A/N: Okay I know that many of you will want to kill me for this chapter and I apologize ahead of time. This was an incredibly difficult chapter to write but it had to be done. Now I know how Jo herself felt after she killed off Sirius in OOP. I myself was sobbing by the end of writing so I hope that it touches you all the same way. Once again, thanks so much to all of my wonderful reviewers..you are the reason I keep writing!
Chapter 20: Battle at Malfoy Manor
The door to Hermione's cell opened again. Voldemort had come back for some more "persuading". Hermione stood up defiantly and stared directly at him. She had been recalling his last conversation in her mind over and over again, trying to make heads or tails about what he was rambling about but it still made no sense to her. She knew that she was going to be killed, and she figured it would be relatively soon, so she mustered up her courage and opened her mouth.
"So come back to make a further fool of yourself…Tom?" She drawled, emphasizing his real name.
This gained her another painful Crucio, but she'd become so accustomed to them over the past day that she was able to focus her energy into blocking out most of the pain and she stood against the curse defiantly, refusing to scream even though she could feel the pain sheering through her body.
"Oh I'm sorry, Tom, I forgot that you cant stand to be reminded of your MUGGLE blood." She sneered at Voldemort.
Hermione knew she was just begging for another round of torture, or perhaps even her own death, but at this point she didn't really care. There was no way she would ever cower in front of this…thing. And just as predicted, the evil cackle sang out through the small room and the pain filled her body once more. Only this time, the pain shot through her very essence (or it least it felt like it did) and she unwillingly collapsed to the ground, shaking and crying uncontrollably from pain but vowing that no matter how much it hurt, she would NOT give him the satisfaction of her screams.
" You stupid little girl. You do know I could kill you in the blink of an eye don't you? And yet you continue to mouth off. Either you really are incredibly brave or just immensely stupid." Voldemort sneered at her, finally lifting the curse that was racking her already weakened body.
"I have come to once again give you a chance to fulfill my request to open the Book. What say you this time?" Voldemort asked, his red eyes intensifying and baring into her own as she glared back up at him. She opened her mouth to tell him to sod off when one of his minions burst through the door interrupting them.
"My lord, the traitor is here. And he has brought Potter with him." The Death Eater told Voldemort breathlessly, lowering his head slightly. Voldemort smiled at the news (if you can call the evil thing that crossed his face a smile) and turned back towards Hermione.
"Well, well, Mudblood. It appears your blood traitor boyfriend has decided to come and rescue you and he's brought your little friend along with him. Isn't that touching? It appears that we will have to continue this conversation later, Mudblood. I must go take care of young Mister Malfoy and Mister Potter. Don't worry, girl, I do promise to make sure they are both in immense pain before they are killed. In fact, I may even give you the pleasure of watching their deaths." Voldemort gave Hermione that evil smile again and floated back through the door once more, his robes billowing behind him once again.
Hermione sank to the floor, sliding down along the wall as the door slammed behind him. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Draco and Harry were there and she was stuck in some cell unable to do anything to help! Hermione had never felt as helpless as she did at that very moment knowing that the two people she loved more than anything in the world were facing the possibility of death at that very moment…and all because of her. She knew she had to get out of that gods forsaken room, no matter what. She needed to help, she was always by Harry's side no matter what and she would be damned if this time she wasn't. She would get herself out of there if it was the last thing she did.
Above her head, at the first floor of the Malfoy Manor, Draco and company had just burst through the front doors and were immediately bombarded with about 10 Death Eaters. Curses were flying in every direction, people dodging and firing spells like clockwork. Harry and Draco made their way through the fallen Death Eaters and headed towards where Draco said the dungeons were located. Before they could reach the door to the dungeons however, a very unwelcome but familiar drawl sounded from behind the two, causing them to spin around swiftly.
"Mister Potter, so glad you could make it. I believe you and I have some unfinished business." Voldemort greeted him, and immediately threw a curse his way. Harry dodged it seamlessly, pushing Draco to the side. He threw a curse directly back at Voldemort and back and forth for a moment or two while Harry urged Draco to go on ahead and find Hermione.
"Malfoy…GO! Find Hermione!" Harry shouted at him. Draco watched Harry and Voldemort dueling for a moment and then nodded his head, dashing down the stairs towards the all to familiar dungeons, hearing the sounds of items shattering above him from the curses being sent between the two.
Back down in the cold cell, Hermione was using every ounce of her power and energy to force her cell door open. It was locked with massive dark spells but she was determined. She closed her eyes tightly, concentrating as hard as possible on her task. Unknown to her, she suddenly began emitting a soft blue glow which began to radiate off the dungeon walls around her. Her eyes were still closed and her concentration still focused so she didn't notice the glow…nor did she notice when the walls of the dungeon began to shake slightly from the magical energy that Hermione was unknowingly producing. All of a sudden, the door blasted off it's hinges, the walls stopped vibrating and the glow diminished as Hermione opened her eyes and smiled.
Wow. I cant believe I just did that. She thought to herself for a moment but then shook her head, letting her mind return to the task at hand and dashed out of the doorway and up the flight of stairs that was in front of her, not even realizing that she had no clue where she was let alone where she was going.
At the edge of the dungeons, Draco was dashing down a second flight of stairs when suddenly he felt the walls beside him start to vibrate slightly and heard an earth shattering explosion come from the flight below him. He hastened his steps, darting over two and sometimes three steps at a time. He ran so fast down the following corridor and towards the final flight of stairs that he didn't even register another figure come running towards him from those very same stairs he was heading to until they collided with each other…hard…knocking both figures to the ground painfully. Draco heard an unmistakable female groan and looked over at the other person. Seeing who it was he jumped to his feet and grabbed her roughly pulling her up and into his arms as if his life depended on it.
"Oh my gods, 'Mione. Oh baby thank gods!" Draco muttered into Hermione's once again bushy hair while he embraced her fiercely and covered her face in kisses.
"Draco! I knew you'd find me. Voldemort was down in my cell when you guys showed up and I knew I had to find you. I have to help! Where's Harry and the others?" Hermione demanded to know, pulling away from Draco a little.
"Whoa. Calm down. Ron and some of the other Order members are up in the main houses battling the Death Eaters and Harry…well Harry is…" His voice wandered off and he looked away from her honey eyes that were piercing into his own.
"Where is Harry, Draco? Tell me!" Hermione shouted at him, pulling his face back to hers and penetrating his mind with her own while staring deeply into his icy eyes. She knew the moment she looked in his eyes…Harry was battling Voldemort again and something inside Hermione knew it would be the final battle between the two.
"Oh my gods! I've got to find him, to help him!" She hollered, pulling her arms out of Draco's grasp and began hurtling herself down the corridor and up the next flight of stairs, Draco calling after her as his footsteps came closer and closer to her position.
" 'Mione wait!" He called, catching up to her and grabbing her, spinning her around to face him. There was something that was bothering him and he just had to know. " Hermione, I need to know something. Just before I met up with you I felt the walls down here vibrating and heard a very loud explosion from down by where you were. Was that you? Did you do something?" His ice-blue eyes bore into her own and she nodded solemnly.
"I don't know what happened. All I know is that I needed to get out of there and find you guys and I used all my energy and next thing I knew the door blasted off it's hinges and then I ran into you." She said simply. Before Draco could say anything in response, she grabbed his hand roughly and began tearing up the stairs and through the corridor to the final set of stairs, dragging Draco in tow.
She slowly ascended the final flight of stairs, listening intently to the massive commotion that seemed to be coming from above her. She went to pull her wand out and suddenly remembered that her wand was still in her dormitory back at Hogwarts. Noticing her search, Draco gave a small smile and reached into his pocket, revealing her wand as well as his own and handed it to her meekly.
"I thought that you might want this back. I found it on your floor." Draco said quietly, giving her a soft smile.
Hermione nodded her thanks and put her wand out in front of her as she walked up the last few stairs, readying herself for whatever she might walk into. Hermione slipped her hand into Draco's tightly, took a deep breath and swept into the room above them. She glanced around and saw that it was empty, surprisingly. Draco looked around curiously as well because that's where Voldemort and Harry had been when he went down to get Hermione. The commotion was still loud as ever though which meant that the battle was going on somewhere close to them. They clamped tightly onto each other's hands and continued to make their trek through the rooms, the noise becoming louder and louder.
As they entered into one of the rooms, a large blue vase was flung across the room and smashed to pieces directly beside Hermione's wide-eyed head as it poked into the room. She looked at that particular scene and saw three Death Eaters throwing curse after curse at Ron and Jeremy (yes I thought I would bring the hottie back in for a moment) who were dodging as well as they could. Suddenly Hermione watched as Ron tripped over a shattered end table while dodging the killing curse that was thrown towards him. The curse seemed to fly in slow motion as Hermione watched the scene before her. As it grew closer to Ron, she breathed a sigh of relief that it was going to graze right past him thanks to his trip over the broken table. Seeing the Death Eater step closer to her fallen friend as he fell and the curse soared past him, Hermione snapped out of the sidelines and rushed across the room to her best friend. As the Death Eater stood over him, pointing his wand at Ron's chest, Hermione's voice sounded from behind.
"Reducto!" Called Hermione as a stream of red emitted from her wand and struck the unsuspecting Death Eater, knocking him to the ground writhing in pain from the wound inflicted on his back. She pointed towards Jeremy and the other Death Eater, motioning for Draco to go help while she preceded to detain the fallen Death Eater.
"Petrificus Totalus." She said, pointing her wand towards the Death Eater on the floor and he froze up. "Incarcerous." Ropes appeared in thin air, tying themselves around the immobilized Death Eater. She turned her attention away from the enemy and bent down by her best friend. As soon as she was eye level with Ron, she felt his arms snake themselves around her upper body as he pulled her into a tight hug.
" 'Mione! I'm so glad you're alright!" Ron said excitedly, hugging her tightly and then withdrawing as she started to lose her balance from the odd angle. Hermione left her arm around him trying to pull him to his feet. He stood, stumbling against her and slowly regained his own balance. Ron had twisted his ankle slightly but wasn't about to show it.
"Ron, where's Harry?" Hermione asked quizzically, studying Ron's eyes.
"I don't know exactly Hermione. Last time I saw him he was trying to fend off Voldemort and running backwards down the stairs down the hall. I think he was trying to bring Voldemort outside so he could have more room." Ron told her.
One more quick glance into Ron's bright blue eyes and Hermione turned on her heel and dashed from the room in the direction of the back stairs that Ron had indicated. There was no way she was going to let Harry fight this on his own. Hermione heard Ron and Draco chasing after her, calling for her to stop but she was already practically out the back door and heading towards the hill behind the Manor where she could clearly see the bright colors flashing imminently from the battle that was being fought directly over said hill. Hermione threw open the door and jumped down the short flight of stairs leading to the walkway up the hill. She ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
She reached the top of the hill breathlessly and looked down into the shallow valley where Voldemort and Harry were dueling it out furiously, ducking and disappearing, dodging and lunging, and firing curse after curse at one another. Just as she was about to head down the hill towards them, she was grabbed from behind by two sets of strong arms which pulled her backwards and relentlessly held her tight. Hermione kept her eyes locked on the fight below her as she watched the two battling it out.
That's when it felt like all time had slowed to a crawl. Harry had moved backwards, blasting off another curse towards Voldemort at the same time Voldemort had released one of his own. Moving quickly, trying to side-step the curse flying towards him, Harry was caught off balance slightly, his foot catching a small twig and he stumbled, the curse knocking directly into his shoulder. Harry flew up in the air, spiraling down towards the ground behind him from the force of the blast. He landed with a deafening CRUNCH on his left arm. Hermione knew at that moment Harry's arm was broken. She watched in horror as Voldemort moved swiftly towards Harry as Harry tried to get back to his feet, never taking his eyes off of his opponent. Unfortunately, when the curse had struck him and launched him into the air, he had lost grip on his wand which fell from his hands sometime during his fall.
Hermione, Ron, and Draco watched, unable to move or speak as Voldemort walked up to where Harry was still trying to regain his balance and get back to his feet. Voldemort kicked him furiously in the ribs, sending another excruciatingly loud CRUNCH sound through the yard as Harry doubled over in pain. Harry slowly and painfully got back to his feet, glancing around fearfully for his own wand which he finally spotted, about 20 feet from him snapped in half. Voldemort looked down on the young man and saw for the first time ever, true fear in those emerald green eyes. Harry's eyes seemed to be pleading with Voldemort to spare him but Voldemort simply cackled at the broken boy. He raised his wand slowly up to the boy's chest.
"Goodbye, Mister Potter. Avada Kedavra." Voldemort said swiftly and emotionlessly.
"HARRY! NO!" Hermione found her voice and screamed at the top of her lungs as she watched the bright green flash of light emit itself from the end of Voldemort's wand and fling itself directly into Harry's chest.
She watched unbelieving as her best friend and first love fell lifelessly in a heap on the ground at the feet of the monster Voldemort. Yanking her arms as hard as she could, she freed herself from Draco and Ron's tightened grips and flung herself down the hill towards Voldemort.
Before Hermione could reach the valley where Voldemort was still standing, cackling over the dead body of Harry Potter, another bright green flash emitted from somewhere behind her and whizzed past her straight towards Voldemort. But before it could hit him, he disapparated, leaving the three friends all alone with their once savior. Hermione flung herself on top of Harry's lifeless body, pulling him onto her lap and cradling him close to her, screaming, her tears flowing freely and swiftly down her cheeks. Ron knelt down by her side, the tears silent but still evident in his bright blue eyes for his best friend. He wrapped an arm protectively around Hermione's shoulder as well, pulling her close and crying into her hair. Draco's eyes swelled up as well but he stayed back slightly from the scene. He felt almost out of place, like he shouldn't intrude on the scene between what was left of the "Golden Trio".
The three of them stayed there, crying and holding each other…well Ron and Hermione crying and holding each other and Draco staying back not interfering….for what felt like hours. Draco turned away for a moment when he heard the sound of hurried footsteps running up the path from the mansion. In a split moment, he saw the faces of Remus Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, as well as Mr. Weasley and Bill Weasley, appear over the hill. They all stopped as if running into a brick wall as they caught a glimpse of the scene in the shallow valley below them. Draco took the initiative and walked somberly up the short hill to where they were standing.
"Draco, what happened?" Lupin was the first to speak, not tearing his eyes away from the scene below. "Is he…is Harry…?" He stuttered, unable to speak the words for fear that it would make it a reality if he spoke them.
Draco saw tears swelling up behind the tired eyes of his ex-professor and sadly nodded his head. As soon as he made this simple gesture, the tears began to overflow in Remus' eyes as he and the rest of the group made their way slowly down the hill to where Ron and Hermione were still holding each other and crying, Hermione still clinging desperately to Harry's cold body.
Many hours later, after the sun had once again descended below the horizon, Hermione, Ron and Draco returned to Hogwarts all beyond exhausted and aching painfully from their loss. They each made their ways silently to their dorms, Ron crashing on the Head's common room couch--not wanting to face everyone in Gryffindor Tower just yet. Soon enough everyone would hear the news and it would only be a matter of time before he was bombarded with questions and sympathies, none of which he could bear to handle yet.
Hermione dragged herself, still shaking but her tears had dried up a few hours before, into her dormitory. Once inside she walked achingly towards her wardrobe which happened to be next to her desk which was covered in pictures. As she opened her wardrobe, her eyes fell on one of her favorite pictures…her, Ron, and Harry huddled together and laughing during a Quidditch match (Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw). As soon as her eyes fell on the picture and the happiness that emitted from it, her eyes overflowed once again and she collapsed to the floor, shaking and rocking back and forth, her tears flowing like rivers and the happy picture clutched in her hands so tightly the corners were cutting into her hands…