Author's Note: Ack I'm sooooo sorry but my life has just run away from me. Too much work not enough sleep and no time for anything. Sorry sorry sorry so here's the next chapter. There should only be one more chapter after this! Yay. Well enjoy the chapter
Fearing Simple Chapter 4
Morning came far too soon for Ron's liking and he groaned, pulling the pillow over his face; cursing himself for not shutting the drapes. Knowing what he was going to have to do today made Ron want to fall back asleep and never wake up. 'Today is the day I tell 300 young wizards and witches that they, along with 400 of their parents, aunts uncles and familiars are going off to fight a fight from which they may never return.' Ron's eyes filled with tears and he turned to grab the picture from his nightstand. Harry, Draco, Hermione and himself grinned madly up at him from the frame; making funny faces and acting like fools.
'Why can't life be simple again? Why does there have to be people like Voldemort?' Ron was startled from his thoughts by a loud crash and the sound of furious screeching.
Ron raced down the stairs into the living room. Harry stood in the middle of the room, eyes wide and arms outstretched. Pig was fluttering madly before him, wings beating furiously, screeching hysterically.
"Pig! Calm down, it's only Harry!" Ron yelled reaching for the frantic bird. "What's gotten into you?" Ron shook his head as he finally grabbed a hold of the owl and began stroking his head in a slow calming manner.
"'M sorry Ron… I must have startled him or something," Harry muttered, stepping back to maintain some distance between himself and the now calm animal.
"S'not your fault, everyone 'round here's been acting loony since the war started, it's finally gotten to the animals too." Ron sighed and wandered into the kitchen, taking the letter from Pig's ankle he flopped unhappily into a chair as he unrolled the parchment.
"I'll bet this is Draco, informing me that they've decided to act immediately, not even waiting until tomorrow and I have less than an hour to get ready," Ron's eyes scanned the page; he looked up with a resigned look on his face, "I hate always being right."
"You move today?" Harry looked up excitedly, "This is perfect, better than my plan. There is no way you can lose! Brilliant Ron!"
"Don't look at me; this is Draco's brain child. You two were made for each other. Once he had your basic plan nothing could stop him." Ron grumped good-naturedly.
"I'm sorry I won't be there to see it." Harry sighed, focusing his attentions on a crack in the table.
"At least you'll be here to celebrate with us after!" Ron piped up cheerfully. "That will make winning even better!"
Harry raised his eyebrow at Ron's choice of words. "Yeah, yeah Harry, even I can't believe I said that. So before I get anymore disgustingly emotional about this whole situation, I'm going to leave." Ron rose from his chair and grabbed his robe.
Harry moved to stand before him with tears in his eyes. "Protect them Ron. They need a leader and you and Draco are the best men for the job. But even Draco can't handle this the way you can Ron. Do me proud!" Harry pulled Ron into a tight hug, "I love you Weasley. You and Hermione, you're the best friends I could have asked for and I could never have achieved half the things I did without your support. Your support has always meant the world to me. After Draco, you were always number one in my heart."
The boys separated awkwardly, wiping their eyes. Ron sniffled and glanced at his feet; after a moment he broke out into a grin and lightly punched Harry in the arm. "You shouldn't say stuff like that! We're just going to feel uncomfortable about it later on!"
"Yeah, you're right Ron," Harry replied with a ghost of a smile on his face.
"Well, I'm off to fight a war; you know how it is!" Ron said airily as he swept out door, waving behind him.
"There's the Ron I know, making jokes at inappropriate times," Harry teased
Ron scowled playfully before turning his back to Harry and marching down the walkway. Harry's eyes followed his progress and remained glued to the spot from which Ron had apparated. Moments passed before Harry broke his gaze and retreated into the house. Slamming the heavy oak door behind him, Harry fell to his hand and knees sobbing.
Hogwarts was buzzing with energy and tension. Ron felt the heavy burden of the war descend upon his shoulders as he appeared at the edge of the forbidden forest. Mentally steeling himself for the following hours, Ron began the trek to the front gate.
All around him was the nervous chatter of the young witches and wizards as they ran through their final lessons again. Ron watched as a young looking boy flipped a larger boy over his shoulder from behind. Draco has insisted on teaching the younger warriors the muggle mode of self-defense in addition to the hours and hours of magical training. Ron had protested at first, saying it was a waste of time and would make the kids less careful; but Draco had stood firm, and Ron had relented. 'Whatever will keep them alive,' Ron thought to himself. Ron passed through the gates without raising his head; his feet no longer needed guidance to walk the path he would no walk for a final time in war preparation. Ron knew this was it, the last hope for the light. Never again would he walk these halls to prepare for battle. If the won, Hogwarts would once again be a place of joy and learning, if they lost, none would remain to face Voldemort again.
"Two hours Neville, we leave in two hours, we need those salves ready! Hermione, how are the hospital preparations coming along?"
"We're finished Draco, everything is ready."
Ron paused outside of the room where Hermione, Draco and Neville were talking. 'This is real Ron, the moment of truth,' Ron squared his shoulders and took a deep breath, 'For Harry.'
"What's happening?" Ron asked stepping across the threshold, drawing the attention in the room to him.
"Ron!" Draco jumped up and crossed the room. Swinging his arm around Ron's neck, Draco dragged him back towards the group. "We're almost ready! It's really happening Ronald, I still can't believe we're going to get that bastard! I wish Harry could have seen it." Draco's eyes began to water and he wiped his hand across his face.
"Have faith Draco, I really…" Draco silenced Ron with a sharp glare. "Don't Ron, we've discussed this!" Draco said in a clipped tone, he turned from Ron to face Neville, "Two hours, Neville, don't fail me." Draco turned and fled the room.
Neville gave Ron a small sympathetic smile and rushed out of the room to complete preparations in the potions lab. Hermione sighed, "Ron, I know you want to believe, and I know that hope is what keeps you going… but it's been three years. I think you need to understand that for most people, this war is about freedom and vengeance. They're fighting to avenge his death Ron, not to free him from his captivity."
"Hermione! How can you think like that? That he would just roll over and die?" Ron spat.
Hermione wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "I loved him Ron, like no one I've ever loved before, save you, but I hope when we enter that fortress we don't find Harry alive."
Ron gasped, recoiling from Hermione's grip. His hand reached up towards his mouth as he looked at Hermione with disgust and confusion. "How could yo…" Ron choked on the words.
Hermione extended a hand toward Ron, he scampered backward quickly, out of her reach. "Ron, I don't mean it like that! You know I don't want him dead, but… three years Ron! Three years of torture – I don't wish that on him. I hope he didn't hang on for as long as he could. I hope he experienced as little of Voldemort's sick, twisted cruelty as possible!" Hermione's voice had raised to a yell. "I love him too much to want him alive, he wouldn't be Harry anymore. I would never wish that on him just because I want him back!" Tears flowed down Hermione's face as she yelled and gestured madly in the air, trying to make Ron understand.
"But what if it didn't change him and he was still Harry?" Ron whispered
"It's not possible Ron. I love you, but you're thinking with your heart, not your head." Hermione wept, wrapping a hand around her throat.
"He's our Hero! The boy who lived; Hermione don't make a liar out of him. He is alive, I know it! Not like in my dream, not dead like in that dream. I'll prove it when this is finished." Ron cried. Shaking his head he left to calm himself before he had to face the troops.
Hermione looked after him with sad eyes. When his robes disappeared around the corner, Hermione fell to her knees, sobbing harder. 'Why? Why does this happen to us, whenever we're happy something destroys it.'
"Hermione? Are you alright?"
Hermione's head snapped up and her eyes found Cho's concerned face. Hermione rose from the ground sniffling and drying her eyes. "I'm fine Cho, really. It's just all this war stuff getting to me. Its silly really, we're all terrified – no sense crying about it!" Hermione flashed Cho a false smile and moved to stand next to her. "Well, let's get the beds ready then yes?"
Cho nodded and laced her arm through Hermione's silently comforting her friend as they returned to their duties. Cho knew there was nothing left to do but wait for the injured, but she followed silently, deciding that Hermione needed to feel busy.
Ron was sitting in an alcove staring out the window when Draco found him. "What's on your mind Ron?" Draco asked peering out the window which over looked Hagrid's hut and the forbidden forest.
"I was just thinking that I wish Hagrid was here. I could really use his confidence right now." Ron sighed.
"There's a lot of people I wish were here. Their guidance is sorely missed." Draco agreed, his mind drifted to Severus.
"So, what did you need? Are we ready to go?" Ron asked, shaking himself out of his slump.
Draco nodded solemnly. Ron rose to stand next to him. The two men shared a resolute look as they made the trek to the great hall, when they entered they became wrapped up in the nervous excitement happening all around them. Within minutes, the young witches and wizards began noticing the two men's presence; they settled down to listen, staring intently at Draco.
When silence had fallen upon the Great Hall, Draco opened his mouth and began to speak. "Tonight, we will change history. We will avenge the deaths of those who were taken from us, we will prevent the deaths of those who we can save. Although individually we feel weak and every one of us is scared, together we can end this terror. Tonight Voldemort dies!" Draco raised his arm into the air; his wand, clenched in his fist reached towards the magical night sky of the Hall's roof.
Draco's movements stirred the crowd from their positions and many began cheering and shouting of their upcoming victory.
Ron's hand silenced them, "Let us remember those who have be lost and realize that in order to see that no more loved ones die we must be careful. Gather into your ranks and prepare to fly. Your commander's word is law. Follow every order you receive, we don't want to lose anyone else. May Harry protect us."
The crowd bowed their heads solemnly at the mention of their hero. "For Harry!" A voice rang out from the middle of the room. Hundreds of voices rose to join the first and the Great Hall became a thunder of pounding feet and shouts of 'For Harry'.
Draco turned and fled from the Hall before his emotions could overtake him. Hermione was entering as he came through the door. She gathered him into a tight hug. "Draco it's time." Hermione whispered tonelessly into his ear, squeezing him more tightly.
Draco nodded stiffly, drew back and adjusted his robes. He pulled his wand from his sleeve and whispered "wingaridum leviosa." A small silver ball levitated from a pocket in his robes and drifted through the door behind him. A flash of silver and gold flared behind him as the ball exploded into a mess of blinding lights. Each fleck of light drifted down towards a witch or wizard in the Great hall. When it touched bare flash it flashed brilliantly for a moment and then disappeared.
"Protectaris Collectavum" Draco said, pointing his wand at the place where the fleck of light had entered his skin. 'We're all connected now," Draco whispered tiredly, his face seemed to age decades in seconds, "may it protect us all."
Hermione nodded knowingly, she rubbed her mark, not needing to ask any questions. After all, it had been she who had adapted the dark mark so painstakingly for years; and it had been she who had thought to weave in the protection spell. She had lost Harry, should wouldn't lose anyone else. Hermione was dimly aware of Draco moving away from her and the dull rush of the crowd shifting. As she came back to awareness, the army was marching out of the castle walls and Ron was standing along stride her.
"I love you Herm" Ron said emotionally.
"Be safe, come home," Hermione replied, "I love you so much!"
Ron leaned forward and kissed Hermione firmly on the lips, then he pulled her into a fierce hug and walked away without another word.
tbc