A/N: Update time! Once again, I ask that you do not flame this because it is Harry/Hermione. Short, but that's how it is sometimes lol. Well, that's it really, so I'll leave you to it!
Chapter 2
Hermione had reached the building and was amazed. She had never seen anything like it. The bricks were all turning a crimson color and there were only a few normal colored ones left. She looked for a door so that she could go in. For some reason the building drew her closer to it and finally she found it. As she walked in, she couldn't believe what she saw. There on the floor, was Voldemort, lying motionless without any sign of life. 'Where's Harry?' she thought. He couldn't be far from here. She turned around to find another body lying motionless on the floor. It was Harry. She couldn't grasp the thought of him lying there. A million things were going through her mind. 'What if, what if he's…' she couldn't finish her thought.
Hermione ran over to Harry and the first thing she did was check for a pulse. She took his wrist and held it between her fingers. There was nothing, there was no pulse. For some reason she didn't want to let go of Harry's wrist. Finally after about thirty seconds, she started to lay the wrist back on the floor. Just as she was about to let go, she felt it. There was a heartbeat. Relief flooded through her. 'He isn't dead.' Hermione let his arm fall down and as she did, the door was opened for a third time that night as Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape came striding in.
Snape was stunned beyond belief. There on the floor was the Dark Lord. 'Could he possibly be dead?' After a minute or so, he pulled up his sleeve and saw that the Dark Mark was fading away. Dumbledore nudged him to look in Harry's direction. Snape marveled as he put two and two together. 'Potter killed him; he has killed the Dark Lord. It's not possible!'
Hermione looked around and was very glad to see Professor Dumbledore.
"Professor, come here quick! Harry needs help," said Hermione with a worried tone in her voice.
"Let's see here. Hmm, we will have to take the both of them up to the school," said Dumbledore.
He looked over at Snape and nodded. Snape knew what to do. He conjured up a stretcher for Voldemort, while Dumbledore did the same for Harry. Then all of them went out of the building to go back to the school. Hermione walked beside Harry's body. All she could think about was getting Harry in better condition. She wouldn't think about what could happen to him. It was just too horrible of a thought for her. Suddenly she thought of a question for Dumbledore.
"Excuse me, Professor? I was wondering, how did Harry kill Voldemort?"
"Well, I knew this day would come. I knew what was going on outside but I couldn't stop delaying the evident. So after it was over I came down here. I'll tell you the whole story in my office."
The group of three walked on in silence back up to the entrance hall. It was getting late and no one was around to ask questions about what had happened. Finally, they reached Dumbledore's office.
"Pink gummy bears," said Dumbledore out loud. The gargoyle swung open and quietly they climbed up the stairs.
..:-:..
Dumbledore conjured up two beds for the bodies. He went to sit behind his desk while Fawkes flew over to his shoulder. Hermione and Snape sat down waiting for an explanation of what happened in the building. Dumbledore thought for a while and looked up at the two. He had that familiar twinkle in his eye, but Hermione didn't know how he could when something was wrong with Harry.
"Well, here we are. Tom Riddle is dead now and very unfortunately Harry might die too. It all started when Harry decided to go for a ride on his firebolt outside. He found the building and went inside. Tom had made a trap for Harry to fall into. He found a charm so that if Harry went back outside through the doors then he would automatically die. Then Tom teased Harry by telling him that after Harry was dead, he would kill you Hermione," said Dumbledore.
Hermione couldn't believe it. She could have been dead by now, but she wasn't because Harry had risked his life for her.
"After that, Harry got really angry at Tom. So angry, in fact that he shouted out that he loved you Hermione. I suspect that you heard your name being called?"
Harry had said he loved her. She was in a complete dreamy state. Finally she came back to reality and answered.
"Yes! I did hear my name in the common room. But how could I hear Harry if he was all the way outside?"
"Ah, well Harry got all of his emotions to be so strong that he finally reached his full potential power. With that power, he could call out the name of the person he cared about most. And that would be you. After Harry noticed what power he possessed, he used it to fill the room with love. Tom hated that, the power of love, and he couldn't bear it, so his body gave up on him."
Hermione and Snape were gawking at Dumbledore. Harry, the Harry they both knew for so long, had come to posses a great power that in turn killed one of the most powerful wizards of all time. Dumbledore started to talk again.
"Even though Harry killed Tom, he used up almost all of his strength. He couldn't do anything but call out a name and that he did, he called out to you Hermione. This time you heard it more clearly and you knew where he was, correct?"
All Hermione could do was nod. She never knew Harry had such strong feelings for her. What he did was something she would never forget. He couldn't die now, after all he had done. As she was thinking this, Dumbledore spoke once again.
"Harry has very little life left in him, and there is not much we can do. I'm sorry to say that his hope for surviving is very slim."
Suddenly Fawkes flew to Harry's side. The huge bird started to cry and its tears fell onto Harry. Dumbledore looked at his bird and shook his head. He knew that the tears of healing would not work in this case. Harry needed a miracle to live. With that Dumbledore got up and walked over to Voldemort's dead body.
"Serverus, will you help me get his body downstairs? I think we need to tell everyone what has happened. Hermione, you may stay here with Harry for as long as you like."
Hermione nodded and watched, as the pair vanished no longer in her view. She turned to face Harry and all she could think of was what Harry had said.
..:-:..
Hermione didn't let herself believe what Dumbledore had said. Harry was going to live; he just had to. Hermione gently nudged Harry's limp form.
"Wake up Harry, come on! Get up. Harry, why do you have to do this to me? Why? You can't die on me, not after what happened. Harry, can't you see that I love you too? Do you want to end everything like this?"
She looked down onto Harry's face. There was no emotion in it. His face was still as if he was already dead. Though she could see him breathe once in a while, she knew it would soon be all over. Two silent tears streamed down her cheeks. One fell on Harry's scar and the other on his heart. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and went away from Harry. She couldn't stand the thought of him dieing. Nothing good came out of Voldemort being vanquished, nothing at all. She was going to lose Harry and all because he had wanted to save her, along with everyone else.
On the bed, Harry's eyes opened. He had heard every word that Hermione had said. He couldn't believe that she felt the same way about him as he felt about her. He felt stronger than before and it was all thanks to Hermione. Her love for him saved his life and renewed it as if he had just been born. He sat up without making a sound so as to not scare Hermione. He stood up and walked quietly to where she was standing by the window.
Hermione looked over the grounds of Hogwarts. She remembered that time in their third year when she and Harry had saved Sirius from being executed and how they almost got their souls sucked out by the dementors. She knew that she couldn't have any more adventures with Harry. He was going to die and she had to deal with it, but she couldn't. Her heart wouldn't allow her brain to process that thought. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Hermione quickly turned around to see that it was Harry.
"HARRY! You're alive!" she exclaimed.
Harry nodded his head slightly and then smiled meekly.
"Hermione, I love you too…"
They embraced each other as their lips met for the first time. As they expressed their love, somewhere off in the distance, two doves flew off together, disappearing into the shadow of the moon. Inside each of their hearts, fireworks exploded. It was a sensation like none other. After seven long years, the two had finally belonged to each other.
..:-:..
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped in his tracks and looked back up to the stairs that he and Snape had just come down from.
"What's wrong Professor?" asked Snape.
"Oh nothing is wrong, but you know what? I think we don't have to worry about Harry Potter anymore." Dumbledore smiled, his eyes shining with that familiar twinkle.
A/N: Well, it seems like it ends there? Right? WRONG! Lol the story continues… and it's not the end of Harry's problems! Update in a week or so! Thanks for reading! It means a lot that you make the effort to do so!
Have a great day!
