AN: This was inspired by the song Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne from the soundtrack to the movie Eragon. I pounded this out in about an hour or so. So any mistakes are mine. Thanks! Please read and review!

We'll Make It Through

The dawn was approaching. The sky was stained a brilliant pink as the sun began to rise, and the fears of those gathered in a small, remote college rose with it.

The day of the final battle was rapidly approaching, each new day increasing their fears not surviving. However, they had to be strong, especially Harry.

Everything rested on his shoulders, as unfair as it was.

Letting out his breath, Harry looked around the cramped cabin. Ron was sleeping soundly on the rather lumpy and moldy couch, while Hermione sat at the only other piece of furniture in the room: The small round kitchen table.

Parchments were spread everywhere, each cramped with tiny, neat handwriting. Runes were on some, complicated arithmancy equations covered another. Each one meant to figure out how the final battle would go down, what the possibilities were that Voldemort would actually survive.

While others were potions recipes, used in the brewing of some rather complicated (and illegal) potions that they used to destroy each horcrux as they found them.

The last one, the staff of Ravenclaw, had almost destroyed Grimmauld Place when they tried to eradicate the bit of soul inside it.

That one had been the hardest to get rid of. They almost did not succeed. However, thanks to Hermione's quick thinking and Harry's quick wand work, they did it.

Now they had to wait. Wait to see what happened next. They had no plan of action now that each of the horcruxes was gone. For all they knew, Voldemort could wait years before realizing that his horcruxes were gone. By then dozens upon dozens would die.

Harry could not wait that long. He knew he had to find a way to lure Voldemort out. He just wished he knew how. Or when.

A growl of frustration snapped him out of his thoughts and caused his eyes to lift to Hermione, who threw her quill down in utter frustration and then dissolved into tears.

Alarmed, Harry shot off the floor where he had been sitting and was at her side in a minute. And without a thought, gathered her in his arms, holding her close as she cried.

Her small frame trembled as she cried, breaking Harry's heart with each sob. He whispered quietly in her ear, hoping his words were providing her some comfort.

After what seemed like forever, Hermione's sobs quieted to soft hiccups. When she was calm again, she lifted her face to give Harry a watery smile.

"I'm sorry Harry, I didn't mean to...”

"No, it's alright, Hermione. I understand," Harry, told her, cutting off her apology.

Hermione looked about to say something more, but realized that he really did understand. Still, she felt the need to explain.

"I guess I just got frustrated," she told him quietly.  Then she seemed to hesitate before she spoke again, as if she was weighing her words carefully. Which, of course Harry figured she was.

"Harry?" she asked not looking at him. "Do you...think we'll make it through this? To live normal lives. Without worrying about who is going to die next. Or if this is going be our last day alive? Do you think it will ever end?"

Her words struck a nerve with Harry, as he himself had been asking himself those questions repeatedly since they first began this quest. And he still had not come up with any answers.

"I've thought about it a lot lately, Mione. And I really do not know. I mean, I hope we will. I have never had a normal life. I do not know what it is like to have freedoms and just do what I want. I have always had someone there telling what to do or a prophecy hanging over my head.

"At the same time, I wonder if I will survive this whole thing. I mean, so far I've gotten by on luck. What happens when my luck runs out? But I do know one thing, as long you and Ron and the rest the Order are there, fighting beside me, we have a chance. I have a chance.

"And it makes me believe that maybe we will make it through this. Together. As long as we all stick together," Harry told her, voicing his thoughts for the first time.

"Oh, Harry, when did you become so wise?" Hermione asked a smile quirking at the edges of her mouth.

"I learned from the best," he replied, giving her soft kiss on the forehead.

"Just one day at a time, and we'll make it through," Harry whispered.

"We'll make it through," Hermione repeated quietly. "Thanks, Harry. I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome, Mione. And I promise, we will survive this. Or at least die trying."

"We will," she said, closing her eyes and in a few minutes, she was sleeping comfortably still wrapped in Harry's arms.

"Yes, we will," Harry, told the quiet room, the hope beginning to spark inside him. "We will."

~Fin