~*~



Blood. Pain. Yelling. The sensation of falling. All of Harry’s sensed collided and swirled into the black abyss that was taking him captive. He heard people yelling his name.



Someone shook his shoulders and shouted. Harry fought to stay conscious, but it was no use. The blackness slowly pulled him under.



~*~



“Ginny. Ginny, leave him. You heard the Healer.”



The next thing Harry was aware of was voices around him. He couldn’t open his eyes, couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything but sit there.



Ginny…something in Harry’s mind pulled. Red hair. A faint flowery scent. Love. Harry wasn’t sure how these things went together, but he knew they did.



“I’m not giving up. I don’t care what that bloody Healer said, I’m going to wake Harry up!”



“Ginny, you’re just going to feel worse when he…when he…” Someone choked on a sob.



“I’m not going to feel worse because he’s not going to die, Hermione!”



Harry tried to move, or even grunt, so he could support the sassy voice that was convinced he wasn’t going to die. Death…Harry couldn’t think of what it was, but he knew he had once defied it.



As Harry once more lost his trail in his mind, he thought, Let the sassy voice be right…



~*~



Harry had just become aware of himself when he felt something take his hand. Something cool and smooth. Another hand?



“Harry,” a soft voice whispered. “Harry, I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’s me, Hermione.”



There was a sigh.



“Oh, Harry,” the girl called Hermione said in a teary voice. “Just look at you. Ginny is so brave to still believe you’ll pull through. You’ve never had a problem with that kind of thing either. Me, I always believe the books, the doctors, and the people who know more. Never miracles. But what we need most is a miracle, because…Harry, you’re like my brother. I…we can’t lose you. Not me, not Ron, not Ginny, but all of us.”



Something warm and wet landed on Harry’s face.



“You’re going down Harry, but not out. You never said ‘I’m out.’ You always stuck with your mission, with the prophecy, and it’s brought you down. Voldemort brought you down. I’m just glad you brought him down as well.”



Harry felt Hermione kiss his hand.



“You’re my brother, Harry, and the bravest boy I know. Be brave for me.”



Her hand left his. Harry listened to a quiet sob and the footsteps going away.



He remembered this girl Hermione. Bushy brown hair, books all around her. Harry also linked Voldemort with the screaming and pain he had felt. He knew Voldemort was the most evil thing there would ever be.



Soon after Hermione left, there was a soft shuffle of feet inside the room.



“Hello, mate,” a deep voice said. “It’s Ron. You should know that, too, I mean, you and me are best mates…



“I feel kinda silly talking to myself, since I’m sure you can’t hear me, but I need to find a way…a way to…to say goodbye. But you know, I won’t. I won’t say goodbye, because you’ve got to hang on Harry. I know you’ve destroyed You-Kno…Voldemort, but you haven’t destroyed the sadness and pain he’s caused.



“Hang on, Harry. We need you. I especially need you to help me handle my crazy sister, the one you’re in love with, and Hermione. Bookworm, she is.” There was a sad chuckle. “Harry…just…just hang on. Please.”



Please…The word spun in Harry’s head. Please let her go! Take me! Duel me! Let Ginny go! Let her go!



Harry’s screaming mind was soothed by a hand clutching his and another smoothing his hair. A voice murmured soothing words in the background, probably trying to soothe the speaker more than Harry himself.



“I don’t know why the Healer sent me in here to talk to you. You’re not going to die, Harry. Remember how you promised you would marry me when this was done? Well it’s done…you’re a hero, Harry. Voldemort is gone. The war’s over! We can be together again…”



The speaker was silent. Together. Would you rather be together in death, or have her live without you…Make your choice, Harry.



“Do you know what it means to be a hero, Harry? I’ve always thought I knew until now. I always thought a hero was someone who saved the people in the world and got the girl, the one who came out safely after every adventure.



“I know better now, Harry. You truly are what it means to be a hero. You sacrificed yourself for me, when you knew I would die without you. You’re my life, Harry, my love. You’re my hero. I guess that’s what I came in to say.” There was a sniffle.



Harry’s heart ached. He tried to get out of his world of darkness where everyone remembered him, yet where he forgot everyone. He wanted to be this girl’s hero. He wanted to be the one who got the girl, the one who always came out safely.



“I…I guess what I’ve been wanting this whole time was just for you to be my hero and come out of this okay. What I don’t realize is that you already are my hero. You’ve been saving my life and you’ve been watching my ass since I was eleven years old. It’s taken this long to realize it, but you’re my hero, Harry, and I love you for it. I love you, Harry James Potter…my hero…”



I love you…I love you too much to let you go with me. Ginny, I need you to be safe. Don’t cry…I love you…



Lifted on a wave of love, love from Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, Harry blissfully and slowly sunk into the dark for the last time…



~*~



“Please let her go!” Harry yelled. “Duel me! Let Ginny go! Let her go!”



Voldemort looked in amusement at Harry and stroked his long white finger down Ginny’s cheek. “Is that your choice, Harry? Are you going to let her go?”



“Will…will you promise not to harm her?”



“If I’m anything, Harry, I’m a man of my word.”



Ginny had been there when Harry had left her, leaving painful promises before going to his last encounter. She had been kidnapped and held as bait for Harry. When Harry agreed to duel, she cried. She cried for him to go and get help, for him to forget about her. But him being the hero he was, he wouldn’t listen.



So Ginny was forced to watch from afar as her love and his archenemy fought to the death. She stood away while the Order members battled Voldemort’s Death Eaters. All at once Harry and Voldemort cast the Killing Curse at each other. The remains of Godric’s Hollow blew apart as the deep magic was forced upon two of the most powerful beings on Earth in that one moment.



Voldemort was killed instantly, and Harry was thrown backwards into a large pile of rubble. Ginny’s eyes widened as she ran over to him, the battle behind her coming to a close as the Death Eaters realized their leader was gone.



Ginny sprinted towards Harry, slowly taking in the blood around his head. A cracked skull. The side-effects of the Avada Kedavra were already bad, but lay a cracked skull on that…



In a state of panic, Ginny listened for Harry’s breathing only to hear short little gasps of breath. She shook his shoulders shouting his name, tears starting to stream down her freckled face.



Ginny was finally pulled away by Lupin as he quickly got Harry to St. Mungo’s. Ginny Apparated with her brother and Hermione after Lupin left, crying and worrying for Harry.



Finally Harry’s Healer came out. The Healer said that Harry was lucky to have survived one Killing Cure, let alone two. The Healers had healed Harry as best they could, but some of his brain functions weren’t working.



Ginny couldn’t believe that Harry was doing badly. She saw the heart monitor, the green line rising and falling in perfect time. She saw the tubes sticking out of Harry and the report saying he was going to die, but she wouldn’t believe it. Ginny thought it must’ve been April Fool’s Day. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, couldn’t die.



Ginny still couldn’t believe it when the Healers suggested that she, Ron, and Hermione say their goodbyes to Harry. She finally believed the Healers as she sat by Harry’s bedside, pouring her heart to the small, pale, lifeless form next to her.



Now she stood in Harry’s room again, holding hands with Ron on one side, Hermione on the other. She mouthed it again. “I love you.” Then, with great sadness, she watched as the green line slowly went flat.