Disclaimer: Joe, I owe it all to you. In this, Harry kept the resurrection stone instead of dropping it in the forest, just a heads up.
Only ever you
GingerPygmy99
We were running, running so far and so fast, my lungs screaming, pleading for me to stop and take a breath, but there was no time. We had to get the prophecy quickly, and get the hell out of here, before anyone gets hurt. I had never felt pain like it in my life, my lungs seemed to be on fire, but there was no option, we kept running. I turned around to grab hold of someone for support, but stopped in my tracks.
I was alone.
Where had everyone gone? They were right behind me!
I leant against the wall, catching my breath, wheezing, and dragged my feet back up the dark corridor, the way I had just come. Ron and Ginny couldn't be far. They were with me not 2 minutes ago.
I opened a door, and peeked inside, and nearly fell over in shock. It was the same room from the beginning, circular, with 6 doors around the outside. I had nothing to lose, and I had to find the others, and so I stepped inside. I closed the door behind me, and took a look at the now 7 doors. My hands trembled and I felt tears threatening to spill. I wanted Ron, I wanted Harry, Ginny and the others, now! I would give anything to hear Luna's silly talk about Blibbering Humdingers, I would let her describe every aspect of it to me if I could just find them. Who knows what's going on...
"Maybe one of them's through this door?"
And if I'm not mistaken, that's Alecto Carrow's voice coming from the other side of one of those doors. I run over to the nearest one, and pull it open. Just as it closes, I hear Carrow's voice echo "No, go back, we might get lost, there's no-one in here..."
I breathe a sign of relief as I hear them leave, and turn around to see what's in my room. Large jars of slightly mutated beings line the wall's. Just shelves and shelves of the things. A human hand sits in a jar nearest to me. My heart thumps as I try to stay calm. There was no sign that the others had been in here. I take a deep breath and step back outside, just as another door opens and figures step out. I clutch my chest , ready to scream...
But its Harry. Thank Merlin! I almost smile, happier than I had ever been.
"Harry, thank God, I lost you, where did you-?"
But I stopped talking. And almost stopped breathing. In walked Luna and Neville, closely followed by Ginny, all supporting a badly injured Ron.
"NO! Ron, what happened, what- who did this to you?"
"Oh, hey, its Hermione" he looked dreamily at me Harry and Neville still holding him upright.
"Ron, how did this happen, and where are the Death Eaters? We've got to keep moving, there going to find us!" but as soon as I said it, I knew he wouldn't be moving anywhere.
"Just give me a minute, catch my breath. I'm fine, honest"" he slurred with that smile of him
"There were these brain things in one of the rooms, you kept running, and I tried to call you back, but I don't think you heard me. Ron summoned it, and it sliced him open on contact"
"Its not that bad, I've had worse injuries playing with Fred and George..."
Harry and Neville lowered him down, and he flopped to the floor like a rag doll. It seemed all his energy had been taken away the moment those brains touched his skin. I whipped out my wand, and performed as many spells I could think of, anything that came to mind. I watched the wound closely, but still blood continued to seep out, running down his gorgeous cheek bones. Using my hand, I wiped away blood ready to run into his eyes.
"We need help, we need, wher- hasn't anyone at school noticed were missing yet? Why isn't somebody coming? Looking for us?" I looked up, ready to try and use anything in the room as help, but there was nothing. Just space.
"Neville, Luna, quick, open a few of those doors, see if there's anything is there of use, don't open that one of that one" I pointed" the Death Eaters are in there, and I've just been in there , no use-" I wiped Ron's forehead again, and bloody smeared into his hair line. But it was no use. Each room was as useless as the last.
Never, in all my life, would I have seen this happening. Ron was the strong one, he was the one who kept us going. He did it first year, he sacrificed himself, he kept us together, kept us safe. He even whispered to me, once, that if he would have been champion fourth year, I would have been his victim in the Black Lake, not Ginny, not Fleur, me.
There are so many unanswered questioned between us, and now I'll never- Oh do shut up Hermione! Ron's going to be fine! He always is, just keep doing those incantations, everything will work out, he's going to be fine. This time tomorrow we'll be eating dinner in the Great Hall, I'll be scolding him for eating too quickly, and he'll be nagging me for scolding him, same as always. Harry will sit beside us and tut, staying out of the arguments, but both of us will share a look that he doesn't see, that plainly says we're enjoying the arguments more than we should.
Blood, just blood, everywhere. His hair, my shirt, my trousers. Our clothes look dyed red. Everything apart from his skin, which was becoming paler by the second. His lips had definitely lost their colour, turning whiter and whiter as the seconds ticked by.
And the worst part was, there was nothing more I could do.
And it broke my heart.
I shivered and shook, still attempting incantations and healers spells I had picked up from Madam Pomfrey. I took Ron's face in my hands, using the tattered remains of my jumper to wipe away any droplets of his precious blood from his eyes, so I could see them. Those beautiful eyes. The ones I had looked into almost everyday for the past five years, the one's that made my heart jump and my stomach drop. The ones that, sometimes, would be looking back, but would soon look away again.
"Ron, open your eyes" Please. Please...
His eyes flickered open, that familiar smile working its way onto his features.
"Now, you listen to me Ron Weasley, you need to stay with us, do you understand, don't you dare go dying on me today, there's so much we need to do, so much for us to do that we haven't done yet!" I said to him loudly, tears streaming down my face. "I absolutely refuse to lose you, you keep me going Ron! You keep me sane, and you make the future look bright, please..." I begged him, as his eyes started to close slowly.
"I'm not going anywhere, don't you worry..."
"Good, now, keep talking to me, okay?"
Ginny's sobs echoed throughout the room as she leant against Harry for support. Neville and Luna stood a meter away, huddled together with pained expressions.
"Hey, Hermione?"
"Yes Ron?"
"Did you go over that Charm's essay for me, its gotta be in tomorrow"
I giggled, tears dripping down my nose, "Yes, of course I did, its an outstanding if I do say so myself"
"Really? Never expected that to happen"
"Do you know what Ron?"
"What?" he mumbled.
"When we get out of here, there's so much we've got to do. I haven't even had chance to tell you how I feel about you yet..." I whispered, our noses touching, my tears dripping of my face and onto his, running down his glorious cheek bones, making clear paths in the blood that covered it.
"Feel?"
"Yes, how I feel. Come on Ron! I think everyone in this room knows it but you..."
"Really? Me?" He looked dazed and woozy, his eyelids drooping.
"Only ever you..."I began to cry, clutching his stained shirt for support "It was only ever you, I wanted to go to the ball with you last year Ron. I've wanted you for as long as I can remember, and I always will!"
"Well, I suppose a trip to Honeydukes is in order?" he said quietly.
"Yes, and we can visit all your favourite shops, I'll even take you in Madam Pudifoot's-"
"Woah, Mine, I draw the line at Pudifoots" he slurred
I laughed uncontrollably, gripping him tighter by the second.
And I soon became aware that the breathing I heard was my own.
I looked down at him, my precious angel, and he looked asleep, peaceful. Like nothing in the world would ever hurt him again.
And I don't think I've ever felt pain like it. I kept hold on his shirt, our hands interlaced when Dumbledore and the other's found us. I screamed at him, save Ron, do something, but Dumbledore's expression told me all I needed to know. And that's how Molly and the other's found us. Lying together on the floor, almost like a couple lies asleep together, my hand grasping his, dreaming of a date to Honeydukes that would never be, children we would never have, and a life together that had cruelly been snatched away. I screamed, sobbed, punched and kicked when they tried to take him away.
And when they did, I felt empty. There is no other word to describe it. Just empty. No Dementor in the word could ever make me feel this hollow.
I looked down at my hand.
There, in my fist, lay a long lock of ginger hair.
rh-rh-rh-rh-rh
"I am about to die"
Harry pressed his lips to the golden snitch, the metal shell breaking open and the black stone that he had expected rising out of it. His breathing became calm, as he knew what was about to happen. He understood, without having to think. Now, all along , the truth was staring his straight in the face. He closed his eyes as he turned over the jagged stone in his hands three times, and rustling met his ears.
They were neither ghost nor truly flesh, he could see that. They seemed solid, like how water is, and yet transparent. There bodies held no grazes, cuts or wounds, but looked as young and healthy as Harry had expected them to be.
James, the same height as Harry, his hair untidy and messy, reminding him of the many times Molly had tried to flatten his down, perhaps she had done the same to his father when he was alive?
Sirius, handsome and tall, looking young, happy and alive, as ironic as that sounded in his head. A wide grin fresh on his features, and that all too familiar glint in his eyes.
Lupin, looking younger too, the shabby qualities he once owned vanished, and a small smiled etched upon his features also, looking at Harry with fondness and love.
Lily, her unmistakable fiery hair glistening, if that was possible. He saw himself in her, her eyes looking straight back at him, sharing a look only a mother and child could ever understand. And he knew right then, that they had always been with him, those eyes showing proof of it.
Ron. Harry's grin widened as his eyes met his best friends. There was no gash on his forehead, and no scars around his wrist. Harry ran forward, holding out his arm, only to feel nothing. Just a small chill. Ron's expression changed to that of a pained one, clearly seeing Harry's anguish.
"Ron, I'm so sorry-"
"Harry, it wasn't your fault"
"It was my decision to go to the ministry-"
"It doesn't matter Harry"
"Hermione hasn't been herself since"
"I know. I've been watching"
"You have?" Ron nodded smiling slightly " Of course, what sort of mate would I be if I didn't?"
He wanted to say more, to explain everything, but people were dying by the second and this needed to end. He looked towards his godfather, not bothering to wipe away the tears that now fell freely, because what was the point?
"Will it hurt?"
"No more than falling asleep" Sirius said.
Lily looked pained, frightened, and more than anything, broken,for a split second, Harry saw it. He went close to his mother and said to her.
"Before you know it, we will be together again, I promise" he looked at Ron, and Ron understood.
"I need to do this" he justified to everyone "If I don't, Hermione, Ginny, the rest, they could all-" he stopped himself "This is the way it was always going to end"
"We know" said James.
"Stay close to me?" he asked. Ron shared a look with him, and Ron walked forward, and stood by his side.
"Always" Lily whispered, and then they were gone.
Harry took a step forward, feeling Ron close to him, the warmth near his heart, and walked out into the opening.
rh-rh-rh-rh-rh
A twig snapped as Hermione stumbled forwards, clutching onto a tree trunk. Harry said he kept it and was going to destroy it, she had to be quick, he would notice it missing soon...
She noticed footprints on the floor, Harry must have walked this way before, when he came to sacrificed himself. But now it was over, we won.
But we didn't, not really. Not all of us...
She found a clearing, an opening, and remembered where she had been here before. In third year, when she and Harry had used the Time Turner to save Sirius, this was the lake in which the Dementors had almost took his soul, this was the place in which Harry thought he saw his father, only for it to be revealed it was his future self.
She sat on a rock, clutching the locket that hung around her neck. She needed to be brave, gather some courage , after all, Ron would not want this, to see her as a snivelling wreck. If this was going to be the last time-
She sat on a rock, crying, half screaming in emotional pain as she dropped the stone onto the floor. . Her bushy hair clung to her face as the tears, more tears for him, raced down her face. She didn't bother to wipe them away. There was no point. There was no-one to wipe them away for, and there never would be.
"Don't cry Hermione"
Her heart stopped, almost falling out of her chest in shock. Every hair on her body stood up, alert. She took a deep breath, and turned slowly, scared and reluctant.
To see the most glorious sight one could ever ask for.
"You're here" she whispered, almost disbelieving her own eyes.
"Yes" Ron said.
She stood up, sitting on the rock she has just wept on, and watched as Ron Weasley walked towards her.
"But you can't stay" it wasn't a question.
"No" he said.
"Ron, I'm so sorry-"
"It wasn't anybodies fault Hermione-"
"I ran away, I thought you were behind me!"
"I know you did. I would never blame any of you, I shouldn't have summoned those bloody brains, I don't know what sort of spell I was under!"
Hermione smiled slightly in spite of herself.
"I always wanted to tell you so much, and never got the chance" she cried
"Well, you've got the chance now..."
She didn't hesitate.
"I always loved you"
"I love you too" Ron whispered, kneeling down in front of her as she slumped on the rock.
"And now my life is going to be pointless without you in it!" she cried her face so close to his.
"I doubt that, look at me!" he demanded. "I promise you, with every bit of love I have ever had for you, that everything will be okay. You're going to go back to school September, do your NEWTS, you're going to become minister for magic one day, I swear it!" but her lips wobbled and her heart gained another crack.
"I don't want any of those things if your not there with me" she looked into his eyes.
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Ron asked.
"I was scared you wouldn't feel it too, that-" she hesitated but he nodded, encouraging her "that, it would complete ruin us, I would be heartbroken. And that didn't do me much good because it happened anyway. Without you here, I feel empty, useless, like there's no place for me."
Ron watched her, his eyebrows furrowed. He placed his hands on her knees, leaning forwards to her. His hands went straight through, and Hermione felt the shiver that confirmed his presence.
"Hermione?"
"Yes?"
"I'm with you everyday, you do know that. When ever you need me, you remember that locket around your neck okay?"
She clutched her locket, containing the lock of hair she had pulled from Ron that night.
"Ron?"
"Yes?"
"Kiss me?"
Ron smiled, and leant forward, and against all the odds, against magic, laws of nature and anyone that ever said it wasn't possible, they both felt their lips meet. Hermione held a genuine smile, as their lips collided, frantic and passionate, the best kiss Hermione had ever had or would ever have in her entire life. Her tongue met Ron's, and it was glorious.
She pulled away for air, and her eye lashes fluttered open.
"Ron I -"
But she was alone. And the gut wrenching feeling she had felt for the past 2 years returned.
She knew what she had to do.
She got up, placed the small black stone on the rock, walked a few metres and held up her wand.
"Expulso" she whispered.
There was a loud crack and an explosion as the stone and rock exploded into a million little pieces, raining down on Hermione. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and walked away, never looking back. When Harry later asked about the stone, she told him it was taken care of, and he seemed to understand.
She watched as Harry and Ginny ran to each other from across the grass , gripping fiercely as though they were never going to let go. She felt her locket press against her chest and smiled. He would always be with her.
rh-rh-rh-rh-rh
GingerPygmy99
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