Truth
Hermione let the wand slip from her numb fingers as she stared down at the pale face under a shock of bright red hair. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel, was she supposed to feel remorse or relief or guilt? Satisfaction or grief? She had saved the man she loved, but at the expense of the man she had once been in love with. The deaths of her friends had been avenged by the killing of someone who had been her best friend for six long years. Dimly she was aware that her brain seemed to have stopped functioning. She was incapable of doing anything, feeling anything; all she could do was stare down at Ron's broken, lifeless body. Part of her, the part that had held out a hope for his redemption, wished she could have turned back the clock and let him live.
But then Harry would have died.
Was it worth it, if she could have done everything over would she really have behaved differently? She tried to think of a way, of a time when she could have saved them both. But that time was long gone. Could it ever really have been possible?
Finally she could take no more; with a strangled sob she turned away and buried her head in Harry's shoulder. Feeling his strong arms close around her and realizing that she had very nearly lost him forever, Hermione broke down completely.
****
Harry simply stood there, stroking her hair without really registering what he was doing. Ron was dead. The first real friend he had ever had, was gone. He wasn't sure whether or not to be happy that Ron was now at peace and free from the influence of evil. A part of him wanted to bring him back no matter what the cost. After a few moments, Hermione lifted her tear stained face from his shoulder.
"Harry, what have I done?"
At first he wasn't sure what to say, couldn't find the words within him. He wanted to tell her it would be alright, but even in his head the words sounded hollow and meaningless. He could think of no was to answer, no way to comfort her. He wished he could take it all back, everything that had passed in this last miserable, wretched year. Thinking back on it the truth dawned on him and he looked down at her with a sad smile.
"You didn't kill Ron, Hermione. The Ron we knew died last summer, he condemned himself then. You didn't mean to kill him, it was an accident; you were trying to protect me. Besides, now he's free of Voldemort's influence and the bitterness and hatred that's consumed him all year."
He remembered his thought from a moment before. And tenderly traced the tracks of her tears.
"You've given him peace Hermione."
"But you were trying to save him! If I hadn't been so stupid, if I hadn't interfered -"
Here Harry cut her off. "Hermione, if you hadn't stepped in when you did, I'd be dead now and so would you. It was too late for Ron, this was the only way to save him - I - I can see that now."
****
Hermione looked up at Harry's face. A lone tear was meandering down his cheek, giving a vulnerable appearance to his face that he had lost in the past few years. How did he always manage to be so strong, how did he always know what was the right thing to say to make her feel better? Because he was right. She could see that. She knew she had done the right thing by stopping what Ron had become from destroying more lives. But it only made her feel slightly better. No matter what Harry said, she had been the one to point the wand and utter the spell. There was no escaping that.
The sound of Harry's voice brought her out of her reverie.
"We should take him up to McGonagall, she'll need to inform Mrs Weasley…" His voice cracked, "and Ginny'll have to be told."
Hermione nodded mutely, stepping out of his embrace and picking his wand up for him. As she handed it back he looked her in the eye and gently brushed her lips with a fleeting kiss, then turned to the task in hand. Typical of Harry, she thought, always putting The Cause before himself. She watched as he conjured a stretcher and levitated Ron's body onto it. As she swished and flicked his wand, the ghost of a smile flitted across Hermione's face as she remembered happier times before Voldemort entered their lives.
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