A/N: This is the last chapter.

Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it. -Josephus Daniels

There was nothing anyone could say that would take away the pain and the humiliation that they had gone through when retreating. Tonks had been captured and Lupin had gone missing, while several Aurors and other officials and civilians had been captured. Greyback now ran the Ministry and now the last safe place in the wizarding world was St. Mungos which was almost impossible to gain access to, seeing as Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper. Drastic measures had to be called on to preserve this vulnerable place, and though many didn't like it, they had to agree that it was the only way to keep those inside alive.

"I can't believe it," Harry whispered for the hundredth time.

Hermione closed her eyes. "Harry, stop. Can we please think about something else?"

Harry looked over at her. "How could you want to think of anything else? Malfoy won!"

"I know, Harry! I know! Don't you think I don't know?! He has my parents!" she shouted, glaring at him.

Harry instantly felt ashamed of himself, cursing his stupidity for forgetting Hermione's parents.

"Look Hermione… I should have never-"

Hermione shook her head, sniffing and brushing away angry tears.

"It's ok… I'm just… I want to know that things are going to get better, Harry," she whispered, finally taking a sip of her tea.

"I hope things do get better," he answered.

Hermione watched him for a moment then stood up, going around the counter and pulling Harry up as well, pulling him into a much needed hug. She could feel his arms move around her tighter and she sighed.

"I bet you're wishing I was Ginny right now," she whispered.

Harry smiled slightly and shrugged. "You're nice to hold on to once in a while.

"Hermione, can I talk to you?"

They looked up to see Ron standing there, pale but a determined look on his face. Hermione frowned but nodded, glancing up at Harry, who had pulled away from her, his face pale. She got up and followed Ron up to the room he and Harry were sharing. As they walked up, all Hermione could think about is that he was going to call it off. He was going to break up with her because of what happened to Bill. Her heart started racing wildly as she bit her lip, glancing over to him. He had certainly changed since the murder, his eyes hardened and some how more icy than usual. They hadn't talked since he'd found her in the office, though that was acceptable seeing as Charlie had gone missing after there was an attack on the London Bridge just yesterday.

Charlie and a few other Aurors had been assigned to watch the area and after a stand off between them and a few Death Eaters, Charlie and two others disappeared…

They entered Ron and Harry's room and Hermione stood there, waiting for him to tell her that it was all over.

Ron took a deep breath, his face growing paler by the second. He pointed to his bed.

"You might want to sit down," he suggested.

Hermione could feel the blood flood from her face as her heart started pounding against her chest so hard that she was afraid Ron could hear it.

He's going to break up with me, she thought as she sat down.

Ron sat down on Harry's bed facing her, taking a deep breath.

"Look Hermione… a lot's happened in the past few days and… I don't know how to handle everything…" he muttered, looking anywhere but her.

Hermione reached out for his hand. "Ron-"

Ron held up his hand. "Let me speak," he cut in, his eyes meeting her scared ones. He sighed and looked away. "We haven't been together for a while and most of that time was spent apart wondering if the other was going to die…"

"Ron-"

"Let me speak, 'Mione," he cut in again, glaring at her for some reason. It was hard enough as it was to say what he was about to say, but when she kept on interrupting him…

Taking a deep breath, he stood up and walked over to a small dresser. "I've been thinking real hard about this relationship, Hermione and I realized that I never got to say what I was trying to that night by the shrieking shack." By this time, Hermione's heart was in her throat, doing double time as she tried to control her breathing. Ron turned around and went over to her, sitting down next to her. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione bit her lip, tears coming to her eyes as she nodded. "I love you too, Ron, but-"

Ron placed a finger on her lips, shushing her before getting down on his knee and looking up into her wide terrified eyes.

"I don't want to make the same mistake Bill did and lose you before it's time. I don't really know what I'd do if I lost you and hadn't been able to marry you."

Hermione place a hand on her mouth, tears pouring out of her eyes. "Oh my God…"

He took her hands in his and kissed them. "I love you, Hermione… and I want to marry you."

Hermione was full on crying now, her skin pale as she just stared at him, unable to speak. Ron took a deep breath.

"Hermione Jane Granger… will you marry me?"

The End.

A/N: AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

OzDust: Yeah, I know, I updated faster in this one that in Stand, but don't worry. Things are going to get better, depending on how you look at it.

blooh2: Well... I don't think you have to worry about them breaking up.

charma10: I updated, but I think I might wait until the weekend is over before I start updating the last segment. Give people a chance to finish the book, because you know everyone's going to finish it in one weekend.

ronandmion4ever: Yes, well, Stand did start out a little slow. I hope you like this!

And Now! A glimpse of the third part of the Stand Trilogy:

His eyes went wide when he got to one specific page. "There's a way to get back into Hogwarts."

Everyone stood up.

"What?"

I'm sorry. This isn't much, but if I give you anything else, it'll give it all away!