A/N: How many of you just jumped out of your seats when you realised this story had not yet finished? I know I left you all hanging on a cliff hanger in the previous chapter (it seems to be my style) but here is the conclusion. This chapter picks up where the previous one left off, showing two different POV's and two completely different scenarios. ~Cissy


Chapter 29

"Fate of the Fallen"

The word was still shrouded in darkness when she appeared on top of the hill closest to the Burrow. She could make out the fallen building's shape against the dark backdrop and with a heavy heart she started her descend towards the house. A weak light flickered behind the window and with every step she took she became more and more aware of the stinging tears behind her ears. She imagined the grief and hopelessness that lingered between these four walls. It was a devastating thought.

Andromeda reached the door and slipped her hand in her pocket. Her fingers brushed against her wand and she felt a shiver creep down her spine when she heard footsteps on the other side. The door was yanked open and she was confronted with a wand being pointed at her face.

"How dare you show your face?" Ginny shouted. Her face was red and swollen and Andromeda could still see the fresh tears that covered her cheeks. "Get out!"

"Ginny." She spoke the girls' name softly but Ginny wasn't listening.

"GET OUT!" Ginny pushed her wand into Andromeda's chest and her eyes darkened. The grief consumed her heart. If it wasn't for another figure appearing behind her in the doorway, she would have attempted to throttle Andromeda. "You let her kill Harry! You told her his secret and you watched as she killed him. You did nothing!"

"I know," Andromeda said softly and tried to meet Ginny's eyes. "I owe you an explanation."

"You owe us a hell of a lot more than that," said Molly. She had wrapped her arms protectively around her daughter's waist to stop her from reaching physically attacking the other witch. "What in Merlin's name got into you, Andy? I know you loved her but to do this…" She shook her head. "You betrayed all of us."

"I understand you're angry and hurt but there was no other way," Andromeda said softly. She felt her own tears burn behind her eyes. "I did what needed to be done because I knew none of you ever could. We needed the one person who could distance themselves from all of you." She swallowed hard. "I would completely understand if you do not allow me to come in right now, but know that whenever you are ready I will explain my actions to you." Her eyes found Ginny. "To all of you."

"Let her in." It was Tonks. She walked up to Molly and when Andromeda laid eyes on her daughter she felt her heart leap up in her chest. A sense of joy overwhelmed her, throughout al the sadness and bitterness that surrounded them right now. She looked unharmed, apart from some cuts and bruises. Tonks gently pushed Molly aside and stepped into the open doorway. "She's my mother. I want to hear what she has to say."

Molly reluctantly stepped aside, pulling Ginny with her, and made room for Andromeda to enter the kitchen. It was quiet and she felt several sets of eyes rest on her as she walked in. She was the traitor in their midst, at least in their eyes. They didn't understand, didn't know, why she had done what she did. They didn't see things the way she saw them now, the way she had learnt to see them in the minutes leading up to Harry's death. They didn't know what she had known all along. That there was only one outcome.

"Thank you," she said graciously as she bowed her head and took the seat that was offered to her by Fred. He didn't meet her eyes and turned his back on her. His body language betrayed his anger.

"Why did you do it?" Tonks asked. She had walked around the table and stared at her mother from the other side. Her hands rested on the damaged wooden surface and a glint of anger flickered in her eyes. "You could have fought. We could have fought. Instead you chose Harry's death. You let Hermione win. Why?"

"Harry knew something you didn't," Andromeda said slowly and she sensed Ginny standing behind her. She could almost feel the girls' anger radiating onto her skin. "Harry had known for a long time that he was a Horcrux." She looked around the table. "He knew that for the last piece of Voldemort's soul to die, Harry himself had to die too. Neither can live whilst the other survives. The prophecy could be viewed in more ways than one and Harry realised that too." She folded her hands on the table.

"How did you know?" Tonks asked sharply.

"He told me," Andromeda answered softly. "Back at Hogwarts, when Hermione went to look for one of the Horcruxes in Bellatrix's vault, Harry found me in the Gryffindor common room. It was late and everyone had gone to bed." She swallowed hard as she remembered the green eyed boy walking up to her as she sat by the fire. She had guessed from the look in his eyes that there was something he wanted to talk to her about. "He said he knew something, about Voldemort and about himself. Something that he could not tell any of you."

"Why didn't he want to tell us?" Ginny asked.

"Would you have let him sacrifice himself if you had known he had to die?" Andromeda asked, giving the red haired girl a sideways glance. Ginny's eyes filled with tears and Andromeda shook her head. "Harry knew that too, Ginny. He knew that none of his friends would let him do what he needed to do. You would have all tried to stop him and probably died whilst trying to do it. Harry realised a long time ago that he was a Horcrux. He explained to me it was why he could hear them, or feel them. The connection to Voldemort he shared was because a part of Voldemort's soul lived inside of him."

"So he had to die," George said quietly and looked at his twin brother. Fred had turned around and was now looking at Andromeda.

"He had to die," Andromeda acknowledged. "Right before we left to go to Hogwarts he told me that tonight would be the night. He made me promise that I would do whatever I had to if it meant it would stop Voldemort. Even if it meant killing Harry."

"Hermione didn't know he was a Horcrux?" Tonks asked, furrowing her brow. "They were friends for years. Surely she must have some inclination about what was going on."

"I don't think Hermione ever fully understood Harry's connection to Voldemort. Had she been around whilst he searched for the Horcruxes, she may have understood sooner. I don't think she realised until the last minute, when I told her," Andromeda said and fixed her gaze on the table surface. She stared at a particularly deep cut and tried to imagine it as a cut on her soul that would heal into a scar over time. "When Bellatrix and Narcissa caught Harry I realised there was nothing else I could do. I had to do what he asked of me so I healed Hermione after she got hurt because I needed the Three Cores to be victorious. Bellatrix and Narcissa would be helpless without her."

"Harry was willing to let Hermione win," Molly said quietly. "Why? Why would he let such evil overpower good? He knew what they are capable off. He knew what they did."

"The Three Cores were always going to be stronger than Voldemort but they would only be able to kill him if he was mortal," Andromeda explained. "Harry realised this when Ollivander talked to us about the wands. He believed that they could overpower Voldemort but Voldemort could only ever be dfeated if all the pieces of his soul were destroyed. Hermione believed there to be six pieces. A part of Harry wanted to see her destroyed. He wanted her to lose her strength and for Voldemort to overpower her before he killed Harry. It would mean both sides were destroyed. He expected Bellatrix or Narcissa to then kill Voldemort."

"But all three of them got hurt when they tried to attack Voldemort because not all parts of his soul had been destroyed. Harry was defenceless. The plan he had worked out in his head was falling apart and there was only one thing he could do. He knew he had to face the piece of Voldemort that had latched itself to his soul." Andromeda felt a tear chase down her cheek. "It was something we talked about just once, that night by the fireplace. He asked me just that once. He wanted to know if I was prepared to make that choice." She brushed the tear away. "I wouldn't just be sentencing him to death. I would be destroying everything we ever believed in."

"Harry's plan failed," Ginny whispered and she sank down in the empty chair next to Andromeda. "He had worked it out so carefully and it failed." She shook her head. "He must have been so scared."

"Harry was rarely scared," Tonks said. "He accepted his fate a long time ago. He knew that one day it would be between him and Voldemort. He just never expected it to be like this." She sighed. "When Bellatrix caught him he must have realised that he was never going to make it." She looked across the table at Ginny. "He wanted us to be free from him and in doing so knew that he would have to let Hermione survive instead."

"Did she?" Ginny asked. "Survive, I mean?" She looked at Andromeda. "She got hurt."

"I know." Andromeda remembered Hermione lying on the floor, on her stomach, with the blood spreading around her. The image would forever be burnt into her memory. She stared down at her hands as the tears welled up in her eyes again. The pain in her chest was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. For the first time she felt the raw, cruel pain of loss. "I don't know if she made it."

George glanced out of the kitchen window. "It will be dawn soon. I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Molly looked around the table. Arthur sat slumped in the arm chair nearest the window. Then there were Fred and George, both looking worse for wear. Bill sat next to his dad, his face pale and his eyes empty. His wand rested in his lap. Ginny sat next to Andromeda, her eyes still swollen and red. Tonks had walked around and now stood next to her mother, her hand resting in comfort on her mother's arm. It was all there was left now. The Order of the Phoenix had once been a powerful group of witches and wizards but now it had been reduced to a group of friends who were left to mourn the loss of their loved ones and fear the moment the sun would rise over the horizon, signalling the start of a new day.

"What will happen now?" Ginny asked quietly.

"I don't know," Tonks answered and looked around. "It's been a long day. We should try and get some rest. Whatever is waiting for us out there tomorrow, it will be waiting for us in full force." She glanced at her mother. She had never seen her this defeated and broken. She had been their leader until tonight but Tonks knew instinctively that Andromeda would not be leading them anymore. Her eyes wandered around the worn out faces. "Try and get some sleep. That is all we can do now."

Upstairs was mostly destroyed so Molly waved her wand around. The furniture in the living room, or what was left of it anyway, vanished and was replaced by comfortable mattresses in different shapes and sizes, pillows and blankets. People stood up from their seats, grateful for a place to rest their tired bodies and Andromeda watched as they laid themselves down, on their sides and backs and stomachs. Bill rolled himself in a blanket and turned away from his family. His grief left him unable to speak. Ginny lay curled up in her mother's arms, with her father beside her. She stared into the distance, with an empty look in her eyes. Her tears had finally dried. Tonks had knelt down beside them and spoke softly to Molly but when she looked up and saw the look in her mother's eyes, she left the Weasley's and walked up to her.

"You're going to leave us, aren't you?" she asked softly. "You have this strange look in your eyes."

"It was my idea to go out there tonight, Nymphadora," Andromeda answered and ran her fingers through her tangled hair. "I feel responsible."

"Didn't you just tell us that this would have happened anyway?" Tonks said. "You can't blame yourself for this, mum. It wasn't your fault."

"You tell that to Ginny. Or Molly. Or any of the others who were there tonight. Yes, Harry knew that he would have to make a sacrifice but if we had planned more carefully, maybe Bellatrix would not have caught him. His plan wouldn't have failed."

"And Hermione would be dead."

Andromeda's eyes fluttered shut and the tears silently seeped through her eyelashes. "Yes."

"Is that what you would have wanted?" Tonks said as she looked at her mother.

"What I want is to turn back the hands of time. Turn the clock back," Andromeda said and shook her head. She pushed her chair back and turned to look at her daughter. She tried to smile but she couldn't find the strength. Instead she rested her hand on Tonks' shoulder, leant in and kissed her cheek. It was a goodbye kiss. They both knew it. "I wish none of this had ever happened."

"What will you do?" Tonks asked as she walked her mother to the door. She opened it and they both looked out into the night for a while. In the distance light was beginning to creep over the horizon.

Andromeda sighed. "I think I'll watch the sunrise. It isn't until moments like this that you realise all the things you have taken for granted for far too long." She looked at her daughter. "Look after them, allright?"

"I will, mum," Tonks said and tears glistened in her eyes. "Will you be back?"

"You can count on that," Andromeda said. "Someone has to keep an eye on you, right?"

With those words she stepped out of the Burrow kitchen and onto the surrounding land. She walked slowly towards the corn fields and found the narrow winding path that led through them. Within minutes she had disappeared from her daughter's sight but she kept walking until she reached the other end of the field. She stood at the bottom of a hill and began climbing up. When she reached the top she was high enough to watch the sky change colour and sat down in the dew covered grass to watch the first rays of sunshine appear. A new dawn had broken and nobody knew what it would hold.

~()~

The golden rays of morning sunlight caressed the smouldering ruins of Hogwarts. The castle lay in ruins once more, with black smoke billowing from one of its crumbling towers. Glass littered the grounds and smudges of blood desecrated the walls. An eerie silence lingered as not a single bird sang its usual morning sun. There were no footsteps echoing in destroyed corridors. There were no whispers of joy or grief, no voices that called for those who had been lost.

In the Great Hall Hermione still lay on her stomach, her head resting on her left arm as it lay stretched out. Thick brown curls had fallen in her eyes. The blood around her had begun to dry and stuck to her face, her hands and her clothes. The pain was sharp and spread from her back down to her legs. Her eyes felt heavy and the sunlight hurt. She tried to shield them as she forced herself to peer through her eyelashes. The first thing she saw was the wild display of black curls lying beside her. Bellatrix also lay on her stomach, her face turned towards Hermione but obscured by her raven manes.

Hermione attempted to sit up and groaned in pain when her legs didn't want to move with her. She placed the palms of her hands flat on the floor and pushed herself up. Tears sprung into her eyes as she carefully pulled one leg up, followed by a second. She now sat on all fours, heaving and panting, and took a deep breath before using all her strength to force the upper part of her body off the ground. Now that she sat on her knees, with her mind still spinning, she could fully look around.

"Bella?" Her voice was hoarse. She reached out to touch the older witch. Fingertips touched soft black hair. "Bella?"

The raven haired Death Eater stirred under the sudden touch and one of her hands moved up towards her face to brush the curls out of her eyes. Charcoal eyes opened and took in their surroundings. She blinked once or twice before recognising Hermione's face. She looked dazed as she forced herself to sit up, as if she was waking up from a deep sleep or dream, and let hands run along her arms and chest as she inspected herself for injuries.

"Where's Cissy?" she whispered. Her voice was raspy and she coughed. Panic filled her eyes when she couldn't see her sister immediately. "Where's Cissy?"

"She fell," Hermione said softly. She remembered seeing her, not too far away, landing on her back as her head bounced off a large piece of stone. Her eyes darted around what was left of the Great Hall. There was rubble and debris everywhere. "She's hurt."

Bella staggered to her feet and needed a few seconds to regain her balance. She walked unsteady and when Hermione looked down she realised the dark witch walked on bare feet. She had no idea what had happened to Bellatrix's boots but they had disappeared. As she walked, Bellatrix left bloody footprints in her wake. She trod in glass but kept on walking, desperately looking for her sister.

"Cissy?" No answer came as her voice bounced off the walls. Bellatrix's eyes desperately searched for her sister. "CISSY?"

Hermione clenched her jaw as she forced herself to stand up. The pain in her back was excruciating and her legs didn't feel like they could support her weight for long. She looked down and found she had been lying on her wand. It was covered in blood but she picked it up and pushed it back in its sheath. She carefully inspected her injuries and flinched when her fingers brushed along the deep cut in her stomach. She resisted sliding her digits inside to feel how it deep it was but it hurt enough for her to know it was bad. She tried to walk but the room started spinning and she stretched out a hand, looking for something to hold.

"I found her!" Bellatrix suddenly cried and Hermione turned to her left. Bellatrix had fallen to her knees beside a small pile of rubble and stones and Hermione slowly walked over to her. Every step drew more tears from her eyes and the salt stung in her wounds. When she reached Bellatrix she found her cradling her sister's unconscious body in her arms. Blood stuck to the side of Narcissa's head and clung to her blonde hair. Hermione gasped as she dropped to her knees too and grasped hold of Bellatrix's arms.

"We get one chance at this. If we fail, we die," she whispered as she linked her hand with her Bellatrix's. She felt more vulnerable than she had ever felt before in her life and for the first time she saw the same thing in her lover's eyes. "Hold on to her."

Hermione summoned the image of the Black family mansion from the depths of her mind and felt the familiar sensation of Apparition near her navel. She looked at Bellatrix to reassure her that she had a tight hold of Narcissa and then their surroundings began to spin and blur before Hermione lost touch with the ground. It felt as if she was flying. She felt the cool wind in her air, the rushing of the blood in her ears and the strange tightening knot in her stomach. They behind the dying embers of Hogwarts and reappeared outside the front doors of the mansion that had become their home.

Hermione and Bellatrix carried Narcissa inside and up the stairs. As they laid her body on the four poster bed Hermione placed her fingertips against the blonde witch's neck. She felt a faint heartbeat and released her breath. She was alive. The Three Cores were still united. She turned around to speak to Bellatrix when she became aware of the sharp pain in her stomach and before she could whisper her lover's name she collapsed in her arms.