Ch 3: The Destruction of Evil

The morning light landed on her face, gradually pulling her from sleep. She sat up slowly, wondering why her eyes were so crusty and why she felt so groggy, she only ever got like this when she was seriously sleep deprived. Then she remembered: the reading, the shattered window, Snape lying collapsed on her floor, the blood, the dull Auror. Snape was now lying in the guest bed just one room away. Her hand instinctively reached out for her wand, to make sure it was still there. To her relief, she found not only her own wand but Snape's as well, lying untouched on her nightstand.

With a groan she rolled out of bed and walked to the next room. Snape was still sleeping on the guest bed, his chest rising and falling evenly. Hermione left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. She went to take shower. The hot water washed away some of the stiffness in her limbs and cleared most of the groggy feeling from her head. She would make breakfast and floo Professor McGonagall right after that. If Snape had been lying, it would not do to have a dangerous murderer asleep in her guest bedroom.

She walked down her stairs to the kitchen and began to make a few eggs. As she watched the eggs sizzle, she contemplated the events of the night before. She didn't particularly believe in fate, but it was certainly lucky for Snape that he had been caught on her street and had chosen her house to escape to, rather than the house of some unfortunate Muggle. If this was fate's doing, she certainly hoped that fate was on their side and that Snape's arrival was gift rather than a curse. If he was innocent, this could be just the boost they needed to end the war. Snape could feed her information and she could direct Ron and Harry so that they could defeat Voldemort. Of course she would have to be discreet; the boys would certainly want to know where she was getting her information from and if she told them her source, they would never trust a word she said again.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't hear the soft steps on the stairs behind her. A few seconds later she felt something brush against her still damp hair.

"Day dreaming are we? Not a very smart thing to do when a murderer lies sleeping only one story above you," said a silky voice issuing from a place only a few inches away from her ear.

She gave a small squeak and leapt a few inches off her chair. When she had recovered from the shock enough to speak she said, "D-don't do that Professor! You nearly scared me to death!"

"Oh well then, would you have preferred it if I had just swooped down on you and killed you before you knew what was happening," he replied, still standing behind her, "since you seem so opposed to surprises I suppose you would have liked that approach, you would have been dead before realized anything was happening."

"Well Professor, would you like to sit down," she said, curtly changing the subject, she would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her get flustered over her latest loss in their verbal battles, "I will make you breakfast if you want, you can have eggs, cereal, or toast"

"Toast would be fine," he replied. Hermione busied herself making toast, trying to keep her eyes from straying towards her former Professor. He was still paler than usual, but his skin was closer to its normal sallow shade. His hair was even greasier than usual and his eyes were lined with dark shadows. The toast popped out of the toaster and she carried it over to him on a plate.

"Later, if you would like," she said, "You could use my shower." She hoped he wasn't offended by her suggestion, but it certainly looked like he could use one exceptionally long shower.

"That would be agreeable. I shall do so after I finish eating my toast," he answered.

They continued breakfast in silence. Hermione let out an internal sigh of relief that he did not seem to be up to any more verbal sparring matches, as she would have surely lost all of them, no matter how tired he was. After he finished breakfast he rose and left her alone at the kitchen table. She waited until the sounds of her shower began upstairs before going over to the fireplace. It was summer and she was not keen on lighting a fire, but she had to floo Professor McGonagall. After lighting a fire, she reached over to the jar of floo powder that the Weaslys had given her so she could stay in contact with them and Harry over the summer.

She let a pinch of it fall into the fire. She stuck her head in the fire and contact Professor McGonagall. A few minutes later McGonagall was in her living room and Hermione recounted the events of the previous night. McGonagall confirmed that Snape had indeed been telling the truth just as Snape came down from his shower, wearing the Muggle clothes that Hermione had left out for him. He looked strange without his usual billowing cloak; the Muggle shirt and pants hugged his form more tightly than his usual robes, revealing a lithe but well muscled form.

Hermione shook her head, trying to dispel the strange thoughts her mind had wandered to. Why did she care what her former Potions Master looked like under his billowing robes? Such thoughts were clearly unnecessary and uncalled for. Hermione turned to her former Professor and said, "Professor McGonagall just confirmed your story, guess I wasn't so foolish in trusting you. Was I?"

"You got lucky this time Miss Granger. But you are still a foolishly trusting girl with a one dimensional vision that limits you to only seeing the good in people."

Snape's shower seemed to wash away any fatigue that had dulled his caustic wit, thought Hermione with a grimace. "So sorry for saving your life Professor," she replied icily, "but it seems, regardless of whether it was the smartest move, that I have indeed saved you. And I believe that places you in a wizard debt to me?"

She smiled at the growing horror on his face. She knew how much he hated to be in debt, especially to those he disliked, such as James Potter and now Hermione Granger. "But don't fret Professor," she continued, "you can pay it back easily enough. All you have to do is continue to spy in support of our side. You can tell be what the Dark Lord's plans are and we can work out a strategy so that Harry, Ron, and I can attack Horcruxes when he is occupied elsewhere. So long as you spy for me and do not betray us, I shall consider your debt repaid."

Snape had recovered his expressionless face by this time. "Yes, I will do that for you Miss Granger. It was what I had planned to do initially before those Order dunderheads refused to believe that I was essentially still on their side despite my alleged betrayal."

And so Snape and Hermione set up secret meeting times and became the most unlikely and most valuable group of warriors the side of good possessed in their fight against evil. Hermione suggested the times that she knew the Dark Lord would be occupied to Harry and Ron for the nights they would seek out the Horcruxes. As she had already been named chief strategist by the boys, they followed her commands and suggestions without complaint. And so one by one the infernal bulwarks of darkness fell and the end drew near. Soon it was all over the last Horcrux in lay in ruins and Harry cast his first unforgivable curse to destroy Voldemort.

That night Voldemort died meteor's fell from space, leaving bright remnants of themselves to illuminate the midnight sky and the tears of joy that streaked down the faces of millions who celebrated the defeat of evil. Harry and Ron had celebrated, totally unaware that somewhere in their world lay a man who had risked everything for the cause of good, and succeeded. Hermione knew better, and as she watched the last meteor fall and fade into oblivion, she wondered if he saw it too. She wondered what he felt when he saw the last glowing rock reach the end of its wild and burning path, just as they had reached the end of their battle.

AN: Hope you liked it. Please read and review. I'll post the next chapter soon.