The atmosphere around Hogwarts Castle fairly crackled with tangible magic. It pervaded the Forest, the Lake and the Castle proper with the odour of ozone and screams of the wounded and dying. The sheer amount of magical energy being expended by the combating wizards was both staggering and insane. Hexes, jinxes, curses, and Unforgivables painted the air thickly with colour, and made it difficult to both see and breathe. Hermione Granger moved quickly through the magical haze trying to ignore the wash of static electricity like tingles that danced across her skin, and joined Ron Weasley in flanking Harry Potter. The trio acknowledged one another with simple nods, and in Ron's case, a wink and a grin, then moved together to face Voldemort for one last time. There was no doubt that this day would be the end. Nothing less would be tolerated on either side. The three friends battled their way to the edge of the Forbidden Forest where they met face to face with Voldemort and his Inner Circle. Order members and allies moved in from the castle grounds, and Death Eaters poured from the forest. There were taunts and screams and tentative hexing between the two factions, but most just stood waiting, watching, edging towards the finish. Harry and Voldemort ignored the gathering storm brewing around them and focused solely on each other.
"Potter... at last we finish this..." The Dark Lord gestured broadly as he hissed his tirade. "I look forward to ending you, as I did your mother and father and Albus Dumbledore. My loyal servants will finish your friends, and I shall cleanse this world and make it the way it was always intended to be!"
When Harry didn't react as expected, Voldemort pushed even harder. "Or perhaps the Mudblood at your side would make a good slave. Draco has mentioned wanting to teach her her true place in the Wizarding World." The Dark Lord's statement was met with laughter from his followers. "Or perhaps she would enjoy further tuition from her Potions master. I believe I promised him a pet Mudblood once upon a time." This was directed at both the tall man standing to his immediate right and to the Boy Who Lived.
Harry flinched in response, but remained silent again, Hermione finally having impressed upon him the need to reign in his emotions. He had balked at first, angry and arguing that he didn't want to be cold and hard like Professor Snape. He had railed and stomped like a child until Hermione disarmed and bound him before he could even draw his wand. So even though Voldemort's taunts were grating, Harry reckoned that Hermione had been right to push him, and he was able to keep from jumping on his adversary and pummeling him. The dark wizard was himself becoming increasingly irritated at the lack of response he was getting, and his actions and words were becoming wilder by the moment. This was an advantage that they had never had before.
As the Death Eaters closed on their Lord's position, Hermione and Ron tightened their own positions flanking Harry. The Order moved closer also, trying to create a line so the Death Eaters would have to spread out from their centre to fight. Hermione took this shifting of both sides as an opportunity to get her bearings and look over the battlefield. Even after the earlier fighting, the two sides seemed very evenly matched. Everything was sliding into place to finish the conflict once and for all.
As they stood there, each side waiting for the other to strike, Hermione felt a rise of panic flood through her. The feeling built quickly, almost overwhelming her but, as quickly as the feeling appeared, it was gone, leaving in its wake something, some thought or idea teasing at the back of her mind. Some niggling thought, some forgotten detail remained just out of her reach. Hermione felt the panic rise again, but couldn't reconcile it to any of the thoughts running through her mind. Taking a deep breath, she mentally shook herself and shifted into more of a dueling stance, her right hand lightly, but firmly grasping her vine wood wand. Again that niggling thought, like an itch she couldn't scratch, teased her conscience. Without realising it, Hermione reached a hand to her hair. The itch got worse.
"My hair clip," she thought suddenly, "there is something I should remember about my hair clip."
Hermione lightly fingered the golden phoenix that bound her hair tightly into a French plait. It had been a final gift from the Headmaster, right before he died. It had come to her by owl while she was home for Easter hols. There was a brief note with it that told Hermione the piece had life-saving properties and to always keep it safe. That had been months ago, and the phoenix had been in Hermione's beaded purse since. The clip had seemed much to fine to wear casually with its swirling iridescent blue eyes and gold chased wings. That morning, however, something had told Hermione to wear the clip. When she changed her mind at the last minute it wouldn't come loose no matter what she did. Realisation flooded Hermione.
"Oh, Headmaster, what are you asking of me?"
Hermione shifted her focus back to the Dark Lord when he called for his followers to move on the Order. Before either group could react, Voldemort was casting a curse a Harry. The curse never struck, shocking those that realised it, and sending the tyrant into a towering rage.
"Snape!" The Dark Lord fairly howled in his anger. "What treachery is this? How dare you interfere!"
Severus Snape stood between Harry and Voldemort and threw off the mask hiding his face. Then he laughed, genuinely laughed.
"Did you TRULY believe I would forgive or forget the murder of Lily Evans? I loved her more than my own life, she was my best friend and you killed her. I have spent the last twenty years REMEMBERING that night over and over again, remembering and plotting my revenge. And now, my Lord, it is finally over!"
Snape stepped back and looked at Harry. "Finish this Potter... " Then he was on the ground writhing from the Cruciatus curse cast by Bellatrix Lestrange. The Dark Lord stopped her, though, before she could wrest a scream from the Potions master.
"Leave him, Bella, he is mine." Voldemort turned to Snape as he pushed himself to his knees. "So you have remembered a nothing Mudblood for twenty years, and this is your reason for defying your Master? Rest assured, Severus, remembering is ALL you will have for eternity! First I will take care of you, then I will finish Potter and what's left of Dumbledore's Order."
The Dark Lord raised his wand and shot a vibrant blue curse at Severus. It struck him, and he screamed. Then all hell broke loose.
Hermione could never put her finger on exactly when she remember the purpose of the phoenix binding her braid, but the next few moments set her down the path to a future she would have never imagined in her wildest dreams.
Severus Snape knew that this was his end. The searing pain of Bella's Cruciatus was nothing compared to the electrical surge that filled his senses with Voldemort's curse. It felt like it was ripping his entire body apart and turning it inside out. In reality the wand blast lasted only seconds, but felt like it lasted a lifetime. Severus no longer cared and allowed the pain to take him away. It was enough that he had avenged his Lily at last. He had set the stage for the Dark Lord's downfall. Now, he was ready to rest.
He wasn't sure if he had passed out or not, but as he became aware of his surroundings, he realised that he was not alone. At first, he thought he must have died, but the odour of magical ozone, acrid in his sensitive nose, proved that he had survived. He struggled to open his eyes and the sight that met them stunned him beyond measure. In the middle of a battle for the control of the Wizarding World, he was laying in Hermione Granger's lap. Of course, the little Know It All, bleeding heart swot, would be the one to keep him from his reward. He groaned, whether in pain or irritation he wasn't sure. The two stared at each other until a stray hex caught Hermione in the upper back, and she slumped forward.
"Bloody hell, Miss Granger, get down or get up and fight. Why are you bothering me? Let me go, you silly witch!" Severus tried to get himself up, swatting at Hermione's hands as he did. "What the devil are you doing? Why in Merlin's name did you revive me?"
With a grimace, Hermione tightened her hold on Severus and pulled his hand up to grasp the phoenix in her hair. She wrapped their fingers around the hairpiece and whispered, "lemon drops." A tug behind their navels signaled the Portkey activation, and the two disappeared from the battlefield in a vivid flash of gold.
Ron stood behind Harry protecting his back from Death Eaters. He had split his time between both his friends until Hermione pushed him to focus on keeping Harry safe. He had momentarily lost track of Hermione, but caught sight of her again when she jumped towards the fallen Snape. The flash of the couple Portkeying from the field distracted everyone close to them, but it was Ron's scream that garnered the attention of Harry and the Dark Lord.
"Hermione... NO!" Ron made a move towards the spot she had moments ago occupied with Snape, then suddenly turned on the Dark Lord.
"Where is she?" he screamed. "Where is Hermione, what have you done to her?" Without waiting for an answer, Ron began firing spells at Voldemort, who was caught off guard enough to have to go on the defensive. This prodded Harry into action who took advantage of the Dark Lord's distraction. With a scream of pure rage and a cry of hate, Voldemort's reign of terror was over.
With the fall of Voldemort, the remnants of his once mighty Death Eaters were quickly overwhelmed, rounded up, and sent to Azkaban to await trial. A handful did escape, but they became the priority of the Aurors. The Order retreated to Grimmauld Place to lick their wounds and celebrate their victory, and to wonder what had happened to Hermione Granger.