A/N: Bam Bam, BUM.... A moment to catch your breath....Thanks to Lady Starlight for her work on this chapter. Are your seatbelts fastened?
Chapter 52: At the Turning of the Tide.
***********************Grimmauld Place************************
May 23, 1998
8:30 pm
Hermione sat, shivering, in the warm May night as she sat out on the rooftop balcony, and watched, not seeing, as several Muggles walked by, far below, not knowing that their very lives were held on the most slender of threads. She glanced up and back as Hedwig fluttered in to land at her side, cooing softly as she settled in. Hermione's fingers danced lightly over the owl's alabaster feathers as Harry's, and now her familiar, looked up at her with mournful amber eyes. "I know, girl," Hermione whispered, "I know." She flicked her fingers and watched as a small pile of owl treats appeared with a tiny flash of light. Here, Harry.
Harry slipped out onto the roof with nary a sound and sat next to her, his arm going around her without a thought as she slumped into his side. I'm terrified, Harry...he has my parents and, by now, my sister. I can feel her...just on the edge of my senses.
I swear Mione...we'll get them back. You should get some sleep, love, Harry added worriedly, we leave in about; he stole a glance at his watch, at the faintly glowing hands, three and a half hours. He looked down as she picked at a loose thread on a rip in her jeans, and placed his hand over hers. Out near the perimeter of the house wards, a slight shimmer, invisible to Muggle eyes, appeared as an alley cat passed in pursuit of a rat, and the both of them reached out to query the house wards just to make sure.
I can't, Harry, I tried, and I don't want to take something, I have to be ready to go in with you...
It's not too late, Mione, I can change the plan; you can go with Remus and Tonks to get them.
No, Harry...my place is with you, forever, and ever...It's just that... she fed Hedwig another treat and rolled her eyes as Crookshanks appeared and rubbed against Harry, demanding attention as well. Mum and dad wanted more kids, they tried for years after me and couldn't. They gave up when I started at Hogwarts, she grinned slightly; in the manner of one who really didn't know to be amused or squicked at the thought of her parents...being parents. Not that they stopped, um, you know. They just didn't actually try, if it happened, it happened. When Mum told me at Christmas, I was so happy, for them, and me. I always wanted a sister, Harry...I used to talk to mum, about how I could teach her all the stuff I've learned and... Hermione wiped away a tear violently, When I first got to Hogwarts, I was used to it, by then, being an only child. I always knew I was missing something, I just didn't know what. I almost found it in you and Ron, but it was different, you know? Harry nodded. Then for a while, I thought, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I had found everything I wanted. About fifth year, I know now anyway, I knew that I had fallen for you, and that Ron was closer to a brother than I had had...and I thought that Ginny was my sister, in all the ways that counted...
Hermione broke off, looking at him with unshed tears sparkling in the reflected lights from the few surviving streetlamps far below. She closed her eyes as Harry kissed her eyelids, wiping the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. Remus and Tonks will get them back if anyone can, Hermione...it is possible that the Death Eaters don't actually have them, they were in the Hospital Wing, if Poppy was able to follow the plan they could be in hiding.
It's just that I'm ashamed, Harry, Hermione admitted after a moment, and turned so that she could find his eyes. She saw the question in his gaze, and her teeth found her bottom lip, It's just that, if it had been you, if Riddle had you in danger...I wouldn't have stopped to plan, I wouldn't have waited for Ron and the rest to have their wounds tended and healed and get some rest, I'd already have been there. Am I a bad person, Harry? she pleaded as tears began to flow freely from her eyes. Harry pulled her into his arms, and kissed the top of her head.
No, love, you're not, he stood and pulled her to her feet. For a moment, she clung to him like a small child before taking a breath and visibly settling herself, composing herself back to the focused, collected person that she let the rest of the world see. It ends tonight, Harry said they both looked to the southwest, where they imagined that they could see the sideshow, could see where the majority of the Aurors who were still alive and many of the surviving adult Order members were held in furious combat in the endless, underground corridors of the Ministry. Come on, Hermione; let's go get ready...
Hermione nodded, as her hands slipped up to entangle themselves in his hair, as his tightened around her back. The clock stopped for them, once more, as a kiss served where words could not, promises of better times to come, of words that neither needed to say to the other any longer, but still did at every opportunity, and regrets of the time that they did not have. Hermione's eyes flared as a wave passed down them, leaving them in the night black clothes and gear that they would need later.
*************************Grimmauld Place, Library*******************
A somber, almost morose crowd filled the Library, waiting, waiting to start a mission in a bare few hours that it was entirely possible that none would return from. History, if they were lucky, would record that it was a matter of timing that would ultimately doom Tom Riddle's attempt to end the war in his favor. In his attempt to end the war, in England anyway, in a single day, Tom had attacked both Hogwarts and the Ministry. It was on a lazy Saturday afternoon, when the Ministry was mostly empty, and the castle would be filled with students for him to hold.
Unbeknownst to him; since his supplies of spies within Hogwarts and the Ministry had been rapidly eroded. As the new Minister, put in since the former had been assassinated, had gone through his house with a iron will and put each and every employee of the Ministry, Auror and janitor, Charms specialist and Quidditch scheduler, and any other job under examination for the Imperius and various potions as almost his first act in office; the Ministry was not quite as empty as his forces would have liked. Several spies were executed, including four Aurors, and many, many more were shown to be under the influence of the dark. None of those, now gone, would be able to tell him that the hordes of Inferi, that were now assaulting the Ministry through long forgotten links to the various catacombs under London, were against almost the entire free Auror and MLE forces that the Ministry had available. Gathered there, as they were to have launched an assault on Little Hangleton this very night. Reports from the Ministry told of desperate fighting, of whole hallways engulfed in flames and spell fire as Inferi slowly advanced through the corridors, headed for the office of the Minister where Arthur Weasley was valiantly leading the defense.
Harry glanced over to where the Weasleys, some of them anyway, stood in a small, tight group, looking terrified. The twins stood on either side of Molly, who was shaking, with tears flowing down her face as she sat in a wingback chair someone had conjured for her. Bill stood next to them, holding a shaking, teary Fleur. Gabrielle was still inside Hogwarts, not having been one of the older students that had escaped through the virtue of being at Hogsmeade for the day, or having been one of the small army that Harry had taken with him to Wewelsburg Castle gain the last Horcrux save Nagini. The crushed remains of the Hufflepuff Cup were sitting in the middle of the Library table like a slightly gruesome trophy, or memorial, to the sacrifice of the one of their own. Harry had already heard from one of the escapees of Hogwarts how Blaise Zabini had murdered from behind Susan Bones, the sole survivor of the massacre of her family by two generations of Voldemort's forces.
Harry had felt the fury that Tom had felt when, soon after his investiture of the castle, discovered that Harry, Hermione and the rest were not there, and that he had actually succeeded in capturing or killing very few of the DA, which was openly acknowledged by both sides to be the real striking power of the Order these days. Most of them had been at Hogsmeade, and with the benefit of plans that had been in existence since the attack on Hogsmeade at Christmas, they had scattered, gone to ground and Apparated themselves and others to Grimmauld. One of Harry's more controversial decisions with the DA had been to teach all of them to Apparate, even the ones that legally were far too young to do so. That fact had probably saved many of them, as the Death Eaters that had swept Hogsmeade hadn't bothered to erect anti-Apparation wards.
Next to the tight group of the Weasleys, Seamus, Dean, Neville, Parvati, Padma and Lavender had been joined by Honor, Gretchen, and Ellen, the three girls had escaped Hogsmeade after terminating a Death Eater that had had Gretchen pinned to a wall. Ernie, Hannah, Terry and the other DA members were scattered around the room. Some were already dressed identically in combat blacks, with others still in the robes or Muggle street clothes they had had on, depending on where they had been when the attack on Hogwarts began. Harry glanced to either side of him, finding Ron and Luna close together on one side, and Remus and Tonks to the other. He sighed as he looked across the room to find Draco and Ginny standing together, looking almost defiantly at the rest. Harry looked over at Ron, "Give Draco his wand." Ron's eyes widened in silent protest, "Just do it, Ron." Harry muttered forcefully. Ron muttered something about "damn stupid trusting heroes," and flung it like a dagger at Draco.
Draco caught it out of the air without a word.
Harry, looked down, took a deep breath, and then looked up. Emerald eyes hardened until they became like the gemstones of their hue and he looked out on his assembled friends, family and a couple of enemies. "We are going to go over it once more. Riddle has both the Ministry and Hogwarts at least under assault, if not already in his control. We have had no word from Hogwarts since four this afternoon, and the Ministry since seven. It is possible that Tom has not yet managed to take either. The Ministry is...unimportant," Harry stated, not trusting himself to meet Molly's eyes as he spoke the truth, "He does not know that we have destroyed all of his Horcruxes except Nagini, he does not know that I can and will kill him tonight. Voldemort is secure in his invincibility; I aim to teach him that he is wrong. We will cut the head of the serpent off tonight at any cost, if he dies, the Eaters will collapse, at least enough for us to clear Hogwarts and the Ministry."
Harry looked at Lupin, "Remus, you and Tonks infiltrate to the Hospital Wing, hopefully Poppy was able to get her patients to safety, but we won't know unless someone can get within the wards of Hogwarts."
"The map then, Harry," Remus asked mysteriously, and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, we can Apparate in at the edge of the forest and see if anyone else escaped, if they did they should be at Grawp's clearing. We can then get in through the Chamber passage, and once we are inside the Hogwarts Wards, we will be able to hopefully locate any Eaters as well as find out what he has done with the students and guests," Harry replied and felt Hermione's strong squeeze of his hand.
Hermione looked around at the various DA members, "Most of you will split into groups; assuming that he has confined the houses to their dorms, you will sneak into the dorms and get the students out. I have already shown you how to cast the Portus spell to get around the Hogwarts wards, you will evacuate them to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters as it is the best place for them at this time, Molly and Fleur, you will be waiting." The two women nodded. Molly tearfully, Fleur with fury in her eyes, as Harry had already told her, that she would not be going to Hogwarts after her sister, as she was seven months pregnant. She didn't look happy, still, but nodded.
"What about you, Harry?" Ernie asked.
Harry looked over at his wife, then at his best friend and the girl who had more or less become his sister, despite her being possibly insane, and then at the knot of Gryffindors. "Hermione and I along with Ron, Luna, Neville, Parvati, Lavender, Seamus and Dean, and the twins will be hunting," he paused and looked at the three younger Gryffindor girls, "Honor and Gretchen, you will go with Colin, Dennis, Ellen and Sam to retake Gryffindor tower."
"Hunting what, Harry?" Terry asked from the side.
"Snakes, big arse snakes," Harry replied and took a breath. He looked out at the sea of faces and almost, almost asked if anyone wanted to back out, to escape, but knew that his words would be a waste of breath. He nodded to himself and started to draw himself up, to send this friends and family into the jaws of the Dragon, when a soft, drawling voice drew his attention, and not a few wands pointed in the direction of the door.
"What of me, Potter?" Draco asked softly.
Harry closed his eyes and sighed, without opening them, "There is a reason that I gave you your wand; that Ginny has hers." He opened his eyes fixed his gaze resolutely on them, "Decide now, are you with us or against us, if you are with us, you are in all the way, and you two are coming with us to hunt Tom, if you are against us...then I will kill you right here and now..." Molly gasped from the side, but no one said a thing as Harry went on, "I don't honestly care what you two are to each other, or at this moment, who Ginny's family is, but I will know which side you are on, and I can't afford to leave you here. Answer me right now," Harry's eyes locked to Draco's and a tiny flare of light lit them.
"I'm with you...for now," Draco snapped, Harry held his gaze for a minute then nodded.
"Fine then, everyone make your final preparations, we leave in..." Harry's words to prepare them for war were interrupted as a strident howl went off in the house and a sudden booming knock sounded on the closed Library door. Almost fifty wands snapped up as DA members moved to the side out of the direct line of the door and both Harry and Hermione fully let their magic flow. Harry nodded to Ron as a crackling, sizzling ball of energy appeared in his hand. Ron knelt down, under Harry's line of fire and flicked his wand at the door.
All of the lights in the room went out as a tall, thin figure in a pristine white cloak entered the room. He had a long, white staff in his hand, topped by a shining, faceted crystal bound in a white mesh cage. His fingers were long and strong as he gripped his staff and flowed into the room. His features were unknown to any in the room, hidden in the shadow of the cloak. The wizard's posture seemed to convey utter relaxation as he came to the center of the room and stopped, casually leaning on his staff as the lights returned to normal.
"Who are you?" Hermione snapped as she took a step to Harry's right and the tip of her wand lit. She shared a look with Harry and started to work through a complicated series of wand passes.
The hooded figure chuckled, an incredibly familiar sound, one of one who finds mirth where he could. "That will not be necessary, Hermione," he commented wryly and several muttered comments sounded out around the room. "Though I am sure that your Negral Cage would have been sufficient to hold me, if you catch me with it." The hood turned to her, still keeping its occupant in shadow, shadows that she could not see through. "I am sorry that I was not able to attend your wedding," he said with regret in his voice, as most of the rest of the room heard only meaningless noise as he said, "wedding." The entire seventh year Gryffindor class, along with Remus and Tonks looked astonished as they stared at the presence. "At least not directly, but it did do my heart good to learn, once again, the depths that love can overcome."
"Who are you?" Harry repeated, "We don't have time for this."
"But you already know, Harry..." the long fingers let go of the staff. It hung vertically in the air at his side as long fingers reached up to slowly pull back his hood. Long auburn hair, pulled back into a neat tail topped a kind, thirty or fifty-year-old face, it was difficult to tell with wizards. A neat, thick auburn beard and mustache covered his jaw and surrounded his mouth. A long, slightly crooked nose sat under expressive ice-blue eyes which were unadorned by any aids. No one spoke for a long moment; then Harry froze as an old memory from almost five years before flashed across his thoughts.
"Dumbledore..."
****************************Hogwarts, Great Hall**************************
"Bring her in, Wormtail," Voldemort hissed, smiling darkly.
He watched, many of his Death Eaters arrayed around him like a dark court, as a pair of tall, masked Eaters dropped a battered bundle in front of him. He stood from Dumbledore's captured, golden throne and stalked down the three steps leading from the stage down to the main part of the hall.
"Perhaps, we can continue our little-chat, Minerva," Voldemort said with a high laughing tone. Several of the Death Eaters sniggered, as they looked on. "Where is, Potter, Minerva...where is his Mudblood, his little...army..." From behind him, Bellatrix cackled.
Minerva McGonagall took a breath and slowly looked up. Her normally neat hair was askew, her robes, ripped in several places, her wrist swollen, and her square-framed lenses, cracked. A faint, wry smile slipped onto normally, stern lips, "I am sure that he will be along, presently, Tom."
"CRUCIO," Bellatrix snarled, and McGonagall gasped, curling into a ball as the spell took hold. Voldemort shook his head and she dismissed it, settling back to her seat beside his throne.
"Kill me then," McGonagall spat, a trace of blood on her lips, "I cannot help it, that your little spies forgot to tell you that he had gone for a walk..." Voldemort locked eyes with her and a sudden, gasped almost-scream came from her lips as he tried to force his way inside her mind. His eyes widened as he failed, hitting walls almost as strong as Dumbledore's had been. "I am Headmistress of Hogwarts, Tom, not one of your weak-minded minions, you might gain entry, but I doubt that you would risk that...now would you..."
Voldemort growled and flicked his hand, sending McGonagall to stick to the wall over on one side of the room. "We will wait for your precious 'Boy-Who-Lived' then, Minerva...I will kill him before you, and then we will see how defiant you are."
*************************Grimmauld Place****************************
10:00 pm
Harry and Hermione sat together; curled up on the bed waiting for the time to leave for what they both knew, for good or for ill, marked the end of this war. Harry's fingers were slowly combing through her hair. Both knew they should attempt to get some sleep, or something to eat, or as the occasional leaked shout or moan through a hasty Silencing Charm proved, something else, but this was good enough as they waited for the witching hour and the time to return to Hogwarts.
The enigma of the night, the return of the great white wizard at the turning of the tide, a Tolkienesque enough return to cause Hermione to mutter about barmy old codgers reading too much fiction before she had grown silent in her vigil, was still unsolved. At this moment the ancient Warlock was pacing aimlessly in the Library, not hearing or more likely ignoring any attempts to get an answer from him. A half hour after his return, Fawkes had appeared in a flare of fire, alighted on his shoulder, and had started to enter into a one way, "conversation" with Dumbledore.
Harry lowered his chin to rest on the crown of her head as he felt her holding onto that slim presence that had appeared in the Universe about an hour ago, demarking the birth of her sister into the world. Hermione had cried, silently into his shoulder for a long while before she had grown quiet and sat as they did now, waiting. Hermione leaned back slightly into him with her eyes downcast on her left wrist where she absently fingered a tiny, silver baby carriage. In a flash of inspiration, Harry had sent Dobby and Winky into Hogwarts a bit later to check on the Grangers. He realized, that, while the Elves could not Apparate others away like a wizard could, they could, unlike that selfsame Wizard, Apparate into and out of the school, hopefully unnoticed.
He had related the current safety of Hermione's family and Poppy in a newly created secret passage, which hopefully would not be found until Remus and Tonks came to get them. Harry had, briefly, considered using the Elves to get the students ready for their evacuation. But without knowing for sure whom was not a spy of Voldemort's in the castle, or that he would not question a student in the know, who could not possibly resist a mere tithe of the Dark Lord's efforts, he did not dare to do so. A soft knock sounded at the door to Harry and Hermione's bedroom, and the pair looked up towards the door. "Come in," Harry said in a slightly hoarse voice.
The door opened with a soft creak. The light from the lit hallway spilled into the dark bedroom, which was otherwise dark, even with the moonlight dancing in the window, casting an elongated rectangle of light along the greyness of the room. Ron and Luna stood backlit in the entrance, looking towards the bed, but not really seeing either of the Potters as they sat almost motionless in their combat blacks. "Harry, Hermione," he called, his voice fairly dripping with obvious concern.
"Yeah," Hermione replied softly, as she had given up playing with the baby carriage in favor of spinning Harry's wedding ring in endless circles around his ring finger where his left hand rested on her belly.
"Hermione, Harry," Luna said softly as she padded into the room, her hair seeming to glow slightly in the moonlight from the window against her own black outfit. She sat down on the end of the bed, crossing her legs and looking up it to her friends sitting at the other end. Her voice held only the barest trace of whimsy as she held her hands together and rubbed them together absently, "Will you stand up with us?"
Hermione looked up, a hair bemused, "Of course we will, Luna, but I don't think that right now is the right time for talking about that. We will have plenty of time after..."
"No, Hermione," Ron interrupted quietly, he looked down at her dark chocolate eyes as they looked up under a pair of emerald ones that also tracked to his, "no, sis-" Hermione gave him a ghost of as smile as Ron paced over to join Luna and rested his hands lightly on her shoulders. "Tonight, before we leave....just in case, you understand."
Hermione looked up and back at Harry, he sighed and gave a small nod for both of them, "We would be honored, brother."
*********
10:35
A half hour later, in almost the exact same spot that Hermione had earlier sat overlooking the Muggles going by far below, a group of five stood at the edge of the roof, under the silvery light of a half-moon. Albus Dumbledore, whatever his purpose, or exactly how he lived, he had yet to answer either satisfactorily, stood with his hands clasped in front of him, facing the other four as they stood, looking up at him. Harry and Hermione stood at Ron and Luna's shoulders, respectively, as they stood, waiting to Dumbledore to begin.
Spread around them on the roof, many showing obvious signs of bewilderment or having being otherwise occupied when having been roused to attend this impromptu joining on the top of the house. Under the moon, as Luna had requested months ago by the Hogwarts lake, the complete cast of the DA and the Order, that had assembled for the desperate mission to kill Voldemort and retake Hogwarts, stood as witnesses. Only hands, faces, and in the case of those such as Lavender and Draco, hair, caught the light on the otherwise dim roof. Neville stood, with his arms around both Lavender and Parvati who were leaning into him, Lavender was wiping tears from her eyes as she waited. Next to them, Padma, Seamus and Dean stood in a small clump, along with Ernie, Hannah, and the rest of the DA. Off a bit from them, Remus and Tonks stood together, with his arms around her, waiting. The odd Auror was beaming as she looked at the dazzling grin lighting Luna's face.
Off to one side, separate from the rest, Ginny and Draco stood together, their hands had slipped together, but neither said a word to anyone as they had come up onto the roof, nor as they had waited for the wedding party to arrive in a one large clump.
Dumbledore took a breath and looked over the assembled crowd. I wish it had never had to come to this; he closed his eyes for a moment, before raising a hand, drawing the audience to silence. "We are gathered here for the most joyous of occasions, tonight," he said panning his eyes over the crowd, "One might say that tonight is not the opportune time for such an occasion, that anything so inherently pure does not belong on a night such as this. They would be wrong," he paused and gave the wedding party a small smile. Without a conscious thought, Ron had reached forward and took Luna's hands in his and was squeezing them in a gentle, meaningless pattern. In the background, where she stood with Bill, Fleur, the twins, Angelica, and Alicia, Molly was weeping softly, the snort of her blowing her nose into a kerchief caused soft titters of laugher to ring out over the rooftop.
"They are wrong, because this occasion is a celebration of life, of love, of the very things that give our lives meaning. On this very roof, we are showing, through our actions and thoughts, just what we are fighting for." He smiled down at the pair, "But enough of the ramblings of an old man, tonight we are here to celebrate the joining of two souls." He looked around at the rest of the audience, most of whom were visible only as outlines. "So let us begin. Since we are in a bit of a hurry," he said wryly, "I'll skip my usual speech I have saved for this moment, you don't mind do you?" Ron and Luna each gave the tiniest of headshakes, only peripherally listening to Dumbledore as he went on; "Excellent, I do have it written down somewhere if you ever want to peruse it. So, in that case, I will leave it to them then, Ronald, if you would."
Ron took a breath as he looked down at their joined hands, he looked up, into a pair of liquid, silvery-grey eyes, "Luna, I..." he froze, gazing into her eyes, Luna cocked her head slightly, waiting as soft giggles were heard from the audience. Harry reached forward, tapping his friend softly on the shoulder, Ron shook his head as if to clear it, "I...ah..." He took another breath, gathering himself, "Luna, you are my best friend, my lover and the keeper of my heart. I was walking through life, blinded to what my soul was yearning for, until I met you. I love you, Luna Melanie Lovegood, for now and forever." A faint smell of ozone filled the air, as the small hairs on the backs of necks stood on end.
Luna's lower lip trembled slightly, as she stood silently for the span of several heartbeats before she squeezed Ron's hands almost painfully. She swallowed heavily, "Ronald," she whispered so lowly that the audience in the back could not hear, "before you, I was only the mad girl in the corner that everyone ignored. When every one said I was insane...well you agreed with them, sometimes, but you were nice about it. You love me for who I am, not who I am not, and you will hold my heart forever. I love you, Ronnie."
The wind picked up softly along the rooftop, as a soft, faint bubble shimmered into place around the pair of them, before winking out again. Behind Luna, Hermione gave Harry a tender smile as she played with her wedding ring absently. Molly's tears redoubled as the wind rustled the skirt of her flowered dress. Tonks snuggled back into Lupin as the rest of the DA and Order seemed hang on the words of Dumbledore, Ron and Luna. Dumbledore nodded and smiled as his eyes twinkled down at the two of them, "Excellent," he turned to Ron, "Ronald...Do you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, take Luna Melanie Lovegood as your wife, to protect her above all others, to honor her above all others and to love above all others, in happiness and sadness, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall inhabit this plane of existence?"
Ron grinned nervously as he looked into Luna's eyes, "I do, forever and ever." Dumbledore beamed and looked to Luna.
"Luna Melanie Lovegood, do you take Ronald Bilius Weasley as your husband, to protect him above all others, to honor him above all others and to love above all others, in happiness and sadness, in sickness and in health as long as you both shall inhabit this plane of existence?"
Tears rolled unchecked down Luna's cheeks as she mouthed, "I do, forever and ever and ever." An otherworldly feeling of an examining awareness shown down on the pair as a crackling, static charge ran along the edge of the roof.
Dumbledore looked to Harry and Hermione and gave a tiny, fractional nod. With an unconsciously perfectly synchronized movement, Harry and Hermione each raised their right hands, palm uppermost, their eyes flickered and with a small pair of flashes, a pair of shining rings, each ring with a band of crushed precious stones, surrounded by outer bands of platinum, appeared in their hands. Tiny runes glowed faintly in the moonlight on each ring as they floated to hover between Ron and Luna. The ring nearest Luna held a band of blue-white, aquamarine, while the ring nearest Ron held a band of deep, purple amethyst. Dumbledore looked to Ron, "Ronald, please take the ring that is destined for Luna and repeat after me...With this ring, this symbol of our bond, our love, I bind my magic, my heart and my soul to yours." Lupin just nodded; as he watched and listened to Dumbledore repeat the ceremony from September. Molly raised both hands to her mouth, speechless, as Ron reached up and plucked the ring out of the air and slid it onto Luna's finger until it was stopped by Rowena's ring.
Ron slowly raised Luna's hand to his lips and kissed the ring, before flipping her hand over and kissing her palm softly. His fingers remained with hers as Dumbledore nodded and smiled at Luna.
"Luna, the same."
Luna reached up slowly to pull the other ring from the air. "W...with this ring," she smiled, her voice growing stronger as she went on, "this symbol of our bond, our love," she took a breath and leaned forward as Ron leaned towards her, and bent his head down to hers. "I bind my magic, my heart, and my soul to yours for all of time." She slid the ring home onto his finger, and a crackling, spiraling line of white fire shot out of their rings, wrapped around their hands and wrists, binding them together before vanishing into their skin. A fresh wind spiraled outwards, fluttering hair and clothes and knocking glasses askew. Harry sheepishly straightened his glasses as Hermione took a single step to his side and reached up to tap the side of his glasses, fixing them to his face. No one noticed, they were looking at Ron and Luna.
Dumbledore raised his hands, encompassing both Ron and Luna, "By the power vested in me as Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Headmaster of Hogwarts, both of which no one has yet deigned to take away from me," he announced and several of the surrounding DA members laughed softly, "I hereby pronounce you husband and wife," Dumbledore crooked a silver eyebrow at Ron as he and Luna remained looking at each other, "I seem to remember from last year that you remember what to do from here, Mr. Weasley." The Gryffindors laughed as they remembered the marathon snogging sessions from last year, the loudest titters from a certain blonde currently ensconced in Neville's arms.
Ron and Luna barely moved as their lips fell together. Luna's hands dropped from his as they moved up to tangle themselves in his hair. Luna's eyes slipped closed as tongues began to dance. After a minute the twins shouted something, immediately followed by a bellow of pain as Molly whomped them upside the head. Soft, slightly raucous applause sounded out over the rooftop, stopped by the house wards, as the crowd applauded.
Ron and Luna broke apart, grinning as Dumbledore cleared this throat, "I am inordinately pleased to present Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Luna rolled around, leaning back in Ron's arms as he wrapped them around her from behind. After a minute the applause and comments died away and the two broke apart. Luna reached out to hug Harry, while Ron pulled in Hermione tight. Tears were in her eyes as she pulled away to hug Luna. The girls whispered urgently to each other for a bit as Harry embraced Ron, before letting him free.
Molly ran forward breaking away from the family to crush Ron and Luna, both, together into a massive hug. She let go, only at the urgent tugging of Bill, as he stepped in to hug his brother and newest sister-in-law. After Fleur and the twins had released them, Ginny stepped forward and looked at Ron awkwardly. The pair of them stood looking at each other for an endless moment, before Ron reached out to pull Ginny roughly to him. She cried against his shoulder for a moment, before she gave Luna a quick hug and stepped backwards. Ginny took a step backwards, to stand next to Draco. He stepped behind her, and rested his hands on her shoulders, before giving a Ron a slow nod. He bent down and whispered in her ear before leading them both away. Neville looked to Harry and received a miniscule nod.
Neville, Parvati and Lavender peeled off to follow them, not bothering to hide their surveillance.
Harry looked down at his watch, glanced at Hermione, and gave Ron a fleeting, tired smile, "We leave at midnight, Ron." Hermione buried her head in his shoulder as Ron took Luna by the hand and the pair vanished from the roof with a soft, CRACK.
Do you want to, Harry? she whispered without looking up as she burrowed closer to him.
I wish we could, love, but I don't think that either of us would have our hearts in it until later, he replied back softly as he slowly pulled his fingers through her hair. I'm scared, Mione, he admitted quietly, his thoughts choked after a while as they remained standing on the edge of the roof as the rest of the DA slipped back into the house to get ready however they each best could. Harry just nodded as he felt Remus' hand touch his shoulder in passing, a promise made in that grasp between the two men.
Dumbledore looked at the pair for a long moment, before he too turned and followed Lupin and Tonks, though unlike them and most of the rest of the DA and Order members tonight, his thoughts were on what should have been, instead of what will be.
Next time....A return to Hogwarts, and you aren't as close to the end as you might think...