Whatever It Takes

Disclaimer: Own Harry Potter I do not.

A/N: YAY! I'm on chapter 4 already! Hooray!

Chapter 4

After the wedding things calmed down a bit. There were fewer people in the house and Mrs. Weasley finally seemed to understand that her son was married now. Harry had told Mr. Weasley that he would be leaving for a bit and Mr. Weasley assured him that he would let Molly know, after Harry had quietly snuck out.

Harry had also informed Ron and Hermione of his departure. They begged for him to let them come, but he told them simply, "I have to do it myself." Hermione seemed to understand, but Ron however, looked hurt.

Harry quietly walked down the stairs to leave. The house was dark, but not dark enough to prevent him from seeing the outline of a figure sitting on the sofa. Harry paused and slowly drew his wand.

"Lumos," he murmured. A wave of relief washed over him as he saw it was Ron. "Why are you up?" Harry whispered, not wanting to wake anyone. He went and sat next to Ron, who had been looking straight ahead, but now was looking at his feet.

"Harry, are you afraid?" Ron asked in a strange voice.

"Of course, I am. If I don't kill him Ron…"

"No," Harry had assumed he had meant Voldemort. "Are you afraid of dying?"

Harry stared at Ron. "I suppose everyone is."

"I just keep thinking how--how much we have ahead of us. I wanted to be an Auror, get married, start a family, you know? And, I hate to think that some of us might miss those things, all because of one…wizard."

"That's why I've got to get rid of him, Ron. So he can stop ruining our lives."

"I forgot you were leaving tonight. You should probably go before it's light outside," Ron said sadly.

"I'll be back in a few days," Harry replied and reached out to shake Ron's hand.

"Be careful, mate."

"I will," Harry said and left the Burrow. Although he was now 17, he had not taken his apparition tests yet, so he had to ride the Knight Bus.

Once he arrive at Godric's Hollow he had to stop and stare. The house was now in ruins, but Harry still felt an attachment to it. This was, after all, where everything had started. He placed his hand on the gate's latch and pushed it forward. The rusty thing let out a horrible screech, cutting through the early morning's mist.

Voldemort had walked through here on his way to kill his parents. Once, through the gate, it became impossible to distinguish any parts of the house, for it was all rubble, lying on the ground. Harry did not pick through any of the debris because he thought what he might find would be too painful. So, he walked among it, imaging what had happened that night. For once, he heard his father.

"You try too hard, James!"

"We both know that you're the weak one! Harry will destroy you!" his father spat and it was met with horrible laughter.

"Time is up, James! Avada Kedavra!"

His eyes were starting to burn, so he blinked away the tears. In a nice patch of grass, that would have been the backyard, were his parents' graves. Harry knelt before them and let go.

Harry returned to the Burrow exactly two days later.

"Harry…," Hermione started as she saw him.

"I'm alright. It was nice. Visiting them, you know?" Harry assured her.

"Good. I'm glad you went," said Ron.

"I was wondering, since I can't stay here forever…"

"I'm sure Mum would allow you to…," Ron started.

"…if you two would come help me move into Grimmauld Place. It's mine now, though unfortunately, Kreacher is too. Shame, Hogwarts closed really, because now he'll be banging about my new place," Harry said grinning. Hermione frowned.

"Of course we will!" Ron said.

"And, if you want, I'm sure there are plenty of extra rooms, so…"

"Someone's got to keep you sane, huh? What do you say Hermione?" Ron said.

"It sounds like a wonderful plan for you two."

"You aren't coming?" Ron asked.

"Well, no. I've been offered a job at the Ministry," Hermione said quietly.

"What?" Harry asked.

"It's not a very good one, obviously, because I have taken N.E.W.T.s. Just filing papers and things, I imagine. I found a few flats for let, so I reckon I'll lease one."

"Oh," and Ron plunged into further questioning.

A/N: OK. Another chapter finished and I've got a few things to say.

1. Sorry it seemed like Harry didn't really care about Ron. I know I would have been concerned, but Harry doesn't really want to think about dying. That's why he wasn't all like "Oh..Ron! You'll be fine. We'll all get through," or anything like that. He knows that he can't promise anything, so he won't. And the truth is, Harry's not so much afraid of dying, he's afraid that he's going to miss things.

2. Harry didn't ask Ginny to come join him Grimmauld Place for two reasons. The first is that Molly's just lost a son! Harry doesn't want to take away her only daughter too (even though, Ron is leaving)! The other, for why he broke up with her. He doesn't want it to seem like he's close to her, so Voldemort will hurt her. I guess Harry thinks that Ron and Hermione are going to be involved no matter what he says.

3. Yes. Ron and Harry are going to live together! Woo hoo! I thought it would be a little odd for Hermione to be the only female…so yes. I had her get a job. Review please!