Chapter Eight: The Final Battle

A/N: Well, sadly, this is the final chapter of The Final Hours. I didn't want to write it, since I absolutely LOVED this story, but all good things must come to an end sometime, and I look forward to starting a new one, and I promise it will be much, much longer then this. I'm going to aim for, oh say 20 chapters? Anyways, I appreciate all the reviews, and I am so relieved that people like this story. I love it as well, and now, I draw it to a close. Farewell, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. sniff

Harry

Harry let go of her, and they turned towards the battle, ready to fight. Harry saw Voldemort making his way towards him, a look of fury on his face. This is it, Hermione thought, grabbing Harry's hand tightly. This is it.

Voldemort continued to advance towards Harry and Hermione, and Harry held her hand tightly. They both raised their wands, ready for anything, and pointed them at Voldemort.

"Well, Potter. It looks like this is it," came Voldemort's mocking voice. "I've waited too long."

"As have I," Harry replied, glaring at Voldemort. "I've waited for this day to come with as much anticipation as you have, Tom." Voldemort hissed at the use of his real name, and fired a hex at him. "Look out!" Harry yelled at Hermione, pushing her out of the way. Harry blocked the spell, and sent another curse right back at Voldemort, nearly missing him. Voldemort hissed with pain, and regained his composure. He was about to say another spell, but was interrupted by Bellatrix, who clearly had regained consciousness.

"This little mudblood is MINE!" She cackled, and pointed her wand at Hermione. She took off running, Bellatrix close at her heels. Harry wanted to make sure Hermione was all right, but was knocked off his feet by Voldemort suddenly, and he faced him once again.

"Well, Potter. That friend of yours has gotten you into a marvelous position for me," he mocked, and he came so close to Harry that his wand was almost touching Harry's face. This is it, Harry thought, as Voldemort's features broke into a grin. He started to mouth the Avada Kedavra curse, but was blown off his feet by an unseen force. Harry scrambled to his feet, and whirled around.

Draco Malfoy was standing behind Harry, panting. His wand was raised, and he was pointing it directly at Voldemort.

"Malfoy…?" Harry stammered, and his foe just nodded curtly.

"Potter. He almost killed you there. You can thank me later, of course," Malfoy's snapped at Harry.

"But – why?"

"I don't have to tell you my reasons, Potter. I just – " Malfoy was cut off as a green jet of light missed Harry's head by mere inches and pummeled Draco in the face. Harry's stomach churned – he knew that jet of light. He had seen Peter Pettigrew use it to kill Cedric Diggory in his fourth year, Bellatrix Lestrange had used it to kill his godfather, and Serverus Snape had used it to kill Dumbledore in his sixth year. Draco Malfoy's body was lying limply on the ground in front of Harry, who whirled around to face Voldemort once again. However, when he did, he was met with a sight that surprised him greatly – Lucius Malfoy was locked in combat with Voldemort, obviously outraged that he had just killed his son.

Harry turned and ran as fast as he could, scanning the area for Hermione. He nearly ran into Lupin, who nodded at him and asked, "All right there, Harry?"

Harry merely nodded back, and continued to search for Hermione, when he saw flaming red hair on the ground. Ron. Harry's eyes filled with tears as he crouched over the dead body of his best mate. He closed his eyes, and let the tears come. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye, Harry thought to himself. Tears were streaming down his face at this point, and then he too felt bubbling anger towards Bellatrix. She must not live, he thought bitterly, and he began searching for Hermione once again.

The battle had died down a lot now, and Harry was walking through a sea of dead bodies and blood – death eaters and Order members alike. He saw Arthur and Molly battling together, and Remus Lupin was taking on two at once: Snape, and Narcissa. This was the first time that Harry had seen Narcissa on the death eater's side, but wasn't surprised all the same. Lucius and Voldemort were still in combat, and she obviously didn't know that her son had died – or she just didn't care. Harry felt a pang of grief for Draco, but it subsided quickly as he spotted Bellatrix pleading before Hermione, who was red-faced and furious. She had used several unforgivable curses on her, which surprised Harry a lot. He then watched her raise her wand, and watched as Bellatrix cried out in fear.

Hermione

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you," Hermione snapped at the Death Eater, Bellatrix. She was crying and pleading for Hermione to spare her, but Hermione was going to kill her if it was the last thing she did.

"There … isn't one" Bellatrix whispered back, lowering her head. Hermione felt a wave of sadness fall over her, and angry tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Then STOP PLEADING, YOU WORTHLESS BITCH!"

"You can't even give me a chance to…prove myself?"

"No. You lost that chance when you killed Sirius."

"I can change."

"You can't bring back Ron."

"But – "

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Hermione was sobbing now. The woman had a glint of mischief in her eyes, which mad Hermione hate her even more, and the desire to kill her grew. "Goodbye, Bellatrix."

"No – "

"Avada – "

"Please!"

" – Kedavra!"

"NO – " the green light hit Bellatrix in the chest, and she fell backwards instantly, a look of pure horror and sadness on her face. Hermione bawled and dropped to her knees – killing someone didn't feel so good. But then she felt a wave of accomplishment come over her. Bellatrix was dead. She had gotten what was coming for her. Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud – she was so surprised with what she was able to accomplish. She had used two out of three unforgivable curses, which she usually would never have dreamed of doing, and they had all been on Bellatrix Lestrange, her boyfriend's killer. She turned to see Harry walking towards her, and she smiled at him. He grinned back, but his face dropped seconds later. His mouth flew open.

Hermione was come over by a wave of fear, and turned around just in time to see a jet of green light hit her squarely in the stomach. She felt her knees collapse, and she began to fall

.

Harry

"NO!" Harry screamed, and he sprinted to the falling figure of Hermione. He was able to get there before she landed on the ground, and caught her. "No…" he whimpered softly, as she looked up at him, and smiled.

"Harry…I killed her," she said weakly. Harry smiled sadly, tears streaming down his face.

"Yes, you did, Hermione…"

"Harry…" she said weakly, and she closed her eyes, smiling slightly. Harry shook her.

"Hermione? HERMIONE! NO! NOT YOU TOO!" He placed her on the ground, and looked towards the source of the green light. Voldemort was standing there, the dead body of Lucius Malfoy lying in front of him. Voldemort was laughing wildly, still holding his wand up in the air.

"You BASTARD!" Harry bellowed, and broke out in a run towards Voldemort. His expression turned into a sneer, and Voldemort bellowed a jinx at him, which hit Harry in the chest, but bounced off. Voldemort looked at him in surprise, and took a step back. Harry raised his wand, and screamed "CRUCIO!"

Voldemort fell to the ground, and started hissing and wailing in pain, obviously not used to it. Harry wanted to hurt him so badly – he had taken one of his best friends away from him AND his godfather. Harry released the curse, and Voldemort lay there, panting. The battle had stopped, and all eyes were on Harry and the Final Battle. Voldemort screamed "CRUCIO!" and the spell once again merely bounced off Harry, and recoiled and hit Voldemort, who screamed and twitched once again. Harry raised his wand.

"This is the end, Tom."

Voldemort stopped screaming, and before Harry could react, he had raised his wand and yelled "Avada Kedavra!" The spell didn't bounce off this time, and it hit Harry right in the chest, making him stagger backwards. Voldemort stood up, with his menacing smile plastered on his face. Harry felt someone grab him from behind, and realized it was Lupin. He supported Harry to a standing position, and Harry looked Voldemort in the face.

A flash of green light emitted from the end of his wand, and hit Voldemort in the face. Harry was surprised at the flash, and his wand flew out of his hand out of fear. He only had to think the spell – he didn't even open his mouth! Voldemort collapsed to his knees, a look of fury on his face, and his eyes closed as he fell face first onto the ground. Harry could hear gasps and shouts from behind him, and felt the world around him start to spin.

"Harry!" Came Molly's cry from the crowd, but her voice sounded faint and weak, and Harry could barely hear her.

The wizarding world is safe, he thought to himself, smiling. He saw the worried faces of Lupin, Molly and Arthur standing above him as his vision blurred. Ron, here I come! Harry closed his eyes, and let the darkness take it's toll. He never opened them again.

Hermione

Hermione had watched the final battle from the spot she lay on the ground. The spell hadn't worked on her completely, which surprised her – it only had weakened her. She felt the tears streaming down her face as the memories flashed before her eyes.

It was the beginning of her seventh year, and her and Ron shared their first kiss.

It was nearing the end of their third year, and She had met Sirius for the first time.

T was the tri-wizard tournament, and she watched in horror as Harry flew around the Hungarian Horntail, and going on to win the entire thing.

On the Hogwarts Express, she had met Harry for the first time. Little did she know, that Harry would some day show more courage then anyone on the world, and protect her from Voldemort's wrath. Little did she know, that the Red-Haired boy and the messy-looking famous Harry Potter would be the two most important people in the world. Little did she know, that both of these boys would give their lives to save her.

"They died for me," She said, smiling. "They both died for me."

Now the wizarding world was at peace. She too closed her eyes, and fell into the deep slumber that she would never wake from. She would be with them soon, and that's all that mattered.

She had spent The Final Hours with the two people she loved more then anything in the world.

A/N: sniff That's the end. I loved writing this story, and It's sad to finally be finished it. I hope you enjoy this final chapter, as I enjoyed writing this story so much, that it was hard to end it right. I like how it ended here. Don't think of it as dying, think of it as them all being able to be together once again, which I think everyone would want. Until next time, ta!

Kpsebo