The Harry Potter universe does not belong to me. I am merely borrowing the
inspiration from JK Rowlings and the many large corporations that own a
part of it.
Chapter 1
Prophecy Fulfilled
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. -Walt Whitman
Harry Potter looked around the room at the mangled group before him. The brief respite in the fighting had left them time to regroup and pretend the world was right once again. His eyes lit on Ginny, the youngest of the Weasley clan. She had gathered the other girls into the corner and seemed to have instigated a hair and makeup session. Even in the middle of a war as evil as this one, Ginny reached out to the people around her. She was his constant source of joy. He only hoped that he was worthy of her. Someday, maybe.
"Let me look at that gash, Harry. It hasn't stopped bleeding." The touch on the inside of arm and the sharp pain that followed brought him crashing back to the reality of his situation.
"Thanks, Tonks. I completely forgot about that." The gash on the inside of his arm had been constantly rubbing against his body during the last week of fighting, not getting a chance to scab over.
Tonks looked tired. She had been helping Hermione with some of the simple doctoring the group needed. Terry Boot and Neville Longbottom were both trying to see out of blackened eyes while Ron groaned in agony from the wand that had been thrust into his upper leg. Yellow and pink sparks erupted from the wound every time he breathed and pumped more blood past the embedded tip.
"If we can get a couple more hours of peace, everyone will be okay." The woman looked at him through narrowed eyes, gauging the battered young man before her, but her apprehension was quickly erased away with a huge smile reminiscent of the pink-haired girl that he had first known. "Hermione seems to think you have a plan. I know better, though. You're still that fast-talking kid I met all those years ago. It's just that you're the best bluffer we have in the room."
"Give me some credit," Harry laughed. He noticed that Ginny looked up and smiled at him when she heard the happy sound. They shared a special glance and then went back to the stark reality before them. "I just want this to all be over. I'd do anything to have it end. How much more can we take? Even the Death Eaters seem to be at their wit's end."
One of the Dark Lord's good ideas had cost Dumbledore's Army some of their best and brightest. It was painful to think about the group that had found themselves at the end of the dark alley in Hogsmeade. Rescue hadn't come in time. This conflict needed to end soon or more lives would be lost. Inspiration rested on him for a moment and the plan formed clearly in his mind.
"Tonks? Do me a favour and get everyone together. I have an idea."
***
Ginny watched Harry as he paced in front of the fireplace that dominated the darkened room. There was no missing the spark that had lit up his eyes from deep within. His green eyes were bright and his smile was sure. She had never loved him more.
Of course, they hadn't had many moments together to work through the feeling that burned inside of both of them. Quiet words spoken in the dead of night as the others slept around them. Kisses stolen as they passed each other in darkened hallways. It all added up to a relationship unlike any Ginny had ever had in the past. She and Dean still laughed about the six months they had dated. This wasn't dating. This felt like - love.
"I know this plan seems childish but I think that they'll be expecting us to hole up. Not pull off something that would risk any more injury to the group."
Terry raised his hand, the black finally beginning to fade from his face. "Are you sure about this, Harry? I don't want to say this but ." The Ravenclaw tried not to let his apprehension show but he had a hard time getting his question out. Knowledge was evil when it proved a friend wrong. "Well, the odds are against us. Even the best flyers among us can't hold off a horde of Death Eaters for long."
"Yes, I agree with you." Everyone stared at Harry and Ginny had to laugh. He had agreed that his plan was useless. How many times had he told her that a good leader knows when to admit to a weakness? There was a spark in Harry that made him a good leader now but she could see that one day he would be able to inspire followers without words.
With a shake of her head, Ginny reminded herself that she needed to concentrate on what Harry was saying and not on how cute he looked when he scrunched up his nose to move his glasses as he continued to speak. "The plan is a tad fool-hardy but that's what will make it work. Let's remind our hooded enemies that we're just a bunch of kids." Harry caught Tonks' eye and smiled. "We need to cut the enemy down where they are the weakest and where it will hurt them the most. We need to end this!" For emphasis, he pounded his fist into his palm.
The group nodded, beginning to see where he was coming from with this idea. In unspoken agreement, they all began to filter downstairs to prepare. Ginny lingered behind, hoping that no one noticed she was trying to talk to Harry alone.
"What do you think?" he asked quietly as he sat down beside her.
"I think that this is what we need to do. Don't worry, squidgy." She poked him in the ribs, using her pet name for him to bring out a smile.
"I love you. You know that, don't you? I wish that things were different and I could give this to you at a better time, but." The ring he took out of his pocket was a gold band with fire-coloured stones that sparkled even in the darkened room.
"Harry! It's beautiful." She reached for the ring but he held on to it.
"No, let me." Instead of reaching for her left hand, he took her right hand and slid the ring on her middle finger. "It will fit whatever finger you put it on but I don't want you to put it on your left hand. I want to be able to ask you when this is officially over to be my wife. There's too much hanging over our heads to do it now."
For a moment, Ginny had forgotten about the suffering, the upcoming battle, the war still raging outside the walls of Black Manor. "When this is all over, I want you down on your knees, with this ring, asking me the question that I want you to ask."
"Will you give me the answer that I want you to say?"
She kissed him instead of answering him out loud. Snuggling up to each other, they forgot the people who could walk in until Ron came limping back into the room.
"Forgot the war, have we? Well, everyone's ready to go downstairs. Need to find my wand. Not that it'll do me any good." Ron's mournful gaze fell on the broken piece of wood in the corner.
Detaching himself from Ginny's lips, Harry laughed at his best friend. "Take it down to Dumbledore. He's bound to be able to fix it. It's not a bad break, really."
"Is there anything I should know?" Ron asked, eyeing the couple.
"Congratulate me, ya big great lummox. Your mum's favourite son is actually going to be a part of your family!"
The two young men clapped each other on the back, calling each other names and, in general, acting like the two adolescent boys that they were not very long ago.
"Are you forgetting someone, big brother?" Ginny asked, approaching the boys with two fists, ready to defend herself against their juvenile antics. All three embraced, each boy kissing a cheek.
"Let's go fight!" yelled Ron, raising his mangled wand high in the air. "Nothing can defeat true love." He grinned down at Harry and Ginny as both of them laughed at his silliness.
Ginny smacked his hand down. "Shut it, Ron. This is serious." Both Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes as they watched Ron walk out through the doorway.
Before they followed, Harry stopped her with a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "But this is definitely true love."
***
The battle was not going as planned. Harry stood on the frontlines, behind a bush with Tonks, Moody and Dean. The others were scattered among the few shelters the park afforded them.
"Moody, this isn't working. What are we going to do?"
Neville came running up to them, his face scratched and bleeding from the tree he had just been pushed out of. "Darn pixies. Never did like those things."
Moody looked at the two boys in front of him in the fading light. "What we need is a diversion. You three will do nicely."
"What?" asked Harry, pushing his glasses up as they slid down his sweaty nose.
"Don't ask questions, boy. Listen. Tonks, you change to look like Harry. Between you and Neville, you should be able to fool most of the people into believing that Harry is somewhere he isn't."
Within seconds, the plan was put into action. Harry stayed behind the bush for a couple of seconds to let Neville and Tonks get ahead of him and over to the perimeter of the fighting. He surged forward, toward to middle of the open area. The two decoys had done their job and were confusing the Death Eaters into shooting spells away from Harry's position.
The crackling sound in front of Harry caused him to slow down just as Voldemort Apparated just a few feet from him. "Good plan, Harry. Except I ALWAYS know where you are. You should have figured that out by now. There's no one to save you now."
Both Tonks and Neville realized the danger and reversed their course. Ginny, watching the action from a nearby overturned bench, rushed forward at the same moment that Voldemort raised his wand. Harry, back-pedalling furiously, was thrown backwards by the force of the spell.
With a mighty roar, Neville leapt forward between Voldemort and his fallen friend but it was too late. With desperation only the heartbroken feel, Neville summoned every bit of strength in his body and pointed his wand.
"Go ahead, boy. You can't kill me. You don't have the backbone to pull off the spell. Just like your father. Just like Potter." He threw his head back and the air was filled with evil laughter.
With a scream of rage, Neville threw his spell. A flash of light. A stuttered exclamation of surprise. Silence.
When the sparks died down, Ginny was kneeling with Harry in her arms. She had caught him just as he fell to his knees.
Voldemort's lifeless body had also been thrown backwards, landing on a pile of rock. At the moment of his demise, every Death Eater fell dead. Every wizard or witch with the Dark Mark collapsed instantly.
The silence was shattered by a scream.
"HARRY! NO!"
Slowly, the remaining fighters came out from behind their defensive positions to gather around their fallen hero and his grieving family. Ron had run up, only to be pulled away from his sister by Hermione. They clung to each other as Moody confirmed their greatest fear. "He's dead."
Ginny's screams filled the air. "NO! NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD. NO!" The hysterical girl was beginning to shake Harry's shoulders, as if trying to wake him up. Tonks, back to her original self, closed her eyes and uttered a word as her wand flashed. Immediately, Ginny was silent and still. Moody picked up Harry's body and Disapparated. The others followed his lead, knowing that he was headed to Black Manor, their base of operation and home for most of the last few years.
Hermione let go of Ron and he ran towards his sister with a cry of anguish. Tonks lifted her spell and Ginny fell to the ground, weeping hysterically. Ron lifted her onto his lap, stroking her hair and murmuring silent words only for the two of them to hear.
Dumbledore Apparated in front of them, looking incredibly old and worn. Beckoning to Hermione, he lifted Ginny out of Ron's arms and disappeared. Hermione, supporting most of Ron's weight, traced his face with delicate and dirty fingers. "Let's go home," she whispered, kissing him lightly. "The day will finish itself."
***
Black Manor was indeed black that next week. Dazed people spoke in hushed, solemn tones. It wasn't just Harry's death that saddened them, but also the loss of all the Death Eaters that had collapsed. There had always been hope while the dark group had been alive that they would see the error of their ways and leave Voldemort. The connection had been too strong for them and, no matter where the Death Eaters were or what they were doing at that fateful moment, the Dark Mark made certain that every one of them shared their master's fate. There was no hope for redemption. Grief weighed down every conscience.
Ginny was surprised to find a sunny day when she opened the front door and slipped out. A month ago, a week ago even, she would have gloried in the sun's warmth against her head and shoulders. Shivering, she clutched her sweater tighter around her. There wasn't much time. Her father was bound to come looking for her soon. It was now or never.
There hadn't been much that she wanted to keep. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do for shelter and food, but she knew that she had to leave. There was too much sadness here. If she didn't leave, she felt that she would have no other choice but to curl up in Harry's robe and die.
"I can't be strong for you," she recited out loud as she touched the door for one last time. It was what she had been saying inside her head for the past seven days whenever a grieving person passed her. "There is nothing inside of me anymore."
With a new resolve to leave the death and despair behind her, Ginny straightened her shoulders and slipped into the complete mystery of the Muggle world around her.
Chapter 1
Prophecy Fulfilled
O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won, The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting, While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring; But O heart! heart! heart! O the bleeding drops of red, Where on the deck my Captain lies, Fallen cold and dead. -Walt Whitman
Harry Potter looked around the room at the mangled group before him. The brief respite in the fighting had left them time to regroup and pretend the world was right once again. His eyes lit on Ginny, the youngest of the Weasley clan. She had gathered the other girls into the corner and seemed to have instigated a hair and makeup session. Even in the middle of a war as evil as this one, Ginny reached out to the people around her. She was his constant source of joy. He only hoped that he was worthy of her. Someday, maybe.
"Let me look at that gash, Harry. It hasn't stopped bleeding." The touch on the inside of arm and the sharp pain that followed brought him crashing back to the reality of his situation.
"Thanks, Tonks. I completely forgot about that." The gash on the inside of his arm had been constantly rubbing against his body during the last week of fighting, not getting a chance to scab over.
Tonks looked tired. She had been helping Hermione with some of the simple doctoring the group needed. Terry Boot and Neville Longbottom were both trying to see out of blackened eyes while Ron groaned in agony from the wand that had been thrust into his upper leg. Yellow and pink sparks erupted from the wound every time he breathed and pumped more blood past the embedded tip.
"If we can get a couple more hours of peace, everyone will be okay." The woman looked at him through narrowed eyes, gauging the battered young man before her, but her apprehension was quickly erased away with a huge smile reminiscent of the pink-haired girl that he had first known. "Hermione seems to think you have a plan. I know better, though. You're still that fast-talking kid I met all those years ago. It's just that you're the best bluffer we have in the room."
"Give me some credit," Harry laughed. He noticed that Ginny looked up and smiled at him when she heard the happy sound. They shared a special glance and then went back to the stark reality before them. "I just want this to all be over. I'd do anything to have it end. How much more can we take? Even the Death Eaters seem to be at their wit's end."
One of the Dark Lord's good ideas had cost Dumbledore's Army some of their best and brightest. It was painful to think about the group that had found themselves at the end of the dark alley in Hogsmeade. Rescue hadn't come in time. This conflict needed to end soon or more lives would be lost. Inspiration rested on him for a moment and the plan formed clearly in his mind.
"Tonks? Do me a favour and get everyone together. I have an idea."
***
Ginny watched Harry as he paced in front of the fireplace that dominated the darkened room. There was no missing the spark that had lit up his eyes from deep within. His green eyes were bright and his smile was sure. She had never loved him more.
Of course, they hadn't had many moments together to work through the feeling that burned inside of both of them. Quiet words spoken in the dead of night as the others slept around them. Kisses stolen as they passed each other in darkened hallways. It all added up to a relationship unlike any Ginny had ever had in the past. She and Dean still laughed about the six months they had dated. This wasn't dating. This felt like - love.
"I know this plan seems childish but I think that they'll be expecting us to hole up. Not pull off something that would risk any more injury to the group."
Terry raised his hand, the black finally beginning to fade from his face. "Are you sure about this, Harry? I don't want to say this but ." The Ravenclaw tried not to let his apprehension show but he had a hard time getting his question out. Knowledge was evil when it proved a friend wrong. "Well, the odds are against us. Even the best flyers among us can't hold off a horde of Death Eaters for long."
"Yes, I agree with you." Everyone stared at Harry and Ginny had to laugh. He had agreed that his plan was useless. How many times had he told her that a good leader knows when to admit to a weakness? There was a spark in Harry that made him a good leader now but she could see that one day he would be able to inspire followers without words.
With a shake of her head, Ginny reminded herself that she needed to concentrate on what Harry was saying and not on how cute he looked when he scrunched up his nose to move his glasses as he continued to speak. "The plan is a tad fool-hardy but that's what will make it work. Let's remind our hooded enemies that we're just a bunch of kids." Harry caught Tonks' eye and smiled. "We need to cut the enemy down where they are the weakest and where it will hurt them the most. We need to end this!" For emphasis, he pounded his fist into his palm.
The group nodded, beginning to see where he was coming from with this idea. In unspoken agreement, they all began to filter downstairs to prepare. Ginny lingered behind, hoping that no one noticed she was trying to talk to Harry alone.
"What do you think?" he asked quietly as he sat down beside her.
"I think that this is what we need to do. Don't worry, squidgy." She poked him in the ribs, using her pet name for him to bring out a smile.
"I love you. You know that, don't you? I wish that things were different and I could give this to you at a better time, but." The ring he took out of his pocket was a gold band with fire-coloured stones that sparkled even in the darkened room.
"Harry! It's beautiful." She reached for the ring but he held on to it.
"No, let me." Instead of reaching for her left hand, he took her right hand and slid the ring on her middle finger. "It will fit whatever finger you put it on but I don't want you to put it on your left hand. I want to be able to ask you when this is officially over to be my wife. There's too much hanging over our heads to do it now."
For a moment, Ginny had forgotten about the suffering, the upcoming battle, the war still raging outside the walls of Black Manor. "When this is all over, I want you down on your knees, with this ring, asking me the question that I want you to ask."
"Will you give me the answer that I want you to say?"
She kissed him instead of answering him out loud. Snuggling up to each other, they forgot the people who could walk in until Ron came limping back into the room.
"Forgot the war, have we? Well, everyone's ready to go downstairs. Need to find my wand. Not that it'll do me any good." Ron's mournful gaze fell on the broken piece of wood in the corner.
Detaching himself from Ginny's lips, Harry laughed at his best friend. "Take it down to Dumbledore. He's bound to be able to fix it. It's not a bad break, really."
"Is there anything I should know?" Ron asked, eyeing the couple.
"Congratulate me, ya big great lummox. Your mum's favourite son is actually going to be a part of your family!"
The two young men clapped each other on the back, calling each other names and, in general, acting like the two adolescent boys that they were not very long ago.
"Are you forgetting someone, big brother?" Ginny asked, approaching the boys with two fists, ready to defend herself against their juvenile antics. All three embraced, each boy kissing a cheek.
"Let's go fight!" yelled Ron, raising his mangled wand high in the air. "Nothing can defeat true love." He grinned down at Harry and Ginny as both of them laughed at his silliness.
Ginny smacked his hand down. "Shut it, Ron. This is serious." Both Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes as they watched Ron walk out through the doorway.
Before they followed, Harry stopped her with a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "But this is definitely true love."
***
The battle was not going as planned. Harry stood on the frontlines, behind a bush with Tonks, Moody and Dean. The others were scattered among the few shelters the park afforded them.
"Moody, this isn't working. What are we going to do?"
Neville came running up to them, his face scratched and bleeding from the tree he had just been pushed out of. "Darn pixies. Never did like those things."
Moody looked at the two boys in front of him in the fading light. "What we need is a diversion. You three will do nicely."
"What?" asked Harry, pushing his glasses up as they slid down his sweaty nose.
"Don't ask questions, boy. Listen. Tonks, you change to look like Harry. Between you and Neville, you should be able to fool most of the people into believing that Harry is somewhere he isn't."
Within seconds, the plan was put into action. Harry stayed behind the bush for a couple of seconds to let Neville and Tonks get ahead of him and over to the perimeter of the fighting. He surged forward, toward to middle of the open area. The two decoys had done their job and were confusing the Death Eaters into shooting spells away from Harry's position.
The crackling sound in front of Harry caused him to slow down just as Voldemort Apparated just a few feet from him. "Good plan, Harry. Except I ALWAYS know where you are. You should have figured that out by now. There's no one to save you now."
Both Tonks and Neville realized the danger and reversed their course. Ginny, watching the action from a nearby overturned bench, rushed forward at the same moment that Voldemort raised his wand. Harry, back-pedalling furiously, was thrown backwards by the force of the spell.
With a mighty roar, Neville leapt forward between Voldemort and his fallen friend but it was too late. With desperation only the heartbroken feel, Neville summoned every bit of strength in his body and pointed his wand.
"Go ahead, boy. You can't kill me. You don't have the backbone to pull off the spell. Just like your father. Just like Potter." He threw his head back and the air was filled with evil laughter.
With a scream of rage, Neville threw his spell. A flash of light. A stuttered exclamation of surprise. Silence.
When the sparks died down, Ginny was kneeling with Harry in her arms. She had caught him just as he fell to his knees.
Voldemort's lifeless body had also been thrown backwards, landing on a pile of rock. At the moment of his demise, every Death Eater fell dead. Every wizard or witch with the Dark Mark collapsed instantly.
The silence was shattered by a scream.
"HARRY! NO!"
Slowly, the remaining fighters came out from behind their defensive positions to gather around their fallen hero and his grieving family. Ron had run up, only to be pulled away from his sister by Hermione. They clung to each other as Moody confirmed their greatest fear. "He's dead."
Ginny's screams filled the air. "NO! NO! HE CAN'T BE DEAD. NO!" The hysterical girl was beginning to shake Harry's shoulders, as if trying to wake him up. Tonks, back to her original self, closed her eyes and uttered a word as her wand flashed. Immediately, Ginny was silent and still. Moody picked up Harry's body and Disapparated. The others followed his lead, knowing that he was headed to Black Manor, their base of operation and home for most of the last few years.
Hermione let go of Ron and he ran towards his sister with a cry of anguish. Tonks lifted her spell and Ginny fell to the ground, weeping hysterically. Ron lifted her onto his lap, stroking her hair and murmuring silent words only for the two of them to hear.
Dumbledore Apparated in front of them, looking incredibly old and worn. Beckoning to Hermione, he lifted Ginny out of Ron's arms and disappeared. Hermione, supporting most of Ron's weight, traced his face with delicate and dirty fingers. "Let's go home," she whispered, kissing him lightly. "The day will finish itself."
***
Black Manor was indeed black that next week. Dazed people spoke in hushed, solemn tones. It wasn't just Harry's death that saddened them, but also the loss of all the Death Eaters that had collapsed. There had always been hope while the dark group had been alive that they would see the error of their ways and leave Voldemort. The connection had been too strong for them and, no matter where the Death Eaters were or what they were doing at that fateful moment, the Dark Mark made certain that every one of them shared their master's fate. There was no hope for redemption. Grief weighed down every conscience.
Ginny was surprised to find a sunny day when she opened the front door and slipped out. A month ago, a week ago even, she would have gloried in the sun's warmth against her head and shoulders. Shivering, she clutched her sweater tighter around her. There wasn't much time. Her father was bound to come looking for her soon. It was now or never.
There hadn't been much that she wanted to keep. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do for shelter and food, but she knew that she had to leave. There was too much sadness here. If she didn't leave, she felt that she would have no other choice but to curl up in Harry's robe and die.
"I can't be strong for you," she recited out loud as she touched the door for one last time. It was what she had been saying inside her head for the past seven days whenever a grieving person passed her. "There is nothing inside of me anymore."
With a new resolve to leave the death and despair behind her, Ginny straightened her shoulders and slipped into the complete mystery of the Muggle world around her.