Disclaimer: I own a broken car, a computer that keeps crashing, and a television that only gets channel 10. If I were JKR do you think I would own that?
Author's Notes: First, I am so sorry it took so long to update. My life has been an episode of the Young and Restless and then I was taken over by the anti-liz who removed all creativity and left me with nothing but a bad mood. I finally got a burst of creativity and this is what you get after many drafts and deletions. Also, to Buck: thanks bunches for all your help and i dedicate this chapter to you for all your help when my Muse (rat that she is) left. Enjoy and the last chapter will be upThursdayunless unexpectedthingsoccur.Review please.
Chapter 6: Out of the Doubt That Fills My Mind
As Hermione sat in stunned silence by Ron's side the only thought in her head was that this couldn't be happening, Ron can't be dead. This thought was on repeat in her head, not allowing any other part of her to dwell on what happened. Ginny, however, jumped up, ran over to Harry, and half carried him over to where Dumbledore and Ron lay.
"Harry, we need to find Mum and Dad. They need to know what happened," Ginny whispered through her sobs.
"He's not dead," replied Harry stoically.
"Harry, he got hit with a killing curse. He's dead. RON IS DEAD!" cried Ginny hysterically.
"Harry's right. He isn't dead. He promised me he wouldn't leave me. He wouldn't die, he promised," whispered Hermione from her place next to Ron trying to work up the nerve to touch him.
"EXPLAIN TO ME HOW HE IS NOT DEAD! I SAW IT! YOU SAW IT! MY BROTHER IS DEAD!" screamed Ginny, breaking down in hysterical tears.
Harry pulled her into a hug and sank to the ground cradling the hysterical Ginny and trying to suppress his own tears and doubts.
"He isn't dead! HE PROMISED ME THAT HE WOULD ALWAYS BE WITH ME! HE ISN'T DEAD! HE WOULDN'T LEAVE ME! HE LOVES ME!" screamed Hermione as she jumped up from Ron's side and went running deep into the forest.
"Harry…Ho-ow can he b-be still alive?" whispered Ginny.
"I don't know, but I feel it. Deep inside where the truth of life lies, I know Ron is not dead."
Meanwhile, Ron was trying to wake up from the misty dream that he is in. He can hear everything that is going on around him, but can't seem to move and is trying to figure out what to do. His inner voice once again makes its presence known, but rather than it antagonizing him in the spirit of Fred and George, it is actually making an effort to help him.
'Alright, let's recap the fight, maybe I can figure out how to wake up or move or something. Ginny, Hermione, and I recited the protection charm and transferred our magic to Harry. Dumbledore did some ancient spell to protect us, but he got killed and the spell was broken,' thought Ron.
'Maybe it wasn't broken with his death; it is Dumbledore after all, maybe the spell was supposed to last till the danger had passed?' interjects his inner voice.
'Ok, we'll get back to that. What happened next?'
'You went all Gryffindor on Voldemort and jumped in front of the killing curse meant for Harry.'
'Well, by all accounts, I should be dead. So why aren't I?'
'Maybe Voldemort was too weak to kill you. I mean, Harry had him almost beat when that bastard Malfoy killed Dumbledore and distracted him.'
'Maybe. I don't hear Ginny or Harry anymore; I hope that doesn't mean I am dead. COME ON LEGS WAKE UP! MOVE!' thought Ron angrily as he tried to get his legs, arms, or even his eyes to function.
Harry, after sending Ginny to find help and Hermione, was now sitting next to Ron, trying to remember exactly what spell it was Dumbledore used to protect them. He had found what felt like a very slow pulse in Ron's neck but didn't want to move him in case he was terribly injured. He didn't look like he was injured, just unconscious. There was still a flush of color in his face, probably from dashing to once again save him.
"Ron, you really need to wake up. Ginny is hysterical, Hermione is even more lost than she was before, and I don't want to have to tell your parents that you died saving my worthless arse. Please wake up."
Deep in his subconscious Ron heard the words and tried very hard to wake up to no avail. It was as if he was being held back for something better, whatever that would be.
Ginny was running with no real destination, just that she needed to find someone, anyone that would be able to help them. The analytical part of her knew that her brother was probably dead as no one could survive the killing curse. However, the hopeful, little girl side of her wanted Harry and Hermione to be right, that Ron was still alive and they would all be okay. As she burst out of the tree line and came upon the battlefield, she screeched to a halt and stood in awe of her surroundings.
The clearing was covered with bodies; some dead, some bound, some from the Order, but mostly of the Death-eaters. It appeared that Ron's idea worked and the element of surprise enabled the Order to easily overcome the death-eaters. The thought of her brother galvanized Ginny into action so that she could find someone to help her brother. As she ran through the battlefield, she saw her father standing with Lupin trying to revive McGonagall and calm her mother down.
"GINNY!" screamed Mrs. Weasley breaking into a run toward her daughter, her husband not far behind. "Where's your brother! What about Harry and Hermione? Are you okay?"
Ginny tried to tell her parents that Harry killed Voldemort, that Ron was hit with a killing curse but may not be dead, that Dumbledore died, and that Hermione ran off again. She tried to get it all out, but was only able to collapse on the ground in tears.
"Ginny, what's wrong?" asked her mother trembling.
Shaking Ginny told them all that happened. That she, Ron, and Hermione cast the protection and magic transferring spell over Harry and then were shielded by Dumbledore. How Harry was winning when Lucius Malfoy snuck up and killed Dumbledore and how Harry broke his wand away from Voldemort's to curse Malfoy. When she got to this point in the story she broke down again, dreading what she was about to tell her parents.
Lupin hadn't stayed but ran off to where Harry was after seeing Ginny collapse in tears. The Weasleys were following him, while listening to Ginny recount the story, but stopped when she began to cry again.
"When Harry's back was turned Voldemort managed to get off the killing curse. Ron blocked it," said Ginny softly. "After that Harry got so angry that he was able to kill Voldemort."
"Ron did what!" screamed Mr. Weasley taking off on a run for the clearing where Ron and Harry were, Mrs. Weasley not far behind him.
'Great, now what do I do?' thought Ginny slowly following her parents, not really wanting to go back and see her brother lying motionless on the ground. 'Oh yeah, Harry wanted me to find Hermione.'
Ginny continues walking along calling Hermione name until finally she finds the girl, sitting on the forest floor in the same position she was much earlier that day after finding the boys missing.
"Hermione?" whispered Ginny tentatively, not knowing if Hermione will respond.
"In that note he wrote me this morning he told me he loved me. He kissed me this afternoon after he found me and I pulled away. All I thought was we can't do this. For the past six years I have been suppressing all these feelings I have for him, letting reason override whatever my heart felt. You know what I am thinking right now. I never once told him that I loved him. I never thanked him for all the times he protected me from Malfoy or death-eaters, all the times he made sure I was having fun and not stressing out too much from work, and for all the times he made me laugh and forget about war, people dying, or my parents hiding. He died thinking that I never cared about him other than just as a friend. Ginny, right now I have no reasoning for anything that I have done. Everything I told myself has flown out the window and all that I have left is my heart, which is breaking. He promised me he would never leave me and now he has and I don't know what to do," whispered Hermione as she broke into sobs.
"Mione, Harry thinks he's alive. We found what could be a pulse, but it is so slow and quiet that we aren't sure. My parents and Lupin went to see if they could help."
"He's alive?" whispered Hermione slightly disbelieving.
"He might be. We need to figure out what spell Dumbledore used to shield us or something that can wake him up if he is alive. We need you to help. And Hermione, he knew that you cared. He may have acted like an idiot about your feelings the majority of the times, but deep down he knew he loved you and that you felt the same. I don't know much, but I do know that. Now let's go and figure out what to do."