Disclaimer-I do not own Harry Potter, or Breaking Benjamin's song "So Cold".
Warnings- Deathfic.
A/n-A Last Battle fic… or, well, the result of the Last Battle. HP/HG pairing, which happens to be my most-loved coughstraightcough ship ever. Please R&R! Love ya!
So Cold
Deystar
Crowded streets all cleared away
One by one
Hollow heroes separate
As they run
Hermione Granger ran outside into the pouring rain as she heard a shout of triumph. It was over. They had won. The sound of laughter, tears, and shouting, though muffled by the pouring rain, showed that this is one of the times when emotions run off the scale. You could see people burying their friends and loved ones in a tender embrace, every once in a while coming across a couple deeply immersed in a passionate kiss.
Hermione did not join the celebration as these hollow heroes started to leave the cursed land where so many had died. One by one, everyone ran from the scene, eager to leave and put this as far behind him or her as they possibly could. But no one would ever forget. Especially not Hermione.
Tears streaming down her face and trailing behind her, she raced deep into the battlefield. It couldn't be true… he was just late… just late… She stopped dead in her tracks in the very center of the field.
Harry Potter lay there, glasses a few feet from his face, his eyes closed.
You're so cold
Keep your hand in mine
Wise men wonder while
Strong men die
When she found the strength to move again, Hermione ran faster than before up to her best friend, and knelt next to him. Tears streaming so bad it was hard to tell if they were moving faster or the rain, she slowly put a hand on his arm, exposed as the sleeve of his robe had been ripped completely off.
He was so…cold.
Scared, she lifted him up into her lap, and wrapped one arm around him, and clasped his hand with her other. His hand was as ice beneath her fingers, but she refused to let go. She couldn't let go. No one could tell her to let go of the one thing she cared most about.
It wasn't fair. The wiser ones such as herself had just sat around and wondered about what to do next. Strong men like Harry had to die.
Show me how it ends it's all right
Show me how defenseless you really are
Satisfy the empty inside
That's all right
Let's give this another try
"Harry… please. It'll be all right. I know it will." She gave a shuddering breath, and looked down at him. His eternally messy back hair was just as bad as ever, coming up to expose the lightning scar, which was a deathly black. For all Hermione knew, that could be normal, as Voldemort had died. His skin, pale from the cold and his fear as he faced the dark lord, was marred and bleeding. His eyes were closed.
He looked so defenseless there in her arms. He had always acted nobly and done what he'd needed to do, but Hermione could always see through it a bit. And now, she was seeing the real thing. She could see how defenseless her best friend was. And it scared her.
"Don't worry, Harry. It's ok. You're allowed to be hurt, like the rest of us. Don't worry. We can try again, Harry. You won't have to be the hero, We can give this another try."
If you find your family
Don't you cry
In this land of make believe
Dead and dry
Slowly, oh very slowly, the emerald eyes tried to open. Hermione squeezed his hand softly in comfort, and Harry looked up at her, almost confusedly. "Her… Hermione?"
"Shh… it's alright, Harry. I'm here, I promise. Everything will be ok…"
She shifted him a bit so he could sit up comfortably against her. He shuddered violently, and tried to speak again.
"Hermione, I can't see. I can't breathe…" He let out a shuddering breath, and Hermione knew he was truly having trouble. But, he had to be ok… he just had to be.
"Don't worry. We'll take you down to the healers back at base. They'll help you out."
Hermione, even through her own tears and the rain, could see he was close to tears. Her Harry was nearly crying.
Hermione knew the Weasley family would come soon. They were like Harry's family. She knew Mrs. Weasley wouldn't take this well. After her loss of Ginny, Charley, Bill, and Fred, and adding Ron's near-death experience, loosing Harry would be like loosing another of her little boys. Ron would be loosing a best friend, and George would've lost not only his twin to the war but one of his best customers and a friend. Mr. Weasley had died a few months ago because of the cursed war.
But Hermione knew the worst of it would be for her Harry. He'd lost just about all but herself and the Weasleys, and he didn't want to leave them like this. She knew it. The Weasleys coming would surely drive him past tears.
"Don't cry, Harry. Everything will be all right. I know it will." It has to be…
You're so cold
But you feel alive
Lay your hands on me
One last time
Hermione wrapped her arms tighter around him as he shivered. She cursed the rain. It was making Harry even more miserable. Hadn't he had enough by now?
He was so cold, but he was alive. She knew he was. He didn't have the surreal feeling of a soul-less corpse, but the feeling of a tortured spirit wishing to stay and fighting the urge to leave forever. He was alive, and he was with her. For how long, though, was anyone's guess.
Hermione felt the tears mingling with rain still, but completely ignored it. She gave a laughing sob.
"Remember before the battles? And during the first few? We were so happy…"
"I… remember." He struggled to smile, but his eyes looked tired, defeated. Hermione stifled a sob again.
"We'd go out to dinner at Hogsemeade, and then just wander to wherever our hearts desired. Just about the one time we could be like anyone else…"
"And, for one moment… everything was… all right." He took another sharp breath. His voice was no more than the slightest whisper. "It was everything I ever wanted."
"Me too, Harry. Me too. I can still remember every time you put your arms around me… I felt so warm…"
The tears fell, but this time they were stopped. Startled, she looked down to see Harry wipe them away.
"Don't cry, Hermione. Please, don't."
Show me how it ends it's all right
Show me how defenseless you really are
Satisfy an empty inside
That's all right
Let's give this another try
He shuddered suddenly, and his hand dropped. His eyes filled with tears, but he held them back.
"Harry! Please, don't worry, I'll get you back…"
"Hermione, it's no use."
"But, we have to save you—"
"I'm…" His voice was getting quieter and slower by the second. "I'm not going… going to…"
"No, Harry, please. Stop. I'll make sure you're ok. I promise."
He must've known it was a lie. Hermione did.
"Herms…" His eyes started to close, and the fire was burning out of his loving gaze.
"Yes, love?"
"I… love… you…"
Show me how it ends it's all right
Show me how defenseless you really are
Satisfy an empty inside
That's all right
Let's give this another try
The Weasleys arrived to see Hermione in tears. No one needed to ask what happened. Mrs. Weasley broke down, and leaned against George, who had gone pale and almost emotionless. Percy stood away a bit, looking down. Ron was the only boy that let the tears flow.
No one said a word, but everyone understood. Harry was gone. In saving their lives, his own had been claimed.
No one who had ever met Harry could even try be the same afterwards. Life moved on, and brought them with it. Mrs. Weasley died about seven years later, after George was killed when hunting down the remaining Death Eaters. Percy did indeed become Minister of Magic, but kept a picture of the young seventh year in his office to give him strength. Ron was married to Luna, and soon had a family of eight kids going, only one of which was a boy.
Hermione, perhaps, is the one that death had affected the most. They say she still stays in a dark corner of the Leaky Cauldron, tears spilling into her lap, ready to tell the story of the great Harry Potter to anyone willing to listen, making sure that he'll live in the lives of the witches and wizards, never to die.
It's all right…