Disclaimer: Wii!
A/N: Sorry I haven't been able to write much lately. School has been rather stressful, but anyway I managed to write this. Yeah, don't ask where I came up with it. It was supposed to be a Harry/Draco, but then things started to go their own way and I got a Ron/Hermione, funny how that sort of thing happens.
The Rain Comes on Tuesday
Bob, a normal American muggle, squinted his eyes at the small luminous numbers at the bottom of his computer screen and yawned. The numbers 2:30 AM shined back up at him. He clicked a few times and soon the mechanic noises of a computer shutting down could be heard from the speakers that rested on the shelf above him. Bob spun his chair around and found himself staring into the cold emerald eyes of a black-haired boy who was holding a long stick that pointed directly at the muggle's heart.
Bob called out in surprise, "Who are you? How the hell did you get in here?"
The teen responded with just two words, "Avada Kedavra!"
Hundreds of miles away Ron Weasley looked up from a copy of the Daily Prophet, his face ashen, "He's struck again." The red haired wizard whispered those in the small room around him.
The pale faces of Molly Weasley, Hermione, Ginny and Remus Lupin stared back. No one needed to ask who "he" was. Ever since Harry had joined the Death Eaters towards the end his seventh year no one had called him by his actual name. Now, almost a year later, he was feared almost as much as Voldemort himself.
"Who was it this time?" Molly inquired quietly.
"Some American muggle, doesn't say his name." Ron answered.
Hermione wiped her eyes, "Who would have thought? Him, of all people, killing muggles!"
"And all because of that bloody Malfoy!" Ginny practically shouted, her eyes shining furiously.
Everyone shook their heads, depressed. Draco Malfoy was the reason Harry had left the light. He claimed to have fallen in love with the blonde haired wizard and, whether this was the case or just a well placed Imperious, their savior had left them, left them for the very organization that had murdered his parents.
Remus was the first to break the shroud of gloom that had settled over the room, "Well, no use sitting around moping. There's a meeting tonight, maybe we'll get one step closer to defeating them, eh?" No one seemed very optimistic about this statement, the war had been going steadily downhill for the light ever since Harry had left them.
Never the less Molly began bustling around the minute kitchen, preparing a meal. The Order's headquarters was no longer located at Grimmauld Place since the hideout had been discovered by Voldemort, no doubt due to Harry. It was a horrible shock to all when one night over the summer Death Eaters attacked the house. They thought that all had managed to escape unscathed and it wasn't until later that it was found that Charlie Weasley had been captured and tortured to death when he had refused to give his captors information.
Since that night the Order members had taken extra precautions. They now had multiple small headquarters located all over the world, each manned by a group of wizards. The one currently occupied by Ron, Hermione, Molly, Ginny and Remus was a minute place located underground somewhere in Scotland. It consisted of three sparsely furnished rooms: a bedroom, a bathroom and a kitchen/living room. All of the headquarters were required to have fireplaces to make floo travel possible in case of emergency. Travel by apperation was impossible due to the anti-apperation wards in place. All in all, the place reminded the inhabitants of a bomb shelter.
Later that evening the Order members began to arrive. Snape came first, closely followed by Neville and the remaining Weasleys. They all sat around the small wooden table and ate in a gloomy silenced, each person engulfed in their dark thoughts. After dinner the plates were cleared away and the meeting began.
Snape spoke first, "As you all know, the number of causalities this month are twice as many as last month." The potion master was pale, almost gray in color, and had large dark circles around his eyes giving him the appearance of a vampire. His voice was still powerful and arrogant, but streaks of worry and exhaustion could be heard through it.
"And most of them due to him." Said George sadly
"Him? For God's sake, his name is Harry! Why can't we call him by that?"" Snape yelled out in frustration. Everyone seated around the table flinched, but more from the feeling of misery evoked by betrayal rather than the flinch of fear brought on by Voldemort's name. "Pathetic." Snape muttered before continueing, "Fortunately we have received some very useful information. Apparently the Tuesday evening Voldemort and Harry will be leading a small raid on a muggle house not far from here. The muggles seem to be in possession of a dark magical artifact that the Death Eaters desire. Our plan is to use the element of surprise and ambush them there. The muggles have already been warned and will arrive here Tuesday morning. Neville and Molly will remain here to keep watch over the muggles, the rest of us will participate in the ambush. We will hold another meeting here Tuesday afternoon to go over the final plans, understood?"
All around the dimly lit room grim faces nodded in determination. Shortly after the meeting ended and everyone left, leaving the original five alone in the room. Lupin rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. He was getting them quite frequently now that the full moon was approaching, "I think I'll head for bed." He headed into the other room and, ten minutes later, was followed by Molly.
The three teenagers sat in silence around the nearly dark room, watching the remains of the candles drip down into small pools of wax. It was September and, under normal circumstances, Ginny would be at Hogwarts, but due to the war the school had been closed at least for the present. Ginny finally spoke, "Depressing, isn't it?" Ron and Hermione nodded in agreement. "I mean, the day after tomorrow we'll be expected to kill our former best friend. Who would have guessed it would come to this?"
"No one could have ever predicted it." Hermione sighed, her voice shaking.
"Not even Trelawney." Said Ron and the other two laughed, grateful for any joke however lame. "But, you're right, I can't believe it. I never even imagined being told to kill him."
"Snape's right," spoke Hermione suddenly, "We can't just go around calling him him. We might as well call him H-Harry. I mean, if we can get used to naming Voldemort, we can at least call Harry, Harry."
"You're right." said Ginny.
"Yeah." Agreed Ron.
Once again they all lapsed into silence. The clock on the wall chimed once, but no one really cared. Suddenly Ginny sat up, grinning wickedly. "You know we might not all live through the battle."
Hermione nodded seriously and asked, "Um…Ginny, why are you smiling about that?"
"Oh it's not the prospect of almost certain death I'm smiling at, Hermione. I'm just thinking, Ron, this is your opportune moment."
Ron looked at her for a moment, confused, before realization dawned on him. He turned a truly spectacular shade of red that caused his eyebrows to clash with his face, a rather interesting sight, "Shut up, Gin! Um…would you look at the time, think I'll turn in, goodnight all!" And with that he leapt out of his chair, knocking it over, and bounded across the room before the chair hit the ground. Loud false snores immediately began to sound from the next room over.
Hermione and Ginny giggled. "You know, I'm thinking that if he doesn't ask me out soon, I'll have to do it myself." Hermione said thoughtfully, "I mean, isn't it obvious that I like him?"
Ginny shrugged, "Guys are oblivious."
Monday passed uncomfortably. A tense air hung around the room, it was sort of anticipation mixed with dread. They all knew that the upcoming ambush could mean the end of the war but, on the other hand, it could mean the death of them all. Nobody ate much and Ron seemed to avoid Hermione all day. Not seeing any reason to stay awake, they all went to bed early.
They were all roused dark and early Tuesday morning by an incredibly stressed Molly Weasley, "Hurry up! The muggles will be here any moment!" Everyone opened their eyes and yawned. Lupin was first out of one of the two beds in the room. Next, Hermione got out of her sleeping bag, followed by Ginny and Ron who had to practically be dumped out of his.
They breakfasted on toast, bacon and coffee. Halfway through breakfast Snape arrived accompanied by the muggles, Jim and Mary. After a quick introduction Snape left, leaving the two parties to stare awkwardly at each other.
"So, do you like being muggles?" Ron made a pathetic stab at conversation.
Jim and Mary stared, wide-eyed and silent.
"He means being non-magical." Molly clarified.
Jim and Mary stared, wide-eyed and silent.
"Um…why don't you have some breakfast." Molly offered.
Jim and Mary sat down, but didn't touch any of the food.
"It isn't poisoned you know." Remus said tiredly.
Mary extended a trembling hand and took a piece of toast and bit into it. She gave a small forced smile, chewed and swallowed.
Over the course of the meal it became clear that Jim and Mary hadn't been given much information. It seemed that all they knew was that some bad people were going to attack their house and the good people were going to try and stop them. Oh, and they all had special powers and, no, the policemen couldn't help. Ron attempted to fill them in on the trivial details like the fact that there was a wizarding world and that it was in the middle of a war, but to no avail. Jim and Mary simply stared, wide-eyed and silent. Eventually Ron gave up.
All too soon noon arrived and along with it Snape, Arthur, Bill, Fred, George and Neville. Snape laid out the plans. They were relatively simple. The lights would be out in the house and the Order members would be hidden. Once the Death Eaters arrived the light wizards would attempt to pick off as many as they could without being discovered. After that, their only goal was to kill Voldemort and Harry.
They sat around idly for a few hours, preparing themselves for the task ahead. Around six Snape announced that it was finally time to go. The Weasleys, Hermione, Lupin and Snape all bid goodbye to Molly and, one by one headed up the stairs that led to the door to the outside. Molly had run out of the room, tears running down her face and Neville, Jim and Mary had followed her. Finally, Hermione and Ron were the only two left. Ron swallowed in a rather determined sort of manner and tuned to Hermione, "Um…I was just wondering, if we make it out of this alive, would you like to go out with me?"
Hermione gave him a look that clearly said "finally" and responded, "Ron, I'll go out with you even if we don't make it out of this alive."
Five minutes later Ron and Hermione stepped out into the dusky evening. Ron was surprised to see that it was drizzling. Hermione shot Ginny a quick smile which was returned instantly.
"Finally!" Snape exclaimed impatiently, where were you?"
Ron colored and Hermione giggled, "Um…we were nowhere." Ron responded lamely.
Snape rolled his eyes, "We haven't got much time, let's go. Hurry!"
They set out through the semi-darkness, getting soaked to the skin within seconds. The twins were the only two that weren't possessed by the somber mood that had taken over the group. They bounced around, trying to make light of the situation, but were soon quieted by the strict glances from Mr. Weasley and Snape.
All too soon they found themselves standing in front of a lonely house on the outskirts of a small village. Snape quickly unlocked the door and held it open, drying off each of them as they walked through so they would not drip on the carpet and arouse suspicion. Finally Snape entered and locked the door. It was completely dark now and the party stumbled around the living room, looking for places to hide.
They only had to wait a few minutes before the unmistakable sounds of human voices reached their ears from outside the door. Hermione felt her heart speed up; it was almost time. They made short work of the door, blasting it down with a burst of flame. Noisily six Death Eaters entered the house followed by Voldemort and, finally, Harry.
"They're not home, Lord." Announced one Death Eater that sounded like Draco.
"Pity, I enjoy watching them die." Responded Voldemort with a hiss, "But death is not what we're here for. Find the amulet!"
They proceeded into the house. The Order members silently counted to five before leaping out and casting their spells. One Death Eater hit the ground with a thump, dead. The noise alerted the others who whirled around. A shadow seemed to come across Harry's features as he saw his former friends, but a second later it was gone as if it had never been. His face was once again mask of cold indifference. A smile spread across Voldemort's mouth and almost instinctively he cast a wordless spell. Bill fell to the ground, blood trickling out of his mouth. Everyone stood stock still for a moment, then all hell broke loose. The two sides clashed in an explosion of light and noise. Ron found himself shouting the first spell that came to mind, "Incendio!"
The robes of the Death Eater in front of him burst into a brilliant display of flames, but were quickly put out by water from the victim's wand. Ron fought like he had never fought before. All around him his friends and enemies were fighting for their lives with equal determination. Ron let his guard drop for a second and a spell glanced off his head, right above his eyebrow, causing a nasty gash to appear. Blood dripped into his eye, but he paid it no heed for, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harry and Draco running towards the back yard, Hermione in close pursuit.
He abandoned the duel he was currently engaged in and followed the three figures. He ran into the yard and saw three robed figures outlined by a sudden flash of lightning. The drizzle had turned into a downpour and now raindrops were pounding down, instantly soaking Ron to the flesh. He sprinted over to where Hermione stood, facing Draco and Harry. The four teens stood there for a moment, staring at each other, their faces illuminated by a bolt of pure white lightning. A feeling passed between them, an unearthly connection, but a second later it was gone and once again they were two versus two, mortal enemies.
Draco raised his wand and a bolt of red light shot towards Hermione. Instantly she blocked him. It was if Ron and Harry were paralyzed, all they could do was watch as the one they loved engaged in deadly combat with the other. Spells were exchanged at record-breaking speeds, all in dead silence. Finally, a resigned look crossed Hermione's face and, with a shout, a bolt of sickly green light shot from her wand, hitting Draco directly in the chest. As if in slow motion he flew backward, pale face contorted in shock. He hit the ground slowly, his neck bending at a strange angle, water dripping from his platinum hair into his lifeless face.
Harry let out a strangled cry, pain shining from his bright green eyes. He raised his wand and brought it down violently, a ball of white light hit Hermione square on and she too flew back, landing on the ground several feet away, motionless. Ron's eyes had followed her flight, but now they darted back to Harry. Their eyes met and in that glance one hundred emotions were passed. Together they brought their wands up, each pointing at the other's heart. Ron's heart beat furiously, this was the moment that it had all come down to. After everything they had been through together, this is how it would have to end. Rain pounded down on the two on that cold Tuesday night as once more a bolt of lightning lit up the sky. Harry then hesitated and in that moment Ron mouthed "I'm sorry." Before screaming out the killing curse, "Avada Kedavra!" Harry fell to the ground, dead.
Tears streamed down Ron's face, warm water that mixed with the cold that came pouring down from above. He ran over to where Hermione's limp body was sprawled across the ground. He kneeled down next to her, holding her head in his lap. The front of her robes were soaked in blood and she was barely breathing. "Come on, Hermione, wake up!" Ron sobbed.
Her eyes opened slightly, "Ron…"
Ron's breath caught in his throat, "Hermione…"
"Ron, I love you." With one last shuddering breath, her eyes closed, Ron let out an unearthly wail, as tears racked his body.
Remus dashed out into the storm, his hair slicked down with sweat and rain, "Ron! We killed Voldemort. I saw Harry's body, we've won!"
Ron didn't respond, he just sat there shivering as his heart broke in two.