By the Light of the Moon

Chapter 10: Epilogue

Disclaimer: All rights to the world of Harry Potter go to J.K. Rowling, etc., etc. There may also be references to other books, fanfic, TV shows, or movies in this story. All are cited at the end of the chapter.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has reviewed and encouraged me throughout this story, and also to Marilyn, because I love her.

xXx

Luna finally stepped back, breaking their embrace.

"I expect we really should be getting back," she said, gesturing through the trees, where Ron could make out moving shapes and muffled shouts.

"You're right," he sighed, suddenly feeling foolish for running away when his friends were in danger.

They climbed back onto Ron's broom and were soon sliding to a stop at the edge of the clearing. The noise seemed to have reached a crescendo, and suddenly there were moving bodies all around them. One pushed into Ron hard, and he lost his balance, falling heavily to the ground. Fortunately, it was over in a moment, and he and Luna crept through the last trees just in time to see Ginny fall face down on the dirt.

Ron rushed to her side, Luna on his heels. He dropped to his knees beside her, and turned her over. "Is she hurt?" he asked urgently, to no one in particular.

Harry dropped down beside Ron, smoothing Ginny's hair back from her forehead. "No, she just fainted, I think."

Ron looked into Harry's face and was instantly ashamed. "Listen, mate, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you…"

"Ron." Harry put one hand on Ron's shoulder. "It's okay. You saved Luna. It's more than any of the rest of us can say."

"What happened here? Why were all those people running away?" Ron asked.

"Ginny," said Harry simply. "She killed Greyback. As soon as the rest realized what had happened, they fled." He grinned tiredly. "Guess they weren't much without him."

"Not all of them were with him to begin with, Potter." Ron looked up to see Draco Malfoy striding towards them, his blond hair ruffled and dirt on his face.

"Malfoy," he growled, making to rise.

Harry put a restraining hand on his arm. "It's okay, Ron, he's with us."

Ron knew he was goggling, but he couldn't help it. "He's with you? You'd better tell me what happened right now, Harry, or I'll-"

But he never had to figure out just what he would do, because at that moment, Hermione's voice screamed from the other side of the clearing, "Harry!"

Ron felt bad that he hadn't even noticed her when he'd arrived, but he was soon distracted when he saw what she was screaming about. Lupin was lying on the ground, bleeding from his chest. His eyes were closed and he lay still.

Harry and Ron bolted to her, followed closely by Luna and Malfoy.

Hermione was crying. "He's still got a pulse, but it's weak. I don't know how much longer he'll be able to make it, and I don't know how we can get help out here."

Luna sat and put her arms around Hermione, who turned into her shoulder and began crying in earnest. Ron was glad she was there. He had never been sure what to do with a crying girl.

He knelt by Lupin's side and touched his hand. Lupin opened his eyes with what looked like great difficulty and fixed them on Ron.

Ron jumped back. "Lupin?"

"Ron," he rasped. "In my pocket, my left pocket, there's a marble. Get it."

Ron did as he was told and soon found himself holding a large glass marble with white swirls.

Lupin had closed his eyes again, but he continued to speak. "Now squeeze it. The Order….they'll come when they….feel it." His head drooped to the side.

Ron quickly squeezed the marble in his palm. After a moment, he let it go. A moment later, he heard a whoosh as the first person Apparated into the clearing.

xXx

Tonks pushed past him to hover over Lupin, checking his pulse and his forehead, before conjuring a stretcher and laying him on it gently, smoothing back his hair as she did so. A look of pure tenderness filled her eyes, as well as a few tears which she dashed off with the back of her hand. She looked at the other Order members, which included both Arthur Weasley and Kingsley Shacklebolt, saying "I'm taking him to St. Mungo's straightaway. Can you deal with the rest of things here?"

Both men nodded, then continued their examinations, Mr. Weasley's of his daughter and Kingsley's of Greyback

Harry, much as he wanted to stay near Ginny, to make sure she was alright, forced himself to look over Kingsley's shoulder. After all, Greyback had been killed by a Horcrux, and Harry felt that it was his duty to take care of it.

Kingsley whistled. "He's dead all right. Takes a lot of force to kill a werewolf, even when he's not transformed. Your little girl did good, Arthur."

Ginny was just stirring, blinking up at the world as though she'd never seen it before. Arthur supported her as she sat up, and she glanced at him. "Dad, really, I'm fine. How's everybody else?"

After she had been reassured that everyone was fine, and after Mr. Weasley had persuaded her to lie back down, Harry turned back to Greyback's body. Kingsley was carefully plucking out the hilt of the dagger.

"It's really in there good," he said by way of explanation to Harry. When he had finally removed it, Harry saw that the blade had been split in two right along the center line, and the silver was corroded as though it had been dipped in acid instead of blood.

"Well, that's one way to destroy a Horcrux, I guess," he muttered half to himself.

Harry knew that he had to keep the dagger. Now that he knew it was a Horcrux, he felt that he couldn't let it out of his sight. "May I keep it?" he asked Kingsley.

Kingsley, in the process of wiping the blade clean on Greyback's shirt, looked over his shoulder at him.

"We'll have to do some tests on it eventually," he said. "But if it makes you feel better to hold onto it for now, go ahead Harry."

Harry stashed it carefully in the inside pocket of his jacket and turned to face the rest of the group.

xXx

She was relieved that her father had gone to see Lupin. All of his fussing over her, though she knew it wouldn't come close to what she would get from her mother when she got home, was driving her mad.

So now, as she sat in the waiting room at St. Mungo's with Harry and Hermione, who looked tired enough to fall asleep right in the hard backed chairs, Luna, who was still wearing her ridiculous white dress, and Malfoy and her brother, who were glaring at each other like there was no tomorrow, Ginny thought about all that had happened over the last few days. She knew that she should be overjoyed at the victory for the side of light and proud over her own part in it, but mostly she felt tired down to her very bones.

The only thing that was keeping her from dozing off and jerking back awake as Hermione had just done was something so trivial, so inconsequential, that she felt bad even thinking about it while Lupin lay, possibly dying, down the hall. But she couldn't help it.

So she rose from her chair and crossed the aisle to poke Harry in the arm. She was marginally pleased to see him jump. "What is it, Ginny?"

"Can I talk to you, Harry?"

"Of course," he patted the seat next to him.

"Not here," she said, fighting to keep her voice quiet enough that no one else would hear, not that that was likely over the usual din in the St. Mungo's lobby. "Let's go someplace quieter."

She was grateful that Harry only nodded and followed her out of the lobby and down a tiled hallway. Ginny spotted a likely place at the end of the hall, and ducked to enter it.

Harry followed, looking slightly bemused. "Er, Ginny, what are we doing under the stairs?"

"I told you," she said, sitting down and leaning back against the wall. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Er, okay," said Harry, sitting down across from her and looping his hands over his knees. "What did you want to talk about?"

Now that they were here, Ginny wasn't quite sure how to bring it up. "Well, you know at the end of the year when you, erm, said we couldn't be together anymore because I might get hurt?" She cursed the Weasley blush for picking this time to manifest itself.

Now Harry looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, and then last week when I asked if I could come with you to look for the Horcruxes, why did you say yes? Wasn't that just putting me in more danger?"

"Would you rather I had said no?"

"No, of course not, Harry." She struggled to make her point clear. "But I didn't really expect you to agree. Why did you?"

He shrugged. "I dunno, really. I suppose," he sighed, a great gusty breath. "I suppose it was selfish really. I," he ducked his head, not looking at her. "I just wanted you to be with me. Ginny, you make me brave."

Ginny was touched by the open sincerity in his voice, but then she knew that Harry never did anything by half. "Harry-" she started. "I-that's…" Thankfully, he stopped her babbling by leaning forward slightly and pressing his mouth to hers.

The kiss was gentle, and short, and when they broke apart, Harry smiled at her.

"I shouldn't have broken up with you, Ginny," he said. "It's just, for so long, people have told me I'm the hero. I guess it just never occurred to me that other people could be heroes too."

Ginny laughed, hitting him playfully on the arm. "You're as arrogant as Draco Malfoy," she said teasingly.

"Not quite yet," he laughed, then turned suddenly serious. "So, Ginny, will you forgive me for not seeing?"

"Of course," she replied.

Harry looked more than a little embarrassed now. "What I'm trying to say is, Ginny, would you like to go out to dinner sometime?"

"If my mum will ever let me out of the house again," she said. "Yes, Harry, of course."

He still looked a bit unsure, and Ginny saw no other course of action but to kiss him again. So she did.

xXx

Luna knew what Ginny was up to, and she silently wished her luck as she watched her and Harry walk down the hall. Then she turned to look at Ron. He had kissed her in the woods, it was true, but Luna still had no idea, really, how he felt about her.

It was strange. With most people, Luna could figure out their emotions after only a little bit of observation. But with Ronald it was different. She couldn't tell. He was different in other ways, too. Even people she considered her friends, like Ginny or Harry, sometimes looked away from her when she said things. But Ronald always looked her in the eye, no matter what. It was what made him who he was. It was what made her-

But no, she couldn't even think that until she knew how he felt. That was another thing about Ronald, she decided. She cared what he thought of her. This was such a novel emotion that Luna stopped for a moment to enjoy the wonder of it.

Then she decided. She had to know. If Ginny could do it, then so could she. She scooted over a few chairs to where Ronald sat, glaring at Draco Malfoy. She waved a hand in front of his face.

"You'll strain your eyes, both of you. Nackfraters are quite good enough at that without you giving them material to start with."

He whipped his head around to look at her. "Would you like some tea, Ronald?" she asked. "I find that I'm quite thirsty."

"Of course," he said, and then walked the five flights of stairs to the fifth floor without speaking. Ronald seemed lost in his own thoughts, and Luna didn't want to break the silence. She heard muffled noises coming from under the first floor stairs, so she had a fairly good idea that Ginny's mission had been a success. She only hoped hers could go as well.

When they reached the tearoom, Luna ordered Earl Grey and then placed it on the table and faced Ronald.

"I would like to know," she said, feeling the importance of her words even before she said them, "What all the kissing has been about."

He sputtered and spilled his own tea down his lap. "What?"

"The kissing," she repeated. "First at Hogwarts, and then in the woods. I don't think I can blame Wrackspurts when it happens more than once."

Ronald grinned weakly, then took a deep breath, as if steeling himself for something. Then he said the last thing she would have expected: "Luna," he said shakily. "I think I'm in love with you."

If her tea hadn't been firmly on the table, Luna felt sure she would have spilled some too. Then she felt a curious calm come over her, the same feeling she got early in the mornings when she dreamed of her mother.

"Oh, good," she replied seriously, this time not knowing what words she was thinking until they came out of her mouth. "I love you too, Ronald, and it would be terribly inconvenient if I loved you but you didn't love me back and-"

Ron silenced her with a kiss, long and tender. When they broke apart, he smiled and smoothed a hair back from her forehead.

"You know," he remarked. "You're the only one who can call me Ronald without getting a punch in the face."

"Well, that's good too. I don't much fancy getting punched whenever I say your name."

Ronald bent down to kiss her once more and Luna's arms came up to wrap around his neck, feeling too happy and breathless for words, even if she could have thought of any to say.

xXx

Draco drummed his fingers on the hard plastic of his chair, feeling bored and vaguely insulted. Now Potter and the Weaselette and Weasel and Lovegood had all gone off to pair up, and he was left alone with a sleeping Granger. Not that he wanted to pair up with any of them, but he couldn't help feeling slightly left out.

He examined Granger sleeping in the chair across from him, her legs curled up under her and a few curls on her face, moving slightly every time she breathed. She really wasn't unattractive when she wasn't hexing people or bossing everybody around.

He thought back to the werewolf camp, where he'd dragged her to safety. He told himself that he'd have done that for anyone, even Weasley. But he wouldn't have held Weasley's hand there in the trees, making sure he was alright.

It was as these highly confusing thoughts were invading Draco's brain that Granger stirred, picking up her head and rubbing her eyes.

"Where are the others?' she asked.

"Oh, probably snogging happily in a corner by now," he answered bitterly. Really, why did no one except Voldemort's spies and possibly Pansy want to snog him anyway? He was very snoggable. He scowled.

"Malfoy? Are you okay?" Granger sounded as if she were worried about his sanity.

He gave his best scoff. "Of course, Granger, why wouldn't I be?"

She looked frightened for a second, then squared she shoulders and went on. "I don't know. I thought maybe you might be worried about your father."

"My father?" He was genuinely confused for a moment. "Oh, you mean you think he'll punish me for switching sides."

She nodded mutely.

"Well," he considered, then went on thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll just have to count on your great and powerful Order to keep me safe when he comes knocking on the door with a dozen Death Eaters and possibly Voldemort himself in tow. Or I could save myself all that trouble and just rejoin now. In fact, it's probably easier that way."

She turned white, and he laughed. "I'm joking, Granger. It's this thing that normal people do, sometimes. It's funny," he prompted her.

She smiled tremulously. "You, normal?" she looked at him under her eyelashes. "You wish."

xXx

A month later, Hermione stood in the kitchen at the Burrow, looking around at the late afternoon sunlight slanting through the window. It was the middle of August. Hogwarts would be starting up again soon, but none of them were going. Mrs. Weasley had been the hardest to convince, but had finally agreed that the safety of the wizarding world might just be slightly more important than Ginny and Ron's education. Besides, as they'd pointed out, Hermione would be with them, which meant they were bound to learn something.

She'd rolled her eyes at this, but she wasn't really offended. Now, standing here at the counter, all she felt was excitement, mixed with a healthy amount of fear. As if sensing her emotions, Malfoy slipped his hand into hers and squeezed briefly. She'd never thought that having Draco Malfoy beside her would be a source of comfort, but it was. She still couldn't bring herself to call him anything but Malfoy, and he still called her Granger, but she was happy nonetheless.

Hermione looked around the small kitchen, at all the people she loved. Outside the window, Lupin reclined in a lawn chair, chatting with Mrs. Weasley as she knitted a sweater for Malfoy. Slytherin green, as he'd insisted. Hermione sighed and reflected that he really hadn't changed at all.

Ron and Luna sat at the table. From the look on Ron's face, Luna was telling him all about one of her fantastical creatures. But his look turned to one of pure affection as he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. She stopped her tirade for a moment to smile at him.

Harry and Ginny were peeling potatoes by the sink, splashing each other with water and laughing. As Hermione watched, Harry grabbed Ginny around the waist and kissed her forehead.

She sighed again, letting her head drop to rest on Malfoy's shoulder. They had won. But it was far from over. There were still three Horcruxes left to destroy, and they would go forth, together.

finis

A/N: It's over! I don't know whether to go celebrate or cry in a corner. Well, in any case, I hope you liked it, and please review!