Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Chapter Thirty-Six

What Now

After getting Bill to the hospital they were told by Luna that McGonagall wanted them to stay there. That was when Hermione noticed that Neville was on one of the beds there with Hannah sitting next to him.

"Is he all right?" Hermione said in a whisper.

"He'll be fine," Ron assured her. "He ran into this weird wall thing that the Death Eater set up..."

"Tell me everything that happened," Hermione said stiffing as horrible images flowed through her mind.

"Hermione I don't know..." Ron started but with one look from her and he knew that he had to tell her everything that he went though. So he did and she listened, shivering at all the parts that were dangerous for him, she didn't interrupt him until he said "... and then I saw Harry running after them..."

"You saw Harry!" Hermione said. "He's back... and he ran after them... you don't think..."

"I'm sure he's okay," Ron said in a tone that was soothing to her, but she could see he was worry, too. "After that there wasn't much to do but gather everyone together and see how much damage was done. That was about the time that I remembered Bill..." he trailed off and looked at his brother miserably. "I didn't know how bad he was hurt... I thought he might have..."

"Sh... it's okay," Hermione said pulling him into a hug. "It's okay, I've got you," she continued to whisper in his ear so he was the only one that could hear her. Part of him wanted to cry, but nothing came out, he was too numb to cry. He couldn't look at his brother, with the nurse working on him trying to heel him up, nor the grim expression that she had… he knew that his bother scars were never going to heal. Madame Pomfrey had even said that he might be effected by the full moon now... though he wouldn't transform because Greyback wasn't a wolf when he bit him.

He looked over to Remus, who was now sitting by his brother and had come into the room sometime during his explanation. Tonks was sitting next to him and everything about this just felt so surreal to him. Like he was walking through a waking dream and any second now he was going to wake up...

And then Harry and Ginny came into the room and he felt a little hope in him then. He didn't realize how scared he was for his friend until he saw Harry at that moment. But there was something wrong about him; his eyes were hollow and filled with pain. Ron looked away from him, he had seen that look in Harry's eyes too many times in the past and he never wanted to see that look again. Didn't Harry have enough pain and sorrow in his life... he doesn't really need more added to it.

"Harry," Hermione said softly and she went to him giving him a hug. She could see the same look in Harry's eyes as Ron had and she feared what it meant.

She lost track of time, there was hardly any talking in the hospital but she couldn't hear the little that there was. She felt numb, like she knew that something terrible happened and she was waiting for someone to tell her what it was. Ron was saying something, she could feel the rumble in his chest as her head rested there, but still what he was saying was lost on her. However, what Ginny said next, Hermione did hear... everyone heard it and felt the gut wrenching shock that it brought.

"Ron, Dumbledore is dead!"

Yes, that was it. That declaration made the floor seem to move from her feet, causing the world to crumble and shrink and all together fall apart. She looked at Harry, and it was clear this is what the look in his eyes had meant. That he had lost his mentor... and again she feared that he had lost another person he cared about before his very eyes.

She started crying on Ron's shoulder again, and she thought she could feel Ron crying as well. She thought about the one meeting that she had with Dumbledore alone. When he had told her about what had happened to Mr. Weasley and how Ginny had wanted her. She knew that Dumbledore didn't know what to make of her, he had been guarded, he always seemed to be guarded, to put trust in people. He believed in her in the end, he had to if he had let Harry tell her (and Ron) about the prophecy and about the 'lessons'.

Again she seemed to have lost time, for the next thing she knew was Harry said, "Snape... Snape killed Dumbledore!"

NO!

She shouted in her head. It can't have been him... she had let him go! How could she have done that? She shivered in Ron's arms, and she could feel him tightening his arms around her in a reassuring way, but that didn't stop her from cursing herself in her head.

She forced herself to listen when everyone started explaining what had happened that night. How Ron and the other had staked out the Room of Requirement, but it hadn't really helped them because Malfoy had used the Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, and they couldn't see the Death Eaters. How they had 'luckily' found the other Order members and they had all gone to try and go after the Death Eaters. How they had found them and the fighting started, but Malfoy had somehow vanished. Ron didn't say anything about Bill, but she could feel when it had happened because Ron's whole body twitched and his gaze (along with Ginny's) went to his brother.

Then Harry started telling everyone what he had seen. How Dumbledore had been weaken by whatever happened when Harry and him were getting a Horcrux. How Malfoy had disarmed Dumbledore because the headmaster was trying to make sure that Harry would be safe. How Malfoy had said that he had been trying to kill Dumbledore throughout the year and his two other attempts had nearly killed Katie and Ron. Hermione didn't hear more for sometime because she was fuming over this, thinking about the pain that she had to go through because of this. The next thing she heard Harry said was that more Death Eater had joined them and how it looked like Malfoy had lowered his wand... and she could tell from Harry's tone that he believed that Malfoy wouldn't have killed Dumbledore, though that didn't stop her from being angry one bit. After all he didn't seem to care that he might have killed other people trying to get to their headmaster... it seemed to her that Malfoy just didn't have the guts to see the act itself. And then he mentioned Snape and now she was the one that had to talk.

She explained everything that happened with her head bowed, she had really let Harry down this time and she couldn't stand that. However, Harry didn't seem to blame her. He said that Snape probably would have cursed them if they had given him any trouble (and Ron had stiffen when Harry said that), but none of that made her feel any better. She had let them all down... she knew it, but she wasn't going to let that happen again. She was going to make sure that Harry knows he can count on her.

Harry then started explaining how he chased after Snape after he had killed Dumbledore. Hermione could understand why Harry would do that, but it didn't mean she thought that this was a good idea. Harry could so easily have been killed, but it seemed like Voldemort had told his Death Eaters that only he could kill Harry... which was something that had just saved Harry's life.

It was silent for a long time after that which was broken my Molly, Arthur and Fleur coming into the room and they all rushed over to Bill's bed. Molly was a wreck, crying over her son and it just made everything worse seeing her pain like this. Arthur was looking at his son gravely, but he was able to ask about Dumbledore, seeming to have already have heard the news. Still, he sink into the chair that Remus had been sitting in, and looked paled.

Fleur's, like Molly's, attention seemed to be completely wrapped on Bill, however she was only able to look at him because Molly was tending to him. "My poor boy, he was so handsome," Molly mumbled.

"I think he still is handsome," Fleur said. "And now everyone could see how brave he is."

"Sorry," Molly looked at Fleur miserably, wiped her tears away and got up, "this is your job now... I just... he's my little boy..."

"I understand," Fleur said, taking Molly's seat and stroking the side of Bill's face with shaky hands. "My poor Bill."

"See... she doesn't care," Tonks said, looking at Remus.

"Now's not the time for this," Remus said, not looking at her, his face was hard.

"I think it is," Tonks said stubbornly. "Because I don't care either..."

"It's not the same thing," Remus said, stiffly.

"Remus, I still don't care," Tonks said.

"I too old for you, too poor, and too dangerous," Remus said, his voice trying to keep its indifference but he couldn't. There was too much pain in his voice for that.

"None of that matters to me, because you're the one that I want," Tonks said, her voice didn't hide any of the pain that she was feeling.

Now this was interesting, it was even doing something to ease the pain in her chest a little. Remus and Tonks... together. She never thought about that before but they really would make a nice couple. Plus that would explain why Tonks had been so sad this whole year and why she had been having problems with her ability to change her appearance... she was depress. Depress in a way that Hermione could understand all too well after what Ron and put her through this year.

"You know, I always thought you were being ridiculous about that," Arthur said.

"But..." Remus looked at him flabbergasted.

"You don't get to choose who you love, and trying to force them not to love you only hurts everyone involved," Ron said wisely giving Hermione a squeeze.

"And if Ron can learn that lesson surely you can Remus," Ginny tried to tease, but Remus was still looking stubborn.

Then at that moment, everyone hear Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, sing and it filled their hearts with sorrow and yet there was also hope there.

O

The next morning Ron came down the stairs much earlier than he was used to and yet Hermione was already down there. Neither one of them could sleep and both of them felt lost without the other one. Hermione gave him a weak smile, she couldn't help but feel better when he sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

"It was a fake," Ron said a little while latter, she had to know this and he knew what this would cost Harry to say, so he had to be the one to tell her.

"What?" Hermione looked up at him confused; her mind was on something else so she didn't immediately know what Ron was talking about. When she did get it her eyes widen and she looked even more miserable than before. "The Horcrux," she whispered so only Ron could hear her.

"Yeah," Ron groaned. "There was a note in the fake locket... something about a guy, R.A.B, finding the real one and planning on destroying it."

"This is awful," Hermione said, for so many reasons, too. Now they had no idea where the real locket was and whether or not it was destroyed. However, the reason that was foremost in her mind at the moment was... "It was for nothing... poor Harry."

"I know you should have seen his face..." Ron groaned, trailing off there. He shook his head, and then said, "you were right, they're talking about closing the school, but Harry's not sure if they are going to do that or not."

"What do you think he's going to do now?" Hermione said.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

When she had first heard of Dumbledore's death she grieved for the old headmaster, however, it didn't take long for her to realize what this all meant to the world and how it would change everything for them in particular. To the world, Dumbledore was the only one that Voldemort ever feared, and with his death, the threat of Voldemort just got all the more real. Things were sure to go from bad to worst in no time now that Dumbledore was gone.

However, she wasn't thinking about the world at large. She was thinking about everything that Dumbledore had told Harry this year... and what Harry had told them in return. They were the only ones now that knew how to really defeat Voldemort... Harry was going to have to take on that job... she was sure of it. Not only because Harry will feel that it is his job to do this, but because he was the only one that could.

"Harry's going to try and stop him," Ron said breaking her thought processes.

"Yes, I think so too," Hermione said, and then she thought about the pain in Harry's eyes said sadly, "do you think that he will take us with him?"

"Don't know," Ron shrugged. "But he won't have a choice... we're going to be there."

Hermione pulled away from him and gave him a smile, one that was almost genuine, and the closest that she was going to get at the moment. "You got that right."

Ron smiled back at her and she leaned down and kissed him. The kiss was a mixture of need and a desperate attempt to not feel the grief they were both going through. She broke it quickly, knowing that with the way her mind was right now they would likely get carried away and she didn't want that to happen when she was grieving.

"So you're not going to try to convince me that I shouldn't go with you," Hermione said resting her head on his chest as they lay down on the couch.

"Nah, I'm not that stupid," Ron said. "I was pushing my luck pretty far by just suggesting that you should watch..."

Ron trailed off here and Hermione stiffened. She couldn't deal with thinking about this now too.

"Luna told me what happened," Ron whispered to her. "About the feeling you got... Mione, you did the right thing letting him go."

"But..." Hermione said, and he could feel the tears soak through his shirt.

"And from everything that Harry had said about... what happened, it wouldn't have mattered even if you had stopped him," Ron said, not letting her interrupted him. "There were four Death Eaters up there not including that ferret bastard. Do you really think... it would have ended the same..."

"Your right," Hermione mumbled she knew he was right. She didn't really have to blame herself for this, but that didn't make it hurt any less.

O

Dumbledore funeral was impossible to go through… thinking about all the people that came to it, those that really cared about Dumbledore and those that were just there because it looked good. There were creatures that had shown up to show their respect, and it was easy to see that they at least really did respect Dumbledore. Then there was the horrible speech that some guy that obviously didn't really know Dumbledore very well... it was all impossible to deal with.

Hermione thoughts went through everything that Dumbledore had said and done and tears fell freely from her eyes and she leaned on Ron's shoulder. She was holding his hand and felt it every time that he had felt the pain of the lost as well. She was right before, holding his hand, though she was wrecked with grief, she knew that she would get through this. She had him, and as long as he was hear, she would survive... but the future was so uncertain that she cried harder. For she knew they were about to make their way towards a future that might mean that he would be taken from her.

Harry was sitting next to Ginny looking at her not sure if he had the strength to do what he had to do. He looked at the grave again and his mind was made up, he had to make sure that he would never have to see this again... that he would have to bury anyone else he cared about... that no one else would have to die for him.

"Ginny," Harry said looking at her, her blazing brown eyes were piercing his own and he could see a knowing look in them. "We... we can't... can't be together anymore."

"This is for some damn noble reason isn't it," Ginny said, her voice was stronger than she felt.

"Gin," Harry sighed, "it's been wondering... like someone else life..."

"I'm not going to let you go Harry," Ginny said. "Didn't you hear what Ron had said in the hospital wing... you can't force me not to care... to stop loving you."

Harry's eyes went wide and he his heart wavered, she loved him. She was the first person so say that to him. But he knew he was right about his so he went on. "Gin... I couldn't stand it if something were ever to happen to you... especially if it's because of me..."

"If anything is going to happen, it's going to happen whether or not you're with me," Ginny said softly, squeezing his hand. "And it wouldn't be your fault..."

"Gin..." Harry started.

Ginny just looked into his eyes than and Harry groaned, he wasn't strong enough to keep argue with her, not when everything in him was telling him to just listen to her. So instead, he just pulled her closer to him and rested his head on top of hers and said, "I love you too, you know."

Ginny breath caught, and she smiled in his chest, "I know."

"And you know that what I have to do...you can't come with me," Harry said, and this time he wasn't going to give in to her.

"Yes... I do know that," Ginny said, shaking at the mere thought of that. Harry relaxed a little when she said this, that was until she added, "but I can't promise that I'll be as understanding when you actually try to leave."

"Great... I'll look forward to that," Harry groaned, but he couldn't bring it in himself to worry about that right now, not when he was holding her.

However, soon enough, he couldn't stand just sitting there any longer and he walked away. Ginny let him go, knowing that he needed time on his own to think.

"Ginny what happened?" Hermione asked her.

"Just what we thought would happen," Ginny said, "he tried to break up with me."

"See, I not the only git around," Ron said to Hermione.

"Yeah, it such a comfort to me that all males are noble gits," Hermione said.

"Not all, only the good ones," Ron smiled at her and she rolled her eyes.

"I think he really is planning on going off on his own," Ginny said, bringing their attention back to her. "At least he said that I couldn't go with him."

"Right," Ron said getting up and pulling Hermione up with him. "Well, we're just going to have to make sure he knows differently now."

Hermione looked back at Ginny, who was walking over to where Neville, Hannah and Luna were all sitting. She knew the other girl was probably angry with the fact that Ron and her had more of a change of convincing Harry to take them with him. She could tell there was going to be some kind of fight about this in the future and she wasn't sure how it was going to end. However, she couldn't think of that now, because she first had to convince Harry to take them.

"So what did Scrimgeour want," Ron asked as he noticed the Minister walking away from Harry looking rather angry.

"The same thing he wanted at Christmas, for me to be the Ministry's poster boy and tell him about what Dumbledore was up to," Harry said bitterly.

"I can't believe they might really be closing this place down," Ron said, using the best way to get to what they wanted to talk about. "Though, it would be weird with Dumbledore not here. Do you think they'll really be closing the school?"

"I don't know, but I won't be coming back even if it does reopen," Harry said.

"I thought you would say that," Hermione sighed at the same time Ron asked, "What are you going to do?"

Ron again was trying to get the matter out in the open by asking a question like this. Harry looked at him, his face looked older and more drawn than it ever had before. It was like he had the weight of the world on his shoulder and it was startling to realize that in a way he really did.

"Well, first I'm going to have to go back to the Durselys, I promised Dumbledore that I would," Harry said plainly. "And I think I would like to go to Godric Hallow... I would like to see the place that this all started. After that I'm going to have to find and destroy all of the Horcruxes, and then I'm going to have to face Voldemort."

Ron and Hermione looked at each other then, clearly seeing that Harry really was planning on doing this on his own. Well there was no way that was going to happen. Hermione nodded her head towards Ron and he said, in his way that was always so convincing, "and we'll be there with you through every step."

"What?" Harry said looking at him shaking his head.

"We'll be with you Harry," Ron said firmly. "We'll go with you to your awful relatives and wherever you go..."

"No..." Harry said in disbelief... he really thought they would just let him face this alone.

"Harry we're going with you," Hermione said.

"You gave us the chose to turn back a long time ago, and we didn't take it than... what makes you think that we would do it now," Ron said.

"As I recall, I only gave you, Ron, that choice," Harry said.

"Yeah, well, Mione joined us without even hearing the option or even having the luxury of you thinking of her as a friend," Ron shrugged. "If anything I think that proves her willingness to follow you through anything."

"But..." Harry tried again, but it was no used, he wasn't going to be able to talk them out of it and he couldn't help but feel his heart feel better.