Chapter One
Hermione Granger glared with depression at the corpse of Ronald Weasley.
"Why did you do it Ron! Why!" she shouted at him.
Harry wasn't strong enough to say anything aloud at the thought of his best friend's death, and now, he could only stand and stare at him. "Ron had given up his own life to save mine," he said quietly, as the rain poured down heavily on the two of them.
The last thing he had known was slipping and dropping his wand, having it slide away in the mud, and Voldemort's sickened snake-like face staring at him in victory, and then Ron. He had thrown himself ontop of Harry just as the words were muttered, Avada Kedavra! and Ron was dead, using his body to deflect the blast, and once again giving Harry the ultimate protection. Voldemort kicked Ron away, his mind clouded by his triumph he fired the killing curse at the exhausted Harry, and it backfired upon Voldemort again, causing the horrible entity to be destroyed, the grotesque body falling limp in his long black robes. The word "Noooooooo!" could be heard shouted out over the graveyard in parceltounge.
The memory was all too vivid in his mind, however, he felt weary, and in pain as the world seemed to spin around him, and he had no idead what was happening, he was just stunned. Hermione was crying over Ron's body, shouting things that she wished she'd have told him long ago. Hermione was filled with rage as well as fear. She didn't want to look at Ron anymore, his face was all too placid. He was smiing, Ronald Weasly had died smiling.
"Harry, why did he-" Hermione could barely speak, she was too choked up with rain water and tears, and threw her face into Harry's chest and just started to cry her eyes out.
Harry was jsut too shocked and dizzy to have any objections, and he put his arm around Hermione. She was right now trying to say something, but between Harry's chest and her studdering he failed to make out exactly what she had said, but right then he really just wanted to comfort her, and, with a loud crack they were both standing outside the burrow. Harry hadn't meant to go here, but he had truely been thinking of all the great times he had at this place with Ron, and must have accidentally apperated, though he hadn't ever really known that it was possible. The first one to come out was Molly Weasley suprised to see Harry and Hermione when they were supposed to be in Hogsmeade.
"Harry, Hermione, what's wrong with you!" she shouted in a hurried voice as she scuttled over to them. The first thing that she noticed was that they were both crying and soaking wet.
"It's Ron," said Harry weakly, "Voldemort...Voldemort killed him!" Harry shouted tensley his depression half turning to rage.
Mrs. Weasley was confused at what they had said, "Wha...what Harry?" she asked as if she didn't understand.
"He's dead.." Harry said with tears streaming down his face.
"Ron is dead, I saw him die Mrs. Weasley," Hermione studdered through her muffled face.
Molly Weasley's face was turned two mush and began to quiver. It was alot to take in only a few seconds, that your youngest son was dead, murdered by the person you hated the most. It was only thinkable that she fell to her knees sobbing, it was indeed her greatest fear that any of her family would be killed by the Avada Kedavra killling curse.
"What happened?" she asked through sobs.
Harry didn't think it was the right place to have this conversation, and they were lucky then that the newly wed Fleur and Bill were visiting that day, because they quickly ran out of the house, wanting to know what was going on. Harry's face was wet and sticky, but his crying had stopped, and all he could muster was to tell the two to go back inside, and that they would be there in a minute. It was difficult, but Harry, with what little bit of strength he had left, was able to help Molly and Hermione into the other room, making sure that they were both situated. Mrs. Weasly was inconsolable, and Hermione was still whimpering. After Harry potrayed the events that had occured that night everyone except he and Bill were crying, and even still the two were doing there best to hold everything in.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, this was all my fault, I should have saved him," Harry said, his fist still gripped unmovingly around his wand. "I...I should be the one dead in the graveyard now, I should have...should have," Harry seemed to be struggling to finish his sentence.
"It...It's fine Harry, I don't bla...bla...blame you," she studdered, bursting into tears all over the couch. The clock that Mrs. Weasley had on the wall had the handle with Ron's name engraved on it switch from "Mortal Peril" to "Deceased" and chimed out a very sad tone.
If at the worst possible time, there was a knock on the door, and Arthur came barging in through the door, "Honey! Wonderful knews "You Know Who" is gone again! Harry got em...oh...Harry, what're you doing here?" he asked, noticing the teary looks on all of their faces. "Oh dear...I think that I've missed something here," he said looking at everyone in the living room.
"Dad," Bill said in a very downed manner, "It's Ron...he's dead," Bill said, severly upset by all of this.
The look on Arthur's face was one of pure shock, and he stared deafly towards Molly. "Oh, Molly, I'm," he walked over and embraced his wife shakily. "I'm so sorry," said the balding fiery haired man, his hat gripped tightly in his hand. His mood was crushed by this very shocking and depressing news. How in the world could Ron be...dead.
Of course, Harry was asked to tell the story once again, and by this time, it was getting late, and everyone was severly on edge. "Hermione," Harry said holding her shoulder "I think that it's about time to be getting back to Hogwarts, we need to have a talk with the headmistress," he said quivering slightly.
Hermione nodded and she stood up with Harry helping her to the door. It really was obvious that she had loved Ron very much, infact Harry had seen them snogging each other shortly after they had left for Hogsmeade. He couldn't believe it when he saw them, but he was happy, that they would get to be together then, unlike himself and Ginny, but there time was cut tragically short by Ron and Voldemort's actions, and a Harry could hadly cope. Ron was dead because of him, it was all his fault, and no doubt that Hermione was thinking the exact same thing. She probably hated Harry now, more than she had ever hated anyone. Of course, this was the exact opposite of what she was thinking, but Harry really did think that it was all his fault.
When the two of them left the burrow, Harry apperated them outside of the Gargoyle infront of the headmistress's office. There was another loud crack and Dobby was looking at the two of them, "Mister Harry Potter and Miss Hermy, Dobby is here to tell Harry Potter he is wanted by the headmistress, Dobby is sorry if he has startled Harry Potter, but has just heard of He Who Must Not be Name's timely demise," Dobby said squeakily.
Harry had noticed that Dobby was wearing an unusally large amount of clones because of the rescent joy he was feeling. Harry of course new better than to get his hopes up, Voldemort survived the last time that he was destroyed like this, and had surely survived this time, and now he knew how to return his body to normal, this fact made Harry's stomach turn.
"Thanks Dobby, we were just about to go and see her, do you know the password?" he asked, trying not get too upset at Dobby's ignorance.
"Oh yes, the password is Ginger Snap," Dobby said as the Gargoyle quickly hopped aside, reavealing the very familiar Spiral stair case that Harry had gone up many times before.
"Thank you Dobby," Hermione said sniffling and wiping her nose with her sleeve.
"Thanky to you too," Dobby said, dissapperating in a very loud crack, causing a very suprised 1st year at the end of the hall to screech in fright.
Harry quickly took notice of this, and hurriedly made his way up the stairs with Hermione, the Gargoyle taking it's place again. Upon arriving at the door the the Headmistress's office, Harry lightly knocked on the large door.
"Enter," came Professor McGonagall, causing Harry to become a bit suprised when he didn't hear Dumbledore's very familiar voice.
Harry inched his way into the room, waiting for the professor to speak, and noticed that portrait of Albus Dumbledore was lacking it's Albus Dumbledore. "Oh, Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger it is good to see you, though I regret that we are forced to meet under such grim circumstances," she said looking down blankly at her desk.
Harry couldn't help but ask, his curiosity too much for his own good. "Professor McGonagall, what happened to Dumbledore?" he asked her, pointing up at his portrait.
"Well, we had another portrait made for him in Grimmauld Place, so that he could back and forth and talk to people in the Order, it was your wish that we continue to opperate out of there correct Harry?" she asked him.
Harry had never once heard Minerva McGonagall ever call him by his first name, but as suprised as he was, he needed to change the subject, compliments of Hermione who had not said anything since since coming to the Headmistress's office. She looked so very sad the way Harry saw it, and as a great suprise to even himself, one of her best friends, he just wanted to hold her. He didn't of course, he thought it would be and incredibly stupid thing to do, but he couldn't help himself from thinking about it. 'What's wrong with me, you don't like Hermione like that, especially after she...we...just lost Ron' he thought, scolding himself.
"Getting to the point," said McGonagall, "Harry, would you be kind enough to show me you're arm?"
Harry was a little startled, which seemed to be happening a little often today, and he lifted the sleeve of his robe up to reveal all of his right arm. He was whole heartedly amazed when he saw on it what looked like and enormous lightning bolt running down the length of it. Hermione had gasped when she saw this, though It was fairly easy for Harry to understand what had happened, he had received another scar from the Avada Kedavra, only this time it was on his arm.
"I assume that you have already discovered what this is?" McGonagall said looking at Harry with a very serious look on her face.
Harry's nodded his head simply and reached his hand up to the scar on his forehead, and it was tingling with a slighty pain. "Professor, I have something I need to ask you, it's about Ron, I was wondering, well..."
Harry was cut off by the sound of Proffessor McGonagall's voice, appearently she had inherited the knack for knowning exactly what Harry was thinking at that moment.
"If we would inform all of the members of his family?" she finished for him.
"Yes professor," Harry said, looking at the floor, a little thrown off by her sudden understanding.
"You may go now Potter," she said simply with a nod, "Though I do need to have a word with miss Granger," she said smiling.
Harry looked a little suprise, but gave Hermione a very kind look and then turned to leave, walking out of the office and shutting the door. He thought that it would only be polite to wait for Hermione down at the bottom of the stairs. As he set his back up against the wall, he let his mind wander, giving him a very spaced out look on his face. 'I really wish I knew what serious would do at a time like this' Harry thought depressed, his gaze now shifting to the floor. "Ma...maybe Hagrid will have some good advice," he said, thinking whether or not to take Hermione along with him.
"What was it that you wanted to see me for?" Hermione asked the Headmistress.
"It's about Potter, he may not look it, but he suffers the great risk of spiraling into depression," she said very seriously.
"How is that headmistress?" she asked, choking back her suprise.
"He blames himself for what happened to Mr. Weasly, I know that you are very upset as well, but Harry is in more danger now from himself than anything else," she said.
"I still don't beleive I understand completely, Harry always seems to end up fine in the end," Hermione muttered.
"That may be true, but over time, things like this can corrode people, make something different out of what once was, many Death Eaters came to be this way,"
Hermione could not believe that she had just heard. Could it be possible that Professor McGonagall was implying that Harry would become a death eater? These thoughts raced through Hermione's sometimes over-calculating mind, and she was trying to understand things completely.
"Ms. Granger, just remember that "You Know Who" isn't gone, and you know how horrible an Occulamens Mr. Potter is, if "You Know Who" wants him to believe something, he can make him believe something..."
"Like make him feel overly-guilty," Hermione said with a surprised gasp, holding her hand over her mouth.
"Yes, if he begins showing symptoms like this I want you to come to me immediately with news of it, you may go" she said.
Hermione nodded her head and turned to leave, repeating her directions over and over in her head to make sure that she remembered. 'I can't believe that Harry could ever degrade himself like that, but I trust Professor's McGonagall's judgement' she thought weakly. As she made her way outside McGonagall's office she noticed a few of the ghosts and students gathered around each other in a big circle. Then she noticed down on the ground what they were all staring at. Suddenly she noticed what was going on when she saw Harry's glasses lying on the other side of the rooom. Breaking her way through the mass of students to find a surprised Ginny and Neville down near Harry she knelt down next to him. 'Please don't...please Harry don't!' Hermione thought furiously as she put her fingers to his wrist and noticed that he still had a pulse. Right then she glowed with a faint smile and looked up to Ginny and Neville. "What Happened?" she asked.
Neville was the first to speak up, "Look," he said, pointing down towards Harry's right arm.
The large lightning bolt shaped scar that was streaking down his arm was glowing a bright green light, and Harry seemed to be having a very bad dream, and as far as Hermione knew...he was.
End Chapter One