But the darkness was fading now, and the light was growing brighter. An image swam into view before my eyes. It was light and now dark, and now light again. In and out of focus it came … All I wanted was to lay down my head for a while … to rest …
“Hermione?” a voice came, a long way off.
The tone’s clarity stirred me. I can’t be dying, I thought vaguely. It must already be done. This is what lies beyond the veil.
I opened my eyes.
There was quite a scene brewing around me. In the distance something was burning, and there were strange people milling about everywhere. Over in the corner, there was quite a fuss around a still figure in the center of the room.
That must be me, I thought. I’m seeing myself, dead.
I looked up, my head throbbing. But if you’re dead, a voice came, there can’t be pain.
The voice was right! I wasn’t dead! But who … ?
“Hermione!” a voice said, more clearly this time. I shied away from the sound, not wanting to hear it. It made my head throb so. Oh, how I wanted to rest.
“Hermione?” it persisted.
Above me, for the first time, I saw a figure. The hair was red, I was sure. I could see freckles dotting a long nose. I thought I had seen the face before, but my mind was so clouded … but somehow … I knew him …
“Ron,” I croaked, my voice ashen.
Suddenly it was all in focus, and I remembered precisely what happened. But “ but he was here! I had to tell … had to warn …
I made to get up, but Ron set me back down.
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said, a sort of hollowness in his eyes.
I remembered well. “You already had,” I said. “You already had lost me. You’re more than I ever deserved, Ronald Weasley, I’m sorry.”
I meant to say more, but he decided to intervene. He lifted me easily off the floor, up closer to him, and kissed me. I shook and clung to him. I knew nothing of the world save of that moment, and I would gladly give up all time to go back to it.
“I love you,” he said softly. No one was yet watching.
I pushed my fingers through his hair. It was almost stiff with sweat, and there appeared to be blood trickling down near his ear. I wiped it away with my hand.
“How can you?” I asked, almost incredulous, “After all I’ve done to you?”
He kissed me again. It was answer enough.
I then became fully aware of my surroundings. “V-Voldemort,” I sputtered. “What “ what happened?”
“It was funny, really,” he said, scratching his neck. “I don’t know what happened. I was sitting at home, and I “ I felt like … I dunno … you were in trouble or something. I came back to Shenandoah, but you weren’t there, and Hannah didn’t know where “ where you were, so …” He shrugged. “I called the Order and we stormed Aisling Hollow. We didn’t know what we would find, but we didn’t expect to find Voldemort here, that’s for sure.”
I looked at the limp figure in the corner. “Is he …?” I questioned softly.
“Him? Nah,” he said, supporting me. “He got away. Left. Gone. But your friend here …” His voice trailed off indistinctly, and I looked in spite of myself.
“That’s “ Adrienne?” I gasped, horrified. She was innocent! I would kill who had killed her!
“She was possessed,” Ron said, rubbing my shoulder quietly. “She was like that when we came. He had taken over her, and “ well, you remember what happened to Quirrell when Voldemort stopped possessing him.” He finished sheepishly and stared at the floor.
So it had been Voldemort who had finished her. She had been innocent of any crime with which we had charged her … just a girl, in too far with a Dark Lord who had power she knew not.
“So she’s …” I couldn’t bring myself to go further. Ron nodded solemnly, and I buried my face in his shoulder. He rocked softly with me as I cried, ridding myself of the whole experience. He was my rock in this storm of emotion. Slowly, I let go of it all.
“Hermione,” he said, “do you want to … to see her?”
I nodded and tried to stand up. He helped me do so and together we walked across a room. In a sense, we were indeed going to a grave, the grave of a child who was innocent.
Her eyes were open, cold and blank. Her face was white as paper, and it scared me to see her like this. In life she had been … so beautiful, and she had been my friend. Maybe she was not as innocent as we had thought, but she was only a helpless child, who had dabbled with wizards stronger than herself and ultimately met her demise.
As we walked toward her, wizards I knew stepped back to let me through. Some of them I knew “ others, I did not. But all seemed distant to me … it was strange. I had never known a friend of mine to die. All my life, I had been told that I was too young to see death, and I had been sheltered from it. But now …
“Hermione,” Ginny whispered, tears in her eyes, and I realized that there were tears in my own. Adrienne had been a friend before all this had started, and I remembered those days well. Harry stood beside Ginny, holding her a little and staring at me. I smiled at him and he smiled back, but it was distant. He had seen so much, and he knew, as I did, that I was seeing this for the first time. He was the first (beside Ron, that is) to come up to me.
“Are you all right?” he asked, embracing me. “It must be hard for you.”
I smiled. “Not as hard as you might think,” I said, shrugging. “It feels like I never really knew her.”
“It does,” Harry murmured, looking away. I felt Ron’s hand on my waist, and I looked back to him.
He took my arm and pulled me into him. “You’re not okay,” he said, telling me exactly what I needed to hear. “But you will be … you will be … and …” He stopped, seemingly at a loss for words.
“He’s not gone.” I couldn’t talk about my feelings now. “He’s going to come back and do this to some other poor people.” I looked down. It felt like it had been all for nothing.
“Don’t say that,” he said. “It matters that this happened. You had fainted before we got here, but we still learned loads. We got Malfoy, for one thing.”
My heart lightened considerably. He just continued to look at me, staring deeply into my eyes. Only one thought got through my senses … He was so good to me.
“I’m so sorry, Ron,” I said quickly, stumbling over my words. “I should never “ you were “ I’m just so sorry!”
He smiled at me, and I knew it was all right. It just felt so right.
“You could have died doing this,” I said softly, not daring to look him in the eye. “You could have died, doing it … for me. Why did you come?”
Ron turned my head back toward him. He was smiling and his eyes were shining. “You’re worth it, Hermione. It’s worth dying for you.”
He kissed me. It was not a solemn last kiss or the kiss of a joyful reunion, but the kiss of two lovers who no longer had a care in the world, who no longer had a reason to hide, and, most of all, never thought to be parted again.
I had a will but didn't know what it could do
You were abandoned
And still you're handing out what you don't wanna lose
You make me drop things
Like all the plans I had for a life without you
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone like you
I'm drunk when sober
The room is spinning
You are what I hold on to
You're taking over
I find that giving in is the best I can do
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone like you
After a long time, we broke apart. It didn’t seem right to end such a beautiful exchange, but I had to speak again. “Ron, I’m willing,” I said. “I “ I can let you in …” My voice strengthened. “I’m not afraid.”
He kissed me again. I wasn’t afraid to let him in or to fight … We were here “ here in the midst of a war, each other’s best source of comfort, and I “ I, for the first time, it seemed, in my life, was whole.
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*A/N- Wow, guys, it's finished! I'll miss these regular updates and all your reviews. I'll miss talking and filling in the normal plot holes that I have for lack of planning. I'm not sure how soon, but I'm going to be writing Adrienne's backstory, how she was pulled into Voldemort's employ. I hope to see some of you there -- it promises to be interesting, at least. Now, guys, a big, super-awesome, enthusiatic thanks to every single person who reviewed my story! I love you all, and it's been a good run.