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Chapter 12

The End of All Things, Part Two

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A sharp pain coursed through Phoebe's body, startling her out of her dreaming state and back into reality. She struggled to her feet, whimpering in pain and holding a hand over her left forearm, which was bleeding freely. She had a dozen other injuries covering her body, and her head felt like someone had cleaved it in two.

She moved back toward Dumbledore's office, stumbling through the ruined corridor, avoiding the half dozen fires blazing through the area. Fear gripped her heart as she reaching the headmaster's office, fearing that her pain induced visions might prove true. The blast had shattered the room and Phoebe felt hopelessness settle into her heart as she began her fruitless search.

Phoebe found her at last, though she bore no resemblance to the Hermione she had known. The fiery blast had scalded her skin, leaving it red; blistered and cracked. With strength she had never realized she possessed, Phoebe managed to extract Hermione from beneath a massive section of ceiling that had collapsed upon her.

Cradling the dusty, blood soaked girl in her arms; she hauled her to a relatively clear section of floor and deposited her limp form with extreme care. There was no need to check for signs of life, for it was all but evident that Hermione was dead. Phoebe was too focused on what she had to do for this fact to upset her; for if her plan worked, it wouldn't matter anyway.

Phoebe reached into her pocket and gave a small sigh of relief when her hand closed around the small vial inside. It hadn't broken. She pulled the vial out and opened it. Although she had kept the vial containing the last remnants of Aqua Vitae with her since Hermione had given it to her on Atlantis nearly three years before, she had never once opened it. The smell that emitted from the open vial was the most wondrous scent Phoebe had ever encountered.

Without further delay, she gently opened Hermione's mouth and poured the contents of the vial down her throat. Phoebe had just begun to think about how long it might take to start working when Hermione gave a loud, surprised gasp and sat up, coughing. Phoebe gaped at her. It was as though the flames had never touched her. Her skin was unburned and flawless. Hermione's hair fell in elegant curls around her face as though styled by the one of the best hair stylists. Her cinnamon eyes sparkled brightly and Phoebe swore she looked at least five years younger than she had that morning.

"Phoebe… what?" Hermione coughed, shaking her head. "What happened?"

"You died is what happened." Phoebe told her, a broad smile on her face.

"Then how…" Phoebe held up the now-empty vial, turned it upside down, and tapped the bottom softly.

"This wasn't what I gave that to you for." Hermione said sharply. Phoebe looked stunned.

"But, I thought…" she began. Hermione's stern expression fell, however, and she pulled Phoebe into a tight hug.

"Thank you." she whispered.

-.-

It would take nearly a day for rescue crews to work their way to the headmaster's shattered office and take Hermione and Phoebe to safety. In that time, the magical community had rallied and begun to rebuild, despite the shock of the sudden elimination of not one, but four evil magical beings, not to mention the death of a very prominent leader in the magical world.

In truth, very few people actually knew for certain what had truly transpired that night at Hogwarts. The Ministry of Magic was claiming that Death Eaters, now leaderless, devised the assault on the school and had murdered the headmaster.

Harry had been outraged that Dumbledore, the cause of all the war and death, was being heralded as a victim and serving as a rallying point for the reconstruction efforts. Hermione, however, had convinced him that perhaps it was best to let it go. The world had been though quite enough already and there was no need to reveal to them that Dumbledore had been behind everything that had happened. The world needed comfort now, needed something to believe in… they needed hope. If rallying around Albus Dumbledore's memory gave them that, then Hermione refused to take it from them.

-.-

Officials claim the assault on Hogwarts School was the work of dark wizards or witches left without leadership after the sudden fall of You-Know-Who, as well as many of his inner circle. The sudden attack was decisively repelled by Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix with only minimal losses. A spokeswizard for Hogwarts School suggests that the new school year will still begin as planned on September First, despite the apparent battle damage and loss of its long-standing headmaster. As of yet, a replacement has not been found."

Ron folded up the paper he had been reading from and placed it on the table.

"They could have at least mentioned us." Ginny said from her position on the floor near the fireplace in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Its part of their cover story I suppose." Luna said. "Don't want anyone knowing what really happened here."

"Although I think this might be the first conspiracy theory you've been right about, Luna," Piper said. "Even the Ministry doesn't know the whole story… not the time-travel bits anyway. They're just reporting what they think they know."

"And that's all they'll ever know." Hermione said, dropping onto the sofa between Phoebe and Harry. "I don't even want to think about what would happen if they ever figured out what really took place."

"You think it'd really be that bad?" Paige asked, pausing the game of Exploding Snap she was playing with Miley and Danielle.

"Honestly, I'd rather we never found out."

"Agreed." Draco said, tossing the newspaper Ron had sat down into the fire.

"What if they figure it out on their own?" Hope asked.

"Could they, though?" Elizabeth said. "What evidence is there?"

"Well, there's the fact that you, me, Hope, Miley, and Danielle are going to disappear from the face of the earth in a few days." Catherine said.

"I'm not sure that'll be enough to draw the attention of the Ministry." Danielle said, wincing as she placed a card down, half expecting her deck to explode.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Phoebe said. "When Chris died, the police noticed."

"Yeah, but they were already suspicious of you." Miley put in.

"True." Piper said. "Then again, the magical world is more than a little curious as to what really happened."

"To be honest, I'm not even going to worry about it." Hermione said, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. "We've been through enough. The war's over… I don't think any of us ought to be thinking about what might happen if the Ministry catches on."

"I agree." Phoebe said. "We won. I mean, we really won this time. It's actually over."

"Yeah, we said that last time." Piper said.

"And the time before that." Harry put in.

"And the time before that." Ron added.

"What do you think, Mi?" Phoebe asked.

"Well, there's still evil out there." Hermione said. "We never got Zankou, not to mention all the other demons. The war, though… yeah, I'd say that this time around we won."

"So, we got the textbook happy ending then?" Draco said.

"Well, I don't know about that." Hermione said. "We've been through a lot of hell to get here. We lost a lot of people, a lot of friends. I'm just content with the fact that everyone here survived and we brought down the bad guys."

"Then I say we call it a win." Harry said. Smiling, he conjured a tray filled with glasses and a bottle of wine. He poured each of them a drink, and raised his glass.

"To victory." said Harry.

"To family." said Phoebe.

"To the future." said Catherine. Everyone paused to look at Hermione, who was next in line to speak.

"To… all of us here today." She said softly. "To the friends we've lost, and to the friends we've gained. To everyone who fought and died to bring us this victory… and to Albus Dumbledore…" There was a collective gasp around the room. "For doing what he thought was best, for having the best of intentions, and for starting a war that brought all of us together. The war cost of dearly, but it also brought us together. It isn't enough to redeem him, but… it is something to thank him for."

"Here, here!" Harry said, while the others murmured their agreement. Hermione gave Harry a small smile and took a sip from her glass. The others smiled as well and followed suit.