Disclaimer: JK Rowlings is the creator of Harry Potter, and all characters from his world. I am just playing here for a little while.

This is Ron’s POV, a take on the start of the clean up after the final battle.

It is hard to believe the war is over. The last real battle has been fought and those who fought on the losing side have been collected. While the clean up is far from over, at last peace can have a chance. But what good is it if the hero of the Wizarding World is not there. Yes Voldemort is dead, but did he take Harry with him?

In a circle we stand, those closest to him. He is lying on the ground, with his arms outstretched. Looks like a picture I once saw in the Muggle book call the Bible. Mum and Hermione are weeping; Fred and George are looking like they might. A lone tear escapes down my face. Remus stands alone, slightly separated from the group. He has lost more then we have. True, Charlie is dead and Bill is still recovering and may never use his right arm again. Yet, Remus has lost everyone. Sirius died our fifth year and Tonks has gone missing. Harry is lying on the ground and we don’t know if he is dead.

There is nothing we can do but be there for him. We have all lost the same member of our family. Harry was like a son or a nephew to Remus, and loved the position that he held there. Sirius had been a brother to Remus and the closest thing to a father that Harry ever knew. We filled in as the other brothers, another uncle and an aunt. Maybe even Mum was like a grandmum for him, I don’t know if we will ever know.

Ginny is joining us now; she is struggling to break free from Dad and Percy to reach Harry. We need each other’s support, but right now Ginny needs to hold Harry. Ginny is crying for another kind of loss. Unlike Hermione who lost the brother that had always been there, Ginny has lost her love, part of her heart that will never heal. I pull Hermione close; let her weep on my shoulder. We need each other now. The trio that we made has been broken.

We all knew the risk of Harry taking on Voldemort. The connection between them might have killed them both. And now, when we need him the most, Dumbledore is not here. He too died fighting this awful war.

A little over a year ago, when the battle raged close to Hogwarts, Dumbledore fought and died. Part of it took place in Hogsmead; Harry was there and hell bent on getting revenge for Sirius. Tonks helped, and between the two of them they took down Bellatrix. Draco fought but survived. Then he took over for his father when Lucius died over the summer between sixth and seventh year.

He is dead, now. I made sure of that. Not that I am proud, Harry won’t even know that never again will a Malfoy bother him. The name itself is dead; Draco was the last in that line.

On the horizon we can see someone making his or her way towards us. There is only one person I know who walks like that and it is Tonks. She has been missing since around Christmas time. As she joins the group, she leans on Remus. Ginny hardly registers what is going on, she feels like we all do: that we let another member of our family down. As his family, we are supposed to look out for him. Yet he faced Voldemort alone, I would bet he almost made sure that he would.

He felt that everyone who died had because of him. Their name forever would be written in his blood. He was wrong! They died knowing what they faced, knowing that they were traveling on a hard and dangerous path. Charlie would not want Harry to feel guilty over his loss and neither would Sirius.

Tonks takes Remus’ spot and Remus is kneeling next to Harry now, opposite from Ginny. He mourns the last connection to his friends, family; the loss of the boy, correction, man, whom he loved more then anything. Remus forever worried about Harry’s safety and well-being after Sirius died. We loved him for his simple way of fitting in so well with the family and his giving nature.

There is no way the Potter name can die like this. Harry has to live on, because the good always wins. The Black and Malfoy names are dead, as well as so many others, but could we stand it to lose the Potter name as well? Even with the various losses we need him to live, show the world that he can be everything we want him to be.

Slowly the wolf takes some control of Remus, he lets loose a noise that can only be called a howl. All of us start to cry; Hermione and Mum getting worse than they were before. We all wish we could howl with him, if it were easy for us to do we all would have.

The loss of the war bears down on us. Dean Thomas, Padma Patil, Katie Bell, Cedric Diggory, Hannah Abbott, Terry Boot, Sirius Black, Albus Dumbledore, Charlie, and all of the casualties of this cruel war. No one was left untouched. But what is the use of creating a better world when the one person to remind us why we need to live and carry on, lies among those who have fallen during the fight. He stood for so much in our world.

We stay; the medics haven’t been by to confirm that he is gone. I don’t think anyone really knows he is down. The sun is setting; at least we don’t have to worry about the moon. That is tomorrow night, so Remus is free to stay and find out if the boy he loved and would have been willing die for…is truly dead.

The hours have passed; nothing has changed except the tears don’t come any more. We have all lost the ability to cry. Remus is sitting on one side of Harry; in his pocket I can see the tiny stag and black dog that he always keeps there. Ginny has taken to cradling Harry’s head in her lap and looks half asleep. Hermione has fallen asleep on my shoulder, and Angelina has finally found Fred. They hold each other close, fearing the worse like the rest of us.

Another figure starts to approach us, but who can it be? We won’t leave until we know. There will be no sleep for any of us till we know.

Madam Pomfrey is the one approaching; she looks surprised and then shocked to see whom we are all congregated around. Normally she would have told us off for not getting her, but somehow she understands that none of us could leave him.

Bending down, she doesn’t tell Remus or Ginny to move. Somehow she understands everything, from the moment she stepped into the circle it all became clear.

Her wand passes over Harry’s body, and she starts to mutter a few spells. Hermione has woken up and is watching; we all are waiting for the final answer. As Madam Pomfrey slows her wand and looks up, we all hold our breath.

“He is just knocked out, and should wake anywhere from a few hours to a few days.” She says, stopping everyone’s fears.

Her voice at first sounded odd, none of us had spoken in so long. But now Dad jumps to conjure a stretcher. Tonks walks up to Remus, giving him a little support for the walk to the hospital wing. Ginny takes to the other side, not wanting to leave Harry. Fred, Angelina and George lead the way to the hospital wing. Hermione and I fall right behind the stretcher bearing our best friend. Mum leans on Percy, she looks like she might faint.

On the way I look in Harry’s hand, there he is clutching a rat. The rat is unconscious, but I recognize him right away. Harry found Pettigrew, so even if he were dead, Sirius could be cleared and then mourned properly.

“Stop,” I say, causing everyone to look at me, but they stopped just the same. “Remus, help me open his left hand. There is something there; we need to get it.” Even to me, my voice sounds odd, but Remus follows my orders as we get his hand open. Slowly realization dawns on Hermione and Remus. They recognize the rat immediately. So do the rest of the family, only they don’t know the full truth about him. Tonks seems to guess who the rat is, by the looks on our faces.

“Is that Pettigrew?” She asks, when he is out of Harry’s hand and I put him in my pocket.

“Yes,” I reply. The party continues on to the hospital wing.

Once there, most of us are ordered to beds. Pomfrey is obliging enough to let us be in one of the bigger rooms together. She enlarges it, so that all the necessary beds will fit.

Remus takes a chair, near Harry’s head. No one stops Ginny from crawling onto the bed next to him, holding him while he sleeps. The first real signs of reviving and she will know. Neither Remus nor Ginny were badly injured. Harry wanted to make sure of that too. One by one everyone else falls asleep, it has been a long day and questions can wait till tomorrow. At last I am the only one awake, the dim candles give enough light for me to see Harry from my bed. Right before sleep over takes me, I see movement. For the first time in over hours, Harry has taken his first real breath. At that point I know he will live, and fall into a deep dreamless sleep.

Author’s Note: Thanks to my beta Silver Phoenix, and very big thanks to potions gurl. I’ll try to get the next “visit” story out soon.