Chapter One - The Final Battle (And So It Begins)

Oh God. This is how I die. I will be forever known as Harry Potter's friend who died. Will they even remember my name? Hermione almost laughed out loud at her own narcissistic thoughts. She glanced at Ron, who was huffing along beside her. You would think that after months of running about the country side would have whipped him in to shape. But it hadn't.

Not that Hermione minded, of course. Ron was, well, Ron. He could be lazy and dumb, but he was also a ridiculously talented kisser. That was something that had taken her much to long to learn about him. Was it only a few short minutes ago he had taken her to the basilisk? That he had kissed her and told he loved her? And now, oh the irony, she was going to die.

Sure, she could tell herself she was just being melodramatic. But the truth was, the coursing adrenaline through her body combined with the screams of pain around her and the castle collapsing as they ran... Well, it probably wasn't dramatic to say she wasn't going to survive.

"Reducto!" She slashed down her wand, causing the wall they were facing to crumble. Get to the Room of Requirement. Help Harry. Kill Voldemort. These three commands repeating in her mind kept her body moving at a steady pace. She shoved passed a group of students who were attempting to force a Death Eaters body off a staircase. Ron was following closely behind her, wand outstretched.

And then they arrived. The door was there, waiting for them. And Harry and a Horcrux would be there too. Suddenly, they heard a scream and Ron shoved the door open. Fire swirled around them and Hermione shrieked. "Harry?" The smoke was getting thick and she could barely see. She stumbled into the room, screaming his name. "Harry!"

"Hermione, don't!" Ron's voice called out to her, but she couldn't see him. Shit. This was bad. Too much smoke, and she'd be a goner. Suddenly, a hand pulled her by the back of her shirt into the air and lifted her through the door.

The door slammed, and Harry stood in front of it with a broom in his hand, panting. "Granger, you sure can be an idiot." The hand let go of her, and she fell to the floor. Looking up in surprise, she saw Malfoy glaring down at her.

"Get away from her, you prick!" Ron shoved at the blonde, eyes flashing dangerously.

Malfoy just rolled his eyes and stepped back, while Harry glanced at him apologetically. "Thanks Malfoy. This doesn't change anything, though."

Malfoy winked at the three of them and turned to walk away. "Wasn't counting on it, Potter."

The three exchanged looks and Harry shrugged as if to say, once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. Out loud, though, he just motioned towards the now empty hallway. "Let's kill us a snake." They each drew their wands and dashed off towards the Great Hall.

They had almost made it to the splintered oak doors when they heard his scream. Bellatrix stood over Malfoy, wand outstretched. "You bastard!" She shrieked, and waved her wand at him again, forcing out another scream. "You betraying little bastard!" It didn't take more than a second for Hermione and Ron to realize that Malfoy had somehow betrayed Voldemort. A glance to Harry's face was all it took to see that Malfoy had helped him in the Room of Requirement. The tense look on his face showed Hermione that Harry would try to protect him.

"Harry..." She started softly, pulling at his arm. "Harry, the snake." He glanced at her and back to the body of Malfoy, who had curled into a ball and was writhing in pain.

"I can't just leave him."

Ron rolled his eyes. "This is no time for heroics. We need to move!" At that, he grasped Harry's arm and pulled him along with him towards the Great Hall.

Hermione, however, did not run with them. She took aim at Bellatrix and uttered a spell she had used to many times for a witch her age. "Expelliramus!" Bellatrix's wand pulled from her fingertips, but she held on. Her wand was now aimed at Hermione.

"Mudblood bitch." She hissed and slashed her arm down.

And after that, everything went black.

Hey guys. Wow. Can I just say how surprised I was people seemed to enjoy this story from the prologue? Thank you for the support! And I hope you keep reading and that it keeps your interest. This chapter is a little bit different than the original. I am just trying to set up the story at this point. We will start getting into the real story next chapter. xoxo