Ron Weasley silently climbed the crumbling stairs of Gryffindor tower, wiping a thin coating of dust of the banister as he went. How long had it been now? Only a few short months; the attack had come the first week of April, just as the last of the snow was melting away. It was only July now; only July, but it felt like years that he'd had this huge, gaping hole in his existence.

His mind drifted off to that first moment, the millisecond of realization when it became clear what was happening.

At Hermione's insistence, they'd been studying for N.E.W.Ts in the library when Harry had suddenly become very, very still.

"Mate?" Ron punched Harry's arm lightly. "You alright?" But it was apparent that he wasn't. Hermione began to shiver slightly.

"R-ron?" She grabbed her wand instinctively. "Do you-feel that?" He was about to respond in the negative, when suddenly, he did. The cold, deadening presence of Voldemort's Dementors. Ever since Proffesor Vector had disappeared and been exposed as a spy for Voldemort, everyone had known that something like this was coming-it was inevitable.

The students were ordered back into their house dormitories so that the proffesors could cast a shielding charm around them, but everything was happening too fast. Many never made it back at all. Chunks of stone from walls that has stood for a thousand years began raining through the air. They'd found Ginny knocked unconscious outside Myrtle's lavatory and had to carry her with them.

Progress was slow, with Ginny's limp body held between Harry and himself, picking their way over what was quicly becoming a ruin. Until Hermione thought to carry her by levitation, they hardly moved at all. But over the feelings of panic, desperation, and even the bitter emotional void that the dementors had created, there shone one ray of hope; tonight, these years of uncertainty and fear would finally end. If Hogwarts fell, true, all would be lost, but if somehow they made it through...there was no doubt in anyone's mind that if Voldemort would ever be defeated, tonight was the night.

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,

And I say, it's alright.

They were ambushed by Death Eaters as they ducked out of the empty classroom where they'd been avoiding a train of dementors. After a brief but exhausting struggle, they found themselves in a place that seemed eerily familiar to both Harry and Ron. It was the Chamber of Secrets. They were tied up in various areas of the Chamber, the lifeless bodies of many of their fellow students strewn at their feet.

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter.

Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here;

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun

And I say it's alright

They were tortured, for what seemed like hours, for the sheer amusement of the Death Eaters who had captured them. When the abuse finally ended, it was replaced by something far, far worse-Lord Voldemort himself had entered the chamber, his 'pet' balisk, Nagini, at his feet.

Ron tried not to think of everything that had happened afterwards, but the memories came flooding back anyway, and he found himself clinging to one of the posts on his old bed for support.

Voldemort had found out the prophecy concerning Harry and himself in their sixth year, and had become even more determined to kill him.

Voldemort let Harry loose and instructed his minions to keep back, exactly as they had when the two foes had dueled in Harry's fourth year. But Voldemort had made himself a new wand, one whose core was not the brother to Harry's. There was no doubt who was the more powerful wizard, and it ended quickly.

But just as Voldemort had replaced his wand in his pocket with a grim smile of victory, something very peculiar had happened.

Wormtail, the former Maruder who had betrayed Harry's parents, suddenly fell to the ground, lifeless. While Voldemort gave the body a kick of both confusion and disgust, Harry stood up, quietly collected his wand from the floor, and killed Voldemort.

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces.

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here;

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,

And I say, it's alright.

In the first few weeks after the battle, life had been nothing more than facing the deaths. It wasn't just Hogwarts that had been attacked; it was an expansive struggle that had claimed lives at Beaxbatons, Durmstrang, and from the ranks of Aurors and members of the Order of the Pheonix. Ron was one of the hardest hit. His oldest brother, Bill, had already been murdered in their sixth year, but the fighting also claimed the lives of his mother, and Percy, who had finally joined the Order only a few short months back...

"Ron, Are you up here?" Hermione's voice called from the stairs. She stepped into the room and glanced at him with concern-it was quite apparent from the pained expression on his face what he was thinking about. She firmly clasped one of his tense hands in hers. "Are you counting the dead again, love?" she asked with a sorrowful sigh, glancing out the window at the tent-splashed grounds where the students had camped until the end of term. Past the tents there was a small graveyard where many of the deceased students were buried.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes.

Neville. Lee. Parvati. Cho. Justin Finch-Fletchey. Both the Creevey brothers...and that was only a sampling of names. And elsewhere...Victor Krum had been killed at Durmstrang, along with most of the students there who opposed Voldemort. Remus Lupin, the final Maruder, had died trying to fight off a Death Eater who was torturing Nymphadora Tonks.

A few of the Hogwarts staff had even succumbed...Proffesors Snape, Hooch, Trelwaney...

And Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's death had been particularly hard for Harry to take. Voldemort had overpowered him shortly before the confrontation in the Chamber of Secrets. No one had seen it happen, save for one Death Eater who had been captured afterwards. According to him, Dumbledore had refused to fight for his own life.

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting.

Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear;

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun.

And I say, it's alright.

Slowly, the pain had begun to clear away. Ron sensed vaguely that it was time for him to move on. That was why he had asked Hermione to come back to the castle with him...They had spent two years in fear, not knowing what would come tomorrow, who would die...The feeling of aprehension he felt every morning when he awoke was just beginning to leave him. Voldemort was gone, and that in itself was hard to accept.

"Yeah," Ron sighed, his face twisted into a wry smile. Hermione said nothing, because there was nothing to be said to that. They stood there, staring out the window, for a few moments more before Hermione gently broke the silence.

"Ron, it's getting dark. Harry and Ginny will be worried..."

The four of them shared a flat now, because living altogether seemed to make life more bearable. Somehow, the thought of his younger sister and best friend broke Ron out of his trance. He gave Hermione a smile that was half grin, half grimmace, and let out a deep sigh as if letting out the pain his life had been shrouded in for the past three months.

"Yeah," he agreed, squeezing Hermione's hand tightly. "Hmm, Harry asked me to pick up dinner. What do you think-Pizza or Chinese?

Hermione grinned at him. "There's this place with really great steamed dumplings..."

Here comes the sun, here comes the sun

It's alright, it's alright.