A/N: Sorry :( If it helps, as I've already told someone, my brother and sister inflicted incredible pain on me for what I did to you last chapter, and this chapter too. (Really, it hurt like hell...)
Just couldn't hold out on you guys, so alas, I hand it over - the final chapter.
Thanks for all the reviews! THANK YOUSO MUCH! I adore you guys!
Chapter 70: Cherished But Gone.
"Harry? Harry!"
"He's alright?"
"Oh thank goodness…"
"Let me through, I have to get him into bed…"
"Is that Ginny with him?"
"Mr. Potter…Ms. Weasley…"
"Ginny? Where's Katie?"
"Oh no…"
"What's wrong?"
The flurry of voices came to a standstill. Harry felt his head pounding.
Katie and Ginny are dead…
"Everyone get back," Madam Pomfrey said, her voice breaking slightly.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.
"Are they alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Mr. Weasley – no!"
It was too late – Ron had rushed to Harry and Ginny's side.
"Ron…" Harry said weakly. "I'm sorry…"
Ron didn't respond. He was looking at Ginny's body.
"She's dead…" he choked. "Mum – Ginny's dead."
"No…" Mrs. Weasley said. "No – she can't be…"
"I'm sorry…" Harry choked. "I tried to save her…"
"She's dead?" Hermione cried, rushing to Ron's side to see Ginny for herself.
The door of the Hospital Wing burst open, and Lupin came in carrying Katie. Harry stood up and rushed to him.
"Katie…" he said painfully, touching her pale face with his hands.
"Harry, you can see her later – but I need to get her into a bed," Lupin said quickly.
"No, please – Katie…"
"Harry – please, she needs rest…"
"What…" Harry said, dimly
"She needs rest, Harry…"
"But… she's dead…" Harry said.
"Harry – she's not dead," Lupin said, sounding confused. "But she's weak – I need to get her to a bed…"
Lupin began to walk away, carrying Katie in his arms.
"She's alive…" Harry said in breathless relief, feeling happier than he'd ever remembered being. "She's alive…"
He let the realization sink in on him for a moment, before remembering that Ginny was dead. Katie was alive – but it didn't change that Ginny was gone. He felt equally overjoyed and miserable at the same time.
All the emotions washed over him, and Harry dropped onto his knees and began to sob.
---
"Good morning, Harry… are feeling alright?"
Harry nodded tiredly. It was barely dawn, and Katie, Hermione, and Ron were still asleep. The hospital wing was eerily peaceful. He looked over at Katie and saw as her body rise and fall with her breath.
"I'm sorry about what happened, Harry – I must take some responsibility…"
"Don't do this Professor – please don't do this now…"
Harry knew what Dumbledore was going to say – he was going to claim that he shouldn't have allowed Pettigrew on the grounds, that none of this would have happened. That Harry and his friends would not have been abducted, and that Ginny would not have died. As he sat there watchingDumbledore's tired face, Harry felt some of the anger he had harbored towards him over the past year resurface.
"Very well, Harry…" Dumbledore said sadly. "But I feel there are a few things you are entitled to know…"
Harry just nodded.
"Draco Malfoy has been apprehended by the Ministry. He confessed that Pettigrew observed you spending a lot of time on the ground in the weeks following Easter Break, and that he suggested to Pettigrew placing a Portkey on the grounds; a Portkey designed only to transport to Voldemort's Headquarters if touched by you. It seemed the least inconspicuous way of transporting you without blowing their cover – they did not know, however, that we were fully aware of the presence in the castle."
"Malfoy shouldn't be sent to Azkaban…" Harry muttered. "He wouldn't do it…"
"He wouldn't do what?"
"He wouldn't kill Ginny – he told his father no…"
"Katie told me the same thing…" Dumbledore said quietly. "Lucius left him to murder Katie, too, but he refused to do it. Instead, he hit her with a curse to make her appear dead. It injured her quite badly – but nevertheless, he did not kill her. Lucius did not know that Katie was alive, and subsequently led you to believe she had died."
"Mm-Hm.." Harry said.
"Before the abduction, the Order knew that Voldemort's headquarters were located somewhere in southern Denmark, though we were careful in finding it's exact area because we did not want the Death Eaters to know how close we were," Dumbledore continued. "However, after Ministry Officials reported seeing you and your friend vanish from the grounds, we felt that it was most likely that you had been taken to Voldemort's base of operation, and we began seeking it's absolute location more urgently. Luckily, Voldemort discovered this before he knew of our reason, and he fled without reporting back to his headquarters. Had he known why we were trying to locate the Headquarters, he most likely would have gotten back before we managed to find you."
"Lucky…" Harry muttered.
Dumbledore sighed, and was quiet for a moment, and then he took an envelope from his robes.
"Professor Lupin wanted me to give this to you," he said, handing Harry the envelope. "He left last night for Manchester…"
"But he wasn't supposed to leave until this afternoon…" Harry said, slightly crestfallen.
"Actually Harry – you slept all day yesterday. Remus tried to wait until you awoke, but he had to be in Manchester by midnight and could not wait any longer. He hoped you would understand."
Harry just nodded and opened the envelope. Dumbledore said goodbye and left the hospital wing, leaving Harry alone with Lupin's letter.
Dear Harry,
I'm sorry I could not say goodbye in person, but it was very important that I be in Manchester in time to begin the study. It will please you to know that we have received official permission from the Ministry to proceed with the program. I informed the students where I'll be heading at the party they threw for my yesterday in class. Seamus was the host, but he told me it was your idea. Thank you, I loved it.
I am sad to learn of Ginny's death. She was an amazing girl, and truly loved by many. I know she was like a sister to you, and I can barely begin to imagine how painful her loss is to you, especially on top of everything you are already feeling. Give the Weasleys my condolences.
Alex has informed me that she will be instructing you and your friends in advanced defense. She is very flattered that you went to her, and takes the responsibility very seriously. I hope that you come to enjoy her company as much as I do (well, not quite that much, but you understand…)
Good luck with everything next year, Harry. I will truly miss you. I promise to write often, and I hope you do the same. I hope to return from Manchester speedily, possibly a changed man. Until then, be safe, be careful, and stay strong.
Remus.
---
The last weeks of school passed miserably. Seeing Mrs. Weasley's reaction to her only daughter's death was possibly the most painful thing Harry had ever witnessed in his life, and it made the loss hurt even worse than he imagined it could have been.
Dean had been very upset to learn of Ginny's death, too, but Harry did not feel sympathy for him. He was much too upset himself over Ginny's death to think he should comfort the person who had caused her pain in the last months of her life.
The one good thing through all of it was having Katie. Sometimes he felt guilty for being so happy that she had lived, but then he realized that it might just be the one happy thought helping him get from day to day.
Harry and the others who had been kidnapped were excused from their final exams, and Katie received special permission to make-up the N.E.W.T's she missed.
Finally the last day of school arrived, and Harry got onto the Hogwarts Express dreading the next week that he would be forced to spend with the Dursleys before leaving for Grimmauld Place, which he dreaded almost as much.
He, Ron, Hermione, Katie, found a compartment together and sat inside quietly, talking about the weather, and what Katie would be doing now that she had left Hogwarts. Nobody dared to talk about the year that had just passed, until finally, Hermione brought them all back down to earth.
"Quite a lot has happened since September, hasn't it?" she said quietly.
"Dad, Mrs. Bell, Viktor…Ginny…" Ron said raspily. "They're all gone."
Hermione took Ron's hand.
"We're together…" she said, giving him a trembling smile. "And Harry and Katie have each other…"
"Lupin might be cured," Harry said, smiling softly too.
"Bill's getting married…" Ron said.
"Hermione slapped Charlotte…" Katie said. They all laughed softly.
"We won the Quidditch Cup, thanks to our brilliant captain…" Harry said.
"Harry inherited Legilemency from his mum…" Hermione said.
"Ginny stole Veritaserum from Snape…" Ron said, raising his eyebrows.
"That might have been the best one all year," Katie said.
They all fell silent again.
"Maybe it wasn't such a bad year, after all…" Harry said softly, looking out the window at the blurred landscape. Katie kissed him on the cheek, and he watch as Hermione laid her head on Ron's shoulder and he kissed her forehead. He thought of Ginny and how much he had cared for her. Something he cherished really had been stolen from him, and he would never get her back.
He was going to see to it that her life was not lost in vain. He was going to see to it that Voldemort was destroyed once and for all.
---
Final Author's Note: Answering those peskily repeated questions, and thanking those who deserve my endless gratitude.
GringottsVault711
My name is Jenna, and for the 500 of you who have asked the same questions: I'm eighteen and I would like be a writer professionally and author an original work, though I have yet to have a brilliant story idea.
Why Katie?
I had to putHarrywith someone, I just had to. R/Hr would not be enough to quench the thirst of romance fans. The only problem was, who? IWhen I began the story, I didn't ship Harry with anyone, because I never thought about it. I also didn't want to be generic and pick the usual ship. So I ran a list through my mind, including Luna, Ginny, Parvati, Padma, Lavender, Susan, Hannah, etc; - I thought of Katie and she just felt perfect. She's a Quidditch player, a Gryffindor, a Seventh Year (I thought it would be nice to give Harry and older woman) – also, enough about her to get the general idea of her character, but minor enough so that I could take a lot of liberties with developing her personality.
I now am a dual Harry/Luna, Harry/Ginny shipper. I love Ginny, and I'd like to see her and Harry together, it would be sweet – but I think they're meant to be very brother/sister rather than boyfriend/girlfriend – and I think Luna's a more logical and subsequently more likely choice.
Of course, if Jo does spring Harry/Katie on us, I will be overjoyed, just because of all the joy I found writing it.
Will there be a sequel?
Alas, yes. I wasn't going to – but my sister convinced me. After all, there is still six and a half months until Half-Blood Prince is released. And this is the easiest way for me to fight withdrawal.
It will be called:
Year Seven: Harry Potter and the Blood Debt
It will definitely be shorter, but mainly because it will be more organized from the beginning.
It will have a slightly more consistent plot-line.
I'll still do my best to please the romance fans.
I'll still make exorbitant use of cliffhangers.
Updates will most likely be less frequent. This is because the stress of Year Six almost killed me (not literally, but you know what I mean…) Don't worry, though – I'll still try to keep up my reputation of being a fast-updater, just not as much as this time.
There will be more deaths, of course.
Other than the obvious, I will have storyline focusing on: The Malfoys, Lily & James, Lupin, Wormtail, Snape, and Alchemina.
It won't be up immediately, I think I might start posting by March or April. If you desperately want me to tell you when I'll be putting up the first chapter (and I hope for your mental health that's not many people) just e-mail me and I'll send out an e-mail to everyone once I know the date.
Other questions and comments
Is Alchemina related to Dumbledore? I originally planned her to be a niece of Dumbledore's, but I axed that storyline quickly because it was too difficult and complicated, and too soap opera. (I do have limits, people)
In Year Seven, Harry should get Katie pregnant. I can't believe people who actually read my story suggested this. No, no, no. I don't personally feel that pre-marital relations really fit with Jo's world; maybe, possibly in Post-Hogwarts fics, but definitely not 6th & 7th year fics. (And if you're wondering what R/Hr and H/K do in the Room of Requirement: R/Hr have 'kissing' sessions, but it's soft and romantic, and there's a lot of cuddling involved– H/K kiss softly too, but there's also a lot of tickling and play wrestling)
Minor information you might like to know
On New Year's Day at dinner, there were thirteen people sitting at dinner. Arthur Weasley suggests they all go in, suggesting that he stood up first. You do know what Professor Trelawney says about thirteen people dining together, don't you?
Percy's return was meant to parallel the parable of the Prodigal Son.
Alchemina's name is taken from the word Alchemy, which I associate with Chemistry; and Chemistry I associate with Potions.
Libby Bell's name comes from the word Liberty. As in Liberty Bell. Yeah, I'm a loser. Her name isn't actually supposed to be Liberty, it's Elizabeth, but it's where I got the idea.
Charlotte is a French name meaning 'feminine'
What's Jo's and What's Mine…
Jo owns every major character and location, as you know – and some of the smaller things people have asked me about, including: Ottery St. Catchpole, the Mooncalf, and Aberforth Dumbledore.
I created the following characters & names purely by myself:
Alexandria Alchemina, Alphred Ionus, Kenneth Brahms, Ophelia Cunningham.
The following were a mix of my own creation and Jo's:
Christopher Bell (Katie's father)
Katherine Bell (Katie's mother)
Libby Bell (Katie's Sister)
Charlotte Delacour (Fleur's cousin)
Thanks to:
All the reviews I've gotten, on site and by e-mail. They were immensely entertaining, and now and again, actually helpful (hehe). I loved every review, thanks for taking the time to tell me what you think (or threaten me if I didn't update fast enough)
I made a little list of reviewers from both FF and GH, hopefully I've successfully included all of you.
From Fanfiction dot net:
Logged-In Reviewers
abby92, ami1993, AnniePotter2004, Antietam John, ArianeAdora, B-A-HPLova22, BferBear, bigsmileygirl-3, Chatterpillar, danduck, Deathwynd, DeltaT, Desert hacker, Dovaserv, Eagle-Eyes, EJC, Esrb99, etfrompo, FairyDust29, fischergirl, Fission 25, ginny1232008, GinnyPotter91, Harry-potter-fan01, hpforever1, HyDrOmAtIc, Irish Dancing, jbfritz, Josh52629, Julie White, kiki13free, LiLy MaLfOy13, Lioness1, Lisa n Lupin, loonygrl9, Lord-Khyron1, Lynn50670, Miss Elizabeth lakeney, moonrider666, mrs-osbourne's-class, OCDAboutHarry1234,OvEr-dOsE44, Princess JB, PrincessSkywalkerOrgana, Prongs-n-Padfoot-4eva, purebloodprince, RSegovia, sazza w, Sephora ilverleaf, Skittles-07, SoftballGirl33, Spottay, StephanieLouise, Teddy673, Tomsgirl07, violingirl7. Whitefeather WickedWitch-HPLvr, Z-Loca-Girl,
Anonymous Reviewers
a truly loyal fan, Ace, alicat, Autumn, beth, cadie, Carmie, carpathia, Channing Francis, christy72335, darcelle, dreama, ElizeB, faraway, Gillian, hale, Jeff, kate, katia, Lorna, Lyss33, mario, meggle, Melinda, mousker, MQ, Oueenofthegame9, Prodipan Sengupta, purplegirl1111, readergirl99, Ruth(less), Sally, sarah Jacobs, Sirius James Black, Skittles3000, Stephanie, Tara, TheDragonSlayer, Tmstichleri, toni
From Godrics-Hollow dot net
Abt, AlexBlack, An, AprilDumbledore, Ariannia, blkeagle4th2, Lou4Lupin, xXCYRILLXx, bebby, thetwinsgal, bebby, hpfan56, padfoot37, Briscoesman, Catty, coolswimmer, devue, dobby-the-house-elf, dragonkeeper, fawkes33, gball84, Gee2, Ginny Potter7166, GLINDA, HarryPotterFan4Evr, Harrypottergirl, hayya3, HermionePotter1029, HogwartsSecrets, HpCrAzY042590, IJ, Jimmypage, Judas X, kazzie, LDW07, Lenore, mega potter fan, Padfoot and Prongs, padfoot37, padfootsqueen, peacekeeper, PeRfEcTiOnIsT, Pm2, Ry, ShareeLenae90, Silvermist, SiriusIsFINE, sluger, Slyv Member of the Order, snuffles01, steve34, sunrisecanyon, Sweetie9968, vikram, weasleygrint, WickedW0LF, xXluvindracoXx.
Special thanks to:
My sister, Leanne – my very first fan, who stayed up past her bedtime to read and edit my early chapters on my first production day, who cried when Katie's mother died, who fought with Garret on several occasions to read the newest chapter first, and who always fixed many mistakes before they were posted. (Who can punch really hard when you make her cry by killing of fictional characters. Seriously chica - OW! &)
My brother, Garret – who threatened me when I didn't write another chapter soon enough, who hit me when Arthur died, who offered comments and criticism, who snuck into my computer documents to read unfinished chapters despite my raging indignation at such an act, and who inspired a couple of the jokes in the story by being ever humorous. (OH - and how 'beat me' after thinking I killed both Katie and Ginny, and who 'beat me' again after realizing I tricked him.
Taliya and Fatima – my real life friends, thank you for the wonderful 'enthusiasm' you showed for my story. It's always nice to have your friends threaten you several times a week.
Several reviewers stood out from the crowd, but there were a few that did not even settle for merely standing out in the crowd – instead they scaled telephone poles and leaped across rooftops, yelling in a very Xena Warrior Princess type fashion, holding a pitchfork in one hand, a torch in the other, and a dragging a laptop computer behind them with their demon tail. And I must thank them for it:
Skittles-07, for being my first manic reviewer.
Julie White (Tiff) for wanting so badly to be my favorite reviewer, and then putting up with my superiority-complex as I beta your story.
Charles Williams –. You're such a jerk, do you know that? Haha, just kidding. You were always totally honest, and you really helped me, I always look forward to your next email. Sorry I didn't kill Ron, but I just couldn't kill off a member of the Trio with another year to go.
Steve34 – since your first review (chapter 45, I believe) you've never failed to make me laugh. Yet another brilliantly honest reviewer, who just happens to be a madly creative fan-fic writer.
Meggle – Always supportive, at Chamber of Secrets and with my story. Always leaving lengthy reviews that had me in hysterics and just begged for a play-by-play response. (I still have a vision of you at your computer, throwing your hands up at the injustice of it all…)
And, for the inspiration:
J.K. Rowling – for providing me with so many amazing characters, whose depths I understand even more than before. Also for getting me so addicted to the books in the first place, that writing this story is the only way I could preserve my sanity until July 16th.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – for bearing with my prayers for inspiration, for making sure I woke up in time for church on Sunday, despite the late night of writing before, for giving me the talent and ability to do this in the first place, and for those special reviewers who proved that, somehow, my fan fiction served a greater purpose than insanity.