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The Price of Victory
By Lonecall

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Category: Alternate Universe, Post-HBP
Characters:Harry/Ginny, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley
Genres: Angst, Drama, Fluff, Tragedy
Warnings: Death
Rating: PG
Reviews: 6
Summary: *** The author has been reminded via the e-mail address on file that this story is listed as incomplete and has not been updated since 2005 ***

The war is over and Harry has defeated Lord Voldemort, but at what cost? Harry looks back over the events leading up to this final confrontation and the prices that are paid.
Hitcount: Story Total: 2901



Disclaimer: Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R. Note the opinions in this story are my own and in no way represent the owners of this site. This story subject to copyright law under transformative use. No compensation is made for this work.





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The Price of Victory

The End and Beginning


This isn’t how it was meant to be. This isn’t how it was supposed to end. The war is over, Voldemort is dead, the Death Eaters are being rounded up…we’ve won! Yet here I sit, on the field of battle, dying. I’m surrounded by those I love, those that stood by me and helped win the war…Ron, Hermione, the Weasleys, Remus, Tonks, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, even Snape and Draco. They all try to comfort me, even though they too are crying. They tell me it’s going to be all right, that I’ll make it through, but they’re wrong. I’m dying and I know it.

Last year I left Hogwarts with no intention of returning until Voldemort was dead. I went back to the Dursley’s, for the last time, and waited. Ron and Hermione were good to their word and showed up at my door after only a fortnight, holding hands. I was so happy when Hermione had written me telling me she and Ron were going together. My reply had been two words; ‘About time’.

We packed up all my things, and I said my goodbyes to the Dursleys. Aunt Petunia really surprised me; she actually seemed sad that I wouldn’t be coming back. Uncle Vernon, of course, was quite pleased with the notion, and even helped carry all my things out to the street. I think he was still upset about the time I blew up his sister.

It didn’t take us long to reach the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley was waiting for us at the kitchen door and quickly enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug.

“Harry, dear, so good to see you. I’m so happy you could make it,” she beamed.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I said. “It’s good to be home.” After all, this place felt more like home to me than any other place, except for maybe Hogwarts.

She smiled brightly and her eyes watered a bit at the corners, then she hugged me tightly again. She ushered us inside and locked the door. The Burrow was Wedding Central; I’d never seen anything like it. A wide variety of decorations were piled everywhere, a half dozen people were running in and out of the kitchen, owls were zooming in and out of windows delivering their letters, and numerous objects were bewitched to carry on by themselves. I hadn’t realized how much I was actually looking forward to this wedding until then. I had never been to a muggle wedding, let alone a wizard wedding, and I found I had no idea what to expect.

We made our way through the kitchen and into the living room, where we found the rest of the Weasley boys. Apparently they were all too frightened of Mrs. Weasley to dare attempting entrance into the kitchen. Thinking about it, they probably had the right idea. Fred and George were huddled together in a corner, concocting Merlin knows what, Bill and Charlie were sitting near the fire enjoying a game of chess, and Mr. Weasley was sitting on the couch in front of the fire reading the latest Prophet. In fact, the only Weasley we didn’t see was the one Weasley I was most afraid of seeing…and yet the one I wanted to see the most.

“She’s upstairs in her room.” Ron said quietly in answer to my unasked question. Sometimes I think Ron knows me too well.

We made our way around the room greeting the rest of the Weasley clan and dodging random bewitched objects every now and again. Mr. Weasley greeted us enthusiastically asking if we were looking forward to our final year at Hogwarts. Obviously Ron had not told his parents about our plans to not return to Hogwarts this year. The twins were quite pleased to see us and offered us a few treats. Wisely, we declined and talked for a while about Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes instead. Bill and Charlie were glad to see us and quickly started talking about the wedding. It turned out that Fleur and her family were in Diagon Alley having the final touches put on her dress.

We made our way to the stairs and headed for Ron’s room. Once inside, Ron told me we’d be sharing his room with Bill and Charlie. Seems everyone was doubling or tripling up. Hermione was staying in Ginny’s room with Ginny, Fleur and Gabrielle. The twins were staying in their own flat above Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, and their room was being given to some members of Fleur’s family. I dropped my stuff in one corner of the room and plopped down on the bed. Ron and Hermione sat opposite me on Ron’s bed.

“Are you two sure you want to go with me? Nothing I can say to change your mind?”

“Absolutely. We’re with you the whole way, mate,” Ron said. Hermione just smiled and nodded her agreement.

“This is going to be far more dangerous than anything we’ve ever done, you understand that right?” I asked.

“Of course, and that’s exactly why we’re not about to let you go it alone,” Hermione said. I couldn’t help but smile as a great feeling of gratitude swelled in me.

“So what’s going to be our first move?” Ron asked.

“First is Godric’s Hollow.” I said. “This all started there and I just feel I need to go there. I’d also like to visit my parents’ graves. Then I think we should go to Grimmauld Place. We need somewhere safe for us to live and do research, though I’d like to spend a bit of time cleaning the place up some more. After all, it is my house.”

“Hey, maybe Dobby can help,” Ron said, earning him a reproachful glare from Hermione.

“That’s a great idea Ron!” I said enthusiastically. “Don’t worry Hermione; I would pay him for his help,” I added in response to the icy glare she cast at me. At these words, however, she visibly brightened.

“Well in that case, I bet he’d be a great help,” she said.

“Great. We’ll have to ask Professor McGonagall if Dobby can help but I’m sure she won’t mind,” I said.

“Especially if he can get rid of that bloody portrait of Mrs. Black,” Ron added and we all laughed.

We spent the next few hours discussing our plans: where we would look to find information on Horcruxes, researching the means to destroy them, how we were going to go about finding Voldemort’s, and when and what, exactly, we were going to tell Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. We decided to wait until after the wedding to tell them anything. We knew they wouldn’t be happy about it and we didn’t want to ruin Bill’s wedding for them. The rest of the night was spent just talking and having a good time. They filled me in on everything that had happened over the last two weeks, Hermione taking particular joy in telling me how Ron had finally confessed his love for her. Ron would interrupt every now and then and try to make an embarrassing moment seem less so. It may have worked if the blush on his face hadn’t matched his hair. It was late when Hermione finally got up to leave. She said good night and gave Ron a kiss before heading down to Ginny’s room. Ron just stared after her with a goofy grin on his face until a small chuckle from me seemed to bring him back from his bliss.

“Oi! What are you chuckling at?” he said, smiling, and threw a pillow at me.

“Nothing, mate. I’m just happy to see you two together,” I replied laughing. “Seriously, you two were meant for each other and I couldn’t be happier for you. You’re my best friends and I want you to be happy more than anything else. You deserve it.”

“She does…make me happy that is,” he said. “She’s just…just…brilliant!”

“And a bit mental. I mean, she does love you,” I teased and threw his pillow back at him.

“Oi!” he yelled and we both laughed. It felt really good being back among family, and laughing. I laid down in my bed and stared up at the ceiling. The Burrow always made me feel so happy and wanted. I always imagined that this was what a real family felt like, what it would have been like for me growing up if Voldemort had never killed my parents. I was just about to take my glasses off when I realized Ron was still sitting up and was staring at me.

“What?” I asked, sitting up and facing him.

“What about you?” he asked.

“What about me?”

“Don’t you deserve to be happy too?”

I was shocked. I hadn’t expected this. “Who says I’m not?” I finally said.

“Come off it, mate. I know you better than that. You may look happy but you’re not. You haven’t been since the funeral.” He paused. “What happened between you and Ginny?” He blurted out.

“What?” I asked, caught completely off guard.

“You two were so happy together. I’d never seen either of you as happy as you were with each other! I don’t understand, Harry. What went wrong? All Ginny’s told us is that you broke it off, nothing more. She’s tried to appear like she’s okay with it, but everyone can see how sad she really is. She’s not really eating that much, she not as lively as she used to be, and Hermione’s told me she cries herself to sleep almost every night. She’s been in her room since we left to get you.”

I just gaped at him. I didn’t know what to say, what to do. I could feel the resolve I built up the last two weeks starting to crumble, the monster in my chest was roaring in outrage at me, and I felt a sickening weight upon me. Ron was right; I wasn’t happy. In fact I was miserable. I hated being apart from Ginny and hearing about her suffering certainly didn’t make it any better. Part of me said to hold my ground, it was safer this way; but a louder part of me was screaming to run into her room and take her into my arms. I was just about to give in to that part when Ron’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“Well?” Ron asked.

“I had to, Ron.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“It means just that, I had to,” I said, my anger rising. “What do you think would happen if Voldemort found out about us? He’d use her to get to me. He’d torture and kill her just to make me suffer. I can’t let that happen. I can’t watch another person I love die! It would kill me. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if she died because of me. Don’t you get it?” I said, standing up. I hadn’t realized my voice was growing louder with each word until I was finally yelling. “I love her! I love her so much and it hurts me to see her this way! All I want, deep down, is to take her in my arms and hold her close to me, to pretend like nothing is wrong in the world. I want to take her away from all this and just say to hell with the rest of the world. I just want to be with her and be happy, but I can’t! He’ll never stop hunting me…never stop until one of us is dead. And as much as I’d love to take Ginny and just run away from here, I can’t. I can’t rest until Voldemort is dead. Not because of a prophecy, but because it’s what’s right. That’s why I had to break it off with Ginny…I CAN’T LOSE HER!” I shouted, slumping down onto my bed and putting my face in my hands.

“I can’t lose her…not to him…” I whispered, silent tears rolling down my cheeks. “He’s already taken so much from me.”

He came over and sat on the bed next to me. We sat like that for a few minutes before Ron spoke again.

“Harry, you’re being a git.”

“What?” I said. I couldn’t believe he had just said that.

“Harry, you’ve seen mum’s clock, we’re all in ‘mortal danger’. My whole family is on V-Voldemort’s list. It doesn’t matter if you’re dating Ginny or not, he’s still coming for all of us.”

“But…” I tried to interrupt but he just continued on.

“Besides, Harry, he probably already knows. All of Hogwarts knew you and Ginny were dating, including Snape and Malfoy. Do you really think they didn’t tell him?”

I hadn’t really thought about that but quickly came up with a counter. “I’m sure they did, and that’s exactly why I had to break it off. Voldemort will find out I broke up with her and won’t come after her. As long as he thinks I don’t love her, she’s off the top of his list,” I said. It made sense and seemed to justify my actions.

“Voldemort know you better than that, mate. He’ll realize exactly what you’re doing. He’ll know that you’re just trying to be the hero by leaving her in order to protect her,” he said.

He was right. I hadn’t even thought about that. By pushing her away I could have been putting her in greater danger rather than keeping her safe. I just stared at him with my mouth open. Everything was suddenly so confusing. I didn’t know what to think, what to say, what to do. My mind was swimming with a hundred different thoughts. Ron suddenly stood up and walked over to his bed.

“Get some sleep Harry. You can talk to Ginny in the morning.”

With that he crawled into his bed and pulled the covers over him. I sat there for a moment before taking off my glasses and lying back in the bed. I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been. My head was still buzzing with everything that had been said but one thing was clear as I drifted off to sleep; I needed Ginny back.

Neither of us ever heard the pair of soft footsteps retreating down the stairs.





Author’s Notes: Well, here’s the first chapter. This whole scene ended up a bit longer than I thought it would. Hope you all like it. I don’t know how many chapters this story is going to end up but I have a definite plot/ending in mind….I just have to get there. Please R&R. I’d love to know if anyone’s actually interested in where this is going.

Special thanks to my Beta Joy. She’s the best. I don’t know what I’d do without her (even though she’d probably like to kill me).
Reviews 6
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