The sounds of the battle started to fade as Ron and Luna made their way around the house, heading for the back.
Ron had been in the thick of things just moments before, casting spells and deflecting the ones fired at him with all his strength. Harry had come rushing out just as the first spells were cast, and was fighting alongside Ron, fighting with a fury that Ron had never seen in Harry.
And even though fighting for his life should have kept him occupied-body and soul-Ron Weasley knew full well that Harry's total abandon in battle was due in part to his own actions.
The moment that Hermione had admitted to Harry that she had kissed Malfoy and Ron had seen the look of complete wretchedness on Harry's face, Ron knew he had made a mistake. He should have told Harry in another way, not breaking his heart and embarrassing him at the same time. He had failed his best friend in such a horrible way that it made him sick. He also knew that he had also failed Hermione, the disappointment that he also felt coming from Luna stung more than he understood, but the sad way in which she looked at him totally wrenched his heart.
So when Harry had joined the battle, dueling with total resolve, Ron knew that he had to do the same, to make up for all the people he had hurt.
As they had fought, it felt like they dueled atop a volcano, the ground constantly erupting beneath their feet, lights of all kinds of colours flashing everywhere and people on both sides dropping to the ground. Ron stayed with Harry through the thick of it. He was surprised to find that Luna was with him too, and together, the three of them did their best to blow a hole in the advancing enemy. There were screams everywhere, not only of spells, but of pain and fear as someone was hit.
The DA seemed to be holding their own, though the ground was strewn with more than a fair share of their number, when - during a brief lull - Ron heard the sound of an explosion come from the back of the house. He and Harry both whirled at the sound, and without Harry having to say anything, Ron pelted towards the back, Luna close behind him.
He looked behind once as he ran to see Harry dueling some Death Eaters with Neville and Dean.
Now, as he and Luna made their way to the back of the house, the sound of a tremendous fight could easily be heard. A sudden explosion rocked the ground, and Ron saw pieces of earth go flying into the air.
Who's fighting back here? Ron wondered to himself. He didn't recall stationing anyone to guard the back, but he got his answer as they rounded the corner and came into the back yard.
The back yard looked almost as bad as the front. There were holes in the ground everywhere, and he could see several bodies laying motionless on the ground. Only a few feet ahead, with her back to them was Hermione. She was completely oblivious to their arrival and stared only at a huge Death Eater who was standing over the bleeding body of Draco Malfoy.
Ron couldn't believe what he was seeing. What were they still doing here? Had Harry told them to stay?
He had no time to ask anything, because before his eyes he saw Malfoy take the brunt of a curse as he rolled away from the Death Eater, and then scream out the Killing Curse. It hit the man right in the chest, and the he slumped to the ground. To his surprise, Ron watched as Malfoy managed to pull himself to his feet and look at his enemy before falling back to the ground.
At that moment, several things happened at once. Two Death Eaters suddenly lunged forth from the mist. One charged right at Hermione, and she leapt to the attack, deflecting his curse and sending back one of her own.
The other Death Eater rushed over to Malfoy's body, ready to finish him off, but just as he was getting near the body Ron shot an orange spell right at him which knocked him off his feet and sent him flying backwards into the night.
Hermione jumped at the sound of the spell being cast behind her, but only glanced backwards quickly to see who it was, then sent a curse at the Death Eater she was fighting which dropped him to the ground in a senseless heap.
She quickly made sure that the Death Eater was down, and then rushed over to Malfoy's body, Ron and Luna right behind her. When they reached him, Hermione kneeled down near his head and looked at him.
It was obvious to all three of them that Malfoy was dying. Not only where there cuts and burns all over his body, but he was bleeding profusely from the spell he had taken right before killing the other Death Eater. As they looked at the wrecked body, Ron felt Luna's small hand slip into his, and an intense wave of comfort washed through him.
Malfoy must have known in too, but looked up at the three of them with only a small amount of fear in his eyes. What was clearest was a look that could best be described as release.
"I did it," he said, in a feeble voice. "I killed the man who killed my mother."
Nobody said anything, and he looked at Hermione and said, his voice getting harder to hear by the word.
"Get out of here, Granger. Do what you've been wanting to and get rid of these people."
Ron saw a single tear come to Hermione's eye as she tenderly touched Malfoy's cheek. She took Ron's offered hand to help her up, and didn't let go.
"Go help Potter end it," Malfoy said, and they all nodded. With a faint smile, Malfoy closed his eyes and let his head fall back.
"Come on," Ron said, pulling Hermione away from the body. "Let's go finish this."
Hermione nodded once, squeezed his hand and let go. The three of them moved away from the back yard and started running back to the front of the house, Luna's hand still in Ron's.
As they neared the front Ron was surprised to hear how quiet it had gotten. He could still hear the sound of dueling, but it sounded like it was only two people.
The three of them came skidding around the corner to the front of the house to see both the DA and the Death Eaters standing aside, watching as Harry Potter and Bellatrix Lestrange faced each other.
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