A New Beginning (Sequel to A Different Beginning)

Chapter Twenty-Six - Hadrian's Wall

Harry tried to sleep that night but to no avail. Tomorrow they were going to attack Voldemort's headquarters and who knew what that was going to lead to. He sighed as Ginny snuggled closer, her hands running up and down his chest.

"Are you scared?" she whispered.

Harry's eyes met hers in the dark and he took her hands in his. "Would it be weird if I said no?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. I'm not really scared. I mean, in one way I know that I should be terrified for tomorrow. If it goes the way I'm hoping, then the prophecy is going to be fulfilled one way or the other. I'm going to kill him, or he's going to kill me." Ginny moved closer at those words. "I'm not afraid to die. I thought maybe I would be, but I'm not afraid. If ... if it's what I have to do, then I'll do it, as long as he's gone in the end."

Ginny kissed him softly. "You better stick around a bit longer, Mr. Potter."

He grinned. "I don't want to die, I'm just saying that I'm not afraid to. I can beat him, Gin, I know I can. The problem is making sure it happens tomorrow."

"Now you're just getting cocky."

He laughed. "Brat." He turned and pinned her beneath him, his lips trailing down her neck and over her shoulders. When his eyes met hers again, he nodded. "I love you. I just want you to know that no matter what happens tomorrow, I'll always love you."

Ginny placed a hand on his cheek, tears in her eyes. "I'll be by your side the entire time."

"I know."

"Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm terrified."

He pulled her closer and kissed her brow. "It's going to end tomorrow, Gin. It has to."

"You don't actually know that, Harry. Plans can be broken, all sorts of things might happen, and well ... in the end ... I don't want to go on without you."

Harry shook his head. "Don't say that."

"I'm not saying I won't, but that I don't want to." She explained, "Tom is really powerful, Harry, and no matter how much more power you may have, he's still more cunning, evil, and manipulative. Who knows what's going to happen tomorrow?"

He nodded, keeping her warmly in his arms. "Gin?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared, too. Not of what I have to do, but of losing you."

Ginny smiled up at him. "I know the feeling." Her fingertips danced along his chest, tiny sparks flew from them and he could feel the incredible heat coming from her body. Her lips met his and he sank into them, into her. He couldn't quite stop his mind from wondering if it was going to be the last time.

********

Ron looked up from when his bedroom door opened and he managed a small smile for Hermione.

"Finally escaped?"

Hermione smiled as she placed a silencing charm around his room. "I think your mother was waiting for me to sneak out."

Ron laughed. "Maybe she was. But then again, Mrs. Weasley, she doesn't know the full circumstances."

She grinned and cuddled into his arms. "I like being called that."

"I like hearing you called that." He kissed her cheek, keeping his arms wrapped warmly around her. "So ... tomorrow's the big day."

Hermione didn't answer right away. "It feels like a dream."

"A nightmare, more like it. I can't even begin to fathom how this is going to ..."

"We've already lost so many."

Ron nodded. "Have you heard from Ginny yet?"

"About Demelza? No, but Harry mentioned she was pretty broken up about it. I spoke to him while Ginny was up visiting Colin. I didn't know Demelza very well. but I do know she was special to Ginny."

"Yeah, she was." They were both quiet for a few minutes before Hermione turned in her husband's arms.

"Ron?"

"Hmm?"

"What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "Well, we're marching down there to attack the fortress, but how? I mean, do we have a plan?"

Ron grinned. "That would be the part of the meeting where you grabbed my hand tightly and tried to hold back the tears. Were you actually not listening for once?"

She smirked at him. "I was listening. James suggested we go over the wall in different groups and surround the fortress, but I meant once we're in there, face to face, then what?"

Ron sighed. "We can't plan that, Mione. We fight, and we fight hard. This war has to end. Tomorrow may not end it, but I want to get rid of that bastard and I plan to help Harry every step of the way."

Hermione closed her eyes, trying not to imagine the memory of Ron being missing, the marks on his arms and back, the dreams that he still didn't talk about. "Me too." She kissed him deeply, almost as if she was trying to hold onto him as long as she could.

His arms wrapped around her and slipped under her shirt and over her bare back. She sank into him, needing the feeling of reassurance as much as the love. Tomorrow was going to bring so much loss no matter how it ended, and she wanted to make sure that she enjoyed every minute of the life she had. She cupped Ron's cheek in her hand, her eyes meeting his blue ones.

"I love you. I plan to be by your side tomorrow, every step of the way, no exceptions."

He grinned and tugged her closer, his eyes dark with emotion. "I wouldn't have it any other way." They immersed themselves in each other quickly, neither one knew who had moved, but once their lips touched, all thoughts were lost.

********

Draco knocked softly on the guest-room door that Delilah was staying in and gave her a small grin when she pulled it open. "Hey."

Delilah tugged him inside, closing the door behind her and wrapped him in her arms. Her head rested against his chest as they just stood like that, holding onto each other. After a few moments, she pulled away to look up at him. "I feel it too."

Draco took her hand, pulling her over to a chair in the corner and into his lap. "Harry has a huge task to face. Everyone seems to think tomorrow is going to be the end, and maybe it will be. It's now or never, I understand that but the thing that I don't understand ... look at this."

Delilah watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. "What is it?"

"It arrived just before I came home from school."

She took it from him and began to read:

Draco,