"Miss Granger, I would like a word with you please." Professor McGonagall stopped her after class. She had a large book on the table. Hermione's face went bright red and she brushed her bushy chocolate brown hair out of her face. Harry and Ron both looked at her surprised that she might be in trouble. Harry pushed his glasses further up towards his emerald eyes.
"Do you want us to wait Hermione?" Harry asked as he walked towards the door. Ron grabbed her book bag from her.
"No, you guys go to lunch. I'll be there in a bit." she smiled at them as she pushed her hair back behind her ears. Ron gave her back her book bag.
"Okay, but hurry, I need help with some of my homework." Ron smiled at her. He and Harry headed out the door. Hermione watched them for a little while reflecting on the past few years. She, Ron and Harry had just started their seventh year and things for them had become more difficult. Sirius was still lost behind some veil and Percy Weasley had died in their last encounter with Voldemort. Hermione still cringed at the thought of his death. Even though they never liked him, he was still Ron's brother. The whole family had been really upset through the summer holiday. Harry and Hermione did there best to cheer him up and it seemed to help, but they could tell that he was still hurt.
Hermione shook herself out of her thoughts and walked toward Professor McGonagall's desk. "Did you find it Professor?"
"Yes Miss Granger, but I want you to be careful with it. Defense spells like these are hard to form and hard to control, even for someone as skilled as yourself. I know that you want to keep your friends safe, but I just want you to be careful. Also, I found something else that you might be interested in. It's a potion, considered a defense." Professor McGonagall pushed the book towards her. Hermione looked at the front cover.
"What potion is it?" Hermione asked flipping through the pages.
"It's a potion to see your future. The future love that you may have. I thought that you might be interested in it. I am going to warn you though, be back before the next full moon. That's when the portal opens again. And don't be upset with what you see. You make your future." Professor McGonagall smiled at her. "Be careful Miss Granger."
"Thanks professor. I will." she beamed as she ran out of the room.
Harry and Ron sat alone at the table. Books were spread open in front of them, along with food. Hermione set her books down and took a seat next to Ron.
"What was that about?" Harry asked pulling his star chart closer to him. Hermione pulled a plate closer to her and started pouring food onto it. Ron nudged her in the side.
"You in trouble?" he grinned for the first time in weeks.
"No, Professor McGonagall gave me that book on defenses that we have been asking her about." she pushed the book towards them so that they could get a better look. Ron shoved his food and books aside and pulled her book towards him. "So this is going to help us when You-Know-Who comes after Harry." both Harry and Hermione went silent.
"Well, I guess it will. But I don't know if that is really what's going to happen. We just want to be prepared." Hermione looked down at her food. She and Harry had both stopped eating.
"Why are you guys so quite? We all know that is what is going to happen. There is no sense in trying to hide it anymore. So why bother?" Ron's eyes filled with anger. Voldemort had personally tried killed Percy the year before.
"Well, anyways this spell should be easy for us all to learn." Hermione lied. She didn't want to make things seem worse than what they were.
"Well, I am going to Hagrid's class, are you two coming?" Harry gathered up his books. The smile on his face faded and he seemed to loose his interest in everything.
Later that evening Hermione left the common room to take a bath, or so she said. She had a piece of paper that she had rolled up in her towel and a few things from potions class that she had stolen earlier that day. She made her way over to the girls bathroom. The room was large and there was a giant pool in the center. There were no pictures on the wall which were a soft violet shade. She unwrapped the piece of paper and began pouring in the ingredients. The water shudder then turned a violent red, then soft peach and with another violent shudder, it turned a shimmering silver. Ripples began to form from the center of the pool and outwards. Well, here goes nothing, she thought and she plunged head first into the water. It was cold as ice and a small vortex began to form at the bottom. Quickly it pulled her through and she dropped.
'Where am I?' She picked herself up off the ground and looked around. She was in a large open field with rolling green hills in the distance. The sky overhead was dark, but stars dotted the sky and glittered brighter than she had ever seen. To her left was Harry, and to her right was Ron. Harry was facing forward and Ron was facing Hermione. Both with their wands raised. Hermione ducked covering her arms over her head. Ron was ready to strike. Then she realized that they weren't moving. Both of them were paused in life it seemed. Hermione took another look around. Next to Ron was Lupin and then Sirius. Snape was on Harry's other side. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were behind Ron, Hermione and Harry. More people from the Order were on either side of them. The Earth around her seemed to be thrown into fast forward.
"Harry don't!" Lupin yelled over to him as Harry aimed his wand.
"You don't stand a chance! You fought me once and won, but this time I will kill you!" Voldemort pulled up his wand. Behind them Mrs. Weasley screamed. Hermione turned to see her slowly falling to the ground, Ginny behind her. Fred and George rushed forward to catch her.
"Mom, mom are you okay?" George whispered as he set her down. Fred went over to comfort Ginny who had now begun crying.
"Fine, fine. Arthur!" she yelled with tears rolling down her face. Hermione turned back around to face Voldemort. Ron still had his wand pointed at Harry, but Harry didn't notice. He was watching Voldemort.
"Harry what are you doing?" Hermione whispered in his ear, but he ignored her too. Suddenly she felt panic. She was in the middle of the battle, unprepared and unsure. Ron seemed that he had traded sides, people around her were shouting spells every which way and mass confusion had taken hold.
"Harry don't!" Sirius had yelled before taking a hit. Voldermort's followers seemed to be winning and their numbers seemed greater. Hermione took a step back.
"No, no more. This must end." Harry took a step forward. Voldemort laughed and cold shivers ran up Hermione's spine.
"You should run." Voldemort stopped laughing and glared at him. Worry seemed to cross his eyes.
"I will fight." he stood poised. Voldemort shouted a spell at the same time as Harry. Hermione screamed and all others fighting stopped. It had begun, the fight to end it all. A green beam shot out from Voldemorts wand and a navy blue beam from Harry. In the middle they merged to form a giant silver orb. The orb slowly started to float towards Harry. Hermione began to panic.
"Fool, weak fool. If you kill me we will both die, but I am strong. If I kill you I can still live!" his eyes gleamed with delight. He was going to kill Harry.
"Then I will win." Harry shivered, finally feeling panic. Hermione felt the tears coming to her eyes. All other movement stopped. Everyone watched and waited. The silver orb seemed to be coming closer and closer to Harry. He was beginning to panic. Ron finally spoke.
"Unpenetralis!" Ron yelled at the top of his lungs. A brilliant gold light flew from Ron's wand and formed a ball around Harry.
"Ron you can't do that by yourself! It takes too much power!" Hermione recognized it immediately. It was the spell that she had asked Professor McGonagall for earlier. She sunk to the ground on her knees. Ron was going to die, and she knew it. That spell was to much for any one of them alone.
"Hermione I have to." he smiled at her and the tears that were forming spilled out over her face. The silver orb began to move towards Voldemort.
"Ronald! Someone has to help him!" Mrs. Weasley sputtered amongst her sobs, but everyone was glued to their places. It was inevitable. Ron was going to die. Harry slowly dropped to his knees. All of his energy was being sucked from his body, but with every surge that he sent through, the orb grew bigger. Voldemort's eyes grew wide as he watched.
"Help me! One of you help me!" He whispered to his followers, but none of them made a move. They all sat and watched. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Hermione looked around. Sirius was sitting up, screaming at Harry. Mrs. Weasley was trying to move, trying to help, but Mr. Weasley held her down. Ginny was sobbing in Fred's shoulder. George was trying to get to Ron, but Lupin held him back. One thought passed through Hermione's mind, something that Dumbledore had said. There will be losses for both sides. Everyone knew there would be. More tears rolled down her face.
The orb got closer to Voldemort. Harry began to get pale from so much effort. Ron was still standing strong, but the spell was taking its toll on him. Soon Voldemort knew that it was all over. His eyes began tearing up, knowing that he was in defeat and that this would be his end. In one smooth motion he moved his wand from the line and the orb hit him.
"You will die Harry Potter. Because of my death, you will die." and he laughed, but his laugh was not cold, but full of sorrow.
"No he won't." Hermione screamed running up to Harry as he fell to the ground. He was still awake, still alive. "Because of Ron's spell he will live. Nothing you do is going to kill him!" she was sobbing.