Hermione, much like the rest of Hogwarts's defenders, had launched into a frenzy soon after seeing Harry's dead body held delicately in Hagrid's enormous hands.

It tore her apart inside seeing her first friend dead. The look on his face was peaceful, an uncommon for someone who'd never had a more than a breather before being thrown to the wolves again. He'd ended his life in the vain hope Voldemort wouldn't kill anyone else.

She knew she wasn't the only one with tears streaming down her face, shaking with barely contained fury as Voldemort gloated and lies about the circumstances of Harry's death after Silencing hundreds of wizards at once with the Elder Wand. The dam keeping back the crowd couldn't hold forever.

And it didn't.

"He beat you!" Ron screamed, throwing of Voldemort's mass Silencing Charm. The multitude of other wizards yelled in response.

Voldemort's magically-magnified voice, in its icy cruelty, simply said, "Then to the original plan. On your heads, be it."

The flurry of spellcasting returned to the battlefield on the school grounds; much of it quickly proceeded into the castle itself. Hundreds of wizards on both sides were sending spells with abandon at their enemies, rainbows of spellfire darting in every direction. Some were felled and did not stand again, but many more fought through the pain. Those defending Hogwarts, those standing against Voldemort and his Death Eaters, had a renewed spirit at seeing their linchpin made but a corpse. The Death Eaters could scarcely match their effort.

Hermione hadn't stopped berating herself for what she could have done. If I had known more… if I had been better he'd still be here, she thought bitterly. She cast a strong Blasting Curse at nearby group of four nameless Death Eaters; they did not stand again once the explosion consumed them.

Ron was much the same, calling out curse after curse at the cruel bastards who killed his best mate. He just couldn't accept it. When it involved Harry and Death, 'it' always managed to save his skin. Ron didn't know if 'it' was divine, luck or something in between, but he was furious it had failed to show when it was most needed.

Ron spotted Fenrir Greyback standing over an injured student who couldn't have been beyond fourth year. Not at all forgetting the beast had attacked Bill, Ron Banished Greyback over railing to avoid accidentally hitting the student.

"Good riddance," Ron said nastily, turning away to find more Death Eaters.

Although the momentum had certainly been taken by the Hogwarts defenders, Bellatrix and (especially) Voldemort weren't so easily challenged, as they seemed to smite any who stood against them no matter the numbers. Voldemort in particular was holding off the three strongest defenders without apparent difficulty. Kingsley, McGonagall and Slughorn were each highly magically powerful, but for all the good their spells were they might as well have been throwing confetti at Voldemort. He'd easily deflected and overcome every curse, every combination spell, just everything they attacked him with.

Hermione had her own issues. She'd attacked Bellatrix with everything she had when she spotted her, but the woman was far too experienced for such a tactic to work. Luckily, Tonks had joined in to help.

"Hermione," Tonks said hurriedly as they dove behind cover to avoid Bella's Cruciatus Curse. "I'll take her on directly. I need you to back me up. Be unpredictable; Kingsley said you have a knack for obscure spells. Come on, let's end this!"

Hermione ran out after Tonks, who was alternating between Stunning Spells and Reductor Curses. They didn't impress Bellatrix, who swatted they away with her wand, not even bothering to use a Shield Charm. While Tonks continued and Bellatrix retaliated with a series of impressively powerful spells, Hermione recalled a spell she was sure no one but she, Cho Chang and Harry knew about. It had been, after all, an improperly spoken incantation. Her heart ached at the thought of her lost friend.

"Expellimellius!" she said, pointing her wand at Bellatrix's hand. As she remembered, this mispronunciation of the Disarming Charm caused Bella's sleeve to spontaneously catch on fire. Whatever Bellatrix had been expecting, it certainly hadn't been that.

The fire worked as a distraction. Bellatrix couldn't leave it unattended, as it was quickly igniting her robe and was starting to burn her hand. She tried to quickly put it out with a Water-making Charm, but that brief distraction allowed Tonks to land a Reductor on her abdomen.

Bellatrix fell to her knees looking at the huge gash in her chest, not believing that she had been defeated by the inferior witches. She soon fell forward and spelled no more.

Tonks turned to look at Hermione and gave a slight smile. "When this is over, you've got to tell me how you came across such a nonsense charm as that."

Voldemort's fury at his top lieutenant's death was unmistakable. The three he was dueling were blown away by an unknown spell, as was anyone within fifty feet of him. Despite being vastly outnumbered, no one was sure they could defeat he and his remaining Death Eaters. The Prophecy seemed to imply they could not.

Then something strange occurred. Large Shield Charms began springing into being all over the place, preventing anyone from approaching Voldemort deeper in the Great Hall. Neither Ron nor Hermione, who had been watching Voldemort with the intent of joining the fight against him, could see who was casting the spells. Whoever it was seemed to be trying to isolate Voldemort from everyone else.

As if out of a dream, Harry Potter suddenly stood across from Voldemort, having appeared out from under his Invisibility Cloak. A looked of grim determination was on his face.

Ron couldn't hold back his yell of triumph. "There 'it' is! I knew Harry was too stubborn to let that bastard kill him! Take 'im down mate!"

Hermione thought she was dreaming. Harry always did seem to overcome impossible odds, but surely Voldemort would have used the Killing Curse and made sure he'd won. Harry couldn't survive it anymore, right?

"Do it Harry," she whispered. She could see his mouth moving as he and Voldemort circled around the space between the Shield Charms Harry had placed, mouths moving but the battle still roaring outside made it impossible to hear the words. Everyone in the Great Hall had stopped to watch the destined showdown.

Voldemort jabbed his wand at Harry and out came the Killing Curse. Harry raised Draco's wand and returned fire with what initially looked like the Disarming Charm. However, a moment later it erupted into a blast of gold fire that broke through Voldemort's curse, causing an ear-splitting ringing to echo throughout the castle. No one needed to say anything to realize what had happened. The Elder Wand wand flew through the air toward Harry, who caught it, while the man himself fell back. He was unmistakably, and finally, dead.

Everything had gone dead silent. Even those fighting outside had stopped. No doubt the Death Eaters, through their Dark Mark tattoos, realized Voldemort had been truly slain this time. The silence gave way to shouts of victory. The Shield Charms couldn't hold them back, they pushed through to reach their hero. The one who never gave up, who could withstand anything and come out on top through sheer will and dumb luck.

Hermione, however, had been the first to reach him. And she could have sworn his initial expression, before he threw up a smile, had been one of loss and emptiness.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Hermione asked when the redhead came down the stairs from the boy's dormitory in tears.

It had been four days since the Battle of Hogwarts. So much death and destruction, it seemed absurd that their school had been the site of it.

"It's Harry, he-" she said before breaking down into sobs on the common room couch. Hermione pulled her into a hug, hoping to calm her enough to get a complete answer. After a minute, she seemed to settle and pulled away from Hermione.

"Now what's this about Harry? He's not hurt, is he?" she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

"It's not like I'd know if he was…" Ginny replied bitterly. "Harry's broken things off between us, Hermione."

Her eyes widened in response. "Wait, why? That doesn't sound like him."

Ginny put her face in her hands. "He's barely spoke to me these past couple days. Whenever I kiss him he practically flinches, he barely touches me at all. Mum's invited him to stay at the Burrow even, but he he keeps saying he's going to stay at Hogwarts to help with the repairs before going back to Sirius's place. I just… did I do something wrong?" she asked despairingly, looking at her hands.

Hermione stood determinedly. "I'll find out what's going on, Ginny. There's got to be a good explanation for this."

Ginny nodded at Hermione, knowing she had a knack for getting Harry to open up when others couldn't. As she made her way towards the boy's dormitory staircase, Ron entered through the repaired portrait hole of Gryffindor Tower.

"There you are, Hermione," he said, trying for his usual goofy grin. It was obviously strained, but given he'd just lost a brother she couldn't blame him. He pulled Hermione into a hug, which she returned. He quickly began kissing her, which she wouldn't have minded if it wasn't turning into a full-blown snog. She knew she was being a little hypocritical given she practically attacked his mouth in the Chamber of Secrets, but this was pretty lousy timing.

Hermione nudged Ron a bit to get him to stop. He seemed rather annoyed at that, given it had lasted all of three seconds. But he covered it quickly.

"Ron, I'm worried about Harry," she said seriously.

Ron arched an eyebrow. "You said that yesterday too. What for?" he asked confusedly.

Hermione bit her bottom lip, hoping he didn't get too angry. "He's just broken up with Ginny and she can't understand why. Something's wrong with him, I know it is. It's not like him."

Ron did seem mad that Harry would do this and so soon after all they had lost just two days prior. But then he seemed to change his mind. "I dunno, Harry does tend to brood before and after horrible shite goes down, and that was about the horriblest."

Hermione wasn't buying it. "Then how do you explain him breaking up with your sister so suddenly? Harry might not be the most empathetic person, but he's not cold like that. He was pining after Ginny for weeks during the hunt."

Ron frowned slightly but it faded quickly. "To be honest, I was never happy about them dating. I mean, it's not like with you and me, they barely knew each other by comparison; I don't think they had a real conversation before fifth-year. It was bound to flame out after they were separated so long."

For Ron, that seemed to settle things. He made as of to pick up where they left off, so Hermione pulled out of his arms, annoyed that Ron seemed to be making every excuse to not get involved.

"Ronald, there are more important things than snogging right now. Your best mate is probably really hurting right now, we have to help him," Hermione said strongly.

Ron's face flushed a bit and scratched the back of his head nervously. "It's just… I'm no good at talking to him when he starts hanging dark clouds everywhere. You saw how he was like when he had that vision of Dad being attacked. He totally shut everyone out, including me."

It was then that Hermione realized why Ron was afraid to see Harry. He feared Harry and he weren't close enough for him to do anything about it. He felt inadequate. After running out on them during the hunt, he didn't have the confidence to face him about this just yet.

Now understanding his reluctance, Hermione said, "Then I'll have to go talk to him and see what this is about."

Ron wanted to be a little angry with her, but he thought better of it. Even if he and Hermione were dating, Harry had again isolated himself from his friends, he barely seemed to be eating, even. And as much as he wanted Hermione to continue helping him cope with Fred's death, he couldn't blame her for trying to aid their best friend.

Ron gave a slight smile and said, "You two have always seemed to have a beat on the other's pulse. Just… get my best mate back, Hermione."

"…I always thought the Hallows were just storybook nonsense. They always say there's a kernel of truth in legends but this is ridiculous," Nearly-Headless Nick said as he watched the young man in fascination. Ever since he'd seen him after the Battle, Nick had barely been able to draw away from Harry. The same had been true of all the Hogwarts ghosts. It was inexplicable, something about him had changed in quality and they could all feel it, causing them to seek him out as if he could answer whatever sensations he evoked in their incorporeal selves.

Harry was twirling the Elder Wand between his fingers absentmindedly. It was the strangest thing. After using it to repair his phoenix core wand, he'd placed the Elder Wand back in Dumbledore's tomb the night the war ended. Seeing Dumbledore's corpse, preserved by magic, had left him feeling cold and disturbed. When he'd awoken the Wand was in his pocket. The same thing occurred the next morning as well, no matter where he left the wand. Annoyingly, the Resurrection Stone had done the same and had even been repaired somehow despite its the damage it suffered. He was sure he was having strange dreams again too, but he could never remember them when he awoke. It was similar to the sensation of forgotten knowledge on the tip of one's tongue: frustratingly just out of reach but near enough to know it was out there.

"So now I've got a clingy super-wand and a rock with the worst sort of temptation." He sighed at the unfairness of it all. "Figures being Master of Death would have some kind of stupid perk. At least the Cloak just stays in my school trunk."

Nick continued looking at Harry for few moments. "Master of Death?" he asked, his curiosity obviously piqued at the term.

Harry waved him off. "Some silly thing. Dumbledore thought it might just be metaphorical. But just my luck, it seems I'm stuck with these things."

Most wizards… hell, most people, would be ecstatic to have an unbeatable wand and the ability to return dead loved ones, even if it was only as a shade, to talk to for a bit and find closure. But Harry wasn't most people, having the Hallows did nothing to ease his indescribable emptiness and occasional outbursts of anger and frustration at all that had happened. Nothing whatsoever.

"It's rather ironic, isn't it Harry?" Nick asked with amusement evident in his tone. Harry arched his eyebrow in question, so Nick continued, "When Sirius Black was killed you accosted me, demanding to know what the other side was like. But now you're the only one who can really answer that question and it's made you miserable."

Harry snorted. Nick wasn't being very considerate, but he had a valid point. "It's about par for the course in my life, honestly," he answered with slight bitterness entering his voice.

"Harry?" came the familiar, worried voice of his best friend.

Harry turned and saw Hermione entering the otherwise empty dormitory. Her eyes were glancing back and forth between Harry and Nearly-Headless Nick. She was obviously confused about the ghost's presence.

"Oh, don't mind me Miss Granger. Harry and I were just, er, catching up," Nick said unconvincingly.

"What's going on with you? Are you okay?" she asked seriously, seeming to find something distressing in Nick's explanation though what Harry couldn't tell.

"Nothing is wrong," he said without missing a beat. Though he kept a straight face, Hermione's doubting expression made it clear she didn't believe him. It probably didn't help that he'd practically growled out his answer.

"...Ginny says the two of you have separated." When Harry didn't say anything about it, she asked Harry, "You know we can talk about anything, right?"

Despite feeling as if he'd feel a lot better if people stopped worrying about him, Harry couldn't help the slight smile that appeared on his face.

"I know. I just… I don't know how to explain it. I need some time to work it out myself."

Hermione seemed to accept his answer. "I'll be there when you feel up to it," she said. Harry nodded.

The hug that followed dulled hurt Harry felt, though it quickly returned after she left down the staircase to the common room, leaving him with no one but the dead to converse with comfortably. He'd wanted to tell her what was wrong, but even he couldn't properly articulate it, not even to himself.

Having returned to the common room, Hermione could see that Ron had been anxiously awaiting her, pacing as he was up and down the length of the room.

Upon seeing her, Ron quickly asked, "Is he okay?"

Hermione embraced Ron. She couldn't contain her shuddering as she said, "Something is definitely wrong, Ron. He's shutting everyone else out but he's been talking to Nick. I'm certain I saw him speaking to the other House ghosts recently as well."

As they held each other, Ron came upon an idea. "Why don't we ask Dumbledore what to do?" Before she could point out the obvious fact that Dumbledore was dead, he added, "Harry said they'd done a portrait of him before he died, didn't he?"

Hermione perked up at this. "Of course! That's a brilliant idea Ron, he's got to have an idea about what's happening."

Ron struck a ridiculous pose and said, "I do have my moments, don't I?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, though the smirk gave away her appreciation of his lightheartedness. "Come on, let's find Dumbledore's portrait."

And so the fledgling couple made left Gryffindor Tower and walked in the direction of the later Headmaster's office, where more often than not the answers they received over the years escalated into ever larger questions.

(A/N): And that's a wrap for this chapter. This will be a short story, but I will try to make them count. It's already finished, ending at just a handful of chapters which I will release once a week (or week-and-a-half) until the end of the story. Given just what Harry went through in Deathly Hallows, on top of everything in his life beforehand, realistically I would expect some issues with getting within spitting distance of the afterlife. But I've never seen a story covering this sort of issue and I suspect others that do go for edginess or "dark" Harry or some such. Maybe I just missed good stories that cover this; easy to do given the nearly 800K Harry Potter stories on FFN! While Hermione and Ron start off together (sorry if that annoys you), I suppose the pairing tags give away things won't be hunky-dory. No bashing though, I aim to be realistic and in-character here. Review and Favorite!