Of Days and Ends

A/N: Here you go, and review, Review, rEVIEW, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol… it would make the little voice in my head deliriously happy! Thank you all, and enjoy!

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Chapter 27—The Dursley’s Backyard



When Ron released Hermione and looked around with his wand at the ready, Hermione stumbled forward and fell to her knees. When she looked up, she was surprised the see that they had apparated in front of a small suburban home on an empty street. Outside, one or two cars were lined neatly out front in a perfect row between carefully manicured lawns. Each house looked identical except for the large number above the doorframe. The house in front of them had a large number 4. It was Harry Potter’s Aunt and Uncle’s house. She pushed herself up and sighed as she surveyed the many windows nearby. One curtain caught her attention as her eyes had turned in that direction. The curtain swung closed and she thought that she saw the hint of a hand on its edge disappear behind the thick pink material.



“Ron…”



“Shh… let’s just find Harry and get out of here.”



She nodded, agreeing fully and feeling uneasy about the muggle that might have seen them. They crept to the wall on the side of the house and Ron shooed a brown tabby cat away before boosting Hermione up and climbing it himself. Landing heavily on the other side, the two drew their wands and paused for a few tense minutes, calming their breathing, and listening intently for any sign from the house that they had been heard. The dead calm of the night continued.



Ron made the first move, standing upright and walking along the side of the house carefully. Hermione stood on trembling legs and began to follow him. The only sound was the sporadic chirping of a cricket. Just as Ron reached the corner of the house and peaked around the corner, Hermione heard a slight noise behind her and turned her head in time to see a purple jet of light blow a centimetre away from her nose. With a shriek and a frantic dive, she pushed Ron to the ground in time to miss another spell. Rolling to the side and covering Hermione with his body, Ron turned his wand behind him and shot a series of spells. Hermione in turned raised her wand past Ron’s body to cast a shield charm and watched a well-aimed orange curse die in bright sparks just past Ron’s feet.



Using the bright display as a distraction, Ron exercised the little knowledge he had gleaned from peaking around the corner into the yard to propel them around the corner. The bright light had left them each temporarily blind and they knocked their shins and knees painfully into the Dursley’s lawn bench before flipping gracelessly over it. Everything quieted again for a few seconds before a small but very familiar group of people apparated into the centre of the yard and mulled nervously as they surveyed the quiet scene. Ron cursed under his breath at the arrival of the Order and more specifically the distinctively vibrant, red hair of his brothers Fred and George.



The slight sound made Fred and George both fire immediate spells at the bench where they hid. Hermione dove out of the way, and Ron’s weight over her again was the only thing that prevented her from firing hexes in return.



“Drop your wand, Death Eater!”



“We’re not Death Eaters, Fred!”



One of the twins plucked his brother up from the ground and the rounded figure of his mother bustled forward and gripped him tightly in her arms. The strong arms of Kingsley Shackelbolt pulled Hermione up as well and she was jostled from one pair of arms to another as the members of the Order greeted them.



Suddenly, a direct beam crossed the yard and struck Ron directly in his back while his mother hugged him. No one had noticed the Death Eaters rounding the corner. Everyone had been too preoccupied with greetings.

Ron’s body went limp and he slowly slid through her arms to the ground. For a split second, the entire Order seemed to freeze in shock and a streaking figure rocketed from the bushes behind them with an anguished yell that echoed in the silence of the night as Ron lie still and slack. Seven Order members immediately turned their backs to the scene to fight the Death Eaters that had gathered at the opposite side of the yard while two other figures dropped to their knees beside their son.



Harry skid to a stop beside his friend, reaching out for Ron’s face and touching his cheeks with open hands as though willing the boy to open his eyes. Tears free fell down his face and he seemed to be incapable of speaking. His lips moved and a soft whimpering sound accompanied it, but no words. He pulled Ron up as though he was merely reclining on his knee and shook him slightly. Hermione was a wonderful friend to him, but Ron had always been there in a way that his female compatriot could not be. Ron had been an ever-present fixture in his life since he had discovered that he was a wizard. Both Harry and Hermione loved him like a brother, but Harry realized with a gut-wrenching sob that Ron had been his best friend.



“RONALD! RONALD, NO! NO, NO, NO! PLEASE NO!” His mother’s cries reverberated off of the walls of the back of the Dursley house and the house behind them. Mr. Weasley, gripped his wife around her shoulders to hold her back from the body and shook both with the effort and the sorrow of losing his youngest son. “MY S-SON! MY SON! RONALD! RONALD! OH NO! N-NO! NOT MY BOY!” The sounds of her anguish struck Hermione as though each utterance were a blow that knocked the air from her chest.



All the while, Fred and George remained, like Hermione, unmoving and in shock at the sight of their fallen brother. Suddenly snapping back to the situation as though yanked physically out of her reverie, Hermione turned her head away from her closest friend to the uneven fight in time to see an Order member fall to the killing curse. Dropping to her knees she reached to drag the person closer and grabbed Mrs. Weasley’s hand with her other hand and placed it and her open palm to Ron’s chest. “Where is Order Headquarters?”



Fred and George seemed to snap out of their reverie at that moment and stepped forward to grab one of each of Hermione’s shoulders. “We’ll take you!” They cried in unison. With a glance at Harry, she said, “I’ll be back.” Then, before he could respond, she side-along apparated with the two bodies, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. When they arrived, she stood too quickly and swooned. Mr. Weasley caught her when he released his wife to mourn over their son.



His tears splashed over her face and she turned to see Ron’s body for the first time in the light. She had to fight a wave of nausea at the sight and pulled out of Mr. Weasley’s arms to apparate back. She opened her mouth to say something comforting, but her brilliant mind failed her, and without another word, she apparated back into the Dursleys’ backyard.



Now, there were more Order members and Death Eaters, and from where she stood, she could see several muggle police officers coming up behind the ranks of the Order members with their clubs drawn. One of them stepped out from behind the protection of the wall to get a better view of what was going on, and was struck squarely in his head with a killing curse. His comrade dropped to his knees and immediately checked the man’s vitals, and Hermione was about to take action when the officer raised a radio to his mouth and called, “THIS IS AN I.R.I.R! OFFICER DOWN! We need an I.R. Car ASAP! A.R.V. suggested! They appear to be using laser weapons!”



There was some incoherent babble on the other end and the officer grabbed his dead partner and dragged him out of the yard. Hermione knew that they would likely bring the Armed Response Unit with them. Without sparing another thought to the muggles, Hermione plunged into the fray and grabbed Harry by the back of his robes, dragging him away from the front lines. As she was doing so, a glimpse into the upper windows of the Dursley house made her blood run cold. In the window, the silhouette of a very tall man gripped the throat of a very rotund individual and Hermione turned Harry to look up.



When his eyes widened and he grabbed her hand, she tried to keep up with his long strides as best she could as they ran toward the house. The door seemed to open of its own accord and Harry let go of Hermione as he skidded on the kitchen floor and just managed to catch himself on the counter before he could fall. Hermione steadied herself on the refrigerator and her eyes fell on the chopping block and she grabbed a knife immediately. Harry looked at her with curiosity, but didn’t speak before turning and creeping up the stairs.



At the top, Harry was surprised to find Dudley trembling from head to toe. He was apparently too scared to go back towards the bedrooms and too scared to go downstairs. His beady eyes met Harry’s with surprise and the boy began to mouth something. His weight had subsided a bit since the last time that Harry had seen him and he was beginning to look somewhat intimidating with muscle to replace the layers of fat, but now the young man appeared to be shaking so violently that Hermione was sure he would pass out soon.



Hermione left a ward at the bottom of the stairs, then, following Harry’s lead, she placed a comforting hand on Dudley’s shoulder and squeezed past him toward the slit of light coming out from under his parents’ bedroom door. As they approached, there was silence on the other side, and Hermione stopped Harry immediately from touching the door handle. Dropping to her stomach in the hall, she held Aunt Petunia’s spotlessly reflective knife along the ground at an angle that allowed her to see who was holding the Dursleys hostage inside.



She could see a glimpse of Aunt Petunia’s long pink nightgown and then Uncle Vernon’s beefy feet, bare on the carpet near the bed. She continued to tilt her head to the side until it lay flat and angled the knife as flat as she could until the Death Eater’s face could be seen. The very familiar countenance of Draco Malfoy surprised her and she twisted the knife in an attempt to see if his typical cronies were in the room with him. The tips of one pair of boots surprised her and she stood up to address Harry. “It’s Draco,” She mouthed, “and one other person, but I don’t know who.”



Harry nodded and grabbed the door handle; taking two, slow, calming breaths before raising the other hand with three fingers up. Hermione got into the position Moody had taught them, and watched Harry out of the corner of her eye. Just as Harry was about to lower his second finger, three gunshots from outside made both Harry and Hermione jump. Inside, Petunia Dursley screamed and the second occupant of the room shouted, “Draco, get down!”



“Bugger!” Harry whispered, looking at Hermione when he recognized Snape’s voice, “He’s everywhere!”



Hermione had to suppress the flutter in her stomach at the sound of Snape’s bass tones.



“DRACO!” Snape shouted, sounding distressed, and Hermione immediately stepped forward and threw the door open. Her wand and Snape’s were trained on each other, and in Snape’s other arm was Draco, looking down at his gut where his black robes looked wet. The only sign that it was an injury was in the wet, red, stain that was spreading in the carpet. Snape gripped his wand firmly and his eyes darted to Harry briefly before locking on Hermione’s again. He was silently begging her to let him save his godson. In the corner, the Dursley’s followed each of the wands with their eyes.



Hermione had never seen Snape look so out of his depth, and she immediately empathised with his worry. Harry tried to step forward to curse them when Hermione held out her arm. Looking down at her fair skinned arm, Harry growled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”



“What your godson has inside his body is a lead bullet encased in either a copper or steel alloy shell. I am only telling you this to spare your life, and on behalf of the late Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter is sparing the life of your Godson in the hope that he will one day spare us.”



Harry twitched angrily and he tightened his grip on his wand. “LIKE HELL I WILL!” His anger and pain over his memory of Ron’s body sliding to the ground, eyes open, jaw slack was clouding his thoughts, and he shoved Hermione aside. Shocked over his manhandling, Hermione was not ready to catch herself, tripped over the corner of the bed, and fell. Her head struck the vanity table with a loud thump, and Mrs. Dursley shrieked. Snape had gripped Draco tighter with ill-disguised concern for the witch.



Harry raised his wand when, just as suddenly as before, several other gunshots went off and both Harry and the Dursleys dove to the floor. When the shots stopped, they looked up, and Snape and Draco had disapparated to safety. Harry pushed himself up and turned to Hermione immediately who sat up and groaned, grabbing the back of her head. There was only a little blood on her hand as she pulled her hand away, but Harry still offered to help her and apologized profusely. Hermione waved him off and carefully approached the window. The Dursley’s yard was strewn with death, where several bodies, Order and Death Eater alike, lay dead on the ground.



Harry turned to his aunt and uncle, and said, “We have to get you somewhere safe.”



Uncle Vernon surprised them all when he said, “What do you want us to do?”



“Pack up just enough to leave and start over somewhere new.”



“Where’s Dudders?” Aunt Petunia abruptly piped up.



“He’s in the hallway,” responded Harry, “I’ll send him in.” As he began to leave, he spoke to Hermione over his shoulder. “We need to talk.”



She quietly followed him into his old bedroom with a sigh and while he called out for Dudley to go with his parents, she took a seat on the simply-made bed. As he came back into the room and closed the door, she could tell by his expression that they would need a silencing spell on the room.



He looked at her for a long moment and seemed to be trying to collect himself. Regardless of his attempt, the words that left his mouth were less than gently spoken. “What right do you have to spare the life of that sick ferret?”



“I did it to protect us, Harry.”



“Protect! Protect? How the fuck does letting our mortal enemy escape protect us?”



“We let him live, so he is now in debt to you. His honour is cemented in the magical binds we have just created.”



“What are you on about?”



“In our third year, you spared the life of Peter Pettigrew and Dumbledore had said that Pettigrew now owed you the debt of his life. We needed to have the Dark Lord’s right hand man and Malfoy in debt to us as well!”



“Yeah? And what about that debt I owe Ron? I owed my best friend the death of Snape for MURDERING HIM WITH HIS BACK TURNED!” Harry’s eyes filled with tears quite suddenly and he grabbed at his untidy hair with frustration.



“WE DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO KILLED RON, HARRY! IT COULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE! NONE OF US WERE PAYING ATTEN—”



“I SAW, HERMIONE!” His grief made his knees weak and he dropped to the bed, “Snape k-killed Ron!”



Hermione felt something drop in the pit of her stomach, “He couldn’t have been the one—”



“Why couldn’t he have been, Hermione? Why could—”



“—it was too dark. There was no way you could have properly—”



“I SAW IT!”



Hermione remained silent for a moment. Slowly, the feeling of grief began to surface in her, and she shook her head as though against the doubt that was beginning to occlude her mind. Her chest began to ache as the reality of their loss hit home. It seemed to be spreading into her head, and in a final attempt to remain calm, she turned to the door and opened it with a flick of her wand.



Harry had watched her flush with dawning realization and her eyes reddened with the effort of holding back tears, and silently wondered whom she was crying for. She seemed to be holding herself together pretty well before he told her that Snape was involved. Narrowing his eyes at her back, Harry had his suspicions and tucked them into the back of his mind for later consideration. For now, they had to move the Dursleys who seemed to have packed the entirety of their possessions in five gigantic rolling suitcases, three baskets, and four satchels.



Harry looked at all of it and waved his wand at their entire luggage pile. When they shrunk small enough to fit in Dudley’s piggy palm, Harry scooped them up and dropped them into Aunt Petunia’s purse. The Dursleys stared at her purse with shock clearly evident on their faces before they looked up at Harry. They seemed to be mute, so Harry simply turned back to Hermione. “Where are we going?”



“Headquarters.” Hermione said before placing a gentle touch to Dudley’s arm and waiting for Harry to grab a hold of her with Mr. and Mrs. Dursley. “Okay,” Hermione gently said, “This will be a bit uncomfortable, so you need to take a deep breath and don’t worry. It’ll be over before you know it!” She tried to sound chipper, but the hoarseness of her voice from the day’s activities seemed to take away from her comforting tone. Nevertheless, Hermione took a deep breath herself and apparated away with Harry and the entire Dursley family.



As soon as they arrived, Hermione swooned. This time, it was Dudley Dursley who caught her before she lost her balance. His beefy face was red and he was gasping loudly. Apparently, the trip had been a significant surprise to him. Turning to her left, where Harry ought to have been, she saw only empty space and whirled around, twisting violently to move out of Dudley’s arms. “Harry!” She shouted, fearing that she had left him behind. Pushing away from the Dursleys and preparing to apparate back, her eyes found Harry standing near the doorway with a small group of Order members. It was the person in the midst of the group that caught her eye and made her heart skip a beat with surprise. She drew her wand instinctively, but couldn’t think of the spell she needed before her eyes rolled back in her head and she crashed to the ground.





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A/N: Ooooookay… so we now have the return of the highly anticipated top reviewers list. But before I begin, I would like to welcome our new friends: Snapescello, Gryffindor_Slytherin, JB, iamtherealmaverick, losername, ginnylovesharry07, trm, and FlitterKat! Welcome all, and I hope you continue to enjoy my craft. I really am doing my best, and I hope that it is sufficient for all of you!



But that’s not all!



I would also like to thank my most frequent and dedicated reviewers:



1. catysmom

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7. Jen618

8. slytherin-princess

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9. PyroAngel

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10. Lady_of_Clunn

10. Carha



Oh yes! And I will try and try and try to get another chapter completed by Christmas Day, but in case I run out of time, I would like to say Happy Christmas all!