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Chapter 12

Hermione POV

I couldn't feel worse than in this moment. I had already wanted to scream when Severus went into the middle of the circle to talk to Voldemort, but when he began to torture Severus, I nearly broke down. I couldn't hold back my tears and I just wanted to run to him.

I had tried to escape Ron's grip, but it was impossible. He was much stronger than me and I was too troubled to apply much strength. Well, actually it was better that he didn't let me go. It could have made the whole situation worse and that was nothing I wanted.

And now, in the moment when Voldemort was about to kill Severus, someone else appeared on the viewing area and attracted everybody's attention.

Harry's sudden appearance didn't shock me as much as the others. Maybe because I was already too scared. I stopped trying to run to Severus, who was still lying on the floor motionless. Hopefully, he was still alive. What would I do without him?

Then he lifted his head a little bit to see who had spoken. My heart was beating again and I took a deep breath. He wasn't dead.

"I don't want anyone to try to help me." Harry said loudly and looked into the direction of McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley, who were about to run towards him. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."

Voldemort hissed. "Potter doesn't mean it like that." he answered, his red eyes wide. "That isn't how he works, is it? Who are you going to use as a shield today, Potter?"

"Nobody!" Harry said simply and I saw the determination in his eyes. This was it. The moment he'd been waiting for so long. The last confrontation between the Dark Lord and the Chosen One. There weren't any Horcruxes left, so they were equal to each other.

I swallowed. Either my best friend or the wizard I hated most in the world would die in a few minutes.

"There are no more Horcruxes. It's just you and me. Neither can live, while the other survives, and one of us is about to leave for good..." Harry continued and you couldn't miss the hate in Voldemort's face.

"One of us?" He cried and suddenly, he looked at Severus again. "Then here's one person too much in the circle." The coldness in his voice made me shiver. Now Voldemort was calm again and he frowned at the man lying on the floor. "How could we solve this problem?"

"You won't be killing anyone else tonight!" Harry said loudly and Voldemort turned to him again. "Don't you get it? You won't be able to hurt any of them. I was ready to die to stop you from hurting them and-"

"But you are still here! You didn't die!"

"I meant to, and that's important. I've done what my mother did. They're protected from you. Did you notice that none of your spells you put on them was binding? You can't touch them. You don't learn from your mistakes, Riddle, do you?" Wow, I've never seen Harry this courageous.

"You dare-" Voldemort was completely furious and I thought that he'd attack Harry right in this moment, but he just looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, I dare. I know things you don't know, Tom Riddle. Many important things. Do you want to hear some, before you make another big mistake? If you do, then Severus should stay in this circle. Here isn't one person too much. Everything's as it should be. Because I think that he can also tell you some stories you never heard before, am I right?" For a few seconds, I was too surprised to follow the events in front of me. He'd called him Severus, not Snape. Even though he hated him. Or did Harry change his mind? I'd have to ask him later.

When my eyes were able to see again, Harry was holding out a hand to Severus und helped him at standing up. Severus leaned on Harry a little bit because the Cruciatus Curse had weakened him, but I was sure that he'd be all right again.

Voldemort had watched the scene in front of him with contempt and it seemed to be difficult for him to just stand there and do nothing. "And what is so important to you? Is it love again?" he scoffed loudly and laughed. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death and didn't stop him from falling from the Tower anyhow? Love, didn't prevent me from killing your Mudblood mother, Potter - and right now nobody except Severus" he spat out the name "is here to help you against me. But why are you here, Severus? I remember you working for me during the past years. At least you were the one who killed Dumbledore and fulfilled many other tasks for me. Some people even said that you were my most faithful servant. Were they all wrong?" The last sentence was nothing more than a whisper, but everyone in the hall was able to hear it. It seemed as if the entire crowd didn't breath and the only sounds came from Harry, Severus and Voldemort.

Severus stopped to lean on Harry and took a step forward. He was standing upright and looked directly into his old master's eyes. "Yes, my Lord." he said loudly and almost everyone in the hall inhaled sharply. I couldn't say if it was in disbelief of surprise. "I was working for Albus Dumbledore since the moment you threatened Lilly Potter. She was the first woman I have ever loved and then you killed her. When you began to think that the prophecy was talking about Harry Potter, I went to Albus and begged him to protect him and his family. I promised to do everything for him and I really meant it. And I never broke the promise. After your return, I told you that I had been at Hogwarts for all those years because I believed that you would come back some day and then a spy would be very useful. But this wasn't true. My biggest wish was that you would be dead forever and I would never have to see you again." There were tears in Severus' eyes and I was crying too. Finally, he'd told Voldemort the truth. One of the most important secrets of our age and one which had influenced many things. I wanted nothing more than to hug Severus, but of course it was impossible. I couldn't just go into the circle. It was too dangerous and I thought that nobody was able to asses Voldemort's feelings right now. Well, except Harry, at least he knew him very well - in a bad way.

"So you betrayed me, Lord Voldemort, because of a woman?"

"You still don't understand it, do you?" Harry asked loudly and took a step forward, too, so that he was standing next to Severus again. "He loved my mother more than anything. That's reason enough to change the sides. You biggest weakness is that you don't understand love. You never liked someone very much, did you, Riddle? The people around you were just tools you needed to get more power. Yes, you were charming and could influence others, but that was just a very useful ability, wasn't it?"

For half a second, Voldemort looked confused. But then the angry expression returned and I wasn't sure anymore if I had just imagined it. "Love is nothing!" he cried furiously. "It can't do anything, it just makes you weak and vulnerable! Think of Dumbledore, he was weak too. A weak old man who wasn't able to judge people."

"No, he was cleverer than you," Harry contradicted, "a better wizard, a better man."

"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore! And you were the one who killed him!" Voldemort pointed at Severus, who paled. I knew that Dumbledore's death still made him feel guilty.

"You thought you were the one who gave the orders to kill him. But you were wrong." Severus words made the whole crowd breathing in deeply. Even if I knew the truth, I couldn't stop myself from joining them.

"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as though they would cause him unendurable pain. "His body decays in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle. I have seen it and he will never return!"

"You are right, he is dead. But he decided how he would die months before it happened. Everything was arranged and he did it with the man you thought was your servant." Harry made a gesture towards Severus and now everyone in the hall was looking at him.

"Albus knew that he would have to die nearly a year before the events on the Tower. And he also knew that you would search for the Elder Wand, which he owned. To prevent you from being able to control the most powerful wand in the world, he decided to die undefeated. Then the power of the wand would vanish and it would not be special anymore. So he asked me to kill him in the right moment. And because I owed this man so much, I agreed."

"But the power of the wand didn't vanish! How can you explain that?" Voldemort asked provocatively and Harry raised his hand like I did in class.

"That's something I could explain." He said modestly and Voldemort seemed to get even more angry. "Dumbledore's last plan didn't work. The Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. He removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, without realising what he had done. He never knew that the world's most dangerous wand was belonging to him from that moment."

The tension in the hall was at the peak right now and nobody said a word. Everyone was looking at Harry, Voldemort and Severus, who had taken a few steps to the right, so that he wasn't standing too close to the two men anymore. Our eyes met for a moment and I saw that he was worried.

"The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy." Harry announced loudly and for a moment, there was blank shock in Voldemort's face. But then it vanished again and I wasn't able to interpret his expression anymore.

"And what does it matter? Even if that is right, it does not make any difference. You no longer have the phoenix wand, Potter. It can not save you again and after I have killed you, I am going to search Draco Malfoy..."

"And who says that Draco still is the master of the wand? You are too late, Riddle. You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took this wand from him."

He held the hawthorn wand into the air and everyone in the hall was looking at it.

"So now there's only one question left. Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? If it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."

Voldemort's red eyes were opened widely and I saw hate in them. Both, Harry and Voldemort, raised their wands and pointed at each other. Then they yelled their spells and two flashes of light, a red and a green one, flew through the air.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

When the lights met, they turned into golden flames and I thought that I could feel the heat of them. Then the Elder Wand was torn from Voldemort's hand and it was spinning through the air towards Harry, who caught it with his free hand. Voldemort fell backwards, his red eyes wide in shock, and then he hit the floor. Tom Riddle was dead, defeated by the boy he wanted to kill many years ago, and killed by his own rebounding curse. Now he was lying on the floor in the Entrance Hall, and he didn't look dangerous anymore.

Harry stood a few feet away from him, two wands in his hand, and he stared at his enemy. To me it seemed as if he couldn't really believe what just happened.

The crowd was still silent in shock, but after a few moments, everyone started to cheer and scream and they all ran towards Harry to congratulate him.

But I was heading towards another person right now. And it was Severus Snape.