I, again, apologize for being unable to continue with my story. It pains me very much because I love all my OC characters. However, there is no sense in beating a dead horse.

Originally, I planned for Asta to find out she is pregnant during their travels with the trio, and use a concealment charm to keep Brynjar and the others from finding out and making her quit the assignment. She was going to take every precaution to make sure no magical travel harmed her or the baby. I was going to have her go into labor during the final battle, and be taken back to her village to be helped by Astrid.

During that time, I was going to have Arvid be battling Bellatrix in the air. After about 5 minutes or so of battling her, he realized she wouldn't let up until she thinks she killed him, and conjures a pillow to put in front of him to take her killing curse. He then free-falls into the black lake. The trio were watching this happen, as they were behind the boat house at this point, and when Arvid fell, Hermione ran to aid him. She decided to summon him, knowing she wouldn't be able to support both her and his muscles mass in the water.

When Arvids body came flying toward her, she closed her eyes and braced for the impact she knew was going to come, only to find that it never did. She opened her eyes and found Harry and Ron both stumbling a bit in front of her, having caught Arvids massive weight for her. They laid him on the ground, and Hermione began CPR on him. A little bit of water trickled from his mouth, but he showed no signs of waking up.

A moment later Cuyler would come up behind them and thank Hermione for what she did, and heave Arvid over his shoulder and disapparate to bring Arvid to Astas. Before Cuyler left arvid, Arvid woke and teased him a bit before Cuyler left.

The battle was won by the light. Kingsley spoke with Abraxus and they began devising a plan to welcome the Vikings back into society, while Brynjar ordered the rest of his crew to help with the wounded and with clean up. He left to confront Asta.

When he got to her house, he was met by his mother, who asked him to be easy on her before stepping aside and letting him see his girlfriend. He did give her a scolding, and he felt bad for it when her emotions took over and she started crying. She assumed he was going to leave her now and made that plain to Brynjar. Brynjar assuaged her worries and became softer with her. Asta presented Brynjar with a box that had dozens and dozens of phials or silvery blue liquid in them. She explained how she knew he wanted a family, and knew he would be heartbroken over missing big moments in the pregnancy. She found a charm that she used on the memories so he would be able to interact and actually feel the things she felt. She collected every moment even if it seemed small. And as they sat there, she pulled out the final one he missed, which was the birth of their child and put it in the phial and muttered the charm.

Dagmar brought their baby in to them, and handed the baby to Brynjar. It was a girl, and Asta told Brynjar to pick the name. Her name is Freya Elizabeth. He went to add Asta's last name, but Asta corrected himself and gave her daughter Brynjars last name, asking that Akeldama die with her.

A few moments later Astrid bursts in saying she is not able to heal Arvid, he is to seriously hurt. Per her inspection, he has shattered every one of his lower vertebrae, and they need an actual practiced doctor. Brynjar goes back to Hogwarts and catches Kingsley and Kingsley sends his best doctor to their village. The doctor is able to prevent Arvid from being paralyzed, but he instructed Asta and her father that he won't be able to continue being part of the retinue. The doctor says that one wrong move and the damage would be unrepairable.

When Asta went to break the news to Arvid, she brought her daughter with her, as a buffer so Arvid wouldn't have a major meltdown. She explained what the doctor said and how it pains her to do this but she cannot allow him to continue taking assignments. She did not kick him fully out of the retinue, he was still allowed to go to meetings and planning sessions, but no action unless the village was invaded.

That is ONE way I was going to end it. But Asta being pregnant made certain major moments of the original HP storyline not work, and I was torn between that first ending and this second one.

Asta miscarries, her and Brynjar mourn the loss of the baby that might have been. Due to Asta explaining the deathly hallows to the trio, they do not go see Xenophelius, and instead get caught upon moving. HOWEVER, they have had a few other close calls, and Asta forces Hermione to take poly juice and become her and Asta takes on Hermiones appearance before they take off. They get caught by snatchers and are brought to Malfoy Manor. The same thing happens, one of the snatchers says the sword was in her bag, and Bellatrix keeps "Hermione" up with them for interrogation. Asta gets the word mudblood carved in her arm, before the potion wears off and duels with Bellatrix, Narcissa and Lucius.

Noting the panic that they had been in Bellatrixs vault, after Asta disarms and incapacitates them, she takes a few hairs from Bellatrix and Lucius. She frees all in the basement and they escape to a quiet hillside, where the wounded/neglected are treated by Hermione, ya and Brynjar. They get the cup and break the dragon free of his prison.

The battle begins and somewhere in the midst, Arvid loses his life saving Lupin and Tonks. When Voldemort calls for his forces to retreat, the king tells Brynjar and Balder to go back to the village and inform Ria, and that he will tell Talbot. Both boys go back and they lower their flag, and ring the gong. All the women, children and elderly; come out to see who they have lost. Brynjar did his best to hold himself together and not make eye contact with any specific person for too long. He and balder started making their way towards Ria and Ginevra, both started shaking their heads, when Brynjar, tears rolling down his face, stops in front of Ria and hands her Arvids pendant.

While Ria is sobbing for her loss, unsure of if it is only one or both of the men in her life, Vashti comes forward and whispers something to Balder. Balder pulls her into his arms and starts crying harder before putting her in front of Ria. She tells Ria she is carrying Arvids child, just as Talbot, who is just as grief stricken, runs to his wife.

The battle is won by the light, thanks to Taylor getting annoyed by people aiming curses at her when she wanted NO PART in this whole fighting business. She summoned Abraxus the first and made him keep his mouth shut and kill as many Death Eaters as he could before she became to weak to keep him there. He spat at her feet before doing her bidding, only to be slapped across the face and reminded him she has a hand in both realms.

Cuyler brings Bellatrix to the village and straps her up int he shed. He relays to Asta that Bellatrix was the one who killed Arvid, and Asta goes and gets Ria. *interesting side not about Ria, in my mind and what I decided would fit her personality, is that she was asked to leave the Kings Retinue because she was TOO violent. She would go completely barbaric if someone went after Talbot. And after all the struggling they went through to conceive Arvid, she is HEATED.* All that was heard from the shed, while Bellatrix was in there, was Ria screaming "he was my only baby!" At the top of her lungs and Bellatrix's fear-filled and pain-filled screams, and Astas laughter.

Asta set up Arvids funeral. He was laid to rest, after Vashti and Ria cleaned him up, on a wooden boat surrounded by flowers and his favorite shield and blade. Asta had been teaching Vashti a crash course on how to properly shoot a bow and arrow, because Asta was making her set the Pyre on fire for Arvid. The trio attended the funeral, along with Order members, and Hermione watched in absolute awe, as she saw Arvid standing behind Vashti, left arm wrapped around her barely showing belly, and the right arm pointing in front of them, as though guiding her in where to shoot, though she could not hear him. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched Arvid look directly in her eyes and wink, knowing she could see him, before placing a kiss on Vashti's temple right as Vashti said something inaudible you everyone as she let the flaming arrow loose.

Hermione later pulled that memory and gave it to Vashti, so she would know that Arvid had been there for her in her weakest moment.

In both versions of how it ends, Hermione does not get together with Malfoy(like I had originally intended), but she does get together with Cuyler. Which that helps in the Vikings being trusted because if Hermione could trust them enough to be with one of them, then they HAD to be good. Harry is with Ginny, of course. Malfoy and Taylor get together, they choose to ignore the fact that they are related through marriage and Asta. Ron gets together with Audhild, who found him quite charming on one of the visits back to the village that I had planned.

Both endings are just rough summaries of how I'd planned to write the endings, once I had decided if I was going to kill off Arvid or not. I didn't include every detail, just what I thought would make a big impression on anyone who reads this.

I absolutely was torn between keeping all my OC characters alive, and doing the hard thing and showing that even though they are trained killing machines, they are not perfect. I gemmed and hawed with my friend IWriteToSurvive about whether I should kill him or not soooo much. But the two endings I had in mind were satisfying in their own right.

Thank you so much for reading this story! I am completely ashamed that I couldn't see it through to the real end, but my brain is just not working with me on ideas. I hope you found the general idea of how it may have ended satisfying enough.

I hope to be able to write again.

~WeasleyGirl