AN Yes, yes, this is REALLY it now. I sort of tricked you with that last bit, but this is it, now, when you get to see repercussions. I know it took forever to write (heck, Jo managed to write two whole books in the time it's taken for me to finish this one fic!) but it's one of those projects that I felt like I NEEDED to finish. Thank you all for being great readers and reviewers!
Epilogue:
(almost 1 year later)
Ron gained consciousness, gasping for air and clutching his new wand with all his might as the effects of the choking spell wore off. He picked himself up off the ground, coughing while getting himself to his knees, wet mud saturating his trousers all the way through.
The Burrow towered in front of him, flames growling out of every window, eating every new possession within.
"Mum!" he tried to shout, but all that came out was a rasping breath.
He saw his father on the ground about ten meters away from the Burrow. He stumbled to him as fast as his injured body would allow.
"Dad?" he whispered frantically, falling down at his father's side. He shook his dad's shoulders, hoping to wake him up. Ron felt the coldness of the body through his father's shirt, and pulled his hands back sharply, wildly thinking that if he didn't feel the lifelessness that it wouldn't be true.
Ron looked up and saw four Death Eaters filing out of the flaming front door. He jumped to his feet, anger burning through him.
"Avada Kedavra!" he yelled, squeezing his wand so tight that his hand was white with tension. The curse was blocked.
Ron was hit with another choking spell, and he desperately gasped for air. The shortest of the Death Eaters approached him.
"I'm truly sorry," he drawled. Ron shook his head, recognizing the voice as Draco Malfoy's.
"You knew I didn't want Potter to die before my birthday," Malfoy continued, and he took off his Death Eater's mask. "You knew... and this is what you get for killing him." Ron's vision became less clear, but he could see that Malfoy was smiling. Ron's heart ached for his family, and burned with anger towards Malfoy. Ron fell to the ground, his muscles yearning for oxygen. He began to see darkness. He felt Malfoy crouch next to him, his face very close to Ron's.
"Well," Malfoy whispered cynically, "at least your family didn't starve."
"I'm sorry, Harry," Ron mouthed, hoping that Harry would somehow know.
"I'm sorry..."
The Burrow shifted; new sparks and flames shot out of holes in the roof as the second story toppled onto the first. Entangled in the smoke above, rose a skull and a snake.
THE END