A/N Did you like it, thanks, this is the last chapter of my fic, I hope you guys like it. Listen, I know it's sad, but I needed it to happen, plus it gives Harry more depth. Look for the sequel; it has a lot of interesting things. Thank you to my Beta Reader Alex be4 hand for the beta reading of my next story and I promise I'll be chapters ahead for it Okays guys? Now on with the last Installment of Harry Potter and the Crystal of Kryptonite, and you guys will see why I changed the name so much, but I guess its just a better chapter title.
Chapter 33- Memento Mori
'I never thought it'd happen. I always thought I could protect her''Now she's gone. I don't ant to open my eyes, I don't want to go on'
'I want her to be there, it the world stops turning, when the storm is through'
'At the end I want her to be standing there with me.'
'Goodbye my love'.
Harry opened his eyes, the sunlight breaching in from the window hurt his cornucopia. Harry rolled over to face the other side and groaned as his side hurt.
"I thought I told you all I don't want a peep of noise, oh it's you!" Madam Pomfrey had poked her head into the Dream Team room. Harry just realized that there were more people inside of it. He reached over to the table, grabbing his glasses and sitting up. Stirs around him were the sounds of people waking up.
"Can I let them see me first?" Harry pleaded with Madam Pomfrey as quietly as he could. He wanted to see his family, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George, before she shooed them away. Pomfrey nodded.
"Blimey, who's being so loud?' Ron asked, rolling over on the floor, the other beds were being slept in by Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Hermione.
"Ron, be quiet!" Hermione said, sitting up.
"HARRY!" She screamed, running over to his bed. Ron's eyes shot open and he too hopped off of the floor to his friend's bedside.
'Harry, how are you feeling, how long have you been up?" Hermione pummeled him with questions. Harry didn't answer; he just pulled his two friends into a hug.
"Was it a dream?" He asked. Hermione and Ron looked down at their shoes. They knew what he was talking about. Ron cleared his throat,
"No, I'm sorry Harry, I should've been there." Ron muttered, looking down. Harry bit his bottom lip,
"No, it's my fault, I couldn't protect her; you were helping Dumbledore. I should've-" he cut off, it hurt him to talk about it. He couldn't believe she had died, he couldn't, he wouldn't, but he had to.
"Does everybody know about yesterday?" Harry asked, looking out the window. He saw part of the lake; it looked bigger. Ron and Hermione looked at each other again, the way they did when they didn't want to tell Harry something,
"See Harry, the thing is you didn't faint for only a day." Hermione started sheepishly. Harry looked her straight in the eye,
"What a week, two?" He asked, not at all expecting the answer that was coming,
"It's the twenty-fourth." Ron said blankly,
"Only ten days," Harry said, wondering what the fuss was about.
"Of June." Hermione said, looking as if she were bracing herself from a physical attack from Harry. Harry fell back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
"You were out for one-hundred and thirty days." Ron said. Obviously he had counted.
"I. . I. . What happened that day?" Harry asked directly. At that moment though Madam Pomfrey came in and rushed everybody out, including Mrs. Weasley and Ginny.
* * * * *
"Harry, we need to talk." Hermione as the three came out of the kitchens. Hermione had gotten a picnic lunch for the three and had decided to go outside before meeting the rest of Hogwarts. So far the only other Hogwarts student that had seen him was Ginny, the two talked briefly for a moment, but Hermione pulled him away.
"Potter." Malfoy stopped in front of Harry, staring at him in an almost challenging way.
"Buzz off Malfoy." Ron said, balling up his fists, but Harry saw something else. Malfoy was sizing Harry up, not challenging him. He was testing too see something.
"It's okay Ron." Harry said, taking a step closer to Malfoy. Draco backed up,
"What do you want Potter?" He asked. Harry took a step closer and Malfoy took a step back.
"I want you to know something Draco, " Harry started, practically spiting the word out, "You're not as bad as eve you think you are, and I know it." Harry smiled mockingly and walked past Malfoy, followed by Ron and Hermione, leaving him standing there.
"What was that supposed to mean?" Ron asked as they opened the Oak Doors that lead outside,
"I don't know, I can just sense it, I have for a while, Malfoy isn't as bad as he acts, he may still hate me, but he's not evil." Harry wanted to say more, but Hermione covered his eyes with her hands,
"Now Harry, don't try to peek, just follow Ron." She said, leading him on a path. Harry could feel the rustle of leaves below him and guessed that they were going into the forest,
"Hermione wh-" Harry wanted to ask where they were going, but Hermione cut him off,
"We're almost there, yes, now!" She released her hands and Harry found himself in a perfect little setting. It was a serene enclose with a waterfall. It had lush palm trees and a small steam straight through the middle. All the rocks were huge; it was like an island paradise.
"What is this place?" Harry asked. Ron hopped across the stream and sat on one of the rocks,
"It's our place." He said. Harry didn't need to ask anymore, he already knew. Those three words summed it all up for him. Harry hopped the stream and sat down on the rock opposite of Ron. Finally Hermione jumped across and sat on the rock with Ron, pulling out the food.
* * * * *
"So then Krum, and plow, Lynch does the Potter Plunge and grabs it from him, Harry it was so cool!" Ron was explaining the last Quidditch match between Ireland and Bulgaria. Harry was delighted that his accidental move was now a pro sports icon everywhere. The three continued to walk back toward the castle; it was st8ill daylight, but getting sort of late to be in the forest. Hermione was currently explaining to Harry everything he had missed in lessons, and ways she would help him make it up in the summer.
"Yeah, so maybe we could get McGonagall to let us three use magic outside of school so we can practice with you." She said, walking toward the end of the path that led to Hogwarts.
"Hermione!" Ron hissed, but she just put her hand up,
"No, Hermione we're coming toward Hogwarts!" He hissed. She nodded hastily and kept talking until Ron finally ran in front of the two,
"I can't let you two pass, sorry, if umm, Dumbledore catches us we'll be in trouble." Ron said, holding his arms spread out,
"Oh really Ron, you know we got clearance to come here!" Hermione said annoyed. Harry pushed past Ron,
"What aren't you trying to show me?" He asked. Ron grabbed his collar, but it slipped as Harry ran onto the grounds and looked up at the castle.
"Oh my." He fell to his knees, followed by Ron and Hermione who ran out too, falling to their knees,
"I'm sorry Harry, we forgot, we didn't want you to see it." Hermione said.
The castle was huge, though part of it; the south end by the lake was completely destroyed. The brick was actually in chunks, as if it had been recently hit by a trebuchet.
"Did I do that?" Harry asked blankly. He needed to hear that he did, he needed to know it wasn't all some dream, or some mistake,
"Yes."
"Hermione, Ron. We're going to walk back to the castle, then you guys are going o tell me exactly what happened that day." It wasn't a request. They walked back to Gryffindor Tower.
* * * * *
Harry sat down on the sofa in the common room, nobody else was there, they were all probably at lunch.
"What exactly happened that day, what happened when Fleur got. . . killed." Harry drifted off a little. Hermione sighed a little and began,
"Okay, after you sent me and Fleur off, we were running toward the gates, but we saw Ron struggling with Dumbledore, and he didn't have his wand, so we ran back to help him. You and You-know-who were fighting in this really fast karate style, we couldn't even see you two most of the time." Ron had taken over form that point,
"So we started to carry Dumbledore and he regained consciousness, but he was hurt badly. Then Volde, Voldemort, " He struggled with the name, " cam and knocked Dumbledore, Hermione and I into the trees on the outskirts of the forest again. Then you magically appeared in front of Voldemort and he stabbed Fleur in her chest. Then you got real mad and your aura started to grow to the point that even normal people could see it. Dumbledore knew what you were doing and did this spell that put me and Hermione in a bubble with him and floated us away, but we were looking down and you erupted." He finished somewhat anticlimactic. Hermione however took over,
"What he's trying to say is that your powers took full effect and your aura spread out, blowing up everything it met. You-Know-Who' body was destroyed, but you also blew up a big chunk off the castle, Hagrid's cabin, and you tore up all the grass. Most of the damage was fixed with spells though."
Harry slumped back on the couch. He did all that, what about Fleur's body, what about the Kryptonite stone?
"So, what happened to Fleur and the stone?" He asked aloud. Hermione filled this one,
"As for Fleur's body, you kept it in the bubble that you were in when you erupted, and when you fell out you landed on her. The stone though, Voldemort has the stone." She said his name with confidence, and even though he didn't say anything, Harry was proud of her.
"What about the muggle armies?" Harry asked, standing up, Ron stood up too,
"They disappeared, and left no trace of them. When the Order checked them out they weren't brainwashed."
* * * * *
"Hey Harry, is this the piece of paper with your aura notes on it?" Ron asked as the boys were changing to go to Fred and George's graduation ceremony.
"I still can't believe nobody told me Hogwarts had graduation ceremonies."
"I thought you knew honestly, they're only open to families though, so not many people actually come to one before theirs."
"Can I go then, to the twin's I mean, if it's only family."
"Don't ask stupid questions Harry, let's go." Ron said, tossing Harry his aura notes. He hastily stuffed them in the pockets of his Dress Robes before continuing.
At the graduation the Valor Victorian got up to say a few words, everybody clapped politely, and the night was almost over with no interference until,
Fred and George Weasley took the stage.
"Now, I know all of you have at least heard of us, we're the infamous Weasley twins." One of the parents called out,
"Are you anywhere near as bad as the Marauder's?" Harry, Ron and Hermione laughed while Fred and George smirked,
"We're sorry, we're not that good, yet. Though I bet most of you probably remembered the Marauder's first year, when they turned all the teachers into banana's, or they're second year when they made all the women in the school fall deeply in love with James Potter."
"Or in third year when they locked Molly and Arthur in the broom closet for two days, or fourth year when they gave all the Slytherins a sleeping potion to make it seem like they were skipping class."
"Fifth year when they posted a picture of McGonagall and Sinistra together, and Sixth and Seven year when they made various body parts disappear from people."
"Well, we want to relive the Marauder's legacy, so, Superiorisia!" Fred and George yelled together, causing all the Slytherins to fall asleep. A large banner with McGonagall and Sinistra making out fell upon the wall. All the teachers in the room turned into bananas. Molly and Arthur disappeared, and various people's appendages disappeared. Plus Harry had to back away as all the girls in the room, including Hermione started after him. He dodged a banana McGonagall chasing after him in circles as Hermione caught,
"C'mon Harry, we love you!" She chanted, until the twins did the counter spell. Molly and Arthur appeared, in the middle of banging onto a door, all the teachers turned back, all the Slytherins awoke. The banner left, the girls stopped groping Harry and all appendages grew back." Dumbledore walked onstage and took over the mike,
"Certainly the best performance we've had in ages, everybody give the Weasley twins and round of applause." The whole ceremony clapped for them, including some of the Slytherin parents. All in all it was a good graduation dinner.
* * * * *
Harry had stayed away from as many students as possible, he had eaten his meals at the most in opportune times, he went to bed early, or left the castle until really late. In fact he hadn't run into anyone other than Gryffindors all weekend. Monday was the day to board the Hogwarts express, yes, tomorrow was the last day.
Harry was packing his stuff together, and he pulled out his Dress Robes, reaching into them and grabbing the Aura notes he had made. He had finally found out what every color meant and the spectrum they were on;
White- PureYellow- Naively Sweet
Green- Kind and Forgiving
Blue- Average
Purple- Mischievous
Orange- Callous
Red- Evil
Black- Pure Evil
"So that's your spectrum huh? When did you see pure black?" Ron asked over his shoulder. Harry put the paper on his bed,
"When we were fighting his spectrum was white, but when he stopped to talk that's when it turned black. I figured an Aura is only white when a person is actually using their powers. Some people like Ginny though, are slowly gaining theirs, so theirs are always white." Ron looked at him with a look of half confusion on his face.
"Yeah, so umm, are you coming down to the Leaving feast, or do you wanna just get something from the kitchens?" Ron asked. Harry wanted to just leave everybody, but he couldn't, he knew he couldn't and he knew he'd have to face them. Sooner is better than later.
Harry Ron and Hermione walked into the Great Hall, nearly everyone was already sitting in their seats, and as soon as the trio entered, the hall shushed. All eyes went to Harry and small whispers broke out all around.
"Do you think maybe they could be a little less obvious?" Hermione asked sarcastically. Harry shrugged though,
"It's what they do, just ignore them. I have one question though, how much does everyone know about what happened?" Hermione scooted him over to a few empty seats at Gryffindor tale,
"Voldemort attacked you and destroyed the building. Fleur and Dumbledore fought him and Fleur died." Hermione said as that sat down, adding an after note, "But the Delacour's know what happened." Harry froze inside when Hermione finished that statement. He had forgot about what the Delacour's would think of him. He didn't protect their daughter; he couldn't protect their daughter.
Harry went through dinner with strange looks coming from people, mostly sympathetic, and some just mean. Dumbledore stood up when the food was finished to say a few words, Harry had been dreading this part of the night for a while, what would Dumbledore say about him?
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to say some things before we depart form the castle, some of us for the last time, some of us for the first time. Three months ago our school was attacked by Lord Voldemort; an evil wizard with a power hungry persona. He not only destroyed part of our home, but he also killed one of our most beloved teachers. I would like everyone to hold up their goblets in respect to Fleur Delacour, she had taken up my offer of last year to promote togetherness, and that is the only way to defeat evil." The whole Great Hall stood up and raised their goblets, even Malfoy. Harry stared at him and he stared back, they had an understanding.
"Now, I would like to thank all the teachers for helping me this year, and I hope, sincerely that you will come here next year with smiles on your faces and your burdens lightened," He looked at Harry when he said the last part.
* * * * *
"Harry, I wanted to give you this." Hermione handed him something as they all walked toward the carriages in the morning. It was a picture frame with Lily Potter in it.
"Thanks Hermione."
"Tap the corner twice." She said. Harry obliged and suddenly the picture in the frame changed to a picture of Fleur, smiling profusely and waving,
"Thanks Hermione."
"Ron did the charm for me, I didn't know how." Harry opened his mouth a little wide at that remark, but he had a feeling Hermione had let Ron do the charm.
"Oh, stop playing Hermione, we both know you let me . . . thanks though." He said. Ron, Harry and Hermione climbed into the very last carriage even though there were many more in front. Just as Harry was about to close the door and hand grabbed on to it.
"Hi Harry, can I sit with you guys?" Ginny Weasley asked, Harry pushed the door open and scooted over for Ginny to climb in. She hopped up into the carriage and pulled the door shut as the carriage took off toward Hogsmeade. The ride was incredibly quiet as the four rode, Ginny throwing worried glances at Harry.
When the carriage stopped at the village Ginny opened the door and climbed out of the carriage, Harry climbed out behind her and shut the door quickly in Hermione's face, holding it shut by leaning his back on it,
"Ginny, I'm alright, you don't have to treat me like I'm fragile."
"That's the problem Harry, you aren't alright, I'm not even alright and you just found out. You're my friend Harry and I want you to feel better. Come stay with us this summer, I'm sure Dumbledore will let you, just forget the Dursley's."
"I know Ginny, but I think I just need to get away from it all for a while." He said looking down. Ginny walked closer to Harry and hugged him before backing up. Harry stepped away from the door and Hermione tumbled out, she had been pushing against it all along. Harry caught her quickly and held her up as Ron climbed out, giving the two a weird look,
"Alright, I don't even want to know what's going on." He laughed and walked past them, walking next to Ginny. They scrambled onto the Hogwarts Express, walking toward the back. Harry saw a first year walking into the back compartment, but another girl, obviously her sister pulled her back,
"No, you can't have that one, that's Harry Potter and the Weasley's compartment." Harry and Ron looked at each other and laughed before entering the compartment themselves, looking back at the girl talking to her sister. ("See!")
* * * * *
The train ride went by unexpectedly uneventful. Malfoy didn't show up, the Weasley twins showed up briefly. By the end of the ride Ginny had fallen asleep on Harry's shoulder and Ron and Hermione were asleep lying on each other. Harry was left awake to ponder his thoughts alone.
When the train stopped everyone got off of it, walking slowly to King's Cross. Harry stepped out to find Mrs. Weasley waiting for him with a big hug.
"I'll miss you Harry, don't forget I love you." Hermione said as she hugged him. Harry and Ron stared at each other, nodding. It wasn't words but the expressions were more than words could say. Ginny hugged him too,
"Bye Harry." She said, letting go. Harry looked at the Weasley's, his real family. He turned around to find Uncle Vernon standing there waiting for him. At first he opened his mouth to say something, but he looked into Harry's eyes and must have seen something there because he quickly changed it to,
"Come on Harry." The two walked off through King's Cross-, the year he had just come from was one he wouldn't forget easily. Slowly he pulled the picture frame from the small travel bag he was carrying along with his trunk, looking at the picture of Lily, and then tapping the edge to find a picture of Fleur. He traced it slowly with his fingertips,
"I Love You."
A/N- I'm tearing up, I don't want it to end. Don't worry, everyone I will have the sequel up soon, I have to talk to my beta about it. If there are any questions you have, or things you didn't understand review with your email address and I'll explain them and I may even add them into my next story. I didn't want it to end, but I had to, thank you all.