Disclaimer: I wrote this when I was 12 to 13 in 2003. Harry Potter is hereby © to J.K. Rowling. Everything else is © to me, or its respective owners.
Chapter Twenty Six: Death and Injury
"I assume you know why you were all summoned here." Dumbledore said, sighing.
"Yes." The others replied dully.
"Well, Mr. Davies, now that everyone is here, I'd like you to meet the Chang family, and Mr. Potter."
"We've met. At least, I've met one of the Changs…" Mr. Davies's voice said from beside Tai.
The others whirled around in surprise realizing that Mr. and Mrs. Davies were there with Roger sitting between them. Tai stood up and held out his hand in front of Mr. Davies.
"Tai Chang." He said.
"Nice to meet you. Paul Davies." Mr. Davies replied, taking Tai's outstretched hand.
"I'm Akira."
"Cho."
"Harry."
"I believe there is someone else you haven't yet introduced to the Davies family, Miss Chang…" Dumbledore said quietly.
Cho nodded, and gingerly unwrapped a silvery cloak from a small bundle of pale pink blankets.
"This is Cho-Lin." She said, showing them all a small Chinese infant.
"Who's Cho-Lin?" Mrs. Davies asked.
"Yes, I'd like to know…" Roger added coldly.
"She's my niece." Tai replied, just as icily.
"She's your niece?!" Roger, Mr. Davies, and Mrs. Davies yelled suddenly.
"Yes." Tai replied, rolling his eyes.
"That means-that means…Cho-Lin is Cho's daughter?!" Roger exclaimed in realization.
"Took you long enough…" Akira said sarcastically.
"So you're Cho-Lin's aunt, right?" Roger asked.
"Yeah, that's right." Akira replied.
"Then that leaves only one person to be the father…" Roger growled. "Potter…You stole Cho from me!"
"She belongs to no one!" Harry shouted.
"She was mine!" Roger yelled.
"Keyword 'was' stupid!" Akira screamed.
"Don't you get into this!" Roger roared angrily.
"Yeah, Akira, stay out of it!" Harry yelled.
"Would you please stop it?!!!" Cho cried shrilly over the two boys.
Harry and Roger turned to look at her. She was crying.
"Please…I've seen…so many fights already…I don't want another one…" She said thickly, tears pouring freely from her face.
"Cho…I'm sorry…" Harry said, pulling her into a soft embrace.
She cried silently into his shirt. Their moment was not to last. Somewhere downstairs, a cold scream rang out through the castle. Several screams followed. Cho dried her eyes, and looked around, fear behind her eyes. A cold cruel laugh rang out. Harry's grip tightened on Cho.
"It's him…It's Voldemort." Harry whispered.
Without even having time to think, each of them took out their wands and bolted out the office door and followed the screams to the Great Hall. They reached the landing on the stairs and had a clear view of the entire Great Hall and saw the expressions of fear of every face.
There he was. Accompanied by several Death Eaters, he was in the middle of the room, and his blood red eyes scanned each cluster of students or teachers, until his eyes came to a rest on the landing where Tai, Dumbledore, Mr. Davies, Mrs. Davies, Roger, Josh, Harry, and Cho stood. His eyes lingered on Cho for a moment, and he let out a laugh.
"So…the second child has been born…" He whispered.
Cho's eyes widened, and Harry glared at Voldemort.
"I-I don't know what you're talking about…" Cho stammered.
"Do not lie to Lord Voldemort! For he knows! You hide it from everyone!" Voldemort yelled.
Everyone was watching them, not blinking, afraid to miss a single second of the event. Voldemort disappeared and reappeared with a swish of his cloak and was in front of Cho. He took the silvery cloak, (that was invisible to the others) and unraveled it, revealing Lin to the whole school.
"There! You see it now! The second child born into this school!" Voldemort said, holding up the infant over his head, making Lin cry.
He walked away back to his Death Eaters showing the child to the figures in black cloaks. They howled with laughter.
"Give her back." Harry said angrily through gritted teeth.
Voldemort turned to Harry and sneered.
"So you claim it as yours, then?" Voldemort asked.
"Yes." Harry muttered.
"Well I kind of like her…I think I'll keep her…"
"No!!!" Cho, Harry, Akira, and Tai shouted.
"You won't take her!" A voice said in the crowd.
A sixteen year old girl with freckles and flaming red hair stepped forward. Ginny.
"Weasley…" Voldemort breathed. "Why is it Weasley, that as much as you love Potter, you'll put yourself into the middle of a battle that isn't even yours? I believe that when you were in your second year you wrote in my old diary quite plainly, 'I will hate any woman that takes Harry away from me. He is mine.' So much you've changed since then…"
Ginny's face flushed red, then she took a few brave steps forward.
"Give the baby back." She said.
"What are going to do about it?! You're just a little girl! You don't know even close enough magic to take us all on! We're fully grown witches and wizards! We'll know-" A Death Eater shrieked with laughter.
"-More magic than you'll ever know." Professor Snape supplied.
"Yes, thank you Snape…" The Death Eater replied.
"V-Voldemort! Give the baby back to Cho!" Ginny shouted, grasping her wand.
"No. You'll have to take her from me!"
"Accio Baby!" Ginny cried.
The baby flew into Ginny's arms and she ran to Cho and was right in front of her and just barely placed the child gingerly in Cho's arms.
"Avada Kedavra!" Voldemort roared.
A blinding flash of green light filled the room and, Ginny fell to the floor at Cho's feet.
"GINNY!!!!" A voice yelled.
"RON! NO!" Hermione sobbed.
But it was too late, Ron was already walking towards Voldemort. Hermione wouldn't give up. She clung to dear life, attempting to drag him back toward the crowd. Ron brushed Hermione away. Whitney, Tom, Alyssia, Draco, Akira, Liam, Angela, Alicia, Nick, Katherine, and Kira were enclosing him, trying to prevent him from harm. But Ron wouldn't give up. He shoved them all aside, and forced his way through. Then he was face to face with Voldemort at last.
"So…you're the only Weasley left at this school…" Voldemort mused.
"You killed her! My only sister! How could you?!" Ron yelled.
Cho, Tai, Akira, Harry, and Dumbledore walked forward.
"Ron, please…don't…" Cho pleaded.
"He killed my sister…he killed her…" Ron muttered. "You'll PAY!"
"Ron, no!" Harry shouted.
"Harry, stay out of it. It's my fight."
"So…you want to face me like a man, do you Weasley?" Voldemort asked.
"Yeah, that's right." Ron snarled.
Ron drew his wand, when Dumbledore stood between them.
"Tom, please leave." He said calmly.
"I suppose I've had enough fun for one day…" Voldemort replied. "Malfoy, Lestrange, Nott, Goyle, Avery, let's go!"
Draco suddenly looked up and saw his father glaring at him malevolently. Voldemort and his Death Eaters walked out of the hall and were walking into the Forbidden Forest, lost in the darkness of the thick trees. After they had gone, Ron ran to his dormitory, slamming every door he could on his way. Even Peeves didn't want to get in his way.
-
Ron's bad mood lasted for a very long time. A few days later in Potions class, his hands were shaking with suppressed rage as he measured ingredients for an Invigoration Draught. To make matters worse, Snape seemed to be showing no sympathy whatsoever. It was then, Professor Snape whisked over to Ron's cauldron.
"Very, very, very poor work Mr. Weasley…Another zero then…I say, this is the third zero this week…do try to make an effort on potion-making, won't you?" Snape said.
Then, Ron snapped.
"I don't care if I get another bloody zero! I don't care if I fail this bloody class! My sister is DEAD!!! She's never coming back!!! I don't even have to heart to tell my own mum that her only daughter died! So excuse me, if I don't want to make an effort in this class! Excuse me if I just can't make my work good enough to your standards! I'm only human!" He yelled.
"Still gloating about the loss of your sister? I believe you've got five brothers to make up for your loss…" Snape replied, his black eyes glittering.
"GLOATING?! HOW DARE YOU! MY BROTHERS CAN NEVER FILL THE GAP THAT MY SISTER ONCE HAD A PLACE IN! YOU JUST DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING!!! GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD!!!" Ron bellowed.
He packed up his things and stormed angrily out of the classroom, slamming the dungeon door.
"That class, is how not to act during lessons." Snape said calmly.
The Slytherins gave out a roaring laugh, then continued their work. Hermione was in a temper, and was trying to take notes on the potion, when she slammed her quill onto the desk top and started packing her bag.
"I can't take it anymore. I've got to go to him." She muttered.
She put the last of her things into her bag, swung it over her shoulder and stood up from her seat and walked to the door.
"I'm sorry Professor Snape." She whispered, opening the door, exiting the classroom and shutting the door, her quick footsteps echoing above them.
When the lesson ended, Harry and the others returned to Gryffindor tower, to hear distant shouting coming from the seventh year boys dormitory.
"PLEASE, RON, I'M BEGGING YOU! BE REASONABLE! FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE!" Hermione's voice screamed shrilly.
"BE REASONABLE?! I'VE BLOODY BEEN REASONABLE, HERMIONE! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE!" Ron's voice roared.
"RON, PLEASE! THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING! YOU COULD DIE!"
"Hermione, I promise you, I won't die. This is just something I have to do…"
"Ron, please…don't go…"
"When I leave, I want you to write a letter to my mum explaining where I've gone, and what's happened, ok?"
"Ok…"
"Good…"
"I love you Ron."
"I love you too, Hermione."
Their footsteps were heard on the spiral staircase, and the two came down the stairs, Ron wearing a traveling cloak and his dragon hide gloves in his cloak pocket, and his wand firmly in his hand. A sobbing Hermione followed him, tears streaming from her face.
"Please, do be careful, Ron." She whispered.
"Don't worry, I will be…I promise." Ron replied.
He gently kissed her lips and held her for a moment.
"I'll come back…I promise you I will…don't worry…"
With that said, he walked away from Hermione, and said quick goodbyes to Harry and the others, then exited through the portrait hole. Hermione made an odd noise halfway sounding like a sob and gasp, then ran upstairs in a flash and bolted out of the portrait hole.
"RON! RON WAIT!" She screamed.
She could see his ginger colored hair twenty feet from herself.
"RON!" She cried.
He turned, looking confused.
"What?" He asked.
"It's just…you forgot your bag…you know, so you can pack food and things, if you're there for more than one day…" Hermione said quietly.
Ron stared at her for a moment, and smiled, then gave a small chuckle.
"Hermione, you worry too much…but thank you…I'm afraid I don't have enough time to pack any food of any of that stuff…"
"Oh well, that's no problem! I can do conjuring charms now!"
She took out her wand and with a wave, food and other items filled the empty bag. Her eyes brimmed with tears, and she handed the bag to him. He smiled again, then gave her another soft kiss, then slung the bag over his shoulder and proceeded down the hall to a set of stairs, where before he vanished out of sight, he mouthed the words, "I love you."
Tears flowed once again from Hermione's brown eyes. Ron disappeared from view, and she let out a soft sob.
'What are you doing, Hermione?! Tell him again that you love him!' Her brain screamed at her.
She ran down the steps that Ron had just disappeared from, and saw him already on the sloping green grounds. She flung the window open, the summer breeze flowing through her hair, and she saw Ron taking a last look at the castle, and he spotted her in the window and waved.
"I love you too!" Hermione shouted.
Ron smiled again, and waved goodbye to Hermione, and hoping she wouldn't see, he quickly wiped away a tear that trickled down his face. He continued on towards the Forbidden Forest, and reached the border of the trees and the edge of the Hogwarts grounds. He glanced up at the castle again, and saw Hermione crying on the stone window frame. He took another step forward, and several more after that. He kept walking until he could no longer see the castle anymore. He lit his wand tip and was able to see much better in the dark trees. He could faintly see a path made by several people who had walked through the trees be he did.
"Good…they left a trail…" He whispered.
He followed the path through the trees, getting scratches and bruises the whole way…
Hermione slowly trudged back up to Gryffindor tower, and up to her dormitory, without saying a word to any of the others.
"Something's wrong…very wrong…" Whitney muttered.
"I wonder where Ron's gone off to…" Alyssia wondered aloud.
"She seemed very upset…I believe we should go talk with her…and ask her what's wrong…" Alexa said.
Cho was already making her way upstairs with Lin in one arm, (Lin was no longer in her invisibility cloak, since the whole school knew about her since Voldemort revealed her…) and the other on the maple handrail. She reached her familiar dormitory and found Hermione crying, gazing out the window.
"Hermione?" Cho called softly.
"What?" Hermione replied, hastily wiping her eyes.
"What's wrong? Where's Ron gone?" Cho asked.
At the mention of Ron's name, Hermione started crying again.
"He's g-gone to fight him…" Hermione sobbed.
"Fight who, Hermione?"
"V-Voldemort! H-He wants revenge…b-because he just can't stand the fact t-that his only sister is g-gone…for good…and he told me…to write a letter to his family, and explain everything…"
"So Ron's gone to fight Voldemort to get revenge, and you're to write a letter to his family explaining what happened to Ginny, and where he's gone. Am I correct?"
"Yes…"
"Hermione…I'm so sorry…I really am…"
"I can't go through this alone!"
"You're not alone, Hermione. Because Harry, Draco, Tom, Alyssia, Whitney, Liam, Akira, and I are all here for you. We're all here to help you…Even Lin and Mercadez too."
For the first time since Ginny had died, Hermione smiled at last.