Author's Note: For the select few of you who have read my first fanfic, Love Lasts Forever(LLF), you will recognize the events of this chapter as they came from that story, (also chapter 11. What a coincidence. :) ) although it has some changes. i.e., Ron and Harry are looking for Antonin Dolohov instead of the Malfoys, because at the time that I wrote LLF, I had forgotten that the Malfoys changed sides.

Also, I don't know if Antonin Dolohov (the death eater that killed Lupin) survived the Battle of Hogwarts or went to Azkaban or anything, but in this chapter, he did survive and is still at large.

Chapter 11: Mission Dolohov

Not long after Ron and I returned from Hogwarts, there was a Weasley family get-together, where Ron and Hermione had some good news to share.

At dinner, Ron knocked his fork against his glass, making a loud clanking noise. Everyone stopped eating and stared at him. Ron cleared his throat. "Hermione and I, we…er…we have an announcement to make." Everyone stared at him in anticipation. Ron swallowed. At the moment, he was at a loss for words.

Hermione however, took over for him and undid some sort of invisibility charm she had placed on her hand to reveal the ring Ron had chosen for her. "Ron and I are engaged!" she exclaimed.

Everyone else just stared, not knowing what to say. Molly dropped the wine glass she was holding, and it shattered on the floor. Trying to break the silence, I stood up and began to clap for my best friends. Everyone else did the same. Over the shock of Hermione's announcement, Molly ran around the table to give Hermione a hug, tears streaming down her face. Hermione was struggling for breath.

"You've always been like a daughter to Arthur and I, but I've always looked forward to the day when you would really be a member of our family." Molly said between sobs of happiness.

George smacked Ron on the back. "Congrats, Ron! We all knew you would end up with Hermione!" He said.

"Does this mean you're going to be my Auntie, Hermione?" you piped up from your spot next to Harry.

"Yes, Teddy, I will be yours, Victoire's, Dominique's, and Molly's auntie." Hermione answered with a smile.

"Yay!" you cheered, and Victoire clapped her hands along with you, causing everyone to laugh.

About six months later, near the end of March, only a week or so before Ron and Hermione's wedding, Mr. Robbards ran into the auror office one morning with an excited expression on his face. "Potter, Weasley, meeting! Now!" Mr. Robbards said quickly using as little words as possible.

Ron and I quickly followed Mr. Robbards into the meeting room, where he shut the door behind us. "We think we found Dolohov in Germany. I suggest you tell your wife and fiancée that you are going home sick for now, leave a note for them at home, pack your stuff and leave immediately."

"But… Mr. Robbards… my wedding is in one week? Couldn't it wait?" Ron stammered.

"No, it can't!" Mr. Robbards snapped. "If we wait any longer, Dolohov will escape. I'm sorry, Weasley, but you and Harry are the only aurors we can spare right now, as Longbottom is out sick and won't return for a few days."

Ron sighed, but we were both forced to listen to our boss anyway. Ron stopped in Hermione's office, claiming he was sick, before we both went home to pack a few things. Ginny was at Quidditch practice, so I left a note on the table for her, assuming Ron was doing the same for Hermione.

Dearest Ginny,

I'm sorry to leave on such short notice, but we think we've found Dolohov. As he is my godson's father's murder, it is crucial to me that Ron and I find him and send him to Azkaban. Please don't worry, Ginny, and remember that Ron and I will be home soon.

Love always,

Harry

A few minutes later, Ron arrived, and together we set out for Germany. On the third of April, the day Ron and Hermione were supposed to be married, Kingsley had sent us an owl, telling us to go to an abandoned house, where we would most likely find Dolohov. The house was ancient, and to tell you the truth, it appeared to be more haunted than people believed the shrieking shack was. The window on the door was already broken, so Ron had no need to use his wand to unlock it.

The interior of the house was even gloomier than the exterior. It reminded me of my home at Grimmauld Place, just after Sirius had died and before I moved in. The house was dark and lonely, and the floor boards creaked under our feet.

"Why would Dolohov want to hide here, of all places?" Ron whispered.

"I have no idea." I whispered back. "But why don't we split up. I can search the downstairs while you search up, and we'd be more efficient that way. We can always yell if we need each other."

Ron agreed, and we went our separate ways. After searching the lower level thoroughly, I decided there was nothing there. Each and every room was empty, clear of even the appliances and furniture. I found the staircase Ron had gone up, and quickly climbed up the stairs. If Ron hadn't found anything, we could leave, and hopefully never return to this gruesome place.

"Ron?" I called, but the abandoned house was totally quiet. "Where are you?" If anything happened to Ron, I would never forgive myself. That is, if Hermione didn't kill me first for losing him.

I found myself at the end of a long, dark hallway with rooms on both sides of it. I went into the first room and found it empty, and then continued on. I went into the next room, and shone my wand brightly right in the face of none other than Dolohov. Ron was lying in a heap near his feet. He was a deathly pale and appeared to be unconscious.

"Why, it's Harry Potter. What a surprise!" Dolohov said sarcastically.

"Expelliarmus!" I shouted, and caught Dolohov's wand in one hand. Before he could recover from the shock, I grabbed a hold of Ron and disapparated. I knew I shouldn't disapparate while Ron was unconscious, but I had to get him away from Dolohov. I also knew that Dolohov would escape if I left, but what choice did I have? I took Ron to the first place I could think of: The Burrow.

When I apparated in Molly's and Arthur's living room unannounced, Molly screamed at the sight of her unconscious son in my arms. She and Arthur, who was only home because it was Saturday, rushed over immediately.

"Harry, what happened?" Arthur asked in his protective, fatherly voice. I quickly explain the events of the past few days to my father-in-law. "I think Dolohov must have used the silencing charm and the Cruciatus Curse on Ron."

"I believe you are right, Harry." Arthur said quickly. "In which case, we need to get him to St. Mungo's immediately. Can you go to your place first, though, and use your owl to send letters to the family?"

"I'll write the letter." Molly offered. She wrote a note, and then used a duplicating charm to make five copies, one for each of Ron's brothers and Hermione. Molly handed the letters to me, and then I disapparated.

"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed as I landed in the kitchen of my own home. She was about to give me a kiss when she saw the anxious expression on my face. "What's wrong?" she asked with a frown.

"Ron's been attacked by Dolohov. Your parents took him to St. Mungo's. There's no time to explain anything else now." I explained, and practically ran to the living room to get Stella, my snowy owl, out of her cage. I tied the letters to her leg as fast as I could and said, "Go to Hermione first, then to all of Ron's brothers." before sending her out the window.

Then I turned to Ginny. "Let's go. There's no time to lose."

"Harry, wait!" Ginny exclaimed.

"What is it, Ginny? We have to go now!" I sighed.

"I… I just think it would be quicker to use the floo network instead of apparation."

"But, Ginny, we're almost out of floo powder and –"

"Why does that matter?" Ginny snapped. "You can apparate if you want, but I'm using the floo network." With that, Ginny took a pinch of floo powder, shouted, "St. Mungo's!" loud and clear, and disappeared up the fireplace. I quickly followed.

When we arrived at St. Mungo's, Molly was already in the hospital room with Ron, while Arthur waited outside. Not much was said as we waited for the rest of the Weasleys and for the healer to give us the news.

Hermione was the last to arrive. When she saw us, she ran the rest of the way down the hall, and hugged each of us in turn. Finally, Arthur said softly, "Molly's inside Ron's room. You can go right in, and she'll explain everything that's happened."

After a while, Molly came out of the hospital room, and we continued to sit in silenced. At ten o'clock at night, the healers sent all of us home, but let Hermione stay overnight in Ron's room in hopes that she would be able to wake him from the coma he was in. Ginny and I didn't say much to each other, and attempted to go to sleep as soon as we got home.

The following morning at St. Mungo's, everyone got some good from Hermione. Ron had woken from his coma in the middle of the night and was expected to make a full recovery. Everyone was overjoyed, and we visited Ron as soon as we could. Ron, thankfully, was a little weak, but other than that, he was back to his old self.

Right after dinner a few days later, Ginny let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong, love?" I asked, my voice full of concern.

"Nothing's wrong." Ginny sighed. "There's just something I wanted to show you when you came back, but then Ron got hurt and I would have felt horrible if you and I were happy when everyone else was so sad."

"What is it?" I asked softly.

Ginny smiled. "Come with me, and I'll show you." she said and led me up the stairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked curiously.

"I redecorated one of the spare bedrooms while you were gone." Ginny replied.

I was just going to ask her why when she opened a door to a spare bedroom. Inside the room was a crib, a dresser, and a shelve full of stuffed animals and toys. I understood immediately.

"Ginny, this is wonderful!" I exclaimed, giving my wife a kiss.

"That's a relief." Ginny said with a smile. "I was worried you wouldn't want this baby."

"Ginny, why on earth wouldn't I want the baby?"

Ginny shrugged. "Maybe it was because we've only been married for eight months. I'm due October 24th by the way."

"Ginny, I honestly couldn't be happier with this news." I said, and took Ginny in my arms. I kissed her again, and thought about how I never wanted to let go.

Next Chapter: "James Sirius Potter's First Days"