Chapter 11

A/N: Sorry this one took so long. It was going to go one of two ways, and I couldn't decide! Thanks for all the lovely feedback, too.

***

Harry was almost too late to see it.

Voldemort had come up against him and Dumbledore at the main entrance to the safe room, but the wizards who’d been working to disable the weapon even while the battle raged just outside the door were successful just in time.

The dark wizard left in a shower of curses, and Harry sprinted through the waning battle towards the corridor.

Amos Diggory’s body lay just outside the hall. Harry tried not to see the bloody slashes or the fixed eyes, tried to clamp down on the horror that welled up.

Inside, past the body. Fred and George. Both still conscious, but it wasn't enought to slow Harry's panic.

“Through that door,” George called out, pointing. “Ron followed her in there. The others haven’t come back yet.”

The room with the arch. It was like a nightmare.

Hermione was unconscious in a corner.

Ron was in front of the arch, wand a blur as he defended himself from magical blows. Bellatrix ignored her injuries and attacked him with maniacal fury.

Xander had been knocked aside. Harry pulled his wand, but Ron had already started to falter.

Everything went from frantic to slow motion. Xander launched himself off the floor as Bellatrix let fly with a curse. The magical blow that was meant to drive Ron through the arch hit Xander dead on, just as he shoved Ron out of the line of fire.

Harry watched as another Black was lost to the whispering voices behind the veil.

For what seemed like forever, there was only stillness in the room. Ron stared blankly at the veiled doorway from where he'd landed on the floor, and Harry felt frozen in horror.

The deafening silence was broken when Bellatrix started to laugh.

In a single move, Ron pushed himself to his feet and flung out his hand, wand pointed straight at Bellatrix. He practically screamed the words Harry hoped he'd never hear his friend say.

“Avada Kedavra.”

The green flash hit Bellatrix in the chest, and she flew backwards. The whoosh of power and the wet smack of her body against the wall were loud in the echoing chamber.

In the aftermath, there was silence again. For several moments, the only movement was her wand rolling across the floor and stopping against the stone wall.

Harry stared at Ron, unable to believe what he’d just seen.

Ron stared at the body. After a moment, he turned to face Harry. And all Harry could see was grim satisfaction.

***

Turning away from Harry, reality started to set in. Ron stared at the veil. That horrible, high laughter had stopped, he’d made it stop, but Xander was still gone. Through the arch, just like Sirius. He was gone.

It was suddenly hard to breathe, and his legs felt weak. Xander was gone. He’d lost him.

Ron clutched a hand to his chest as something started to ache, something deep inside him. He tried to keep himself from sobbing or screaming. He could hear Harry nearby, felt a hand on his shoulder, but it was all he could do to keep from passing out. Merlin, it hurt, and this was only the beginning.

Xander was gone.

***

Harry ignored the tears streaming from his own eyes. He left Ron to check on Hermione, who was stirring, and then raced out past the twins to call for help.

When he got back to the room, Ron had collapsed to the ground. He was just sitting there. His hand was clenched around his wand so hard his knuckles were white, but his eyes stared off into nothing. Harry recognized shock when he saw it.

Exclamations from the hall of doors meant the Weasley twins were finally getting some help. Harry couldn’t bring himself to call again – his throat was tight, and it was all he could do to stay with Hermione, not just join Ron on the floor and let his brain give out.

Xander was gone. The hope he had of family, the chance at a sort-of brother, was gone already.

And Ron had killed someone for it.

He tried to keep his hands from shaking where they held Hermione’s. What was he going to do?

He looked over at Ron, and then risked a look at the body. Not a scratch on her, just laying there slumped like a rag doll. Harry thought he might be sick.

Lupin and several other Aurors finally burst into the room, and Harry was quickly replaced by a mediwitch. He went over to Ron, who wasn’t responding to anyone’s questions.

Just as Harry was about to start explaining, or trying to explain, Ron looked up sharply, and rose to his feet. He pushed forward through the crowd of aurors, but before Harry could say anything to him, the room filled with an eerie light.

A flashing portal opened in front of them. The entire room watched as two bodies were propelled out of it, to roll across the floor. One of them came to rest at Ron’s feet with a quiet groan.

It was Xander.

It took a moment for Harry to recognize the other – it was Sirius, and he was breathing.