DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
CHAPTER 17
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once."
-William Shakespeare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kingsley had rounded up all the inner circle members and sent them off to prison by port key. When he was finished, Altair gave him a short nod and disappeared. She had traveled as far as the heavens had commanded her to go, and she was ready to return back to the House of the Heavens.
When Kingsley saw her leave he gaped at the spot she'd been standing. "Bloody typical" he muttered, knowing that Sorcerers of the Stars only went as far as they had to. "How convenient for the immortals that they can just disappear and reappear as they wish" he grumbled. He knew what he needed to do next: get the attacking squads the hell out of there. They'd suffered enough casualties, and Harry and Dumbledore would be able to find their own way out if they defeated Voldemort.
Placing a charmed whistle in his mouth he blew it loud and clear. It was designed to reach the ears of all members of the fighting squads, despite the noise surrounding them. The sound of the whistle was the found of the retreat, and he ran from the casino to the down stairs of the club blowing into the metal whistle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was in the process of dueling woman with flaming red hair when she heard the whistle. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" She yelled, feeling her voice grow horse from the shouting and the dust. She left the woman laying on the ground and headed out the way she had entered. She knew the exit had to be orderly, and she grabbed Ron and the twins on their way out to help her cover the backs of the retreating fighters, and to keep the order so nobody would be trampled.
They fired curses back and forth, and Hermione was finding it particularly difficult to hit one of the Death Eaters whose agility was allowing him to dodge back and forth between tables, firing curses each time. One of the curses hit Fred Weasley in the eye, and he went down in a shriek of pain. Hermione was relieved to see that almost everyone was out, but she still couldn't hit the one Death Eater that was causing them problems.
As the last of their fighters left, Hermione was able to reduce one of the tables the Death Eater was using for cover into splinters, and then stupefy him.
"Let's get the bloody hell out of here!" Ron said, his voice squeaking a bit with fear, reminding Hermione of their Hogwarts days. George helped Fred to his feet, and Hermione saw that the curse he had taken had left him in a very weak and injured state, with blood covering his eye region. Ron supported Fred on the other side and they headed off, Hermione taking up the rear. She looked over to the staircase where she knew Harry had gone, desperately hoping to see him come running down the steps, but he did not, and she knew he may not be returning to base for quite some time, if ever. Her stomach began to hurt with a nervous pain, but she pressed forward. Soon they would return to Hogwarts to ascertain exactly how much damage their forces had obtained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't call me by the name of my dirty Muggle father!" Voldemort spat, and Harry just smirked, raising his hand level with his nemesis.
Voldemort could tell that Harry had grown more powerful. There were no more baby fits of anger from the young man, nor any hiding or uncertainty. They were both set on one thing: fulfilling the prophecy.
Voldemort attacked first, using the killing curse. Harry's arm quickly pointed to the ceiling, and a chunk of plaster fell, blocking the curse.
"You'll need to do better than that." Harry said, his voice even.
Voldemort laughed a hollow laugh. "I was about to say the same."
Then all hell broke loose. Curses whizzed through the air and the two wizards dodged and block with super speed. One of the walls was made of a thick oak, but when a curse meant for Harry missed him, the wall erupted in splinters, most of the fragments bouncing off of Harry's jacket, but one catching him on the cheek and drawing blood. Harry jumped up into the air as a curse passed under his legs, and he landed in the next room over through the opening Voldemort had created. Landing in the pile of rubble, Harry launched curse at Voldemort which knocked the snake off his feet.
Harry had Voldemort on his back, and that was just the way he wanted him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ron and George rushed Fred to the hospital wing, Hermione searched for Minerva McGonagal to get a damage report.
Hermione found McGonagal pale and flustered in the Great Hall, pacing about and for the first time ever, looking completely lost.
Shocked, Hermione went up to her and placed her hand lightly on McGonagal's shoulder. "Professor?"
McGonagal jumped up into the air as though she'd just seen a ghost. "Oh. Hermione dear. it's you.I" rambling, she stopped abruptly and lost her balance, nearly falling before Hermione balanced her out and helped her into a seat.
"Professor, are you alright? Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey."
McGonagal looked as though she hadn't heard a word of what Hermione had said, and was staring off into nothingness. Finally she said in a soft tone, "call me Minerva dear, after all, you don't go to Hogwarts any longer."
Hermione was growing frightened. It seemed as though the Headmistress had gone into shock, and Hermione didn't know what to do about it. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked, her voice sounding small and scared.
Suddenly, McGonagal looked as though she had been slapped awake, straightening up and looking Hermione directly in the eye. "Headmaster Dumbledore is in the hospital wing."
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up.
"You know who stabbed a port key into him, and it sent Albus to some cold and snowy region, we aren't sure where. Any other wizard would surely have died, but not Albus. However, he is in critical condition, apparating under such circumstances is very dangerous."
Hermione gasped, to think that her beloved Head Master was nearly killed. Then the larger implications hit her. "What about the Special Task force? How can they kill Voldemort without Dumbledore? There's only four of them now!"
Minerva McGonagal stood up, and helped Hermione to sit down this time. "Actually, there's only one. Harry Potter is our last hope."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry saw a life of pain and torture flash before his eyes as he prepared to kill Voldemort. Life's terrors had been created at the hands of this one evil deranged man, and now that stain to the Earth was about to be erased forever.
"Avada Kedavra" Harry said with a firm persistence, but nothing happened. The curse passed right through the evil lord. Something hard hit Harry in the side of the head, causing a jolt of white to blur his vision and stumble to the floor.
Voldemort rose from the dust and rubble and looked at Harry. "Time to complete what I should have finished 18 years ago."
Not prepared to die, Harry quickly summoned a strong wind which swept through the room, tossing the dust in the air and blinding both men from each other. This bought Harry time to rise to his feet, but now he looked about madly to try to see his opponent.
"Where are you Riddle?" He cursed, squinting in the dust to try to see the man he craved to kill. He staggered through the storm of dust, his head pounding and the open cut on his cheek stinging from the fibers that now filled the gash. He stumbled over a piece of wood, and out of no where he felt another board connect with his temple. As soon as he fell to the ground he kicked hard in the direction of his attacker, and felt his boot make contact with body. He listened as Voldemort crashed to the ground from the kick and pointed his arm while calming the wind into nothingness.
He had expected to see Voldemort lying there but instead saw nothing. He looked about wildly, before looking down at the necklace hanging around his neck- the gift from Hermione. He noticed that the lion's eyes were growing red. danger was very close. He tried to listen for the snake lord, concentrating so hard his ears began to ring.
What he heard was, "Avada Kedavra."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione felt her world go dark. She began to shake, her nerves taking over as her breathes became short and erratic. "No.no." She whispered. "He'll be. he can beat." unable to form full sentences she laid her head down on the table, finding no tears would form.
"I'm sure he will." Was all McGonagal could say, her voice sounding distant. "And. never mind. You need rest dear. Why don't you go up to the room you've been staying in."
Hermione shook her head adamantly. For one, she had been in that room with Harry just the previous night, and all his things were still there. She couldn't see finding rest there. Furthermore, she needed to know what McGonagal had to say. "Please Professor, continue with what you were going to say. I'm fine."
McGonagal looked skeptical, but felt that there was no use in holding back from the inevitable. "Ms. Granger, it's about your brother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chrome awoke groggily in a strange bed. He was surrounded by white curtains that hurt his eyes. He'd always preferred the dark. He reopened his eyes, but much more slowly, letting them adjust. He could hear the scamper of feet outside the curtains, and the shouts of voices.
"Why am I still alive?" He mused, and suddenly became conscious of a severe pain on his side. He groaned in discomfort, and a young man in white robes came to his bed side.
"Do you have a ton of pain killers? I don't just mean the pill sorts, I mean, say, do they still use morphine?" He asked, half delirious in his pain.
"What?! You're speaking nonsense!" The young man stuttered, swishing his wand at Chrome to check for a fever. Finding none he shrugged and turned to the bed side to fill up a cup of pain relieving potion.
"Only in your world." Chrome snarled back. "And you're taking an awfully long time with the little drink over there. I just hope it's a strong whiskey."
The young man gave him an odd look and brought the cup over to Chrome. Chrome tried to raise his arms, but a severe pain jolted through him, giving him split vision. The young man brought the cup to his lips for him instead, and Chrome drank it down.
"Terrible isn't it?" Said a voice he didn't recognize.
"I've had worse." He admitted, wondering who it was.
"Ah, Professor McGonagal, so glad you're here, this man doesn't have a fever, but he's speaking complete nonsense." The young man said, and Chrome thought he ought to kick the boy in the mouth once he could move again.
"That's Chrome, always speaking nonsense." Said a sad sounding voice he did recognize.
"Hermione." He whispered, smiling a bit. So she had made it out. Furthermore, she had come to see how he was doing, a gesture he was thankful for.
Hermione dismissed the other two and sat at Chrome's bedside. She went off into a daze, trying to wrap her mind around everything that was happening. Harry loved her, that she knew, and he'd promised he'd try his hardest to survive. However, not everything was in his hands, and now it was all completely out of her hands. She touched her fingers to the ring he'd given her, but instead of offering a warm feeling of security, it felt cold, hard and metallic, a reminder of what she might lose.
Chrome was relieved to feel the pain going away, and with it he began to grow drowsy. He didn't notice Hermione's distress, and let his heavy eye lids drop closed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron had helped George deliver Fred to the medi wizards and then set out to find Cho. Finding a young wizard emerging from behind white curtains he stopped him to ask where he could find Cho Chang. Once he received the directions that her ward was located in the Transfiguration classroom he headed there. As he traveled the familiar stone corridors he turned the corner quickly and crashed head on into his mother.
"Ronald!" She cried with joy, tears pouring down her face. She pulled him into a rib crushing embrace, and he gasped for breathe.
"Is something wrong mum? Is dad okay? How about Ginny, Charlie and."
Mrs. Weasley cut him off, "oh they're all fine dear, besides scrapes and bruises. Of course Fred is in the hospital wing right now, but he'll pull through well enough. I'm just to happy to see you're still walking around, oh Ron, I was so worried!"
"I know you were mum, don't worry, I'm fine. I was just going to see Cho. Uh, Hermione's fine by the way. I don't exactly know where she is, but she got here. Is everyone else back yet?"
Mrs. Weasley gulped, "Ron dear, perhaps you ought to sit down."
Ron just raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"Only Dumbledore and Harry made it to the face off with you know who. Dumbledore's back here, but he's badly wounded."
"And Harry? What about Harry mum?" Ron felt panicky, as though a bunch of enormous spiders were after him. He couldn't find his best friend and then lose him. It wasn't right it wasn't fair, it just wasn't possible.
"Last we know he was facing You Know Who alone."
Ron gulped and turned pale. "Well. we'll go back won't me? Hermione and I at least, we can help him!"
"No Ron!" Mrs. Weasley said harshly. Then softening her tone said, "I'm afraid you can't do that. It'd be impossible for you to survive getting past the Death Eaters that are still lurking around there."
Ron looked lost, his eyes darting about wildly, "but, we have to do something! I mean, you know who's powerful, and."
"Harry's very powerful now too Ron." His mother said, trying to sooth him.
Ron nodded, looking resigned. "Yes, I suppose you're right mum."
"Go to Cho" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks, reaching up to ruffle Ron's hair in a loving gesture. As Ron went down the hall, Mrs. Weasley fell against the wall sobbing. Harry was a son to her, she could remember him as an eleven year old boy, trying to find his way to platform nine and three quarters. Harry had always been like that, being forced to take care of himself. Harry had taken care of himself with the Dursleys, and had tried to take every burden onto himself at Hogwarts. He had taken it onto himself to leave Hogwarts after fifth year so no one else would be hurt, and he had taken care of himself by becoming a powerful wizard. He was always burdened, and she was amazed at the way he had managed. She had even seen him smile several times during order meetings, though she knew a lot of that had to do with Hermione. He had managed so many burdens, but she wasn't sure he could manage this one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The darkest hours in troubled times are not the hours spent battling our internal or external demons. They are not the hours where we plan for our attacks, when we ponder our responses. The darkest hours are the hours spent waiting, sitting in a blind uncertainty. The darkest hours are those we spend in a sort of limbo, stuck between the heaven that was better times, and the hell that is sure to come.
The darkest hours for the resistance group to Lord Voldemort and his followers were not the hours during battle. During battle their minds were too muddled to feel the pain and uncertainty surrounding them. The darkest hours were in the time spent waiting to hear of Harry Potter's fate.
CHAPTER 17
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cowards die many times before their deaths;
The valiant never taste of death but once."
-William Shakespeare
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kingsley had rounded up all the inner circle members and sent them off to prison by port key. When he was finished, Altair gave him a short nod and disappeared. She had traveled as far as the heavens had commanded her to go, and she was ready to return back to the House of the Heavens.
When Kingsley saw her leave he gaped at the spot she'd been standing. "Bloody typical" he muttered, knowing that Sorcerers of the Stars only went as far as they had to. "How convenient for the immortals that they can just disappear and reappear as they wish" he grumbled. He knew what he needed to do next: get the attacking squads the hell out of there. They'd suffered enough casualties, and Harry and Dumbledore would be able to find their own way out if they defeated Voldemort.
Placing a charmed whistle in his mouth he blew it loud and clear. It was designed to reach the ears of all members of the fighting squads, despite the noise surrounding them. The sound of the whistle was the found of the retreat, and he ran from the casino to the down stairs of the club blowing into the metal whistle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was in the process of dueling woman with flaming red hair when she heard the whistle. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" She yelled, feeling her voice grow horse from the shouting and the dust. She left the woman laying on the ground and headed out the way she had entered. She knew the exit had to be orderly, and she grabbed Ron and the twins on their way out to help her cover the backs of the retreating fighters, and to keep the order so nobody would be trampled.
They fired curses back and forth, and Hermione was finding it particularly difficult to hit one of the Death Eaters whose agility was allowing him to dodge back and forth between tables, firing curses each time. One of the curses hit Fred Weasley in the eye, and he went down in a shriek of pain. Hermione was relieved to see that almost everyone was out, but she still couldn't hit the one Death Eater that was causing them problems.
As the last of their fighters left, Hermione was able to reduce one of the tables the Death Eater was using for cover into splinters, and then stupefy him.
"Let's get the bloody hell out of here!" Ron said, his voice squeaking a bit with fear, reminding Hermione of their Hogwarts days. George helped Fred to his feet, and Hermione saw that the curse he had taken had left him in a very weak and injured state, with blood covering his eye region. Ron supported Fred on the other side and they headed off, Hermione taking up the rear. She looked over to the staircase where she knew Harry had gone, desperately hoping to see him come running down the steps, but he did not, and she knew he may not be returning to base for quite some time, if ever. Her stomach began to hurt with a nervous pain, but she pressed forward. Soon they would return to Hogwarts to ascertain exactly how much damage their forces had obtained.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't call me by the name of my dirty Muggle father!" Voldemort spat, and Harry just smirked, raising his hand level with his nemesis.
Voldemort could tell that Harry had grown more powerful. There were no more baby fits of anger from the young man, nor any hiding or uncertainty. They were both set on one thing: fulfilling the prophecy.
Voldemort attacked first, using the killing curse. Harry's arm quickly pointed to the ceiling, and a chunk of plaster fell, blocking the curse.
"You'll need to do better than that." Harry said, his voice even.
Voldemort laughed a hollow laugh. "I was about to say the same."
Then all hell broke loose. Curses whizzed through the air and the two wizards dodged and block with super speed. One of the walls was made of a thick oak, but when a curse meant for Harry missed him, the wall erupted in splinters, most of the fragments bouncing off of Harry's jacket, but one catching him on the cheek and drawing blood. Harry jumped up into the air as a curse passed under his legs, and he landed in the next room over through the opening Voldemort had created. Landing in the pile of rubble, Harry launched curse at Voldemort which knocked the snake off his feet.
Harry had Voldemort on his back, and that was just the way he wanted him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Ron and George rushed Fred to the hospital wing, Hermione searched for Minerva McGonagal to get a damage report.
Hermione found McGonagal pale and flustered in the Great Hall, pacing about and for the first time ever, looking completely lost.
Shocked, Hermione went up to her and placed her hand lightly on McGonagal's shoulder. "Professor?"
McGonagal jumped up into the air as though she'd just seen a ghost. "Oh. Hermione dear. it's you.I" rambling, she stopped abruptly and lost her balance, nearly falling before Hermione balanced her out and helped her into a seat.
"Professor, are you alright? Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey."
McGonagal looked as though she hadn't heard a word of what Hermione had said, and was staring off into nothingness. Finally she said in a soft tone, "call me Minerva dear, after all, you don't go to Hogwarts any longer."
Hermione was growing frightened. It seemed as though the Headmistress had gone into shock, and Hermione didn't know what to do about it. "What's wrong?" Hermione asked, her voice sounding small and scared.
Suddenly, McGonagal looked as though she had been slapped awake, straightening up and looking Hermione directly in the eye. "Headmaster Dumbledore is in the hospital wing."
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up.
"You know who stabbed a port key into him, and it sent Albus to some cold and snowy region, we aren't sure where. Any other wizard would surely have died, but not Albus. However, he is in critical condition, apparating under such circumstances is very dangerous."
Hermione gasped, to think that her beloved Head Master was nearly killed. Then the larger implications hit her. "What about the Special Task force? How can they kill Voldemort without Dumbledore? There's only four of them now!"
Minerva McGonagal stood up, and helped Hermione to sit down this time. "Actually, there's only one. Harry Potter is our last hope."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry saw a life of pain and torture flash before his eyes as he prepared to kill Voldemort. Life's terrors had been created at the hands of this one evil deranged man, and now that stain to the Earth was about to be erased forever.
"Avada Kedavra" Harry said with a firm persistence, but nothing happened. The curse passed right through the evil lord. Something hard hit Harry in the side of the head, causing a jolt of white to blur his vision and stumble to the floor.
Voldemort rose from the dust and rubble and looked at Harry. "Time to complete what I should have finished 18 years ago."
Not prepared to die, Harry quickly summoned a strong wind which swept through the room, tossing the dust in the air and blinding both men from each other. This bought Harry time to rise to his feet, but now he looked about madly to try to see his opponent.
"Where are you Riddle?" He cursed, squinting in the dust to try to see the man he craved to kill. He staggered through the storm of dust, his head pounding and the open cut on his cheek stinging from the fibers that now filled the gash. He stumbled over a piece of wood, and out of no where he felt another board connect with his temple. As soon as he fell to the ground he kicked hard in the direction of his attacker, and felt his boot make contact with body. He listened as Voldemort crashed to the ground from the kick and pointed his arm while calming the wind into nothingness.
He had expected to see Voldemort lying there but instead saw nothing. He looked about wildly, before looking down at the necklace hanging around his neck- the gift from Hermione. He noticed that the lion's eyes were growing red. danger was very close. He tried to listen for the snake lord, concentrating so hard his ears began to ring.
What he heard was, "Avada Kedavra."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione felt her world go dark. She began to shake, her nerves taking over as her breathes became short and erratic. "No.no." She whispered. "He'll be. he can beat." unable to form full sentences she laid her head down on the table, finding no tears would form.
"I'm sure he will." Was all McGonagal could say, her voice sounding distant. "And. never mind. You need rest dear. Why don't you go up to the room you've been staying in."
Hermione shook her head adamantly. For one, she had been in that room with Harry just the previous night, and all his things were still there. She couldn't see finding rest there. Furthermore, she needed to know what McGonagal had to say. "Please Professor, continue with what you were going to say. I'm fine."
McGonagal looked skeptical, but felt that there was no use in holding back from the inevitable. "Ms. Granger, it's about your brother."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chrome awoke groggily in a strange bed. He was surrounded by white curtains that hurt his eyes. He'd always preferred the dark. He reopened his eyes, but much more slowly, letting them adjust. He could hear the scamper of feet outside the curtains, and the shouts of voices.
"Why am I still alive?" He mused, and suddenly became conscious of a severe pain on his side. He groaned in discomfort, and a young man in white robes came to his bed side.
"Do you have a ton of pain killers? I don't just mean the pill sorts, I mean, say, do they still use morphine?" He asked, half delirious in his pain.
"What?! You're speaking nonsense!" The young man stuttered, swishing his wand at Chrome to check for a fever. Finding none he shrugged and turned to the bed side to fill up a cup of pain relieving potion.
"Only in your world." Chrome snarled back. "And you're taking an awfully long time with the little drink over there. I just hope it's a strong whiskey."
The young man gave him an odd look and brought the cup over to Chrome. Chrome tried to raise his arms, but a severe pain jolted through him, giving him split vision. The young man brought the cup to his lips for him instead, and Chrome drank it down.
"Terrible isn't it?" Said a voice he didn't recognize.
"I've had worse." He admitted, wondering who it was.
"Ah, Professor McGonagal, so glad you're here, this man doesn't have a fever, but he's speaking complete nonsense." The young man said, and Chrome thought he ought to kick the boy in the mouth once he could move again.
"That's Chrome, always speaking nonsense." Said a sad sounding voice he did recognize.
"Hermione." He whispered, smiling a bit. So she had made it out. Furthermore, she had come to see how he was doing, a gesture he was thankful for.
Hermione dismissed the other two and sat at Chrome's bedside. She went off into a daze, trying to wrap her mind around everything that was happening. Harry loved her, that she knew, and he'd promised he'd try his hardest to survive. However, not everything was in his hands, and now it was all completely out of her hands. She touched her fingers to the ring he'd given her, but instead of offering a warm feeling of security, it felt cold, hard and metallic, a reminder of what she might lose.
Chrome was relieved to feel the pain going away, and with it he began to grow drowsy. He didn't notice Hermione's distress, and let his heavy eye lids drop closed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron had helped George deliver Fred to the medi wizards and then set out to find Cho. Finding a young wizard emerging from behind white curtains he stopped him to ask where he could find Cho Chang. Once he received the directions that her ward was located in the Transfiguration classroom he headed there. As he traveled the familiar stone corridors he turned the corner quickly and crashed head on into his mother.
"Ronald!" She cried with joy, tears pouring down her face. She pulled him into a rib crushing embrace, and he gasped for breathe.
"Is something wrong mum? Is dad okay? How about Ginny, Charlie and."
Mrs. Weasley cut him off, "oh they're all fine dear, besides scrapes and bruises. Of course Fred is in the hospital wing right now, but he'll pull through well enough. I'm just to happy to see you're still walking around, oh Ron, I was so worried!"
"I know you were mum, don't worry, I'm fine. I was just going to see Cho. Uh, Hermione's fine by the way. I don't exactly know where she is, but she got here. Is everyone else back yet?"
Mrs. Weasley gulped, "Ron dear, perhaps you ought to sit down."
Ron just raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to continue.
"Only Dumbledore and Harry made it to the face off with you know who. Dumbledore's back here, but he's badly wounded."
"And Harry? What about Harry mum?" Ron felt panicky, as though a bunch of enormous spiders were after him. He couldn't find his best friend and then lose him. It wasn't right it wasn't fair, it just wasn't possible.
"Last we know he was facing You Know Who alone."
Ron gulped and turned pale. "Well. we'll go back won't me? Hermione and I at least, we can help him!"
"No Ron!" Mrs. Weasley said harshly. Then softening her tone said, "I'm afraid you can't do that. It'd be impossible for you to survive getting past the Death Eaters that are still lurking around there."
Ron looked lost, his eyes darting about wildly, "but, we have to do something! I mean, you know who's powerful, and."
"Harry's very powerful now too Ron." His mother said, trying to sooth him.
Ron nodded, looking resigned. "Yes, I suppose you're right mum."
"Go to Cho" she said, tears rolling down her cheeks, reaching up to ruffle Ron's hair in a loving gesture. As Ron went down the hall, Mrs. Weasley fell against the wall sobbing. Harry was a son to her, she could remember him as an eleven year old boy, trying to find his way to platform nine and three quarters. Harry had always been like that, being forced to take care of himself. Harry had taken care of himself with the Dursleys, and had tried to take every burden onto himself at Hogwarts. He had taken it onto himself to leave Hogwarts after fifth year so no one else would be hurt, and he had taken care of himself by becoming a powerful wizard. He was always burdened, and she was amazed at the way he had managed. She had even seen him smile several times during order meetings, though she knew a lot of that had to do with Hermione. He had managed so many burdens, but she wasn't sure he could manage this one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The darkest hours in troubled times are not the hours spent battling our internal or external demons. They are not the hours where we plan for our attacks, when we ponder our responses. The darkest hours are the hours spent waiting, sitting in a blind uncertainty. The darkest hours are those we spend in a sort of limbo, stuck between the heaven that was better times, and the hell that is sure to come.
The darkest hours for the resistance group to Lord Voldemort and his followers were not the hours during battle. During battle their minds were too muddled to feel the pain and uncertainty surrounding them. The darkest hours were in the time spent waiting to hear of Harry Potter's fate.