Author's Note

Hello Everyone!

Here's the longest chapter so far for you today, I really hope you enjoy reading it. Please leave me a note to say hi and what you think so far.

Have a great day,

Wishin' Girl x x x

...

"Good morning beautiful!" Sam sung as he wrapped his arms around Ashlynn's waist on the morning the day before Tonks' wedding, peppering her face with kisses to bring her sweetly out of her slumber however this only earned the response of unintelligible words and groans from his girlfriend. "You make the cutest noises when you're waking up. It's a beautiful day today, come take a ride with me?"

"I thought you wanted to wait till marriage?" Ashlynn replied cheekily once she'd woken up a little more, rolling her booty into his crotch as he spooned her. She really wasn't ready to have sex with him either, but they both enjoyed it when she was toying with him like this.

"I do" he replied with a heady groan, his arm tightening around her subconsciously "I meant on my motorbike you minx."

She rolled in his arms and kissed him deeply in response.

"Is that a yes?" He asked with a smirk.

"Yeah Sam, let's go" she tried to roll away to get up but was pulled firmly back onto the bed underneath his shirtless body that displayed his tanned skin and bulging muscles proudly.

"We've got some time, my temptress. No sex doesn't mean no pleasure, you know that by now beautiful Ashlynn" his deep voice rumbled in her ear as he rocked his erection against her core eliciting sweet whimpers from her rosy lips.

Her eyes were hooded and dark with lust as his hands roamed her soft, curvy body. She had a few more curves than at school due to the lack of quidditch practice, but he adored every part of her that he could squish and caress. When her hands drifted to the waistband of his pajama trousers, he caught both of her wrists in one hand and held them against the mattress above her head.

"Today is all about you Ash" he explained as his lips trailed wet kisses up and down her neck while his free hand slid under her pajama top to cup a perky breast.

He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger and continued to rub his clothed erection against her core. He waited patiently for her orgasm to build up kissing her lips, jaw, throat, neck and collarbone until she started to buck harder against him with soft mewls escaping her swollen pink lips. He slid his hand from her breast down her soft belly and into her pajama shorts and after only two flicks of her pulsing clit she came for him, her thighs clenching tightly as she screamed in release and her eyes flickered closed in ecstasy. He held her close to his chest as she came down from her orgasm, covering her wild bed hair with kisses and whispering his love to her over and over again.

After a long while of cuddling in bed she mustered the drive to shower and once she was suitably dressed in thick jeans, a floaty tank top and her burgundy leather jacket he pulled her onto his motorbike behind him and carefully placed the helmet he had bought for her when they first became friends over her head.

They drove for about an hour and a half out of the city and up into the Brecon Beacons, riding on his motorbike was the closest she now came to flying so she was smiling broadly when she pulled off her helmet after they pulled up outside his parents' farm. Having had lots of practice at this he waited patiently for her to fix her hair in his visor before removing his own helmet and catching her lips in a hungry kiss.

"Do you trust me?" He asked with a mischievous smirk and cocked eyebrow.

"What have you done?" She replied, not prepared to fall for his antics but a small smile crept its way onto her lips all the same.

"I want to show you something but you'll need to be blindfolded first so you don't ruin the surprise" his smirk grew wider but as he saw her blanche he quickly added "it's not a surprise party or anything, it won't embarrass you, I promise."

She nodded tentatively as he tenderly took her hand before pulling one of her summery scarves out of his pocket and tying it around her eyes. In the next moment he kissed her sweetly and easily picked her up in a fireman's carry.

"Put me down!" Ashlynn squeaked and kicked in surprise.

"You'll fall over if you can't see where you're walking Ash" he replied confidently as he strode around the house and through the back fields.

She soon gave up her protests because she really did trust him and before long he gently set her down on her feet in the middle of the last field they came to and she felt tall plants brushing her fingertips as her arms hung by her sides. Sam moved behind her and, as gently as he could, removed her blindfold.

A delicate gasp was pulling from her awed lungs as she looked around at the field of yellow daisies that surrounded her, her hand flew to her open mouth and her eyes swam with happy tears.

"It's beautiful Sam" she breathed in awe, slowly turning around to look at the man who had brought her here.

Her breath caught in her throat completely as her eyes fell upon her boyfriend, kneeling in front of her and holding up a ring in offering between his thumb and forefinger.

"No," he responded with tears filling his own eyes "YOU are beautiful Ashlynn, inside and out. I love you so much. You are smart and kind and daring. You brighten my days and warm up my nights, the stars and moon mean nothing to me if you are not there with me to see them. I was actually visiting your Dad at the start of the week not camping." Sam took a deep breath in as he gazed up at her face, she was glowing from the combination of sunlight, yellow flowers and the smile that she wore. "Ash, will you marry me?"

He quickly stood to catch her as she leapt at him and pressed her lips firmly against his. Her passionate kiss left them both breathless and for a moment the only sound was the rustle of the flowers in the wind.

"Is that a yes?" He asked with a teasing smirk but his nerves were clear in his voice.

"Yes, yes! Of course it's a yes!" She exclaimed, her smile growing even wider as he slid the dainty gold band of the engagement ring over her finger, which housed a large pear shaped yellow diamond. She thought it was perfect and she truly did feel happy with Sam.

…

The next day was a whirlwind of emotion from the moment she woke up and apparated to meet her best friend. She showed Tonks her new engagement ring and the sneaky photo's Sam's mum had taken of the proposal as the pair got ready for Tonks and Remus' secret wedding ceremony.

Tonks looked flawless in a brand new, simple white dress made of silk that had a low back and long train, her purple hair was tinted powder blue at the ends, an old goblin made silver bracelet that her mother had worn for her own wedding adorned her wrist and she borrowed a pair of pearl earrings from Ashlynn to complete the tradition of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. Remus wasn't one to be fazed easily but he looked thoroughly awestruck when he saw her walk through the door of the tiny chapel on the Isle of Skye carrying a bouquet of lavender to match the colour of Remus' bowtie. Bill stood by his side and Ashlynn next to Tonks' as the elderly vicar led them through a beautiful service.

They celebrated with afternoon tea cooked by the vicar's wife and stayed to watch the sun set and stargaze late in the night before Remus apparated Tonks to their cottage, Bill returned to the Burrow and Ashlynn went back to the muggle world in Cardiff.

…

"Get. Him. OUT!" Screamed Tonks ten months later as she writhed on her bed in the cottage she shared with her husband.

"Breathe sweetheart. Deep breaths." Remus attempted to soothe his scared wife, desperately wishing he could take this pain from her.

"No. Fuck you Remus. This is your damn fault anyway!" She snapped in response.

"He's right Tonks I need you to take some deep breaths." Ashlynn coaxed from her position between Tonks' bent knees. "Keep breathing and push when you feel the need."

Ashlynn was not a maternity healer but she had some experience from her general healer training and, since the baby's parents were a half blood and a werewolf, she was the best chance the couple had to keep their baby safe now that the war was worsening every day.

"That's great Tonks you're doing great" Ashlynn coached as she saw the baby boys head crowning "just a few more pushes."

A few minutes later Remus had cut the cord and the new arrival lay wailing on Tonks' chest as his parents cried and laughed and kissed above him.

While Ashlynn got Tonks all cleaned up and fed her numerous healing and nutrition potions, Remus went to Shell Cottage to announce the birth of baby Teddy. Ashlynn stayed for a few hours to monitor the new baby and his mother but, when she was happy that they were both perfectly healthy, she left the couple marvelling over the soft wisps of hair on his head that were changing colour as he fed.

…

Tonks had phoned Ashlynn a few weeks later to let her know that they had named Harry Potter as Teddy's godfather, wizarding tradition being that a baby boy would have a godfather while a baby girl would be given a godmother. Ashlynn was delighted to hear how well Tonks and baby Teddy were doing and promised to love the boy just as much as she would have as a godparent. The young women laughed for an hour at Tonks' stories about a sleepy Remus trying to care for their hyperactive baby before she had to hang up to go feed him again.

"Oh by the way" Tonks added over Teddy's crying just before she hung up "we think this stuff is nearly over, there's talk in the order that we're ramping up to a final battle. Fred and George's friend has a radio show called Potterwatch, try to listen in if you can so you'll know when it's safe to come back. Tonight's password is Sherbet Lemon."

"Thanks, I'll listen in and maybe soon I can tell Sam about our world" Ashlynn replied gratefully before hanging up to allow her best friend to feed her infant son. She insisted to her parents and to Tonks that she hadn't told her fiance about the wizarding world yet because it wouldn't be safe for them but they all knew the real reason why she hadn't told him yet, even if she didn't know it herself.

She was never actually going to marry Sam.

...

That night Ashlynn got out her old Walkman that she had rigged to receive the wizarding wireless and listened to Potterwatch through her headphones. As she wept at the state of the wizarding world and for each of those named missing she muttered her thanks to Tonks, the late Mad-Eye Moody, Molly Weasley and Andromeda for helping her get out safely and in time to keep her family alive.

Every night for the rest of April she listened to Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins on their Potterwatch radio show, weeping for the names of those read out who were dead or missing and laughing at the hosts' attempts to bring some hope and merriment into the darkness. She spent her days finishing putting together her final year university project, a portable CT scanner that could be used by emergency medical workers to locate and diagnose head injuries, she also managed to work it so that it would function in high magic environments even though she clearly wouldn't be telling her muggle professors that part. It wasn't entirely practical for muggles as they would still have to plug it into an electricity supply while it would run off magic for witches and wizards, also it was extremely heavy, another problem for muggles but an easy fix for a witch with a featherweight charm.

Despite these limitations on the last day of April she earned a First in her medical engineering degree for the brilliant piece of tech she had created. Sam had also earned himself a first class degree from working on a new way of programming ultrasound scanners to make them cheaper to make and therefore more accessible in less wealthy areas and Ashlynn was so proud of her fiance just like her was of her. Sam was not just excited about their exam results but also because, as they took another step closer to their graduation that July, they took a step closer to becoming married for the couple had agreed to wait until then before planning their wedding.

Ashlynn was sat in their flat fiddling with her Walkman, searching for Potterwatch on the evening of the first day in May when she reached the pre-recorded voice of Lee Jordan repeating a single phrase.

"The time has come at the goat house."

Ashlynn grabbed the bag she had prepared with her miniature CT scanner and eclectic mix of other muggle and magical healing supplies. Fishing her wand out from where it was sellotaped to the underside of her bedside table Ashlynn raced through the flat she shared with Sam, kissed him soundly on the mouth and ran out the door calling out

"Don't wait up, I'll be back tomorrow" as she crossed the threshold and immediately apparated away to the Hog's Head.

…

Charlie was sat in the pub toasting another successful cracking of a baby dragon with his fellow dragon keeper friends. A pint of local ale held in one hand and a very flirtatious woman, who he did not know the name of, in his lap when Bill's silver patronus landed in front of him on the thick wooden pub table.

"Oi, Charlie! It's go time! Bring the fire!" the heavy voice of his older brother rang out amongst the small group.

He promptly dropped the pint glass and pushed the woman away, standing as he locked eyes with his four best mates around the table. Hondo, Kyle, Sofia and Mai leapt to their feet and rushed through the door after him. They all apparated to the gates of the dragons' home and the guard dragons instantly recognised the group opening the heavy doors fast enough that they didn't even had to stop running.

"It's go time!" Charlie shouted as he burst through the door to Marius' office, the other four hot on his heels.

"Bring the fire." Aila responded fiercely, standing from her desk and sending her patronus to all those they trusted enough and had informed of their plan, a series of hatchling Norwegian Ridgebacks flew from her wand dispersing towards the keepers' homes.

Within ten minutes Charlie, Mondo, Kyle, Sofia, Mai, Marius, Aila and eight other keepers were assembled in the centre of the valley, dressed in protective gear and armed with their wands. Their dragons had been training for this and when they saw them together fifteen adult dragons swooped down to greet them.

Marius led the way out of the reserve as he warped the wards temporarily to let the group through and soon they were all high in the sky and well on their way to Scotland.

…

"Charlie's arrived already." Remus whispered as he held Tonks in their hiding spot on the seventh floor when a Romanian Longhorn dragon pounced in front of them. Thankfully the bright light didn't give them away and vanished silently seconds after it appeared.

"No. That was a female," Tonks replied, her tone full of appreciation for her best friend "it's Ashlynn's saying that she's here."

…

Ashlynn's head spun as she entered the castle she had called home for seven years. The sounds of explosions echoed through the halls, dust clouds plumed around her making it hard to breath and she could hear screams of pain and shouted curses surrounding her as she ran as fast as she could to the Great Hall.

Skidding through the double doors she looked around the place she used to eat all her meals in. The house tables had gone and there were no colourful banners hanging from the beams holding up the starry sky. Instead there were bodies and blood and families in tears. There were three young witches and wizards scattered around the hall with a basic medibag each and Madam Pomfrey kneeling beside a teenager covered in dirt, cuts and bruises. Making a beeline for the school's healer Ashlynn called to the woman who had patched her up so many times after clumsy moments with Tonks and quidditch games.

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm here to help." Ashlynn said, loud and clear above the noise in the hall "I graduated from healer training at St Mungo's a few years ago and then completed my specialism in Emergency Care. I've been living with muggles since then and have brought with me an adapted muggle machine to detect and diagnose serious head injuries. Where do you want me and what do you want me to?"

"Healers come here!" The three young healers rushed over at Madam Pomfrey's call. Ashlynn noticed that none of them could have graduated Hogwarts yet but they were here and serving so valiantly. "This is Healer Bird, she is a St Mungo's trained Emergency Care Healer and has a way to diagnose head injuries. She is now in charge of triage so you report to her as well as to me. If you suspect a head injury you send them straight to her, even a few seconds can make the difference between life and death." Madam Pomfrey explained sharply before sending them back to their stations and speaking directly to Ashlynn "You and I will spread the most serious cases between us, all others go to the three trainees, just call out 'Healer' and at least one of them will come." She gripped Ashlynn's shoulders firmly. "Ashlynn dear, we cannot save everyone tonight so get into that healer mentality, take a breath and set up your workstation over by the main doors."

…

Several hours of horror, fear, destruction and brokenness later Percy Weasley entered the Great Hall, carrying one of his younger brothers in his arms.

"What happened Percy?" Ashlynn asked evenly as she laid Fred's body out and began to run diagnostic tests. She could already see he was bloodied and bruised, covered in rubble dust and his breathing was so shallow she could have mistaken him for dead already.

"Rookwood collapsed a wall on him. I dug him out and carried him here." Percy replied, his voice empty as shock set into his body. Sadly the healers were so overwhelmed with critical cases that there was nothing they could do for those in shock until the others in their care were either stabilised or dead.

Finding several broken ribs and a punctured lung as his main injuries Ashlynn lifted one of his eyelids and saw his pupil was blown. Grabbing her CT scanner she manoeuvred Fred's head to pass through it and observed the image on the screen. Glancing over at Madam Pomfrey and seeing her busy trying to save a woman from cardiac arrest she grit her teeth and formulated a plan.

"Healer!" She called out and one of the three young healers ran over immediately. "Hold his head and the machine perfectly steady. I don't care if You-Know-Who walks in here himself you do not even flinch."

Holding her wand steady thanks to her years of professional training and watching the image on the screen intently, Ashlynn carefully repaired the broken blood vessels in Fred's brain and siphoned off the excess blood with magic. She injected a variation of blood replenishing and pain killing potions into his arm so that he didn't have to move to drink, she then repaired the puncture in his lung and reset his ribs wrapping his chest in a couple of curved splints and bandages in the hope of keeping him steady long enough to heal. After rechecking the image from the CT scanner, Ashlynn was happy that his brain was healed as fully as possible for now and enough that he shouldn't die immediately. It was doubtful however that he would ever regain sight back in his right eye and he may have many complications including the increased risk of a stroke in the next few months and the likelihood he would be in a coma for a number of weeks at least.

Happy enough with his progress Ashlynn asked the Healer to levitate his stretcher to the recovery area near the far wall.

While she had been working on Fred, Voldemort had called a ceasefire and queues of bodies were being brought into the hall by family, friends and fellow fighters. She helped Madam Pomfrey with triage but sadly most of them had been hit with killing curses. A few were sent over to the younger healers for patching up but it was looking like the worst was over for now.

Ashlynn looked up and saw a pair of stretchers being brought in side by side and laid down in the area reserved for the dead. She saw a hand stretched out by each victim, each reaching for the hand of the other.

A harrowing scream was ripped from Ashlynn's throat as her knees gave out beneath her and she stumbled to the floor between the pair.

Limp brown hair hung around the shoulders of her best friend. Tonks' eyes were shut as her hand reached for her husband. The girl lying in front of her had been as good as her sister, they spent eleven year living together and fourteen as best friends, she was her confidant, her supporter, her first contact when anything good or bad or mundane happened, she was another part of her soul. Ashlynn felt like her whole world was ripped apart.

…

Charlie was cold. His nose was blue, his skin was covered head to toe in goosebumps and his muscles shivered and spasmed constantly.

Charlie, however, didn't notice nor care about these facts.

He and fourteen other dragon keepers had just crossed the North Sea on the backs of some truly formidable creatures. As the leader of the expedition Charlie moved to the front of the thunder of dragons and their keepers, guiding the way across the Scottish highlands towards Hogwarts Castle.

The battle was raging as they arrived, bright lights of every colour flashed through the windows and clouds of dust billowed out of the gaping holes in the sides of walls and towers all around the building. There were heaps of rubble on the grounds having been blown out of or fallen from the castle's structure and, around these heaps, Charlie could see trolls and giants fighting with heavy clubs as well as hundreds of acromantula scrabbling around to destroy anyone they could find. There were small fires dotted around the fighting and across the skies flew, what appeared to be, torn pieces of dark cloth.

"Dementors" Charlie called to the other riders as the approach in a tight formation "wands up, they'll know where here soon enough so let's send in our patronuses first to clear the way!"

Raising their wands in unison the fifteen dragon keepers cast corporeal patronuses, a male Romanian Longhorn formed of bright silver light led the way forward as it erupted majestically from Charlie's wand.

The patronuses cleared away the dementors enough to provide them with a tunnel through to the battle and on Charlie's shout of 'Bring the fire!' they dove in and joined the fray.

When a ceasefire was called Charlie and his team landed their dragons on the roof of the castle and made their way down to the great hall through the halls he used to call home.

…

Charlie's senses were overwhelmed as he neared the great hall, there were so many things wrong with the sight, the smell of death and the sounds of mourning filled his world.

A heart wrenching scream tore through the chaotic noise of the Great Hall as he neared the doors and his legs ran towards the sound before he had even registered what he'd heard or was doing.

Ashlynn was drenched in blood of varying colours, from vivid red of recently shed to the caked on brown that had been there for hours, it mixed with rubble dust and dirt from the grounds to cover her skin and clothes entirely. His legs continued to run towards her to comfort her as she knelt, her body shaking in distress and her hacking sobs tearing through the room.

His arms were already reached out to her when he saw the body she was shielding with her own.

Tonks.

One of his two very best friends in the world lay lifeless on the cold floor of the Great Hall while the other lay across her, entirely broken. Even when they hadn't see each other in person he and Tonks had always managed to find a way to speak, either through Walnut carrying their letters and photos back and forth or via international floo calls which found each of them sat on the floor at their respective ministries babbling away about everything and nothing. Even half the world hadn't succeeded in tearing their friendship apart.

He fell apart.

His knees hit the floor hard and he fell forward wrapping his arms around Ashlynn and Tonks. His body shook in grief as his screams and sobs mingled with Ashlynn's and they mourned the loss of their best friend. Their hearts and souls were ripped apart with every breath they took without her as they fell apart together.