(A/N First off I really hope you guys like this story. I have never worked so hard before on any other chapter. So I hope you guys enjoy. Also be sure to thank my wonderfully awesome beta, WickedWitchHPLvr who helped make this chapter the bomb. Enjoy and please review.)
Disclaimer: Harry Potter (aka The Boy Who Lived) isn't mine. I don't own him or any of his little friends.
Chapter One: The Boy Who Lost His Best Friend
Being the boy who lived wasn't all it was cracked up to be. He had watched his best friend die at the hands of Voldermort's lackies. Why couldn't he be the boy who saved his Ron? He had watched as Mrs. Weasely cried with Ron's body in her arms. But, no, he wasn't the boy who had the right things to say. Harry Potter was just the boy who had finally given up. That was it. He didn't want to be hero boy anymore. Not that the wizarding world needed a hero. After all he had finally beaten Voldermort, with help, shockingly enough, from Draco Malfoy.
Harry Potter wasn't able to save Ron, He wasn't able to save Neville or Luna.
Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was now the boy who didn't care. Let the world love him, let them celebrate on the day his best friend died. He didn't care. Harry Potter disappeared, he didn't want to be in the public eye. Let Draco be the here, let Ginny or Hermione be the hero. He was sick of being the hero. He wasn't a hero. He couldn't save his Ron, he couldn't save his self. It seemed he couldn't save anyone So Harry gave up.
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It was a couple years after Harry graduated when the last battle in the war was fought. It was probably the worst battle of them all. Both sides had many casualties and slowly the good side was losing. Voldermort was finally winning. Then it happened, the Death Eaters had made a big mistake. Ron was down, killed. His head cut off by one of the Death Eaters. Harry saw this, it had happened right in front of him. Something inside of Harry snapped. A red hot fire grew with in him and within seconds he was radiating anger.
Ginny remembered it like it was yesterday. She thought he was going to explode. Harry didn't though, instead he pointed his wand at Voldermort. With out even saying a word Voldermort exploded and just as quickly turned into ash. Harry, however, was still glowing. He was still angry. One by one he took down every last Death Eater that was there, including Draco's own father. But Draco didn't stop Harry, he only helped him. Then, when Ron died Draco looked back towards Harry. He had never seen Harry look so broken, look so angry. At that point Draco knew if he could just give Harry enough fire power, that Harry had it in him to just end the whole war right then and right there. So Draco fed him his magic. Almost all of it. Draco was left very vulnerable, but that didn't matter. Harry was winning the war for them.
In five minutes Harry had killed Voldermort and most of his loyal followers. But, he wasn't able to kill them all before they got to Luna, Neville. Harry had collapsed on the ground. He was out cold. He didn't wake up for days. They couldn't awaken him with magic. Mrs. Weasley had been furious. "Wake him up now." She kept yelling at the healer. She knew that it wouldn't do any good, but she had just lost her son and damn it, she wasn't going to lose another. It did no good though. Harry didn't want to wake up.
When Harry had finally waken up he was a hero, again. Newspapers had him and Draco splattered across their covers together. Some how they had a picture of the two of them smiling and waving. It was obviously a fake. However it depicted the two heros of the wizarding world, so to most people fake was okay. For weeks after he woke up he was made to go to one dedication ceremony after another. It wasn't until a particular article in the Ghoulish Gazette that Harry really gave up, they spelled Ron's name wrong. The audacity of those people.
Harry immediately disapparated to the headquarters. He had finally lost it. He barged into the editor's office in the middle of a meeting.
"He gave up his life for you people. He died at the hands of Voldermort's Death Eaters saving your asses and you can't even spell his name right!" Harry shouted at them. "It's spelled W-E-A-S-L-E-Y!" Harry stormed around the office ranting about how rude and disrespectful they were. "He died for you people and you can't even spend the time to spell his name right." Harry turned to them. He went on like this for a good while before he seemed to calm. "You better fix this. I'm done, with everything, done." Harry said this last part in a deadly serious tone. "I'm sick of you and your stupid papers. I'm not a hero, Ron was. Ron Weasley! Don't write anymore stories about me." With that Harry disapparated. He was tired and exhausted. He lost his best friend and he didn't care about doing the dedication to the new Broom shop. Harry just wanted out.
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Ginny had been there the day Ron died. She didn't see it happen, she was busy fighting two Death Eaters at once. She heard Harry's scream though. She didn't think Harry even realized he screamed. But he did, and it sounded like a wounded animal. Ginny quickly dealt with the two Death Eaters and turned her attention to Harry. Then she saw him. Her brother. Lying there on the ground. His head two feet away. Instantly Ginny just wanted to collapse and start crying. She couldn't though. There was a war going on around her. She watched as Harry started to glow. It was one of the most amazing things she had ever seen. Then, she saw the next most amazing thing. A small ribbon of blue light was connecting Draco to Harry. It took Ginny a couple of seconds to register what Draco was doing. When she realized what he was doing she was shocked. He was sacrificing his magic for the 'cause.' Ginny watched for a couple of seconds before her attention got torn away.
Ginny had almost passed out that day. She had been hit by a curse. Luckily though it didn't affect her as badly as it would most people. Ginny healed herself before turning back to Harry and Draco. It was then she noticed how many Death Eaters weren't left. They were almost all gone. When Harry had finished with the last Death Eater he collapsed. Ginny ran to his side. She checked him over, making sure he was okay. She was scared that somehow he had died. Draco had staggered over to her and collapsed right beside her. As healers arrived her attention turned from Harry to Draco.
Draco, the boy who had made fun of her for years, had actually been on her side in the end. She waved aside the healer that was coming over to fix him. Although she had only finished her first year at medical school she was more than able to heal any injury Draco had. It was the least she could do. If it hadn't been for him giving Harry his magic they could have lost.
Ginny remembered Ron's funeral. She had Harry on one side of her and surprisingly enough, Draco was on the other. No one had expected him to show. Even when they had fought side by side Draco and Ron didn't get along. Draco didn't get along with any of them really, but they still were glad for his presence.
Hermione had been crying for days. Today was no excpetion. Hermione was sitting in a chair, her head in her hands, sobbing. Draco walked over to her and kneeled down so that they were at the same height. After a couple of words were exchanged he stood up again. Hermione looked a little bit calmer. Ginny remembered watching that. Wondering what in the world he could have said to give her just a little peace.
Ginny had stayed out of the public eye for most of the media storm. Her name was mentioned in articles along with most of the other wizards and witches who had fought in that last battle. But she wasn't as famous as Draco and Harry were. Which was probably for the best. She couldn't have managed mourning for her brother and deal with making public appearances. She couldn't imagine how Harry could have managed. Even with all the tragedy in his life he was still more giving to others than he was to himself. Many nights he would stay up late writing a speech for a dedication or a public appearance. Ginny would often come and visit him. She always had to remind him to eat or take a shower.
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Ginny was the first to notice Harry was gone. He didn't show up for the twins birthday party. It was just two months after Ron died. No one really felt like celebrating but it was better than just moping. Ginny knew something must be wrong for him to miss the twins party. When Mrs. Weasley asked about him she made excuses for him. Maybe he just wanted to be alone. She, of course, flooed immediately to his London apartment. However, all she found was that he hadn't been there since the day before. She didn't tell anyone at first. She thought if he wanted to be alone, who was she to change that. But, then he didn't show up for their weekly supper. Every week the Weasley family would get together for dinner. And Harry didn't show up. Ginny knew that it had been hard for Harry to face her family after Ron's death. He blamed himself for Ron dying. He had told her that if he just been better he could have saved Ron. Nothing could have saved Ron. Ron died fighting and that's how he would have wanted it. Harry just couldn't understand that. He was so use to being the boy who could make a difference. He couldn't understand how it wasn't his fault.
The night of the Weasley dinner Ginny flooed back to Harry's flat. He still wasn't there, nor had he been there. Instead of going back home she flooed to Draco's.
"What do you want little Weasel?" Draco asked not moving from his large desk.
"I can't find Harry." Ginny replied. "Don't call me Weasel, ferret boy."
Draco glared at her. "You, not being able to find Harry, is not my problem."
"He's been gone for nearly a week." Ginny replied ignoring his nasty glare. "Have you heard from him?"
"No." Draco answered her. "We don't usually converse that often."
"I just thought that he might have mentioned if he was going some where." Ginny replied. Draco's rude demeanor didn't bother Ginny. Rather, she was quite use to it and it was comforting that even after every thing that had happened, he didn't feel the need to walk on egg shells around her. He appeared to be the one normal person in her life right now. Which, is probably why she had come to him. "You see him all the time."
"I see him, I don't talk to him." Draco corrected her. "Is that all?" He looked up from the papers he had been flipping though since she had walked in..
"If you see him, you will let me know. Right?" Ginny asked him. Her green eyes catching his gray ones. "Promise that you will tell him to get in touch with me."
"I will promise you anything you want me to, if it means you will leave." Draco replied sighing loudly. "I have work to do."
"Fine. I'm leaving." Ginny said walking back over to his fireplace. "I'll see you later."
"Hopefully not." Draco replied as Ginny stepped into the fire.
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Draco was very tired. Ever since he had given Harry some of his magic he just wasn't as energetic as he use to be. Draco attributed it to stress and left it at that. It didn't make it any easier for him though. He found that he was always having to take an energy potion or two a day.
Draco still wasn't a nice man. Sure he had his moments in which he would help someone out for no reason. Draco was still egotistical, selfish, and though he was Merlin's gift to women. It was during a special presentation at Hogwarts that most people attributed to Draco changing, however small of a change it might be. Dumbledore had arranged for a scientist to come talk about genetics and gene pools and blood lines. Draco had scoffed at the thought. This was obviously some scheme of Dumbledore's to make everyone friends. Then, Draco saw the presentation. He realized how stupid the war really was. There were people dying because of something as insignificant as family blood. He truly believed that it was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. For once Dumbledore had actually made a valid point. Sure, Draco was all for pure-bloods, but to kill because of it? That was just ridiculous.
Draco didn't go out of his way to be nice. He still cared about himself first. It just appeared he might also care about other people. Well, certain people. Since the war he had come to care for the Weasley family, even if his pride kept him from admitting it. He also cared for Harry. Hermione was slowly growing on him. There were too many years of her being an insufferable know it all for Draco to really care for her, yet. Through out the entire war there were always people second guessing him. There were always people who assumed he was a spy for Voldermort, and he did nothing to change their minds. Of course, there were deeper reasons that Draco eventually came to fight on Harry's side. Reasons that not even Draco liked to think about.
Draco sighed loudly. He was really tired. He hadn't expected to see Ginny, she had actually surprised him. As he got up from his desk he looked at the newspaper on the floor.
'Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, Saviors of the Wizarding World!'
Draco kicked the newspaper under his desk as he walked out of the room. He wasn't anyone's savior, he didn't want to be. He had just been in the right place at the right time.
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Hermione looked at herself in the mirror. She turned to the side and ran her hand down her stomach. She had never gotten to tell Ron that he was going to be a dad. She knew exactly what his face would have looked like. It pained her to think of Ron. Her Ron. They had just gotten married. They were so happy. Ron had told her that he was the luckiest person in the world. He was wrong though. She was the luckiest person in the world. She had her Ron. Then two weeks later, he was taken from her. She hadn't even gotten to tell him.
Ron would have been such a great dad. He truly would have been a wonderful father. He was so great with Charlie's kids. His face lit up when he was around little kids. He could play for hours with some kid.
Hermione kneeled to the ground, tears were falling down her cheeks. She missed him. She missed him so damn much. Earlier that week she had finally told his family about being pregnant. She for some reason had been putting it off. They were happy, but, at the same time, it reminded all of them that they didn't have Ron around any more.
Ron's funeral had been the saddest day of their lives. It had rained that day. Hermione felt that rain was appropriate. The world should cry for Ron. He had helped save them, everyone should mourn his death. Hermione sure did. Hermione could barely stand to look at his dead body. The healers had reattached his head before the family saw him. She was thankful for that. His mother had broken down with grief. Clutching her dead son's body. Hermione shuddered to think what would have happened if he had still been headless when his mother had seen him.
For the first month after Ron had died Hermione had been living at the Burrow. She didn't want to go back to the home she had shared with Ron. It had too many memories. Even though they had only been married a couple of weeks they had lived together since they had got out of school. Hermione did go back to their apartment though. Sleeping in her and Ron's bed, alone, was the saddest thing Hermione had ever done. It was the first time it really hit her, he was gone. He wasn't coming back. Ron was never coming back.
Hermione stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. She would get through this, some how. After all, she was going to be a single mother, and she couldn't fail. She had never failed at anything before and she wasn't going to start now!