Numb was the best way to describe how Neville Longbottom felt as he sat between Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley.
Of the two Hermione had the more serious injuries. The wordless curse she'd been hit with had affected her ability to breath properly forcing Madam Pomprey to administer a freshly brewed potion every fifteen minutes. As Madam Pom prey was busy brewing the potion it fell to Neville to ensure that Hermione drank the potion. A side effect of the curse was that Hermione was not able to speak, thus ensuring her silence. Injured as she was Hermione had refrained from writing too many questions as she too was focused on the bed behind the youngest Weasley.
Ginny had suffered a broken ankle but it was the loss of her brother that hurt the most. She had been with him when he had been hit by Bellatrix's curse. Injured as she was she sought to sit beside her brother's body as the rest of the Weasley clan gathered about Ron's body. It fell to the usually chipper twins to comfort her. Their usual antics though were replaced by a more somber air as they sat on opposite sides of her and embraced her in a hug.
After returning from the Ministry of Magic Dumbledore had spoken with both of them after swearing Neville to secrecy. The ancient wizard had told them of the prophecy that Voldemort and his Death Eaters had sought to acquire in the Ministry of Magic and of how that vary prophecy had endangered both of them when they had been infants. Ultimately Voldemort had chosen to go after Harry but the failed attack had led his most loyal followers to attack the Longbottoms. Neville's mind was still reeling from all that he'd been told though Dumbledore had more to tell Harry and had sent Neville to the hospital wing to tend to his broken nose and the various cuts and scrapes that he'd been subjected to.
Everything that he'd endured paled to what the Weasley's were enduring though. Even the Cruciatus Curse had not inflicted that much pain in comparison. Several of their rescuers had assisted the other teens before bringing them directly to Hogwarts.
Ron's body had been brought here as well while.
When he'd first arrived in the hospital wing Madam Pomprey had insisted on inspecting him as there had been bits of blood left on his face and chest. He'd insisted that he was fine, and physically he was, but emotionally he was drained. Seeing Ginny sobbing with her remaining brothers and Hermione fighting back her tears so that she could gulp down the potions that she was offered was heart-wrenching.
It was not the first time that he had felt as though he did not belong. It had been Bill Weasley who had managed to coax him into the room and ultimately Hermione's injuries that had convinced him to stay.
Quill in hand she had written a few questions once she'd regained her composure. She'd asked about what had happened after she'd been knocked out and where Harry was. Though she had logically accepted Ron's death, emotionally though…
"I'm sorry." Harry's voice swam with a mixture of emotions as he gazed upon the redheaded clan.
It was the Weasley patriarch who responded walking over to hug Harry. "It's alright," the man was fighting back tears though his emotions were evident in the way his voice broke.
Several of the older Weasley brothers moved to embrace the pair.
He barely noticed Luna crawling onto Hermione's bed, leaning into the older girl to offer her support. He felt their grief, he wanted to cry with them, but he couldn't. Mentally he knew he should be crying with them, offering them support, but he found that he just couldn't.
After some time Harry was able to speak. "It's my fault. I was the one who insisted on going to the Ministry. I thought that they had Sirius there, that they were using him to get the prophecy. I told the others not to come, but they wouldn't let me go alone. I… I never thought that this would happen."
"It's alright," the Weasley patriarch said soothingly as he hugged Harry tighter.
Over the next hour Harry retold the events that had taken place in the Ministry of Magic; of the trick that Voldemort had used to lure them to the Department of Mysteries, of the trap that the Death Eaters had set, of the eventual fight and flight of the teens, their eventual rescue by the clandestine group known as the Order of the Phoenix, the pursuit of Bellatrix Lestrange, Ron's death, catching Bellatrix and then Voldemort's duel with Dumbledore before the Aurors and Minister of Magic finally arrived.
Dumbledore's return to Hogwarts was a somber affair as it came with word that Voldemort had indeed returned. Only the Gryffindors appeared to be affected by the loss of one of their own, though the fifth years had it the worst.
Where there were once five there were now four. The Firewhisky that Seamus and Dean had managed to smuggle in to celebrate the end of their exams sat on Ron's night stand with five glasses that the boys had transfigured back in second year.
"For Ron," Dean said somberly, raising his glass.
The others followed his lead before they all gulped down the charmed liquor.
Neville understood why it was called Firewhisky as it left a scorched trail down his throat.
"Harry," Seamus said as he put his hand on the other boy's arm, "I know I didn't always see eye to eye with you. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you and doubted you. I want you to know that I'm sorry; for everything. Thank you for letting me into the DA. I know you did what you could for us all and if it hadn't been for the DA…."
"What he's trying to say is that if you ever need us we'll be there for you," Dean finished as he placed a hand on Harry's other arm. "We swear to you, whenever you need us we'll be there for you. We know that Ron was your best mate, and we can never replace him, but if you need anything just let us know."
Both boys pulled out their fake gallons.
"We'll all be there for you," Neville added as he pulled the golden coin. "I know you feel responsible, but all of us who went there knew what was at stake. We're at war and it's not fair for us to leave you alone to fight this. We're with you and we accept the consequences, but if we were just to lay down and let them win than our lives would be worthless anyways."
Harry shook his head, fighting to cling to his resolve that this was his battle, but just as Neville and the others had convinced him not to head to the Ministry of Magic alone, his fellow Gryffindors were steadfast in their decision.
"I'm muggle-born," Dean added, "just like Hermione. I doubt that they would take too kindly to me if you lost. I can't leave this fight to others."
"My family lost more than a few during the last war," Seamus stated. "I won't let their deaths or Ron's be in vain."
"My parents fought against V-Voldemort" Dean and Seamus cringed at the dark wizard's name "along with your parents – they lost their minds and may not even recognize me, but even as they are -they wouldn't want me to back down from this fight." He glanced at Seamus and Dean, seeing the surprised look in their eyes at the information that he'd volunteered. They, like Harry and the others, had never thought to ask about why he lived with his grandmother, assuming that it was because his parents had died in the last war. Finally he turned back to Harry and held the other boy's gaze. "We understand what's at risk; for ourselves and our families as well as the wizarding world and we're with you. I swear it."
"As do I," both Seamus and Dean echoed.
Harry fought a losing battle to contain his tears. None of the other faulted him for the display of emotion as they too shed tears for their lost dorm-mate and friend.
As one the four finished the bottle of Firewhiskey, sharing tales of their time with Ron while also opening up about themselves. By morning the bottle was dry though their eyes were not.
At breakfast Dumbledore spoke to the students, addressing the return of Lord Voldemort, the changes that the Ministry were putting into place, and the death of Ron Weasley. With O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s as the first of the year end exams to be completed only the fifth and seventh years had free time as their classes and exams were complete, leaving the older students time to openly speculate about the recent events.
With the help of the DA Neville made sure that no one bothered Harry, Hermione, or Luna while they recovered. For his part he tended to sit by at least one of the three girls, though Luna and Ginny spent much of their time taking special exams to make up for their time in the hospital wing. Hermione needed an entire week on the special potion before she was allowed to eat solid food. As was typical she buried herself in books, trying to retrace her steps in the Ministry of Magic and wondering what she might have done differently.
With the term coming to an end there was little reason for him to be out and about in Hogwarts aside from stopping by the hospital wing but it was clear that many of the Slytherins had holed themselves up in their dungeon. Most notably were the children of the Death Eaters – Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, and a score of others. It did not help that the Ministry of Magic and the goblins of Gringott's had agreed to freeze the accounts of the Death Eaters who had been captured or killed in the Ministry of Magic leaving them with only the moneys that they had secreted away in their respective homes to live off of. With their names tarnished and without their considerable wealth backing them students such as Draco Malfoy had decided to avoid being seen in public and dealing with those they perceived as being beneath them.
"Why are there so many pureblood families siding with Voldemort?" Harry asked absently as the quintet of teens walked the shores of the lake. With Ginny and Hermione discharged from the hospital wing the survivors of the battle at the Ministry of Magic had felt the need to get away from the whispers and stolen looks by the others. Even with classes for the term over the five were able to distance themselves from the rest of the student body with the assistance of the other members of the DA.
"It's because most of the other families were killed during the last war," Ginny replied as Neville assisted her. "Mother does not speak of them, but her brothers were killed in the last war. They were in the Order as well. Many of the old family names ended even though their blood carries on in other family names."
"That's why you don't see names like Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hugglepuff," Hermione added. "Their names may have ended, but there are people who can still prove that they are descended from those bloodlines."
Harry walked beside Hermione in silence as he absorbed what the girls had told him. It was clear to all of them that he was still coming to terms with Ron's death just as they all were. Finally, "Why aren't there more ghosts?"
The question surprised Neville, who hadn't thought much about that aspect of, well, death.
"Not everyone who dies becomes a ghost," Luna replied.
"I figured that," Harry added. "They're all witches or wizards."
"They are," the blond ceded, "but not all witches or wizards become ghosts. If they did Hogwarts would be overrun with ghosts. Witches and wizards are capable of leaving imprints of themselves that can walk the world as pale imitations of what they were in life, but very few choose that path."
"Why?" Harry asked impatiently.
"Ron wasn't the type of person to leave an imprint of himself behind," Hermione replied. "All the ghosts were people who were unloved and perhaps unfulfilled. Ron had a loving family, friends who cared about him and whom he cared about. Most of the ghosts didn't have that in their lives."
"Ghosts are like wizarding pictures," Neville added. "They're not capable of aging, growing, or learning. Ghosts may have desires but those desires are reflections of things that they desired in life. Nearly-headless Nick wanted to belong to something, that's why he still tries to join the Headless Hunt. Some of the ghosts want revenge, thus they're sent here to keep them from harming those whom they felt wronged them."
Hermione and Ginny put an arm around Harry as they embraced him. They understood that he was trying to grasp at any possibility of having his friend back.
"My Great Uncle says that you shouldn't dwell on those who are lost," Neville stated as he looked up to the sky. "He tells gran that all the time. She thinks that visiting my parents will help restore their sanity, but everyone else things that it's impossible. Their minds are broken but their bodies remain healthy. He said that my parents are the opposite of ghosts – they have physical bodies but none of the personality."
They settled on a raised bank, watching the waves on the lake and ignoring the rest of the world for now. They were survivors, but they all bore scars that now bound them together.