After the beheading of Nagini and the ultimate defeat of Voldemort, the remaining survivors retreated to the Great Hall to regroup. Harry was immediately bombarded with cheers and applause. Ron and Hermione entered with smiles on their faces, the sun rising to illuminate the castle. McGonagall replaced the house tables, but not a single student sat in their respective house. The professors and parents finally met again, boasting of the students' bravery.

The golden trio hugged each other tightly, and after years of trauma and havoc, it felt as blissfully as it did in their early years at Hogwarts. Hermione was the first to break away, her eyes scanning the room for her girlfriend, a giddy smile of happiness still lingering.

"Where's Ellie?" Hermione questioned innocently.

Ron and Harry looked around, but there was no sight of the Hufflepuff. Hermione immediately approached Ellie's mother, worry beginning to sink in.

"Where's Ellie?" she repeated as she grew serious, the smile disappearing from her face.

"I thought she was with you," Amelia answered with a raised eyebrow. "I told her to go help you. Why? Is she not here?"

"No, she's not," Hermione frowned before scanning the Great Hall once more, being careful to not overlook anyone.

"Ellie?" Hermione called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. "Ellie!"

Soon, Ron and Harry joined in, and the students looked at them with odd expressions. Amelia screamed for her daughter, urging the adults to follow suit in search for the missing girl.

"She's not here, Hermione," Ron announced gravely.

"What do you mean she's not here? She has to be!" Hermione snapped frustratedly as she began pacing back and forth, running her hands through her hair nervously.

Hermione's heart started to pound rapidly as she looked around frantically. Her hands grew clammy from her uneasy state as Harry and Ron continued to call out Ellie's name helplessly.

"What are you two still doing here?!" Hermione yelled angrily, causing Ron and Harry to cower back at her change of tone. "Go on, then! Don't just stand there! Look for Ellie!"

"Are you not coming with?" Ron questioned.

"Does it look like I'm coming with?! Obviously not," Hermione spat. "Find my girlfriend! I'll wait here if she comes back."

Harry and Ron quickly scurried out of the Great Hall, terrified at Hermione's anger. Having heard the conversation, Draco slipped out the room and extended the search on his own. In the Great Hall, a majority of Ellie's friends called out the Hufflepuff's name, until the chant echoed across the stone.

Harry and Ron sprinted down the empty halls, searching for any sign of their friend. They too, grew worried as every hall turned up empty, not bothering to check in obscure places.

"Potter! Weasley!" Draco barked as he crouched beside a large piece of rubble. "She's over here!"

Harry and Ron shared confused expressions, considering they had just ran past the area without seeing any sign of Ellie. Nonetheless, they jogged to where Draco kneeled and saw Ellie's shoes poking out from under the debris.

"Help me get her out!" Draco ordered.

It was evident that Draco was uneasy too, though he tried to hide it with his usual snarl. As the boys moved the rubble out of the way, they found Ellie laying face down, sprawled out as blood leaked from her head.

"No, no, no..." Ron rambled as he stepped away from the body, bringing his hands to grasp his hair.

Harry turned her over, and both he and Draco gasped at the gruesome sight. Ellie laid there, her entire scalp and forehead covered in bright, crimson blood. The blood leaked rapidly from a massive gash that ran down to her eyebrow, dripping to her closed eyelids. Nobody would have recognized her if they hadn't known her well, but the boys felt their throat clench at her state.

Draco immediately removed his blazer, frantically ripping off one of the sleeves. He fastened it around Ellie's head to keep the blood from spilling, tightening it with a pull as he he cradled her head gently.

"Is she breathing?" Ron squeaked, his stomach churning at the gore on Ellie's head.

"There's no time to tell," Harry rushed. "We've got to get her to Hermione."

Despite their hatred towards one another, Harry and Draco slung both of Ellie's arms over their shoulders, supporting her as they ushered her to the Great Hall.

"Come on, Evans... stay alive for me," Draco pleaded with a harsh whisper, clenching his jaw as he couldn't bear the thought of losing her again.

As the quartet entered the Great Hall, Ron ran forward and immediately pulled a stretcher in front of Hermione as Harry and Draco set her down gently. Panting from their transport, the boys stepped backwards, letting Hermione crouch by her girlfriend.

Hermione kneeled down, tears brimming at her eyes as she cupped her girlfriend's cold cheek. She used the sleeve of her sweater to wipe away the blood that covered her face, making her features more recognizable. Hermione pushed away Draco's makeshift bandage to look at her clearly.

"Ellie?" Hermione cried out, her eyes flickering to her girlfriend's bare fingers. "Darling, please... don't do this to me again."

A crowd had formed around Ellie's body, among those being Harry, Ron, Draco, George, and Luna. Neville, Ginny, Amelia, and a few more of Ellie's friends stood behind the first row of watchers.

"You said you'd stay with me," Hermione wailed, her voice cracking with every second of Ellie's stillness. "You promised me you'd come back... Ellie, please... wake up... You made a promise..."

Hermione shook with an uncontrollable cry as her hair fell to the sides of her face, shielding the hot tears that fell onto Ellie. Holding onto her tattered shirt, Hermione rested her forehead against her girlfriend's, holding onto the last shred of hope.

"I think she's just fallen asleep," Luna observed in her innocent tone, seeming to be unbothered by the sight of Ellie's limp body.

"Luna, now's not the time," Harry sniffled as he grasped onto Ron for support.

A string of murmurs echoed through the hall, some already accepting Ellie's fate while others refused to believe it.

Regretting that she hadn't done it earlier, Hermione pressed her ear to Ellie's chest, desperately listening for any sign of life. There was nothing. Not a single beat. Hermione took a shaky breath as she momentarily looked up at the audience and shook her head slowly.

Hermione broke down into a mess of broken sobs as she clutched her girlfriend's body. The Great Hall silenced itself as the remainder of the survivors gathered around the body. Amelia broke down with a gut-wrenching, silent cry as she clutched the area over her heart. Harry and Ron held onto each other as Molly comforted George. Draco stood on his own, no one comforting him as he painfully swallowed his cry, feeling as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart.

"You promised me, love... you made a promise..." Hermione whimpered, just quiet enough so that she could hear herself. "You said... you were going to marry me. Darling, please..."

Hermione rested her head on Ellie's chest as another excruciating wail came deep from her gut. The pain she had felt when Ellie first died returned, except this time, it was amplified a thousand times more.

The jarring stillness was unnerving, yet it made way for a miracle. A faint heartbeat echoed against Ellie's body, cutting through the silence in an eerie manner. A couple more seconds passed, and another faint beat came, pounding against Hermione's ear lightly.

Hermione sprang back up, her soul full of hope despite the rivers that streamed from her eyes. She clutched her girlfriend's collar as she stared at the body in anticipation.

"Ellie...?" Hermione trailed. "Ellie, if you're alive... please... come back to me."

There was a moment of suspenseful silence as the surrounding group. They waited for a few seconds, but it stayed quiet. It appeared that Hermione was hallucinating, and the group's faces dropped once more.

"Hermione, I'm so-" Ron started before being cut off.

As if the near impossible happened, Ellie's eyes fluttered open. She inhaled deeply as her eyes scanned the faces around her. Hermione immediately pressed her lips against Ellie's as a roar of cheers and laughs erupted from her friends. Ellie smiled into the kiss, taking a bruised hand to her girlfriend's face as she tucked a falling strand of Hermione's hair behind her ear.

"We won, my love... we won," Hermione cried out happily, cupping her cheeks with her palms, rubbing them over with her thumb.

Ellie looked up at those surrounding her and smiled widely, the color returning to her cheeks.

"But don't bloody scare me!" Hermione scolded lightly as she continued to kiss Ellie between every word, her tears streaming with happiness. "I nearly fainted!"

"Missed me, love?" Ellie teased through the continuous pecks on her lips.

"Don't you ever pull something like that again!" Hermione continued. "Other than that... I'm glad you're okay."

Ellie chuckled as Hermione finally broke away, allowing for her mother to crouch down beside the Hufflepuff.

"You're very brave, my dear," Amelia cooed as she hushed her voice to a whisper. "But this is the last time you ever throw yourself into danger."

"What do you mean?" Ellie mumbled lazily.

"Look at your hand," Amelia instructed gently.

Ellie examined her hand carefully, inspecting her palm closely. She then turned it over to find that a burn had formed where her father's ring once sat. It didn't pain her, yet the angry burn seemed to permanently scar her skin.

"I don't know when your father did it, but he transferred the last bit of the ring's power to your body, allowing the user to be protected... one last time. See, magic isn't infinite. The ring can only do so much when it's been overused," Amelia explained in a hushed tone, being careful that the rest were preoccupied with their own conversations.

"When he told me to trust him earlier..." Ellie realized. "But why would he do that?"

"He wanted to protect you, or maybe redeem himself for his wrongs," Ellie's mother suggested.

"I'm not... immortal or anything, right?" Ellie frowned as she weakly propped herself up on her elbows.

"You were in a sense. From the time he transferred the power to the time it last protected you. Rest assured, you're completely fine. The ring... it's useless now."

"B-But I didn't see Cedric," Ellie stammered loudly. "I was supposed to see him after I died."

"You told me he's dead," Amelia frowned.

"Y-yeah, but I saw him! Last time I died- which you weren't supposed to find out-" Ellie corrected, earning the attention of Hermione and Luna. "I saw him. I saw Cedric, and he gave me the option to stay with him or return to the living."

"Miss Evans, I apologize for interrupting, but I believe what she's referring to is called Limbo," Hermione cut in. "I read it in a book somewhere. It's where a person who has died, but not yet passed on, goes to. They're guided by their loved ones to make their decision. And since Ellie told you she hadn't seen him, I don't believe she actually died."

"I told you she fell asleep," Luna spoke up. "Or perhaps fell unconscious. But don't mind me, I'll be on my way."

"Thank you, Luna," Ellie smiled weakly, nodding as she watched Luna's hair bounce after her.

"Just because everything's fine now, doesn't mean you're off the hook. We're going to have a talk about this later," Amelia finalized as she cleared her throat and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.

Amelia bent down to kiss her daughter's forehead before she rose to her feet, disappearing to make conversation with Slughorn and a few other professors.

Ellie's eyes flickered to the tall blonde who stood with his hands in his pockets, striving to plaster a serious expression on his face.

"I think Death's afraid of you," Draco scoffed in his usually cold tone as he attempted to subtly wipe a tear that had stained his cheek.

"I'm related to Harry Potter, Draco. What do you expect?" Ellie laughed lightly, earning a sarcastic eye roll from the Slytherin.

"Were you... the one who saved me?" Ellie questioned.

"You make me sound heroic. It's quite disgusting," Draco retorted. "Besides, I had to. Or else, Granger would've beheaded me."

Hermione simply shrugged her shoulders in a manner that told him she wouldn't hesitate, invoking a loud laugh from Ellie. Realizing that people had started to listen in on their conversation, Draco left the scene along with the rest, nodding for Hermione to take over once more.

Ellie propped herself up on her palms and attempted to rise to her feet. She stopped immediately, her mouth open in disbelief.

"Darling..." Ellie trailed, her voice shaking with fear.

"W-What is it?" Hermione questioned worriedly as she recognized Ellie's panicked expression. "What's the matter?"

"Hermione..." Ellie inhaled deeply as she looked at the other end of her body. "I can't move my legs."

"W-What?" Hermione stammered as she immediately stood up in search for the matron. "Madam Pomfrey! I need the matron!"

Madam Pomfrey quickly made her way towards the two girls, stepping over the rubble as Hermione looked down at her girlfriend worriedly.

"What happened, dear? What do you need?" Pomfrey fretted.

"I-It's my legs. I can't feel them," Ellie gulped as she stared at her unmoving limbs.

Pomfrey crouched down to Ellie as she took a limb in her hand, watching as it grew limp. She performed a few more checks before she waved her wand over to scan the injuries.

"We need to get you to St Mungo's," Pomfrey declared firmly as she stood up. "This is far too severe for me to mend."

She whistled loudly to summon an owl, quickly scribbling a few notes on a piece of parchment. She attached it to the owl's foot, sending it off immediately.

"W-Will she be okay?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine, nothing life-threatening. I assume she'll be picked up in about 10 minutes, maybe less," Pomfrey reassured as she glanced at her watch.

Pomfrey was called once more by another student, and she quickly left the girls to attend to them instead, scurrying off with her wand and clipboard.

Hermione crouched beside her girlfriend, a tear slipping from the corner of her eye. She placed her arm behind Ellie's back, gently allowing for the Hufflepuff to lean her weight there.

"Why are you crying?" Ellie frowned as she used her thumb to wipe away the tear that fell.

"I just got you back, my love. And they're going to take you away," Hermione whimpered.

"That's nothing to cry over. We have ten minutes, which should be more than enough time to kiss you," Ellie cooed in attempt to reassure her girlfriend.

Hermione flung herself at her girlfriend, wrapping her arms over Ellie's shoulders as she buried her face in the Hufflepuff's neck. A few more tears fell, but she hid them within the fabric of Ellie's clothing.

"I kept my promise," Ellie commented as she rubbed Hermione's back comfortingly.

Though Hermione was itching to scold her girlfriend for almost bringing her an unbearable amount of pain, she opted for a much more calmer approach.

"That you did, but you nearly broke it," Hermione frowned. "But that's beside the point. Look at yourself. You're hurt, love. You always get hurt when I'm around. I mean, your head looks terrible right now."

"That's just the blood. Barely even hurts," Ellie shrugged as she touched her fingers lightly against her wound, her fingertips dotted with her own blood. "That must've been what the ring protected first. I'd much rather be paralyzed than dead."

Hermione face her girlfriend with a sorrow expression, using one of her hands to cup Ellie's cheek. Her eyes flickered to a golden chain peeking from under her shirt. Hermione trailed her fingers downward to inspect the necklace, bringing it over the fabric. She smiled at the sight as she rubbed over the gold with her thumb lightly.

"You still wear it," Hermione commented as she stared at her own name carved into the necklace.

Though the worry for Ellie only grew, Hermione used the necklace as a distraction, pushing the topic to the back of her mind.

"Why would I ever stop?" Ellie smiled. "I cherish this with my entire heart."

"Ellie, love..." Hermione trailed as she withdrew her wand. "I think... it's time I take off the enchantment. I want the world to know you're mine."

Ellie nodded as Hermione waved her wand at the necklace, transforming it to permanently display her name. Without hesitation, Ellie pressed her lips against Hermione's, kissing her as if nothing in the world mattered. The lovers acknowledged everything they shared while they kissed, remembering every compliment, every night they escaped to the towers, every date, and every 'I love you'.

Ellie broke away first, resting her forehead against Hermione's who frowned at the abrupt halt.

"Why'd you stop?" Hermione questioned breathlessly.

"I just want to tell you something," Ellie started with a smile as she drew back slightly.

"Go on, then," Hermione encouraged, raising an eyebrow at her girlfriend's abruptness.

"I just wanted to say that..." Ellie paused, looking in Hermione's honey eyes tenderly. "I'm so glad I bumped into you. Quite literally."

Hermione blushed deeply, her smile wider than ever. In that moment, though they already maximized the concept of love, it felt as if the they fell for each other even more, if that was even possible.

A loud crack startled the occupants of the Great Hall, two wizards dressed in identical uniforms appearing to have Apparated stood there. Madam Pomfrey ushered the curious onlookers to stay away as she greeted the medi-wizards, and she directed them in Ellie's direction.

Hermione pressed her lips on Ellie's forehead, her eyes constantly glancing towards the approaching men.

"You'll be okay, my love. I'll be there once they allow visitors," Hermione reassured as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind Ellie's ear.

Hermione's expression grew more concerned as the medi-wizards finally approached them. One of the men pulled a small object from his bag and waved his wand at it, enlarging it to become a full-sized stretcher. Meanwhile, the other medi-wizard levitated Ellie on top of it, tucking her legs to the middle.

"Preparing for departure," the medi-wizards spoke synchronously, nodding to each other with confirmation.

"Smile for me, darling," Ellie spoke to Hermione as she felt herself shift into the air, each of the men holding onto either side of the stretcher.

Hermione curled her lips into a small smile in response as she watched Ellie's eyes light up with happiness. She blushed at Ellie's reaction, never once taking her eyes off her girlfriend as the men began to Disapparate.

Despite their hardships, both past and present, one thing was definite in their relationship. Their hearts teemed with unconditional love, and that itself proved to be stronger than anything else.