FYI: This story begins on the day of The Last Battle. Harry has destroyed all the Horcruxes. Ginny is seventeen- it’s the end of her sixth year at Hogwarts. Harry is seventeen (his birthday is right around the corner). She and Harry are dating. Ron and Hermione are engaged. They are both eighteen.
Written pre-DH.
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“Harry?” Ginny whispered, looking at him unblinkingly.
Harry met her gaze for a moment. He saw fear in her warm brown eyes. But he could also see the glow of Ginny’s famous determination.
“I can’t put you in danger, Ginny. How do you think I would feel if something bad happened to you? If it was my fault?” he said earnestly.
“How do you think I would feel if something happened to YOU? You just want me to sit here worrying while everyone I love fights? Too bad, because I won’t.”
“Ginny-”
“Can’t you see? Some things are worth dying for. If I have to die for the good of this world, then BRING IT ON.” She glared at him intensely.
Harry fell silent then, for he realized something he had been either too noble or too selfish to let himself see before- Voldemort had affected everyone, not just him. He and the Order were trying to protect a world that belonged to all. Selfish and noble thoughts both ran through his head. What would I do if she dies? I would never be able to handle it! But she should be allowed to fight too… if she wants. It’s everyone’s war, and she’s of age…
“OK,” he said finally.
Ginny started crying and hugged him tight, whispering in his ear hoarsely, "I am with you to the last, Harry James Potter."
She was glad that Harry had finally seen her point of view, for they had argued over this many times. They held each other for quite a while. It was comforting, sitting together that way, but it couldn’t make them forget the unknown terrors that awaited them that very night.
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Hermione and Ron sat next to each other, holding hands and looking out the bay window of their tiny flat. Every once in awhile one would look at his watch and sigh. When the old grandfather clock in the front hall finally ding-donged 6:00, Hermione stood up, pulling Ron with her.
“Well, we’d better be going,” she whispered, twisting the silver band on her finger.
“Yes…” Ron said quietly.
They grabbed their wands off the coffee table and stuffed them in their pockets.
Still holding hands, the tall, gangly red-headed boy and the bushy-haired girl disappeared with a loud crack. Twelve Grimmauld Place was their destination.
When they arrived they saw many people sitting at the familiar wooden table. Members of The Order of the Phoenix. Among the group were many friends they knew from Hogwarts, their old school, including their best friend Harry Potter and Ron’s sister Ginny. Ginny and Harry were talking very seriously and Ginny had that hard, blazing look in her eye.
They also saw some of their old professors, some Aurors, and some people whom they didn’t know. Hermione and Ron sat down next to each other apprehensively with Harry, Ginny and two old friends called Lupin and Tonks. Usually, the friends would have had plenty to talk about, but tonight they couldn’t take their minds off the coming battle.
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The Headmistress of Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall, sat at the head of the table authoritatively. Although she was strict, she was also kind and brave and was the new leader of the Order of the Phoenix.
“Hello, everyone,” she said in a soft but commanding voice. Immediately, everyone in the room silenced to hear what she had to say. After all, it concerned every one of them greatly.
“As you all know, Harry Potter plays a key role in tonight’s mission; he has some very important things to tell all of you.”
“Thank you, Professor,” Harry said, standing up. “All of you know why it is my destiny to destroy Voldemort- because he himself, unknowingly, chose me to. Over the past year, Ron, Hermione and I have found and destroyed the rest of his Horcruxes, except for one… his pet snake Nagini.
“Tonight we are going to destroy the final Horcrux, and after that, Voldemort himself. The plan is for you to either apparate or use a Portkey to get to Godric’s Hollow, the Muggle town where Voldemort is currently residing.” Harry sat down, still pointing vaguely at the blown light bulb, the broken plate, and the old, rotten potato chip bag.
“Thank you, Harry,” said McGonagall crisply. “So, there are fifty- one of you. We are pretty sure that V-voldemort has thirty-seven Death Eaters whom he’ll summon at any time. There may be more, but we can only trust certain people in the Wizarding Community to be part of the Order, so if we’re unlucky, there may be an equal number of wizards on both sides. They may also have dementors, giants, werewolves… they have many more magical creatures on their side than we do.
“Right now it is a quarter to seven. At five to the hour, we will set off for Godric’s Hollow. Harry- you, Hermione, and Ron set out to kill the snake. We’ll wait nearby to help if you need it, but we’ll be ready for the Death Eaters too. As far as we can tell, Voldemort is usually not near the snake at its feeding time, so you shouldn’t meet up with him then.”
“Wait!”
“Ginny Weasley! What are you saying?” Mrs. Weasley said, scolding her only daughter.
“I mean, I want to get the snake too.”
“Ginny!” Harry and Ron said exasperatedly.
Hermione, however, looked at them calmly. Then she looked at Ginny. “OK, Gin.”
“Well, if it’s alright with them, then it’s alright with me,” Professor McGonagall said quietly. A single, silver tear ran down her face. No one knew exactly why the normally prudent, unemotional woman was crying, but they all sort of understood anyway.
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Ginny was clasping Harry’s hand so hard it hurt. Her fingers were as cold as death.
They were sitting in a large armchair, only minutes to go before everyone was going to leave for Godric’s Hollow.
“Harry.” Ginny whispered.
“Ginny?”
“No matter what happens tonight, I will always love you.” Her voice was thick with emotion.
“I know, Gin. I love you too.” Harry felt like he was going to yell. What if I fail? I’m not even eighteen! I can’t do this!
“And Harry?”
“Yes?”
“If I’m lost-”
“Gin! You’ll be fine!” he said a bit louder than he anticipated. Ginny can’t die. She can’t.
“If I’m lost, or if any of us are,” Ginny continued, “Don’t be sad. I mean, obviously be sad, but you have to get over it.”
“I’d never be able to get over you.”
“That is just so you! Sometimes there have to be sacrifices for what’s right. We are all doing what we believe in here. If we have to die here, it’s our destiny, and we should all be proud.”
“OK,” Harry said softly, putting his arm around her. He still couldn’t quite accept what she was saying (perhaps because he was so noble), but he could see where she was coming from. “OK.”
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Ron and Hermione were sitting silently at the table; each wishing five minutes to seven, now so close upon them, would never come.
They shoved their untouched mugs of tea, made by a fretful Mrs. Weasley, into the center of the table along with everyone else’s.
“You ready?” Tonks said, interrupting their silent thoughts.
They nodded. “We’re apparating,” Hermione said. She often stated the obvious when she was anxious.
“OK. Well, we can start to leave now, to avoid insane traffic in here,” Tonks joked humorlessly, tugging at her currently morbid black, shoulder-length hair with an unreadable expression on her pale face.
They stood up, and, with three pops, Tonks, Hermione, and Ron were gone.
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“People are starting to leave,” Luna Lovegood, one of Ginny’s classmates at Hogwarts, informed Harry and Ginny matter-of-factly. Lost in their own world, they hadn’t even noticed people popping away.
Luna was wearing her usual strange ensemble- today it was a pair of earrings made of two rather old radishes, and some very tatty orange robes. Her Spectrespects and freshly painted blue wand were sticking out of her jeans pocket.
Often, people found Luna’s unique appearance funny, but no one had the heart or energy to be laughing today. Although she had unusual opinions and style, she was loyal, honest, and accepted everyone for who they were.
Neville Longbottom stood with his hands in the pockets of his own robes, looking at the ground. Harry hadn’t seen him since the last official Order meeting. He had gotten decidedly thinner since then. Harry knew he wanted revenge from the Death Eater who had tortured his parents into insanity- Bellatrix Lestrange. Harry also especially hated that Death Eater, because she had killed her own cousin, Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black. Bellatrix- the female warrior, he thought bitterly.
“Let’s go,” Harry said with a slightly wavering air of finality.
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The four arrived with a pop at a field in Godric’s Hollow. How ironic, Harry thought. It was the cemetery where his parents were buried. The place had fallen into a state of disrepair since Harry had last seen it, months ago. Voldemort probably has it blocked from Muggles, Harry thought. He stays near here.
Not everyone had arrived yet, so Harry grabbed Ginny’s hand and pulled her over to a handsome gray granite headstone.
“Lily and James Potter…” she read. “Wow, Harry.”
“I know, isn’t it weird? We’re going to get rid of their murderer right where they’re buried,” he said bitterly.
“Seems like good luck to me,” Ginny smiled slightly, trying to calm Harry. She knew the more nervous he was, the worse he would do in combat.
Harry smiled widely, seeming to awake from a trance. “They would have liked you, Ginny. I know they would.”
She smiled back at him, bigger than ever. They walked back, arms linked, to where the people from the Order were apparating and arriving touching Portkeys.
Finally, everyone had arrived, Professor McGonagall last of them all. They stood in a large circle.
“Alright, everyone’s here. It’s five past seven and Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron are going to leave any time to get the snake. She should be located in a house past that river over there. We don’t think Voldemort is in the house with her, but he could be, so be VERY careful, you four,” she said in her sternest voice.
“If anyone gets hurt, just send up some lights.” She demonstrated, showering the sky with a small red fireworks display. “When the snake is dead, send up blue,” She demonstrated again, “and we’ll come get you. If Voldemort is there, send up green sparks, and we’ll be there as quick as we possibly can. OK?”
The four nodded and set off towards the footbridge over the river.
As they crossed it, Ron spoke. “We were here just months ago.”
“It seems like forever,” Hermione said quietly.
“I know,” Harry said. After a pause, he told them, “I showed Ginny my parents’ grave.”
Ron and Hermione nodded. It was silent again. They stepped off the bridge and onto the soft, green grass.
In the distance, they could see a dingy yellow house with white trim. The paint was peeling and the shutters all closed but nevertheless, it looked familiar to Harry.
“Do you three recognize that house?” he asked.
Ron and Ginny shook their heads, bewildered. But Hermione raised her eyebrows. “Harry? Could that be your parents’ old house?” she said, awed.
When the threesome had come to Godric’s Hollow before, they had meant to visit Harry’s old house. But before they could find out where it was, they had gotten evidence on one of the Horcruxes and had to leave abruptly to dispose of it.
“I think it is,” Harry said, disgusted and a bit awed at the same time. Voldemort had the nerve to move into his old home?
“Let’s go.” Ron said.
The four walked in a line, with Harry at the front and Hermione bringing up the back. When they arrived at the rusty front door, Harry opened it very slowly, praying it wouldn’t creak. Luckily, it didn’t. They walked inside.
A wave of emotion flowed over Harry. All of a sudden, he remembered this house. He knew where all the rooms were and could even recognize some old possessions of the Potters, including a moldy, formerly pink floral patterned couch.
He stared, shocked, for only a moment. Then, ever quietly, he directed his friends upstairs. When they reached the top of the staircase, he turned left into a vaguely light blue bedroom. “This was my room!” he whispered.
His friends raised their eyebrows and followed him. A partially dismantled baby’s crib sat in the center, looking not unlike a giant white spider.
Inside the crib, curled up into a grotesque green knot of skin and scales, was Nagini herself.
Hermione gasped, grabbing Ron’s arm. Ron stood by her protectively, silently comforting. They stared at the sleeping monster. It looked as though if it was awake, the snake could eat all four of them in one bite.
“This shouldn’t be too hard,” Ginny whispered optimistically, “It can’t fight us while it’s asleep.”
As if on cue, a shiver ran down the snake’s diamond- patterned back and she stuck her head up out of the tangles. Her black beady eyes locked with Harry’s.
Master!
“She’s calling him!” Harry said urgently, “We’d better finish this!”
For a few horrible seconds none of them could think of how to kill it. Finally Hermione, always the brightest witch in their year, thought of the curse.
“Harry, it’s the Avada Kedavra. You’d better do it.”
“Right,” Harry said. He spoke the curse clearly and loudly enough for it to be heard throughout the house. A thin, green wisp of mist came out of the tip.
You have to do better than that to kill master’s snake! Nagini hissed tauntingly at Harry in Parseltongue. He glared at her.
Master is on his way now, children, she whispered. Soon you will all be gone and I will still be here! Master’s pet…
“Hey!” Ginny cried. “You’re the snake that bit our dad!”
A rare look of comprehension dawned on Ron’s face. “Yeah!”
Arthur Weasley… He was good! Fell right into my mouth! Master wanted me to kill him… I failed him… she hissed morosely.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione looked at Harry’s disgusted expression in confusion. They, of course, didn’t know what Nagini was saying, for only Harry spoke Parseltongue.
But I won’t fail him this time… children are tasty! Master will be so proud! Who should I bite first? Not you… Maybe your little girlfriend?
“AVADA KEDAVRA!” Harry shouted. The walls shook with the sound as the snake slid gracefully to the floor, eyes still wide open. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny breathed a sigh of relief in unison. Harry tried to avoid the blank look in the snake’s eyes, for it filled him with horror to see the haunting look common to all people killed with Avada Kedavra. It dawned on him that his parents had died there, and it was quite possible that his mother had died right where he stood. Harry shuddered.
“Someone send up sparks!” Harry whispered.
Hermione dutifully stepped over to the window, opened it, and sent periwinkle fireworks up high in the sky.
“We’d better get going,” Ron said. “They’ll probably want to meet us outside.”
They had reached the bottom of the staircase when they heard a sinister, high-pitched voice.
“Visitors? To what do I owe the… pleasure?” Voldemort crowed.
“Run.” Harry said to his friends in an undertone. They stared at him with terrified eyes.
“Run? Don‘t bother!” Voldemort barked. He was grinning grotesquely, his red eyes gleaming- he looked like the cat who swallowed the canary. “Besides, I’ve got my friends guarding every door. They‘d kill you as soon as look at you…” he trailed off menacingly, holding his wand in his right hand so tightly his pale fingers had turned slightly blue.
“You don’t HAVE any friends! Just people too cowardly to be your enemies!” Harry exploded, stepping in front of Ginny protectively. This was the man he was destined to kill. Harry pushed any nervous thoughts out of his mind and thought only of triumphing.
“I see the boy has a temper!” he barked. “Don’t get too full of yourself, Harry…”
The four glared at him with so much hatred, they thought their heads would explode.
“We know about your Horcruxes.” Harry said disgustedly.
Voldemort looked at them with an expression of mixed astonishment and fury, narrowing his red eyes. His eyes reminded Harry of blood. Blood that had been spilled, people who had lost their families, even their lives because of Voldemort.
“You’re mortal now, Tom Riddle. Just as mortal as your Muggle father of the same name.” Harry said, glaring at Voldemort with extreme hatred.
“You can’t have gotten all of the Horcruxes! How many did you destroy?” Voldemort exploded in anger. His fury turned his white face an ugly shade of maroon, a color rivaling Uncle Vernon’s.
“Six. Even your precious snake, just now.”
“You KILLED Nagini?” He reddened even more, flaring his own serpent-like nostrils.
“I will kill you myself, Harry Potter. I have waited for so long! I will eliminate you, just as I did your parents. Your friends. Your family. And I will enjoy it!” he said softly, smooth and cold as ice.
“No you WON’T!” Hermione cried, brandishing her wand angrily. Her hand shook as she threw a curse at Voldemort, trying to avoid the inevitible quiver of her voice.
Voldemort repelled it with ease. He was not threatened by Hermione in the least, but he knew Harry’s mind very well. He knew he could get to Harry through his friends. Voldemort Crucio’d Hermione. She fell to the ground where she writhed and shrieked and cried out for Ron. The pain of the Cruciatus Curse was extreme. Ron tried to help her up but she couldn’t move. He and Harry pointed their wands at the villain, shouting hexes until he made the curse subside. Hermione lay on the floor breathing shallow breaths. Her brown eyes looked strangely blank. Harry put his arm around Ginny protectively and she sunk into his side, horrified. They had no idea how to help Hermione.
At that moment, a crash sounded throughout the whole house. Harry looked over at the wall from where the noise had come, wildly hoping it was the Order coming to help them.
“Wotcher, Harry!” Tonks said. Voldemort flicked his wand at her carelessly and she crumpled, lying in a pitiful dead heap. Ginny let out a tiny cry.
Harry remembered what an old professor had once said. Constant vigilance! It didn’t matter anymore that the teacher had been a disguised Death Eater- the advice held true. He wanted to win this, for his friends, for his parents, Sirius, Ginny. He wanted to save the world from chaos and turmoil.
He knew Tonks was gone, but it hadn’t quite registered yet; he didn’t feel the immediate, totally engulfing grief he had felt when Sirius had been killed. He was numb. And he knew many more of his friends would be dead soon enough. He dreaded it, yet he knew it was true, and he knew he could do nothing about it. All he could worry about right now was Voldemort; and winning this fight.
All hell broke loose. Death Eaters ran in through the large hole in the living room wall Tonks had created. Sporting black masks and robes, they formed a protective wall around Voldemort, who cackled evilly. Some of the Order came in as well. Soon there was a full-blown war going on in Harry’s old living room.
Neville was locked in an intense combat with Bellatrix Lestrange; he looked determined and furious and shot very advanced curses at her. Bellatrix was able to dodge most of them, but she had obviously been hit by a few. Her robes were disheveled and her hair mussed; she had a bloody nose and a large cut down her arm both bleeding profusely.
Go Neville! Harry silently encouraged his friend. He also saw that Ginny was fighting a huge blond Death Eater who looked like he might have been a half-giant. She was keeping up, but was looking more tired and drained by the second. Greybeck the werewolf was savaging a member of the Order; it could have been Lupin but Harry wasn’t sure. He wished he could help but he knew he couldn’t, for he himself had been attacked by Lucius Malfoy.
The Death Eater, who had long, white-blond hair and eyes so blue they looked almost transparent, was ruthless. He seemed to enjoy taunting Harry with curses that he could barely dodge and deflect, and did this for quite a while. Soon Harry had lost track of everything going on around him, because he was concentrating so hard. Harry knew Malfoy hoped to take him by surprise, but he would never let that happen.
“Petrificus Totalus!” Harry shouted eventually, and Malfoy fell to the floor. It was clear he wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon, since on the way down he had hit his head on a table edge, hard, and was knocked out. Harry turned to help Ginny with the blond Death Eater he had seen her fighting with before, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. He couldn’t see Voldemort either, and there were no Death Eaters and Order Members left that weren’t lying on the floor, dead or at least unconscious. He scanned the floor for Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and anyone else he knew. He saw Bellatrix Black lying down, dead, as well as a few other Death Eaters. But he also saw people he knew, including Luna and a savaged, bloodied Lupin.
Harry heard Charlie Weasley, who was over in a corner, give a low, agony-filled moan before closing his eyes and lying pathetically on the floor as if he were giving up on the fight and taking a nap. Harry hurried over to help him but found Charlie to have no pulse: he was dead.
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Harry could hear noise coming from outside, and he decided to follow it even though it seemed like it was coming from a far distance. He stepped out hesitantly and walked towards a nearby clearing. He saw some stray one-on-one combats, but no one he knew personally was there. As there was more noise coming from farther on, Harry continued walking through the woods, trying not to think of what might have happened to his friends, especially Ginny. If something happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself! I should have paid more attention to her when she left!
Not too far off, he saw two lone figures. One, with flaming red hair, was tied to a huge tree roughly with vines. She seemed to struggle a bit before weakly leaning against the tree in defeat. Another figure was standing by the girl, pointing a wand straight at her. It was Voldemort.
As Harry approached, he saw the girl more closely. Her robes were torn and she was covered in abrasions and bruises. Below her closed eyes, pale blue half-moons decorated her white, freckled cheeks. “Ginny!” Harry muttered. He ran nearer, trying to remain unseen by Voldemort, hiding in the shadows.
“Crucio!” Harry heard Voldemort whisper mockingly at Ginny. She curled into a tiny red ball, hugging herself. She shook and rocked- Ginny was living in a world of pain.
Harry, himself, shook in anger. He knew Voldemort was doing this to Ginny to get to him, and it was working. I have to help her! There was no contest in Harry’s mind, because someone as noble as Harry would never have been able to watch anyone get tortured. Especially someone he loved like he loved Ginny. He ran over to where Voldemort stood smiling with satisfaction as he watched Ginny cry out. In his world, hurting people was a game.
Harry cursed Voldemort hatefully while he wasn’t looking. “AVADA KEDAVRA!”
Voldemort stumbled and fell as the bright green light hit him. The curse clearly wasn’t working right. It was supposed to be instant death, Harry knew. Voldemort was on the ground now. He was writhing in pain, dying slowly, as he had made so many innocent people die. “You haven’t defeated me yet, Potter!” he said loathingly, infuriated. He knew he had been beaten, although he wasn't going to admit it. “You’ve always had far too much love in you to kill someone properly!” he said, haltingly. But he was still determined and as the brightness of his eyes continued to dim, he opened his mouth once more.
“But I can still kill YOU! AVADA KEDAVRA!”
Harry barely knew it was coming. The last thing he saw was Ginny, her hair flying, pulling at the vine-ropes frantically so as to stand by his side. Harry opened his mouth in shock as the green wave of light hit him squarely in the chest.
“NO!” Ginny howled. The binds tying her to the tree came free at last and she scrabbled for her wand on the ground. She jabbed it at Voldemort harshly, but it was fruitless. The invincible villain that the Order had been chasing for thirty-odd years was dead at last. A hooded Death Eater shouted “MOSRMORDE!” to post the Dark Mark in the sky above Harry. After that, the rest of the Death Eaters quickly apparated away. A short, round Death Eater with mousy hair grabbed Voldemort’s lifeless form and disappeared with a pop. The Death Eaters knew that they had finally fought their last battle for their master, the man they had all feared. The unstoppable, incredibly powerful wizard who had called himself Voldemort.
Ginny collapsed onto the ground next to Harry. She was sobbing so hard she thought she would never stop. Harry lay spread-eagled, on a patch of fresh new grass. The red of his lightning-bolt scar was barely visible beneath his shaggy black hair. His emerald green eyes were closed as peacefully as those of a sleeping child.
“It’s my fault. It’s all my fault!” Ginny told herself over and over, hysterical. She laid her head on his still-warm chest, willing it to move again with the familiar beat of his heart. But it was clear to her, soon enough. Harry was gone.
"I love you...?" she whispered, her voice lifting at the end of her words, as if she was unsure that what she said was true.
After a moment, she repeated herself, with much more conviction; a determined look on her bloodied, bruised face.
"I love..."
Her voice faded with every word, dying down to a tiny wisp.
"you..."
Her breaths came more evenly as Ginny, her head still resting against Harry's chest, fell into a deep sleep. Sleep would make her forget her grief. But only until tomorrow.
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“Lo now, the oak, that has long nourishing
Even from the time that it begins to spring,
And has so long a life, as we may see,
Yet at the last all wasted is the tree.
Consider, too, how even the hard stone
Under our feet we tread each day upon
Yet wastes it, as it lies beside the way.
And the broad river will be dry some day.
And great towns wane; we see them vanishing.
Thus may we see the end to everything.
Of man and woman just the same is true:
Needs must, in either season of the two,
That is to say, in youth or else in age,
All men perish, the king as well as page;
Some in their bed, and some in the deep sea,
And some in the wide field- as it may be;
There’s naught will help; all go the same way. Aye,
Then may I say that everything must die.”
- The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer
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a/n- please please review!!!!