Hermione sat curled on the sofa in her bedroom ignoring the rippling of the wards around the Manor as the Death Eaters arrived. Voldemort's followers had been arriving all day in preparation for the night's events. It was finally Saturday night, the night the rebellion would hopefully be ended.
Hermione had taken the previous day off work and spent it in Italy with Scorpius and Narcissa. Despite knowing the Manor was safe Hermione had insisted on Narcissa taking Scorpius to Italy for the weekend. Pansy had also accepted Hermione and Draco's offer and she and Jasmine were also on the island in Italy. After making sure everyone was settled and safe Hermione reluctantly came home, where the final preparations were taking place.
"Voldemort and Bella should be arriving shortly." Draco announced as he entered the room.
Hermione didn't respond as she continued staring into space, lost in her thoughts. Draco sighed and moved to sit next to his wife.
"You can always go to Italy. No-one will force you to take part tonight." Draco said, hoping Hermione would take him up on the offer. He would prefer his wife to be away from any possible danger.
"No, I'm staying." Hermione insisted, re-focusing on the present time. "I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not running away."
Draco nodded and pulled Hermione up off the sofa. After giving Hermione a quick kiss he moved towards the bed where two black robes were lying. Hermione looked at the Death Eater robes in distaste as Draco put his on.
"Do I have to wear it?" Hermione questioned, picking up the black material.
"Yes. It's actually a lot easier if everyone on your side is dressed the same. It narrows down the chances of accidently hurting one of your own." Draco said.
Hermione nodded, seeing the logic to everyone wearing black. "At least we're not wearing masks." She commented as she slipped the black robes on. Voldemort had made it clear that masks were optional to his inner circle, something Hermione was relieved about as she didn't fancy wearing one of the silver masks.
"That's a plus. I hate those things." Draco said. Fighting in the Death Eater masks was something Draco had always loathed.
Once they were both dressed Hermione and Draco made their way downstairs. Upon arriving downstairs Draco began to organise the Death Eaters while Hermione watched on awkwardly. She still felt uncomfortable around all of Voldemort's followers as she knew a large part of them resented her presence. Luckily Theo spotted Hermione and wandered over to talk to his friends wife. Hermione was pleased to see Theo and made sure to remain talking to him until Voldemort and Bella arrived.
The room went silent as Voldemort arrived and moved to the front of the room. "Tonight we end this rebellion. I assume everyone understands the plan tonight." Voldemort paused as everyone murmured an agreement. "Now all we have to do is wait."
Seamus, Terry and Cho sat in the Order headquarters nervously. Tonks and some of the others were busy making final preparations but the trio were keeping out of things. They all felt bad about what they were doing but knew that if they hadn't gone to Voldemort they wouldn't have survived the rebellion.
The Order were currently waiting for the surveillance team at Voldemort's house to let them know the house was empty. Once they got the word the entire group would apparate to the boundary line of Voldemort's house where Tonks would disable the wards. Once she had disabled the wards the group would apparate closer to Voldemort's house so they could get inside and begin the search for Horcrux's.
"It's time." Tonks called.
Nerves were rife as the Order began apparating to the boundary line. As soon as Tonks arrived she began working on the wards while the Order assembled behind her. Seamus, Terry and Cho all stuck together as they needed to be together in the house if they were all going to leave via the port key. Tonks worked for nearly half an hour before the final wards were dropped.
"We need to find the Horcrux's as soon as possible. If you find one send your patronus to notify everyone else. The minute we've found both the snake and cup we leave. Don't hang about for anything. The wards don't seem to be alarmed to notify Voldemort if they fall but we don't want to take any chances." Tonks addressed the group. "Ready?"
There was a murmur of agreement before everyone began to apparate to the front of Voldemort's house. Tonks led the way, breaking the lock and opening the front door. As the Order entered the house Tonks directed groups of people in different directions.
Seamus, Terry and Cho, along with several other people, went in the direction that Tonks had pointed out. Entering what looked to be a study Seamus shut the door firmly behind the trio.
"Are you ready?" He asked, pulling the coin from his pocket.
Terry and Cho nodded so Seamus sent a message to Draco. Terry and Cho moved closer to Seamus so they could all hold onto the coin. They had no idea how long it would take Draco to respond but they had already decided the safest thing to do was all hang onto the coin until it activated and turned into a port key.
The trio stood for nearly five minutes before shouts were heard around the house and the coin started to light up. The last thing Terry, Seamus and Cho saw before being spirited away by the port key was the study door being blasted open by a Death Eater.
Arriving in the kitchen at Grimmauld Place Seamus, Terry and Cho sank onto chairs. While they were relieved to be safe they couldn't help but wonder what was happening back at Voldemort's house.
"Finally you've arrived." A voice from the corner caused the trio to look round in shock. "Now you can tell me what I want to know." Bella said, emerging from the shadows and smirking at the shocked trio.
"They're in." Draco announced as the coin in his pocket started to burn.
"Draco, Hermione let's go." Voldemort said to the couple before he turned to address the room. "The moment I send word apparate into my house. Everyone must be either killed or captured."
As Voldemort prepared to leave with Hermione and Draco he gave Bella a subtle nod and the witch left the room so she could apparate to Grimmauld Place. The only person who noticed Bella's departure was Draco.
Draco had changed the wards of Grimmauld Place the previous day to allow his aunt access and he knew that she would be visiting the new headquarters. Draco wasn't sure it was the best idea to send his aunt to Order headquarters but Voldemort had already made the decision and Draco knew it would be pointless arguing with him.
Voldemort, Hermione and Draco apparated to the boundary line of Voldemort's house. Silently the couple began erecting anti-apparition wards around the building. Within minutes Draco informed Voldemort they were done. The Dark Lord nodded and summoned his Death Eaters using the Dark Mark on their left forearm.
Hermione and Draco both felt their own marks burning as they apparated into the house. They'd already decided it would be better if they fought separately so they didn't get distracted worrying about the other one. Draco apparated into the front room while Hermione apparated into a spare bedroom that Scorpius occasionally stayed in when he was visiting Bella.
While Draco arrived in a room that was occupied and was immediately thrust into fighting Hermione had landed in an empty room. Hermione left the spare bedroom as shouts and screams started echoing around the house, everyone else had arrived. Hermione noticed several Death Eaters had apparated onto the upper level of the house which was where she was.
Hermione could tell that most of the fighting was taking place downstairs but she still wanted to be sure no-one was hiding upstairs. Hermione warded the spare bedroom and set about investigating the other rooms. She had decided to ward any empty room so that no-one could re-enter and hide in the rooms that she had already searched.
As Hermione was warding the rooms she had searched she noticed that most of the Death Eaters had headed downstairs where the majority of the fighting was taking place. There was still a couple of Death Eaters on the top floor but as they couldn't find any action they began heading downstairs.
Hermione found no-one until she entered the last room which happened to be the main bedroom. Hermione paused in the doorway as she spotted Lavender Brown and the Patil twins searching the room. Lavender and Padma were both searching through drawers while Parvati was standing next to Nagini's empty basket, clearly looking about for the snake. Hermione knew they wouldn't find Nagini as the snake was currently at the Manor with Crookshanks.
Standing in the doorway Hermione wondered why the three women were still calmly searching the bedroom as though nothing was happening, either they hadn't heard the commotion or hadn't paid any attention. When she stepped into the room Hermione realised the room was actually soundproofed and that the women probably hadn't heard the commotion outside the bedroom.
Hermione quietly entered the room as the three women still hadn't seemed to notice her presence. Carrying her wand in one hand Hermione reached into her robes and pulled out a few pairs of enchanted handcuffs, the handcuffs would automatically transport anyone wearing them into a cell in Azkaban. While Hermione was willing to take part in the fight she was still unwilling to kill her old friends.
Hermione managed to get right behind Parvati before Lavender suddenly spotted her and shouted a warning to her friend. Luckily Hermione had time to slap the handcuffs on Parvati before Lavender managed to hit her with a curse. Hermione crashed against the wall but managed to keep her grip on her wand. Shakily Hermione managed to stun Lavender as she approached her. Hermione crawled to where Lavender was lying and snapped the handcuffs on her before she looked around the room in search of Padma.
Hermione knew that Padma hadn't left the room as she would have had to pass by her on the way. Hermione got to her feet, trying to ignore the massive headache she now had. Hermione quickly searched the room before her eyes fell on the closed bathroom door. Hermione headed for the door and found it locked. Quickly she unlocked the door and threw it open, her wand held in front of her in protection.
"Don't hurt me, Hermione." Padma pleaded as she sat crouched on the floor.
"I'm not going to hurt you." Hermione sighed, stepping forward and slapping a pair handcuffs on Padma.
After Padma disappeared to Azkaban, Hermione stood and contemplated what had just happened. She knew she was lucky to come out of a confrontation with three members of the Order with only a headache. Hermione also knew that the only reason she had come off so lightly was the fact she had managed to take them by surprise. If Lavender, Parvati and Padma had heard the commotion in the rest of the house there was no way Hermione would have been able to sneak up on them so easily.
Hermione tried to forgot what would have happened if she hadn't had surprise on her side and set about warding the bedroom. Hermione was heading for the stairs when Molly Weasley suddenly came running around the corner and crashed into her. Hermione and Molly went sprawling on the floor and as she fell Hermione heard a loud cracking noise and felt immense pain in her right ankle.
Molly quickly regained her footing and scrambled up, grabbing Hermione's wand as she went. Hermione was in too much pain to recognise that she had lost her wand, instead she was looking at her ankle that she thought was broken.
"It looks like it's payback time." Molly cackled, looking down at Hermione who was still lying on the floor.
Hermione suddenly realised that Molly was standing over her and she began searching for her wand that she had dropped when she fell. Molly laughed as she realised what Hermione was doing.
"Looking for this." She taunted, twirling Hermione's wand in her hands.
Hermione looked at her wand in Molly's hand. Realising she was trapped Hermione tried to stand up only to fall back down on the ground screaming in agony. Molly merely smirked, knowing she had Hermione at her mercy.
"Goodbye Hermione." Molly raised her wand. "Avada…"
Hermione shut her eyes as she waited for Molly to kill her, all she could think about was the fact she would be leaving Draco and Scorpius. Hermione opened her eyes when she realised that Molly had stopped mid-sentence. Hermione looked on in amazement as Molly lay dead in front of her. Looking up she found Lucius standing with his wand pointing towards where Molly had been standing.
"Lucius." Hermione gasped, never more happy to see her father-in-law.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Lucius asked, rushing to Hermione's side.
"I think I've broken my ankle." Hermione said, wincing at the pain.
"Can you apparate?" Lucius asked.
"No, I'm in too much pain. I'll end up splinching myself." Hermione said. "Besides I'm not leaving until I know Draco's safe."
"Draco's fine. I saw him a minute ago." Lucius said. "Most of the Order has been defeated, there's only a few left now."
"Good. Can you help me downstairs?" Hermione asked, trying to reach for her wand.
Lucius snatched up Hermione's wand before his daughter-in-law managed to get a firm grip on the piece of wood. "No, I'm taking you home."
Hermione tried to protest but Lucius ignored her as he lifted her into his arms and apparated her back to the Manor. Lucius apparated into the front room and placed Hermione onto the sofa. Calling a house elf he immediately began issuing orders about Hermione's wellbeing.
"I'm heading back. I'll make sure nothing happens to Draco." Lucius said as a team of house elves began to make Hermione comfortable.
"Thank you." Hermione said. She knew she was thanking Lucius for saving her life and for protecting Draco.
Lucius nodded at Hermione and offered her a small smile, understanding the double meaning. With one final check that Hermione was being taken care of Lucius apparated back to Voldemort's house.
Draco was in the middle of a battle with one of the Weasley twins when his father suddenly appeared next to him and joined in the fight. Draco was surprised but also grateful for the help. He had been fighting non-stop since he entered Voldemort's house and it was getting tiring trying to subdue people enough to place them in handcuffs.
Draco had decided that he wasn't going to kill anyone so he had spent the entire battle trying to capture as many people as possible. Draco had witnessed several members of the Order being killed but he had also managed to imprison a few before they were killed.
Draco and Lucius fought in perfect tandem against the few remaining Order members. They quickly managed to knock out the Weasley twin and Draco managed to snap the cuffs on him. Draco wasn't sure which twin was which but he knew he had captured both of them now, the first twin had been the first person he had fought against that night.
"Have you seen Hermione?" Draco asked, not pausing the fighting he was engaging in.
"Yes, she's fine." Lucius said as he blasted Kingsley Shackelbolt against the far wall.
Lucius decided it was better to refrain from telling Draco that Hermione was injured and at home. His son would only worry about his wife and he might lose his concentration and end up getting hurt.
Draco and Lucius continued to fight and subdue Order members until a loud crashing noise got their attention. Both men turned their heads in time to see a dark blur flying through the front window, glass shattering around them. Draco spotted Tonks running after whoever had gone through the window. Draco and Lucius shared a knowing look, chances are it was The Dark lord who had been thrown through his window.
The few remaining Order members seemed to come to the same conclusion as their fighting was suddenly much more spirited. As Lucius and Draco returned to the fight several more Death Eaters appeared and the Order suddenly found themselves massively outnumbered. With plenty of Death Eaters to take care of the remaining Order members Draco and Lucius slipped away from the fight to check on Voldemort.
Arriving in the front yard it was clear to Draco and Lucius that despite being thrown through the window Voldemort had gotten the upper hand in his battle with Tonks. He was currently throwing numerous curses at the witch and she was struggling to fight back. Tonks suddenly seemed to rally as she began advancing on Voldemort and driving him back towards a tree. As Voldemort was pressed back against the tree trunk Draco was about to intervene when Voldemort suddenly apparated away. He reappeared behind Tonks and threw the killing curse at her before she had time to react to his sly tactics.
With Tonks lying dead on the front lawn Voldemort turned to Draco and Lucius. "Come on, let's finish this."
Together the three men headed back inside the house to finish dispatching the remaining members of the Order. It took less than half an hour to end the resistance and secure victory for Voldemort and his followers.