragged by Ron. Fred (or was it George?) had woken up and gingerly picked himself up from the broken table, only to grab onto the back of Ron's shirt, also yelling that Ron needed to stop for a moment. The three men tried desperately to hold onto their friend, and barely succeeded; Ron still managed to make it to the doorway, his face red with his effort, tears, and screaming.
Ginny finally put him into the petrificus totalus, Fred, Lupin, and Harry lowering Ron to the ground. After it looked like he had calmed down some, they released him. Harry explained how they had to be at the graveyard by midnight in order to get Hermione back, while Mrs. Weasley was healing the scrapes and bruises, referencing her "First-Aid" spell book. When everyone was calm and healed, they all sat down at, or at least what remained of, the kitchen table to plan their next move. After hours upon hours of creating a plan, it was time to leave.
The entire group, plus Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie, all trudged out past the anti-apparition charm, turning to stare at one another for what could possibly be the last time. Harry wished that he had time to tell Ginny how much he loved her, and that one day he wished to marry her and have children with her and grow old with her, but he just didn't have that kind of time. He just hoped that she knew already, and then he apparated with the rest of the group to the graveyard.
Ron almost cried as he took in the sight before him; dozens of Death Eaters, all circled around Lord Voldemort. But that wasn't the sight that caused a lump in his throat. Hermione was nowhere to be seen. All of the Death Eaters turned around to face Ron, Harry, and Ginny, yet none of them moved.
"So glad you could join us, Potter… but it seems you can't tell time. It's 12:01. That's too bad," came a hiss from the middle of the circle, Lord Voldemort giving a chilling cackle.
"You bastard!" roared Ron, firing the first spell of the greatest battle of all time.
The ensuing battle lasted for almost three hours, resulting in the deaths of many people; the Weasley's and Lupin and Tonks had apparated in a circle around the Death Eaters, emerging from behind various tomb stones and surprising the Death Eaters. Charlie valiantly took out four Death Eaters before falling to his own death, Fred (not George) had managed to kill three Death Eaters before he, too, fell. Tonks was badly wounded near the end of the battle, as was Mr. Weasley. This threw their respective spouses into terrible rages, and Harry was flabbergasted as Mrs. Weasley cursed one Death Eater and then turned, only to pull a rolling pin from her apron and knock out another.
Ron came face to face with Lucius Malfoy, and the battle that followed was written down in the history books.
"Tell me where she is, and I'll let you go to prison instead of killing you, Lucius…" Ron whispered, his whisper much more terrifying than his earlier scream. But Lucius didn't seem to pick up on the anger that was rolling from Ron in waves, simply throwing his head back and laughing.
"You weren't strong enough to protect your precious mudblood earlier, what makes you think you can get her back now?" Lucius spat, flicking his wand lazily towards Ron. Ron, however, had been practicing his non-verbal spells, and managed to place up a shield just in time. Lucius' spell bounced back towards him with surprising force, causing the man to fall to the ground. There was a flash of long blond hair as he quickly righted himself, smudges of dirt now covering the right side of his face.
"Why you evil little blood-traitor," Lucius yelled. The two men fired spells back and forth, both managing to dodge each other's attacks. Ron finally managed to hit Lucius, the man's arms and legs locking up as he fell to the ground.
"Tell me… where she is," Ron yelled, his wand pointed at the man's throat.
"You'll never find her, idiot boy. She's being well-guarded," he spat, before a dangerous gleam caught in his eye. "Among other things." He seemed to only add this to taunt Ron, but Ron viciously punched him, Lucius' jaw giving off a loud pop as it broke. Ron's hands shook as he placed the wand on Lucius' forehead, but Ginny's hand on his shoulder stopped him from killing Mr. Malfoy. Instead, he bound him up, and left him broken-jawed in the dirt.
There were only three Death Eaters left, and not surprisingly, they fled in terror as Mrs. Weasley continued to curse and then beat with her rolling pin. But the lack of Death Eaters did not stop the battle still raging a few meters away; Harry and Voldemort.
An angel that was perched atop a tombstone exploded into little pieces as Voldemort hit it with a killing curse, Harry's head only inches from it. Harry turned and rose, firing off his own killing curse before flinging himself behind another tombstone. He barely missed, as well, singing a small hole in Voldemort's robe.
"That was close, Harry. Why don't you come out and see?" hissed the demon. Harry was just about to shoot another curse off towards Voldemort when he heard a pop and ahiss from behind him.
"Goodbye, Harry." Voldemort had obviously apparated behind Harry, standing only a little ways off. "Expelliarmus," and with that, Harry's wand flew from his hand and landed out of reach. His green eyes widened when he realized that this… this was the end. He got to his feet, thinking that if he was going to die, he was going to die standing up like a man. But when he finally got to his feet, a shriek made his heart stop.
"Harry! Harry, get out of there!" Ginny was running towards the pair, screaming. Voldemort moved his wand some, apparently to get rid of the 'nuisance' that was Ginny Weasley before he took pleasure in killing his nemesis, Harry Potter. Harry didn't even have time to think otherwise, stepping infront of Voldemort's wand before he had even finished saying the words 'Avada Kedavra'.
There was a brilliant flash of green, and then darkness enveloped him. Harry didn't think death would hurt this badly, pain searing through his body.
Wait, Harry thought. If I were dead, wouldn't there be like… a light at the end of a tunnel, or something? Surely it wouldn't be this graveyard again, would it? Would he be damned to walk this graveyard for eternity?
But all of his thoughts were answered when his own personal angel came swooping down on him, fiery red hair and all. Ginny gently shook his shoulders, tears streaming down her face as she whispered that she loved him and that he couldn't be dead and to please say something.
"Love… Ginny," Harry managed to choke out, causing her to give a cry of joy. As she hugged him (which caused pain to sear through his chest, but he didn't mind too much) his head slumped to the side, where he saw a very dead Voldemort. An act of love, Harry thought. That's what brought down the great Voldemort. He passed out again after that thought, Ginny Weasley still clinging to him.
Everyone had piled into Harry's room at St. Mungo's, taking shifts of sleep and guard duty. The only two people who never slept were Ginny and Ron. Though both were concerned about Harry, Ron was also frantically trying to figure out where Lucius could've put Hermione before the battle.
He had been up for over twenty four hours, desperately trying to find a way to get to Hermione, when Ginny asked if he would pace towards the cafeteria instead of around the room to get her some tea. He left without protest, which rather surprised Ginny and Mrs. Weasley, who was taking her turn on "guard duty". She was sitting by the door, nervously rolling her wand between her fingers and looking up at Harry, and then Tonks and her husband, who were in the beds next to Harry. Suddenly, the door flung open, causing Mrs. Weasley to jump to her feet and raise her wand. But the sight before her instead caused her to swoop down on the person in a hug.
Ron backed into the room with a tray of teas for whoever wanted one, the laughing and crying that came from the previously quiet room surprising him. He turned around to ask if Harry had woken up, when the sight before him made him drop the tray, spilling the hot tea all over the linoleum. Ron ran towards a bruised, scratched, and dirty Hermione, pulling her into such a passionate kiss that it silenced the entire room. But neither Ron nor Hermione seemed to notice, both swept up in their emotions. After what seemed like hours, they reluctantly pulled apart, both in tears. They didn't say a word to each other, just smiled happily and walked to the door to get Hermione healed so they could spend some quality 'alone time' together.
"Well… we knew it was coming… just not quite like that, eh?" mumbled George, speaking for the first time since Fred had fallen. The entire room nodded in silent agreement.
After Hermione had been healed (and had snogged Ron for a few moments in the waiting area before being told to 'shoo' by a healer), she walked hand in hand with Ron back towards Harry's room. The entire room looked up expectantly, watching as Hermione settled on Ron's lap in a chair in the corner. After having a few moments to collect her thoughts, Hermione recounted what had happened after she had been taken.
She had woken up in a very dark room, and thinking she was alone, she had attempted to leave. But, much to her dismay, she had been left under the watchful eye of Draco Malfoy. They had sat in total silence for hours upon hours, until a Death Eater (probably one of the one's Mrs. Weasley had beaten with her rolling pin, by the looks of the bruises) came to say that all of the Death Eaters had been defeated by Harry Potter's friends. This new information made Draco so angry that he had beaten her mercilessly, screaming as many insults as he knew (which, ironically, weren't that many) at her. After a particularly vicious slap to the face, Draco's wand had accidentally fallen from his robes, and Hermione took the opportunity to stupefy her attacker. That was when she made her grand escape, and fled back to the Burrow, only to find that no one was there. The next logical place was, of course, St. Mungo's.
Ron kept his arms possessively around Hermione's waist as she recounted her story, obviously not wanting to let her out of his sight after that incident. After she had finished telling the group what had happened and how she had ended up there, she leaned back against Ron, closing her eyes and murmuring, "I love you." Ron smiled, placing a kiss against her temple and whispering, "I love you, too," into her ear before closing his own eyes. Both Ron and Hermione fell asleep cuddled together in the chair, and soon everyone else started to follow suit, falling asleep at random places in the room.
Only Ginny remained awake, still holding Harry's hand and waiting for him to wake up again. About an hour or so afterwards, Harry did wake up, muttering for his glasses. After he had slipped his glasses on, he looked at Ginny, giving her a small grin.
"It's all over, Ginny. It's all over," he said, his grin growing wider with every word. "Do you know what this means?"
"World peace," Ginny quipped, a small grin tugging at her own lips.
"We can finally get married! And have kids! And we can grow old together, without having to worry about getting attacked all the time!" Harry realized what had tumbled out of his mouth before thinking, but couldn't wipe his grin from his face.
Ginny stared at Harry for a long while, her mouth slightly agape. But she, too, broke out into a grin, leaning in to kiss Harry softly.
"I'll agree to that, but on one condition."
"What's that?"
"We have lots and lots of kids."