Hermione felt the sharp blade pierce her skin, a muffled snap, followed by a biting pain from the shattered rib, the blade sliced into her lung lodging a large fragment between the blade and her heart. She looked at the hilt sticking out her chest and felt a lump of bile lodge in her throat. Her hands instinctively went to the wound, to feel for herself that what thought she saw, she didn't feel any intense pain since the initial injury, just the shock of seeing an object so foreign in her chest.
She watched as Harry dispatched her assailant with a power neither imagined he possessed. When Pettigrew's body vanished in a blue flame, she could no longer hold herself up and fell to her knees; she made a vain attempt to convince him the wound wasn't as bad as it looked.
He turned to her and fell to his knees with her. He too gave a vain attempt at hope. In the background stunned friends watched her drama unfold. Her blood flowed from the deep cut soaking her clothes sticking to her skin.
She drew a breath, but instead felt a gurgle from her chest. She felt dizzy from lack of oxygen to her brain and fought the urge to sleep. She could feel the blade rise and fall with each labored breath and could also feel it tremble with every beat of her heart telling her the dagger could be in her heart. She felt dizzier with each useless breath and managed to one last silent message to Harry before she was unable to hold herself up. She labored to raise a hand to his cheek and he ran a hand around the small of her back, to hold her upright. Her face felt a gentle rain, a warm and surprisingly soothing rain. She strained to look at him, but he began to fade from view, just as her mother's vision faded when she died. She felt her warm blood soak into his clothes as he held her.
He leaned in closer to her as she strained to see him; she felt his warm breath on her face. She caught his beautify green eyes, as their lips met. She refused to let her eyes close and his eyes were the last thing she remembered from life as they too vanished along with all light.
When she opened her eyes again, she was floating in an unfamiliar place, streaks of light passed around and through her, she watched as one insignificant point of light grew stronger and closer. She could feel a beckoning that pulled her to this point, the light intensified the closer she came. She tried to blink, then she tried to close her eyes, but the light remained, her lids were translucent and unnecessary. She cautiously held an arm to her face to find it too, was translucent.
'I'm dead' she thought. "I'M DEAD" she screamed at the top of her lungs, but not a sound escaped her lips. The last thing she remembered where his eyes, green and full of tears. She looked down for the dagger's hilt, it was gone, there were no blood stains or holes in her clothes; they were the same clothes she died in; a dark gray knee length skirt, loose fitting jumper and her long black cloak. Her cloak continued to billow in an invisible wind. All color from her clothes and skin had faded to a pale, almost white shade, but the dark colors were still evident. She felt for her wand, it was no longer in its usual spot. She began to feel lost and alone.
"Am I dead? Or is this a vision?" she said out loud, to test her voice. She refused to believe she died, she refused to believe she would never see Harry again.
"WHY?" she screamed. Her mind raced to determine how this happened, and a hand instinctively caressed her stomach. The child was dead too, she had lost everything she loved, her parents, Harry, her unborn child, her very life.
She could feel herself continue to soar, flying through the sky past twin suns of a strange world filled with lush forests dotted with primitive villages. She passed this world on to another with a bleak landscape of volcanic wasteland. Dots of light merged into streaks of light that blurred into a blinding flash. She suddenly felt tired and alone, and fell into a deep sleep-like trance.
In a dark chamber, with the black night sky pouring in through the windows, she could see a dark hooded figure and an armored clad soldier sharing a conversation.
"My master, I have located the brother and sister. They have been recruiting others to build their ranks. We must crush them before they strike first."
"No, my loyal servant. We will wait until the time is right. We have the luxury of time. They suspect nothing of my plans. Return to your post and wait for the signal."
"As you wish."
The soldier stood, bowed deeply and exited the chamber, leaving the seated figure alone. She could sense a smile form on the withered face before her.
She remained in that place unable to think rationally; she was neither awake nor asleep, images of her life swirled through her mind merged with images of Harry. She was happy in his arms, nothing else mattered. He lay asleep next to her, in the distance she heard the lapping of the waves as they broke on the beach. She felt his skin against hers, his lips pressed on her belly in that one moment of ecstasy on the beach. She felt his arms as they surrounded her as they walked from the plane
She snapped from her trance when she heard his scream, a scream of anguish and pain. She could still see his green eyes as a soft warm rain fell on her face.
"Harry, she's gone, let her go." Dumbledore repeated, hoping the journey for him to heal could begin. He knew Harry could recover from any other death, but not this one. He had to try to help the young man recover. He had to try and help him, and had to be quick, because Harry's grief was now flowing to the growing crowd.
The number of dead had been overshadowed by the heroic actions of these two, standing side by side until one fell protecting the other. From the crowd, the murmurs and muffled voices joined with distinctive sobs that went unnoticed by Harry. Eileen managed to work her way to the front of the small group, her shock at the scene of death had been more then she could bear; she had steeled herself for this fight, always knowing Hermione and Harry would be together. She turned to Jake, who had remained with her during the fight and she began to grieve now not only for her cousin, but because her own father had given his life to protect the dead girl. Jake let his pistol drop to the ground to hold her.
"She can't be dead," Harry screamed as he pulled his shoulder from his mentor's touch. "I-I have to help her," he sobbed wildly over her body. "She's bleeding... she's just hurt... she's not dead... she can't die... I won't let it happen... HERMIONE! DON'T DIE, I LOVE YOU!" Harry pulled her close to his own body and held her. He felt the warmth of her blood soak into his clothes.
"Harry, this is her fate, please let her go." Albus repeated. He put his hands on Harry's shoulders in a renewed attempt to pull him from her body; he needed to get Harry to admit she was gone before he could begin to recover. Harry let her slip from his grasp, and she slid from his lap.
"Harry, it's over, we must face the fact she's gone..."
"NO..." He screamed and stared at her blood on his hands. His breathing became heavier as his anger amplified his grief. A vortex of energy began to encircle them. He still felt a pair of hands on his shoulders and flinched. The jolt threw Dumbledore aside like a rag doll, landing several meters away. Harry's arms slumped to his side when his gaze turned back to her body. All sound died, all images blurred, all he saw was his Hermione, dead on the ground, her blood on his hands. A brief image flashed in his mind again when he saw the body.
She felt a presence, a peace she had never felt with Harry before. Harry, she needed to tell him she was fine and she had been happy with him. She wanted to tell him she will always love him. She heard every word she tried to say to him, but it was only in her mind. She thought about her only love, and heard him speak to her.
"No. This isn't how she was supposed to die. This ISN'T what I saw. NO..." He reached to her, lifting her back into his arms and bent his head down to hers. He whispered his last devotion to her and kissed her deeply one last time. They remained locked in an eternal kiss, his hand drifted to the handle protruding from her chest and began to draw it from her body, his hand froze on the handle. Dumbledore watched Harry suffer. He watched in horror as Harry began to draw the blade from her body, knowing his intention.
The scene the ancient wizard watched was unlike any he ever experienced. The pure emotion and grief he witnessed from this boy he had grown to love as a son had for this girl was far more then he could bear. He stood to stop Harry from the choice he made, but an invisible force held him fast, that same force prevented him from calling out to stop Harry's impulsive reaction to her death.
Harry felt his inner strength swell up through his body and radiate over her, as their lips remained joined. A single sharp pain pierced deep in his chest and he felt a pull from deep within as his own life begin to fade as it was being ripped from his body. The pain he now endured felt as if his blood began to turn to ice in his veins. His screams of grief and pain froze in his throat, but not a sound escaped, their lips were still locked together. The surge of pain that began deep within his body radiated to his skin, out from every pore. The intense pain that wove through his body stopped suddenly in a blinding flash and was instantly replaced with a warm calm sensation that encased them. He imagined watching a surreal scene from above as a glow passed from his body into the lifeless form in his arms, the glow increased to entomb them both. He watched as his head slumped down, her body wedged into his preventing him from toppling over.
The warm and calming glow created a protective shield that held him fast, frozen to that spot in time. It radiated around their bodies and around him formed an apparition like he never imagined before. The icy cold he last felt on his lips changed to a warm sensual experience, every pleasure he had shared with her in the past year exploded into his being in a single burst, every kiss, every time he held her, the beginning of his love for her that night in the Astronomy Tower, their one night of passion all merged together into that single experience. He felt that love pierce his being as light would pierce the darkness filling him with hope.
The glowing vision began to pull away, forming what he thought was a chestnut colored wave of chocolate and strawberry, leaving an imagined kiss on his lips. He watched as their bodies continued to glow brighter, the calm he felt slowly left, leaving him alone and unprotected. He watched the glow from his body fade while he fell limp with her still in his death embrace. A force surged through him that compelled to return to his body. The last thing he remembered was the glow he watched since she died in his arms enter her body before his pain resumed instantly, his blood felt as if it had begun to boil in every vein and vessel through his body, hi body ached as if thousands of red-hot pins pierced every pore, embedded deep into the muscle beneath. When his eyes finally opened and his thoughts began to clear, he felt a light gasp from the limp mass in his arms as she coughed up a bloody froth. Her hand moved slowly back to the blade still in her chest.
He held her; through the intense pain that coursed throughout his body, but it was worth every second. Her eyes slowly opened and looked up to his eyes where he immediately felt that same calming peace he had experienced moments ago. She gave him a warm but weak smile that came from beyond her pain that filled him with the inner strength he needed. She was very weak, but she was still there.
Harry sucked up the last of his physical strength and pulled himself to his feet, picked her up as if she were a feather, and turned to carry her to the hospital wing. "You're safe now. You'll be in hospital in a minute." He whispered.
Carefully he carried her from the battlefield to the castle. Each step sent new waves of pain thru his limbs, diminishing with each passing moment; for her sake he ignored what he felt. He carried her to the courtyard where in the shadows; a dark figure had been following and listening.
"Harry," she moaned softly.
"Shhh...what ever it is, it can wait." He cooed softly to her.
"I... have to... tell you."
"You can tell me later, save your strength. I won't let you get hurt again."
"Please, listen. The other night, when mum and daddy... and we..." she turned her head and coughed again.
"Shhh... It's ok, rest, please."
"No, I must tell you." She coughed more blood from her punctured lung, her being focused on a single thought. "I'm carrying your child."
He stopped and stared into her eyes, and she saw the widest grin creep on his face. There was something good in the midst of all this pain. A new life; she was carrying his child.
"My child?"
She simply nodded, and he paused for a moment to kiss her again, ignoring the blood. She had risked more then he imagined for him, and now together, as young as they were, they were to share in a miracle of a new life.
When he paused momentarily, Lucius Malfoy used the darkest evil to launch the last attack on those responsible for the defeat. He exploited the one weakness he just discovered beginning with two simple spells. "STUPEFY-- WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA--," he screamed... In his weakened state Harry was unable to avoid the effects and was thrown back as Hermione's body was torn from his grasp and held in mid air. Her blood continued to leak from her body and now ran down her side, he watched in horror as it pooled at his feet. She grew weaker with every drop that left her body, but at the moment, she was still alive. She knew their child inside her was still safe. Stunned, Harry turned but before he could react, Lucius threw a binding curse on Harry and one last curse on her body.
"ORBATOR NUDAM PUERPERAM LIBERAT"
A green glow surrounded her body as she screamed in agony. She felt the pain of a thousand knives slice deep into her abdomen, forcing her body to reject what was most dear to her, the worst was done. Harry watch in pain as new traces of rich dark blood trickled down her leg.
"I know what you desire, mudblood. And now, I've denied it to you. Your bastard child is dead and you shall NEVER conceive another from the one you want while you live on this world. You will be forever stripped of what you seek..."
Harry struggled against his invisible bonds. He managed to free a hand, which he raised at the murderer of his child. The rage that coursed through his mind numbed his senses and a torrent of hate began to build in his soul. His free hand began to glow dark blue.
"AVADA KEDAVRA" rang through the courtyard and Harry waited for the green killing beam to hit him, almost longed for it, not wanting to face the future if she died. But it was Lucius that fell. Draco stood on the path Harry had just passed, his wand still pointed at his father's body; he revenged his loss and the losses of the people he had been taught to hate. The blood he shed in that moment was the last in the war, that of his own father. He had avenged his mother's murder.
Hermione's limp and bleeding body fell to the ground with a thud and a snap. She winced at the added pain in her leg. The young wizard realized what they lost; she had carried his child and now with that last attack she could never bear him another. His vision came true; he saw her die, and he saw death in her at that moment as she lay on the ground; the death of his heir.
He rolled to his knees be at her side and cradled her head in his lap. He gently stroked her matted hair to comfort her as she had done with him. Ginny witnessed the attack from just beyond where Draco stood. She rushed to help her fallen friend, pushed past Draco, his wand still pointed at his fallen father as tears streamed down his face. The girl choked back her personal grief for her own family's loss to try to aid those she loved.
"Leave her alone... get away from her!" He growled with a rage born of their shared loss that sent fingers of fear thru Ginny's spine. She froze in her steps when she felt cold green flames of anger and rage burned from his eyes. She'd never seen him with pure hate and rage before. The evil borne from Hermione's suffering flowed into his body radiating a surge of raw power from a dark shadow deep within him.
"I, we love her too, Harry," was all she managed to say looking terrified at her friend as if he were the embodiment of pure evil.
From Harry's lap, all Hermione could do was look to him and reached out her hand and attempt to touch his face, even with her pain and her suffering she knew he still needed her. She stroked his cheek turning his attention down to her. Seeing her ignore her own pain to comfort him, his anger and rage turned to grief, dissipating into the surroundings, his tears began to flow down his face as he lifted her in his arms to seek help. He felt his anger and rage disappear from his soul with a rush.
Harry carried her as gently as he could, careful to not cause her any more pain, to the hospital wing. With each step, his grief for her wounds grew. She was still with him, she was still alive, and she still loved him. She laced her arm around his neck for support as he carried her.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed through her pain, "I tried to protect you. But he got me instead."
"Shhhh, save your strength, I'll have you in the hospital wing in a minute. You're going to be safe now, I'll never leave you." The anger faded more each time she looked into his eyes knowing the love and trust they shared would never fade.
"I wanted to give you what you never had, but it's gone." She whispered, barely audible. "It was my greatest desire."
"Shhh, we have each other, you're my family now, my only family. That's enough. I want you to heal."
He kicked the door to the hospital ward open and amidst gasps at her condition from the healers in the room; he carried her to the first empty bed. He laid her down and stood, staring at the dagger in her chest as it rose with each labored breath.
"YOU, she needs help NOW!" He barked, making the medi-wizard nearest nearly jump from his skin.
"Easy, son, I'll take it from here, you can leave." The wizard rushed to her side and began with a spell to counter the loss of blood.
"NO, she needs help now and I won't leave her." He stood over her, as a wounded predator would protect its young. The medi-wizard finished his first pass over her, Harry refused to move, even as he watched the bleeding slow and stop.
"Harry, let them do what they need to, I'll be fine." The pain in her voice again made him tremble with rage that this had to happen, to his friends, to his family and to her.
"I'll wait here." He said defiantly, "NO ONE will hurt you again."
Ginny had followed him to the ward and had listened to his tender words to Hermione. She grabbed him by the arm to pull him away; giving the medi-wizard the chance he needed to tend to Hermione's wound. "Harry? What's happening here?"
"Ginny, this isn't your concern." He growled as he tried to break her grip, but couldn't, she held him fast, to prevent him from interfering with Hermione's care. He watched and suffered her pain when the blade was slowly pulled from her chest, releasing trapped blood.
Ginny pulled his face toward her and away from the sight on the bed. "Yes it is, Harry Potter, you and Hermione are my friends, I've lost my family today, but I'm here for you, now. I demand to know what's happened."
He finally turned to face her, his best friend's sister, his own step-sister, who was still covered in her own mother's blood, and realized what she too had lost on that day. "Ginny, I'm sorry... She's been wounded, and..." He began as be felt himself break down. He knew what happened, but couldn't bare the thought; barely audible he whispered, "She lost our child... my child..."
"She... what?" His eyes told Ginny everything else she needed to know. "You're in love with her? Aren't you?"
"We're going to be married. I love her; she's why I did this, so she could be safe and we could be happy."
"Oh, Harry, you will be. I know it will be OK." She threw he arms around him, in a familiar comforting way and held him, he closed his eye and tried to imagine it was Hermione holding him, but Ginny felt so different. She was afraid to let him go, as she felt him tremble. She was afraid he would have a breakdown, now she knew his truth, why he was never able to feel anything for her.
He eventually pulled her arms from him, and kissed her on the cheek, "Gin, go to Draco, he needs you, I need to be here." He pushed her back, there was only one person he was concerned about and she needed him.
Hermione looked up to Harry, color had begun to return to her paled features, but she was far for better, "Please stay with Ginny, help Ron; I'm going to be fine. Help them, please, if you love me, go help your brother." Her pained smile told him he couldn't help here; he needed to be away from there.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." He leaned over as they shared their first public kiss. He turned to the medi-wizard and made his instructions painfully clear, "She will survive or you receive Voldemort's fate."
He turned and left her, something he promised he wouldn't do, he grabbed his sister's arm and dragged her along. "Come on, Ginny I guess we have more to do today."
They left the ward, with him looking over his shoulder to her as she lay on the bed, her bleeding had been stopped and she smiled at him as he walked thru the door. One healed finally began to help control her bleeding from below her abdomen while another was casting a yellow healing beam at her chest. While he and Ginny walked, at a quickened pace, she started her questions.
"When did this happen? How? Why didn't you tell any one...? You two are going to get married?"
"Gin... I'll explain it all." His voice, although still shaky, had calmed once they left sight of the hospital wing. "First, we fell in love with each other beginning of last summer, when she stayed with me. Albus arranged for us to hide our feelings from everyone. I asked her to marry me on Valentine's day and she said yes..."
"What about the children part? Was she..."
"Yes. Malfoy's curse killed our child and now she can never have any..." he informed coldly.
"Harry, I'm so sorry..." She realized now what they risked and lost so the rest of the world could be free.
As they returned to the battlefield, Harry was grateful both Ron and Ginny had found someone they cared for. He watched from a distance as Ron and Luna knelt, holding each other, next to his parents. Harry could tell Ron was grieving openly in Luna's arms, he wondered why Ginny wasn't as crushed by loosing three members of her family. As they approached the spot where they left Draco, he closed the gap to come to her and wrapped his arms around her to comfort her. At that moment, she buried her face into his shoulder and began to show her grief openly.
Several members of the Order and members of the DA were searching the grounds for any of Voldemort's follower that may have hidden. The honored dead from the Order and the DA were reverently taken from the battlefield to a makeshift morgue, to wait for family members to claim their loved ones. The dead Death Eaters were similarly taken to a different location, as to not offend the honor of those they killed. They were, however, not with the same reverence shown to the victors.
Harry wandered through out the field, observing the grizzly scene of the battle. He wandered to where his own DA members valiantly fought, and saw several bodies with cloaks draped over them. He noticed a young boy holding another in his arms, the fallen one lay dead; the body had been torn apart. He tried to take in all the horror of the day, but his eyes had become cloudy with tears of his own grief. He looked down at his own hands and they were still covered in her blood, he tried to rub them on his clothes as he walked. He tried to rub them together, but her blood would not come off. He stumbled back up the path, and stopped at the spot he witnessed his and Hermione's greatest loss; the drying pool of her blood in the dirt remained. He fell to his knees; his hands grabbed at the stained soil, as he began to openly grieve for what they lost.
He felt a calming presence before him, one he'd never felt before. With his grief fresh for what was lost this day and her blood still moist on his clothes, he lifted his head to see a radiant figure before him, with pale blue hues and streaks of the purest white he'd seen. The man standing before him wore tan robes over a pure white tunic. His long flowing hair and short cropped beard were the purest white. He stood before Harry to deliver a message of hope.
"Harry Potter, take heart. You are not alone. The one you care for shall heal with time, time you alone have won for your world. Her injuries came because of her love for you, and because of your love for her they shall not be lasting. In time we shall talk again. Expect a visit when you are stronger, when I cannot say."
"W-Who are you?"
"A friend, my master has visited you and your wife in the past, when your need was great. You have defied the dark path and chosen the true path with her council. My last apprentice will guide you when it is time."
"My wife? But she and I"
"Have exchanged your vows of the heart, and you have given her a token of you heart to wear, as she now bears it around her neck. This is as binding as any ceremony, from a certain point of view."
"I don't understand? Who are you and why me?"
"It should be obvious, you have a copy of an ancient manual, and in it is our code. Take care young apprentice; your journey has just begun."
"Wait... who are you?" Harry called again, as the vision faded. He looked back to the dirt still in his hands.