A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update(It always seems to). I've been really busy and when I wasn't busy, I just couldn't bring myself to sit down and write. I eventually got all my ideas for this chapter out, but I'm not quite done with the fourth book, where the last few chapters have taken place. There is a lot to work with in the fourth book, and I love it for that. So, one more chapter, probably a shorter one, based in the fourth book, then I'll move on. I swear. :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I can't even pretend to have owned the Harry Potter books. (Although, I have a theory that J.K. Rowling herself is secretly writing for Fanfiction, so look for Harry Potter stories without a disclaimer ... what a funny thought. =] )


Hermione ran to the group of people crowded around Harry, giving him advice and wishing him luck. She had almost not made it there in time. She squeezed through the group and Harry turned to face her.

"You have to promise me that you'll be careful," she warned.

"Of course, Hermione. Aren't I always?" He said almost jokingly.

"I'm serious, Harry." She was, too. There was a whisper of a plot. Harry may not make it out of this task alive.

Hermione followed Ron and the others out into the stands. She took her seat and watched nervously as the champions entered the maze. She waited only a few minutes before mentioning she had to go to the bathroom. As she walked away from her seat, she focused on the incantation that would distract Ron from her absence. With everyone in the stands, she didn't have to hide when she spoke the spells that would temporarily release the enchantments of the school.

She apparated just beyond the grounds and restored the enchantments behind her, then she spun on the spot. She was sucked through the vortex and reappeared in a lonesome graveyard dimly lit under the twilight sky. Leaves twirled in the trees, dancing through the wind. Hermione did not move until she saw a shadow shift across the graveyard. Wormtail had arrived.

She disapparated from the street and her robes swirled around her as she popped directly in front of Wormtail, who jumped in surprise.

"Best be careful with your luggage, Wormtail," she advised in a teasing voice.

"Hello, Hermione," greeted a voice from the bundle in Wormtail's arms.

"Hello, father. Feeling better?" she asked, not particularly worried though.

She could hear him as he took a deep breath in. "I will be, after tonight."

She knew exactly what he was planning to do. There was no way to stop him, but if she could help it, she would have to make sure that Harry would survive. Not everything was in place yet for that final battle between the Dark Lord and Harry Potter. That is why she was there, to make sure that Harry survived this night. She had already tried to persuade the Dark Lord against using Harry's blood but that was not a option to him. He seemed determined that it be Harry's blood that he use. He didn't understand what sort of affect that would have on him. But, if her father listened to her, she wouldn't be the Dark Lady and none of this would be her problem. As it stood, she was the Dark Lady, and she did have to work in the background to ensure that everything went smoothly.

Wormtail stared at Hermione as he awaited further instruction. "That tombstone, over there, that is where you need to be watching for Potter."

He bowed and faced in the direction she had pointed to. The bundle wriggled.

"This is your one and only chance to experience what it means to be my heiress. When I am indisposed, you are the one to assume my powerful leadership."

"You've told me this many times, father. I am the heiress and it is my responsibility to control your kingdom when you are away from the throne. I'm like a throne-sitter." She joked somewhat irritated by the regular speech.

"You are lucky, though. Unlike other heirs, you will never have to take over completely, since I will never truly die," he preached, arrogant from his invulnerability. Tonight would be proof of the power of his dark plot. He believed that he had defeated death, and perhaps he had, but he could never defeat her. One day, she would take the throne from him. Today would not be the day.

"It is almost time." His voice was slightly strained from impatience.

Hermione lifted her hand and the hood of Wormtail's cloak pulled over his head, hiding his face. "That tombstone," she said, pointing it out for him, "That is where he will come." Wormtail stood and watched the space around the tombstone attentively. She slipped behind a tree that split into two at the root. They were close enough together that she could not be seen but she could also watch the spot where Harry would soon appear.

There was a flash of blue light; he had come. She raised her wand, ready to take control of the situation if need be. Something's wrong, she quickly noticed. There were two shadows. Wormtail had already advanced and stood facing the two shapes silently. A second later, her father's cold, piercing voice echoed through the graveyard. 'Kill the spare.'

She shot a protective shield towards the two instinctively, but she knew it was futile. The only magic she could never overcome was the killing curse. When a death eater willed someone to meet their death, there was no stopping it. Except for Harry, but that was not from his power. She already knew the secret behind the scar. She felt it whenever she was near Harry. But Harry was not the one who would die tonight. She would do everything in her power to keep him living, but Cedric - Cedric's luck had run out the second he touched the portkey. The wind barley stirred as one of the two shapes fell to the ground. Wormtail would pay for this later.

Wormtail dragged Harry across the dirt and slammed him up against her grandfather's headstone. Tom Riddle senior was no one to her but watching her father's servant tie Harry to her muggle grandfather's headstone stirred an uncomfortable feeling in her solar plexus. There was a gruesome irony about the whole situation. She was too close. She hating seeing Harry bound like that, and she hated that he was surrounded by the distorted branches of her gnarled and disfigured family tree and had no clue whatsoever. She hated herself for being right there and not helping him, but she had no choice. If he knew, she would have no options later. She would be forced to turn from her father and lose the throne or betray Harry and lose her power to Voldemort's control.

Nagini slithered from the site and toward her feet. She lifted her head, to flick her tongue at Hermione, then she slithered farther. She could only go so far before she felt the pull from her master and had to go back to him. She would never be able to surrender her power and service to the Dark Lord to save Harry once. He would only kill him another time, and she would be helpless when that time came. If she did nothing yet, she would remain free. So, nothing was what she did.

Feeling less than free, she watched as the ritual continued.

'Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!'

'Flesh - of the servant - w-willingly given - you will - revive - your master.'

'B-blood of the enemy ... forcibly taken ... you will ... resurrect your foe.'

Again, her conscience tugged at her heart, and it took all of her focus to keep from healing the wound. It was only a little cut, but she felt traitorous. A mist clouded the scene but then a shadow rose out of nowhere. The spell had worked. It was done. The Dark Lord had returned, and she had done nothing to stop it.

The mark, turned invisible from an enchantment she had placed upon it, burned on her arm, black once more. She covered with a mask and pulled her hood up then walked out of the trees. Cloaks swished as the Death Eater's appeared around their Lord. She stood back a bit and looked distainfully at the Death Eaters grovelling at the feet of their master. She did not grovel. It was one of the perks of being the heiress.

She listened intently as he made his speech and scorned them for their disloyalty. That was the one job she didn't bother with: keeping the Death Eaters loyal. She didn't care what happened to them. She didn't flinch when Avery begged for forgiveness and was met with years of pent up rage in the form of torturous pain. But she was shaken to her core at the sight of Wormtail's 'gift'. The silver hand shone ominously in the slight moonlight in the cemetary. That would probably pose to be a problem later on. She shook off her worry and turned her focus back to her father.

He reprimanded Lucius Malfoy and centered out each of the Death Eater's around him, but thankfully skipped over her. He seemed to have decided not to risk letting Harry know who she really was. Her indentity would remain a secret, at least, until she was ready to take the throne and by her hand or not, it would happen one day.

Voldemort carried on, speaking as though the events of the past thirteen years were the epitome of interest. She did not care nearly as much as the Death Eaters did, but eventually he did come to a stop. When he did, he moved slowly forward, and turned to face Harry. He raised his wand. 'Crucio!'

Hermione gasped, too quiet for anyone to hear, but was rooted to the spot as she could only watch Harry indure the worst pain of his life. She did not - could not move until Voldemort dropped the curse and ordered Harry free and armed. The battle for Harry's life would soon begin.

The duel commensed, starting with a large dose of torture. Harry's screaming split the very air. There was a pause for Harry to recover, granted to him by Voldemort. The Impurius curse momentarily seized Harry's body, but Hermione had seen him defeat it a few times now.

'I WON'T,' he shouted, taking back control of his body. Then just before losing it again to the pain of the Cruciatus curse, he flung himself with incredibly reflexes behind a tombstone.

This was it. When he came out, he would die. There was only one thing that could stop it. One of the many things that the two wizards shared was the phoenix that gave the feathers within their wands. Fate had made this so, and fate just needed a little push.

Time slowed from the second that Harry moved from behind the headstone. He shouted, 'Expelliarmus!', Voldemort shrieked, 'Avada Kedavra!', and Hermione whispered, 'Priori Incantatem.' The timing was perfect, when the green light from Voldemort's wand hit the red light from Harry's, the golden light of Priori Incantatem engulfed the two spells, reduring them useless. It consumed the sight of the two enemies joined by their wands in a dome of gold. None of the Death Eater's could see what went on within. Minutes dragged on before there was a shout from inside as Harry yelled, 'NOW!' The connection broke and her father screamed for them to stun him. But he bellowed 'Impedimenta!' He did not look and had missed his target, but Hermione took the chance to aim the same spell at a nearby Death Eater. No one noticed as the Death Eater fell. At least there was one less trying to stop him.

'Stand aside! I will kill him! He is mine!' shrieked Voldemort.

Harry grabbed the wrist of the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory, and he summoned the cup to him. Voldemort screamed in fury. The two bodies disappeared in a flash of blue.

The Dark Lord exploded in rage. Fire ingited across the grass of the graveyard, trees splintered around them, and headstones cracked. Every one of the Death Eaters fell to the ground, but Hermione stood her ground. She had to hide her joy at Harry's triumph.

And someday, he will truly triumph. She thought, hopeful of the future.