A/n: Welcome readers, one and all, to the finale of Finale! (Applause) I realize how long I've been making you wait for this, and here it finally is!

The first half of this chapter was written at the Detroit Airport, waiting for my 11:56 flight back to college, and the rest of it was written, well, now. I was going to post earlier, but quite frankly, sophomore year's kicking my tail! Organic Chemistry has got to be the evilest course in all the world, right next to learning Japanese when you've had no prior experience in the language. But I haven't failed anything yet, so nothing can be going too awful yet (knock on wood…).

So enough about me, let's get to the story!

This final installment will feature plenty of Harry/Ginny-ness, as well as a good dollop of Ron/Hermione-ness. I also realize that this is a bit shorter than usual, but this is more of an epilogue anyway. Plus, I'm the writer, so I can do as I please! Heeheehee….

Sigh, well, it's time, I reckon sniff. Man, I'm gonna miss this fic. However, I do have a few new ones in the works, so stick around at the end of this finale, and you shall get an exclusive invite on the inner workings of the dieselwriter's mind, and of her upcoming fics.

So, without further ado, here it is; drum roll please:

CHAPTER EIGHT: Finale

It was Ron. The trio ran together as one to him; to the best friend, the lover, the brother.

Harry stood over the corpse of Peter Pettigrew, indecisive. Someone had finally taken care of the traitorous coward; had made him pay for all of his wrongdoings. For that, Harry was glad; but at the same time, he was jealous.

He had wanted to be the one to take care of Wormtail; after all, it was the rat's fault that Harry's parents were dead, why Harry's godfather had spent 12 years of his life rotting away in a cell in Azkaban, and why Voldemort had been raised from his cursed half-life. And Harry would never forgive himself for letting Wormtail slip through his fingers in his third year.

"Harry."

Harry was pulled out of his thoughts by Ginny's soft voice. She was tugging softly on his arm, urging him forward.

So Harry, still unsure about the whole thing, left the corpse as it was and guided the girls further down the sidewalk.

They walked a few steps together before Hermione stopped dead in her tracks. Harry, who had been intent on watching the ground and trying to take deep, calming breaths, stopped along with Ginny to look at Hermione. She was pale and looking like she had when she was Petrified in her second year.

"Hermione?" Ginny asked her slowly.

Hermione's eyes were wide and scared as she turned to look at Ginny. She tried to communicate to her concerned friend but it seemed as though she was struck dumb. Her bottom lip trembled as she nodded her head forward.

Afraid for the worst, Harry turned to look where Hermione had indicated.

The adrenaline rush he had just felt seemed to leave him as he felt weak in the knees. His heart seemed to have stopped as the sidewalk disappeared beneath him.

"Oh my God," Ginny breathed, her grip on Harry's hand tightening painfully.

Ron's bleeding and battered body was about thirty feet away, leaning up against a previously-blasted mailbox post.

Hermione made a noise between a squeak and a scream and escaped from Harry's hold to run to Ron.

Harry followed quickly after her, hauling Ginny behind him.

It was hard for him to run; each step didn't feel like it was taking him anywhere, as if he were running in quicksand. Ginny seemed to be dead weight behind him, since she didn't seem to want to run as fast as he wanted her to. It felt as though she was pulling him backwards, she was running so slowly.

As Harry continued to drag Ginny alongside him, he could see Hermione as she slowed down the closer she got. He also began to slow as anxiety and fear crept in when Hermione dropped to her knees a few feet away from Ron. He could barely breathe, let alone walk, as he heard her speak, in barely more than a whisper.

"Ron?"

And all three felt tears fall down their cheeks as he looked up into their faces. A gash in his arm was bleeding profusely, and an even longer cut trailed over his right eye. He could no longer see out of it. But he was still alive. They all were. And that was all that mattered. He gave them that goofy grin they were all used to, and they immediately pulled him up into a hug. The perfect moment; the puzzle completed.

Harry had reached Hermione, a shell-shocked Ginny in tow. To his surprise, Hermione was not crying. Her wide eyes were staring straight at Ron and his slightly disfigured visage.

Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to slow his erratic breathing.

Hermione jumped at the touch and quickly turned to stare at Harry with her startlingly bright eyes.

On instinct, Harry retracted his hand and Hermione turned to look at Ron.

"He's okay, Harry. He's fine…."

Harry's stomach twisted painfully as he chanced a glance at Ginny. She looked terrified as she met Harry's eyes, and they seemed to come to an understanding: If Ron were…well, if there was anything seriously wrong with Ron, Hermione would be nothing short of devastated, especially after everything that had happened so far. It was too late to protect Ron, but Harry would be damned before he let his other best friend get hurt.

However, as Harry turned to Hermione, he saw her already crawling closer to Ron. Harry quickly strode and caught up to her, Ginny following right behind him.

"Hermione," Harry started, but something seemed to be blocking his throat, so he swallowed and tried again, "Hermione, maybe I should check it out first—"

But Hermione ignored him completely and reached out to touch Ron.

"Ron," she muttered at first, grasping his shirt sleeve. She pulled back quickly when Ron didn't stir. Her hands went up to her mouth and fearful tears traced down her cheeks. "Ron!"

"Hermione- wait," Harry told her strongly, desperately trying to keep down his nausea.

"Hermione- listen to us! Please!" Ginny cried out in a sob.

"RON!"

"HERMIONE!"

"Shut up!"

Hermione stood up so fast it seemed as if something had electrocuted her. Harry and Ginny held their breath in awed silence at the sound of the raspy, tired-sounding voice. And all three couldn't help but smile as Ron's head lifted to reveal a disheveled and grumpy face.

"Gimme 10 more minutes…."

Harry let out his breath and started grinning like a maniac, tears obscuring his vision. His nausea had all but disappeared, although the lump in his throat only seemed to grow larger.

Ron blinked his good eye as he realized who he was talking to. All signs of his foul mood vanished as he stared at the three people he most wanted to see. His blue eyes brightened as he gave a lopsided grin.

Harry walked the few steps over to his best friend and smiled down on him. "I think it's time to get up now."

Hermione and Ginny walked up behind him, afraid to look at Ron, as if doing so would cause him to disappear. Ron laughed and held out his hand to the three.

"Okay, help me up."

Harry immediately grabbed his arm and lifted him onto his feet. Ron stumbled slightly from the vertigo, but steadied himself by grabbing onto Harry's arm. "You- you did it then? You got rid of him?"

Harry continued to smile and nodded his head, the lump in his throat making it increasingly harder to breathe properly.

Ron grinned broadly as well and slapped Harry on the back. "Knew you could do it, mate! Vol- well, you know…he didn't stand a chance, Harry!"

Ron looked at Harry and seemed to be debating something with himself for a moment, before putting his arms around Harry and hugging him tightly. Whatever unspoken manly agreement the two had ever had about not hugging was shattered as Harry laughed and hugged his friend back.

"I always knew you could do it, Harry, I really did" Ron muttered as he squeezed him tighter. "Thanks mate. I- I'm proud of you."

Harry snorted and clapped him on the back. "Couldn't have done it without you, Ron."

Ron snorted right back and pulled back from the hug, but keeping both hands on Harry's shoulders, so they were forced to meet eye to eye.

"Repeat any of this girly stuff to anyone," Ron muttered with a mock-serious face, "Voldemort won't compare to what you'll have to face from me."

"So now you can say his name?" Harry laughed, shaking his head incredulously.

"Well," Ron whispered conspiratorially, "it doesn't make much sense to be afraid of the name of a dead bloke."

Harry laughed again but Ron suddenly seemed distracted at something over his shoulder, so he turned around to see Ginny with a rather pathetic pout on her face. Her face was still deluged with tears and her deep, rapid breathing caused her whole body to shake. Harry smiled slightly as he moved out of the way so the brother and sister could reunite.

Ron smiled slightly and held his arms out. Ginny didn't need an introduction as she launched herself at her brother, holding to him tight around the middle.

His grin still firmly intact, Harry turned to look at Hermione. She looked as if she were fighting between running away and prying Ginny off of Ron. Her left hand was twisting around her bushy curls feverishly and her eyes kept darting between the Weasley brother and sister.

Harry went over and put his arm around her shoulders. She shuddered violently but refused to meet his eyes. Harry squeezed her shoulder and she brought her arms around herself, hugging tightly, as tears leaked recklessly down her cheeks.

Finally, after another minute or so of crying, Ginny stepped back from her brother. Ron's eyes were slightly bloodshot, but he still had a smile playing on his lips. Ginny hiccupped and furiously wiped away her tears. Ron reached out to her, but she shook her head and pointed a trembling hand toward Hermione.

"Hermione keeps giving me dirty looks," she said, smiling slightly. "I think she wants her turn now."

Ron turned to look where his sister had indicated, and his eyes fell on Hermione. Hermione, as if sensing the change in Ron's attention, dropped her hands and stared at him intently.

If Ron had ever looked surprised or relieved in his life, it compared nothing to how he looked at that moment. Harry was sure time had stopped working, for in the couple of seconds it seemed that the two gazed at each other, eternity seemed to pass by.

Ron took an uncertain step forward and held out a hand for her. Hermione gasped and ran to him.

Ron stumbled back slightly as Hermione collided with him. She threw her arms around his waist and it took him a few seconds to regain his footing and his breath before he snaked an arm around her waist. His other hand was busy curling her already quite frizzy hair.

Hermione looked up at him with watering eyes. Harry could barely make out her squeak. "You know, we should probably get those injuries checked out by a Healer. They could get infected and—"

Ron silenced her with a kiss. Harry, thoroughly happy and slightly revolted at the same time, made a face somewhere between a grin and a grimace as Ginny came up beside him. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick kiss on the bridge of her nose. She scrunched up her nose and gave a grin.

They were finally together; four pieces of a perfect puzzle. And that was exactly how it was going to stay.

FIN!

Final A/n: Aww…what a great ending (if I do say so myself wink). One thing I think I really have to say at the end of all this is:

FINALLY!

Seriously, this ending has had sooo many rewrites, it's disgusting. So many important decisions! Who should say what, who should move there, and who's gonna be crying more, and why, and where should Ron and Hermione finally kiss for goodness sakes, and ARGH! You get the rest. Very hard, but completely worth it, I suppose. If I make you lot happy I reckon it's all good.

Well, a big old hardy THANK YOU to all of my fantastic, stunning, simply spiffing reviewers! You all ROCK! In fact, I shall list you. Wouldn't U Like 2 Know (yes, yes I would), thanks for the love, and sorry I made you cry. Quidditchgirlie, I'm always happy to find another canonically-supported shipper, and sorry to make you cry too. Dee, well, here's the next part of the story, hope you liked it, and sorry to make you cry as well (hmm, I'm sensing a pattern here...). Brattax23, thanks for the love as well, and sorry about depressing you. Don't worry, my next story is gonna be a bit happier than this one. And to my loving sister bananahannah, well, I think you received your answer in my last review. Hope you all liked this last chapter!

Okay, things to look forward to in the dieselwriter's story archive….

Plenty of one-shots, mostly Ron-ish, but containing plenty of Weasley family interaction. I've already finished a song-fic too (set to one of my favorite Maroon 5 song's of ALL time, as you'll soon see), but I think I'm going to add a bit more description into that one before I release it. Also (possibly) a two-shot in the works (if there is such a thing as a two-shot), concerning Ron and Hermione getting together! Fun there, fo sho….

Also (hopefully) working on a new story, dealing with action, adventure, mystery, romance, and comedy. Yeah, a little bit of everything, but all the good stories have this kinda stuff…. So it should deal with Ron having some fantastically great luck and him and Hermione figuring out the mystery of the stolen Snidgets. Confused? Well stay tuned for more!

Alas, now it is time to say goodbye, for now at least. I bid you all a fond farewell, and hope to hear from you again soon, after you hear from me first, of course. Stay cool and awesome, and warm fuzzies all around! Cheers!

-dieselwriter

P.S.- For some reason, the add ruler button wasn't working, so I don't have any line separators in this chapter. Hopefully that will be fixed in the near future, otherwise we might have a problem...O.o