Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the plot, or other characters. I don't even think this is how the final battle will turn out. I was just in a tragic mood the other day. If in fact, it does turn out this way, it's entirely coincidental. And if it turns out this way word for word, then we all know JK Rowling is a dirty rotten thief. (just kidding there)

I'm Here

Chapter the First (and only? feedback welcome)

"Hermione! Get down!" Ron roared.

She didn't have to be told twice. She dropped down to the ground and clasped her hands over her head. She felt a wind ruffle her hair, but she was quite sure it wasn't a pleasant summer breeze.

Ron and Hermione were on the ruins of the grounds of Hogwarts. They, like others, were battling Death Eaters, holding them off while Harry went ahead to Voldemort.

It was sunset, and the sky was a bloody red, smeared with a dark orange. The North Tower was now a pile of rubble, and Ron coughed on the dust before sending a curse flying at Bellatrix.

"Stupefy!"

Hermione peeked up and saw Bellatrix was now motionless on the ground. She hoisted herself off the ground, exhausted and dirty. They had been fighting for hours now.

Ron grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her behind a stone wall. Hermione recognized a portrait and saw that it used to be a corridor.

"Stay here for a bit, right? I'll be right back." Ron panted.

Hermione grabbed his hands and pushed him off her. "No!"

"No, I just...it would be easier for me to concentrate if I knew you were safe," Ron stated.

Hermione's eyes were flashing with anger as she spoke sharp words in hushed tones. "You think I'm going to be of no use? A silly damsel in distress? I knew what I was getting into when we went looking for Horcruxes! I knew there would be a battle, and all the while, I had every intention on participating. Now, Ron, get off me!" And she gave him an extra hard shove.

"No...I never...I mean to say...I didn't mean..." Ron started backpedaling.

"You're wasting time, lets GO!" Hermione started to run back towards the fight.

"Hermione." Ron whispered. "I don't want you to think..."

Hermione's voice softened. "I know, Ron, I know." Her voice got sharp again. "Now, come ON!"

The first Death Eater they ran into was the man from the Department of Mysteries battle. The one who had attacked Hermione. Her step faltered. Ron looked over, expecting to see terror or..something in her eyes. Instead, her gaze remained hard.

The Death Eater laughed. "Hello again, Mudblood. It seems that today I get to finish you off," He mocked.

Hermione's next word was soft, but sharpened to a point. "Crucio."

The next thing, he was on the ground, rolling and screaming in agony. Ron's eyes widened.

"Let's go." Hermione said briskly.

While Hermione was busy battling some man in a mask, Ron turned and jogged a bit away. He almost ran right into...

Draco Malfoy.

First, the blonde pointy-faced young man looked surprised, but then his face twisted into a sneer of satisfaction.

"Well, hello, there little Weasel. How goes life?" He drawled.

Ron said nothing, just glared with contempt reserved for this ferret alone.

"Well, what do you know, there's the Weasel's girlfriend! Miss Mudblood!" Draco feigned surprise as Hermione sent the burly man to the ground with a Stupefy. "How could I have missed her with hair that big?"

Ron made a low, threatening sort of growl. Was he honestly insulting Hermione's hair as a battle raged around them?

Through the years, many people had talked about that magnificent hair, wondering why she didn't do some sort of charm on it. She was, after all, the top of the class. What they didn't realize was she was too busy helping people and caring about her friends to care about stupid things like that. To Ron, it showed that she wasn't a shallow, stupid girl like many others he had met. She had her priorities in order, and her hair was not at the top of the list. That, to Ron, was much more attractive than straight, flat hair.

"Maybe..." Malfoy continued. "She'd like it cut! Sectum--"

"Are you honestly," Ron hissed. "So much of a coward that you have to curse her while her back is turned? You can't fight her face to face?"

Draco's eyes narrowed. "Perhaps you need a trim, too."

Then he looked past Ron and shouted, "Oi! Granger! Your boyfriend has something to say to you!"

Hermione whirled around, having just fallen another Death Eater. Her eyes widened, then narrowed. She readied her wand...was about to strike...

But Malfoy was faster. "Sectumsempra!" he bellowed.

Ron was moving before he even knew what was happening. He had started running towards her the moment Malfoy had said "Oi" He reached her at the same time the curse did, and he tackled her to the ground.

Ron scrambled back up. In the scariest, calmest, most emotional, most passionate voice Hermione had ever heard, Ron stated, breathless, "Avada Kedavra!"

And Draco was on the ground.

A minute later so was Ron.

Hermione, who had remained on the ground, screamed and crawled towards him. She sat next to him.

"Ron? Ron!" she choked out, her voice hoarse.

His eyes fluttered, and she sighed in relief.

"Uh..I think he got me." Ron said weakly, and gave a small, faltering smile.

Hermione looked over. He was bleeding quite badly.

"No...you'll be fine," Hermione voice was choked, but she tried to sound assured.

Ron shook his head. "No, I won't be."

Hermione's heart clenched, and in that split second, she caught herself thinking about him.

In first year, the insufferable little boy who was talking about her. Who had saved her from the troll. Who made her laugh.

In second year, the boy who cared so much about his sister, who confronted his arachnophobia to help save the Muggleborns.

Third year, she was so mad at him. For stupid things, it seemed now. But he had been so loyal to both she and Harry, standing on a broken leg to protect Harry. That was also the year she started to develop more-than-friendly feelings for him, but decidedly ignored.

Fourth year. That was the year he had started his insecurities about his lifestyle, about always being the "sidekick." That was also the year of "The Great Viktor Krum Incident." That was the year she thought that maybe he returned the feelings she had been suppressing. She was forced to acknowledge that..maybe she actually did like Ron.

In fifth year, he had been so fearless about fighting. He had done it so bravely. She could still see traces of the scars on his arms, and it made her heart clench. He was so nervous about Quidditch that year. In an act of bravery she hadn't thought herself cabaple of, she had kissed his cheek. She always smiled when she remembered that.

Sixth year. That was the year that made her stomach churn when she thought of it. She had decided that there was no use hiding her feelings anymore, and she was fairly certain he felt the same about her, but then...Lavender. She never liked to let her thoughts wander past that name.

Searching for Horcruxes, he kept Harry and her sane. He made sure that they didn't drive themselves to the brink with work, and he made sure thoughts and conversations never got so dark so as to cause depression.

All these thoughts melted together into an array of pictures in her head.

And now he was lying in front of her, bleeding, and still trying to be brave.

Everything blurred over, and she attempted to blink the tears away, but they just fell down her cheeks.

"Hey...don't cry." Ron said softly. "I--I need to tell you something."

Hermione said nothing.

"I know it's kind of late and everything but...I love you, you know."

Hermione's heart lept, but she kept silent.

"..For a while now, and I regret waiting until now to tell you, I really do. But I wanted you to know, before I..."

"You're not going anywhere," Hermione choked. The lump in her throat was preventing her from speaking without pain, and tears were streaming down her face. "And I love you, too."

Ron tried to sit up, but after a struggle, just layed back down. "Come here," he groaned.

Hermione leaned down, and he tilted her chin up so her mouth met his. There was a spark in this kiss, so soft, so sweet, despite the fact his lips were so cold and rough.

Hermione sat back up and grabbed one of his hands. They were even colder than his lips, though it had to be 90 degrees out. She could barely breathe for crying.

"Hey. It'll be okay." Ron reached up to stroke her hair with his free hand, but she took that one in her hands, too.

There was a boulder about 2 feet away, and Ron had a sudden burst of energy and pulled himself a foot nearer to it, before collapsing.

Hermione screamed, "RON!"

He replied, "I'm here." Those words scared her beyond belief. "Help me to that rock? I want to sit up."

Hermione nodded and picked her wand from the ground. They were concealed from the battle because of a lot of rubble lying around.

"Mobilus corpus," she whispered, until Ron was situated. He laughed softly and weakly.

"I could have just asked you to do that in the first place."

Hermione sat next to him, and he put his arms around her. She buried her face in his neck, and he kissed her head. Hermione was covered in blood, but she was past the point of caring.

"I love you." She sobbed.

"I love you, too."

They sat like that until Hermione felt his arm drop from her shoulder. She panicked, and moved a foot away. In the distance, she could hear cheers. "Ron?"

"RON!"

He said nothing.

She started sobbing harder than ever. "R-ron?" She croaked. She wished with all of her soul that she would hear "I'm here," no matter how scary it was.

But he remained silent. His head was resting slightly on his shoulder, and his eyes were closed. He was more pale than she had ever seen him, and his freckles were standing out. Blood was glistening on his robes. Hermione grabbed his hand. It was like ice.

She collapsed onto the ground, letting her shoulders shake, and her body tremble. Inch by inch, she crawled to the other side of the massive boulder. She didn't want to be near him. But she didn't think she could stand being too far away either. She leaned against the rock on the hill, facing people running, whooping, celebrating. Didn't they know what had happened? How could they be rejoicing? She closed her eyes and tried to drift off into sleep, so she wouldn't feel this enormous void, and so she wouldn't have to cry anymore.

Harry was grinning. He was in the middle of a group of people, bloody, battered, exhausted. He was being hugged and clapped on the back. People were sobbing happily, screaming, dancing to imaginary music.

He couldn't believe it. Voldemort was gone. He had collapsed onto Dumbledore's grave. Harry had, of course, kicked him off it. Ministry officials had already taken the body.

The sweetest thing, to Harry, was Voldemort's last attempt to remain alive, begging for his life, saying Harry could join the dark side. Harry had just laughed.

Now he was looking for his best friends. He needed to share this news, to delight in it with them. He wanted them to be the first to know what had happened in the Final Battle.

Finally, atop the hill, he saw Hermione. Why was she so still? Was she covered in...blood? He panicked. He ran faster than he ever had before in his life.

When he reached the large boulder she was leaning against, he said fearfully, "Hermione?"

She opened her eyes with a snap. He saw that they were red, and the skin around them was puffy. "Oh thank Merlin...I thought you had di--"

"No, " Hermione interrupted bitterly. "I'm alive."

Harry was surprised at her tone and it must have shown in his face, because she softened her tone. "So..I'm guessing we won? Congratulations!"

"Yeah..." Harry muttered distractedly. "Are you hurt? Are you cut?"

"Not on the outside," Hermione said with a sigh. "This isn't my blood."

Harry felt the blood drain from his face. "Who's... is it?" he asked, fearing the answer.

Hermione just jerked her thumb as an answer.

Harry went around the large lump of granite. He paled. He swallowed a hard lump in his throat. He crossed back over to where Hermione sat. In the 2 seconds he had been gone, she had started silently sobbing. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. She turned and buried her face in his robes. She sat shaking for three-fourths of an hour before she went still. She had fallen asleep.

Nearly two weeks later, both Harry and Hermione were staying at the Burrow. Harry was staying in Charlie's old room, but Hermione had opted for Ron's. Everytime she saw the orange walls or Quidditch books, she felt a sharp pain go through her heart. It hurt her to be here, but she didn't care. It was worth it to be near him. His bedspread still smelled like him. She had only been out of bed once, to go to his funeral. The first few days, she had refused food, but then they started delivering it to her room. She threw it out the window. Then someone was elected to make sure she ate. She wasn't sure who. She didn't pay much attention. Whenever she was forced to eat, she vomited within the hour, even if she was trying to keep it down.

Harry and Ginny had both come up here, to talk, but she just turned over in bed to face the wall. Nothing mattered, because Ron was gone.

She was mad at everyone.

At herself for not deflecting the spell Malfoy threw. At Harry, for dragging them into this (though in her mind, she knew that wasn't fair) At Ginny because she had the same color hair as Ron.

She was mad at Ron for leaving. She was mad that he told her he loved her and then left her. She hated him for that.

When she had thought of the dangers of this war, she had only thought of herself dying. It had never crossed her mind that Ron could...sweet, brave, loyal Ron.

Three weeks to the day that Ron left her, Ginny found Hermione laying on the floor. Ginny pulled her upright and put her arms around her. Hermione stared straight ahead. Ginny couldn't stand seeing strong Hermione break down like this. Then Hermione smiled.

"What?" Ginny asked.

"Nothing." Hermione said dreamily. And then she went limp.

It was very bright here.

She thought she saw a flash of red hair.

"Ron?"

She felt warm arms surround her. She smiled.

"I'm here."

fin.

A/N: Some of you probably wanna kill me for saying it had a happy ending, huh? well it does!

Did you like? I almost cried writing this. I hope you did too. ..Wait...that came out wrong. Well. You know what I mean. Was it good? Touching? At least they ended up together, right?

Ok, yell at me all you want. Just...review, all right? I wanna know what you think.

mwah!

final lullaby