Disclaimer- All the characters you recognize are Miss Rowling's. (Who else could invent such beautiful and lively characters?)

CLOSE TO MY HEART

CHAPTER 9

THE BIGGEST LOSS

Half a kilometer away, Ron and Hermione saw the Dark Mark hovering over The Burrow.

It confirmed their worst fears. They knew what had happened, but refused to believe it. The Dark Mark was over The Burrow. This could only mean one thing. But it wasn't possible…or was it? Lord Voldemort would go to any lengths for spreading terror in the whole world. He would torture, kill and Merlin knows what else. But in the end he would pay for whatever he has done. He will pay the price of death with death, his own death. He will be killed one day, killed never to return again. All his followers shall meet the same fate. What do the Death-Eaters think? That Voldemort will protect them? No, he will never do that. He is just a selfish idiot who, if threatened will run for his life. He will not give a damn even if the lives of his supporters are threatened. He only cares about himself. First, he wanted the Elixir of Life for himself. But what about his followers? They were not getting any Elixir. They would remain mortal and die one day. Then he made a Death-Eater plant that diary in Ginny's bag. Ginny trusted Tom Riddle and shared all her problems with him. But his motive behind all this was to get Harry Potter. And what did Ginny get in return? Tears, torture, death? And then, when Harry at last got some happiness from his Godfather, the closest thing to a parent he ever had, Voldemort took that away too. He had destroyed countless number of lives. Not just the lives of the people he had killed, but also the lives of the people who were close to the deceased person. He had even killed and tortured many of his own Death-Eaters. Was this the way he should have treated his loyal followers? Whenever they met, the first thing that the Death-Eaters did was to kiss the hem of his robes. They treated him with so much respect. Although they treated the wrong person respectfully, they were still loyal. Although they had killed many people, they were still doing the jobs entrusted to them well. There is no excuse for killing, no one deserves death. But a person who has killed and tortured so many, does he not deserve death? The answer is NO. He does not deserve death. In fact, he deserves something that is even more horrible than death. Death is not the worst punishment. He will only truly understand his mistakes when he is given something worse than death. His entire essence has to be destroyed. He doesn't understand love. Therefore, love has to be used against him. He has to be destroyed at any cost. Else he will destroy the world. With Voldemort gone, the world would again be a place of friendship, tranquility, and love.

All these thoughts crossed the young minds of Ron and Hermione as they saw a huge burst of green light coming out of the windows of The Burrow. Now there was practically no doubt as to what might have happened there. Molly and Arthur were dead.

On the same night, two people who loved each other madly, more than anything else had lost their parents. They had shared everything with each other, even their bodies; they had to share this misery too.

Ron was shell-shocked to see this. Hermione felt the same. First she had lost her own parents, and then people who were as good as parents to her. She quietly took Ron's hand in her own and held it reassuringly.

"Mum…Dad…" Only these words could escape his mouth.

At this, both of them burst into tears. They hugged each other and brought themselves closer. They were both patting each other on the back, tears leaking out of their eyes.

At last they broke away from each other. Ron still held her head in the palm of his hands. He whispered to her, "Hermione, this is a war zone. Lives will be lost and destroyed. There is only one way to stop all this. Voldemort has to lose. For that Hermione, we have to fight. We just have to fight." His voice cracked with tears. He couldn't say anything more.

At this Hermione spoke between sobs, "Ron, this war is very dangerous. Anything can happen." She held his hand more tightly than ever and continued, "Promise me Ron, if I die you will find happiness once again. You will marry, you will also have kids. I just want you to be happy. Remember Ron, I'll be up there always watching you. I'll be sad when you are sad, happy when you are happy. Your grief will be mine, and all my happiness yours."

After hearing these words, Ron could say nothing more. He only managed to cry more and pull Hermione, once again, into a tight embrace.

And together, with their head held high, they started walking forward. At the same time, something in Ron's pocket started moving. He put his hand inside to find his Chocolate Frog card bearing Dumbledore's photograph. Dumbledore was back there. There was some kind of sound coming from the card. Ron looked at the card and tried to listen intently.

Dumbledore was saying, "Voldemort and the other Death-Eaters are in the Hogwarts graveyard. Please come fast. Apparate to the place where you saw the empty grave." After this message, Dumbledore's face vanished from the card.

Ron nudged Hermione lightly and told her about what Dumbledore had said. Together, they apparated to the Hogwarts graveyard.

The sight they saw there made them nauseous. It seemed like a replica of what they had seen earlier at Spinner's End, the only difference being that there was more bloodshed here. Voldemort was here, in all his fury, sparing no one, killing all. There were dead bodies everywhere.

They held out their wands and moved forward to where Voldemort was standing. His Death-Eaters were doing all the work. He was just standing there, enjoying the scene in front of him. He saw Ron and Hermione, bravely walking towards him. He smirked at them. But they were not to be intimidated. They were driven by a fire, which only told them to avenge their parents' and Ginny's deaths. They were going to fight on Voldemort's terms now. Anger and courage had taken the place of soft heartedness. They went straight to where Voldemort was standing and Ron challenged him to duel once again.

At this Voldemort started laughing and said, "Remember what happened last time? And still you want to duel with me?"

Ron clenched his teeth and retorted, "Voldemort, I will duel you once again, and this time, I will kill you. You will not live any longer." With this, he raised his wand and shouted; "Avada Kedavra!" there was a flash of green light. It hit Voldemort square in the chest, but nothing happened. He was still standing high, this time laughing that maniacal laughter of his.

Ron and Hermione looked at him, their eyes filled with horror.

It was Voldemort who cleared their doubt. "Do you think I am just a man? No. how wrong you are! I am much much more than a man. You cannot kill me Weasley, and neither can you Granger and neither can anyone else, well, except Harry Potter."

After these words, Voldemort made some hissing sounds. He was talking in Parseltongue. His pet snake Nagini came to him. He made some more hissing sounds and the snake started moving towards Ron. Hermione saw this and screamed. She knew that the King Cobra was very poisonous. A single bite would mean death, and she couldn't let Ron die. She loved him, and was ready to give her own life for him. She therefore jumped in front of him and the snake pounced on her. It buried its poisonous fangs into her soft skin. She only had time to say, "Ron, disapparate. Go somewhere safe. I love you and always will." After her last few counted breaths, she lay in Ron's arms, dead.

Author's Note: The story does not end here, but the flashback does end. From the next chapter onwards, it will be Ron's present life, and the future. Hope you like the rest of it. And you know how to tell me you like it…REVIEW. I don't only want positive reviews, constructive criticism is also welcome. I want anything that would help me to write better.