Harry sat in The Burrow's kitchen the next morning, morosely prodding at the cup of tea in front of him.
He barely felt like eating, drinking or even sleeping.
The very thing he was training for; the very thing he was fighting to prevent... he had failed.
Now, his best friend was dead and there was nothing he could do about it.
There was no sort of magic, whether the magic of his homeland or the magic he'd been learning after his introduction to Magix that would bring him back.
The depressing reports coming in from all sides didn't help matters either.
Ron wasn't the only one of his friends and acquaintances to die that day.
Parvati Patil mourned both the loss of her twin sister and her best friend Lavender; Dennis Creevey was now without his brother...
Colin.
Colin had really admired him; looked up to him; and all he did was push him away...
He fought back a sob.
Many others of his friends were injured in the Hogwarts Express fight, most of them severely.
Luna he knew, had nearly lost a foot, Hermione was seriously injured and laid up in St Mungo's and Neville... he didn't even know what had become of him yet...
Fred and George sat at the table with him, looking more morose than he'd ever seen them.
How could he blame them? Where he had lost his best friend they had lost their brother. A person they had grown up with and while they'd certainly made Ron's life more... interesting, they still cared for him...
"We've not seen Percy since yesterday. I think he's still locked away in his own room, beating himself up over the fact that he never got to apologise to Ron for being a prat to the family..." Fred commented idly as he munched mindlessly on some toast.
"I think that would eat anyone alive..." Harry muttered.
Harry's phone rang, with the ringtone he recognised as Roxy's.
"That's the fourth time since yesterday that she's calling. I should probably answer..." Harry stood up morosely, digging his hand into his pocket and practically dragging himself outside.
"Harry? Oh thank goodness! I was worried sick about... What happened?" Roxy's tone softened when she took in Harry's melancholy demeanour.
"A lot happened, Roxy. I went to the scene of the attack on the Hogwarts Express. It was horrible. So many people injured and dying... some already dead, some lost body parts..."
Roxy started to look a little green at Harry's last words.
"People I went to school with have been hurt. Some are dead. People I actually knew. And... and..." Harry fought back a sob, refusing to let his girlfriend see him cry. "Ron... Ron's dead, Roxy. My best friend is dead. And my other best friend... Hermione... she's pretty damn close to it. She's hurt, her boyfriend is dead and our friendship was shattered, just like that..."
Roxy gasped, her eyes widening. "No! Oh my goodness... Harry, I'm so, so sorry!" she herself looked as if she were ready to cry.
"Don't be. Sorry's not going to bring him back. Magic can do a lot of things, but it can't resurrect someone. Besides, it's not your fault he was killed. All of this is Voldemort's fault." Harry spoke quietly.
"I... Um... What now? I mean, I don't want to sound insensitive, but what do you plan to do from here?" Roxy asked as gently as she could.
"I honestly have no fucking clue right now." Harry admitted. "I wanted to finally invite Ron and Hermione to travel with me to Magix this summer, but Ron's dead, Hermione's almost dead, the Ministry's completely fallen... forget the last attack on those prominent Ministry staffers, this one was so much worse..."
Roxy sighed. "My mother and aunt see it the same way. That's why a mandatory evacuation of all fairies present in your homeland was ordered. They didn't want to take any chances..."
Harry laughed bitterly. "Who can blame them? They're not the only ones leaving. I heard that Parvati's family is moving to India, Anthony Goldstein and his family are off to Israel, Tracey Davis and her family already packed up and went to Canada... Those who can't leave are trying to go into hiding... Smart move. Voldemort's all but won this war now. It's only a matter of time before he thinks of attacking here as well, as a matter of fact..."
"This means that you have to step up your game... I know you can do it. You're more than the stories they say about you and I've seen you in action. You're a far better fighter than I am... Much to my family's dismay." Roxy pouted.
Harry chuckled, feeling a brief flash of positivity for the first time since he returned to Britain the day before.
"I guess you're right. But... there's so much things to deal with before Voldemort can be destroyed for good. He still has two Horcruxes out there and even though Dumbledore finally trusted more people to let in on the hunt for them, there really hasn't been much progress. Voldemort's slaughtering people without a bloody care in the world and we're this close to putting him down for good and yet..." Harry sighed.
"Well, regardless of what happens now, you still have so many people behind you. Your friends, the fairies of Tir Nan Og, the De L'Ors... You have a gift, Harry. Use it." Roxy smiled encouragingly.
Harry smiled back weakly.
"You need to keep on going! If you trap yourself in grief like this, it won't get you anywhere. Whatever thoughts you are thinking of going along that route, whatever half-assed plans of revenge racing through your mind of going after Voldemort yourself and getting yourself killed, don't even think about it anymore." Roxy narrowed her eyes at him. "Because I swear on my magic, if you die because you went off wand blazing on some moronic scheme, I'd dig up a necromancy ritual, bring you back from the dead and kill you again for your sheer stupidity, dark magic be damned!"
Harry looked taken aback for a few seconds.
"Well... I don't think your friends would approve..." he finally managed to say after a bit.
"They don't matter in this case. I like them and all, but this is different... I really do care about you, Harry. I'd really not like to lose you..." Roxy suddenly looked sheepish, as if admitting something rather embarrassing.
"You're right." Harry smiled. "I have so many people who would hate to lose me... I guess I shouldn't disappoint them, eh?"
"Fuck them." Harry blinked at Roxy's use of the F-Bomb, a rarity from her for as long as he'd known her. "It's about you and your life. You can't live with a psychopathic dark wizard chasing you down your entire life, now can you? I know I don't plan on putting up with that and I plan on hanging around you for a long, long while..."
Harry's smile grew just a bit brighter at those words.
"Glad to know." he said.
Roxy smiled. "Now, I know it's going to be hard, but I'm gonna be here for you. You gotta live on! Fight on!"
Harry stood up from beneath the tree he had slouched under. "You're right. It's... it's going to be a long, hard road ahead, but... I have to do it. For my parents, for Cedric, for Sirius, for Ron... for everyone that's been hurt by Voldemort. But most importantly, I have to do it for me."
"That's the spirit!" Roxy cheered. "Now, go. Spend time with Ron's family. Mourn together with them and anyone else who lost someone yesterday. I know from experience..."
When a sad, day-dreaming sort of look graced her features briefly, his guess was that she was referring to the Winx Club, the Specialists and their loss of Nabu during their struggles against the Wizards of the Black Circle.
Nabu and Ron... two young men, who'd never known each other, both lost in battle...
"...I know from experience..." Roxy continued. "...that holding it in isn't going to help you in the long run. I think you know that too."
Harry nodded. "I do. Thanks, Roxy."
"No problem. Now go. Do what you have to do. Take as long as you need to. I don't control you. Just give me a call or send over Dobby every once in a while to let me know you're alive, okay?" Roxy requested.
Harry chuckled. "I will. I promise."
He ended the call, glanced back at The Burrow and sighed.
"Well, I can't stay out here forever..." Harry made his way back inside.
"Hello, Remus. Long time, no see..." Harry said as he stepped through the fireplace at this and Tonks' home, a modest, but comfortable looking house somewhere in the English suburbs.
"Harry." Remus gave him a firm hug once he was clear of the fireplace and had brushed the soot off himself. "I'm glad to see you. Sorry that it had to get tarred by recent events, though."
Harry looked down. "Yeah. I just wish that when I get back from this I could tell Ron all about seeing my godson in the flesh for the first time. Hermione too, for that matter, but she's still banged up at St Mungo's..."
"A place that's heavily guarded by what's left of the Aurors because they think it'll be a target now for Voldemort..." Remus added grimly.
"Yeah. Attack the sick and injured people that can't fight back. Just as he attacked bloody children..." Harry muttered.
Remus' expression became grim.
"That's exactly why we have to keep on fighting. So that this can end." the older man put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "That's why your parents fought in the last Wizarding War. Now, as the last of the Marauders as far as I'm concerned..." a brief angry look passed over Remus' features- one that seemingly heightened his lupine side before he spoke again. "...it's up to me to keep the fight going for the rest of us for you and for the family I never thought I would ever get the chance to have."
"I really like how you mentioned your son and I last..." Tonks stepped into the room, holding Teddy close.
Harry's attention immediately went to the baby, whose hair was now in the process of changing from dark green to black.
"So this is my godson. Handsome little fella, isn't he?" Harry sat down and gingerly took the baby from his mother.
"Of course he is! I'm his mum!" Tonks stood proudly. "Where else do you think he'd get his good looks from?"
"Possibly his father?" Lupin piped up. "I did have a hand in creating him, you know..."
"Hello, little guy..." Harry looked down at the baby, who now seemingly had a fascination with Harry's fingers and was gripping one tightly in his little fist.
"I'm your godfather, Harry. Sorry it took a little while to finally get over here and meet you, but as I was still attending school in another magical dimension, it couldn't really be helped. Perhaps I'll take you to see it someday. I think you'd like it there..."
Harry managed to gently pry his finger from Teddy's grip and used it to tickle Teddy's chin, making the baby giggle.
Harry chuckled. "You like that, don't you? Well, I'm going to make sure that all the bad guys are gone so you can have a lot more proper laughs as you grow older. And I personally am going to help protect you. I promise you that..."
As Harry got caught up with his godson, Remus and Tonks stood aside, his arm around Tonk's waist and her head leaning on his shoulder.
Both were smiling.
"Well, they get along well." Tonks noted.
"Did you think they wouldn't?" Remus asked. "We made the right choice for godfather. Just like I suggested..."
Tonks simply rolled her eyes as they left their son with his godfather to enjoy some quality time together.
Lord Voldemort enjoyed all the reports of chaos coming in from all over Magical Britain.
Besides the updates he was getting from his Death Eaters, witches and wizards covering the carnage in the attacks he had ordered were on every station on the wireless he had stationed on a small table in a corner of the room.
Reports of bodies everywhere, some of them missing their parts, gravely injured or missing people, the Ministry of Magic finally falling beneath his feet, practically literally...
Then there were the names he was hearing of some people who had died and others who had lost love ones in the midst of it all...
He heard the name Ronald Weasley amongst them.
So, one of the most prominent Blood Traitors in all of Britain had been killed?
It was no big loss.
The fact that he was the reputed best friend of Harry Potter and had accompanied the brat (well, not so much of a brat now that he was of age and learning more powerful spells, but that was beside the point) in the Ministry of Magic debacle two years ago made it even better.
He may have lost some of his Death Eaters in the attacks, but it was completely worth it.
Britain would be completely his before long, and not even Potter would be able to do anything to stop it.