Author's Note: This is my first fic, so please review it so I know what I need to change. I have the first several chapters planned out and a couple written. I know the first couple of chapters are short, but as I said, this is my first fic, so I am getting warmed up. Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

A Prophecy Fulfilled

Twenty year old Harry Potter watched as his best friend of nearly ten years was struck dead by her husband, and Harry's now ex-best mate Ron Weasley, while shielding Harry from a deadly curse that Ron had aimed at Harry. She had died to save him. Ron and Hermione had married over two years prior, just over a year after graduating from Hogwarts, and everyone present at that event believed that the two would be perfect for each other. After all, if they had been best friends for years, they must make a perfect couple, or so ran the common logic. Where it had all gone wrong was now anybody's guess, but Harry had begun to notice changes in Ron's behavior a couple of years before. He began to associate with shadier characters, and was frequently seen poring over books on the Dark Arts. Ron had dismissed all of this as an attempt to get inside information on the operations of Lord Voldemort, as well as researching tactics for defeating him. As he had never shown any leanings towards the Dark, Harry and Hermione had accepted this explanation without reservation. But now those pieces began to fall into place along with other seemingly minor details that were easily overlooked, such as Ron's tendency of the past few years to largely wear long-sleeved shirts, even during the summer, as well as unexplained absences at least once per week.

Harry knelt down to cradle the now lifeless body of the woman he had secretly fallen for years ago, and looked up to see her husband with a proud smirk on his face. It was now clear where Ron's loyalties lie, despite his years of service to the Order of the Phoenix. But Harry had wanted Hermione to be happy, and because he saw that she appeared to be content with Ron, he had not taken any action to discourage it, even going so far as to serve as Ron's best man during the wedding. Harry had noticed as time went on however, that Hermione did not seem as elated as he would have thought. Sure, she seemed content in her new life, but the more enthusiastic side of her personality that Harry had come to love during school seemed absent. Harry had passed it off as stress due to the escalating war, but now he wondered whether or not it may have been something more, whether or not she had really been happy, whether or not this was the life that she really wanted. These thoughts began to lead Harry down a dangerous road as he thought of what might have been if only he had been completely honest with her about how he felt. She may still have been alive.

However much Harry may have wanted to grieve at that moment, he couldn't. Hermione was only one more fatality on a day marked with death and destruction. The grounds of Hogwarts castle were almost literally running red with the blood of fallen comrades and enemies, from a battle that was supposed to end a six-year old war. Among the dead Harry could see friends, such as Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom, as well as countless members of the Order, including Minerva McGonagall, Hagrid, Arthur and Molly Weasley, and Kingsley Shacklebolt. However, the fact that Lord Voldemort had not appeared during the fight meant that their sacrifices might have been in vain, and that the war would continue to another day, and more innocent lives would be lost. It was this thought that snapped Harry out of his reverie, and back to the reality at hand. He calmly stood up and fingered his wand, giving Ron a look that could kill the undead, causing a brief look of fear to cross the face of his enemy, but that look quickly passed, replaced by one of triumph.

"Stupid mudblood whore got in the way," Ron explained with a shrug. The fact that he didn't even care that his spouse was dead only seemed to enrage Harry more.

"Dammit Ron, she was your wife!" Harry shouted aiming his wand squarely between the eyes of his one-time friend.

"Yes, well I certainly played the part well, didn't I Potter? At least I got to enjoy her for a few years before she outlived her usefulness. Face it, you had everything I wanted, the fame, the glory, and I could see that you had your sights set on the girl too. I had to move to claim her before you did, and it just so happened that she fit in with the Dark Lord's plans perfectly. Pity she had to end up like this, but she was fun while she lasted." Ron paused to let it all sink in, and then opened his mouth to continue, but Harry didn't let him, as he sent a silent Reducto curse right at his former friend's head. Had Harry been paying more attention instead of focusing on his seething rage, he would have heard, at the exact moment the curse left his wand, a soft pop behind him.

As Ron Weasley looked into the swirling tempest in the eyes of Harry Potter, his entire life up to that point flashed through his mind, all leading to one final question- had he made the right choice? But as the spell left Harry's wand, Ron allowed a small smile to grace his face, as he realized it had all been worth it. He had served his master faithfully for over four years, and now, as he saw how events were destined to play out, he saw that his sacrifice would be the catalyst for his master's rise to power. The last thing that Ron Weasley ever heard was not Harry Potter casting a Reducto at his head, but instead two simple words uttered by a voice directly behind Harry.

"Avada Kedavra," hissed the snakelike voice. Harry's brain barely registered the sound of the curse heading for him, as time seemed to slow down all around him. For one brief moment, Harry Potter thought he heard a mystical voice in his mind whispering to him- whispering a line he had repeated to himself countless times over the years.

"…and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…" whispered the ethereal voice, as Harry watched Ron's head explode in a shower of gore as the first curse impacted. That was the last Harry saw, before his vision went black.

Ron Weasley was dead. Hermione Granger was dead. But so was Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived was dead at the hands of his long-time nemesis, Lord Voldemort, victim to a surprise attack from behind. The Prophecy created twenty years prior, but heard only by a few, had been fulfilled.