April 20th 1998
Hermione screamed – a long, drawn-out cry that seemed to echo through the grounds. Dimly, she could hear Bellatrix laughing manically, but it had yet to register as her legs buckled beneath her. She felt Ron and Draco seize her arms again to keep her upright, but found that she didn't care.
All around her, shouts and screams filled the air as the survivors took up the cause, screaming and yelling abuse at Voldemort and his Death Eaters.
"SILENCE!" Voldemort shouted – there was a bang and silence was forced upon them.
"Harry Potter is dead," he announced triumphantly. "Don't you see now? You're hero was nothing, ever, than a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him."
It was Rom who broke the Silencing Charm upon them. "He beat you!"
Once again, the defenders of Hogwarts were screaming and shouting, until a second, louder bang forced silence upon them once more.
"He was killed as he …" Voldemort broke off as there was a scuffle amongst the crowd.
Neville broke free of the invisible bonds holding them and charged at Voldemort, who disarmed him casually, throwing the wand away with a laugh; Neville hit the ground with a thud.
"And who is this?" He asked in a hiss. "Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight when the battle is lost?"
Bellatrix gave a delighted laugh. "It is Neville Longbottom, my Lord; the son of the aurors, if I remember."
Hermione blood boiled, her grief and anguish slowly morphing to anger, bubbling beneath her skin. Her gaze flickered across the crowd, catching sight of Frank, frozen in place by Voldemort's charm like everyone else, horror painted on his face.
"Ah, yes," Voldemort hissed, looking down at Neville, who was struggling to his feet in the no-man's land between the Hogwartians and Death Eaters. "You show spirit and bravery and come of noble blood. You would make a very valuable Death Eater. We need your kind, Neville Longbottom."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over!" Neville shouted. "Marauders forever!"
There was an answering cheer from the crowd, whom the Silencing Charms seemed unable to hold.
Hermione clamped down on her empathy yet again, focussing her attention on her own anger, which was trying desperately to find an outlet.
There was help coming, if they could just hold on.
"Very well," Voldemort said, and the silkiness of his voice sent a shiver of terror through the watching crowd. "If that is your choice, Longbottom, then we revert to the original plan. On your head, be it."
Voldemort waved his wand and, seconds later, the Sorting Hat flew out on one of the castle's shattered windows, through the half-light, and into Voldemort's hand, dangling empty and ragged by its tip.
Hermione stiffened, hearing Hogwarts calling out in her head. Obeying without question, she lowered the remaining wards around the castle.
"There will be no more Sorting at Hogwarts School," Voldemort announced. "There will be no more houses. The emblem, shield and colours of my noble ancestor, Salazar Slytherin, will suffice for everyone." He pointed his wand at Neville, who grew rigid and still, then forced the Sorting Hat on to his head, so that it slipped over his eyes.
Hermione shifted in place, feeling those around her doing the same. The Death Eaters raised their wands, holding the fighters of Hogwarts at bay.
"Neville is now going to demonstrate what will happen to anyone foolish enough to continue to oppose me," Voldemort said and, with a casual flick of his wand, the Sorting Hat burst into flames.
Screams split the air and Neville was aflame, rooted to the spot. Hermione drew her wand, as did many others, feeling that they must act.
And then everything seemed to happen at once.
They heard uproar from the distant boundary of the school as what sounded like hundreds of people came swarming over the walls and pelted towards the castle; back-up had finally arrived, a little too late for Harry, but there was time yet for the battle to be won.
At the same time, Grawp lumbered around the side of the castle and yelled, "HAGGER!"
His cry was answered by roars from Voldemort's giants; they ran at Grawp like a pair of bull elephants, making the earth quake.
Then came hooves and the twangs of bows, and arrows were suddenly falling among Death Eaters, who broke ranks in surprise, as the centaurs unexpectedly joined the fight.
In one swift, fluid motion, Neville broke free of the Body-Bind Curse upon him; the flaming Hat fell off him and he drew from its depths something silver, with a glittering ruby handle.
None heard the swish of the blade over the noise of everything else, and yet it seemed to draw every eye. With a single stroke, Neville sliced off the great snake's head, which spun high into the air, gleaming in the light of the flooding from the Entrance Hall, and the snake's body thudded to the ground at his feet.
Voldemort roared with anger and Neville dove to one side to avoid his curse, grabbing his wand and rolling back to his feet.
"HARRY!" Jen screamed. "WHERE'S HARRY?!"
She was right – Harry's body had vanished from its spot at Voldemort's feet, but there was no time to think about where it might have gone.
Chaos reigned extreme.
The charging centaurs were scattering the Death Eaters, everyone was fleeing the giant's feet, and nearer and nearer thundered the reinforcements that had come from who knew where.
The thestrals soared around the heads of Voldemort's giants, scratching at their eyes while Grawp pummelled them.
The goblins send by Ragnok had recovered themselves and were joining the fight with swords and battle-axes.
And now the wizards, defenders of Hogwarts and Death Eaters alike, where being forced back into the castle.
Hermione found herself buffeted into the Entrance Hall, searching for Voldemort, who was across the room, still screaming instructions. The Horcruxes were gone; with Harry's death, someone needed to take up the sword, so to speak, but it would be a toss-up whether she got there before Jen did.
Shield charms seemed to be erupting mysteriously everywhere and Voldemort's would-be victims, Seamus and Hannah, darted past Draco and Ginny into the Great Hall.
Now more people were storming up the front steps and Hermione saw Alice Longbottom and Amelia Bones overtaking a portly man she didn't know, who was still wearing emerald pyjamas and seemed to be at the head of what looked like the families and friends of every Hogwarts student who had remained to fight, along with the shopkeepers and homeowners of Hogsmeade. Several of them were wearing torn robes, where they seemed to have resigned from the Ministry by ripping the insignia from their uniforms.
The centaurs burst into the Hall with a great clatter of hooves, as the house-elves of Hogwarts swarmed into the Entrance Hall, screaming and waving carving knives and cleavers.
"Ignore your standing orders!" Hermione called to them over the noise. "You are allowed and encouraged to use magic against the Death Eaters!"
They were hacking and stabbing at the ankles and shins of Death Eaters, their tiny faces alight with malice, and everywhere Hermione looked, Death Eaters were folding under the sheer weight of numbers, overcome by spells, dragging arrows from wounds, stabbed in the leg by elves, or else simply trying to escape, but swallowed by the oncoming horde.
But it was not over yet; far from it.
Hermione sped between duellers, past struggling prisoners, and into the Great Hall, just in time to see Jen take a curse to the back and vanish as she fell. Hermione promptly threw a stunner at the Death Eater responsible and clapped a Portkey to his robes.
Voldemort was at the centre of the battle and he was striking and smiting at all within reach. Hermione could not get a clear shot, but fought her way nearer, and the Great Hall became more and more crowded, as everyone who could walk forced their way inside.
She saw Yaxley slammed to the floor by George and Lee Jordan, saw Travers fall with a scream at Sinistra's hands, saw Macnair thrown across the room, hit the stone wall opposite, and slide unconscious to the ground.
She saw Ron and Neville bringing down Rookwood, Draco Stunning his father, and Percy and Bill flooring Albert Runcorn.
Voldemort was now duelling three people at once, and there was cold hatred in his face as they wove and ducked around him, unable to finish him.
Bellatrix was still fighting too, fifty yards away. Like her master, she duelled three at once: Alice, Ginny and Cedric, all battling their hardest, but Bellatrix was equal to all three, and Hermione's attention was diverted when a Killing Curse shot so close to Alice that she missed death by an inch.
Memories of Alice's mental trauma flashed through her mind and Hermione changed directions. "Not in my castle, you bitch!"
Bellatrix spun around, laughing at the sight of the new challenger.
"Out of the way!" Hermione called, and with a swish of her wand, began to duel.
The grief she felt for Harry, combined with the anger she'd felt about what had appeared to be Sirius's murder, began to manifest itself as her wand slashed and twirled, and Bellatrix's smile faltered and became a snarl.
Jets of light flew from both wands; the floor around the two witches' feet became hot and cracked; both were fighting to kill.
As Hermione pushed more and more power into her spells, drawing energy from the very walls of her castle, her glamour faded, her face fading into the recognisable Black features.
"No!" Hermione shouted as a few people ran forwards to help. "She's mine!"
Other duels slowly came to a stop, and hundreds of people now lined the walls, watching the two fights; Voldemort and his three opponents, and Bellatrix and Hermione.
"What will happen to the rest of your family when I've killed you?" Bellatrix taunted, capering around Hermione's hexes. She seemed to have noticed the change in Hermione's appearance, but it hadn't lessened her wish to cause her serious harm – if anything, it made her more determined to kill her. "What will happen when you've gone the same way as Potter and my dear cousin?"
The final taunt about Harry – and Sirius, to a lesser extent – hit Hermione hard. "You will never touch my family again! Impedimenta!"
Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh Sirius had given just before he was supposedly killed and the watchers knew what was going to happen before it did.
Hermione's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's outstretched arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart, the increased power stopping it instantly.
Bellatrix's gloating smile froze; for the tiniest amount of time, she knew what had happened, and then she fell.
The watching crowd roared and Voldemort screamed.
Hermione spun around to see his three opponents blasted backwards, flailing and writhing through the air, as Voldemort's fury at the fall of his last, best lieutenant exploded with the force of a bomb.
Voldemort raised his wand and pointed it directly at Hermione, who had no way to dodge what was coming.
"PROTEGO!"
A Shield Charm expanded in the middle of the Great Hall and Hermione was left staring around desperately from the source when Harry materialised, to shouts and screams, very much alive, Invisibility Cloak in hand. He threw her the Cloak, motioning for her to get out of the way, and he and Voldemort began to duel.
Hermione felt Ron grab her and pull her back into the crowd.
Unlike the fight between Bellatrix and Hermione, which had been backed by screams and yells, the crowd had fallen silent to watch this duel, Hogwartians and Death Eaters alike watching the fight in stunned silence. Every now and then, they would draw breath as one or muttering would punctuate the quiet.
The two wizards were missing each other by inches, and Hermione had no idea how Voldemort was anticipating Harry's next move, because she had been his best friend for six years, and she couldn't guess. Harry was displaying an amazing combination of wordless and wandless magic that she didn't know he'd learned.
There was a sudden intake of breath as Harry hit Voldemort's wand-arm with a Slicing Hex. Before Harry could follow up the attack, however, there were a number of loud cracks and Voldemort and his remaining, living Death Eaters disappeared, taking advantage of the lowered wards.
Before anyone could do anything, Draco sprinted forwards to join Harry in the centre of the Great Hall. With a wave of their hands, two bags flew in from the Entrance Hall, and they twisted sharply on the spot, disapparating with another double crack.
Hermione ran towards them, but was too late to stop them. "HARRY POTTER, WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ARE GOING TO WISH YOU WERE DEALING WITH DEATH EATERS!"