In The Light Of Night

The night was quiet and still, not even a cricket was chirping, the silence was such was that it magnified every sound. The occupants of Godric's Hollow intended to sleep in their beds peacefully, too worn out to dream or have a nightmare. But what felt like seconds after they closed their eyes, a crash from nearby outside had them springing from their beds. Hermione, having fallen into bed in her clothes and disguise, was the first to run to the window and saw three cloaked figures advancing on the house. She screamed for everyone to hear, "DEATH EATERS!" She opened the window and cast Shield charm to powerful that the figures were blasted back. Hermione ran to Lily and James's room and saw them scrambling to get ready for the fight, they were going downstairs but she stopped Lily. "No, Lily you need to protect Harry."

"Mya -"

"Please Lily!" Hermione begged and the redhead relented, going to the nursery. James gulped and warded the door before nodding to Mya, both of them bolting down the stairs. Halfway down, Sirius and Remus appeared and all four charged out, wands at the ready.

"There she is!" one of them death eaters yelled and the Marauders paled, closing ranks around Hermione.

"That bastard rat," Sirius growled under his breath.

"Not now Sirius," Remus warned.

"Hand her over," a woman ordered and Hermione's blood chilled. Bellatrix took off her hood, eyeing her maniacally. The memories of Malfoy Manor lashed at her head and Hermione whimpered quietly. "Give us the American and we'll leave the rest of you alive."

"Not a chance dear cousin," Sirius came forward. "You want her, you have to go through me!"

"Fine by me," Bellatrix shot a Killing curse at her cousin, breaking the shield and causing the entire group to dive out of the way. Hermione unfortunately caught her foot on a rock, twisting her ankle and losing her wand in the process. One of the other Death Eaters attempted to grab her but was caught by Remus. They began to dual and a fight broke out, right there on the lawn, each of the Marauders taking on a Death Eater. Hermione struggled to get out of the fray while searching for her weapon. The dark made it hard to spot anything in the grass but she could see Bellatrix get the upper hand on Sirius. Watching the lunatic bearing down on her… whatever-he-was, Hermione's fear gave way to pure fury and rage. She was mad; mad at Bellatrix for damaging her, mad at Voldemort for starting the whole war, mad at losing the people she loved and she wasn't going to let Bellatrix take another.

Ignoring the acute stabbing at her ankle, Hermione stood up and ran up to where Bellatrix was leaning over Sirius menacingly. "NOT THIS TIME YOU BITCH!" Using every bit of strength she had, she swung her good foot at Bellatrix's head, connecting with the woman's temple and sending her flying across the ground. James and Remus had driven their opponents off and all three men watched in awe as Hermione kicked the other witch's wand aside and deliberately knelt on her chest. "We're not going to kill you," she calmly informed the Death Eater beneath her. "You're going to give your master a message for me." She hauled Bellatrix's robes up by the collar forcing her to look at the girl. "Tell him, his time is coming." She got up and Bellatrix got to her feet, snatching her wand from the ground. The witches stared at each other for a long moment before Bella disappeared in a cloud of black. Silence reigned again saved for the fighters' breathing.

Lily opened the door flooding the immediate area with light, "Is it over?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "For now. But this is crazy."

"Some would say ridiculous," Remus put in, looking at Hermione. Her eyes snapped to the wolf before turning to Sirius still on the grass with a slack-jawed expression. The animagus got up and dusted himself off. Not a word passed as Hermione and Sirius stared at each other until they reached for each other at the same time, coming together in a full kiss.

Hermione broke away, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Sirius whispered before recapturing her lips. Lily brought her fingers to her mouth, grinning from ear to ear. Remus laughed with true happiness, applauding the couple for finally coming together.

And then there was poor James, totally lost and completely confused, "What the bloody hell is going on?!"