Dust
This was it, the final moment, the final battle. The trio stood together taking a moment to catch their breaths. The red headed boy brushed his fingers lightly against the brown haired girls, she squeezed his fingers back. The black haired boy turned to face his friends.
"this is it, it ends now." he told them, they inclined their heads towards him to show that they were ready and they made their way down the final corridor towards the great hall where they knew that Voldermort and the battle lay. From out of no where a group of death eaters burst in to the corridor.
"just go!" Hermione told Harry, "we've got this." he didn't wait, he ran on to his destiny leaving his friends behind firing spells as fast as they could. As he entered the hall he saw the battle raging, he focused on the lead figure, his enemy, Lord Voldermort. The mans eyes met his and they strode towards each other. The room grew silent, everyone knew that this was it, the last time these mortal enemies would face each other and the fate of the world rested on the outcome. Their wands locked in battle.
Ron opened his eyes, he blinked a few times to try and clear the blackness but it remained. There was no light. He lifted a shaky hand to his head and felt wet against his fingers and the smell of blood. He tried to recall what had happened, he remembered shooting hexes and curses at the death eaters, he wasn't sure whose spell had brought the ceiling down on top of them. He felt around himself, there was rubble but nothing resembling his wand. His hand touched a body on the floor and he gasped.
"Hermione?" he asked, "hermione?" his heart hammered against his chest, please, please don't be dead, he thought. He heard her groan and let out a breath.
"Ron" she asked.
"thank Merlin, are you alright?"
"I think so, aarrgghh." she screamed, as she had tried to move pain ripped through her body. Ron scrambles closer to her and trailed his hands over her body until her felt across her stomach blood and loose skin, this doesn't feel good.
"can you fix it?" she asked him taking in heavy breaths.
"we don't have our wands, I can't see anything, I, I don't, I can't." he had never felt more useless in his whole life as he did right now, but without a wand between them there was nothing to be done.
"I'm sure someone will find us."
"yeah, but in the meantime." he took of his shirt and folded it, pressing it over her wound, "I saw this in one of them muggle things, the moving stories, remember we saw it at the seenemar." even in the seriousness of the situation she managed a light chuckle. It was well over a year ago since she had taken Ron to the cinema, it was their third official date and she was pleased with how he had handled the experience.
They talked about the movie they'd seen, Ron remembered every detail, she only remembered the end.
"all the stuff in your head and you can't remember that." he said.
"well I only remember important things, the movie wasn't important." she stated.
"oh" he was a little disappointed.
"but the look on your face I remember clearly and holding your hand," she continued, "the kiss, that's burned into my memory, I'll never forget that." he perked up at this. She gasped in pain again, breaking the moment. "this is bad, isn't it?" she asked him. He could feel the blood already soaked through the shirt.
"you'll be fine"
"you're lying."
"would I?"
"I wish I could see you, I want your face to be the last thing I ever see."
"oy! What kind of talks that, last thing you see, yeah in about 70 plus years." his voice was shaking. He could feel her slipping away.
"I'm cold Ron and I'm so tired." he let go of her wound, his attempts to stem the flow futile. Instead he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, giving the only comfort he could. She didn't scream at the movement, she was beyond the pain now.
"it doesn't hurt anymore," she told him, "but I'm so tired."
"well you can't sleep yet, keep talking to me."
Harry stood in shock, Voldermort was dead, he was finally dead. He looked to see the battle was over, there was no more fighting. Ginny threw her arms around him, and he returned the embrace. He could have stayed that way for the rest of his life quite happily. They pulled back and looked into each others eyes. He took a breath, then a thought struck him, the fighting stopped, where are Ron and Hermione.
"you drive me crazy you know," Ron told the girl in his arms, "with your nagging and studying and your cleverness, miss know all, you drive me crazy and I love you for it."
"do you mean that?" she asked.
"yeah I do, I love you Hermione, I know I've said it a dozen times or more, but I'll never get tired of saying it."
"and I'll never get tired of hearing it, I love you to you know," her breathing was shallow now, "I've always loved you, even when I was going out with Viktor, I was really in love with you."
"but you chose him, for the Yule ball."
"no I didn't, I didn't chose anyone, you never asked me, if you had. . ." she let the thought trail away.
"if I had, I was stupid not to ask, but I didn't know how and then well, I can I compete with him, he's twice the man I'll ever be."
"Ron," she said interrupting his rant on his own shortcomings, "I chose you, I always will."
"have you seen Ron and Hermione." Harry asked Ginny.
"no why?"
"they were in the hall fighting off death eaters," Ginny's face paled, "what?"
"oh Harry, the hall it's, half of it collapsed." Harry sped away, others seeing his exit followed. He turned to where he had left his friends there was nothing now but rubble and dust.
"no!" he shouted, "no! Ron! Hermione! Can you hear me? Are you in there?" he screamed at the bricks.
Ron could hear voices, faint but clear.
"Harry," he shouted back, "Harry help, Hermione it's ok, helps coming." her eyes dropped closed and he could feel the limpness in her body, "no come on, stay awake, stay with me, come on." he coaxed her, her eyes opened again and she mumbled unintelligibly.
"did you hear that?" Harry asked, "they're in there, we need to move this." he along with professor McGonagall, Mr Weasley and Fred and George used their wands to move the debris.
"hold on Hermione, hold on, helps coming," he told her, she had stopped mumbling and he could just, only just feel her breathing, "you have to stay with me, you have to, we've got so much ahead of us, I love you," tears streamed down his face, "I'm not ready to lose you yet." he could hear and feel the shifted of the stone around them and light appeared in the cracks, as more moved he saw Harry's face. Harry felt sick when he saw them, they were covered in dust and blood, he tore back the last of the rubble. Professor McGonagall went to Hermione side straight away. She's dead, Harry thought and he knew the others were thinking the same thing. Madam Pomfrey pushed through the crowd, she began waving her wand frantically and muttering spells under her breath. Then finally levitated Hermione's body up and took her to the great hall.
"is she.." Harry began, McGonagall stopped him with her hand to his shoulder and inclined her head towards Ron who was still sitting on the same spot, apparently unaware that he could now move. Harry moved to his friends side and helped him up, there were no words between them, what could possibly be said. Ron was engulfed by Weasley the minute he entered the hall, he walked through them shrugging off their comfort. His feet moved of their own accord and took him to where the healer was knelt beside his love. The hall was silent, the occupants holding their breaths, praying, hoping.
The healer turned to them, "she's alive, just, that's the best news I can tell you, the bleedings stopped but she's lost so much blood already, she needs more care than we can give her. There's potions that she needs, I don't have them, the hospital wing has been destroyed and is already straining under the pressure."
"why isn't she awake?" Harry asked
"she's just lost to much blood. There's nothing I can do now, we'll just have to wait."
Ron lay down on the cold floor facing her, he was lost, there was nothing for him outside of them. We will have to wait, the healers words echoed in his head, then I will wait, he told her silently, I will wait, no matter how long it takes my love, I will wait because without you life's not real it's all just dust.