Hermione looked out the window at the storm raging outside, almost completely hiding the Hogwarts Grounds from view. Everything was covered in thick snow, which concealed the decay and destruction of the past years. As it was, she could almost pretend that nothing had changed, that she was back in her school years, when her biggest worry was if she would remember all her notes for an exam or if she could cram that last bit of information into the parchment.

Truth, there had been dire times when she didn't know if she would survive long enough to reach the end of the year. But even those seemed like childish fears now. Voldemort was nothing but a small shadow of the past. A bigger and crueller evil had risen since. And that evil was also the love of her life.

"Hermione?"

She gave a sudden jolt. She had been so wrapped in her thoughts that Harry had been able to slip behind her. No amount of snow could ever hide the marks evil had left on his face. An ugly purple scar crossed his left dead eye. She winced every time she looked at it. It had been all her fault. If she hadn't been so weak. If she had seen the rising evil lying in bed with her...

Not once had Harry blamed her, going as far as saying he would have sacrificed both eyes to bring her back to their side, which only made her feel worse. She would have preferred him to hate her.

"Is she ready?" asked Ron, who had just entered the room. He too bore the marks of the battle that had torn the Wizarding World apart. His once lush vivid ginger hair had lost its shine. There were lines in his face that aged him well past his thirties.

Hermione's stomach twisted. No. She wasn't ready! How could she be. She still loved him. She wasn't prepared to see him again. She was sure he would try to break her defences and she wasn't sure she would be able to resist.

Harry rested his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "You can do it. When you're ready, just say the words."

Hermione took in deep breaths. She had to do it. There was no other option. Merlin knew she had tried and searched. But nothing, no spell, no incantation, no potion could make a person's heart change. But those things could kill, though. It didn't matter that she still loved him; people had died and were dying. She had to put a stop to it, even if her heart would die with him.

"I'm ready."

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand, and then Ron's. It would take the power of the three of them to vanquish him, for he had become powerful beyond imagination. More powerful than any other dark lord in history. Truly, the source of all evil. With one last intake of breath, Hermione readied herself and broke taboo:

"Draco Malfoy".