Woot! First off, I'd like to thank the following fabulous guys and gals who left such fabulous reviews on Chapter 21: FairyKisses, The other Marauder, manitcse2005, Rachel, Sing-my-heart-out, hplovesme, Azu Luna, muchishspazzish, rgluvr13, Ronsreallove, unknownspecies, NicciBubbles, aishteru, Huggles4All, laura truewood, xPussyWillowKittenx, Blackness Angel, kat6528, weasleyandmoneylover, rainydyz07, Ron Lover 2005, skysongscry, The Lady Luthien, Lumos2000, the-insufferable-know-it-all, Angel-4rom-heaven, debbie, SafetyXPins, Lucy, dancerrdw, Darkmoonfang, AmyChris, doublelily, suckr4romance, Endless Potential, ThePhantomIt14, Eowyn Organa, Nina-del-rio, EponineWeasley, AshEllie, and last, but certainly not least, Phillyactress.
I know that over the past few weeks the writing quality of each chapter has been declining, and I apologize profusely for that. Since school has started, with all the homework, stress, and activities, writing this fic has almost become somewhat of a chore. Fortunately, this chapter was an exception- I had such fun writing it and the words just flowed out of me! I hope this makes up for the pathetic chapters I've been cranking out. Again, I truly am sorry, and I thank all you loyal reviewers who have stuck by me and kept faith in medoubly, because there's a half-decent amount of individuals who didn't. And I don't blame them. :-(
Well, there's only one more chapter to go after this. It's obviously depressing for me, since this story has been such a huge part of my life since- MAY? Merlin, that's a long time! Anyway, I am rather looking forward to starting something new because, as you know, after a while, everything eventually starts to become dry and boring. Now, I know this sounds terrible to say, because I said that I would write what the majority of ya'll would like, which I do believe is the collection of one-shots, but I feel "out-romanced," from readingSOOmany "Ron and Hermione getting together" fics recently and, of course, writing this fic, if you know what I mean...I really don't know if I would enjoy doing fluffy one-shot after fluffy one-shot at this time- so as of now, I'm semi-leaning towards the teachers' journals or something else.Ihope you all understand what I'm saying...the idea's just kind of getting old at the moment.Perhaps in a month or two I'll feel more inspired to puruse that idea.I really don't know. So, either way, will you guys support me and enjoy my next story?
I now present to you the second-to-last chapter in this story. Read, review, and above all else, ENJOY! (By the way, if you received a second Author's Alert in your mailbox, it's because a few reviewers pointed out some major mistakes in this chapter and I found some of my own. And, being the perfectionist that I am, I had to fix them and replace the old chapter with my new and improved one!)
Note: It may start out a smidgen slow, but TRUST ME- it gets better. This chapter is entitled "Of the Final Battle," after all :-)
"Split up. Quickly!" Mad-Eye Moody ordered as we continued our ascent to the upper levels of the mansion. Ron and I shared a questioning look.
"Potter, you will be coming with me, Severus, Albus, Tonks, and Remus. Granger, Weasley, and Malfoy, you're going with everyone else."
I knew exactly what was going on.
"No," I said quietly, yet firmly. "I refuse to."
Harry looked at me pleadingly.
"Hermione, I will never be able to live with myself if anything happens to you or Ron."
"We have just as good of a chance getting killed if we battle with the Death Eaters," I said stubbornly.
"You're not facing Voldemort without us, mate," Ron added with a scowl.
"Yes, I bloody am," Harry hissed. "And don't try to change my mind."
"They're going with you," I pointed to Lupin, Tonks, Dumbledore, and Mad-Eye Moody.
"Because they volunteered to!"
"We're volunteering too, Harry," I said gently.
"Potter," Moody said gruffly. "Listen to your friends."
Harry did not lose the determined look on his face.
"You two are NOT coming with me." The Boy-Who-Lived said with an air of finality.
I knew exactly what the problem was. Ron and I were the two most important people in Harry's life, hands down. Well, and Ginny. And although he was quite fond of Tonks, Dumbledore, and Mad-Eye Moody- and extremely tight with Lupin- none of those relationships came even close to matching the ones that he, I, and Ron shared.
"Tell Ginny I love her," Harry said quietly, his voice breaking slightly.
"You can tell her that when you return, victorious, that sodding bas---- wiped off the face of the Earth," Ron said firmly. "With us by your side."
"I'll put it this way, Harry, either you allow us to go with you or I'll hex you into oblivion." I added cleverly.
"I'll put it this way, children- if you don't stop your bothersome quarreling, none of you will live to face Voldemort," Draco drawled.
"You mean...Death Eaters are headed this way?"
Draco rolled his eyes.
"Well, that too Weasley, seeing as we are in the Dark Lord's lair. However, I was referring to the fact that in about five seconds I am going to MURDER all three of you with a single curse if you don't shut the heck up!"
"Well, I'm going to murder you..."
"This is precisely why I never supported having teenagers participate in missions," Moody grumbled. "Too damn temperamental and emotional."
"You're calling me temperamental?" Draco asked, disbelief written all over his fair face.
"I rather agree with Mad-Eye..."
I was opening my mouth to make a rather clever addition to the discussion that was unfolding, but I discovered that...
The gestures that Snape and Draco were making demonstrated that I was not the only one to have lost my capability to speak.
"That's better," Dumbledore said quietly. "We are putting our plan into action NOW. This arguing is getting us nowhere whatsoever. Harry, you WILL let Miss Granger and Mr.Weasley accompany you if you wish to continuing being the Boy-Who-Lived, as opposed to the Boy-Who-Died."
After lifting the very powerful Silencio that had, well, silenced the thirty-some of us, and following many tearful good-byes, we were on our ever-so merry way.
"Well, this is it," Snape said unnecessarily, pausing in front of an ornately carved wooden door, decorated with MANY quite realistic-looking snakes. Figures. Voldemort REALLY needed to get over his rather unhealthy obsession with that reptile...
"This is it," I whispered, squeezing Ron's hand extra hard and giving him a quick peck on the lips. Quick, but nevertheless demonstrating to him how sorry I was for my actions of the previous months and how strong my love was for him.
"Er- wait a second, Professor," Harry said anxiously. "How do we know that there's not a whole roomful of Death Eaters waiting in there, ready to kill us?"
"The Death Eaters are far, far away from here, Potter," Snape smirked. "Waiting for me to lead the Order through the front door and into the ambush. Salazar, will they be surprised! The only ones in this room are the Dark Lord, my dear classmate Bellatrix, Malfoy, and the lovely Cassandra Valet. I do think we can take them on, wouldn't you agree?"
"Definitely, Professor," a familiar voice firmly agreed.
"Do you have a death wish, Draco?" Snape snapped. "You know damn well that the Dark Lord is VERY displeased with you at the moment."
"I just so happen to be one of the best duelers the Order has," Draco boasted, running a slender hand through his silky blonde hair arrogantly. "And I happen to know the fighting styles of the four wonderful individuals who we will be making acquaintance with quite shortly very well. I shall be an enormous asset. And, may I add, I fear neither pain nor death."
"Your funeral," Snape shrugged, kicking the door open. "And please wait for my signal."
"Ah, Severus. How wonderful of you to join us. Lucius and I were just discussing how Draco was able to carry off this clever plot of his without your knowledge. Fascinating, really."
"Perhaps he had my knowledge- and help," we heard Snape say calmly, inciting a deep unison gasp from the other occupants of the room. Voldemort, however, was just sitting there calmly. Perhaps he had already established that particular fact, seeing as he was omnipotent AND by the fact that Snape was with him now, rather than leading the Order to their death.
"You, Severus?" Lucius asked weakly. "I always thought that you..."
"Well, you thought wrong, Lucius, old pal," Snape chuckled. "As you didconcerning your son..."
"Draco," the elder Malfoy spat out as if the word was poison. "I no longer consider Draco my son. A real son would..."
"Stun his git of a father," Draco finished, well, stunning the Death Eater with a quick swish of his wand.
"Impressive, nephew, dear," Bellatrix sneered. "But just how good are you at jinxing someone who is NOT caught unaware?" Wands flashing faster than the eye could see, the two top-notch duelists shot stream after stream of deadly green, red, and purple light at each other, fighting with such skill, passion, and vengeance.
"Now!" Professor Dumbledore whispered as the remaining six of us flooded Voldemort's chambers. Tonks and Mad-Eye led the way, then Ron and I, then Harry, and then himself.
And so began the Final Battle. The batlle that would decide the fate of Harry Potter. The battle that wuld decide the fate of mankind. The fate of the world.
"You know, that hair of yours is quite atrocious," Cassandra wrinkled her nose as she viewed Tonks's electric pink hair with obvious disgust.
"I'd say the same to you," Tonks said cheerfully, dodging an Avada Kedavra. "But I know you simply can't help it. I, on the other hand, can." Within seconds, her hair was a beautiful deep red.
"I hate to compliment the person I am about to kill, but that is a rather awesome skill to possess," Cassandra said grudgingly.
"Why, thank you," Tonks coughed, after the wind was knocked out of her by a curse of Lucius Malfoy.
Cassandra took this as an excellent opportunity to finish the young Auror off once and for all.
"Avada--"
"Kedavra," Rnon finished, ending the life of the person I despised most after Voldemort.
"Bloody hell!" Ron said in complete and utter shock. "I just killed someone!"
"And you happened to save the life of one Nymphadora Tonks." I pointed out, hitting Bella in the back with a Stupefy.
"Thanks, Hermione," Draco mouthed, before turning his wand on his aunt.Who had most unfortunately been Eneverated by one very, very, VERY unhappy Lord Voldemort.
"You killed our daughter," Voldemort and Bella hissed in unison, advancing on Ron. "And now we shall return the favor."
Then it seemed as though everything was happening in slow motion.
"You'll have to get through me first," Harry snarled, somehow appearing in front of us from (he'd been across the room just mere seconds ago where he and Dumbledore had been dueling Bad-Breath-Boy.).
"Harry, move. NOW!" Ron sreamed.
"No. I refuse to," Harry said stubbornly. "I will not let you two die because of ME. Because you, seven years ago, chose to be friends with ME."
"Harry, your life is worth SO much more than ours," I shrieked. "Stop being so foolishly noble and bloody get OUT OF THE WAY!" Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Moody, Draco,Tonks, Snape, and Dumbledore were doing their very best to make their way over, but Lucius Malfoy had somehow created some ridiculously strong, impermeablewards around us, keeping theOrder outand us in.
"Potter's life is worth nothing," Voldemort chuckled. "Neither are yours."
"I would certainly have to agree, my Lord." Draco's father smiled wickedly. "So, why don't we just do away with them right now."
"NOW!" I squeezed Ron's hand and the three of us simultaneously shot Killing Curses towards our captors. Only problem was, Voldemort had the same idea. And I watched, in horror, as the stream of green light approached Harry. AndI watched, in even greater horror, asRon leapt out in front of his best mate, in an attempt to save him and take death for himself. And that was the last thing I remembered before I felt myself blacking out for the second time in the evening.
"Look! Her hand just moved! She's waking up!"
"I think that was just a figment of your imagination, Gin."
"Are you insinuating that I can't separate reality from truth?"
"Sometimes, yes," the masculine voice pointed out.
"Why, I oughta..."
"It's not nice to make threats, Ginny," I croaked out, attempting to open my eyes. Unfortunately, it felt like two extremely heavy lead weights were attached to my eyelids. I groaned.
"Oh, bless you, you're alive! Madame Pomfrey, come over here. QUICK!"
I heard an incantation of some sort of healing spell, and then I felt the pressure on my eyes recede. Tenatively, I opened them to the quite relieved faces of Ginny, Mrs. Weasley, Madame Pomfrey, Fred, George, Bill, Charlie, Tonks, Dumbledore, and Snape?
I swore very loudly under my breath as memories of what took place before my blackout came rushing back into my head at alarming speeds.
"Ron," I said hoarsely, fearing the worst. "Where's Ron? And Harry? And Draco?"
"Ron's fine, Hermione,"Ginny saidsoothingly. "He's sleeping, over there." She gestured towards the infirmary bed to the right of mine. Sure enough, the love of my life was lying there, fast asleep, a peaceful expression on his handsome face.
I felt such deep relief that I do believe I almost fainted dead-away for yet a third time.
"But what happened?" I asked weakly, slowly sitting up. "The last thing I remember is Ron jumping in front of Harry to save his life and- and-" I was having great difficulty finishing the sentence without breaking into tears, "take death for himself." That was the ultimate sacrifice, hands down. And the love of my life- the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with- had been prepared to do it, without a second of hesitation.
"We fortunately broke through the wards, just in time," Professor Dumbledore sighed. "I was able to conjure a powerful shield around the three of you at the last second. The curse harmlessly bounced off."
"And then I finished that bas---- off, once and for all," a familiar voice finished.
"Harry, oh Harry!" I weeped, somehow finding enough energy and strength to leap out of bed and into his fierce embrace.
"Well, if this is the reception I get every time I kill a Dark Lord, I reckon I'll have to do it more often," Harry joked.
"Oh, Harry! It's all over now! You prevailed. The side of Good prevailed. Voldemort is no more! You- we- can all live normal lives now, ones free from evil, free from concern, free from fear of death! And it's all because of you!"
"Hey, hey, don't give me all the credit," Harry said lightly. "There's no way I could've done it without you, Ron,..." His voice broke slightly at the mention of his best mate, and I could tell that he was desperately fighting back tears. "And the rest of the Order."
I really hated to ask this question, but it was something I desperately needed to know.
"Er, where there any casualties on our side?" I asked, mentally bracing myself for the worst.
A significant look seemed to pass among the witches and wizards clustered around my bed.
"We gather here today not to mourn the death of those three oustanding individuals who unselfishly gave up their lives in the batle to eradicate evil, but to celebrate their lives."
Mad-Eye Moody limped up to the podium first.
"Kingsley Shacklebolt was like no other man," he said gruffly. "Courageous beyond belief and always willing to join in the fight, without a moment's hesitation. I'll never forget what he said to me right before the Final Battle-'Alastor, I have a feeling that I'll die tonight. But I am not afraid. I do not fear the ending of my life, for death is but the beginning of another adventure.' He was a wonderful husband to Aretha, a loving father to Tyron, and a friend to many. He wasone of the best Aurors on our force, and will be missed greatly by all."
"I've had the pleasure of working with Filius Flitwick for over twenty-five years," Professor McGonagall said in a quivering voice. "He had such a passion for teaching- he literally bounced out of bed each morning, eagerly looking forward to teaching young witches and wizards the Charms created by the warlocks of old. He possessed unbelievable optimism and enthusiasm for each new day, and will be missed greatly by those who were fortunate enough to call him their colleague, profesor,or friend." I watched as the sobbing Transfiguration Professor returned to her seat, her husband, Murdo, placing a comforting arm around her shaking shoulders. I took a deep breath and rose to my feet.
"For the first six years of my life, Draco Malfoy was the bane of my existence," I said softly, looking to my fiance for support. He nodded his head slightly and gave me the strength to go on. "However, at the beginning of this year, it all changed. As you know, he confided his true loyalties to me and offered to help keep Cassandra from getting her claws in Ron. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Now, I certainly do regret some things about our relationship, especially since it was that that partially tore Ron and I apart, but one thing I do not regret is having the opportunity to spend time with this wonderful young man and the friendship itself. Draco was clever, witty, intelligent, talented, caring, thoughtful, and brave beyond belief. For many months he played a double-agent role, risking his very existence every day. Now, I know that many of you never had the chance to catch a glimpse of the real, true, good Draco Malfoy, but I assure you that if you had, you would certainly miss him and much as I will. Draco truly is a hero." And with that, I could go on no further. I broke down into uncontrollable sobs and fell into the waiting arms of one Ronald Weasley.
"To Filius, Kingsley, and Draco." Dumbledore raised his goblet solemnly at the funeral feast later that evening. "May we always remember the ultimate sacrifice that each performed, without hesitation or regret."
"And may we also pay tribute to the one young man who ended this evil once and for all," Snape added, suprising about 99.9 percent of the occupants of the Great Hall. "Harry Potter. To the Boy-Who-Lived, I raise my goblet."
I smiled as I later watched Harry firmly shake the Potion Master's hand, without anger or scorn.
"Isn't it wonderful how things have tunred out?" I sighed, holding one of Ron's strong, large hands in both of my own.
"Yeah, I reckon it is," Ron smiled nervously, the tips of his ears turning red.
"What's wrong?" I furrowed my brow.
"Er...well...bloody, this is hard...well, er..."
"Just say it, Ron," I urged him on.
To my shock- but pleasant shock, he dropped down onto one knee and pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket.
"Er, Hermione, I asked you this before, but I want to do it properly. Er...willyoumarryme.?"
"We didn't catch that, Ronald!" Fred smiled wickedly. "Could you please repeat it, only a bit more clearly this time?"
With the eyes of the three-hundred some people in the Great Hall on us, he took a deep breath, face as red as a tomato.
"For seven years, Hermione, we've been the best of friends. For seven years, I've loved you and held you close to my heart. Without you, my life is nothing. Marry me, Hermione. There is nothing in all of Merlin's world that could making me happier than having you as my wife."
I pretended to contemplate it for a moment, even though he knew darn well what my answer was going to be.
"I always had problems saying no to you," I sighed, before meeting my lips to his in the sweetest kiss we had ever shared.
Coming up next week: The final chapter in this story...the WEDDING!