Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, profit from this story and all creative rights to the characters and the Harry Potter universe belong to the lovely Ms. Rowling
Radiant Protection
The war was over. Voldemort had been defeated and all of England was celebrating. All, that is, save one - Harry Potter. Though already a few weeks had passed since the defeat, Harry still couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.
At this particular moment he was sitting on his cot in Ron's room with his chin in his hand, staring out the bedroom window at the clear sky above. Ron and Ginny flew by occasionally on their brooms as they lazily chased each other around the perimeter of the Burrow; Harry had opted out, preferring to take some time to himself to think and reflect on the events that had transpired.
Mrs. Weasley busied herself in the kitchen, beginning the preparations for that evening's dinner, but the rest of the house remained vacant, all of its usual occupants either at work or living elsewhere. For this reason, Harry did not expect his thoughts to be disturbed.
During one particularly contemplative moment, Harry happened to glance out over the trees of the forest on the edge of the property and, in doing so, thought he saw a glint of light flash briefly directly above the tree line. When it didn't happen again immediately, the teen assumed he had imagined it and returned to his musings.
Turning away from the window after a moment to head downstairs to the bathroom, he missed the next flash of light, this one much brighter than the first. As he walked down the stairs, Harry was finally shaken out of his own thoughts by a high-pitched scream originating from the Burrow's kitchen.
Mrs. Weasley. Panicking, Harry sprinted down the remaining stairs, nearly tripping over his feet as he did so. He rushed into the kitchen to find the front door wide open and Mrs. Weasley running across the field, headed straight toward another redhead and a mass of spellfire. Harry's mind whirled as he tried to process what was happening. Still frozen in the kitchen, he had only wondered briefly about the location of the third redhead when he heard another high-pitched scream come from the other side of the Burrow.
Ginny. Glancing back towards Mrs. Weasley and Ron, Harry made a split-second decision and ran down the hall and out the back door, in the direction of the scream. He emerged on the other side of the house and found himself staring at his (ex-)girlfriend struggling in the clutches of black-robed figure. Her wand lay useless on the ground in front of her feet while the Death Eater had his wand jabbed painfully against her throat.
"Nice of you to join me, Potter. The rest of your welcoming party should be here shortly."
"Dolohov." Harry acknowledged, recognizing the voice at once. "Pity Hermione didn't kill you when she had the chance."
Dolohov smiled slowly, displaying rows of rotting, yellow teeth. "Oh, are you referring to your Mudblood friend?" Tossing the pieces of a wand on the ground, he laughed. "She was particularly…ravishing. I wonder how this little spitfire here will compare." Black ropes snaked their way out of his wand and wrapped themselves around Ginny, leaving Dolohov free to caress her face and neck with his hand while she tried in vain to flinch away.
Despite being in pieces, Harry easily recognized the vine wrappings of the wand lying on the ground. Shocked and enraged by what Dolohov was implying, it paled in comparison to the fury he felt when the Death Eater began to touch Ginny. "Let. Her. Go." He growled out.
"Gladly." Dolohov responded, Stunning the redhead and removing his arm, gravity dragging her unceremoniously to the ground. Harry winced when he saw her head bounce on the ground, but a flash of movement alerted him to the spell now headed his way.
"Protego. You cheated."
Dolohov smirked. "Death Eater. I was merely taking advantage of the situation. Now, I will defeat you and force you to watch me enjoy my new toy before I kill you both." He deftly deflected a red spell aimed for his head. "Now who's cheating? Did I strike a nerve? You can do better than that." Smirking as he threw up another shield, blocking two more red spells and one deep blue one, he continued to mock Harry. "Pathetic, Potter. It's painfully obvious you only beat the Dark Lord through dumb luck. And now, it would seem your luck's run dry." The Death Eater grinned again before launching curses in quick succession towards Harry, who was forced to dodge most of them as there were too many to successfully block them all.
Harry glared back at him once there was a respite. "You're arrogance will be your downfall just as it was Tom's." Dolohov hissed at the use of Voldemort's true name but his reply was cut short by a volley of spells from Harry's wand. His eyes widened as the force from the spells caused his shield to glow and miniscule cracks to appear across its surface. Dropping his shield and all pretenses, spells began flying out of his wand at a blinding speed, dark purples and sickly yellows mixed with burnt oranges and bright reds.
The duel was in a deadlock as both opponents dodged, blocked, and fired a plethora of spells at an ever-increasing rate in an attempt to discover a weakness or force a mistake. Sweat gathered on their brows and the air was charged with energy from the enormous display of magic.
Unobserved by Dolohov, Harry's spellwork had favored the Death Eater's right side, forcing him to move farther away from Ginny's prone form on the ground as the battle continued. After maneuvering him far enough away that Ginny was barely visible in his peripheral vision, Harry dropped any pretext of defense and quit shielding, focusing solely on offensive spells. Dolohov's eyes narrowed when he noticed this, but the flurry of spells forced him to put more energy into his shields to keep them from shattering.
So focused on the red glow beginning to infuse his shield and the expanding cracks in it, the Death Eater didn't hear the three shouts of Reducto and ignored the three spells which appeared to be off target anyway. The spells missed Dolohov but impacted the ground around him, sending him flying along with dirt and shrapnel.
"Avada Kedavra."
Harry easily sidestepped the misaimed green jet as it zoomed out of the cloud of dust. Watching two more fly past him, Harry taunted the fallen Death Eater. "Not so interested in playing games now, are you? Threatening Ginny was your final mistake, Dolohov."
The dust cleared to reveal the Boy-Who-Lived towering over a sneering Dolohov, still sprawled on his back after hitting the ground. Red spells rained down on him from Harry's wand and the shield he held over his body was becoming noticeably weaker, though it resisted fracturing.
The spellfire ceased suddenly, and Dolohov glanced up with a smirk on his face. His smug look was quickly replaced with fear upon seeing the glowing white ball of energy gathering at the tip of Harry's wand and the look of utter hatred in Harry's green eyes. A growl of pure animalistic rage escaped Harry's lips as he released the white spell. The air behind the ball ignited as it flew towards Dolohov, vaporizing his shield like a knife through butter before it slammed into his body. The blinding light dispersed from the ball and flowed over the Death Eater, swiftly enveloping him. Dolohov's body flickered once, then twice, before vanishing completely, leaving a hazy afterimage hanging in the air for a few seconds.
Harry groaned and collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees, closing his eyes as he caught his breath after expending so much energy. He slowly worked his way back to a standing position as his breathing and heart rate began to calm. "Ginny." His frantic whisper triggered another burst of adrenaline, and he raced back over to where Ginny's body still lay, unmoving.
"Rennervate." Ginny's eyes flew open as Harry cut away the dark ropes binding her and picked up her wand. She looked around wildly for a moment until her eyes fixated on Harry, and she scrambled to her feet before flinging herself at him and wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Harry." She sobbed into his shoulder while he stood holding her to him, a desperate attempt to find comfort.
Ginny lifted her head to gaze into Harry's green eyes, searching them with her own as if expecting them to give her answers. She then leaned forward and kissed him deeply, pouring her relief and love into the kiss. Pulling back gently, she stepped away and accepted her wand from Harry, glancing at him again with worry etched onto her face. "Harry, where's Mum and Ron?" At her question Harry's eyes widened briefly and he took around the side of the house to where he last saw the other redheads, but not before commanding Ginny to go inside the house and try to contact the Order via Floo.
Harry arrived in the midst of a much larger battle than the one he had just participated in. The ground was pockmarked by spells which had missed their target and the air was hazy with magic, colors still flying amongst those standing. Two bodies of the so-called welcoming party were lying on the ground, both mangled, but eight other Death Eaters continued to fling spells and the redheads appeared to be tiring, both covered in grime and numerous spell burns.
At the sound of footsteps Mrs. Weasley turned and fired off a spell before realizing it was Harry. "Oh, Harry dear, are you alright?" Harry blocked a spell aimed at the Weasley matriarch's back. "Where's Ginny?" The exhausted and slightly crazed look in her eyes worried Harry, but he didn't have time to ponder it as he blocked another spell headed their way. "Ginny!" At Mrs. Weasley's frantic exclamation Harry turned in the direction that she was looking to see Ginny running towards them from the house. Ginny's determined expression shifted to one of horror and Harry turned back just soon enough to catch a glimpse of a green light impacting Mrs. Weasley's side. She fell forward onto the field, her anguish and relief at seeing her daughter forever frozen on her face. Ginny's expression was once again determined as she ran up next to Harry and they joined in the fray, both intent on avenging the most recent death.
"Nice of you to join us, mate." Ron was so focused on fending off the Death Eaters that he had yet to notice the still body on the ground behind him. Harry only grunted in response, and the battle was taken up in earnest. Harry and Ginny were each facing off against three Death Eaters while Ron had the remaining two. In his exhausted state Ron was having difficulty continuing to block the many spells coming his direction and he was slowly being forced backwards.
A jab from Ginny's wand was followed by a triumphant whoop as one of her opponents fell back, bats formed from mucus crawling out of his nose and attacking his face. At the same time Ron's shield took a hit from a particularly forceful spell and he stumbled backwards, tripping over the body of Mrs. Weasley as his wand slipped from his grip. "Ron, no!" Ginny's cry startled him and he looked up from reaching to grab his fallen wand right before the green light hit him. Ginny turned back to the Death Eaters, who were now slowly encircling them, with renewed ferocity, while the only indication that Harry had noticed anything was a sudden increase in the number of lethal spells flying from his wand.
Two of the Death Eaters broke off and moved toward the house while the one hit by Ginny's Bat-Bogey Hex rejoined those around the couple. "Ginny, I'm going to clear a path and you have to run, ok?" Harry's voice was strained with the effort of the prolonged battle. "No, Harry, I know you can feel the anti-Apparition wards. The Floo's cut off. The only way we'll both survive is if we stick together." Standing back-to-back in the middle of the circle of Death Eaters, Ginny could feel Harry nod against the back of her head. The close proximity of the evil wizards dissuaded Harry from using the Reducto spell again as he had against Dolohov. Finally, one of his curses slipped past a Death Eater shield, slicing open the side of the man, blood spewing out of the wound as he fell to the ground.
A whooshing sound from the direction of the house distracted the combatants and they all turned to see the Burrow erupt in flames, the fire quickly consuming the wooden structure. Harry was the first to recover, catching two more Death Eaters off guard while they watched the house begin to turn to ash and their comrades rushing to rejoin them. A purple curse hit one, slowly melting his skin and bones until he was a puddle of flesh on the ground. The other exploded in a shower of blood and gore when a dark blue curse connected with his chest. However, with the return of the other Death Eaters the odds were still five on two and both Harry and Ginny were nearing exhaustion.
Enraptured for a moment too long by the sight of her childhood home disintegrating before her eyes, an oddly spiraling pink curse caught Ginny in the shoulder, sending her spinning through the air. Her body slammed into the ground, multiple bones breaking with audible cracks. Rushing over to where she was laying, Harry kneeled down beside her, seemingly oblivious to the remaining Death Eaters leering at the two, wands still poised.
Harry stared down into Ginny's chocolate brown eyes as he ran his thumb across her cheekbone, wishing he could sooth her pain. Her eyelids fluttered but she looked back up at him, gaze unfaltering. "Harry…I'm sorry…" She trailed off, her face contorted by a grimace, the pain threatening to overwhelm her.
"Look out!" Her alarmed cry alerted Harry to the spells barreling straight for his back, but with a flick of his wrist he threw up a shimmering shield, reflecting the spells back at the Death Eaters and forcing them to dive out of the way. When Harry turned back to her she gasped; the green of his irises had eclipsed the white of his eyes and they were beginning to glow.
More curses were fired their way once the Death Eaters had recovered from Harry's counterattack. "I will always protect you, Ginny. I love you." Harry's growled words were emphasized by a glimmering white dome springing into existence, enclosing the two teenagers. The spells which had been headed toward the two instead impacted the shield, but rather than ricocheting off they were absorbed, causing the dome to glow brighter.
Ginny's breath caught at the intensity displayed in Harry's eyes as he bent his head to place a gentle kiss on her lips. Her breathing was shallow and coming in short gasps punctuated by raspy gurgling in her throat and chest."I love you too. Always have." Her whispered words ended in a weak smile before blood slowly pooled in her mouth, preventing further speech.
Tears ran freely down Harry's face as he watched her struggle to remain alive. "Don't give up. I need you." His words were choked with sobs as he knelt on the ground next to her, feeling helpless. She turned her head to the side, spitting out blood in the process, and looked up at him again. "I'll be waiting." Harry barely caught the murmur, as quiet as it was.
Reaching up to brush her red locks off her face, he let his lips brush hers for one last time. "You won't have to wait long, love." His words were just as quiet as hers had been, and as he moved back to kneel beside her he closed his eyes, his body wracked by his silent tears. The white dome that had surrounded the couple began to shrink, and the Death Eaters waited for the chance to finally strike him down.
The opportunity came once the dome touched Harry's skin and faded into him, but the five deathly green flashes were too late. Harry's body started glowing, white light shining from his pores as he continued to kneel on the ground. The green spells vaporized when they came in contact with the light. Upon seeing this, a few of the Death Eaters attempted to Apparate away, but they were blocked by their own Anti-Disapparition Jinx. Trapped, they threw spell after spell at Harry until the light grew so bright that they could no longer see him.
Abruptly the light vanished, only to burst outward again from Harry's body as wave after wave of pure energy poured out of him. The white energy washed over the Death Eaters and they stared at each other in horror as their figures became increasingly indistinct and transparent, until nothing at all remained of them. The air heated up with each wave that passed through it and it began to randomly combust, setting grass and trees on fire. After what seemed like ages the waves stopped emerging and Harry collapsed next to Ginny, finally at peace as his skin and clothes slowly burned away along with the rest of the landscape.
Hours later when Aurors arrived on the scene, after Arthur reported being unable to Floo to the Burrow on his way home from the Ministry of Magic, they were shocked by what they found. Nothing remained of the house or the surrounding terrain. The ravaging magical fire had grown so hot that it scorched the very earth and everything living had been incinerated, leaving behind barren fields of burnt ground. The only exception was a small patch where a few sprigs of grass remained, along with a single body. Even in death, the Aurors agreed, Ginny Weasley looked radiant.