Chapter One: 25 Minutes Later

Summary: Voldemort was dead but they couldn't celebrate yet. Whilst the remaining Order members attempt to capture the rogue Death Eaters, everyone else searched the debris for survivors.

Set immediately after Book Seven, Chapter Thirty-Six. T/W: Injuries. Death.

Characters/Pairings: A Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and OC centric story. Mentions to other characters. Ron/Hermione pairing.

Ron coughed as he helped clear away the debris of what was once the East Wing Wall of Hogwarts. The air was thick with dust and it rose with every piece of stone they levitated. Still, their search for survivors continued.

Harry had defeated Voldemort, dealt the final blow, and won the Second Wizarding War but they couldn't celebrate yet. Most of the remaining Order went after the rogue Death Eaters, having captured those too injured to Apparate. Everyone else either attended to the wounded or searched the debris for survivors.

Hermione and Ron teamed up to search together.

"I'm going to look over here," Ron told Hermione as he walked out into the courtyard.

"Let me know if you need help," she called back.

Ron cast Lumos and shone a bright light over the rubble.

"Hello? Is anybody out here? Hello!?" he called out.

A small voice answered, "Help."

"Can you hear me? Where are you?"

Ron started searching frantically through the debris, moving huge pillars out of the way. He levitated a large chunk, revealing a small girl underneath. She was wearing her school uniform, with the bright red and gold detailing of a Gryffindor. He recognised the face. McDonald, he thought her name was. She would be in about fifth year now.

He reached out his hand to help pull her out.

"I-I'm stuck," she breathed frantically, desperately gasping for air.

Ron redirected his light onto her body. Her legs were trapped beneath a huge stone chunk. A large puddle of blood seeped from a cut underneath her. She would bleed out if he didn't get help now.

"Hermione? HERMIONE!?" he screamed.

She came running around the corner, wand out and pointed towards his voice.

"What is it, Ron?" She audibly gasped when she saw the partially crushed girl. "I'll get a healer."

Hermione sprinted off in the direction of the Great Hall.

"Can you sit forward for me? I need to see where you're bleeding from."

The girl nodded through her ragged breathing. Ron gently moved her forward to reveal her back. A piece of wood had splinted off the structure and pierced through her flesh. His heart dropped.

"Is it bad?"

"Don't worry, Hermione is getting help. Why don't you tell me your name?"

"Natalie," the girl coughed, leaving a splutter of blood around her lips.

"I'm Ron. We're in the same house," he tried to distract her from the pain.

"I know. Everyone knows who you are at school."

"Oh."

"D-Did we win the war?"

"We did. Harry Potter killed Voldemort. The war is over."

They shared a small smile together before Natalie coughed up more blood.

"Just hold on. Hermione will be back any minute now."

He held her hand as tears trickled down her cheeks.

"I can't feel my legs. Why can't I feel them? I'm so tired. It's hard to keep my eyes open."

"Keep your eyes on me. Just look at me. It'll be okay."

Her gaze was cloudy and unfocused. "I'm only fifteen. I know I shouldn't have stayed behind. I-I just wanted to help in the war," she desperately wanted him to understand.

"You did your part. You're a hero."

"I-I'm a hero…"

Her grip slackened and slipped from Ron's hand.

"Natalie! Natalie, just hold on for me. Hermione is almost here. Hermione will… she'll…" Ron began to panic.

Tears welled in his eyes as his throat tightened. He gripped Natalie's shoulders, unsure of what to do.

"Natalie! Please!"

She was limp in Ron's arms.

"No. No. No. No," Ron muttered.

He laid her down on the cold floor. Her chest had stopped moving and when he checked for a breath, he felt nothing.

"Natalie," he whispered.

Her face was blank with dull unseeing eyes reflecting the starry night above. She was covered in dust and blood and looked all too small beneath the rubble. Ron felt a lump in his throat and couldn't stop the onslaught of tears running down his face. He tried to compose himself but the unfairness of it all tormented his mind. They had lost so much that night.

An image of his brother Fred slipped forward as his sobs loudened. It was at that moment that Hermione ran around the corner with a worn-out Madam Pomfrey trailing behind her.

"Ron! What's her condition? Is she still…" her words caught in her mouth, when she saw the utter devastation on his face.

He tried to clear his throat but his voice was heavy with grief, "It's too late. She's gone."

Madam Promfrey bowed her head at the news before returning to the other survivors that needed her care. Hermione approached Ron and slowly embraced him. It was all too much for him. Her sobbed into her hair, crying for all those that had been lost.

For his fallen friends.

For his brother.