Disclaimer: I own nothing that is remotely related to Harry Potter – apart from the books written by J.K.Rowling, and the DVDS produced by Warner Bros (well, at least I THINK it's the Warner Bros anyway). As I might have mentioned before, if you're a lawyer, please don't sue me, and as you're here, you might as well read the chapter and give me some feedback, no?
Chapter seventeen
Thank you to the following:
- Smileyface1314 - Thanks so much for reviewing! ::Big hug:: And yeah, the battle doesn't seem realistic at all! Heh . . . I did try to make it seem like war, but as I don't really get myself in situations when I am in war, I kind of .. . failed, ah well, at least it seemed like a duel,and duels count as fighting .. . right?
- Spaced Out Space Cadet - Lol, I suppose so, hope you haven't forgotten me then! Sorry I've "left you in suspense" for so long, at long last the chapter is here!
- Crystallized Snow - Yeah, it's kind of evil for them to chop off his hand, but . .. I wanted to add something more gruesome to the story! Thanks for the review!
- Alexian-goddess - Wow, I am SO SORRY that it took me this long. To be honest, the chapter was finished about a month ago, I just got busy and didn't get round to editing it until . . . another month later, heh . . . please forgive me! And review!
- NitenGale - Hey, sorry, this chapter took even longer to get up, but hey! It is the last chapter, and then I'm taking a break while I finish another fanfic. Lol, it's not that sick of you to ask me to save Draco's hand, but you'll have to read on to see if I actually listened to you .. . thanks for reviewing by the way!
- Some12 - You're right, I could have added more to the war, but I suppose I'm lazy . . . I wish I wasn't, writers aren't supposed to be lazy! It is kind of typical of bad guys to hide things in forests, lol . . . and hooray! I'm glad the hand bit scared you, I can actually create emotion in someone! ::Cheeky grin:: You'll see what the ending is, I just hope you like it, cus' it's not really . . . well, I can't find the word! I want to watch Secret Window, but no one will watch it with me . . . my friends all say it sounds too scary ::rolls eyes:: anyway, thanks so much! Enjoy!
- LythTaeraneth - I was NOT blaming you by saying that you helped edit! I am merely THANKING you! Difference! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and I took note of what you said and tried to explain it slightly in this chapter . . . hope you enjoy it! (Please be gentle if you don't . . .)
- HappiGoLucki616 - Heya! I haven't spoken to you for a while, but I'm sure I have since I last updated (which, I am quite ashamed to say, was quite a few weeks ago . . .) Thanks so much for the review! Love yas!
- Ding - Hehehe, yes, I think, actually, I'm quite sure, that I've killed AT LEAST one person that you wanted me to kill!Actually . .. I don't know, read on to find out! Please.
- Sunflower18 - Here's the update! So sorry it took so long! Please review! ::Grin::
It had been a while, since the night that she had found him, and Draco had not woken. Draco and Hermione had been taken to an underground ward to rest. The ward was run by volunteer healers from St Mungos, as well as any other witches or wizards that were willing to help. It had been built on Dumbledore's instructions, and was protected by a strong, mysterious, magical force.
A healer had told Hermione that Draco must have been forced to take a sleeping draught – one so strong that he would not wake for a long while yet. She had been told that if a waking spell had been cast on him the moment she had found him, he might have awoken already.
She felt tired and foolish. She had fainted because she did not have any energy left inside her – she had used it all to carry Draco's weight, and worry all night about the things that might happen. Ever since she had become conscious again, her nights had been filled with nothing but tossing and turning and questions of why she had not even thought of casting some sort of spell on Draco to help him heal.
She had been the smartest witch in Hogwarts, after all.
The smartest student to graduate since the time of the four founders, and yet she had been so desperate, so filled with her own thoughts and emotions, that she had not even thought to use her powers to help the one she loved.
How could she not think of it? She would ask herself, night after night, and each night, she would be unable to answer. Draco simply would not wake – no matter how many potions they forced down his throat, or however many spells were cast on him.
Then again, it wasn't as though there was enough time for the staff to linger on Draco and no one else. The war was still raging, and the staff – and volunteers - had been trying their best to heal every single person that had been wounded. She knew that many injured 'soldiers' had already died, but she tried hard not to think about it.
Hermione could only be thankful that she had not seen Harry, or Ron, being carried into the ward, or past it. She had tried many times to ask the healers about the situation outside, but they had merely rushed off and pretended that they could not hear her.
Looking around, she could see that the St Mungo's staff had exited the underground ward – most probably to look for more helpless wizards and witches on the battlefield. She was the only one conscious in the ward, everyone around her in a deep sleep. Draco was on a bed at the other end of the room. She had been instructed by the healers to stay in her bed until they were sure that she had recovered all the energy that she needed to re-join the war. They had even forbidden her from walking across the room, or standing to stretch her legs, just in case there was something in her that they did not know of.
She looked once again at Draco. He looked pale, even worse than usual, and he had never looked exactly 'healthy'. She couldn't see him properly from her position on her bed. No matter how she moved, it was impossible to see him clearly from so far away. Carefully, she looked around.
There were people that she didn't know, lying unconscious on their beds, but no one could actually stop her from walking across the room to see Draco.
It could be her little secret.
Slowly and cautiously, she got up and made her way over to Draco's bed. A man lay beside him, snoring gently as Hermione tried her best not to wake him. He was most probably under a sleeping draught anyway. Hermione sat down on the side of Draco's bed, careful not to sit on him. Her legs felt numb from having not moved much for the past few days.
Draco's arm was hanging off the side; his hand had not grown back. The healers had given him potion after potion, but nothing seemed to work. They had eventually come to the conclusion, that although the deatheaters probably thought that Draco might have been rescued alive, they did not want him to get away with it, without any scars. Therefore, a spell must have been placed on him when they cut off his hand, preventing it from growing back.
Suddenly she heard voices shouting, and feet hurriedly running past the doors to the underground ward. Hermione's ward was not the only thing built underground for the war. There had been another room built secretly, just before the war began – Dumbledore had asked specifically for it to be built where it was, for safety reasons.
Although Hermione had been in the ward for only a while, she had heard many times, shouts and hurried walking past the doors. She knew that it meant yet another person had been so badly injured, that they had to be sent to the other specially built room, that muggles would call 'The Emergency Room'.
She wondered who it was that had been injured, and whether it was someone she knew. Soon, she found herself slowly creeping towards the ward doors.
Hermione remembered her first babysitter had not been a very nice one. When she was small, her great Aunt had been involved in a caraccident and had been rushed to The Emergency Room. Hermione vaguely remembered being taken home in a taxi, and then asking her babysitter if her Aunt was going to be okay – her mum and dad had stayed at the hospital. Her babysitter had merely grunted and said with an evil smile, "I'll tell you something, little girl. That room she's being taken to is an Emergency Room. Anyone who goes in there never comes back out alive."
Hermione shuddered as she remembered the words of her babysitter. She knew now, of course, that there was a chance that whoever went in could come back out, and after all, in this particular Emergency Room, magic could be used to heal.
Ever so slowly, she pushed one of the ward doors open slightly and peered round it. She could see that many healers had already rushed past and were calling for the others to hurry up – one of which was levitating a girl down the corridor, her entire body covered with blood. At first, Hermione thought that her head must have been so badly injured that it had dyed her hair red as well, but then a sudden thought struck her as she saw the body being levitated past her.
As she saw the face of the girl, she soon realised that it wasn't the blood that had dyed her hair red, but the girl was one of the only redheads that she knew of.
Ginny Weasley.
"Ginny!" Hermione cried, her voice a high-pitched squeak.
"Excuse me!" shouted one of the healers at the back, "Aren't you meant to be in your bed? Go! Now!"
Hermione immediately shut the doors and leant against them as she slowly slid to the floor. Her legs felt as though nothing was in them, and she didn't have the power to walk anymore. Ever so slowly, she crawled back to her bed and sat down, staring at the white walls, a single tear making its way down her pale cheeks.
She could hear the faint snores of the old man echoing in her ears. The man was lucky. He was only in a temporary sleep. Ginny, on the other hand, could be asleep forever.
Hermione opened her eyes as she woke from her sleep. It was dark, except for the odd candle in one corner of the room. The room was silent, as Hermione sat up and stared blankly at the wall opposite her.
She felt confused, much more confused than she had ever been before. She didn't know what was going to happen – to her, to her friends, to Hogwarts, or to the entire wizarding world. She had never enjoyed not knowing what was to come – she liked to know what was going on, for then she could be prepared for anything.
Standing quietly as to not wake the other patients in the ward, shemade her way across the roomtowards Draco. Hermione knelt down beside him and buried her head into his arm. He felt cold and lifeless, but still she felt safe when she was around him. She felt weak, as though she needed protection and that was not a feeling that she welcomed.
As she closed her eyes and began to fall asleep once again, she felt something twitch. Frowning, shepeered through the darkness. Draco's arm had begun to twitch. His eyes were still closed, but his entire body had begun to shake violently. Hermione began to panic but tried her best to remain as calm as she could. She ran out of the ward to try and find help.
It was almost as soon as she exited, that she ran into a healer, carrying a candle in her hands.
"Please get back into your bed, Miss," The young healer whispered urgently, gently pushing Hermione back through the door.
"I can't, look –
"Sorry, Miss, you must, please try not to argue, you'll wake the other patients in the ward."
"But look!" Hermione shouted, pointing furiously at Draco, who was still shaking. The healer dropped the candle in surprise. Through the darkness, Hermione could see the young healer's mouth forming an "O" shape. She stood still and watched in terror and shock.
"Well? Aren't you going to do something?" Hermione asked urgently. The healer looked ather and opened her mouth, only to close it again.
"Give me your wand." Hermione ordered. She held out her hand and waited rather impatiently for the healer to respond.
"My wand?" She squeaked nervously, placing her hands in her robe pockets, "Miss, you're a patient, you're not meant to use a wand until you're fully healed. It's against the –
Hermione snatched the wand from the healer's robe pocket and marched to Draco's side. His shaking had gotten gradually worse while the young healer had stood and merely watched. Mumbling a spell under her breath, Hermione began to wave her wand over Draco's entire body. She had been too desperate last time, too flustered to think, but she would make sure that this time, she would not make the situation worse. There were spells that she knew, but had never used. She was determined to make them work, no matter what she had to do.
At last, the shaking ceased. Hermione found that the young healer had lit more candles in the room and was now standing behind her, looking rather worried. Handing the wand back to the healer, she began to make her way towards her bed.
"I am terribly sorry, Miss," whispered the healer, following Hermione as she went, "I'm only training, and I don't seem to handle emergency situations well."
Hermione sat on her bed and frowned, "You mean there's only trainee healers patrolling the wards? Where are the experienced healers then?"
"I'm not really meant to say this to patients, but . . ." the healer stuttered and leant closer towards Hermione. "The situation outside has gotten a good deal worse, Miss. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and The-Boy-Who-Lived have gone missing. The experienced healers have gone in invisibility cloaks to visit those who are too wounded to be moved."
Hermione nodded and quietly asked the trainee healer to extinguish the candles. She lay on her bed in silence and stared at the ceiling in the dark as the healer exited, closing the ward doors behind her. Thinking was something that she did in most of her spare time. She enjoyed it for the most part, although sometimes she despised it, for thinking filled her mind with thoughts that she did not like.
She tried her hardest to fill her mind with positive thoughts, as she closed her eyes and began to think once more.
Sometime during her train of thoughts, Hermione had fallen asleep on her bed. She didn't feel the need to open her eyes to greet the morning sunshine, pouring in from the magical windows that were charmed to be as realistic as possible – much like the windows in the Ministry Of Magic. The sunshine gave an illusion that all was well, and calm, but she knew that was far from the truth. What was out there was truly terrifying, and impossible to imagine.
"Would you like more porridge?" Hermione heard a nearby helper ask. She frowned, keeping her eyes tightly shut. There were no people on the beds either side of her, no other patient in the ward was concious, and the helper knew very well that she was asleep.
"No thank you," A male voice said, "I've had enough for now."
Hermione felt slightly short of breath. Although she had not heard that voice for a while, she recognised it immediately. She didn't dare open her eyes in case it was a dream, but if she didn't then she couldn't possibly know if it was true or not. Slowly, she openedone eye and glanced sideways.
A smile spread across her face as she saw the jet-black hair, and the well-known scar.
"Harry!" She sprang out of bed and launched herself onto her friend – happiness overcoming her.
"Careful, Miss!" The helper called from the other side of the room as she was dealing with another patient. Hermione sat back at the end of Harry's bed and ignored the helper's comment.
Harry smiled, "It's great to see you too, Hermione."
"Oh, Harry, I've been so worried. I heard from a healer that you had been missing, and then –
"I'm fine, Hermione," Harry said, putting his hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. She blushed and took a deep breath, smiling all the while at him.
"But . . . hang on, if you're here, then what's going on with the war? Where's Voldemort? And the rest of the deatheaters?"
"Hermione, you might want to look around."
Hermione frowned and turned around. She felt shocked, and needless to say, speechless. The beds opposite her that were once empty were now full. She had been so keen to see Harry, to make sure that it was actually Harry, that she had not noticed her surroundings. As she continued to gaze, she recognised some of the people in the beds – Remus Lupin lay on one of the beds closest to her, his eyes closed and his duvet pulled right up under his chin. Tonks lay a few beds away, also asleep.
She turned back at Harry, who pointed to another bed right at the other end of the room. Hermione could see someone else, curled up into a small ball and snoring gently.
"Ron!" She gasped as she saw his blazing red hair from under the covers. It was then that Hermione realised exactly what was going on.
"Harry," She began, looking towards her best friend with hope in her eyes, "There's only one way that so many people are in here – even you. Tell me the war's ended, Harry, tell me, has it?"
Hermione looked pleadingly at Harry as he placed his hands on her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
"Hermione," He said into her ear, "The war is over."
Hermione could not find the words to describe the feeling that she had at that moment. The war was over, and finally, things could begin to be restored to their peaceful state once again. She hugged Harry as tightly as she could.
"There's something else that you should know, Hermione."
Harry pulled out of their embrace and looked into Hermione's eyes. He gave her a reassuring smile before looking over to the far corner of the room. Hermione followed Harry's gaze.
From the other side of the room, she could see movement. The helper was moving a tray onto the lap of a patient.
Draco.
Hermione didn't quite know what to do. She watched as Draco stirred his porridge with a spoon, before finally looking up and straight into her eyes. The stared at each other, neither knowing what to do. It had been a while, since they had last spoken – perhaps too long a time.
Draco took his tray with one hand and placed it on the bedside table beside him. He blinked expectantly at Hermione.
"Go on then." Harry hissed, smiling as he pushed her slightly. "What are you waiting for?"
Hermione wasn't quite sure what she was doing, as she stood and walked towards Draco, one step at a time. Suddenly, she stopped half way across the room. No, she couldn't just walk towards him, it didn't feel . . . right. Without another thought, she ran to Draco and threw herself onto him, holding him tightly against her.
She could hear the sobs and sniffles all around her. It had only been a week and a half since the end of the war, and mourning had not ended yet. Today was the day of the funeral, when all would come to honour those who had died in the war. A spare bit of land at the edge of Diagon Alley had been turned into a large field, which was large enough to bury at least one hundred people. Tall iron gates stood protecting the grounds, but today, were wide open for those who would want to pay their respects.
Hermione closed her eyes. She had found out that many of her old friends had died, including Neville – who had died while duelling. Dumbledore had died in his sleep while he lay in the underground ward, and Hermione was devastated, when she had found out that Ginny had not survived either.
She looked beside her at her two best friends. Ron was trying desperately hard not to cry for his little sister, while Harry had put his arm around Ron, and although he was putting on a strong face, she could see that he felt as though he was going to cry as well. She looked at the monument before her, as she read the names of those who had fought, and not lived to tell the tale.
"Are you all right?"
Turning to look at the speaker, she smiled weakly as Draco put his arm around her. His hand had not grown back, and so he could not perform any magic. However, he had started a training course for one-armed witches and wizards, so that he could soon use a wand with his left hand. He was finding this very hard, but with Hermione's help, he was dealing with it well enough.
"I'm going to have to go – my father is going to be buried somewhere near Azkaban, and I'd like to make sure that he's gone for good."
Hermione nodded. She had not thought about Lucius since their short encounter, when Snape had taken over the duel that was hers. She gulped as she scanned the list on the monument. Severus Snape was near the bottom. Although no one had told her, she knew that he must have died while duelling with Lucius. After all, they had agreed to fight till the end.
"Are you going to be okay without me?" Draco asked cautiously.
"I'm going to be fine. Harry and Ron are here with me after all." Hermione said.
"You can come with me you know –
"No, I want to stay," She smiled up at Draco, "It's . . . better this way."
With a nod, Draco began to head towards the iron gates of the graveyard. Hermione stared at the monument once more. She had cried, many times before, for the people that had died – but people did die, and she knew that it was unavoidable. Sadness and grieving followed death, but after these upsetting emotions, life would go on.
Life had to move on.
Soon, her story would have moved on to another chapter, but that did not mean that she would forget her past. She would make sure that the chapters gone by, would remain part of her memory forever.
Final author note (you might as well read it . . .):
So, I suppose that's the end! I don't know what to think of this ending myself, butI hope you enjoyed it anyway. Sorry that this took so long (and I do hope that it was worth the wait)! Please review, after all, this is the final chapter! And if you have any spare time, why not check out some of my other fanfics?
Lots of love,
- ILUVRONWEASLEY
PS. Sorry if this chapter had words that were misspelled - my spell check went haywire, and the Quick Edit that normally contains spell check, isn't there anymore because Fanfiction 'upgraded' the document manager, so sorry if you spotted any mistakes! Oh and the Quick Edit ALSO deleted some gaps between the words, and after I spent half an hour putting the spaces back in only to find that Quick Edit took them back OUT again, I gave up. So, sorry if you spotted some of that as well!
PPS. Have a Merry Christmas! Love you all!