Chapter 25
Hermione was holding Draco in her arms. The news of his mother's death had hurt even more than any of his father's beatings. It seemed as though his whole world had shattered.
"How heartless do you have to be to use this to your advantage?" Hermione asked Voldemort. "You could never be my father."
His eyes were flaring and the room shook in his anger. "Don't start up with me again, girl," he commanded. "You keep challenging me. Well I've had enough."
"Oh come off it," she replied. She detached herself from Draco and stood up to be eye level with the villain she saw in front of her. "You're ALL talk."
He slapped her across the cheek and she practically flew across the room. As she hit the wall, she saw something - no, someone - in the doorway. "It's about bloody time," she sighed.
"How dare you lay a hand on your own daughter," Sirius Black said in outrage. "Where I come from, we treat ladies with respect. I guess someone didn't have a very good upbringing."
Voldemort looked astonished. "You were dead!" he hissed.
"He wasn't dead," Hermione heard Remus Lupin say as he entered the room from a door on the opposite side of the room. "He was just trapped. Your Death Eater Scum could never actually succeed in killing as great a wizard as Sirius Black. It's an insult that you ever thought his death to be true."
Harry and Ron both let out a small laugh and looked to see Voldemort's anger flare. "Can you two please just grab the Weasley's and leave?" Hermione asked in annoyance. "Harry, Draco, and I have business to finish here."
Harry sighed. "Stop trying to rush this!" he yelled at her. "I'll face him when I'm ready and I'm NOT yet!"
"Harry, this has to end," Hermione told him. "It's ending today. I won't worry about him coming after me for months or even years to come. It's got to be over. Please."
"Herms, you know I love you," he said with a kind voice. Her sadness was worrying him. He had never seen her so weak before this year began. "I just think that if we fight now..."
"We'll win," Hermione stated, gaining more confidence than before. "Remus, get my mother the hell out of here!" she commanded. "Everyone else is staying and we're ending this."
"My little naïve daughter," Voldemort chuckled. "Your mother is mine...as are you. The sooner you learn that, the better. Even Potter has admitted he could never win. Give up."
"You still don't get it, do you," she stated. It wasn't even a question. "I'm NOT a quitter. I will fight for what I believe is right and I will never give up. My heart tells me that giving in to you is wrong and so I won't do it. Maybe I haven't made myself clear yet. I am not like you. Blood has never meant anything to me and I'd rather die that be related to you, you stupid prick! I wish you would..."
"CRUCIO!" She was on the ground before she could even finish her sentence. As soon as her knees hit the floor, Voldemort had seven wands pointed at him in fury. Harry, Draco, Fred, George, Ron, Sirius, and Remus were all quite protective of the girl who had doubled over in pain. Directly after their wands were raised, another ten or so death eaters entered the room and lifted their wands as well.
"My son," Lucius hissed. "Point your wand in another direction. You are disgracing me. How can you do this to your poor father? Don't leave me without a family all together boy."
"Did my dear cousin Narcissa finally leave you?" Sirius questioned with what seemed like a knowing smile on his face. "It's about damn time."
Hermione seemed confused. "Why do you say that, Sirius? That's not funny. You should know, right? I mean, she was killed, wasn't she? They said..."
"Who told you she was killed?"
"I thought the Order killed her after she..."
"Whoever told you that was way off, darling. Narcissa showed up yesterday asking for protection, protection that we were more than happy to offer her. She'll be sent to Azkaban for a few years of course. I mean, her crimes cannot go unpunished but the sentence has been shortened a great deal."
Draco, who had been listening with nervous hope, nearly cried out. "You tried to trick me!" he screamed, pointing his wand now directly at Lucius.
"What are you doing, boy?" his father asked. "Put down your wand."
"You wanted me to point it in another direction, didn't you father? Well I think it's about time you got a taste of your own medicine. Maybe a cruciatus or even..."
"Draco, don't be foolish. Everyone here has their wand out. You'll be dead before you can even say Avada Kedavra." Lucius tossed his long blond hair behind his shoulder in an aristocratic manner. The grey in his eyes stormed in anger at his own son's arrogance. He had hoped to have raised him better.
"This is going to be one hell of a war," Draco responded, his own eyes reflecting the anger of his father's. "STUPEFY!"
"EXPELIARMUS!" The spells collided with one another and a huge clash of green and silver exploded in the air and soon everyone was attacking.
Hermione's first thought was her mother. She reached Helen and grabbed her hand. "Mum, get out of here now!" she demanded. "Go out through the back door. Run quickly and don't look back. Hide in the woods. I'll come for you when this is over. You can't protect yourself here. GO!"
Their glistening eyes met and Hermione grew worried. She had never seen her mother cry. This was something that made Hermione think twice about leaving Helen on her own. Unfortunately, she knew they needed everyone there to fight and could sacrifice no one to the final battle.
Finally Helen did as her daughter said but not before giving her a last hug and a kiss. "I'm so proud of you," she whispered, running out as quick as she could.
Hermione then turned her attention to the rest of the dungeons. It was a war. More Order members had appeared as well as Death Eaters. She saw Harry taking on two Death Eaters at once as well Sirius and Remus. Draco was battling with his father while Fred and George were dueling Crabbe and Goyle. The smiles on their faces told Hermione that they were winning.
She checked around the room for Ron but couldn't find him anywhere. Finally she looked to the steps and saw him on the third stair, clutching his stomach tightly. Her father was right behind him cackling loudly.
"RON!" Hermione screamed, running in his direction. She was stopped by a woman with black hair and eyes the color of her soul.
"I gave you all the lessons a girl could ever need and you still just had to go and ruin your life like this," she smiled. "Well at least this will be more fun than fighting with you. Hope it was worth it."
Hermione just put on a smirk of her own. "Oh it's all going to be worth it. Just you wait and see." She lifted her arm and punched Bellatrix right in the face. "Take that you insane bitch." She looked around to see who needed help as Bellatrix had passed out on the stone floor.
Ron had moved on to a different opponent while her father had sat down on his throne. He was watching the whole scene play out with a wicked smile on his face. Things were going to be over now.
She saw Harry move out of the corner of her eye and begin walking through the center of the room. All around her people were crying out in pain and dying. Everyone was fighting and this was war after all.
Nymphadora Tonks was one of the few people she recognized that had fallen already. Her pink hair stood out brightly against the gray of the stone floor.
Then she saw George. Or was it Fred? She couldn't tell but he had been hurt badly and needed some attention.
But her gaze soon shifted over to her top priority.
Draco.
He and his father were in a serious duel. The blood lust in their eyes was enough to surge through the entire dungeon. She ran to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Killing his father may not be something he was ready to do and she wanted to make sure he understood what he was doing.
"I'll do it for you if you need me to," she whispered, watching Lucius panting on the floor. Draco had already gotten him pretty good. It was just one last spell to end it.
"PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Draco screamed. "I want him to rot for the rest of his life in Azkaban. This time there's no getting out."
She kissed him on the cheeked and then gave him instructions. "Neville is fighting Zabini and he needs some help if you could. Then go around and help anyone else. We're going to need help with healing people too."
"What about you?"
"I have my work cut out for me."
She ran to find Ron and watched as he fell to the floor. "NO!" Two seconds too late. She cursed herself for not going sooner. She didn't know if he was dead or just hurt but she had no time to think about it because soon she was on the floor after being hit by the Cruciatus once more.
And then there he was. Scabb...NO!
He wasn't Scabbers. Never was.
It was that rotten Peter Pettigrew, the traitor. He was grinning like mad over Ron as he approached.
"Pettigrew, I swear if you touch one more hair on his head I swear..." she warned.
"You'll what? You're going to send your cat after me?" he replied snidely. His dirty blond hair fell into his eyes.
"I'll use my first killing curse. Believe me, I can do it."
"I think that when I kill you, I'll use that hot little body of yours to satisfy my own sexual urges. What do you think?" His big buck teeth fell over his bottom lip as he tried to snarl - unsuccessfully. His snarl wound up sounding like a cough or a sneeze.
"Don't be a moron, Pettigrew. You could never actually take on a strong witch like me. You weren't even brave enough to fess up to the betrayal of Lily and James Potter. I ought to kill you right now."
"You act so brave but I know what hides beneath those fatal eyes. You're trying to hide the worry, the weakness, the exhaustion. But I see it. You can't hide it from ME."
She raised her wand and pointed it right at his throat. "You're not even worth a reply. AVADA KED..."
"NO!" It was Sirius Black and he had grabbed her arm just in time. "No, Hermione. This one is mine. I've waited far too long to do this and it's going to be me."
"Now Sirius," Peter whimpered. "You wouldn't kill one of your best friends, now, would you?"
"I think you need a lesson in friendship." Hermione looked Sirius in the eye and could tell this was what he had been waiting for. It was after all only a few years ago that he had tried to complete this task and failed. Now he had every chance and she was not about to stand in his way.
She ran on to help Ron out and check on his condition but was stopped by Bellatrix once more. "Thought you'd gotten away, did you?"
"Get your filthy paws off of me. I'm warning you," Hermione said with malice. "I have no patience for this. I have to go help Ron. Let me through and I promise not to kill you."
"You can't put a war on pause you stupid wench. It's time we duel."
-
Ron had been hit pretty hard. He didn't know what spell Pettigrew had used but he knew it wasn't too bad. No lasting effects anyway.
He got up and saw Hermione dueling a woman with long black hair and a pale skin complexion. He soon recognized this as the woman that had been responsible for Sirius' disappearance. "Get her good, Herm," he called out. Just then he saw Bellatrix fall to the floor in a heap. Her black hair covered her face and she made no more movement. "Is she dead?" he asked. Had Hermione really just killed someone? It seemed so unreal.
Hermione nodded her head in response. Power was surging through her as she relished the feeling. She had the power to end lives and it was all in her little wand. Well, no. Actually, it was inside of HER. The wand was just a tool that the magic had passed through.
"I did kill her, Ron," she said with a low voice. "And I'm not sorry about it either."
She then looked around the room and saw Harry moving to where her father sat. "It's time," she told Ron. "It's all about to end and we our part in it all is over. Now all we can do is sit back and watch."
A/N...Hey guys. Hope you enjoyed this one too. I'm not good at writing battle scenes so I hope this wasn't too bad or overdramatic. Tell me what you thought.
