Chapter Eleven...

'I love you.' The words echoed in my head. Hermione loved me. She loved me the way I loved her. But she had made me promise that I'd never fall in love with her. What was that all about?

I stared at the scar across my chest. It wasn't possible. It had to be a coincidence.

You could probably tell I was in a bit of a strange mood at that moment in time. First of all, I loved a girl who loved me but didn't want me to love her however technically she didn't know I loved her so it was all good for now. I also had multiple wounds with blood pouring out faster than a waterfall and to top it all off, I had just found a scar shaped like the Dark Mark stamped on my body.

Wonderful. How bloody dandy!

I was sitting there, drowning myself in self pity when the Great Hall doors whipped open, wind blowing in and random items going flying through the air.

Myself and the other few hundred students all sat up, swearing and moaning in pain. I wondered where all the teachers had gone but then realised I probably didn't want to know.

"Oliver? What's going on?" Hermione asked, sitting up.

"I don't know..." I replied nervously, backing slightly into the corner.

I didn't have time to say anything else because with one great big flash of green light, I felt the world around me disappear into nothing.

"Hermione!" I tried to scream but nothing came out of my mouth. No sound, no words, nothing except air.

Horribly, in one instant, I realised there was no oxygen. It must have been You-Know-Who! He was going to suffocate us all! As quickly as it had come upon us, the feeling and light disappeared. I seemed to be sitting in the exact same position as I had been before and Hermione was next to me still.

"What happened?" she asked, lips quivering.

"Are you okay?" I asked, not really answering her question.

She nodded slowly. "I think so... I couldn't breathe."

"Me neither," I answered.

"That," said a voice from the doorway. "Was the finishing of dark magic forever."

I squinted my eyes in an effort to see who it was. There was an eerie white light coming from whoever it was. My jaw fell open in awe as the light dimmed slightly and I recognised the person.

"Percy?" I stammered out loud.

Sure enough, it was that same old prefect who'd wanted to squeeze the pimples on his nose the night of the ball. He looked exactly the same too, except for those strange white robes he seemed to have changed into.

I don't think he heard me. "That green light you saw symbolised the final destruction of Lord Voldemort and all traces of the evil he left behind."

"Percy, what's up with the clothes?" I couldn't hold my tongue any longer.

He turned to me, looking a bit weird, sort of like a ghost, and smiled. "Later guys," he finally said and with that, the white light of Percy disappeared in a blink.

Hermione turned to me. "What the..."

"Whoa, hold it!" I cried. "This is ridiculous! You said Percy was dead. That was Percy. Obviously he's not dead or it wouldn't have been him would it? Now, if someone could please fill me in on everything!" I couldn't believe the sudden rush of words escaping my mouth. The banishment of all evil? Puh-lease!

Somebody else must have heard the conversation because they joined in. "The ghosts of this castle are dead aren't they?" said Professor Dumbledore. "Yet they manage to stick around eh?"

All as one, our heads snapped to his direction. He was alive!

And standing right next to him was a small figure, looking tired and ragged however still as alive and kicking as before. It was Harry Potter.

"Harry!" cried Hermione as she leapt to her feet in a huge effort, winced under the pain and ran into his arms where Ron also joined them in a group hug.

For once, I didn't feel like being in the spot light and was quite content with watching the girl of my dreams reunite with her friends.

* * * * *

It was quite sometime before things got back to normal in the castle. In many ways, I know things will never be the same. For example, the death of Percy was the most tragic event recorded in all of Hogwart's history. There was memorial after memorial and though Percy may have annoyed more people than he befriended, everyone had known him and everyone grieved in their own little way. I was surprised at how his death affected Noel and Charlotte in particularly. They refused to speak to anyone for weeks after that terrible day and hadn't come to his funeral.

Hermione and I were a little awkward to each other and had many questions we wanted answered, regarding Voldemort and regarding our feelings for one another. I spoke to her on friend-only terms and she seemed fine with it, even though inside I wasn't satisfied. I wanted more, but I wasn't sure how to go about it, especially after such an event.

It all might sound a little sudden to you so I'll go back a bit and try to explain what happened immediately after Voldemort's execution.

Professor Dumbledore enchanted the castle so we had light again and we were all given the medical treatment we needed. We were treated for blood loss, shock, memory loss, concussion, cuts, burns, gashes, grazes, headaches, stomach aches, and any other ache or loss you can think of. Unfortunately there was no medication to help us get through the horrible night and everyone was wary of each other and unsure of who to trust.

Next Professor Dumbledore, with the aid of the other teachers who all returned in good health, debriefed us over what happened. This went on for so long that I can't actually remember it all however I managed to figure out that basically Voldemort had tried to take over Hogwarts, believing he had restored enough power. He had managed to strategize a way through every possible problem he could encounter however he had failed to think of a solution to one thing. The ghosts. He had completely forgotten them and they pretty much saved all of our lives with their quick thinking. As much as I hate most of the school's ghosts, I owe them my life and everyone has been treating them a bit better lately. Well, a little bit better anyway.

Percy had died from a terrible curse cast on him which pretty much just wiped him off his feet and killed him instantly. It was the same curse that he had tried on Harry Potter, but Hermione had distracted him and therefore he had taken Harry and the other teachers else where, free from distractions. That's when he had tried to curse Hermione, but missed and got me instead. That was one other thing I was very concerned about.

I had shown the scar to all the teachers and doctors but they were stumped. It wasn't until Professor Dumbledore had seen it that we had any inkling into what it may have been.

"Hmm..." his brow furrowed as he examined my chest in a way that embarrassed me.

I didn't like the look on his face. It meant bad news.

"Oliver, it appears that it is indeed the dark mark. It also appears to be the curse that was used on Percy Weasley. During the examination on his body, they found the same scar on his chest."

I trembled slightly but was beginning to get used to the words 'Percy is dead'. "What does it mean?" I asked.

"I am positively stumped. For some reason, the curse did not kill you or harm you in any physical way that we can tell. Asides from your bumps and bruises, you appear in fine health."

I nodded though I was totally confused. Sometimes it's better not to question things. I was safe, I was healthy and so was Hermione and that was all that mattered.

A few months later, I was sitting in my dormitory, recalling on the events from that evening, thinking about Percy and his sheer bravery when I remembered something that hadn't crossed my mind since that night.

Hermione's request.

She wanted me to write something.

For a second I considered the original idea of writing her name on a scrap piece of parchment, folding it into a paper aeroplane and zooming it across the common room and into her head. I dismissed it quickly, telling myself I needed to be serious about this for once, even though it was appealling.

So I pulled out my rolls of parchment. She may not have been dead but I still wanted to do something for her. And I still wanted her to know I loved her. I had never actually gotten round to telling her with all this other stuff happening and all.

I began to write our story. I started off with this paragraph and after that, the words just flowed. Our story, our times and the way I had fallen in love with a girl called Hermione Granger.

"I didn't know what to expect when I decided to apply for the English School of Quidditch (ESQ). It wasn't really something I'd questioned. I was going to be a pro Quidditch player and that was the end of story, it had been my life's dream for as long as I could possibly remember and the thought of it not coming true was something too unbearable to even think about. I guess I just thought that seeing as I was a darn good player and the captain of the good ol' Gryffindor team that I'd immediately be accepted. After all, I didn't know any other player who could beat me with those Quaffles."

And here is where I am up to. And Hermione, as you read this, I just wanted to let you know, that promises are made to be broken and yes... I do love you too. You want to know my theory on why the curse didn't work on me?

Because, I had you to live for.

The End.

Author's Note: There you go everyone, the end of 'At Second Sight'. Thanks for your beautiful reviews, thanks for sending me such lovely e-mails and comments and for getting so 'into' the story. It's another happy ending yeah, except for poor Percy but hey, someone had to die or it just wouldn't have been right. Sorry if it was too short but it felt right to me, as the author, to end it here and yes, this ending had been in my head since the very start of writing the fic. I hope you are all satisifed with how it went, I think I am and now... I'm trying to shape up some ideas for a new fic. Who should it be about? You tell me in your reviews and also, I'm always struggling to think up character names so if you want your name used, leave it in the review too. I can't promise I'll put you in and I can't promise that you'll be a nice character (I might make you an evil Slytherin) but it's your choice! So that's it for now folks, keep reading and writing and fanfiction forever!

Love,
Sam