A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! The response I got from last chapter was so great - I really can't thank you all enough! I am a bit worried about this chapter, just because I am always bad at writing battle scenes, but I hope that you enjoy it. You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions!

Please let me know what you thought of chapter forty-eight and be on the lookout for chapter forty-nine soon!


It took Hermione and Regulus approximately fifteen minutes to get to the edge of the property that Riddle Manor stood on. Then, it took them another ten minutes before they found a tiny, dilapidated shack that had undoubtedly been the place that the Gaunt family had called home. If Hermione hadn't been able to tell by the lingering feeling of dark magic, she was sure she'd have been able to figure it out by the long dead snake carcasses that had been nailed into the door frame, their skeletons barely holding together.

After casting the most cursory of revealing spells and enchantments, Hermione pressed into the shack. Looking around, it was clear that there had been an altercation here the last time someone had entered. Hermione wondered if Morfin Gaunt had been able to put up much of a fight when his nephew came for his birthright or if he'd been feeble and insane by that point.

Regulus looked overwhelmed by the dust and the broken clutter. "Merlin, how are we ever going to find a little ring in all of this mess?" he moaned.

Hermione shook her head. "We don't need to find the ring. I can tell that it's here, can't you?" she questioned, waiting for his nod in return. "I will just dump out the others and then we can torch the whole place to the ground." Seeing as the building had no notable reason to try and save it - it had clearly been decades since it was last lived in - Regulus couldn't find a voice to protest. It seemed a bit excessive, but he supposed that when it came to the stain that Voldemort left, it was better to have a policy of total destruction.

The brunette witch dropped to her knees, only to wrench open the tiny beaded bag that she carried with her everywhere. With her arm completely hidden in the undetectable extension charm, she was rooting around looking for the other three horcruxes, her adrenaline turning her fine motor skills to shit. Regulus was pacing back and forth impatiently when he heard his name being called from outside the shack.

"Regulus!" Bellatrix shrieked. "Come out here and face me!"

Turning to look at Hermione, he knew that she needed a bit more time. "I'll hold her off, but please, work quickly. She's easily the toughest duelist I've faced," he begged, hoping that he didn't sound scared. He knew that Bellatrix was out for blood. Not waiting for her response, he squared his shoulders, hoping that his older cousin wouldn't see how he was shaking in his boots.

"Cease your shrieking, Bella. I'm here," Regulus said, making no show of hiding his wand. "But how did you find me?"

"Well, it seems that mark on your arm is still good for something after all," Bellatrix cooed in her baby voice. "It led me right to the blood traitor and his pet mudblood."

Regulus grit his teeth in anger. "Don't you dare talk about Hermione that way!" he snarled, unwilling to have his family disrespect her for something that she had absolutely no control over, especially not when they had been completely unaware of the difference. According to his family, blood would always show...but maybe not what they were expecting.

"Now, Regulus, if you bring that filth out here to face me, and get her to return my Cup, I can promise that your punishment won't be nearly as bad," she said, licking her top teeth. "You'd still be a blood traitor, of course, but perhaps you needen't be disowned if you submit to proper reeducation."

Regulus could feel his temper rapidly rising. He wanted to shout that it was his backwards family who needed the reeducation. Instead, he wanted to needle his cousin a bit more. "What, don't want to tell the Dark Lord that you lost his little prize that you promised to keep safe?" Regulus sneered as he watched Bellatrix's face fall in horror. "Oh, you haven't told him about what happened? Don't worry, Hermione and I will take good care of it," he teased cruelly.

Bellatrix screamed in annoyance, only to send a wild spell in his direction that Regulus was barely able to sidestep at the last minute, sending a window pane shattering in all directions. He could feel a shard of glass embed itself into the back of his arm, but besides a quiet hiss, he didn't let her know that he was hurt. Instead, he sent two spells back to her in quick succession.

His cousin smiled broadly, beginning to duel in earnest. "Oh look it! Little Regulus wants to fight me, does he?" she cackled in joy. "I'll kill you first and then I'll kill your mudblood too!"

Her words actually got to him a bit, and he found his right leg struck by a nasty hex that he was lucky to know the counter to. His momentary distraction proved fruitful for Bellatrix as she advanced on him, hitting him with the cruciatus curse. Regulus wasn't sure how he was able to remain standing under the pain of the spell, but he could hear his screaming echoing in the hollow. He hoped that it didn't distract Hermione from their task inside.

He heard the door slam open and Hermione quickly cast a protego on him. Bellatrix cackled gleefully. "Oh little mudblood, your spell will never be able to stop magic from a real witch," she laughed. "Now, give me the Cup and I can promise to make your death quicker."

Hermione kept her emotions even and cool to Regulus's amazement. She looked Bellatrix right in the eye and smirked. "Fiendfyre," Hermione called, easily wrapping the shack in a jet of flame that quickly took the shape of a snake, coiling around it and squeezing the life right from the inside.

Bellatrix laughed once more. "Oh you stupid bitch, your little tricks won't distract me," she said with a roll of her eyes, completely unaware of the way that the fiendfyre was beginning to mingle with the magic from the four horcruxes inside. The fire was turning an inky black color at its center, spitting and popping magic in every direction. Hermione only just stepped away at the last moment to avoid being burned by a rogue tendril of flame.

The dark witch took this as her opportunity, rushing forward and grabbing Hermione by the hair while she was distracted. Bellatrix bit her lower lip as she jabbed her wand under Hermione's chin. "Oh, mudblood," she whispered, almost as if she were in physical pleasure, "I am going to have so much fun torturing you. Now tell me where the Cup is."

"You want your Cup, Bellatrix?" Hermione asked, laughing to herself.

"Yes, mudblood. I have no time for your games," his cousin responded with a snarl, pulling hard on Hermione's hair once again.

Hermione raised one arm, pointing to the out of control inferno that raged just a few paces from them. "Well, go ahead and get it," Hermione whispered.

It was odd for Regulus to watch the horrified emotion pass over Bellatrix's face. She was clearly thinking of one thing only in that moment - that she had failed the Dark Lord. There was no thought in her dark, glittering eyes when she dropped Hermione with a strangled cry, only to run directly into the flames, perhaps thinking that she would be able to save the horcrux before it was too late.

Instead, she barely got past the door frame before her skin began to melt away and her pained shrieks died in her throat.

Regulus watched the inferno stunned, wrapping an arm around a shaky Hermione's waist, until the last bits of the horcrux faded away, leaving the world with a horrific, nearly human squeal. Hermione raised her wand once again to put out the fire, leaving behind two dozen ashwinder eggs. Regulus froze them quickly to prevent any smaller fires from breaking out. "We'll have to come back for those or Severus will never forgive me," he whispered to himself. "But for now, I think we have bigger dragons to fight."

Taking off in the direction of the Riddle Manor house, Regulus kept his eyes peeled for any unexpected attacks from the other Death Eaters. He was completely unprepared for the Dark Lord to come tearing out of the house, his wand drawn and sending a cascade of spells their way. "Regulus Black, I should have known you were a traitor," he sneered. "And all because of a stupid woman. You are weak."

"Don't play nice," Regulus whispered to Hermione. "We just have to kill him, and he will be trying to kill us as well."

The three of them began to duel in earnest then, not holding back any spells. Despite it being two against one, the Dark Lord still had the better of the two teenagers who were barely able to hold on. To his dismay, always prepared Hermione seemed to only have knowledge of basic defensive spells that you'd learn at Hogwarts, and almost none of the powerful darker spells that would do maximum damage to the dark wizard.

"Merlin, I hope your brother and the Order show up soon," she said between protegos, perhaps realizing how outmatched they were.

And that was before the other Death Eaters began to show up, Rabastan on the forefront. Completely healed, he seemed to be in a full rage when he caught sight of Hermione once again. "You mudblood slut," he called at her, engaging Hermione in a duel. "I should have listened to Bellatrix about you from the beginning."

"Bellatrix is dead," Hermione snarled back, hitting Rabastan with several stinging hexes in a row, shocking both Voldemort and Rodolphus. "And I might be a muggleborn, but at least I'm not a disgusting chauvinist pig like you! Keep your hands to yourself, you creep!" she called, her rage propelling her to fight harder, finally being able to speak out against Rabastan's disturbing behavior. Rabastan looked so dumbfounded and confused by her reaction that he was completely caught off guard by her strong petrifying charm, sending him flying back several feet.

Turning around, Hermione was amazed to see that the Order had arrived while she was busy putting Rabastan in his place. Well, not all of the Order, seeing as Dumbledore was noticeably absent, but there were at least a dozen members, all being led on by a furious quartet of marauders. Rodolphus and Antonin were fighting who Hermione assumed were the Prewett twins, Molly's older brothers. Frank Longbottom was fighting back a furious Alecto Carrow, her brother nowhere to be seen. And a more whole Mad-Eye Moody was helping Regulus take on Voldemort.

Amazed, Hermione watched as Severus turned to fight against the Death Eaters as well, even sending a well-timed shield-charm to protect James Potter, to the messy-haired man's absolute surprise. Turning away, Hermione watched the Prewetts cheering the fall of Rodolphus Lestrange, completely oblivious to a fuming Antonin waiting beside them.

Running towards them, Hermione was barely able to get a spell off to distract Antonin, hitting his forearm with a severing charm. It wasn't deep enough to take off his hand, but it was enough to cause severe bleeding. Antonin grinned at her with blood coating his teeth. "Kotyonok, I should have known you were the cause of this," he crooned, before sending the cruciatus curse at her. The force of it caused her knees to buckle, but it was just the distraction needed for the Prewetts to take Antonin out, the man dying with a crazed smile on his face.

A low shriek rang throughout the ground and Hermione turned just in time to see Voldemort's wand fly out of his hand and onto the ground between him and Regulus. The tall man had dropped to his knees and Moody was only too happy to cross the distance between them in a few short steps, sending the Killing Curse directly at the man without thought or feeling.

Time itself seemed to stand still as Voldemort's body fell backwards against scorched grass, red eyes open and unseeing in death.