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.
((The final chapter is here!! I want to thank all of you have been reading this fic all along. You have inspired and encouraged me, and for the first time ever I have written a story start to finish!))
(( I especially want to thank Siriuslyobsessed for always reviewing liking the fic so much. In a large part due to you, there will be a sequel. Everyone look for Siriusly Obsessed's fic, Harry Potter and Lucifer's Reign. It's very good.))
((Further thanks to Adelphie who helped me with the plot and gave two extraordinarily long reviews))
((Thank- you Laur for review #99, that review is undoubtedly one of the best I've ever gotten, and very inspirational to me as not just a fic writer, but a writer in general.))
((If I didn't mention you, it's not because I'm not truly appreciative of every review submitted. Ears91, mrs-osbourne's-class, HAZZAGRIFF, etc.))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Because I could not stop for Death --
He kindly stopped for me --
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality."
-Emily Dickinson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those who knew and loved the Boy Who Lived never thought he could become the boy who died. He had been so much stronger than all of that in the past, and it had become their opinion that he would always prevail.
But he did not. The day after Christmas, Harry Potter fell as his parents had 18 years before. Voldemort hit him in the back with the Avada Kedavra curse, and he ceased to exist.
Voldemort twisted his mouth into a wicked grin, as he determined that the Boy Who Lived was dead. "I have just the place for you Mr. Potter" he said, his voice bursting with cheer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Harry didn't return for almost 24 hours, everyone was becoming acutely aware of the fact that he may not have survived.
Chrome woke up to find that Hermione had dropped off to sleep purely out of exhaustion. Her head was on his bed, her body still in the chair. Chrome grew concerned, and realized he still couldn't sit up to help her. He stretched his arm over to the bedside table and grabbed a tin cup. Carefully watching the curtain in front of him, he waited until a shadow passed and launched the cup at it, hitting the person through the sheet with dead accuracy.
"Ow- DAMNIT!" He heard the voice curse, and the person entered Chrome's curtained area.
"Should've figured it was you" scowled the young medi wizard whom Chrome recognized as the same one who had cared for him earlier. "You could have just yelled if you needed something."
"I can't, it hurts to move my stomach muscles." Chrome told him, and then indicating Hermione said, "Find her a place to sleep."
"You don't own me." The medi wizard pompously spat, and Chrome picked up a glass bottle of medication this time, pretending he would throw it in order to get the little brat moving.
Soon Hermione was levitated into another room of the hospital wing, still sleeping. Even in her nightmares she didn't know that Harry was dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron had climbed into bed with Cho who was mostly all healed and had been sleeping when a nightmare about spiders awoke him. Seeing that the sun was setting, and that he had gone to sleep at four o'clock that morning, he realized he'd been sleeping for over 12 hours. He tried to readjust his mind, and it struck him that Harry was unaccounted for. He cursed himself for falling asleep and quickly stood up to find anyone who might know what had happened to him.
Running down the hallways, Ron crashed into a tired looking Remus Lupin. "Remus!" Ron gasped, "Have you heard from Harry?!"
Remus gave Ron a long and tired look. "I'm afraid not Ron." He said in a barely audible whisper. Remus then resumed his way down the hall, swaggering with exhaustion.
Standing cemented in his spot, Ron's mind raced with a thousand thought. Then he took off in a full sprint to find Hermione. After asking around he found her sleeping, and with no consideration to how tired she was, he woke her up.
Looking around franticly as though under attack, Ron redirected her attention to himself.
"Damn, I can't believe I fell asleep!" Tears began pouring down her cheeks, "and with Harry. out, I mean honestly, I'm so foolish!"
"It's okay Hermione, so did I." Ron soothed. "But he still isn't back."
Her eyes shot wide open with alarm. He mentally slapped himself for being so forward, but he was so panicked he wasn't thinking straight.
"No. it can't be." she felt herself going into shock all over. She laid down and stared at the ceiling.
Ron laid down next to Hermione and looked up the ceiling also. "We'll just have to wait and see."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd;
And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"
-George Gordon Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those of the Order and their allies waited until the first of the new year to find the answer to the fate of their friend and hero. The wizarding world was thrown into a shock of unprecedented horror when the new sun rose upon the Diagon Alley on the first day of a year that would be dark and filled with war. The omen of terrible a upcoming was read clearly by all who opposed Voldemort.
Harry Potter's body hung in Diagon Alley, clearly out in the open to all those who went into the once bright and cheery alley. Soon the press would be swarming through the area, and the entire wizard world would know what had happened to their last hope. The Order of the Phoenix had to intervene to remove Harry's body from prying eyes of the reporters.
All who remained innocent in the encroaching darkness began to feel the depression of the war, but there lives did not stop. There were only few who felt everything come crashing to a halt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The affirmation of Harry's death came to Ron Weasley at the crack on dawn as the sun was rising on the new year. He hadn't slept since Harry went missing, and he'd barely eaten. He was sitting on a bench in the Hogwarts courtyard, shelling peanuts because it was one of the few foods he could keep his nerves from up heaving and they kept his hands occupied. He watched as an Auror approached and went to stand but felt too weak.
The Auror watched Ron Weasley as he approached and was surprised the red head was such an admired commander from the Order of the Phoenix. All the Auror could see was a thin skeleton of a young man, with messy red hair and black shining bags beneath his eyes. Ron looked translucent, ready to collapse.
The Auror geared himself for relaying the terrible news, and the world felt surreal, like a terrible inescapable nightmare.
"Mr. Ronald Weasley?" The Auror asked in a husky voice.
"Yes, that's me." Ron responded.
"We just received report that Harry Potter is dead."
Ron looked it the Auror silently, and finally a single tear trickled down his pale cheek, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "Who else knows?"
"It will be in the Daily Prophet soon." The Auror said, his voice sympathetic. "But as of now only the ministry knows and I'm here to tell the rest of the Order the news."
"Let me tell them." Ron whispered softly. "You can tell your superior that the news was received. Thank- you."
The Auror looked ready to protest, but Ron just turned his back to him and walked away. "Trust me, its better this way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the hardest moment in his life. He didn't know what was happening, couldn't wrap his mind around it, and yet he was on his way to relay the message to someone just beyond that door.
He knew she loved Harry. He could feel it, sense it, whatever it was, that gave him this deep empathetic understanding of how Hermione loved the raven haired man. "Yes," Ron decided "Harry was defiantly a grown man. He was never taught to be a child." The Dursleys had raised Harry to be a man, perfect and silent, with not so much as a faint scent of childishness about him. If Harry was ever a child, free to play, love and be loved, Ron suspected it was with him, Hermione and Sirius. None of that mattered now though. Sirius was dead, Harry was dead, and all Ron had to do was get through the stupid bloody door and tell Hermione.
With trembling hands he grasped the door knob and turned. She turned her head to him, her eyes unfocused, as though she was not really seeing him. "Hermione?" Ron asked in a weak voice.
She turned her eyes upwards until they met his. Then he saw it. She knew. She looked right into his eyes and that was all it took. It was one thing to be told that his best friend had died, but it was even worse to watch his other best friend die before his eyes. And that was what Ron watched happen. Hermione was breathing and moving, but in her eyes he could see she was dead.
"Don't-" he whispered, suddenly scared, but she cut him off as she stood up with surprising rapidity. She walked straight as him and he jumped to the side to avoid being knocked over. She took a right and headed down the hall.
"Hermione!" Ron cried. "Where are you going?!"
She merely increased her pace, and he had to jog to catch up with her. He reached out to touch her arm to stop her, but she shrugged him off and began to run full speed down the hallway.
Ron was so exhausted, and as he chased her he couldn't understand where her energy came from. As the turned another corner, he realized she was headed for the hospital wing.
"HERMIONE, NO!" Ron yelled with all the energy he could muster, but she seemed to be deaf to him.
She fled into the hospital wing, blindly crashing into various workers until she found the area she was looking for. She opened the door to the private little room, and it slammed against the wall with an echoing volume.
Stopping dead she muttered, "You let him die."
The sickly old man pushed himself up in the bed, his sparkling blue eyes devoid of all cheer.
"He was too young, you knew he was too young! The mission was suicide!" She was beginning to yell now, and tears finally formed in her eyes.
"He said he would try his best to come back, and I bet he did, but he couldn't do it alone! YOU LEFT HIM!" She was growing hysteric, and Ron had finally caught up with her. She weakly tried to lunge forward, but Ron grabbed her and pulled her back. Her tightened his arms around her as she began to sag to the floor, crying in heart breaking sobs. Ron soon found he was crying as well, and they sat on the floor holding each other, as Dumbledore lay there saying nothing, tears streaming down his cheeks as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved."
-Kahlil Gibran
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harry, you were a hero to so many. You were their inspiration, their guiding light, their idol of perfection. You weren't perfect, but you were so much more." Lupin took a deep staggering breath and continued.
"You were the star of the Quidditch field. You were the honorary son in a family that loved you as their own." He stopped and looked at the Molly and Arthur Weasley.
"Your best friend would be separated from your side only in death." He looked at Ron, a pale statue against the grey sky.
"You could remember no love, but you loved and were loved like unlike any other." Lupin looked at Hermione, broken on the inside, unmoving on the outside.
"You captured the affection and admiration of even the wisest." A glimpse at Dumbledore was about all Lupin could bear, and his voice grew broken, tears seeping out from their containment.
"We'll miss you Harry, but we know that you aren't alone. Sirius Black and your parents were so proud of you in life, and you are theirs again. Until we see you in death, we know you are not alone."
Remus Lupin stepped back into the morbid funeral crowd, not knowing how wrong he was in his final sentence.
((So there it is. Yes, I know, I killed Harry. Don't flame me for it, just read the sequel which I'll be posting soon: ASHES OF THE PHOENIX. Please don't let that stop you from reviewing. I want opinions, feedback on the story as a whole. How were the fighting scenes, what characters did/ didn't you like, who do you want more of, what do you want more of? Feed back is the only way I can be aware of what you think of my fic. THANK YOU ALL!!!)
((The final chapter is here!! I want to thank all of you have been reading this fic all along. You have inspired and encouraged me, and for the first time ever I have written a story start to finish!))
(( I especially want to thank Siriuslyobsessed for always reviewing liking the fic so much. In a large part due to you, there will be a sequel. Everyone look for Siriusly Obsessed's fic, Harry Potter and Lucifer's Reign. It's very good.))
((Further thanks to Adelphie who helped me with the plot and gave two extraordinarily long reviews))
((Thank- you Laur for review #99, that review is undoubtedly one of the best I've ever gotten, and very inspirational to me as not just a fic writer, but a writer in general.))
((If I didn't mention you, it's not because I'm not truly appreciative of every review submitted. Ears91, mrs-osbourne's-class, HAZZAGRIFF, etc.))
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Because I could not stop for Death --
He kindly stopped for me --
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality."
-Emily Dickinson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those who knew and loved the Boy Who Lived never thought he could become the boy who died. He had been so much stronger than all of that in the past, and it had become their opinion that he would always prevail.
But he did not. The day after Christmas, Harry Potter fell as his parents had 18 years before. Voldemort hit him in the back with the Avada Kedavra curse, and he ceased to exist.
Voldemort twisted his mouth into a wicked grin, as he determined that the Boy Who Lived was dead. "I have just the place for you Mr. Potter" he said, his voice bursting with cheer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Harry didn't return for almost 24 hours, everyone was becoming acutely aware of the fact that he may not have survived.
Chrome woke up to find that Hermione had dropped off to sleep purely out of exhaustion. Her head was on his bed, her body still in the chair. Chrome grew concerned, and realized he still couldn't sit up to help her. He stretched his arm over to the bedside table and grabbed a tin cup. Carefully watching the curtain in front of him, he waited until a shadow passed and launched the cup at it, hitting the person through the sheet with dead accuracy.
"Ow- DAMNIT!" He heard the voice curse, and the person entered Chrome's curtained area.
"Should've figured it was you" scowled the young medi wizard whom Chrome recognized as the same one who had cared for him earlier. "You could have just yelled if you needed something."
"I can't, it hurts to move my stomach muscles." Chrome told him, and then indicating Hermione said, "Find her a place to sleep."
"You don't own me." The medi wizard pompously spat, and Chrome picked up a glass bottle of medication this time, pretending he would throw it in order to get the little brat moving.
Soon Hermione was levitated into another room of the hospital wing, still sleeping. Even in her nightmares she didn't know that Harry was dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ron had climbed into bed with Cho who was mostly all healed and had been sleeping when a nightmare about spiders awoke him. Seeing that the sun was setting, and that he had gone to sleep at four o'clock that morning, he realized he'd been sleeping for over 12 hours. He tried to readjust his mind, and it struck him that Harry was unaccounted for. He cursed himself for falling asleep and quickly stood up to find anyone who might know what had happened to him.
Running down the hallways, Ron crashed into a tired looking Remus Lupin. "Remus!" Ron gasped, "Have you heard from Harry?!"
Remus gave Ron a long and tired look. "I'm afraid not Ron." He said in a barely audible whisper. Remus then resumed his way down the hall, swaggering with exhaustion.
Standing cemented in his spot, Ron's mind raced with a thousand thought. Then he took off in a full sprint to find Hermione. After asking around he found her sleeping, and with no consideration to how tired she was, he woke her up.
Looking around franticly as though under attack, Ron redirected her attention to himself.
"Damn, I can't believe I fell asleep!" Tears began pouring down her cheeks, "and with Harry. out, I mean honestly, I'm so foolish!"
"It's okay Hermione, so did I." Ron soothed. "But he still isn't back."
Her eyes shot wide open with alarm. He mentally slapped himself for being so forward, but he was so panicked he wasn't thinking straight.
"No. it can't be." she felt herself going into shock all over. She laid down and stared at the ceiling.
Ron laid down next to Hermione and looked up the ceiling also. "We'll just have to wait and see."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he pass'd;
And the eyes of the sleepers wax'd deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever grew still!"
-George Gordon Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Those of the Order and their allies waited until the first of the new year to find the answer to the fate of their friend and hero. The wizarding world was thrown into a shock of unprecedented horror when the new sun rose upon the Diagon Alley on the first day of a year that would be dark and filled with war. The omen of terrible a upcoming was read clearly by all who opposed Voldemort.
Harry Potter's body hung in Diagon Alley, clearly out in the open to all those who went into the once bright and cheery alley. Soon the press would be swarming through the area, and the entire wizard world would know what had happened to their last hope. The Order of the Phoenix had to intervene to remove Harry's body from prying eyes of the reporters.
All who remained innocent in the encroaching darkness began to feel the depression of the war, but there lives did not stop. There were only few who felt everything come crashing to a halt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The affirmation of Harry's death came to Ron Weasley at the crack on dawn as the sun was rising on the new year. He hadn't slept since Harry went missing, and he'd barely eaten. He was sitting on a bench in the Hogwarts courtyard, shelling peanuts because it was one of the few foods he could keep his nerves from up heaving and they kept his hands occupied. He watched as an Auror approached and went to stand but felt too weak.
The Auror watched Ron Weasley as he approached and was surprised the red head was such an admired commander from the Order of the Phoenix. All the Auror could see was a thin skeleton of a young man, with messy red hair and black shining bags beneath his eyes. Ron looked translucent, ready to collapse.
The Auror geared himself for relaying the terrible news, and the world felt surreal, like a terrible inescapable nightmare.
"Mr. Ronald Weasley?" The Auror asked in a husky voice.
"Yes, that's me." Ron responded.
"We just received report that Harry Potter is dead."
Ron looked it the Auror silently, and finally a single tear trickled down his pale cheek, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. "Who else knows?"
"It will be in the Daily Prophet soon." The Auror said, his voice sympathetic. "But as of now only the ministry knows and I'm here to tell the rest of the Order the news."
"Let me tell them." Ron whispered softly. "You can tell your superior that the news was received. Thank- you."
The Auror looked ready to protest, but Ron just turned his back to him and walked away. "Trust me, its better this way."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the hardest moment in his life. He didn't know what was happening, couldn't wrap his mind around it, and yet he was on his way to relay the message to someone just beyond that door.
He knew she loved Harry. He could feel it, sense it, whatever it was, that gave him this deep empathetic understanding of how Hermione loved the raven haired man. "Yes," Ron decided "Harry was defiantly a grown man. He was never taught to be a child." The Dursleys had raised Harry to be a man, perfect and silent, with not so much as a faint scent of childishness about him. If Harry was ever a child, free to play, love and be loved, Ron suspected it was with him, Hermione and Sirius. None of that mattered now though. Sirius was dead, Harry was dead, and all Ron had to do was get through the stupid bloody door and tell Hermione.
With trembling hands he grasped the door knob and turned. She turned her head to him, her eyes unfocused, as though she was not really seeing him. "Hermione?" Ron asked in a weak voice.
She turned her eyes upwards until they met his. Then he saw it. She knew. She looked right into his eyes and that was all it took. It was one thing to be told that his best friend had died, but it was even worse to watch his other best friend die before his eyes. And that was what Ron watched happen. Hermione was breathing and moving, but in her eyes he could see she was dead.
"Don't-" he whispered, suddenly scared, but she cut him off as she stood up with surprising rapidity. She walked straight as him and he jumped to the side to avoid being knocked over. She took a right and headed down the hall.
"Hermione!" Ron cried. "Where are you going?!"
She merely increased her pace, and he had to jog to catch up with her. He reached out to touch her arm to stop her, but she shrugged him off and began to run full speed down the hallway.
Ron was so exhausted, and as he chased her he couldn't understand where her energy came from. As the turned another corner, he realized she was headed for the hospital wing.
"HERMIONE, NO!" Ron yelled with all the energy he could muster, but she seemed to be deaf to him.
She fled into the hospital wing, blindly crashing into various workers until she found the area she was looking for. She opened the door to the private little room, and it slammed against the wall with an echoing volume.
Stopping dead she muttered, "You let him die."
The sickly old man pushed himself up in the bed, his sparkling blue eyes devoid of all cheer.
"He was too young, you knew he was too young! The mission was suicide!" She was beginning to yell now, and tears finally formed in her eyes.
"He said he would try his best to come back, and I bet he did, but he couldn't do it alone! YOU LEFT HIM!" She was growing hysteric, and Ron had finally caught up with her. She weakly tried to lunge forward, but Ron grabbed her and pulled her back. Her tightened his arms around her as she began to sag to the floor, crying in heart breaking sobs. Ron soon found he was crying as well, and they sat on the floor holding each other, as Dumbledore lay there saying nothing, tears streaming down his cheeks as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"If my survival caused another to perish, then death would be sweeter and more beloved."
-Kahlil Gibran
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harry, you were a hero to so many. You were their inspiration, their guiding light, their idol of perfection. You weren't perfect, but you were so much more." Lupin took a deep staggering breath and continued.
"You were the star of the Quidditch field. You were the honorary son in a family that loved you as their own." He stopped and looked at the Molly and Arthur Weasley.
"Your best friend would be separated from your side only in death." He looked at Ron, a pale statue against the grey sky.
"You could remember no love, but you loved and were loved like unlike any other." Lupin looked at Hermione, broken on the inside, unmoving on the outside.
"You captured the affection and admiration of even the wisest." A glimpse at Dumbledore was about all Lupin could bear, and his voice grew broken, tears seeping out from their containment.
"We'll miss you Harry, but we know that you aren't alone. Sirius Black and your parents were so proud of you in life, and you are theirs again. Until we see you in death, we know you are not alone."
Remus Lupin stepped back into the morbid funeral crowd, not knowing how wrong he was in his final sentence.
((So there it is. Yes, I know, I killed Harry. Don't flame me for it, just read the sequel which I'll be posting soon: ASHES OF THE PHOENIX. Please don't let that stop you from reviewing. I want opinions, feedback on the story as a whole. How were the fighting scenes, what characters did/ didn't you like, who do you want more of, what do you want more of? Feed back is the only way I can be aware of what you think of my fic. THANK YOU ALL!!!)