"Ready, Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Does it matter if I am? It'll happen anyway whether I'm ready or not."
"That's true…"
Harry sighed. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He laughed. "After everything we've gone through, you'd think I wouldn't be afraid of a little Graduation."
"One would think that."
"Hermione? Tell me why we've having Graduation this year when we've never had it before? No one ever explained it to me."
"Well, it's also going to be a bit of a party to celebrate that Voldemort is gone, once and for all."
"Yeah, that would be a reason to have a party, no matter how gloomy we are."
"Harry, Ron would want you to happy now. He wouldn't want you to be sad."
"I guess so." Harry said, not really meaning it.
"How could it have happened? Why did he follow me? If he hadn't been there, if I'd only been a bit quicker, if Voldemort had been slower…"
He looked over at the Weasleys and a lump formed in his throat. He hadn't spoken to them since Christmas. Harry had made a point to avoid the Weasleys, even Ginny. Especially since, well…he and Ron had become close. Very close.
"Oh, Ron…why did you do it? I told you that you needed to stay behind, that you'd get in the way! You didn't listen, and now you're gone. It's my fault, all my fault! Now you're gone, and I'm still here! Why? Why didn't I die instead?"
Harry took his seat on the makeshift stage that had been put on the grounds. He had already gone over those very same thoughts everyday for the past week, and he still had no answers. He saw that about a quarter of the seats were empty. There had been 40 chairs set up. Ten of them were empty, including the one that Ron would have sat in. Almost all the Slytherins had left the school at the end of last year and only one of them had remained. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Why he had stayed, Harry had no clue. Ron had told him that Draco had been disowned by his parents, but Harry couldn't quite believe it. Yet, here he was, receiving glares from half of the students left. Most of the students blamed Malfoy for everything that happened. Hermione was not among the ones glaring. Harry was a bit puzzled. Hermione hated Malfoy almost as much as he and Ron. Why should that have changed? The other students still hated him and made the fact known.
Now that Harry thought about it, Hermione had acted a bit odd around Malfoy the past weeks. Oh well. Harry would be saying good-bye to all of these people tomorrow anyway, so why should he care now?
Professor McGonagall walked up on the stage, reminding Harry of even more losses. Harry looked down at the ground.
He could still remember the final battle. Professor Dumbledore had ordered all of the students, including Harry, to stay in the Great Hall. All of the teachers except Professor McGonagall had gone outside. Harry told Ron and Hermione to stay inside, and he ran to the doors of the Great Hall. He used Petrificus Totalus on McGonagall before she could stop him, and he apologized before running outside to where the other teachers were. All of the teachers but one were fighting Death Eaters. Professor Dumbledore was fighting Voldemort himself. Harry tried to get over to them; but Death Eaters surrounded him and he got caught up fending them off. Harry had almost reached them when Voldemort used Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore. Lupin tried next, but that ended with the same result. Then Harry stepped up. They exchanged curses and physical blows. Harry got knocked to the ground. Voldemort aimed his wand at Harry and used the Avada Kedavra, but Snape jumped in front of him and took the curse. By that time, all of the Death Eaters had been taken down, as well as the few Dementors that had been out there. He turned to the teachers and told them to go inside the Great Hall. Most of them tried to protest, but Trelawny told them that they had all known this day would come. Harry told them to go again and they ran inside, but someone ran past the teachers, yelling for Harry. It was Ron. Voldemort turned his wand on Ron and used Avada Kadavra. Ron died. Harry was filled with anger. He used Avada Kadavra on Voldemort. Voldemort was gone, but so was Ron.
Someone poked him, and Harry went up and got his diploma. He smiled, but inside he could really care less. He sat back down and applauded when someone got his or her diploma. Then, McGonagall called Ron's name. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley walked up onto the stage and accepted the diploma for Ron. Harry could tell that Mrs. Weasley had been crying recently. The ceremony finished, and everyone wandered off. Harry went to his room, fell on his bed, and cried himself to sleep.
"Harry? Wake up, you idiot!"
"What?" Harry got up and looked around. He wasn't in his room, or anywhere at Hogwarts for that matter.
"Harry…you're not dreaming this."
"What do you mean, I'm not dreaming? I fell asleep at Hogwarts, and I'm not dead…am I, Ron?"
"No. Not yet, but if you don't take care of yourself, you will be."
"I don't care! I've killed Voldemort, there's nothing for me to stay for!"
"Killing yourself is not the answer! How do you think we'd feel if you killed yourself? I know I'd personally kill you again!"
"But it's not worth it!"
"So, you don't care about my family? Hermione? Hagrid? Professor McGonagall?"
"Then all blame me for death!"
"No they don't! It's, Not, Your, Fault!"
"I thought you were stronger than this, Potter."
"Professor Snape?"
"Of course. I should take away 500 points from Gryffindor for all of the stupidity you've shown this past week, but I can't do that, seeing as I'm dead."
Harry laughed inside. Snape definitely hasn't changed!
"There could always be another Voldemort, Potter. You are needed to teach those other dunderheads how to defend themselves."
"Severus, not all of them were dunderheads. Miss Granger, for example."
"As I've told you countless times, Dumbledore, any idiot could have gotten past my protection of the Sorcerer's Stone."
Harry was very confused.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
"We were all a bit stupid where Voldemort is concerned, Harry. Don't blame yourself for all of this, or I will come back and haunt you personally," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"But Professor! It IS my fault! If I hadn't gone out there-"
"There would be many more dead than just us," Lupin said.
Harry jumped.
"The truth is, if I had let you go out there with us, well…none of us would have died. That is my fault for not bringing you out with us."
"Harry, you need to go out there and live. Live for all of us, each children how to defend themselves. And…there is one other thing…there is one who needs you, or he…well…who knows what he may do," Ron said. "Never forget what we had, but don't be saddened by it either. Be happy. Hermione was right. I don't want you to be sad, and neither do the rest of us. Even Snape doesn't want…
"Ron, take a breath…er…wait you're dead."
Ron didn't lose impressed. "As I was saying…even Snape doesn't want that!"
Snape glared at Ron. Dumbledore sighed. "Professor Snape, Ron."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Harry, it's time for us to go," Lupin said.
"Go?"
"Yes. We were allowed to wait for a week for you to come to terms with us being gone, but it took us coming to visit to get you on the right track."
"Oh."
"And Harry, if we see you up here before you become an old fart…" Ron said.
"Yes?"
"Well, we're all gonna be pretty angry."
Harry laughed. "Alright! I get the point!"
Dumbledore began to disappear, then Lupin, then Snape. Ron gave Harry a kiss before disappearing.
"Don't ever forget, but don't grieve for us…"
Harry bolted up in his bed. The sun was just beginning to rise. He went down to the common room and sat Hermione and a boy sitting be the fire. Hermione was comforting the boy, and Harry walked over to them. When Harry saw the boy, he was shocked. It was Malfoy! That's when he noticed Malfoy was crying.
"What's wrong?"
Malfoy looked up at Harry and began crying again.
"What's wrong with him, Hermione?"
"Well, you didn't kill Voldemort. You killed Malfoy's dad."
"What?!"
"That's what Ron ran out to tell you. Apparently, Voldemort went missing about a month ago, and they found his body the day before you fought Malfoy's dad."
"That doesn't make any sense! How did he die?"
"Malfoy's dad was an Occulimens. He hid his thoughts from Voldemort and killed him himself. Then he took polyjuice potion to make himself look like Voldemort and, well…you can guess the rest."
"I'm so sorry, Malfoy."
"Don't kid yourself, Potter." Malfoy sniffed. "You're glad he's dead, and I don't blame you. I only wish I'd done it myself."
"What do you mean?"
"He wasn't exactly the world's best father. I hated him. He always ordered me to do all kinds of crap. He told me I was to try to become you friend, and if it didn't work, to become your enemy. I never really hated you or your friends, Potter. I was nothing more than a toy to my father. In many different ways."
"What does that mean?"
"Let's just say he didn't find my mother at all attractive."
That's when it hit him. Malfoy had been raped by his father.
"Anyway, he told us all this that day and Ron jumped up and ran outside to tell you."
"Would it have made a difference?" Harry asked botterly. "NO. Then all would still have died."
"Not if you'd been able to wait until the polyjuice potion had ran at. He would have been easier to beat them."
"But Ron is still dead! Nothing can change that! I'll always be alone, Always!"
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.
"Ron and I wee more than friends. Go figure it out, it's not that hard," Harry snapped.
Hermione eyes widened, as did Malfoy's.
"Potter…Harry. You don't have to be alone. There's other fish in the sea." Malfoy stood up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "And even if you don't fish someone else, you will always have your friends, which is more than I can say."
"You've got at least one friend, Draco," Hermione said. "You've got me."
"And…you've got me as well," Harry said.
Ron, Professor Snape, Lupin, and Dumbledore looked down at the three.
"It's about time they got together!" Ron said.
"What do you mean, Weasley?" Snape asked sharply.
"I knew, if Malfoy could get past all the shit that was throw at him, that he and Harry would be good friends or something more."
Snape . Ron, Lupin, and Dumbledore laughed.
"I do believe Ron is right, Severus." Dumbledore said, smiling, "And now the two boys are safe, we must all be on our way."
And with that, the four of them walked into the sunrise.
"Does it matter if I am? It'll happen anyway whether I'm ready or not."
"That's true…"
Harry sighed. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He laughed. "After everything we've gone through, you'd think I wouldn't be afraid of a little Graduation."
"One would think that."
"Hermione? Tell me why we've having Graduation this year when we've never had it before? No one ever explained it to me."
"Well, it's also going to be a bit of a party to celebrate that Voldemort is gone, once and for all."
"Yeah, that would be a reason to have a party, no matter how gloomy we are."
"Harry, Ron would want you to happy now. He wouldn't want you to be sad."
"I guess so." Harry said, not really meaning it.
"How could it have happened? Why did he follow me? If he hadn't been there, if I'd only been a bit quicker, if Voldemort had been slower…"
He looked over at the Weasleys and a lump formed in his throat. He hadn't spoken to them since Christmas. Harry had made a point to avoid the Weasleys, even Ginny. Especially since, well…he and Ron had become close. Very close.
"Oh, Ron…why did you do it? I told you that you needed to stay behind, that you'd get in the way! You didn't listen, and now you're gone. It's my fault, all my fault! Now you're gone, and I'm still here! Why? Why didn't I die instead?"
Harry took his seat on the makeshift stage that had been put on the grounds. He had already gone over those very same thoughts everyday for the past week, and he still had no answers. He saw that about a quarter of the seats were empty. There had been 40 chairs set up. Ten of them were empty, including the one that Ron would have sat in. Almost all the Slytherins had left the school at the end of last year and only one of them had remained. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Why he had stayed, Harry had no clue. Ron had told him that Draco had been disowned by his parents, but Harry couldn't quite believe it. Yet, here he was, receiving glares from half of the students left. Most of the students blamed Malfoy for everything that happened. Hermione was not among the ones glaring. Harry was a bit puzzled. Hermione hated Malfoy almost as much as he and Ron. Why should that have changed? The other students still hated him and made the fact known.
Now that Harry thought about it, Hermione had acted a bit odd around Malfoy the past weeks. Oh well. Harry would be saying good-bye to all of these people tomorrow anyway, so why should he care now?
Professor McGonagall walked up on the stage, reminding Harry of even more losses. Harry looked down at the ground.
He could still remember the final battle. Professor Dumbledore had ordered all of the students, including Harry, to stay in the Great Hall. All of the teachers except Professor McGonagall had gone outside. Harry told Ron and Hermione to stay inside, and he ran to the doors of the Great Hall. He used Petrificus Totalus on McGonagall before she could stop him, and he apologized before running outside to where the other teachers were. All of the teachers but one were fighting Death Eaters. Professor Dumbledore was fighting Voldemort himself. Harry tried to get over to them; but Death Eaters surrounded him and he got caught up fending them off. Harry had almost reached them when Voldemort used Avada Kedavra on Dumbledore. Lupin tried next, but that ended with the same result. Then Harry stepped up. They exchanged curses and physical blows. Harry got knocked to the ground. Voldemort aimed his wand at Harry and used the Avada Kedavra, but Snape jumped in front of him and took the curse. By that time, all of the Death Eaters had been taken down, as well as the few Dementors that had been out there. He turned to the teachers and told them to go inside the Great Hall. Most of them tried to protest, but Trelawny told them that they had all known this day would come. Harry told them to go again and they ran inside, but someone ran past the teachers, yelling for Harry. It was Ron. Voldemort turned his wand on Ron and used Avada Kadavra. Ron died. Harry was filled with anger. He used Avada Kadavra on Voldemort. Voldemort was gone, but so was Ron.
Someone poked him, and Harry went up and got his diploma. He smiled, but inside he could really care less. He sat back down and applauded when someone got his or her diploma. Then, McGonagall called Ron's name. Mr. And Mrs. Weasley walked up onto the stage and accepted the diploma for Ron. Harry could tell that Mrs. Weasley had been crying recently. The ceremony finished, and everyone wandered off. Harry went to his room, fell on his bed, and cried himself to sleep.
"Harry? Wake up, you idiot!"
"What?" Harry got up and looked around. He wasn't in his room, or anywhere at Hogwarts for that matter.
"Harry…you're not dreaming this."
"What do you mean, I'm not dreaming? I fell asleep at Hogwarts, and I'm not dead…am I, Ron?"
"No. Not yet, but if you don't take care of yourself, you will be."
"I don't care! I've killed Voldemort, there's nothing for me to stay for!"
"Killing yourself is not the answer! How do you think we'd feel if you killed yourself? I know I'd personally kill you again!"
"But it's not worth it!"
"So, you don't care about my family? Hermione? Hagrid? Professor McGonagall?"
"Then all blame me for death!"
"No they don't! It's, Not, Your, Fault!"
"I thought you were stronger than this, Potter."
"Professor Snape?"
"Of course. I should take away 500 points from Gryffindor for all of the stupidity you've shown this past week, but I can't do that, seeing as I'm dead."
Harry laughed inside. Snape definitely hasn't changed!
"There could always be another Voldemort, Potter. You are needed to teach those other dunderheads how to defend themselves."
"Severus, not all of them were dunderheads. Miss Granger, for example."
"As I've told you countless times, Dumbledore, any idiot could have gotten past my protection of the Sorcerer's Stone."
Harry was very confused.
"Professor Dumbledore?"
"We were all a bit stupid where Voldemort is concerned, Harry. Don't blame yourself for all of this, or I will come back and haunt you personally," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"But Professor! It IS my fault! If I hadn't gone out there-"
"There would be many more dead than just us," Lupin said.
Harry jumped.
"The truth is, if I had let you go out there with us, well…none of us would have died. That is my fault for not bringing you out with us."
"Harry, you need to go out there and live. Live for all of us, each children how to defend themselves. And…there is one other thing…there is one who needs you, or he…well…who knows what he may do," Ron said. "Never forget what we had, but don't be saddened by it either. Be happy. Hermione was right. I don't want you to be sad, and neither do the rest of us. Even Snape doesn't want…
"Ron, take a breath…er…wait you're dead."
Ron didn't lose impressed. "As I was saying…even Snape doesn't want that!"
Snape glared at Ron. Dumbledore sighed. "Professor Snape, Ron."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, Harry, it's time for us to go," Lupin said.
"Go?"
"Yes. We were allowed to wait for a week for you to come to terms with us being gone, but it took us coming to visit to get you on the right track."
"Oh."
"And Harry, if we see you up here before you become an old fart…" Ron said.
"Yes?"
"Well, we're all gonna be pretty angry."
Harry laughed. "Alright! I get the point!"
Dumbledore began to disappear, then Lupin, then Snape. Ron gave Harry a kiss before disappearing.
"Don't ever forget, but don't grieve for us…"
Harry bolted up in his bed. The sun was just beginning to rise. He went down to the common room and sat Hermione and a boy sitting be the fire. Hermione was comforting the boy, and Harry walked over to them. When Harry saw the boy, he was shocked. It was Malfoy! That's when he noticed Malfoy was crying.
"What's wrong?"
Malfoy looked up at Harry and began crying again.
"What's wrong with him, Hermione?"
"Well, you didn't kill Voldemort. You killed Malfoy's dad."
"What?!"
"That's what Ron ran out to tell you. Apparently, Voldemort went missing about a month ago, and they found his body the day before you fought Malfoy's dad."
"That doesn't make any sense! How did he die?"
"Malfoy's dad was an Occulimens. He hid his thoughts from Voldemort and killed him himself. Then he took polyjuice potion to make himself look like Voldemort and, well…you can guess the rest."
"I'm so sorry, Malfoy."
"Don't kid yourself, Potter." Malfoy sniffed. "You're glad he's dead, and I don't blame you. I only wish I'd done it myself."
"What do you mean?"
"He wasn't exactly the world's best father. I hated him. He always ordered me to do all kinds of crap. He told me I was to try to become you friend, and if it didn't work, to become your enemy. I never really hated you or your friends, Potter. I was nothing more than a toy to my father. In many different ways."
"What does that mean?"
"Let's just say he didn't find my mother at all attractive."
That's when it hit him. Malfoy had been raped by his father.
"Anyway, he told us all this that day and Ron jumped up and ran outside to tell you."
"Would it have made a difference?" Harry asked botterly. "NO. Then all would still have died."
"Not if you'd been able to wait until the polyjuice potion had ran at. He would have been easier to beat them."
"But Ron is still dead! Nothing can change that! I'll always be alone, Always!"
"What do you mean by that?" Hermione asked.
"Ron and I wee more than friends. Go figure it out, it's not that hard," Harry snapped.
Hermione eyes widened, as did Malfoy's.
"Potter…Harry. You don't have to be alone. There's other fish in the sea." Malfoy stood up and put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "And even if you don't fish someone else, you will always have your friends, which is more than I can say."
"You've got at least one friend, Draco," Hermione said. "You've got me."
"And…you've got me as well," Harry said.
Ron, Professor Snape, Lupin, and Dumbledore looked down at the three.
"It's about time they got together!" Ron said.
"What do you mean, Weasley?" Snape asked sharply.
"I knew, if Malfoy could get past all the shit that was throw at him, that he and Harry would be good friends or something more."
Snape . Ron, Lupin, and Dumbledore laughed.
"I do believe Ron is right, Severus." Dumbledore said, smiling, "And now the two boys are safe, we must all be on our way."
And with that, the four of them walked into the sunrise.