The final battle for Hogwarts was furious, fierce and brutal. The lawns and grounds were littered with the bodies of students, teachers, aurors, and death eaters alike. The death eaters had attacked at daybreak, throwing unforgivable at anything that moved. Dumbledore had assembled all of the students in the Great Hall and asked for volunteers the defend the place that they had called home since they were eleven. Of course, amongst the volunteers were all of the Gryffindors from the fifth year up and almost all of the Ravenclaws as well. A fair number of the Hufflepuffs joined the fight and the most surprising additions to the defense of Hogwarts were Blaise Zambini and Draco Malfoy. Apparently, the tow young men everyone had expected to follow in their parents footsteps, were tired of doing what everyone expected of them and wanted to blaze their own trail.
The ragtag bunch of fifteen to seventeen year old students, being forced to grow up much too fast, said goodbye to their younger brothers and sisters, parents, friends and lovers. They said goodbye to the lives they would, or would not, return to knowing that they would be irrevocably changed. They gathered their things, the things that they thought would save them form harm, the harm that there was no way they could avoid. After they finished their goodbyes and preparations for war, they were thrust into the battle they were hardly ready for.
And they dropped like flies. These children required to become adults because the occasion demanded it, were killed with blinding flashes of green light by the parents of the students that they had studied with for seven years. These young people were forced to harden their hearts and send these blinding flashes of light back at the masked phantoms. As the students transformed to adults, the tide of the battle began to turn and with the added force of aurors who arrived quite a bit later, it was clear that the future of the battle was turning in favor of the light side. The old stories were true, good did always triumph over evil.
Of course the losses had been great and included the great Dumbledore, leaving Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, to vanquish Lord Voldemort all alone. Leaving Harry Potter to save the world all on his own. And, he did. No one really saw, properly, the final confrontation between the boy and the monster except for the last spell that ended in a brilliant, blinding white light and then the both of them falling to the ground. For a few brief moments, the battle ceased and the entire wizarding world healed it's breath. And then, as a light rain began to fall, one of the figures force from the spot where they both fell. The figure rose and ran a shaky hand through his messy black hair.
After the death of their master, the death eaters fighting became even fiercer. After all, their options were, got to Azkaban or die in battle, the option of living forever soulless or dying fighting for what they believed in. By this time, the aurors had called in enough back up to allo9w the remaining students to escape from the fight. Despite the death eaters valiant efforts of resistance, the large force of aurors managed the round up the evil force very quickly. Bellatrix Lestrange fought them tooth and nail and actually ended up killing herself rather than go back to Azkaban. They found Lucius Malfoy crumpled on the ground, dead with Draco standing over him trembling and crying. The impact of killing his own father had driven him irreversibly mad. The trembling Peter Pettigrew was recovered whimpering over the boy of his master, forever clearing the name of the illustrious Sirius Black.
As Harry rose from the ashes of the battle with Voldemort he was attacked by a relatively unscathed Hermione. He smiled as he hugged his best friend knowing she had survived the awful tragedy they had just experienced. He let her go and put his hands on her shoulders, "Where's Ron?"
Hermione gently too Harry's hand and lead him over to the edges of the Forbidden Forest. There, leaning up against a tree was a young red headed man with his eyes closed. As they got nearer, Hermione let go of Harry's hand and ran to the motionless Ron. She reached him and caressed his cheek with her hand. His blue eyes fluttered open, a faint smile crossed his lips, and he raised his hand to her's. She smiled at him and they tenderly shared a soft kiss. After they shared their loving greeting they both remembered Harry and how he was simply standing there grinning from ear to ear.
"How's it going mate," Ron asked Harry in a raspy voice that vaguely resembled his normal one.
"Alright, alright. And how about you," Harry asked unable to stop a tear from running down his cheek.
"Well apart from having two broken legs, and more than a couple bruises, I'm great," he laughed which turned into a raspy cough. Hermione, obviously alarmed, quickly sat down beside him and pulled him into a gentle embrace.
"Bloody hell, you need medical attention now," Harry said with a voice full of concern, "I'm going to get help."
"No, I'm fine. Really. I just need to sit for awhile," Ron said.
"Oh, shut up, you great prat," Hermione said with a hint of anger in her voice, "I'll go with you Harry."
"No Hermione, you stay with him, I can handle it by myself,"
Harry began to walk away but turned to look back at his best friends Hermione was rearranging Ron to lay his head in her lap. He was so relieved that the both of them had survived not just for himself but for each other. The two of them belonged together. If one of them had died, the other would not have lasted much longer as the empty shell they would have become. He wiped another stray tear from his cheek and re-embarked on his previous mission.
As Harry made his way slowly towards the castle, the gathering dark clouds opened up and it began to rain. It was as if the heavens had witnessed the carnage and catastrophe below and wanted to wash away the residual evil. With every step, the castle loomed closer and closer and the ground became more and more covered with corpses. He came upon Padma Patil sobbing over the body of Pavarti. He walked past the bodies of Colin and Dennis Creevey, their hands clasped and Colin's thrown over his younger brother's in an obvious attempt to protect his baby brother.
He had almost reached the castle when he heard a faint voice calling his name. He looked around and eventually saw a flash of long, red hair being coated with mud. He scurried over to it and saw the body it was connected to. He saw the brown eyes that usually sparkled with life and laughter how dulled with impending death. He saw the face of Ginny Weasley. He breathed out a sharp gasp and hurried to her side. He wrapped his arms around her and scooped her into his lap. He desperately tried to wipe the mud and tears from her face in an effort to keep himself from crying.
"Ginny. Ginny, what happened to you," he managed to croak out.
"Oh Harry, it doesn't matter anymore. Nothing matters except for you being here with me," Ginny whispered as she weakly brushed his hair from his eyes.
"I have to get you out of the rain. I have to get you a doctor."
"Harry, there's nothing a doctor can do for me now. Just stay with me and keep me warm," Ginny managed a faint smile as her whole body shuddered with the growing cold.
Don't you fret my darling Harry
I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You're here, that's all I need to know
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
And rain will make the flowers grow
Harry looked down at the pale child in his arm. She couldn't be dying, there was so much more she had to live for. She had to graduate from school, she had to find the perfect job, she had to get married and have bunches of screaming kids. She couldn't die, she had so much living to do yet. Harry stared into her rich, brown eyes hardly able to stop the tears from pouring out of his own. He wouldn't accept that, she couldn't be dying, they needed her. Where were they going to be without her laugh, or twinkling eyes, or her soft smile. They needed her.
"Ginny, don't die. You can't leave, we need you. Please, just hold on a little longer, someone will be able to help," Harry choked out through his sobs, "You're going to live, I'll find someone to save you."
But you will live sweet Ginny-dear God above
If I could heal your wounds with words of love
She raised her hand again and wiped the tears from his face, "No Harry, stop, please. Just let me go. I don't want to fight it. Don't make it harder for me. So please, no more tears, just hold me tight and talk to me. All that matters right now is that you're here with me now. Now you're here…," she trailed off as another shiver wracked her body.
Just hold me now and let it be
Shelter me, comfort me
Harry clasped the frail little body tight to his chest and rocked back and forth. She was dying and there was nothing he could do to help her. No spell could save her, no potion could rescue her. Harry wracked his brain for something, anything he could do to save the fading red head in his arms.
"If there was something I could say to save you. God if there was anything I could do, I would. Ginny this isn't fair. This isn't fair to you, this isn't fair to your family and it isn't fair to me. I don't want you to leave yet," Harry's mood was turning from sadness to desperation, "Damn it! I want to get you out of this rain."
You would live a hundred years
If I could show you how
I won't desert you now…
"Harry," Ginny's voice was beginning to fade, "Let go, please let me go. I don't want to spend my last minutes here like this. Please forget it and just talk to me like it's any old day. Harry, there's nothing that can hurt me now. The rain is good, it's going to wash away all of the bad that has accumulated here. It is what we need right now, it will give the new world that you have made possible the fresh start that it needs."
This last plea finally broke through the stubborn dam. Harry looked down into the beautiful face of Ginny Weasley and a soft smile spread across her lips. The bow of her lips curved into a smile that broke into Harry's heart and he couldn't help but smile down at her. He softly brushed a stray lock from her forehead and realized how lovely she really was. He saw that last twinkle in her rich eyes, the soft sprinkle of freckles over her nose, he saw the gentle blush that was gracing her cheeks for the last time. He saw all of these things and realized how much he was going to miss them. He was going to miss her laugh, he was going to miss her spirit, he was going to miss her presence, he was going to miss her love…he was going to miss loving her.
Ginny watched Harry this whole time . She watched this change wash over his face and she watched a look come across it that she never thought but always hoped would appear. Upon seeing it, she breathed a contented sigh and realized that she had finally arrived at the place she had always belonged.
The rain can't hurt me now
This rain will wash away what's past
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
I'll sleep in your embrace at last
"Harry," Ginny began but was stopped by a shuddering cough, "Harry, please tell my family how much I love them and please don't forget me. Harry please keep me alive with you."
She reached up a slender, shaking hand and caught some of the rain in her palm. She relished the feeling of the cool water running down her wrist. Slowly, she began to raise her body to a sitting position and when her muscles gave out, Harry gently brought her erect and resting against his chest. From her new position, she could see the destruction of the final battle but more important, the beauty of the new world. She saw the reunions of friends and families. She saw hope shining out of the eyes of the survivors. She saw the clouds break and a pure ray of golden sunshine break over the battlefield. The golden glow washed over the landscape and turned the raindrops into silvery, white jewels. The world was cleansed. The world was safe. And she was safe in Harry's arms.
The rain that brings you here
Is heaven blessed!
The skies begin to clear
And I'm at rest
A breath away from where you are
I've come home from so far
So don't you fret my darling Harry
I don't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
You're here, that's all I need to know
And you will keep me safe
And you will keep me close
"Rest Gin, just rest. Everything is alright now. Look, the rain is slowing down now. Gin," Harry said, a sob catching in his throat, "I'll miss you," Harry said, mentally kicking himself for the very wrong words that had just come out of his mouth.
She turned her fading eyes to his own brilliant ones and softly murmured, "I know," and then she really began to wilt.
Hush-a-bye, dear Ginny
You won't feel any pain
A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now
I'm here
I will stay with you
Till you are sleeping
"Ginny! Wait! You can't go yet, I have to tell you something," he frantically called, "Ginny, I love you."
And rain…
Her eyes flickered with the last spark of life in her body and her mouth bent into a weak smile at his hurried confession. Ginny opened her mouth and with the last energy that was left to her and whispered in his ear, "I know Harry, I know."
And rain…
For that last moment, nothing else existed except the two young lovers. Harry forgot everything, he forgot the battle. He forgot the waiting friends. He forgot that death had it's cold grip on the girl in his arms. He forgot everything but his love for her. All that mattered as capturing her mouth with his own. Their first and last kiss was, searing, passionate, innocent and perfect.
When it finally broke, Harry was panting for breath and dizzy with joy but his high spirits were quickly dashed. Ginny's cheeks were completely devoid of color and her brown eyes had lost their vivacious twinkle entirely.
Her once pink and rosy lips, now ashen and gray, opened one last time, "Goodbye Harry. I love…"
Will make the flowers…
"You," Harry finished as her eyes closed forever, "I love you Gin."
Will make the flowers…grow…
Harry clasped the girl tightly to him. The tears streamed silently down his cheeks and neither he nor anyone else did anything to stop them.
His grief consumed him totally until the clouds broke again and his entire body was warmed by the light. It was as if Ginny was leaving him with a last gift, the strength to go on. Slowly he stood up, and gathered the weightless body in his arms. People needed him. And Ginny, Ginny wanted him to live for her. She needed him to live the life that she couldn't. And Harry was going to live.
She will not die in vain
She will not be betrayed