Author Announcement - Wow! I can finally say I am author! I mean cough cough Hello and welcome to my first ever fanfic! I have written many stories before but they have never been fanfiction. This is originally set the summer after the Sixth book, so before seventh year. I'm not sure what rating this story is going to end up being, so I am just going to start off by publishing it as T. Also, I know this chapter is mainly based on Harry, but the main storyline won't be. It will probably mostly be about Ron.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters used in the story (damn), but the plotline is entirely my own creation.

Enjoy!

Inner Strength

Prologue

Harry, Ron and Hermione stood shoulder to shoulder on top of the hill, looking oddly impressive, silhouetted against a blood red sunset. It had taken them the entire summer to get to this point, hours of researching, months of training. But now here they were, as ready as they would ever be, waiting for Voldemort to arrive. How fitting that Voldemort had chosen to stage the final battle on the hill behind Godric's Hollow, where for Harry, it had all started.

The last months had been the worst and yet oddly the best few months of his life. It had been hard finding the strength to return to his Privet Drive, and even harder to return to his real home, where he and his parents once lived. It had been near damned impossible discovering where all the remaining horcruxes where, and working out how to destroy them… Although Harry was, in the end, the one to save the world, the one to do the actual destroying, Ron and Hermione had played a key part too. If Hermione hadn't worked out that it was really Sirius's brother, Regulus who had stolen that necklace (as soon as she said it, the golden trio had kicked themselves. It was the locket they had found on a shelf and had tried to force open in there time at Grimmauld Place!) and Ron hadn't turned out to be so incredible at learning and then teaching defensive magic… Harry would have never got this far.

Harry felt rather than saw his two best friends leaving his side and knew that they were ready to carry out the plan. The thought that his friends could be sneaking away, deserting him never even crossed his mind… they had come this far hadn't they? His friends would never, EVER leave him.

There was a sudden movement before him. Harry raised his wand and the light that cascaded from it crossed a dark hooded figure who had just Apparated into Godric's Hollow. Harry felt his grip tighten on him wand. This was it. The show down... the end for one of the two men.

Again, he felt rather than heard Hermione's incantation as she put anti-apparition charms around the entire hill so Voldemort could not receive back up… it was odd that he could sense this, but after working so closely with his two friends for the past few months, he had become in tune with their magical auras. At that very moment, he also knew that Ron was placing shield charms, the most powerful known to wizard kind, around the trio. There was no possible they would stop a killing curse, but a stunning spell was easily deflected.

Harry, fear flooding his body, began to walk towards his destiny. He appeared cool, confident and yet inside he was terrified.

"Good evening, Tom" he said into the deadly silent countryside.

Voldemort, never one for pleasantries, didn't even speak. He simply raised his wand and sent a deadly jet of light straight at Harry's chest. There was a flash of white as Ron reflected the curse, although he managed to remain hidden. Infuriated, Voldemort spun around, firing curses into the bushes, inches away from Ron. Hermione sent a curse directly at Voldemort that lifted him into the air and forced him to turn around, to look straight at Harry.

"I see you do not like to play fair, Potter. I have no support, why should you?" Voldemort spoke for the first time.

Harry, who was now metres away from Voldemort replied at once.

"You see, it's because I have something you will never have."

There was a pause as Voldemort sent the killing curse once again at Harry, which Harry dodged.

"Friends."

Ron and Hermione, who had silently crept up behind Voldemort, both cast there pre-prepared spell at Voldemort – Hermione, an incantation and immediately thick chains surrounded Voldemort, so he could no longer move. Ron's disabled Voldemort's ability to become an animagus.

"Goodbye, Tom." Harry stared directly into the cold red eyes in front of him, and knew this was it. Images of every person who had ever fought beside him, loved him, died for him flashed across his mind. He summoned all his strength and screamed into the night.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The jet of green light hit Voldemort squarely between the eyes. Voldemort rose into the air and sparks flew from the end of his wand, before he rolled over in the air and came back plummeting to the ground. His wand shot out of his hand and flew off across the sky.

As Voldemort's limp body hit the ground, the wand flew in a great arc across the sky. Before anyone had time to react, it struck Ron across the forehead. Like Voldemort had done before him, Ron's body flew metres above the ground, but this time, the aura surrounding Ron was blue, not red.

Just as Hermione and Harry realised what was happening, Ron's body gave an almighty tremble and slowly sank to the ground. He landed face down in the mud, absolutely motionless.

AN/ If anyone has spotted any mistakes in this please say, because I know I have a lot of problems with names and spells. If anyone knows the correct spellings, tell me! Also, if anyone can think of a better summary (I hate writing them), speak up! Or title for that mater.

Well, what did you think? Please R&R