Chapter 35 Joy and Tears (Hermione)

            My name is Hermione.

            A great howl filled the air, making me stumble back. It was filled with sorrow and anguish that reverberated through my ribcage. I ended up howling myself, howling my grief for Harry's death.

            A bright flash went up across the room. It made me jump. It was the silver light of a curse. There was an answering jinx. As far as I knew, there were three wizards in the room including me and two were on the same side. I had to go see what was up.

            "I'm going over there, Rachel," I said.

            Go ahead, Rachel grunted, shoving away a Hork-Bajir.

            I sprinted off. I was slowly becoming levelheaded again. Harry was dead. This was a fact, an unchangeable fact. There was nothing I could do.

            I shuddered to a halt when I saw the owners of the curses.

            Voldemort was dueling. His face was livid with anger. I had never seen him so angry, not even when he'd been dueling Harry.

            I gasped when I saw whom he was dueling. It was none other than Albus Dumbledore! But… but… hadn't he been a wizard-Controller when I had last seen him?

            "Why have you chosen to ally yourself with such creatures as the Yeerks, Tom?" Dumbledore asked calmly, even cheerfully, as he shot another curse at Voldemort.

            Voldemort's pale face flushed. "I am no longer known by that name!" he roared, "I am Lord Voldemort!"

            Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, we've established the fact," he said wryly.

            "I am invincible, Dumbledore, even to you," Voldemort hissed.

            "No one is invincible, Tom, you should know that."

            Voldemort bellowed another curse.

            I could see what Dumbledore was doing. He was making Voldemort angry, so angry that he couldn't think.

            And it seemed to be working.

            "You should learn how to control that temper of yours," Dumbledore remarked.

            Voldemort answered by shooting off another curse that missed Dumbledore by three feet. This curse missed me by about three inches.

            I winced as the spell went by, giving me a taste of its heat. I ducked my head and watch it strike an unlucky Controller on the shoulder, who fell to the ground. The Controller's shoulder started to rot and decay while she screamed in agony all the while.

The sight made my stomach churn. I instinctively clutched my own shoulder where the Hork-Bajir's blade had struck me. My robes here were torn and bloody, but the actual wound had healed because of Fawkes's tears. There was nothing left now but a thin, pink scar.

            Meanwhile, the duel raged on behind me.

            Dumbledore was visibly winning. Voldemort was furious. They kept circling. The space between them was getting wider, but their aim was still true and precise. I found myself having to back up lest I wanted to be trod on by Voldemort.

            I wanted dearly to jump into the duel myself, but I was magically bound so that I could not. Unless Voldemort got another to help him in this ferocious battle, I would be stuck on the sidelines.

            I danced nervously from foot to foot. How long would it be until Voldemort finally gave up? Perhaps never.

            Slowly, I grew unaware of the battle between Animorphs and Controllers. I had never seen—or read about—such a battle as the one I saw before me. Two of the world's most famous wizards were dueling, using ancient spells forgotten by all but them.

            Never before had I wanted Harry so much. He'd have been at my side, reassuring me that it was all going to come out good in the end. He'd have told me that Dumbledore would win and that we'd never have to see Voldemort's ugly visage again.

            A particularly loud bellow from Voldemort jerked me out of my subconscious. He glared malevolently at Dumbledore and said, "This isn't over, Dumbledore. We will meet again."

            And with that he disappeared.

            I stood in total shock, mouth agape and eyes popping. The ending to the duel had not been what I had expected it to be. I had been anticipating a prolonged, dramatic conclusion. My imagining had made the ending of the duel seem so… anticlimactic.

            Dumbledore smiled grimly and walked over to me. As he approached, I noticed a shiny scar across his neck. I blinked in confusion.

            He patted my shoulder. "It's over, now, Hermione."

            "Visser Five?" I asked in befuddlement.

            He smiled, a true smile that reached his eyes. "No. I am free now."

            A roar of thought-speak across the room made us both look over. Visser Three, shrouded more than ever in his evil aura, stood by the Yeerk Pool. He was quaking with rage and probably betrayal.

            "Visser," Dumbledore said in a booming voice, "Your time here has reached its end."

            You haven't heard the last of me, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore! I will be back, be assured of that! I will vanquish you wizards, and discover the secret to all your technology!

            He turned and clattered noisily out of the room. A tide of Controllers followed him.

            I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled at his retreating back, "TECHNOLOGY DOESN'T WORK AT HOGWARTS!"

            Dumbledore clapped me on the shoulder and chuckled. I smiled up at him, but there were tears pouring down my face. Harry hadn't died in vain. It was really too bad he hadn't lived long enough to see this moment.

            Visser Three ran out the door and locked it behind him, trapping all the Controllers in the room with us.

            "It's over," said a voice from behind me.

            I turned around. Jake was standing there, smiling a small smile. He was human again. Rachel clambered up onto the pier behind him and stood by his side. With a shriek, Tobias floated down and perched on her shoulder. Cassie came up and slid her hand into Jake's. Grinning ear-to-ear, Marco joined them.

            Dumbledore beamed at us. "Nice job, children. Now, I must go organize the freeing of involuntary hosts. I will speak with you later. Farewell," he said, humming to himself and walking down into the crowd.

            "So," I said, still sobbing quietly, "It's over."

            "Yeah." Jake said, looking over where the battle had taken place only seconds before.

            We stood in silence.

            "I'm sorry about Harry," he said finally. "He was a brave kid. He was one of us. We—and I think I can speak for all of us when I say this—have never met a finer person. I just wish we could have known him longer. He fought till the end, and that's something to admire in a person. You should be proud of him."

            I choked over a sob. "I am. I just wish… I just wish he weren't dead."

            "I'm dead?"

            With a startled gasp, I looked over to see who had spoken. Harry stood at the end of the platform in all his bloody glory. He looked puzzled and amused at the same time.

            And I screamed bloody murder.

            He looked down at himself. "I'm not that bad-looking, am I?"

            I ran over to him and grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him violently. "Harry—JamesPOTTER!" I said, my voice rising hysterically with every word. "Don't you EVER do that to me AGAIN!"

            And with that, I pulled his head down and kissed him soundly on the lips.

            At first he was rigid with shock. Then he relaxed into it. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me close. My nostrils filled with his scent: a pleasant mix of butterbeer and chocolate. Fiery passion filled me, zipping from my heart to the very tips of my fingers. I pressed him down on me, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling of his glasses pressing into my face.

            "It's about time!"

            This startled us both out of our own little world. We both looked over to the owner of the voice (no, it wasn't any of the Animorphs). I gasped in shock.

            Ron lay on his belly, chin resting in his hands. His legs were splayed out haphazardly behind him. It had appeared as if he had army crawled over to us, since his legs were paralyzed.

            "Ron?" Harry asked uncertainly, arms still around me.

            "The one and only," Ron said, grinning stupidly at us, "Do you know how long I've been waiting for that? I mean, jeez, guys. It took you long enough."

            Realizing that we were still holding each other, Harry and I sprang apart. Blushing furiously, I looked up at him. He looked back and we broke eye contact quickly.

            "Now, will somebody help me please? This happens to be very uncomfortable, no matter how relaxed I look." Ron replied. "It's not like I can levitate myself."

            "You can do magic, can't you?"

            Exasperated, he pulled out his wand and said, "Lumos."

            Nothing happened.

            He swore passionately and tried again. Surely enough, a little blue flame sputtered into life at the tip of his wand. He stared at it as if entranced. Then he grinned broadly up at us. "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that."

            He paused, looked at us, and said, "Sorry if I interrupted. You may continue now."

            Harry grinned the grin I knew and loved, the one he hadn't had on his face since the Animorphs had come. He pulled me to him and kissed me again.

            We broke apart only when Marco whistled and said, "Get a room, you two."

            Then I broke down and dissolved into tears of joy. I threw back my head and howled.

            Harry looked completely startled. "What? What is it?"

            I puffed myself up and wailed, "I'm—so—happy!" Then I buried my head in his shoulder and sobbed.

            I've never been so happy in my life. It seemed as if Harry had returned from the dead. Not only had was he alive, he loved me like I loved him. Ron was Yeerk-free. Dumbledore was too. The battle was won and it was us who were victorious.

            I was only vaguely aware of the shout of jubilation that went up from caged hosts and Yeerks in the Yeerk Peace Movement.

            I would never forget this day.

A/N: So what did you think of that? Sorry the end of the battle was a little anticlimactic. I've been waiting to write this chapter for the longest time. The scene was always looming in the back of my mind.

Why did I have them acquire the Basilisk, you ask? To show that you can acquire dead, magical creatures. And to show that some magical creatures have such strong will power that muggles cannot overcome them.

Yes, there will be another chapter. This one will be the last. Stick around for, "Chapter 36: Goodbyes and Farewells (Marco)"!