~*~Beginning of the End~*~

Although Severus only saw her in passing at first, he knew she was still fighting. Hermione Granger may have been many things in her life, but a quitter wasn't one of them. The persona of Queen was like a mantle across her shoulders and she bore it with grace, if with reluctance in certain aspects, and he watched her from the sidelines for weeks before being able to position himself closer to her. Their encounter in the hallway was just a chance meeting, but he strove to make them happen more often and she seemed grateful for the company.

It wasn't smooth and easy as it had been with Lily. Some days, when they seemed on the brink of cornering Alastor Moody, she was so distracted with the mission at hand that he had to make an effort just to hold her attention . Severus could practically taste the tension in the air around her and he made it his mission to keep her steady.

Today, they were in a holding pattern, mostly because the whole mission revolved around the new Queen. As long as she was incapable of murder, they would remain in stasis around Moody.

"How long do you have?" she asked him, leaning back into his embrace.

"An hour at most." he wouldn't lie, she deserved the truth. They were on one of the balconies near the ballroom, and though it was a public place, there was no one about. The Light had been stirring the pot again and everyone was at battle stations to handle the influx of rebellion.

"Draco is going to do it tomorrow," she breathed deeply. "Then we move on Moody's location."

"I can get a message to him. Let him know of the circumstances."

"Will he listen?"

"Will he have a choice?"

"There is always a choice, Severus. Always."

Silence followed their words and they didn't strive to fill it for a while.

"I will try," Severus whispered, leaning close to her and tightening his hold. "I kept Draco from murder...I will do the same for you."

"Not at the cost of your soul." Hermione swiveled in his arms so that she could look him in the eye. "You will not damn yourself for me."

"But you can? I must watch you throw your life away for a country that will not thank you or save you for it and you want me to save myself. What right have you to ask this of me?"

"I am your queen." Hermione's face was stone, but her eyes were soft and brown.

"Not here," he held her face in his hands and she trembled. "Not to me. You are more than any crown or throne, more than any jewel, to me."

"I can't love you, Severus." she looked miserable as she said it, but there was conviction in her eyes.

"Then don't." his words garnered surprise from her. "Not yet. Hate me if it makes this easier."

"I don't hate you."

"Nor do you love me." It was an old argument, but he still stated the fact.

"I..." She met his eyes, then leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. "I won't say anything while a horcrux resides so near to my heart. Every truth that passed Persephone's lips might as well have been a lie. I didn't say it even if she did. Whatever I say now could be the horcrux...could be a lie."

"Does that mean you could love me?"

"I won't say."

"Better than hate."

"Better than a lie."

"Yes," Severus sighed, looking away from her to the landscape around the King's manor. "Better than that."

The stolen moments they had when they could sneak away from their collective watchers always held a tone of hesitation, or pause, because they both knew it would end the second they let their guard down. They had to watch their backs in case someone decided to follow them and they could not interact outside the manor because she was always being watched. Severus escaped Lestrange's hold only because the other man was preoccupied with finding Alastor Moody. The source of his momentary peace was also the reason behind his worry.

"Severus, there is something I must ask of you." Hermione was quiet when she spoke and he glanced down to see that her hands were clinging to his arms tightly.

"What do you need?"

"There is a child," she muttered, gazing worriedly towards the ballroom.

"Child?" A jolt of pain lanced through his chest at the thought that she might be...that the King would have...

"His name is Cadeyrn. He survived the massacre by hiding in my room. I want him to be safe...I want him to have a chance of surviving this war. If I take you to him, can you get him to safety?"

The pain faded as quickly as it came and he tried to recall if he knew the boy. No face came to mind. Hermione was staring at him without blinking, searching him for something he didn't know, but she seemed desperate to hear his answer.

"Why now?"

"Because the horcrux I carry is dangerous by itself. I can't cast a patronus, my eyes are not my own, my thoughts are not my own..." she stepped away from him to pull angrily at her own hair. "If I cannot control one, how am I to handle three? What if this plan is based on an assumption and I fail to complete it? What if I'm not strong enough to do this?"

Severus pulled her into his arms again and she relaxed against him in an instant.

"Now is not the time for doubt," he pressed a hand against her hair, smoothing the curls down. "you have always been strongest when you were convinced you were good enough to do something. What Dark Lord can stand against the brightest witch of her age?"

"But he is king, now."

"And you, Hermione, are queen."

She looked up at him, still firmly against him, and gave him the faintest hint of a true smile. "You are a fool."

"And why is that?" he asked, smirking down at her.

"Because you love me."

"Then I am a happy fool."

"And I am the unluckiest girl to ever walk the earth."

"For having my love?"

"For having your love, when I cannot allow myself to explore and show my feelings for you, and I know my death will cause you so much pain."

"No," Severus notched a finger under her chin, tilting her lips closer to his. "You will not die."

He kissed her as though it were the first and last time, freeing every emotion into her lips to communicate what he could not find the words to say. She didn't kiss him back as deeply, but she wrapped her arms around him and yanked him closer, off-setting his balance. They stumbled towards the stone railing that encircled the balcony and she spun them so that he was pressed against the hard wall. Hermione returned the kiss as she hadn't before, with force and desire, breathing against his skin as she pulled back for air. Her eyes were red when she flicked them upwards to look at him through her lashes.

"And who will save me? You?"

"Hermione..." he frowned at her, fighting to get hold of her arms to stop her from grabbing him tighter.

"Hush, your queen is speaking," Her lips met his violently and she pushed him harder against the wall, so much so that he could barely feel the floor beneath his feet. "So, will you save me, then? Save me like you saved Dumbledore?"

Her hand slid up his chest to his throat and he felt her fingers curl around it with vicious intent. The sudden change in attitude baffled him and he floundered to find proper footing in both his mind and in his body. He did the only thing he could think of and spoke.

"Yes. I will not abandon you to this, even if you throw me off this balcony. I will keep fighting for you even if you lose everything you are. I will keep you safe!" He caught her hands and pulled them away from his throat, gathering them against his chest. "I don't care if your eyes are red or if your skin is pale. You are, and forever will be, Hermione Granger. Always."

The bloody red color of her eyes didn't fade, but she blinked at him without another show of violent behavior. It seemed she was considering his words. Her lips parted and she took the chance to step back from him, allowing him to slide back down to solid footing.

"Always?" she asked, her voice broken and unsure.

"As long as you draw breath." he held her gaze with his own conviction and she did not look away.

"That may not be for very long."

"I will follow you to whatever end."

"I won't ask you to die for me," she pulled hands free and stood up straight, her queen-like persona taking hold.

"You need not ask for what is freely given." he let her have her space, choosing instead to straighten out his robes as they had been thrown out of sorts by her attack.

"Have I called you a fool?"

"Twice now," Severus said, chuckling at the lighthearted air she gave off. It was an act, he knew, but it was better than her despair.

"Would a third make you understand my perspective?" she was glancing through the balcony doors and into the ballroom. He didn't think anyone was there.

"I understand clearly. I simply choose to make my own decisions."

"Enough people have died because of me."

"I would not die because of you."

Hermione turned to him with a frown. "But you said..."

"I would die for you."

She looked on the verge of tears, gazing up at him with such an overwhelming expression of pain that seemed to encompass happiness and sorrow at once, that he stepped towards her. The balcony doors flew open just as he took a step and Neville Longbottom hurried forward. He looked over the scene between them quickly and his brow furrowed, but he did not mention whatever it was that he had deduced from his observations. Instead, he turned to Hermione, his golden collar a contrast to his plain muggle clothing.

"Malfoy is ready. The King is coming for you." he said in a rush, his chest still rising and falling rapidly. He must have run here.

"Did you get it to him, then?" Whatever emotion Hermione had shown just before the door opened had vanished from her face and she was fully engrossed in the new topic before her. It stung a bit to watch her shut it away so easily.

"Yes, though I was nearly caught."

"The Imperius should have held," Hermione snapped, immediately looking apologetically at Longbottom. "I cast it strong enough."

"Not by Gregorovitch. The rest of the guard came in despite your orders and nearly caught me hiding it. I told them a lie, which they must have believed because no one searched me and Malfoy's got it now. We need to hurry though..." he gestured frantically behind him at the expansive ballroom. "the King?"

"Of course, Nev," Hermione said, waving him off. "Go wait for me by my throne."

"But...?" he glanced at Severus strangely, as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle that just wouldn't resolve itself.

"Go."

Longbottom shrugged and vanished back the way he had came, through the doors to the balcony that stayed wide open.

"Will you take Cadeyrn?"

He had nearly forgotten about her request. "Is out of country far enough away?"

"I would rather he wasn't so far from me. His little sister was burned alive atop the pyre and his older sister took the curse meant for the King..." He remembered Hermione running from him, watching her tackle the king to the ground and the smell of fire as the curse burned through the end of her loose hair. The girl who had fallen with the curse was less than a blur in the corner of his eye. "He needs me...just as much as I need him."

"Do you owe this boy anything?"

"I owe him the possibility of a life beyond today, beyond tomorrow. I saw his sister burn, screaming for help, for answers, for mercy. I buried Victoria as a ploy to confound the king," she looked pained by the words she was speaking. "I cannot fail him."

"Then I will see him safely away."

"Thank you. We may not get to speak so candidly after this, so..." Hermione pulled him close and kissed him again, without violence or force, but stronger than he had ever felt her kiss before. It left him breathless as she pulled away with a jerk. "Stay true to your words, Severus Snape, or I shall pursue you past the gates of Hell for your faithlessness."

"I love you," he gasped out as she turned away from him and it felt as if he had let a bit of his soul escape past his teeth. His heart was beating wildly in his chest and he could have lived an eternity simply standing in her arms as he had been a moment ago.

"I know," she whispered with a smile, as though pleased to hear his confession. "Always?"

"Always."

"Good. You should be on a mission, should you not?" Hermione faded back behind the mask of the Queen of Death and her red eyes held no warmth for him.

"Yes, Your Majesty, of course." Severus strode past Hermione without looking back and was gone from the manor before anyone had entered the ballroom.


Sending Neville away earlier today with her small private guard to retrieve the horcruxes had been one of the most harrowing decisions Hermione had ever made. It unsettled her to have him so far away now that she was so close to being home to more of Voldemort's soul than even he himself possessed, but it needed to be done. Besides, because of the placement of a personal guard and the trust placed in her to find Moody, the Death Eaters followed her orders with less hesitation and seemed almost intimidated by her.

She supposed it was a compliment that they noticed her position at all, considering she was a mudblood.

"I take it you are satisfied with your throne?" The King inquired as he came striding into the ballroom, looking between her and Neville with a smirk.

At her feet, leaning up next to her leg with his head resting on her knee, Neville was silently playing with the golden hem of her deep red robes and humming a muggle song she had told him about. It was really a Spice Girls song, which none of the wizards and witches seemed to know, so it became a sort of oasis for them where no one else could go.

"For being a pile of ashes, I like it just fine. Are you done drawing circles on the floor?"

"I wonder if you will keep that wit afterwards." He held out his hand for her and she stood up, walking confidently towards him with Neville in tow, until she was able to take his proffered hand. It was cold and sickening, a complete opposite to the way Severus' hand felt in hers. Hermione thought of that warmth and comfort as she followed Voldemort towards another part of the manor that she never really thought about before. The layout was sprawling, for all its reasonably used spaces and restraint, she had only seen half of it at most. Some places were labelled his in her mind and she avoided them, so she had never been down into what appeared to be some sort of domed laboratory.

It was open and airy on the first floor, but along the wall were ladders and behind corners there seemed to be stairs that led to a second and third floor, where she could hear potions brewing and see spells that were in constant use, testing their limits perhaps. There was a man with a fire burning on his face, but he was reclined back against his bed and was snoring. It took Hermione a few moments to realize he had a contained plume of Fiendfyre burning harmlessly on his face. She almost started towards him, her mind thinking through all the things that had to have been done to accomplish such a feat, but Voldemort guided her away.

"You can peruse my laboratory after you have ended Alastor Moody."

"I'll keep you to that promise." she narrowed her eyes at him to get her point across, reluctantly letting him move her towards the center of what appeared to be a much more detailed ward circle than the one Draco had used in Varribaltë. Draco, who was kneeling in the center shirtless with his torso covered in bloody marks that she could only guess were runes, glanced up as soon as she crossed into the circle.

"Hello, again, my queen." he said softly, his eyes glowing amber. He met eyes with Neville and nodded, before looking to her again.

"Funny to think that a few years ago you called me a filthy mudblood," she watched him rise to standing and gave him a pout. "I liked you kneeling."

"Sorry to disappoint, my queen, but unless you plan to join me," he spread his arms and a smile flickered across his lips. "here we stand."

"I think I'll keep you," she looked over to where Voldemort was writing in a journal. "Dear? Do you feel up to making another collar for me?" Draco chuckled as she turned back to him. "What's your color, silver?"

"Enough," Voldemort laid down his quill and gazed at them. Hermione wasn't sure if it was impatience or indulgence that flashed in his eyes. "You still have a man to kill."

"Aw, at least let me enjoy our wedding!" Hermione's childish outburst brought a deep scowl to the lipless mouth of the King and she faked shock. "Don't tell me you didn't know?"

"This is not a wedding." Voldemort murmured, watching them both closely.

Draco was stifling laughter behind his hand and Hermione smiled wide. "Till death do us part, my king!"

"Enough!"

Hermione let her laughter die as Draco became silent behind her and she walked up to Voldemort with a serious look plastered on her face. He was still scowling as she cupped his face in both her hands and smoothed the lines away with her thumbs.

"Be at peace, Tom. Soon, I will be yours. Everything I am will be yours to possess and every thought shall be of you. This is a joyous time, is it not? I will be your greatest victory." she did not let him look anywhere but at her eyes and he delved into her mind shallowly, reading the truth out of her mind instead of trusting your mouth. "We must celebrate our joining as any would a wedding of two royals. Now that this country is ripping itself apart, we should show them we are not going to let our pasts do the same to us. We shall endure."

"I cannot believe you are embracing what you have fought since you began attending Hogwarts."

"It is unlike you to doubt yourself, Tom. You are an orphan who became a Lord and a Lord who became a King. There is no obstacle you could not conquer if you put this mind to it." she pressed a kiss to his forehead and he closed his eyes. "So, do you think you could pretend to be pleased for me?"

Red eyes gazed up at her in a humor and he smirked so much she saw a hint of his pointed teeth.

"As you wish, my queen."

"Thank you." she said it honestly, because he hardly knew that he was signing his own death sentence by allowing her to do what she was about to do.

"Are you ready?" Draco said from behind her and she spun away from Voldemort playfully.

"Of course," Hermione said confidently to Draco, though she didn't feel it at all. Who was really ready to be the vessel for three fragments of Voldemort's soul?

"You sure about that?" Draco asked, pausing in his wandless spell-casting to meet her eyes. His arm was already in that clawed form she had seen when he merged the locket to her. Her heart was beating a mile a minute in her chest.

"I..." she took a deep breath, shifting her feet for what felt like the thousandth time. "I am."

She was standing in the middle of an extensive ward used only in the most advanced of magicks. Aside from the small amount of time she had been around it when Draco had melded the locket to her and the few times she had seen it in textbooks, Hermione had never been this close to something so old. And that was saying something. The magic embedded in this room hummed through her veins and plunged deep into her bones, rooting her to the spot with its power. When the locket had been pushed into her, she had not been prepared and was not aware of her surroundings, now she took it all in.

Hermione hoped this would be the last time she had to take someone else into her mind and body like this. She hoped the end was soon.

"Deep breaths now," Draco said gently and she obeyed, closing her eyes. "This will hurt."

"I hope so."

His clawed hand pulled her jaw open and she felt the rim of a cup against her lips. He said no words, but she felt the soul as it stirred to awareness, crawling like Firewhisky down her throat. The locket in her chest was practically singing, reaching out for its brethren as she choked and gasped for breath. The pain was unimaginable, but only grew more so in her head. Draco's hand was cradling the back of her head and she realized he was also fusing the diadem.

"Why is she convulsing like that? She did not do so the first time." Hermione only barely heard the King over the rushing in her ears and the blood in her mouth.

If Draco replied, she did not hear. A scream tore its way out of her mouth as if her soul was leaving to make room.

I told you we would overcome you, the locket laughed, loud and piercing through her head.

Ssshe isss ssso powerful...like usss. We will live oncccce more,the cup spoke as a snake and she felt it in her tongue as something foreign...as Parceltongue.

Now we need no King, for we are the power here, the diadem bloomed in her mind, cold and concise. Her mind was expanding in the wake of its arrival, reaching further than it ever had and she was no longer simply Hermione Granger. She was a Queen crowned and she was magnificent.

Her ocean was obliterated by the onslaught of the minds, various minds, every single one a different age, a different reason for being, a different goal. Hermione was but a facet of a multi-sided jewel and she was slipping under the weight of them all. For a moment, a long moment that seemed to drag on forever in agony and hopelessness, she nearly gave in to what the horcruxes had told her was inevitable. She was never going to strong enough, Hermione hadn't been before and now there were three horcruxes to twist her thoughts and her heart. They would corrupt her from the inside and she would be far worse than Voldemort had ever been.

Mudbloods would flock to her for aid and she would welcome them into her arms for they were her people. Half-bloods would come to her door seeking solace and she would grant them that wish. Purebloods would beg for her mercy and she would show them the mercy they showed her. She would not be queen in name as she had been, she would be ruler of them all and they would serve her. No such witch or wizard in existence or in memory would be as powerful as she would be. The price of her kingdom would be surrender. First, her own and then, the world's.

But Hermione would not be defeated. Not by Lord Voldemort. She was the brightest witch of the age. She did not need to be a queen to change this world, but she was now and she would never surrender while there was still hope.

"I am...your master." she grunted, shoving out with her arms even though the struggle came from within.

Something solid shouted as she felt it fly backwards from her attack. The ancient magic in the room around her flooded her system as she grasped for anything to help her maintain the control she was so fragilely holding over the horcruxes and she released the excess through her fingertips.

"You think you know power?" Hermione opened her eyes and she could see Voldemort across from her, fear evident in his eyes. He hadn't planned on her reaction being this strong. "You think you rule here?"

The circle was meant to keep the magic contained, but it was hemorrhaging from her in waves and the circle pulsed in response, throwing out a kaleidoscope of colors like sparks. She heard the horcruxes in her mind as though they were standing beside her.

You will never be a queen! You will never leasssh usss! You are weeeeeak!

We are Lord Voldemort. You will bow to us.

I know your heart, Hermione, I know your soul. Your parents will die because they brought you into this world.

The pain that thought dealt was enough that she screamed because of it, the magic rushing out of her in a swirling storm. Deep in her heart, Hermione knew that her parents lived. She knew they were safe. They had to be. Still, the idea of their death because of her broke her heart even more than that of the children. She would have given anything to see their faces again. If only she could hug her father and listen to her mother's laugh. Severus came into her mind then, from a memory that she needed at this moment.

'Listen to my voice,' Severus had said, her mother's photo album in his hands. 'Remember your ocean, remember your peace, remember your family.'

Hermione let her memories invade her mind and slowly the horcruxes lost their hold. Her anger, born from the man standing in front of her, however, simply grew stronger. She buried her hatred and her plans, reigning her new passengers under her control and took a few deep breaths.

Exhaustion overcame her suddenly and she struggled to remain standing.

"My king, I...I believe I should retire to my room."

Voldemort appeared in front of her as if summoned and she wavered before collapsing into his arms. He scooped her up and the world spun around her as she tried to keep hold of her consciousness. It was a losing battle.


A/N: Short note: more on the way soon!