Author's Note: How's this for fast typing? Two updates in one day. With any luck, I'll have the final chapter up tomorrow morning. If not then, it will definitely be out before I head off to the bookstore to get the new Harry Potter book!!! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow…the pumpkin pasties, chocolate pretzel wands, and butterbeer I've made only proves it. I hope everyone has a wonderful day as HBP comes out and don't forget to watch Katie Couric's interview with J.K. Rowling on Dateline, Sunday the 17th! Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews and thank you Nitya once again for everything. Enjoy the chapter.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
THE UNLIKELY HERO
Fear flooded him. He turned around slowly and came face to face with the man who he had to destroy before he, himself, was destroyed. He looked directly into the ghostly white face of Lord Voldemort.
"Now there's no need for a deal, Potter," Voldemort said. "Both of you can die."
Harry stepped backwards towards the tree again. His mind panicked. He wasn't nearly ready enough to face Voldemort, not yet. He had a horrible feeling that this was the end for him. He was about to die and it was going to take place right in front of Hermione's eyes. Or worse, they would force Harry to watch while they killed Hermione.
Voldemort's scarlet eyes bore into his. His snake-like nostrils expanded as he breathed in deeply, a twisted grin forming on his face. "Yes," he hissed. "Now I can see. Now I can see into your mind again, Potter. Your fear radiates off of you!"
Harry tore his eyes away from the Dark Lord and put a clamp on his emotions. He cleared his mind, performing the Occlumency he needed to stop Voldemort's intrusion into his mind. "My mind is not open to you," he said slowly through gritted teeth.
Voldemort's cheek twitched. He set one foot behind him as if he needed the anchoring before meeting Harry's eyes again, his teeth bared. Harry once again blocked him.
"So that's what you and Dumbledore have been up to," Voldemort said in a deadly whisper. "He's had you working on Occlumency. But I still sense some weaknesses. You may know what to do, but you haven't been keeping up your practice, have you, young Potter?"
Harry didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes swept the area, desperate for an escape route. They truly had to get out of there now.
"Let me guess," Voldemort taunted, "you actually liked being the only one able to peer into my mind. You liked thinking that you were always one step ahead. My mind is the forbidden fruit that Dumbledore told you not to touch, but you have." He looked around at their surroundings. "And now you are no longer in your little paradise. You willingly walked out of your garden." His gaze rested upon Harry once more. "All for some girl. All for some Mudblood girl."
Harry finally found his voice once again. "She's not just some girl," he bit out.
Voldemort laughed, high-pitched and cruel. "You are far too overprotective of those who don't deserve it."
Suddenly, his fear was replaced by anger. "She's my best friend."
"And friends betray," Voldemort said, watching him. "Friends do not remain friends throughout your entire life. One day, she'll leave you. She'll one day see the darkness that plagues your heart and walk away."
"There is no darkness in his heart," Hermione spat, peering out from behind the tree. She looked livid. "And no matter what happens, I will always be his friend."
Voldemort motioned to a Death Eater with his thin, spider-like hands. The Death Eater jumped up, his wand out, and yelled, "CRUCIO!"
"No!" Harry cried, jumping into the path of the curse to intercept it. When the spell hit him, he screamed in agony.
"STOP!" Voldemort ordered, and the Death Eater immediately ceased. "Potter is mine!" He glared malevolently down at Harry, who was crouched on all fours, wheezing. Sneering, he said, "You always have to be the hero."
"I won't…let you…hurt her," he gasped.
The Dark Lord smirked. "How can you stop me?"
Harry glared up at him. His system was slowly recovering from the curse. With an effort, he stood up and faced Voldemort, his wand at the ready. The Death Eaters laughed from their bowing positions.
Voldemort smirked. "You wish to duel with me, Potter?"
"I came out alright last time I did it," Harry said.
"Only due to the affects of priori incantatem," Voldemort said. He turned around to face his Death Eaters. "Rise, my servants." The Death Eaters rose as one, facing Lord Voldemort with rapt attention. "Wormtail!" the Dark Lord snapped.
"Yes, Master?" asked the short, masked form of Wormtail as he stepped forward.
"Give Potter your wand," Voldemort ordered.
Wormtail pulled off his mask, his face utterly alarmed. "Master?"
Voldemort turned his wand on Wormtail. "CRUCIO!" he bellowed and Wormtail screamed as he hit the ground and writhed in pain. "I SHALL HAVE COMPLETE AND UTTER OBEDIENCE, WORMTAIL! DO NOT QUESTION ME! GIVE POTTER YOUR WAND!"
When Voldemort lifted the curse, Wormtail slowly got to his feet and staggered over to Harry, his wand in his hand. Harry stood there, staring at the wheezing bald man.
"Take the wand, Potter! Imperio!" Voldemort yelled.
Harry's mind went into a blissful haze. His fear and anger evaporated into sheer peace. He didn't have to think, or worry, or do anything…take the wand…take the wand…take the wand…
Why? Harry asked himself. Why should he take Wormtail's wand? He had his own; granted, it didn't work when he dueled with Voldemort. He didn't want Wormtail's wand. But he felt his hand reaching out to grab it. When he felt the wood touch his palm, he enclosed his fingers around it.
But I don't want this wand, Harry thought. I-don't-want-"IT!" Harry yelled, taking the wand and snapping it in two across his knee.
"My wand!" Wormtail cried.
Harry tossed the pieces aside. "I'll never use the wand of a traitor."
Voldemort stared at him for a long moment. "Very well. Choose a wand," he said.
"I'd rather use my own," Harry said.
"Crucio!" Voldemort muttered lazily, sending Harry into a fresh fit of pain. "I told you to choose a wand. You will do as I say, Potter."
"Why don't you choose a wand?" Harry spat when the curse was lifted.
"Has anyone ever told you that your mouth would someday get you into trouble?" Voldemort asked. "Because this is the day. CRUCIO!"
Harry screamed as the feeling of white hot knives piercing his body returned to him. He was in such incredible pain that he didn't hear Hermione cry out, "STOP IT!"
Voldemort did stop, surprisingly, but the rage exhibited on his face told Harry exactly why. "Mudblood, your time is up!"
"NO!" Harry cried, ignoring his aching body and jumping up. Then he did something very brave and very stupid. He launched himself at the Dark Lord and tackled him. His scar burned hot with pain. The Death Eaters stepped back, gasping. Harry rolled away and got up before taking position in front of the yew tree again.
Malfoy and another Death Eater reached down to help Voldemort up, but he smacked away their hands. "I don't need help!" Voldemort growled as he picked himself up.
"Yes, Master."
"We're sorry, Master."
He faced Harry. "You will pay for your insolence, Potter," he said in a low voice. "I cannot just kill you now. You will be punished severely. You will be tortured beyond belief-not just by the Cruciatus Curse-physical pain is not just enough for you. No, I will mentally torture you-emotionally torture you. I will find out what you fear most. Legilimens!"
Harry dropped to his knees as, faster than he had ever experienced, memories flowed through him. He saw Dudley punching him when they were younger…dementors floating towards him…Cedric Diggory dying…Sinead Cassidy, still alive, lying in a pool of blood…Sirius falling back through the veil…a purple streak passing through Hermione, rendering her unconscious…
No! You're not seeing my fears! Harry's mind cried and suddenly the connection was broken. Harry noticed that his wand was held high and that Voldemort was rubbing his wrists.
"Miss your godfather, don't you?" Voldemort asked quietly. His eyes glinted maliciously. "I've had the chance to talk to Bella about it. She took such absolute pleasure out of killing her cousin. She let me look into her mind to see the sheer horror on his face when he was blasted back through that veil. I bet that when he came to your rescue he never expected to die. Perhaps if he had known, he wouldn't have come. If you hadn't actually believed what I put into your head, he would have never died. He would still be alive today, walking and talking. He would be joking with his old friends and telling you about your pathetic parents. But you believed what you little mind saw and came running to his rescue, when in reality he didn't need any rescuing at all! He came to rescue you and he died because of it. You killed him, Harry. You killed Sirius Black."
"No," Harry whispered, shaking his head violently. "No! I didn't kill him! It's not my fault!"
"That's what you keep telling yourself, isn't it?" Voldemort murmured. "But deep in your heart you know it to be true. You know what you did and you know the result. It's all a matter of cause and effect, Harry. Because you left your security blanket of Hogwarts, Black went off after you. Because you had to play the hero, your godfather died!"
"You tricked me!" Harry cried, but the guilt that he had buried deep within himself resurfaced again. "You ambushed me!"
"That has nothing to do with it," the Dark Lord said simply. "The truth of the matter is, Harry, you just had to try to contact Black, which forced the house-elf Kreacher to lie to you. That forced Black to make the elf tell the truth, which forced Black to go to the Department of Mysteries that night. The moment you tried to contact Black, you set a chain of events in motion which led to the death of your precious godfather."
Harry shook his head, his feelings of guilt worse than ever. As much as he didn't want to believe Voldemort, there was some logic to his words. There was some truth to them.
"Don't believe him, Harry," he suddenly heard Hermione whisper from the other side of the tree. "He's lying to you. He wants to make you feel guilty. He's trying to torture you, Harry. Don't let him. It's not your fault."
He breathed slowly, letting Hermione's words sink into him-calm him. She was right. Voldemort was lying to him in an attempt to make him feel like he did that previous summer. He was trying to bring back Harry's despair.
Steeling himself against Voldemort's mental and emotional onslaught, Harry looked him dead in the eye. "You're a liar," he said, "and I don't believe you."
Voldemort scowled and pointed his wand at him. "Come here," he growled, and to Harry's astonishment, he felt his feet leave the ground as he soared towards Voldemort. With another flick of Voldemort's wand, Harry came crashing down. Voldemort kicked him in the ribs to roll him over. "Let us keep you away from your little Mudblood."
Harry got up gingerly, his torso aching. Voldemort just had to have kicked him where Lupin's werewolf claws had sunk into him. "I thought," Harry said slowly, "that we were supposed to have ourselves a duel?"
"Eager to die, aren't you, Potter?" Voldemort said, his red eyes flashing. "Very well then, let us have our duel. Dolohov, your wand!"
"Yes, Master," Antonin Dolohov said behind his black mask as he stepped forward, delivering his wand to Voldemort.
Harry stared at the Death Eater who had performed that terrible curse on Hermione the year prior that he had remembered when Voldemort had forced his way into Harry's mind. Part of him wanted to hex the masked man right then and there.
Voldemort was watching Harry closely. "Wait, Dolohov," he murmured as Dolohov began to step back. "You know Dolohov, don't you, Potter?"
Harry stood there, glaring at the Death Eater. He didn't say anything. He didn't even move.
"Tell me, Dolohov, what did you do to Potter when you met him?" Voldemort asked in a sly voice.
Dolohov tore off his mask and smirked at Harry. "I knocked out that little Mudblood friend of his," he said. "He was right upset about it."
"Was he?" The Dark Lord smiled vilely, glancing at Harry. "Well, Potter, here's your chance. You can have your revenge on Dolohov here."
Dolohov's eyes widened in surprise, but he bowed before facing Harry.
Harry stared at the Death Eater. He'd like nothing better than to do what Dolohov had done to Hermione. But the part of his mind that spoke in Hermione's voice screamed, No! You can't! You would be no better than them!
He frowned. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said.
"Let go of your conscience, Potter-it will not serve you well here," Voldemort said, scowling. "If you are to stand any chance against me, you can't let some little moral voice inside your head hold you back. You must take action-drastic action-now!"
And that's exactly what Harry did. "Expelliarmus!" he cried and with satisfaction saw Dolohov's wand fly out of Voldemort's spidery hand.
The Dark Lord growled in anger. "Impedimenta!" he shouted, pointing his own wand at Harry.
"Protego!" Harry yelled.
"Crucio!" Voldemort screeched, hitting Harry squarely in the chest. No Shield Charm could have protected him from that.
Harry fell to the ground and cried out in pain. Gritting his teeth as the pain racked his body, he pointed his wand at Voldemort and tried to perform a Trip Jinx, but the Dark Lord easily deflected it. Harry, however, used the mere second to his advantage, using the trick that Hermione had played on him in the empty classroom. "Avis!"
Several small birds shot out of Harry's wand and flew directly at Voldemort. He snarled and, waving his wand in a great arch, cried, "Avada Kedavra!" A harsh green light hit the birds and they fell, dead.
Harry was crawling towards the yew tree when Voldemort roared, "Let us end these childish games, Potter! Stand up and face death like a man!"
Harry grabbed onto the tree and slowly stood up. When he turned and faced Voldemort, he saw the Dark Lord's wand pointed directly at his heart. There was nothing Harry could do. He was about to die.
Voldemort waved his wand. "Avada Kedav-"
BOOM!
Startled, Harry, Lord Voldemort, Hermione, and the Death Eaters all twisted to stare into a cloud of dust where part of the huge stone wall had stood. Then, appearing out of the dust cloud were seven people-Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mara Frost, Severus Snape, and Percy Weasley.
Out of all of them, Harry noticed, Percy looked to be the angriest. His entire face was blotched red and the knuckles of the hand that griped his wand were white. Harry had never seen him that angry before, even when he had slapped Ron.
Dumbledore stepped forward. "Hello, Tom," he said in a dangerously pleasant voice. "We meet once again."
Voldemort waved his wand, conjuring up a silver shield. "Dumbledore," he murmured.
"Surely you must remember, Tom, that I am not especially fond of having my students kidnapped and murdered," Dumbledore said.
"Surely you must remember, Dumbledore, that I have always worked to cleanse this world-to get rid of all impurities," Voldemort hissed. "To destroy every single last person with Muggle blood running through their veins."
"Then you, yourself, must surely die," Dumbledore reminded him. "After all, you have Muggle blood in your veins too."
"The day I erased the Riddle family from history was the day I cleansed myself," Voldemort said. "There is no Tom Riddle. There is only me, Lord Voldemort."
"Tom Riddle and Lord Voldemort are one in the same," Dumbledore said simply. "You cannot escape your past, Tom."
Voldemort's lip curled. "I am tired of you and your foolish Mudblood-loving ways. You have meddled in my affairs for the last time, Dumbledore. You and your entourage are finished. Death Eaters, take care of them!"
At Voldemort's command, the Death Eaters sprang into action. Harry, Dumbledore, and the others were outnumbered two to one. Dumbledore, however, took care of part of that problem, waving his wand and yelling, "Stupefy!" Four Death Eaters dropped then and there as Dumbledore and Voldemort launched into a frenzied duel.
Harry wasn't about to stand by and watch them all fight. He joined the fray too, searching for one Death Eater in particular. When he found Joaquin Crow, he sent a powerful Blasting Curse at him, knocking him away from Lupin. "He's mine," Harry growled as he passed his professor, heading towards Crow.
"Harry-"
"He's mine!" repeated Harry darkly, glaring down at Crow as he shook his head clear.
Lupin frowned and began to walk away as Crow began to chuckle. "You're too tame when the full moon isn't out, Lupin!" he said, laughing.
Lupin spun. "Would you like to see just how wild I can get, Crow?"
"Don't you understand, I tried to do that already." Crow held up the little hourglass that was the Time Turner. "I was able to go back in time and taint your Wolfsbane Potion while I did something that would distract Snape enough to leave his office. You howled that night because my Maestro wanted to see if you'd kill anyone of extreme importance in Hogwarts."
"Well I didn't," Lupin said, walking up to Crow. "You're just lucky I didn't come across you after my transformation, because I certainly would have killed you." Then, in a blur of motion, Lupin punched Crow square across the jaw. "He's all yours, Harry."
Harry pointed his wand at Crow's chest as Lupin walked away. "Get up," he ordered.
Crow did so, slowly, his wand at his side. "Are you going to try to kill me, Harry?" he mocked.
"I'm not like you," Harry said. "I don't kill people. I don't take the lives of others."
"So noble," Crow jeered. "You try to act so innocent, as if you are the defender of everything that is good and pure. But in reality, what you are trying to defend is impure and dirty. There is no purity where there is mud!"
"And there is no purity where there is anarchy," Harry shot back.
"My Maestro does not bring anarchy with him," Crow said fiercely. "He brings the exact opposite-order and justice."
"You call what he does 'justice'?" Harry asked.
"It is justice to the wizarding race, which has been tainted with the blood of Muggles," Crow murmured. "You would not understand, Harry. You're a filthy half-blood."
"Thanks," Harry said dryly. "I rather like it that way, too."
An ugly look passed over Crow's face. "Conjunctiva!"
Harry ducked just in time as the curse passed over his head. "Impedimenta!" he yelled, pointing his wand at Crow.
Crow blocked the curse with a simple wave of his wand. "Locomotor Mortis!"
"Protego!" he shouted. Then he caught him with a Trip Jinx before tackling him on the ground. They scuffled for several moments until Harry yelled, "Impedimenta!" It was then that Harry realized that his wand wasn't pointed at Crow, but somehow the spell had still worked.
Harry grabbed Crow's wand and threw it as far as he could before pocketing his own. Then, his whole body trembling in rage, he began to punch the Anglo-Spaniard.
"This is for June!"
He punched him.
"This is for Sinead!"
He punched him yet again.
"This is for Rocco!"
He punched him yet again.
"This is for the Winters family!"
And again.
"This is for the Cassidy family!"
And again.
"This is for the Zabini family!"
And again.
"And most of all, this is for Ron-"
And again.
"-and Hermione!"
He punched him one final time and when he did so, Crow groaned. His nose had started to bleed. Harry stood over him. "How does it feel to be beaten by a sixteen-year-old half-blood?" he spat and walked away.
He spied two Death Eaters who were attacking Kingsley when he suddenly heard a voice cry, "Stupefy!" behind him. He turned-and dodged out of the way just in time as a stunned Death Eater fell towards him. Beyond the Death Eater, still hidden by most of the yew tree, was Hermione, her wand pointed at where the Death Eater had been standing, her face contorted slightly in pain.
"Thanks," Harry gasped.
"Don't mention it," she said, lowering her arm and shifting to get her weight off of her shattered leg.
"Harry!" someone called behind him and he spun around to see Dumbledore and Voldemort near him, still clashing. "Harry!" Dumbledore repeated. "Get Hermione out of here!"
Harry nodded. Yes, now was the perfect time to escape. Dumbledore had provided a better exit when he had blasted a huge hole through the stone wall. Harry turned back and ran quickly to Hermione's side. "Time to go," he said.
She gave a weak nod. "Wait though," she said and tapped her leg with her wand. "Ferula," she murmured, causing bandages to spring up her leg before it was strapped tightly to a splint. "There, that should make it a little easier for me to walk."
"Alright," Harry said, squatting next to her. He grabbed her right arm with his hand and wrapped it around his shoulder before slipping his left arm behind her back for support. "Ready?"
Grimacing, she nodded. "Yes."
"On three then-one-two-three!" he said and pulled her up while she pushed herself up with her left leg. Harry could tell she wanted to cry out in pain, but she held it in. "Okay, let's move."
As they started to walk out from behind the yew tree, they heard somebody yell, "YOU MURDERED MY MOTHER'S ONLY SIBLINGS!"
Harry and Hermione turned to see Percy dueling with Antonin Dolohov. Dolohov laughed. "Did I? Who were they? I've killed lots of people."
"Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Does that ring a bell?" Percy spat.
Dolohov's eyes shined in glee. "Oh yes, I remember those two quite well. It took me and four other Death Eaters to finally kill them. So you are their nephew?" He sneered. "You definitely don't take after that side of the family."
Percy launched into a fresh attack on Dolohov as Harry and Hermione slowly continued on towards the stone wall. Harry glanced over at where he had left Crow, but found that he wasn't there. He scanned the area and finally spotted him approaching Percy with his wand that he had obviously recovered.
"PERCY!" he yelled. "BEHIND YOU!"
Percy successfully kicked Dolohov in the groin before spinning around and ducking underneath Crow's punch.
"You!" Percy bellowed. "You're the reason why my brother's in the hospital wing!"
Harry and Hermione stepped closer and closer to the stone wall. Percy and Crow became engaged in a duel behind them. Another Death Eater ran towards them when suddenly they heard a woman shriek, "Stupefy!" The Death Eater dropped.
Harry glanced gratefully over at Professor McGonagall. She nodded back at them.
Suddenly they heard someone roar behind them, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"
Harry and Hermione were able to spin just in time to see a green light pierce Percy Weasley's body. His eyes were wide in shock. Behind him, Antonin Dolohov was kneeling with a dark smile on his face, his wand pointed directly at Percy.
"No!" Hermione gasped, closing her eyes tightly and burying her face in Harry's shoulder.
Harry stood, shocked, as he watched Percy collapse onto the ground. Standing over him, Crow grinned. "Adiós, boss."
"Stupefy!" someone yelled and suddenly, Dolohov kneeled over. Stepping between the dueling figures of Kingsley and a Death Eater was Mara Frost. Crow sneered. "Let's play."
They began to duel, moving away from the fallen Percy. Harry stared at him a moment longer before he murmured to Hermione, "Come on, we've got to get out of here."
When they finally made it to the stone wall, Harry took one last glance back at the scene before helping Hermione gingerly step over what was left in the gaping hole. Privately he wondered how many more might die that night. Seeing his best friend's brother die, however, left him numb.
Harry continued to support Hermione's weight as they slowly made their way back to the castle. When his thoughts finally drifted away from the battle, he glanced at Hermione and saw on her face just how much pain she was going through. Sweat plastered strands of her bushy hair to her face. Harry stopped.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You need to rest," he said.
"What I need is medical attention," Hermione said. "As do you."
"I'm fine," Harry murmured, but she did have a point. "I don't want you walking anymore though."
"Then how do you propose-"
Harry, however, was already switching sides with her, wrapping his right arm around her shoulder blades as he bent low. "Hang onto me," he said and scooped her legs up.
Hermione immediately wrapped her arms around his neck as he picked her up and began to carry her. "You're going to carry me all the way back to the castle?"
He nodded. "I carried Ron. You're a lot lighter than he is."
She frowned and rested her head on his shoulder. Harry could practically read her thoughts. Ron. How were they going to tell Ron about Percy?
Harry carried her all the way up to the castle, through the oak front doors, and down the corridor leading to the hospital wing. With the help of Hermione, he was able to kick open the door. Madam Pomfrey was there, as was Ginny, Luna, and Neville, who were sitting by Ron's bedside.
Ron himself lay in his bed, awake. His face was full of cuts. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Harry and Hermione enter the hospital wing.
Ginny jumped up to greet them. "You found her!" she exclaimed, closing her eyes as if she were thanking some higher being.
Madam Pomfrey rushed forward. "Put her here," she ordered, pointing to the bed next to Ron.
Harry complied, placing Hermione gently on the bed. He then stepped back and let Madam Pomfrey get to work.
"What happened, Harry?" Ron asked.
A lump had risen in Harry's throat. He couldn't look at him, or Ginny. He couldn't look at any of them.
"What happened?" Ginny asked this time. "After we brought Ron here, Lupin came storming in with Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Percy. Madam Pomfrey brought Ron out of unconsciousness easy enough-it was just getting him to say a coherent word that was the hard part. Eventually he told them everything that had happened and we told him how you had ran off to save Hermione…then they rushed out. What happened, Harry?"
"It was Crow," Harry murmured. "Crow was the killer."
"The nice Auror?" Neville asked, stunned.
"He's more a stark raving mad lunatic," Harry said. "I got there in time to stop Lucius Malfoy-"
"Malfoy's dad?"
"Yeah," Harry replied. "I got there in time to stop him from killing Hermione. Then they tried to decide what to do with us, but Voldemort showed up." They all cringed. "He got me with the Cruciatus Curse a few times."
Madam Pomfrey looked highly alarmed. "Mr. Potter, sit down and rest!"
But Harry couldn't. He couldn't sit. He needed to stand. "We were dueling when Dumbledore showed up. I fought Crow then, but I didn't-I didn't finish him off. I didn't stun him or anything. Then I went to help Hermione out of there-Malfoy had shattered her leg, you see? But…"
"But what?" Ron asked.
He looked up into Ron's eyes before looking into Ginny's, and then back at Ron's. "I'm so sorry," he murmured.
Both Ron and Ginny looked highly alarmed. "What is it?" Ginny asked.
"It's Percy," Harry said. "He's…he's…"
"Gone," Hermione finished for him in a whisper.
Ginny slowly sat down on Ron's bed. Ron stared at Harry. "What?" he breathed.
"He's gone," Harry told them. "He got hit with the Killing Curse from behind. I-there wasn't anything anyone could do to stop it."
"He was fighting Crow-fighting to avenge what he had done to you, Ron," Hermione said, "when another Death Eater hit him. He went down a hero."
Ginny turned to Ron with tears in her eyes. Ron leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his sister, bringing her in for a tight embrace.
And for the first time in the six years that he had known him, Harry saw Ron cry.