Author's Note: OK, I never thought that I would get some of the responses about my last chapter that I did, but let me address a few things before you go on and read this one. First off, I expected to get heat from doing what I did. I enjoyed it to an extent, because getting a rise out of my readers is what a writer wants. I wanted you all to be upset by Ginny's death, because that's how you should feel.
But some people took it WAY too far. This is my story and I can do what I want with it. If you have a problem, then get over it or stop reading the story. I can take criticism, but only to a point that makes sense. If I portray a character wrong, or write something that is found false in canon, that type of mistake I can handle and fix. If, however, you all think that I am a horrible writer for killing a character then I say to you BOO-HOO!!
I write in the real world, where people die and stories don't always have happy endings. Note that the last two HP books haven't exactly ended with everybody standing around a campfire singing "Kum-by-ah", so if I want to kill someone to spice things up, I have to think who would get the biggest reaction. I expected the flames, why do think I put that little note at the end of my last chapter, but get a life people. Also, to those of you out there that think they know my story better then me, I say this to you. NEVER TELL ME HOW TO WRITE MY OWN DAMN STORY!!!! that is the biggest insult you can give a writer, to think you know their story better then they do.
Thank you to all those that wrote encouraging reviews. I will not let anything discourage me from writing my stories. To those that have bad things to say about me and my work, give this chapter a try and then tell me what you think. On with the show.
The battle was won and the enemy defeated.
But there was no celebration at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The hospital wing was filled with injured students. Some were still under the effects of the stunning spells and had to be brought out of it, while others had cuts and bruises from falling to the ground. No one was seriously injured…except two.
Ron and Hermione sat at a bedside at the far end of the ward. This occupant of this bed was covered from head to toe by a white sheet, and was not moving. Ginny Weasley lay here until her body was to be moved to wherever she would be buried. Ron laid his head down on the mattress and sobbed; while Hermione rested an arm around his shoulders with her face nestled in his neck. She too was crying, inconsolable by anyone.
Other students walked by, but none could stay too long before they began crying as well. Word had been sent to the Weasley family; it would only be a matter of time before the rest of Ginny’s siblings and parents were here, and the wailing would only get worse.
Harry wouldn’t cry, or rather he couldn’t. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but something kept the tears from escaping his eyes since he had come back to the castle. It made him angry that he couldn’t mourn his lost love, nor could he mourn the death of a member of his family.
Across from Ginny’s bed, Kevin’s body laid in much the same fashion. A sheet covering it and his wife at his side, the body of Kevin Hall lay motionless. The Animagi surrounded the bed and wept for their lost friend. Harry wanted so much to go to one of their bedsides and console one of the mourners, but he couldn’t do that either. Harry was motionless.
Harry felt someone walk up behind him. “This wasn’t how things were supposed to turn out,” a voice said.
He turned around and found Remus Lupin standing there. The former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was gazing out over the hospital wing. “We had such high hopes that we could stop Voldemort before anything like this happened. Sometimes I think we were as arrogant as he was.” Lupin looked down at the young wizard. “What a price we all paid for our vanity.”
Harry turned away from him. “Why did it have to end like this? Why did more of my friends have to die…because of me?”
Lupin placed a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s go for a walk, Harry.” They started walking down a corridor. They walked in relative silence through the halls. Students were making their own way through the castle, but gave Harry and Lupin a wide berth. “Harry,” Lupin said. “Why do you blame yourself for what has happened?”
“Because if it weren’t for me,” Harry answered. “Then my friends, and my parents, would still be alive.”
“Are you sure about that?” Lupin rubbed his chin. “You know Harry, there is a saying that hindsight is 20-20 vision. It means things always look clearer after they happen, but I don’t believe that. Let’s look at what would have happened if you did not exist.” They stopped at a window. “Think about this, Harry. Without you, Voldemort would not have been stopped when he was. There may have been someone else who could have killed him, but a lot more innocent people would have died before that.
“Now, you say that your friends are in danger just because they are your friends, well that was their choice. Ginny knew what she was getting herself into when she decided that she loved you.”
Harry’s face hardened. “Then I should have driven her away. I never should have let her fall in love with me.”
“Last I heard, it was you trying to convince her that you loved her.”
Harry and Remus looked behind them and saw Sara standing with Lita. The pregnant witch was leaning heavily on her younger sister; her eyes puffed with freshly shed tears. Lupin conjured a chair for her to sit in. “You should be back in the hospital wing, Sara. Exerting yourself like this isn’t healthy for you or your baby.”
Lupin and Lita each took an arm of Sara’s and eased her into the chair. “I couldn’t stay there knowing that my husband wasn’t going to get out of that bed. I lived the last few years of my life knowing that he might not come home one day, so I knew that this day was coming.” She lowered her head as a tear slid down her cheek. “But it doesn’t make this any easier.” Lita knelt beside her sister and wrapped her arms around Sara.
Harry walked over to her. “If you knew that he might die, then why did you marry him? Why not spare both of you the pain and let him fight alone?”
“Because I loved him,” Sara replied. “Just as Ginny loved you. When the school year had just started, she came to me and asked if it was right that she try to have a relationship with you, even though you were a target. I told her that she had to search her own heart and decide if she was willing to make whatever sacrifice was asked of her. What happened today showed that she was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for you. It showed how much she truly loved you.”
Harry turned on his heels. “It never should have happened.”
Lita jumped to her feet and grabbed Harry by the shoulder. “Don’t you dare turn your back on her! She’s trying to tell you that…”
“Lita,” Sara said. “Let him go. If he won’t listen to me, then he has to find the answers himself.”
Lita released her grip on his robes, and Harry walked away down the corridor.
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Harry just wanted to be alone. He didn’t want anyone coming up to him trying to console him, or telling him that this all wasn’t his fault. Deep in his heart, he knew that there was nothing he could have done to prevent this, short of running out into the night to find Voldemort and get killed himself. If he had done something like that, then there would be no one who could have stopped the Dark Lord, not if the prophecy was true.
People, who had already died, would still be dead, just at different times and by different means. Voldemort wouldn’t have stopped killing just because he wasn’t around. That didn’t make this day any easier.
Harry found himself at the Quidditch Pitch. This was a place he had never had reason to hate. Quidditch was always a refuge from whatever was bothering him in school. While he was in the air, he was alone in the world.
Now he felt like he really was alone.
He paced around the pitch again and again not really sure how many times he circled the grass. Harry didn’t care, but he stopped when he realized he wasn’t the only person there. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
Draco Malfoy walked up to Harry. “Just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to do something foolish, like take off on your broom to some place no one has ever heard of.”
Harry turned his head from Malfoy. “Did Sara or Dumbledore send you out here?”
Malfoy laughed. “Do you think either of them would ask me to look after you? I’d have no problem if you left, though I would like to know why. Are you thinking about running?”
“No,” Harry answered. “Why would I run?”
“Because it’s exactly the sort of thing you’re famous for,” replied Malfoy, with a smug tone. “When things get tough, you run and hide. Maybe you don’t run away from the school, but you run away from everyone around you. I saw what Sara and Lupin were trying to tell you in the hallway. They actually made sense, but you wouldn’t listen. You only want to hear good things, things that make you happy.”
“What’s wrong with wanting to feel happy?”
Malfoy walked up and slapped Harry across his right cheek. “How can you be this stupid, Potter? You’ve seen more terrible things in six years then most wizards will see in their lifetimes, and you can honestly stand there and say something like that? There’s nothing wrong with feeling happy, but if that’s all you are concerned with then when something bad happens, you’re not going to take it well.
“Harry,” Malfoy said as he placed his hands on Harry’s shoulders. “I’ve never been able to admit this before, but the thing that I admire about you is how you’ve been able to survive through everything that you’ve seen and everything that has been thrown at you. After this is all over, are you going to tell me that you’re going to quit now?”
Harry didn’t know what to say. For one, he had heard this same speech a thousand times more then he wanted to hear. Many times he had wanted to run and hide his head because something hadn’t gone his way, but now he was hearing the argument from the last person he had expected advice from, Draco Malfoy. Here was a student that had dedicated his life to making Harry miserable, but now he was trying to kick him out of this depression that he had slipped in to.
Harry lifted his head. “If the fight is over, then I have nothing to quit from.”
Malfoy took his hands from Harry’s shoulders. “That’s why I’m out here. The fight isn’t over. Professor Dumbledore wants to see you.”
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Professor McGonagall, who had been waiting for him at the entrance to the castle, showed Harry to Professor Dumbledore’s office. He opened the door and found Ron and Hermione already seated in front of the headmaster’s desk. They both looked back at him, and Harry could see how red their eyes were from crying. He sat down beside Ron. “What are you two doing here?”
“Professor McGonagall said that Dumbledore wanted to speak with us,” Hermione said. “We’ve been waiting here for a few minutes.”
Harry wondered what the headmaster could want to speak with all three of them about. If it was another “inspirational” speech, he was going to walk out before the man could say one word. They only had to wait a bit longer before Dumbledore walked into the office with Fawkes, his personal phoenix, on his shoulder. Fawkes flew to his perch as Dumbledore took his seat behind his desk.
“This day did not end as we all had hoped,” he said. The students looked at him with confused expressions. “We suffered many injuries, and the loss of two very special people. Though the price was high, the end result was more then we could have hoped for. Voldemort is dead. His Death Eaters are powerless now. Without Voldemort to lead them, and his power to fuel them, they are no more powerful then our own Aurors. Soon, we will be able to find the last of the Death Eaters and put them back into prison.”
Dumbledore folded his hands and leaned forward on the desk. “Now I ask you this question, and I beg you to think it through before you answer. Would you trade all of this to have Ginny and Kevin returned to us? Would you resurrect the Dark Lord and rejuvenate his forces for the sake of two lives? This is a choice that I give to you.” He leaned back in his seat.
Harry couldn’t understand what Dumbledore was saying. Was he telling them that there was a way to bring Ginny and Kevin back to life? If it was possible, he was saying that Voldemort would be brought back to life as well. The death of the Dark Lord was something that Harry had been waiting for since he first heard his name. Now that it had happened, was he willing to fight again if it meant that Ginny would return to him?
Hermione shook her head, in frustration. “Professor, I don’t understand what you’re trying to say.”
Ron’s eyes suddenly widened. “Can you bring my sister back?! he said, excitedly.
Dumbledore slowly shook his head. “No one can bring someone back from the dead, Ronald, but you must answer my question before I can explain myself.”
Ron looked between Harry and Hermione. Neither of them could think of how they were supposed to answer the question. Of course they wanted Ginny and Kevin back, but they didn’t want to take the chance that Voldemort may come back. It seemed that there was no answer that seemed right, so Harry just said what was in his heart. “I want Ginny back.”
Dumbledore nodded. “I see. Do you all feel this way?” Ron and Hermione exchanged questionable glances, but nodded in agreement. Dumbledore stood up. “Very well, then.” He reached into his robes and pulled out a glass sphere with a small flame in it. “This is called a tempus flame. With this, you can reverse what has happened this day.”
“We can go back in time?” Hermione asked.
“Not exactly,” Dumbledore replied. “This flame acts as a catalyst that reverses time itself. In effect, everyone goes back in time.”
“How does it work?” Ron asked, eager to get his sister back.
Dumbledore set the tempus flame on his desk. “This is a rare object that combines wizard craftsmanship with phoenix flame. The same type of casing is used in constructing the time turners, but the core of the objects is different. The time turner encompasses a small amount of space, while the flame has a much larger range. No one is aware that time has been reversed, except those that shatter the glass sphere.”
He picked up the sphere. “If you do this, you will be sent back to the moment before the first killing curse is cast.” Dumbledore looked at Harry. “You will only have a moment to move Kevin out of the way before history repeats itself.”
Harry took the tempus flame. “How am I supposed to…”
Dumbledore held up a hand. “There is no time. Each second we waste on this side of the timeline is a second lost on the other side. Speak with me once you have completed your task and I will explain it all.”
Ron and Hermione got to their feet and stood beside Harry. They each put a hand on the glass sphere. With equal force, they crushed the casing and released the tempus flame. A burning sensation washed over Harry. It felt like he was falling through the floo network.
**********************************************************
The burning sensation lasted only a few seconds, and then the heat was gone. He didn’t find himself in a fireplace grate, or still inside Dumbledore’s office. Instead, he was back in Hogsmeade with the sounds of battle rampant around him. He realized that he was in Kevin’s grasp, and knew that he had only seconds to act.
Griff held his wand out in the direction of him and Kevin. “Avada Kedavra!” Harry planted his feet in the ground and pushed backwards. Kevin lost his footing and tumbled to his back, taking Harry with him. The green jet of light passed over them and impacted harmlessly against a shop’s wall.
Harry rolled away from Kevin in time to see Ron and Ginny attack Griff from behind. The Death Eater was dragged to the ground and bound by his hands and feet. Ron grabbed Harry and Kevin’s wands and threw them to their owners. Harry’s mind worked furiously to remember what was about to happen. Ron’s sudden screams jarred his memory.
Voldemort’s wand was pointed in Ron’s direction, his Cruciatus Curse in full effect on the helpless young wizard. Ginny turned to the Dark Lord. “Expelliarmus!” His wand was thrust from his hand, but after a flick of his wrist the wand returned to Voldemort’s grip. The Dark Lord smirked at the young girl.
Harry knew that he had to get Voldemort’s attention on him, and away from Ginny. If he did that, though, Voldemort would cast his killing curse and Ginny would jump in the way again. He wasn’t sure what he should do.
Voldemort made the decision for him. His attention still focused on Ginny, he raised his wand. “Avada Kedavra!”
“Eradico Patronus!”
Harry saw a wall of white smoke float in front of Ginny and block the curse. He looked behind him and saw Kevin pointing his wand at the wall of smoke. This was what Harry had been waiting to see since he first knew about it: the way to deflect the killing curse. Kevin was using the Patronus Charm as a way to break up the spell and deflect it away, harmlessly.
Voldemort’s earlier smirk turned to a scowl. “Must you continue to be a thorn in my side, boy? When will you learn that your efforts are futile?”
“About five seconds after you’re dead,” Kevin replied, sarcasm clear in his voice. “I’ll never stop annoying you or making myself a nuisance to you.” He aimed his wand at Voldemort. “And this is just the beginning. Stupefy!”
Voldemort deflected the spell with a shield charm. “Crucio!”
Kevin dove to avoid the Cruciatus Curse. Harry was not about to wait around for Voldemort to remember the others. He ran towards Ginny, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the ensuing battle. Hermione had joined the group and was looking after Ron. He had not been under the curse for long, but he still needed a little help moving.
Kevin and Voldemort traded spell for spell, back and forth with neither gaining a clear advantage. Harry watched with growing frustration. “I can’t just sit by.”
But sitting by was the last thing on anyone’s mind. Hermione saw the two dueling wizards and aimed her wand. A blue jet of light shot from her wand and hit the edge of Voldemort’s robes. Flames suddenly burst from the light and the Dark Lord was caught on fire. Voldemort quickly discarded his robes, but his attention was forced away from his son.
Kevin turned to the students. “Harry! Ginny! Toss me your wands, quick!”
They didn’t ask questions or waste time before throwing their wands across the street to Kevin. He placed them together with his own wand. “Vinculum!”
White light encompassed the wands as they merged into a single wand. Kevin took a deep breath. “Let’s see how you like this for a thorn in your side…Father!”
“Eradico Potentia!”
The village shook with the force of an earthquake. Voldemort’s body was covered in white light, his screams could be heard over the shouts of wizards throughout the village. In a matter of seconds, the light shot out from Voldemort and washed over Hogsmeade and all those in it. Death Eaters were thrust to the ground, but Aurors and students were left standing.
Harry tried to see what was happening to Voldemort. The light had extinguished itself, but the Dark Lord was nowhere to be found. His forces suddenly started disapparating from wherever they had fallen. The village was soon empty of Death Eaters.
Harry and the others looked around for Kevin and found him lying in the streets, his arms and legs spread wide. Not again, Harry thought. He can’t be dead.
As they got closer, they could see his chest bobbing up and down. Kevin was breathing…and laughing. Ginny knelt down beside his head. “Are you all right?” she asked, softly.
Kevin made a gesture towards the Three Broomsticks. “Can one of you go in there and get me a drink? Preferably something strong that will make me forget all of this.”
Author's Note: Just to be clear, I was not intimidated by anyone's comments. I intended to bring her back because I like her as a character, and there was no way I was going to create Kevin for the sole purpose of killing him.
Now let's see what we've learned. Review away.