The unknown distance to the great beyond
Stares back at my grieving frame
To cast my shadow by the holy sun
My spirit moans with a sacred pain
And it's quiet now
The universe is standing still

-"Goodnight, Travel Well" The Killers

Everyone was in the Burrow's living room gathered around George. His face was slowly getting its color back. They knew he would survive as soon as he started cracking jokes. Mrs. Weasley occupied herself with serving everyone a glass of Firewhiskey. It was a mark of the seriousness of the situation that Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to mind serving her younger children alcohol. They were all avoiding thinking about the people that had still yet to arrive. Moody, Mundungus, Bill and Fleur had still not made it back. Just then, they heard the sound of wings that made them all rush back outside.

It was Bill and Fleur. They landed roughly and quickly got off.

"Bill!" cried Mrs. Weasley with joy. She rushed forward and hugged him fiercely.

Harry watched Fleur closely. She was crying. He then noticed that Bill was clearly in shock about something. Something terrible had occurred.

"What's wrong darling?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she pulled back to examine her son closely.

"Moody is dead." He said gravely.

As one, the entire group gasped and clutched at themselves. After every safety measure taken, there had been a casualty. They had lost a member.

Hermione instinctively looked back at Harry. She could read the guilt in his eyes. As everyone gathered around in shock of the news, she watched as he secretly slipped away. Hermione hastily followed him. She was not going to let him wallow in guilt. Not this time.

By the time she reached the top of the stairs, she watched the door of Ron's room slam shut.

"Harry, Harry open up!"

"No Hermione, I want to be alone." Harry grumbled.

"Well you're not going to." said Hermione, she pulled out her wand and pointed it to the door. "Aloha Mora."

As she walked in, she saw Harry sitting on the foot of Ron's bed, holding his head in his hands.

"Harry…" started Hermione sympathetically.

"Don't." said Harry gravely. "Don't you say it."

"Harry, you know this isn't-

"Isn't it my fault?" said Harry looking up, his green eyes glistening. "It is. You bloody well know it is."

"Don't take responsibility for this Harry. We all got into this knowing the dangers."

"Yeah? Well you shouldn't have to!" Harry yelled. "This is not anyone's war but mine. I told you I didn't want any more lives being taken because of me."

"Just your war?" Hermione repeated angrily. "May I remind you that you are not the only one who wants him gone? Everyone has something to gain when this monster is gone!"

"I know that!" Harry exclaimed. "But Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, and Moody, they are all my fault! Just like it's my fault that Ron was poisoned last year. It was also my fault you were hit with that spell in the Department of Mysteries!"

"Harry stop!" Hermione yelled with tears in her eyes.

Harry stared at her; he had fire in his eyes. He was sick of it. Moody had been the last straw. He had to go it alone. He could not lead his friends to their death. Not again. He knew he wouldn't be able to recover if anything should happen to them.

"Don't you see? He's already winning." Harry said softly. "He's slowly taking away the reasons worth fighting for. I need to face him. This needs to end."

Hermione watched as Harry made his way to the window. He stood in front of it and looked up at the dark sky.

"I'm going at it alone."

"No you're not." Hermione responded defiantly.

"Hermione, stop being stubborn!"

"No Harry!" said Hermione persistently as she walked to him.

"I'm not going to watch as you or Ron gets murdered." Harry growled. "I won't do it! He's only using people to get me to come and fight…and I'm tired of hiding."

"Harry, do you honestly have that little faith in us? In you?" she asked despondently.

"What good is faith when you're facing him? He can end it all in a heartbeat. No faith can withstand that." said Harry dejectedly.

Hermione looked at him sadly. Tears were now sliding down her face. He was giving up. Voldemort was winning. If Harry lost all hope, everything was lost. She looked at him carefully. The brave boy she had known was vanishing. Survivor's guilt was eating away at his core, leaving him an empty shell. A mere shadow of the person she knew. He was giving up.

"So that's it then? You're going to let all these people who gave their lives for you down?" she cried. "Did they die in vain?"

Harry couldn't keep his composure in any longer. The weight of the world was crashing down on his shoulders. He was only sixteen, almost seventeen. This was not how life was supposed to be. He did not want a whole world depending on him. He wasn't a hero. He was just a boy with luck nearly escaping a psychopath bent on killing him since he was a baby. He sagged into Ron's bed, unabashed at the tears escaping his eyes.

"I just want this to stop." He said his voice barely a whisper.

Hermione rushed towards him, wrapping his arms around him. Her heart broke. She had never seen Harry cry. He looked so vulnerable. He was making no attempt to hide how horrible he truly felt and it moved her deeply.

"We all do, that's why we're all in this." She said softly as she held him. "Because we have faith that with our help, you will finally get rid of all this evil."

A floorboard just outside Ron's room creaked, making them both turn to the noise. It was Ron.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked, looking between them with concern.

"Is this about Moody?"

Hermione nodded for Harry.

"That wasn't-"

"I know, I know…" said Harry dismissively. "Hermione managed to temporarily convince me of that."

Hermione smiled pompously to herself.

"Do you two mind if I have a minute alone?" Harry asked them.

Hermione looked questionably at him, no doubt wondering whether it was a ploy to get them to leave so he could escape.

"I'm not going anywhere without you two. I promise." Harry added when he saw Hermione's reluctance.

"Yeah sure mate." Ron answered.

Ron stepped forward and grabbed Hermione by the hand, an act that took both Harry and Hermione by surprise.

"Let's give him some space." Ron whispered to her.

Behind Hermione's back, Harry gave Ron an appreciative smile. He felt guilty that he was sending her away when she was clearly so worried about him. She knew he was still not at peace with Moody's death. No amount of coaxing was going to prevent him from feeling guilty. As soothing as her words and touch were, he needed to be alone. He needed to sort out his emotions if he was to keep his promise to them.

Harry watched as Ron pulled a reluctant Hermione away. Soon he was enveloped in the darkness of the room. Another unnecessary death had just occurred in less than an hour. How many more would be added as time went on? It was unknown how long the search for the Horcruxes was going to take. Dumbledore had left him with very few clues with which to even begin. How could it be that such a powerful and wise wizard like Dumbledore had left him with such a dangerous job and no tools?

Harry felt his head go back into what had to be Ron's pillow. It was not until now that the exhaustion of the journey from Privet Drive to The Burrow was catching up to him. So much had taken place in such a small amount of time. He readjusted himself comfortably on the bed as he felt his heavy lids drop, shielding him from any worries. At least temporarily.

"Where's Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Ron and Hermione made their way back downstairs where everyone else had spotted their absence.

"He wanted some time alone." Ron responded.

"Ah…right." said Mrs. Weasley nodding sympathetically. "I made tea for everyone. It's in the kitchen."

"I'll get you some tea." Ron told Hermione. "Go over to the couch, you must be exhausted as well."

Hermione nodded. She would be lying if she said she wasn't. A lot of madness had taken place in the course of an hour. Her life had been in danger. When Kingsley explained what had happened to them to the others, she was afraid he would've said the truth. Everyone had encountered danger, and she did not feel the need to set her peril above anyone else's. Especially not with what happened to Moody.

"Here." said Ron as he handed her her tea.

"Thanks." said Hermione.

Hermione sipped her cup of tea quietly as she surveyed the room. She was in the Weasley's living room, sitting next to Ron. Most of the family was upstairs tending to George. The dark sky outside the window was dark and peaceful. As if taunting about the normalcy they all craved.

"You all right?" Ron asked.

"Oh, yeah." said Hermione. "I'm fine. It's Harry I'm worried about."

"Aren't we all?" said Ron as more of a statement than a question.

"I know Moody's death is affecting him more than anyone else," Hermione explained. "He blames himself for it."

"I figured." Ron nodded. "He's self-centered that way."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. For the first time, she was actually grateful for Ron's sense of humor creeping up in an inopportune time.

"You laughed, that's a first." said Ron in shock. "All I ever end up doing is get you cross."

"Yeah well most of the time you're putting your foot in your mouth." said Hermione smiling. "So getting cross is an instinct reaction."

"Well yeah, I suppose so." Ron agreed reluctantly.

They sat in silence as they finished up their tea. From his peripheral, Ron could see that Hermione's eyes kept darting upward.

"He's not going to leave you know." Ron assured her.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Harry." Ron replied. "He's not going to leave, especially not when he made a promise to you."

"I know!" said Hermione defensively.

"Okay." Ron said as he shrugged.

"But maybe we should go check up on him?" Hermione asked desperately.

"No, he's probably sleeping." Ron argued. "Is being alone with me that unbearable?"

"Oh Ron, you know that isn't the case." Hermione answered. "I'm just worried about him."

"Right." Ron nodded for the umpteenth time.

"You think we did the right thing?" Ron asked after a long pause of silence.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked.

"Ending…you know…" said Ron sheepishly. Secretly hoping she would get the hint.

"Oh!" said Hermione catching up. "Erm…why do you ask?"

"Well…I don't know. It's just we decided pretty quickly and with all this madness going on..." Ron explained. "I was worried, you know? I know I'm rubbish in dealing with my feelings but with all this going on, I reckon maybe I didn't realize the important things."

"I care for you, even though I don't always show it."

"Ron, I think we made the right choice," said Hermione firmly. "This normalcy between us won't last. The minute things get back in the routine, you'll start being you and I'll still be me. As long as that stays the same…I really don't think anything other than friendship can work out between us."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ron nodded.

"Are you really okay with that?" Hermione asked sincerely.

"No, I really am." said Ron genuinely. "It was just worth a shot, to make sure it was definitive."

"Okay." said Hermione softly.

" I care for you too Ron." she added after a few minutes.

"Well it's getting late, I should probably head to bed." said Ron rising from the sofa. "You're sharing the room with Ginny by the way."

"Oh right, yeah." Hermione nodded. "Good night then."

"Good night."