At the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, Neville makes a simple mistake. Everything changes. Absolutely Harry/Hermione, with a hint of Neville/Luna.

Disclaimer: Sadly, not mine. A girl can dream, though...

"WE'VE GOT HIM!" yelled the Death Eater nearest Harry, "IN AN OFFICE OFF -"

"Silencio!" cried Hermione.

Everything was happening so quickly.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Harry, and the second Death Eater fell at Harry's feet, completely petrified.

"Well done, Ha -"

But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand from which flew a streak of what looked like purple flame. It passed right across Hermione's chest; she gave a tiny "oh!" as though of surprise and then crumpled onto the floor where she lay motionless.

"HERMIONE!"

Harry fell to his knees beside her, clutching her shoulders.

Her eyes were closed, her body still, and her face pale.

"No, no, no," Harry whispered, shaking her roughly. "Hermione! Reducto!"

He had turned to aim the curse at the Death Eater who had cursed his best friend. Dolohov had been fighting Neville, and was too distracted to block the curse. Neville was just about to be kicked in the face when Dolohov was flung backwards.

Harry's reducto hit Dolohov full on in the chest. Neville stared in shock at the dead Death Eater, lying on the floor with a gaping hole in his chest.

Standing there splattered with a dead man's blood, Neville was shocked at how relieved he felt.

He turned to look at Harry. He was still kneeling over Hermione, rocking back and forth.

"You can't leave," Harry said desperately. "Hermione..."

Neville fumbled to check her pulse. In his hurry, he missed it.

"No pulse," he whispered in horror. "Harry..."

Harry's face hardened. His Hermione was dead. He'd killed Dolohov for it. But it wasn't enough. His heart pounded, and he was filled with rage.

He brushed a kiss over Hermione's cooling lips and stood up.

"Let's go," Harry said coldly.

Neville stared at his friend in awe and stood up in a hurry, holding his wand up in front of him.

"I'm over here!" Harry bellowed. Neville worried about the logic of giving away their position as the seconds ticked by, and vowed to be ready for anything. Then came the footsteps.

"I'm coming, Potter!" Bellatrix Lestrange yelled gleefully.

The instant she stepped into the room, two twin reductos hurtled straight at her chest. She had no time to be surprised before she died.

"Good one," Harry told Neville before flinging another blasting curse at the next Death Eater.

It was like cattle lining up for the slaughter. They stepped in, and were killed by blasting and slicing hexes to the hearts or to their heads. Neville had never felt more confident, more powerful – or more horrified. Still, he kept his terror in check as he helped Harry decimate the Death Eaters.

Five Death Eaters were dead: Dolohov, Bellatrix, and three other men whose names Harry didn't know. Malfoy and six others were still at large.

"Let's find the others," Harry said coldly. "Levicorpus." With Hermione's body floating along behind them, Harry and Neville slowly walked out of the room.

Harry quickly dispatched the baby-headed Death Eater in the next room – six down, Neville thought, and they moved on.

They left the office, and went back to the black hallway, which was now deserted. The door swung shut behind them, and the walls began to rotate once more.

Before they could make a decision as to which way to try, a door to their right sprang open and three people fell out of it.

"Luna!" Neville cried, dashing towards them. "Ron – Ginny – are you all - ?"

"Neville," said Ron, giggling weakly, lurching forward, seizing the front of Neville's robes and gazing at him with unfocused eyes. "Ha ha ha... You look funny, Neville..."

Ron's face was very white and something dark was trickling from the corner of his mouth. The next moment his knees had given way, but he still clutched the front of Neville's robes, so that the other boy was pulled into a kind of bow.

"What happened?" Harry asked coolly, and Ginny shivered. The redheaded girl shook her head and slid down the wall into a sitting position, panting and holding her ankle.

"I think her ankle's broken, I heard something crack," Luna said, bending over her friend. "Four of them chased us into a dark room full of planets, it was a very odd place, some of the time we were just floating in the dark – What happened to Hermione?"

"She's dead," Harry said coldly, and Luna looked at him in horror. Ron still looked bemused, clearly unaware of what was going on.

"No," Ginny gasped, looking up at the still form of Hermione. Luna rushed over to Hermione's form, ending the levicorpus and letting the brunette drop into her arms. She gently lay Hermione on the floor and felt her pulse.

"She's alive," Luna declared after a moment. "But her pulse is very faint."

"Alive?" Harry croaked, and fell to his knees beside them. He had never been so relieved, so happy in his life. "Hermione... Thank Merlin..."

"We need to get her out of here," Luna stated. "To St. Mungos. Whatever hit her is serious."

"Everybody grab onto me," Harry said quietly, and they did as he asked, albeit bemusedly.

Harry concentrated on the feeling of apparation that he had once read about, weeks ago. He squinted and believed, as hard as he could, that he could apparate.

They all felt a sudden tug, and Ron vomited onto the floor – of the hospital. They were in St. Mungos.

"Get help!" Harry roared at the witch behind the lobby. "She's dying!"

Several Healers rushed in moments later, and rushed the six students to the emergency ward. Ron was quickly stupefied so they could treat him, and Ginny's ankle was fixed within a minute.

Harry, Neville, and Luna watched as the Healers poured potion after potion down Hermione's throat.

For the tenth time, Harry described the curse Dolohov had used on Hermione.

"I'm sorry," one of the Healers said quietly, shaking his head. "There's nothing more we can do."

Harry slowly sat down beside Hermione on the bed.

"Mione," he whispered, so low that only Luna and Neville could hear him. "You can't die – not again. I – couldn't stand it."

The normally unflappable Luna began to cry silently on Neville's shoulder. He responded by wrapping his arms around Luna and holding her gently while she sobbed.

"Don't you hear me?" Harry demanded. "You can't die, 'Mione, you can't die."

The monitoring charms began beeping loudly. Hermione's heart rate was too slow. She was almost gone. Healers rushed into the room, but there was nothing left for them to do.

"No!" Harry groaned, tears dripping down his cheeks. "I'll do anything not to lose you again! Hermione - I love you!"

Then it happened.

Neville and Luna were thrown against the floor as the windows shattered and the lights exploded. The Healers were flung against the wall.

Harry was lying beside Hermione, holding her in his arms. They were both surrounded by a golden glow. Harry was whispering something that the others couldn't hear, and a wind seemed to pick up within the room.

Neville held Luna tightly as they watched their friends in awe. Ginny and another Healer ran into the room and stopped abruptly by the sight on the bed.

Just when the glow couldn't get any brighter, it seemed to explode, scattering fragments of light throughout the room. As it touched the others and sank into them, they all sighed and began to feel better. The residual pain in Ginny's ankle was gone. Neville had never smiled this hard in his life. And for the first time since before her mother died, Luna felt truly happy.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered, her eyes fluttering as she looked up at him.

"Hermione," he breathed in awe. "You're alive."

"Yes," she whispered. "Very alive."

He kissed her.

Neville blinked in surprised delight. Hermione, his first real friend, was kissing the boy of her dreams, a boy who he certainly approved of. And of course, he had a wacky, utterly gorgeous girl in his arms.

Luna grinned. Two of the few people she could call friends had found love together. She snuggled closer to Neville. He was very warm and cozy, she thought contentedly.

Ginny couldn't help but smile as well. Yes, she still had a residual crush on 'the Boy-who-Lived,' but this was Harry. Any fool could tell that Harry and Hermione were meant to be.

The Healers turned to each other in shock. It seemed that the most powerful healing magic was created through love. Who would have thought?

Harry and Hermione didn't notice anything around them.

They were wrapped up in each other's arms, kissing as if there was nothing else in the world but each other. For the moment, that was all they needed.