"Come on Harry, we'll be late," Tonks called to him. It was time to go to King's Cross and board the Hogwart's Express. He thought over everything that had happened to him, and decided to finish his training, if only to face his mortal enemy. Tonks held Harry's hand while he held his trunk in the other and Apparated to an isolated corner of Kings. They had some free time before Harry had to be on the train. Once at the station, she shrunk his bags so they could fit in his pocket.
"Harry, you want to get a drink before getting on the train?" she asked him.
"No. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"That's fine, but I'm going to be going with you to Hogsmeade." She nodded to a couple of people leaning in a dark corner as they passed.
"That's fine. Look, Tonks, before we leave, I want to explain…"
"No need. I know what's happened. I can only imagine how you feel. I'm not about to tell you any different. You're a friend, not just an assignment. I volunteered for this assignment, along with almost everyone else in the order, Mundungus was the only one that didn't. No one really knows why."
"I do…"
"Really, well, I'll leave that as your business."
"Thank you. I guess I could use a drink. There's a place over there, ever had a soda before?"
"It's a muggle beverage, right? I had one, once I think."
"Come on then, it'll be my treat."
The two stopped at a small food stand in the station, Harry ordered two cherry cokes, and while he was paying Harry never noticed a group of young people pushing trolleys full of luggage past them.
"Tonks, have I really been a prat all summer?"
"Yes you have. There's a long list of people that you really need to make amends with, Ron and Hermione especially, and Remus feels the same."
"All I could think about was all the people I've care about have died because of me."
"No, not everyone... Ron and Hermione aren't dead so that can't be true."
"I-I had a fight with them---"
"I know; I saw it. Remember I've been your shadow."
"You saw it? When?"
"That afternoon in Diagon Alley, but from what I saw, that was only part of it. Want to talk about the rest?"
"I really can't. I've… put it out of my mind and don't want to think about it." He remembered it was still in his Pensieve.
"Harry, remember, you'll never lose those two, they'll be with you when ever you need them. I know all you need to do is go to them, when YOU'RE ready."
"I haven't had any one to talk too, so I guess I've forgotten how. I think I've pissed them off too much."
"You have, but that can be fixed."
KAABOOOOMMM….
The ground they stood on shook with a vengeance, debris flew through the air and they heard screams from just around the corner, near the barrier to Platform 9 ¾. Both Harry and Tonks were thrown to the ground; Harry pulled his wand from his pocket and started to get to his feet. He wanted to run toward the sound of the explosion and help, but Tonks grabbed him and held him down, she was amazingly strong for a woman. "NO… STAY PUT! This may just be a diversion to draw you into the open, Harry"
"But what about---"
"Before you said you didn't care, so why now?"
"There's people hurt, maybe I can help."
"Stay put… I'll take a look. STAY PUT… SWEAR TO ME!"
"Yes. I'll play the coward."
"No, YOU'RE NOT A COWARD…I'll be right back."
She waved to several others and a group of four others joined her to investigate the explosion.
She carefully stood and they slipped around the corner, he could still hear crying and screams of pain. He watched the corner hard, as he saw a thin line of red turn thicker. After staying in hiding for an eternity, Tonks returned blood covered her side. "Don't worry, it's not mine."
"Come on," she pointed her wand to the corner, as if to hex the first thing she saw. Harry followed closely behind her, and saw the carnage. The first thing he saw was the crater, then the twisted steel of the destroyed engine. Fragments of steel had cut through the crowded platform, leaving severed limbs and the remains of these nearby the blast. He had seen this before, but when? He clutched the small Pensieve in his pocket, and thought it must be hidden in there.
He walked carefully past a young woman lying dead on the ground, a bundle of packages that will never be delivered lying next to her. He stepped in a puddle, realized it was someone's blood, a friend perhaps? He suppressed the need for his stomach to heave, his discomfort didn't compare to the suffering around him. He saw a young woman cradling a badly burned body, sobbing. Next to her was another body; he couldn't make out any details, for that he was glad.
"Here, Harry, here's the barrier; I hope it's not damaged."
"What about them? They need help." He pointed to the injured on the ground.
"There's nothing we can do. The muggle authorities will be here to help them soon. I need to keep you safe."
"That's what Hermione told me."
Just as he was pushed through the barrier, he thought he saw a young couple, locked in each other's arms, lying in a growing pool, they looked familiar, but he didn't get a good look.
"The Hogwarts Express isn't damaged. It'll leave in a few minutes. I'm sure anyone that misses it will be taken to St. Mungo's."
"I need to find them. We have to. I need to know if they're safe."
"We will. Now get on. I'll search the train, once I have you locked in a compartment."
"Hermione, I know he's coming back. I know he'll be here."
"Ron, I just don't know. For the first time, I think he's lost. He's lost himself to his grief, and it hurts that he won't let us help."
"He forgot we all lost Sirius that night."
"Yes, but you forget he's lost far more then either of us."
"If he would only listen, mum and dad would welcome him as a son. I would love to have him as a brother. I never told anyone this, but I love him, as a brother. You know I was never that close to any of my brothers. George and Fred have themselves, and Percy has himself. Charlie and Bill were so much older. I love Ginny, too, she's my baby sister. But Harry was someone I could confide in. I miss that. But now I have you, I lo--- LOOK OUT!" He never finished his thought.
Ron grabbed her in his arms and turned his back just as the engine exploded. Pieces of steel ripped through his flesh as he was protecting his closest friend. She was more then a friend to him, she was very special to him.
She felt each piece of shrapnel hit his body, taking the blows meant for her. He held her as long as he could, until they both collapsed. As they fell, all she could see was the smile on his face when he knew she was safe. She was the last thing he saw. They lay locked in the moment as his life flowed from his wounds.
"RON!… WHY?" She screamed as she watched his eyes dim and close.
They lay there in a pool of his blood, for an eternity. She saw people run past in a panic. Classmates she thought. Her thought turned quickly to the life that was leaving in her arms. She pulled her wand, and in a flurry of tears pulled the bits of steel protruding from his body and sealed his wounds. Was it enough? She thought to herself. He was as limp as a rag doll; the blood, his blood, covered them both.
Where was Harry? Was he safe? Why did this happen? She began to ask herself these questions; after all, she was supposed to be the cleverest witch of the time. She grabbed Ron's cold limp arms and tried with all her might to pull him to safety, in case there was a second explosion.
"RON! WAKE UP!" she screamed while slapping his face. "RON… DON'T LEAVE ME TOO!"
She buried her face into his shoulder, about the only place on his body without a wound, and sobbed heavily. She had no idea why these things happened to her and her friends. She knew why Harry's life was involved in such hardship, but she couldn't understand why she and her friends had to suffer. It wasn't fair. She liked him for himself. She liked him because he never backed down. He had always tried to protect her, just as Harry use to. Now he was still and lifeless. It wasn't fair.
That was the moment he let out a light cough, he was still with her. She felt he was as important to her life as her other friend, and she hoped he was still alive.
"Ron… can you hear me?"
"M-Hermione? What happened?"
"Y-Y-you saved my life. Rest… I'll stay with you."
"Padma, who was that boy you've been writing to all summer?" Her sister asked.
"He's someone in your house, Parvati. You'll find out tomorrow. Hey, there's Luna. LUNA, OVER HERE!"
Luna and Hannah Abbott had met in the Underground and walked to the station together, chatting about how their summers had been. Luna talked endlessly about the events in the Ministry, with a flair that sounded more dangerous then it had been, if that were possible.
"Padma, Parvati. HI…" The group of four teenage girls gave each other an embrace in a group hug, screaming their delight in the chance meeting.
The twins walked in the middle, with Luna and Hannah on either side, Luna had just passed a couple she knew and started toward them, when the explosion erupted. Hannah was the closest to the destruction, her life ended painlessly. Padma was not to be as lucky, the blast sent large fragments through her delicate frame, both legs were gone, one at the hip and the other below the knee. Her beauty forever lost, as her flesh above the waist was seared from the heat. She survived long enough to see her sister looking for her, but was unable to speak. Parvati was holding her arm, limp. A large fragment that passed through Padma nearly severed her arm below the elbow. She saw her poor sister and forgot her own pain to cradle her in her remaining arm as she passed. Crimson tears fell as one sister embraced another in death.
The force of the blast threw Luna into the brick wall, snapping her right leg as she hit. Steel fragments embedded in her legs and side. She was unable to do anything but add to the growing crimson pool on the ground.
A small group of Gryffindors walked together some distance ahead of the four girls; Ginny, Dean and Neville had been comparing their summers when the blast ripped through the small group. They were the luckiest of the lot, minor wounds from flying debris. Ginny sustained a nasty wound on the back of her head, adding a deeper red to her hair, a horrific sight, but minor in comparison.
Cho had been consoling her friend, Marietta, who was still upset with herself for betraying the DA last year. They were both hit with some debris, too.
Of note, no Slytherins were injured in the incident. Only one was unaccounted, Draco Malfoy.
The blast also ripped through a number of people, walking from one train to another; blissfully unaware their lives had changed forever. None of the dozens of other victims knew of the secret world just beyond a magic barrier. Many died as Hannah and Padma did some quick and painlessly, many others died in the moments that followed before aid arrived. Some would survive; loosing loved ones and some of their own body parts. A child in a pool of blood sat crying as her mother's mangled body shielded her from injury. A young woman was lying dead on the ground; a bundle of packages next to her broken body burned an image in a young man's brain, as he was being rushed to safety.
A young woman, a muggle doctor gave aid to the victims on the scene, one of them was Parvati, whom she had sent to a muggle hospital for micro-surgery to save the girl's arm. Ron was sent to St. Mungo's to be treated. Hermione went with him as she refused to leave his side. Luna also went to the wizard's hospital for treatment. Many of the lesser wounds were treated at the scene. Ginny's scalp wound required healing, but she was taken to the same hospital as Parvati.
"Harry, I searched the train, they're not here. Harry? HARRY…"
"Huh?" The-boy-who-lived had a dazed look; his usually brilliant green eyes were dull and lifeless.
"Are you hurt?" Tonks repeated.
"Hurt?"
"Yes. ARE YOU HURT?"
"Why? What happened?"
"You don't remember? Here, just lay down on the bench, we'll be at Hogwarts soon."
He closed his eyes to rest and as if by reflex, he asked the question she feared he'd ask. "Where's Hermione and Ron?"
"I searched the train, they're not here."
"Not… on… train… train… The TRAIN… We have to find them, let me go…" he jerked up.
"No. If they survived, they're going to be fine."
"IF THEY SURVIVE? I won't, you can't keep me…"
"I've contacted Dumbledore and he assured me he'll let us know as soon as he knows. It was total chaos, how much do you remember?"
"I-I remember a woman, and blood…" he looked down at his feet; blood still caked on his shoes, Tonks couldn't get all of the blood out, not even with magic.
"There was an explosion. A lot of people were hurt."
His voice shifted from a frightened tremor to a monotone, detached voice. "It wasn't an accident. It was Bellatrix."
"How do you know? I didn't see her or anyone else."
"I felt her presence. It was like in the Ministry. She and three others blasted the train, trying to make it look like an accident. I can still see them clearly." His face faded to a pale blood drained ghostly white as his body shuddered once and his eyes closed again. This time they would not re-open until they reached Hogsmeade.
"Harry, it's time to wake…"
Tonks never left him alone, Remus joined then on the train; he had been waiting on the platform at the time of the explosion. "We know who was hurt, we received a message from Dumbledore at the hospital. Here's the official list:
Abbott, Hannah - DOA
Patil, Padma - DOA
Patil, Parvati - partially severed arm
Lovegood, Luna - sever wounds, broken leg
Weasley, Ron - sever wounds
Granger, Hermione - wounded
Weasley, Ginny - wounded
Thomas, Dean - wounded
Longbottom, Neville - wounded
Chang, Cho - wounded
Edgecombe, Marietta - wounded
Malfoy, Draco - MissingAlso included are the non-wizards, 28 dead and initial reports of more then 50 wounded."
He crumpled the sheet with the names, and seeing those that died and were injured made his anger and rage boil. He knew whom to blame, himself. They were after him, and all these innocent people died. His two dearest friends, two people he shunned, had been hurt. Others died because he chose to hide.
"How bad was she… they hurt? Ron and Hermione?"
"Ron was nearly killed. If it wasn't for Hermione's quick thinking, she saved his life. She didn't get a scratch; don't know why she's listed as wounded. Come on, it's time to go inside."
That evening on Privet Drive, a small family sat watching the news on the television, as the reports of the morning's carnage unfolded.
The initial reports of the number of dead have been updated, there are 30 dead, as many as 100 injured and many more reported missing.
Eyewitnesses to the disaster reported possible terrorist acts, 3 hooded and cloaked individuals were spotted pointing small hand held missiles at the train, a possible new terrorist weapon. It is small enough to be hidden in a large pocket and powerful enough, when combined to cause this level of destruction.
These recent images show not all the dead have been taken to the local morgue for identification. The identities of many injured and dead have not been released until their families have been notified; many were children apparently heading to school.
Several of the injured were known as underground anti-terrorist members were treated at the scene and released; their identities have been concealed at the government's request.