They entered very casually, as if it was their own home. And in a way, it was. The old abandoned shack housed many memories. Late nights and early mornings were spent, finding the last horcruxes. Time had truly made its mark as Harry noticed the walls were much darker and planks of wood were strewn about. The happy glow it once had when Harry had been there years before with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Lupin and Tonks were now gone. Instead, this shack was big, dark and very intimidating. How quickly things changed. "Are you scared?" Harry whispered.
"Yes," Hermione admitted, "We should have brought Ron and-"
"Well, we didn't."
"They'll be angry that we left them there."
"I don't care."
"Ginny'll have a fit."
"…I know."
"Do you care?"
Harry was about to answer when he heard a voice.
"Only two? What a shame. You will be needing all the obtainable help." Raising their heads, they saw Antonin Dolohov on the second floor, leaning on the stairs rail. His face was skinnier than ever. His arms obviously no longer had any muscles in them. Dark rings were below his eyes and his hair was shriveled, greasy and practically falling out. "Potter, Mudblood, welcome."
"Good evening," Hermione sneered.
"Or not?" Harry questioned Hermione's greeting. "Have you eaten lately, Dolohov?" There was no answer. Harry grimaced. "Look at you. Only evil has kept you alive all these years. You're nothing but flesh and bones. Look at the size of those black rings. Have you slept?"
"What does it matter to you?"
"I don't like fighting the wounded. It doesn't seem fair."
"Stupid boy. Even after all these years, you haven't learnt. There is no fair or unfair. There is only power. And I have obtained it."
"At the cost of your body," Hermione said, amazed someone could be so corrupted.
Dolohov turned his head to her. "Physical pain can always be blocked out if your mind is strong enough."
Hermione sneered. "That's impossible. It goes against science. Nature! Common sense!"
Dolohov laughed. "I don't live by your principles, Mudblood! I live the Dark Lord's way. I don't need sleep. Nor food. Nor clothing. In fact, I am strides away from being invincible! I can certainly kill you two overgrown teenagers."
"Prove it," Hermione yelled, finally weary of holding back against the man she had hunted down for years. "EXPERILLIAMUS!"
"Hermione, NO!" Harry's warning came too late as the white puff flew towards Dolohov, rebounded off his magic shield and flew back to her. The spell blew her through the floor and into the basement. From Harry's perspective, it had looked as though a meteor had landed right on her and she had been forced into the crater. Smoke rose everywhere and the shack shook with the sudden blow. It had been a strong spell, meant to knock Dolohov out. Harry wasted no time in falling to his knees and calling into the dusty hole. "HERMIONE!" There was no reply.
"Very impatient, isn't it?" Dolohov laughed.
Harry growled and got to his feet. "IT is a she. A human being. Her name is Hermione Granger. And she's more of a magical being that you'll ever be."
Dolohov laughed at this. "It got lucky seven years ago. But its luck runs out today. As does yours."
Harry raised his wand with both hands, pointing at Dolohov's heart.
"You must be joking," Dolohov laughed again, "This shield is far too powerful for the likes of you.
I've worked on nothing but my magic for the past couple of years, Potter. Don't you understand? Ever since the
Dark Lord's fall, I've devoted my life to dark magic. To bringing him back. Imagine what a reward I will
receive to have finally destroyed the boy-who-lived and brought an entire world to its knees for my master. My life has
been to kill you. And now I can. A shame that you'll kill yourself, though."
Harry gripped his wand tighter but did not reply.
Dolohov saw the frustration in his eyes. "Yes, you know it's over. What are you going to do? You can't get through this shield but I can." He sat down on the steps.
Harry continued his aim on Dolohov's heart.
"Go ahead," Dolohov dared him. "I want to see what happens."
Harry shifted in his shoes slightly, the hate slowly tingling through his spine. He wanted to. He really wanted to. But Dolohov was right. The shield was much too strong for him. He was attempting to buy time.
"You're pathetic. You can't get through a simple Gherkin's Shield. You're not the boy-who-lived. It's impossible that you killed the Dark Lord."
Harry suppressed a growl as he gripped his wand tighter and tighter.
Dolohov smiled. He raised his hand and pointed to the hole in the floor. "They told me that Mudblood was the smartest witch of it's time." He chuckled. "Not so smart, I guess."
"I swear I'll kill you for that. You can hurt me all you want but now that you touched her…you're going to die, Dolohov. You're going to fry."
Dolohov smiled evilly. "I suppose I touched a nerve." He paused. "How interesting. It was that Mudblood who was by your side at the end of the Second War, wasn't it? Awfully important to you, isn't it? Where are the other two bumbling idiots? I heard the redheaded one got her legs back. A shame. I'll be sure to break them correctly next time. She's your girlfriend, isn't she?"
"Shut up," Harry said firmly.
Dolohov was surprised by this comment. "What, no accusation? No death threat?" Dolohov rubbed his chin and gasped. Then he pointed to the hole in the ground. "You love it, don't you?"
Harry tightened his shoulders and jaw. He physically refused to answer the question.
"That's disgusting. You're in love with a Mudblood. That's DISGUSTING!"
"SHUT UP!" Harry yelled, his hand shaking the wand with fear of what he wanted to do to him.
"The Mudblood?!" Dolohov continued, "Just when I thought you could sink no lower!"
Harry's eyebrows were pressing so tightly it was hurting.
"Fine," Dolohov said once he took in Harry's silent response. "I suppose this could help me. I mean, once you're dead, I could always rape the Mu-"
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" The light was dark green and it flew straight past the shield and into Dolohov's heart. His death was loud and long. Harry watched him the entire time. "Burn," he whispered darkly. Then, after viewing Dolohov's lifeless body fall down the stairs, he turned to the hole in the floor. "Windgardaius Levis." He waved his wand and quickly, Hermione body levitated to his level. Harry sighed sadly and caressed her hair. Her face was scratched up, her right arm was covered in blood and her clothes were torn up. Her eyes were obviously the worst and Harry knew they would need to be bandaged up. Harry moved some hair off her face and kissed her cheek. "Don't worry," he whispered. Then he waved his wand at the hole. "Accio Hermione's wand!" Hermione's wand floated into his left hand, surprisingly still in one piece. Then Harry closed his eyes and tuned into his wand-less magic. In less than a minute, his new owl, Pockster, flew into the run-down shack. Harry placed Hermione's wand in his pocket and withdrew a snack which he fed to Pockster. "Go to Grimmwauld's place. Pick up Ron and Ginny's wands and hand them to them. Then go to St-Mungo's and look for me. I'll tell you what room they've put Hermione in and you can fly back and tell them, alright?" Pockster nodded. Harry smiled and rubbed his head. "Good boy," he whispered. Then with a couple more stomach rubs, Pockster flew off. Harry drew his attention back to Hermione. He took her hand and apparated into St-Mungo's.
~*~
Ron burst through the double doors and pushed a running nurse out of his way. "Room 1753. Where is it!?" he asked loudly to the receptionist. His sister tugged at his arm.
"Ron, calm down!" He didn't even bother shaking her arm off because the second the receptionist pointed down the hall, he bolted. He ran as fast as his Quidditch legs could run. He ran so fast, he passed the door and had to run back six rooms. Hermione was on the bed, her eyes wrapped in a bandage that ran around her head four times. Her hands and bits of her legs were bandaged as well. Harry was by her side in a chair, nervously biting his nails.
"I'll deal with you later," Ron growled at Harry and sat by Hermione's side. "Hermione, it's me." Hermione's head shook slightly.
"Marry? M…marry…marry…" she whispered. Ron's eyes opened wider.
"Marry?" he asked, getting excited. "H-Hermione, do you want to marry me after all?" Before Harry could curse Ron into oblivion, which he desperately wanted to, Ginny pulled him outside.
"Marry," Hermione whispered again, reaching for Ron's hands. He gave them to her eagerly.
"I'm here," Ron whispered happily.
"Harry…" Hermione whispered. Ron froze for a second and lowered his gaze to Hermione's hands rubbing his weakly.
"H…Harry?" he asked coarsely.
"Take care of me..."
~*~
Ginny dragged Harry out and closed the door.
"Gin, Hermione-"
"I CANNOT believe you left us at Grimmwauld's place. First, my brother gets his heart broken, I get into a fight with my best friend and then YOU run off ONCE AGAIN to save the world!" Harry gaped at her, unable to respond. "Ron and I are stuck upstairs, unable to call for help, waiting for someone to come home. Finally, your owl comes by, scoops up our wands and tosses them to us. Your OWL, Harry?"
Harry exploded at this comment. "Forgive me, Ginny, for running off and saving the world, as you put it! But I was trying to keep us ALL safe! I did what I had to do! Why don't you understand I NEVER want to be the hero!?" Ginny opened her mouth to speak. "NO!" Harry silenced her. "Let me speak! I never wanted to be the-boy-who-lived! I never wanted to be the savior of the world! But I was! I am! I want to be an Unspeakable and do dangerous tasks if it means I'm helping and ensuring the safety of my loved ones! You KNOW that, Ginny! If you don't, if you think I'm so insensitive and left because I ENJOY saving the world, then we have many problems, indeed."
Ginny bowed her head in shame this time.
Harry sighed and lowered his voice when he continued. "As for Hermione, she performed the most incredible Experillamus spell I've ever seen. I've also never seen her being blown through the floor and falling unconscious in the basement. She was unconscious. Her eyes were battered up and I was worrying about her vision. Forgive me if I thought of her before you two." Harry paused. "There are some things more important than you right now, Gin. Some things that are worth fighting for."
Ginny was dead silent.
Harry lowered his head and breathed a sigh of relief, as if satisfied of getting that off his chest.
Slowly, Ginny moved forward and rested her head on his sternum, sniffing.
"Excuse me, Harry Potter?" said a passing doctor.
Harry raised his head and shook Ginny off his chest. The doctor was a tall man, shorter than Ron but taller than Harry, and had wavy brown hair. He was probably in his late twenties and sported a wedding ring tan line. His reading glasses were small and attached around his neck. He had small rings below his eyes and looked very tired. But in all in all, he was quite good looking. "Yes?"
"I'm Doctor Ned Parker." He switched his clipboard to his left hand, shook Harry's hand and turned to Ginny. "Hello Ms. Weasley. Big fan of the Cannons. Very nice play last game."
Ginny blushed and looked away in embarrassment.
Harry rolled his eyes. "So you're a Cannons fan," he said rudely, "That's great. I can't wait to see what you can do as a doctor." Ginny hit his arm quite hard and Harry ignored it.
Ned cleared his throat. "Sorry. Um, may I speak to you in private?" Harry nodded and Ginny went back into the room. The two men were alone in the corridors. Doctor Parker put on his glasses and lifted his clipboard. "Mr. Potter, are you aware of the term medical proxy?"
Harry thought for a moment. "I think Hermione mentioned it to me once."
"It is actually a noun. If you are the medical proxy of an individual, you decide what happens to them, medically, if they are unable to communicate what they want."
Harry dug his hands into his pockets. "What does any of this-"
"Mr. Potter, do you know who Hermione Jane Granger's medical proxy is?" Harry thought again.
"I…I don't think she has one," he finally said, remembering her mentioning it a couple of years ago.
Doctor Parker nodded. "That's correct. She does not. However-"
"However…?"
"Well…perhaps you don't know this, but I was in the hallway when you rushed her into the hospital just a couple of hours ago. Right after you told her you were going to fetch Ronald and Ginerva and rushed away, she opened her eyes. Although the nurses told her to close them, she was searching around frantically for someone. A nurse picked up on the action and told her 'Harry Potter went to get your friends.' Hermione then proceeded to say, as loud as she could, 'He's my medical proxy.' Then she passed out."
Harry was stunned. "I…I don't understand."
"Well, it's quite simple. Although we do prefer things to be written, Ms. Granger seemed to have not filled out anything. Quite strange, really, if she was part of the Second War. But the point of the matter is that…you are her medical proxy."
Harry shuddered slightly. "There must be some mistake. I…I don't know anything about medical…ness. Ron must be her medical proxy. He's her boyfriend."
Doctor Parker raised an eyebrow. "Firstly, it's quite alright if you don't know anything about medical procedures, we will gladly explain them to you and make sure you understand consequences of certain actions. Secondly, I am indeed a big fan of the Cannons and it will be no surprise to you when I say that Mr. Weasley reacts quite differently than you when it comes to…important decisions under pressure."
Harry was silent, taking in the doctor's words. He was about to tell the doctor about all the times Ron chose wise decisions in the Second War but was interrupted by Doctor Parker's laugh.
"You have no choice, either," he said, "It's hers. She chose you. So you are her medical proxy. She is not strong enough to name another. I just wanted to tell you."
Harry stuttered. "Fine," he sighed finally.
Doctor Parker raised his eyebrow once again. "Listen, Mr. Potter, it's not a negative thing to be named someone's medical proxy. In fact, in this case, it's quite the honor. She trusts you more than her boyfriend!"
Harry raised his hands and nodded quickly. He was flattered and felt loved until he just realized the sudden overwhelming pressure that had just been placed on his shoulders. "Just…just tell me what I have to decide what to do. Or not to do."
Doctor Parker shrugged. "Nothing so far. She's not in critical condition and she seems to be in a very weak state of consciousness. By the end of the week, she should be allowed home. I wanted to tell you so that if she was to ever entire code blue, her eyes I'm really worrying about, you would not be shocked to know you are the one who decides…right or left."
Harry sighed and closed his eyes. "Will she be alright?" he asked for the first time that day.
Ned sighed in his turn. "In truth? Most of the doctors here have never heard of a wizard, let alone a witch, casting such a strong charm against…themselves. W-we truly don't know. I'm sorry."
Harry lowered his head and rubbed his eyes.
Doctor Parker raised his hand and patted Harry's shoulder. "It'll be alright. She's a fighter. And she's in good hands." With that, a pager went off and Ned ran back down the hallway. Slowly, Harry opened the door, only to find Ginny burying her head in her hands and Ron sulking at Hermione's bedside.
"How's she doing?" Harry asked.
Ron gripped Hermione's hands, staring at them. "Fine," he replied shortly.
Harry sat down next to Ginny and let her rest her head on his shoulders. He put his arm around her and kissed her head. A few minutes passed and Ginny fell asleep.
Ron was now staring at Harry; Harry attempted to return the cold glare. "I heard." He said simply.
Harry sighed and felt his body tense up. "I would never choose for her to suffer."
"You better not."
"Well, I wouldn't. She's Hermione. I care for her."
"More than me, I'm assuming."
Harry sighed. "Ron…I was here. That's the only reason why she chose me."
"Is it? It seems as though you've been noticed in a way I haven't been."
"…Are you accusing me of something?"
"She chose you, Harry. Not me. Shouldn't I be worried?"
He sneered. "Don't you know me better than that?"
"Honestly?" Ron gazed at Hermione and her lips, remembering how she had whispered Harry's name and not his. He swallowed and blinked a tear away. "I don't know anyone right now."
Dedication: This chapter is dedicated to *someone special* out there. Call me, email me, write me, look at me, talk to me, laugh with me; Anything. Just notice me. Please. Please just notice me.