"HARRY!" screamed Hermione in desperation, "HARRY NO! YOU CAN'T!"
He bent down and cupped her cheek. There was a look of pure sorry in his eyes, eyes that didn't want to leave the person in front of him. This she knew. She also knew however, that he had to do this. He couldn't just forget about it, this was who he was. He was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. It was his destiny, but it killed her inside.
"I have to", he spoke softly, a whisper barely audible. A single tear streaked down his dirt stained face.
For three straight days they had been fighting, against death eater, dark creatures and god knows what else. They didn't matter anyway; there was only goal in anyone's mind. Get to Voldemort, kill him.
Harry had discovered and destroyed the last horcrux just days previous. Somehow Voldemort had known, a spy perhaps? They didn't know and more to the point it didn't matter in the slightest, not anymore anyway.
"I know" she sobbed, "But it doesn't make it any easier. Take me with you Harry, let me fight with you. Ron's injured, he can't help but I can. I need to help you Harry."
Hermione could see the thoughts being processed in his mind, knowing the dilemma he was going through. He needed her, there was no doubt about it, but he also needed to protect her, he couldn't let her be hurt like Ron. He wouldn't be able to live with it if he did, regardless if he defeated old Voldy or not.
He looked into her eyes and searched them, for an answer. Hermione always had the answer, to everything.
"Harry, I can look after myself. I need to be with you, to help you fight him. Despite what you may think you can't do this on your own. You now you can't".
He dropped his hand from her face and grabbed her hand
"Stay close, don't make a sound, and if I tell you to run and save yourself, you swear you will. Don't even think about me, just you run, run like there isn't any heaven unless you run."
She looked at him determined. She stared at him for a long, long time, until finally she looked down at the ground, thinking hard. She sighed,
"Okay, but not unless I really need to. I will stay with you until the very last second I can, and you must let me"
She grabbed his hand and laced her fingers through his. He looked down at her, startled by the random act, but he didn't pull his hand away, instead he brought his dirty hand steadily up to her flushed cheek. He cupped as he had done before, and ran his thumb along it. She felt a jolt of electricity surge through her and looked up at him. With her free hand she lightly laid her hand on top of his, still holding her cheek. He bent down slightly, and looked more into her eyes. She melted at the mere sight of them, those wonderful, bright green eyes. Those eyes could make her do anything, anything in the world. At that moment, nothing in the world meant anything, not the war they were fighting, not the screams of people around them. It was just the two of them, only the two of them and that was all they needed.
He bent down lower and brought his face to hers, their eyes still locked. Then he brought his lips to hers, and kissed her. Just a brief, chaste kiss. It could even be described as platonic by an innocent watcher. But the two teenagers knew better. They knew it meant so much more.
"I love you, Harry James Potter" whispered Hermione softly. He didn't answer. For a brief and fleeting moment, Hermione thought she had just ruined everything. She looked back down at the ground in shame, she shouldn't have said that, he didn't feel it back. She was hurt and distraught and couldn't stand the look of him. She was about to get up and tell him that they had to move on when se felt his soft touch on her chin. Gently he tilted he head up until their eyes met again. Oh those eyes, she couldn't look at them now! But something deep inside of her kept her looking, she couldn't look away, not from those eyes, Harry's eyes.
Harry hugged her close, then gently pushed her away so that their yes met again.
"And I love you, Hermione Jane Granger." She couldn't believe her ears, did he just say that he loved her too? No, he couldn't have, she was imagining it, it was too good to be true!
"What?" she blurted out without realising it.
He chuckled softly, still looking into her eyes. Her deep brown, al knowing eyes that could make him melt anywhere.
"I love you Hermione. I always have. I always will. I was just too scared to say it incase you didn't, I always thought it was Ron you loved, not me. And me being me, decided that no matter how much it killed me inside, I would rather see you in love with someone else, if that is what it took for you to be happy." His hand was still rubbing her cheek, wiping away the tears of complete joy that were streaming down her face. Harry loved her too! Suddenly he kissed her again, more passionately this time. She felt that surge of electricity again and pulled away. Not because she wanted to end the kiss, Merlin she would have loved to kiss him until her dying moment if she could, but she wanted to see his eyes. Those eyes that could give away an emotion he was feeling at any time to her, and only to her. She looked deep within them and saw only love, love for her. She smiled at him, wondering why they hadn't realised that the other loved them after all this time.
A large cackle from just over the hill on the moor on which they were fighting brought them back to reality.
"We need a plan. With the horcruxes gone he's completely mortal and will have a hell of a body guard team. We need to get past it to get to him. Make sense?" said Harry, with voice filled with determination, but plagued with a hint of fear. Hermione looked up at him in admiration. Nobody should have to go through this, let alone this 17 year old, this 17 year old that she loved with everything she had. She smiled to herself, but the smile was quickly wiped away when the blast of a stunner spell nearby blew a hole in the hill. She gulped down her fear, she needed to be strong for Harry. She couldn't let him down.
"Perfect sense" she replied, making sure her voice sounding secure and confident. She couldn't let Harry know she was scared.
Both sat in silence, thinking hard. They needed to get past them without being seen, that part was easy, the Invisibility cloak. But they needed to make a gap in between the death eaters surrounding old Voldy. Then it came to her in leaps and bounds.
"I've got it!" she exclaimed, in a low voice. "I knew the charm would come in handy at some point"
Harry looked at her, she looked perfectly smug,
"Hermione, you've got what? What charm?"
Hermione bent down and crawled towards him and started to whisper in his ear.
"During last year I started doing some 7th year work, you know, just to make sure I was prepared for the work this year before the NEWT's, so that I don't have to worry to much about it and just concentrate on the revision, which I mean you must admit is the most impor-"
"Hermione! Concentrate, you're rambling again"
Hermione blushed and look at the ground, clearly embarrassed.
"Sorry. Anyway, I came across a charm in one of the books I was reading, which could freeze time, if only for five minutes, on a very large group of people. It might just work, if we put enough energy into it. Just give me a minute for me to work a few things out…" She trailed off as she rummaged in her robe pocket and pulled out a parchment and quill. She caught his bemused look out of the corner of her eye and stopped to look at him.
"What?" she asked clearly confused as to why he had a look which was a cross between disgusted and completely bemused.
"The biggest war of the century, and you thought to put parchment and a quill in your robe pocket before you left?"
She laughed lightly, "Harry, honestly, this is me we are talking about. Never know when you're going to need to jot something down, after all." She gave him a cheeky smile and proceeded to start doing some difficult calculations. He recognised the calculations immediately as some advanced arithmancy from Hermione's long nights in the common room trying to complete the difficult homework's from the subject.
She sat for a good twenty minutes scribbling and scratching away on her piece of parchment. They were in no hurry to be honest, although neither said it out loud. What was a few extra minutes to make sure everything was okay after 16 years?
After a few more minutes, Hermione looked up from her parchment and stared at the sky and whispered "Oh Merlin, please make this work. For Harry". Harry stared at her, and Hermione knew exactly what was going through his mind, even if he wasn't saying it aloud.
"Okay" she said after a few more moments of sky gazing. "This is how it's going to work. There are 3 stanzas to the spell, and it's very complicated" as she said this, she handed him a piece of parchment on which she had scribbled his part of the spell. "Things have to be said at the exact moment and the right wand movements have to be made at the right moment for it to work properly. She looked up at him, he was reading his part and she noticed a look of recognition on his face.
"Harry? What's the matter?" she asked in a cautious voice.
"Nothing." He said, his voice sounding distant.
"Harry, you can't lie to me. What's wrong?"
Harry reached into his robes and pulled out a small piece of cloth. He carefully unwrapped the parcel of cloth, and Hermione saw what was contained within it. It was a small, folded piece of yellowing parchment with the words 'For Harry' written on the front in neat cursive. Hermione looked at him, puzzled.
"Well it's just that, Hermione. I've had this spell hidden in my pillow ever since I can remember. I thought it was a poem that my mother had written. I found it in the attic at the Dursley's when I was about seven. It was written in her hand-writing. All this time, I just thought it was a poem she had written for me! When really I had the means to destroy Voldemort all these years" He punched the rock beside him with such force that it split down the middle and crumbled.
"Harry, even if you had known what it was you wouldn't have known what to do with it, don't beat yourself up about it. Okay?"
He looked into her eyes once more. And relaxed immediately, feeling safe that she was simply sitting there, with him. She quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him behind another larger rock that was near them, taking care to make sure that neither was seen, for Harry had just crumbled the rock they were using as a hiding place into a pile of dust.
"Have you read through the spell?"
He nodded.
"Do you know what wand movements to do and when?"
He nodded again.
"Good."
She looked around the rock nervously. "No time like the present i suppose." She took a deep breath as he took the liquidy material from the inside of his robe and pulled it over the top of them, hiding them from sight.
They quickly and quietly made their way through the bodies lying scattered on the ground of the moor. Clearly the battle had been moved elsewhere on the moor. Hermione squeaked when she saw one particular body lying strewn on the ground, limbs dismembered and bloody. She stood and stared at it for a minute or two, tears streaming down her face. It was Shacklebolt. Harry rubbed her shoulders and whispered softly in her ear,
"He wouldn't have gone happy any other way. He was a brilliant man, but I don't think he could justify dying any other way. He will be remembered, we won't forget. C'mon, we have a world to save"
He tugged gently on her arm and she walked slowly away, not daring to glance back, tears still streaming down her face.
They walked for over fifteen minutes, silently worried that the battle had been lost already, or that it had disapparated somewhere without them knowing. They walked in silence, Harry still with his arms around her shoulders for comfort.
Just when they were beginning to get really worried they heard the distinct cry of a victim on the receiving end of a famous Ginny Weasley Bat Bogey Hex. They smiled at each other and began to walk quicker, towards the place where the noise had come from. As they rounded around a large hill, Hermione couldn't stop herself from gasping. There was at least 1000 death eaters, they completely outnumbered the order. But somehow, the order were over coming them! Perhaps this wasn't going to be the end of the world after all!
At the far end of the flat moor where the battle had migrated to stood a house, a large mansion of sorts surrounded by death eaters.
"In there" Harry whispered, pointing to the mansion. "That's where he is. That's where we need to get to."
If the order kept taking the death eaters down, they would have to use the death eaters surrounding Voldemort, and there was at least 500 of them.
Hermione frowned, she hadn't expected THAT many. She inwardly cursed herself for not expecting so many. 'He's bloody Lord Voldemort! What were you expecting, 5? Silly girl!' said her inner voice.
"Thanks, I feel so much better for that" she answered out loud without even realising.
Harry looked at her, almost laughing
"For what?" he asked. She suddenly realised what she had just done.
"Oh, um, nothing…"
She mentally cursed herself again.
They made their way across the moor, still under the cloak. They couldn't risk taking it off, no matter how much they wanted to cheer on the friends who were battling for their lives, or say goodbye to those they may not see ever again. They couldn't risk attention, not now.
They picked their way through the bodies, and winded through the many battles which had broken out. Hermione glanced around and saw Mr. Weasley battling with a death eater that could be none other and Lucius Malfoy. She silently egged him on, hoping that Mr. Weasley would give old Malfoy Snr what he deserved. She laughed when she saw a particularly strong stunner hit him straight in the face, knocking him on his back.
She could tell Harry was nervous, not because he was shaking, or because he had drastically tightened his grip on her shoulder, but because she knew him better than any other person in the world, except maybe for Ron.
She sighed deeply. Ron. He'd been hurt on the last battle ground and they'd had to leave him behind to heal himself if he could. She could hardly bear to leave him, but he had insisted and threatened to hurt himself more if she didn't go on. So reluctantly she left his side, tears streaming down her face. Hermione touched her cheek, wondering how on earth she had so many tears. She'd cried almost non stop for three days, and wondered if she had any tears left.
Sooner that she might have liked, they reached the house. It was large and dingy looking. It had ivy almost covering every inch of the brickwork and its windows had all been smashed and cracked. It looked as if no one had been here for here's. The look on Harry's face told a different story though.
"The Riddle House" he said softly. "I've been here before"
He turned round on the spot and looked out over the moor. On side of it there was a graveyard that Hermione hadn't noticed before.
"We're in Little Hangelton"
Hermione gasped, she could feel the hatred boiling up inside of him, just from standing there beside him.
"Harry, are you alright?" she asked him, placing a light hand on his arm. Harry turned to face her, and kissed her. Very lightly but it was enough to send her soaring. How could one boy do so much to her, by doing so little?
"Remember Cedric Diggory." said Harry quietly. "C'mon" he said, and they started off round the house to find a place to get in.
They walked round the house three times in silence, being careful to avoid the many dath eaters surrounding the house at present, until Harry suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. Hermione, who hadn't been expecting such a sudden stop almost fell over and on to her face, but Harry caught her. He stood her up and hugged her tight.
"This is it" he said, staring at a piece of wall that was completely covered with ivy.
Hermione stared at him.
"This is what Harry? I don't see anything, just an ivy covered wall." She said, wondering what on earth Harry was talking about.
"Can you not feel it? The magic here is really strong, therefore there must be wards here guarding whatever it is behind this ivy. Put two and two together and its quite simple really." He said, rather matter-of-factly.
Hermione smiled, at school, he always let on that he wasn't really all that bright, but Hermione knew much better, and he had just proved her right.
"What?" he asked, lacing his fingers through hers.
"Oh nothing, I'm just smiling because you just proved me right"
"About what?"
"Never you mind, I'll tell you later"
"That's assuming I survive this." He said, sighing heavily.
She turned to him and cupped his face again, making sure he looked straight into her eyes just once more.
"You will. Want to know why I know? Because I love you, and I won't let you die"
He smiled down at her and kissed her again. She couldn't help but giggle when he pulled away though. They walked towards the wall and Harry placed his hand flat against it. She was going to ask him what he was doing, but decided that it would be a better idea not to, he needed to concentrate after all.
He stood there for a while in silence, then after a moment or two, he started saying some spells in a whisper. He took out his wand and began to make precise movements with it. She stared at him in awe, when had he learned to do all this? She made a mental note to ask him about it later.
He finally put away his wand and took her hand in his.
"Do you trust me Hermione?" he asked. Hermione was confused, why was he asking such a silly question?
"Of course I do Harry. Why are you asking?"
"That's good." He said flatly.
"Harry, what on ear-", She didn't get to say the rest though, as he had just pulled her through a solid wall into the riddle house.
----------------------------------------------------------
Hermione stumbled as Harry pulled her through the wall. She was no stranger to walking through solid walls. She'd done it at least 12 times in the past 6 years coming to and from Platform 9 ¾ . But she was prepared for them, not for this!
"Harry!" she said, in an outraged whisper. "You could have at least warned me"
"I couldn't, you wouldn't have been able to get through if I did. Another one of Voldemort's clever tricks. C'mon"
Hermione suddenly wished they hadn't taken those few steps as soon as they did, for they were suddenly surrounded by about 10 death eaters, and no sooner had they appeared than they had ripped Harry's cloak of them and grabbed them, forcefully keeping them captive.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? The Boy Who Lived and his Mudblood friend. The Dark Lord will be pleased." Said a voice, with a cackle and a sneer.
"Malfoy" said Harry curtly, "I thought you'd fled after the Dumbledore incident."
"Dearest Potter, when will you learn to not pay attention to gossip? I would have thought after all these years you would realise that rumours were nothing more than the brain-children of over excited juniors? No? Apparently not. Yet again you let your weak mind betray you. Well, I can't say I'm annoyed. Far from it actually, I should be getting a nice little reward for your life potter, maybe not so much Granger's." he said, the sneer evident in his voice.
Draco ordered for them to be taken straight to Voldemort, telling them that he was expecting them.
They were lead down a long corridor by the team of death eaters. They struggled and fought to get free the whole way, each of them secretly knowing that nothing they could do would help them. They wouldn't be able to escape, but there was no harm in trying after all.
They reached a set of very tall and ornate double doors. Hermione heard screams from the other side and decided that if she ever wanted to find out what was behind them before, she certainly didn't want to know anymore.
The Death Eaters kicked the doors open, and the room beyond it swam into full view. It was clearly a ball room, wonderfully polished marble floor, and marble columns holding up a balcony that ran around the edge of the room. If the place hadn't been full of hooded figures, and didn't have a throne in which a particularly ugly looking Voldemort sat, Hermione would have said the room was a magnificent one.
She and Harry were dragged to opposite ends of the room. She watched how they made him stand there, helpless. She wanted desperately to escape from the death eaters that were holding her captive and run to him, to help him, to save him, to save the world for crying out loud!
Suddenly, she was jerked from her thoughts, as Voldemort rose from his thrown and started walking towards her. Hermione wanted desperately to scream, she wanted desperately to lash out at the Voldemort standing before her. But she couldn't, so she hung her head in shame.
Hermione heard Voldemort draw his wand from his black, high collared billowing robes. She rose her head certain that this would be the end. But instead of saying the Avada, he said something different. Something that made her whole body writhe in pain, she felt as if her spine and her inside wanted to jump out of her skin and she was fighting to control them. He said Crucio. The cruciatus curse. An Unforgivable Curse.
Somewhere in the distance, or what felt and sounded like the distance she heard Harry scream her name. Hermione heard him scream her name with such desperation it made her heart wrench to hear it. Just then, Voldemort lifted the curse.
"Aha" he said curtly, "I do believe we have found young mister Potter's weakness. I have to say however, I thought at least you could have sprung for a pure blood witch Harry. A Mudblood? I had more faith in you."
"You leave her alone" replied Harry, the anger very clear in his voice. "She hasn't done anything to you; there is no need for you to hurt her. I'm the one you seek not her"
"Oh Harry, why must you always spoil my fun with your patriotic speeches of love? They are beginning to get a bit old and boring you know." Said Voldemort.
Another voice came now, one that was far too familiar to Harry and Hermione.
"Bloody Hell" it said. Hermione lifted her head to look at the owner of the voice. It was Ron!
"RON!" yelled Harry, "Get out of here! They'll get you too!" But Ron didn't run, he just stood there, taunting the death eaters.
"KILL HIM!" yelled Voldemort to his death eaters, "LEAVE THEM! I WILL DEAL WITH THEM"
The death eaters followed the orders without a second glance. They ran straight for Ron, who suddenly looked as if the plan wasn't maybe such a good idea after all. He ran as fast as he could down the hall and out of the door. Hermione sincerely hoped he knew what he was doing. Ron wasn't one for thinking things through completely. But she had other things on her mind. Harry was now in deep duel with Voldemort. There were curses and hex's flying every which way. Hermione wished she could help Harry, but knew that would breech the laws of duelling, making sure Voldemort won, and she couldn't have that.
Out of the corner of her eye she caught the sight of something. Something she felt very glad to see indeed and ran towards it. Flame red hair. Harry and Voldemort were too deep into their duel to notice her.
"Ron! What were you thinking back there? You could have been killed" she said when she reached him, hugging him tightly.
"Impossible" he said matter-of-factly, hugging her back. "I had the whole order just down the corridor there.
"Listen Ron, Harry and old Voldy Knickers there are mid duel. We need to get Voldemort distracted so that me and Harry can perform a spell. I can't tell you what the spell is just now, maybe later if it works. There isn't time. Got any ideas?"
"Well, why don't we just start shooting curses at him? Surely that would get his attention?
"Not likely, we need something that will draw him completely away from Harry."
"Well how about crashing down one of these lovely pillars here? I'm sure he wouldn't be too pleased about that…"
"It might work. Let's give it a try. On three, we use Reducto. Got it?"
"Got it"
"One, Two Three. REDUCTO!"
The pillar crashed down onto the marble floor in a flash. Voldemort looked away from Harry to see what all the noise was. A bit of a stupid thing to do really, in Hermione's opinion, because Harry hit him with an Expelliarmus seconds after. Voldemort was thrown across the room, and hit the wall with a dull thud.
Hermione ran to Harry as fast as her legs would carry her. She finally reached him, breathless.
"Ready?" she asked, even thought she knew the answer already. He nodded and brought out his wand. They both flicked their wands, making complicated patterns in the air, slowly Hermione started to speak the first stanza of the spell;
Trans ages
Per vicis
A rabidus pugna est won
She flicked her wand upwards and a bright light shone above them. Harry slowly turned in his place, muttering the words of the second stanza;
Adhuc , tergum iterum.
pugna has reverto
He flicked his wand in the same way as Hermione had, only he flicked his downwards, and the same bright line shone. Harry Hermione slowly turned to face eachother, and placed their free hands against each other, palm to palm. With their wands arms they linked, and the two bands of bright light joined together in a swirling pattern above their heads. As they began to say the words of the third stanza, the light exploded around the room, so that Ron has cover his eyes so as not to be blinded.
unus iter itineris of vicis of animus , audacia quod vires. pugna vires fio pro totus vicis , pro totus vices
As they whispered the last words of the spell, the light that had filled the room suddenly disappeared and they realised the spell had worked. Everything was in its place, frozen in time. There were shards of glass floating in the air, bits of marble in midair just waiting to be dropped.
Hermione turned her head quickly, and her eyes quickly found Voldemort, lying slumped against the far wall. She prodded Harry lightly on the arm to get his attention, and he followed her line of sight to his arch nemesis. He quickly made his way over to him, with long, confident strides. Hermione had to control herself from looking at his bum 'This isn't the time or the place!' said the voice in her head. She shook her head violently, trying to get the idea of looking in such a place at such a time out of her head. She quickly ran to catch up with him, but stopped dead in her tracks when she heard glass break behind her. That couldn't be, the spell, it stopped everything. She spun round rapidly, looking for the csource of the noise, and to her horror, saw that the spell hadn't been as successful as they had first thought. It had worn off. Bollocks.
"NOW HARRY! DO IT NOW!"
Harry was quick into action, pointing his wand at Voldemort's chest. Hermione gasped, knowing what was about to happen. But Voldemort was too quick for Harry, and in a split second, Voldemort has taken out his wand and cast the cruciatus curse. Hermione screamed.
"STOP IT! STOP IT!" She couldn't move for fear. She wanted to go to him, to help him, or even just be there beside him, let him know there was comfort near even when he was being tortured, but she couldn't. It was like she was super-glued to the spot. She shut her eyes tightly, as if that might have made it all go away.
Finally, she heard the horrendous cackle of Voldemort, and she tentatively opened her eyes, almost afraid of what she might see.
"Go on then Harry" said the cold, crisp voice of Voldemort, "It's your destiny after all. Or have you gotten too soft over the years? Surely not?"
"You. Are. The. Scum. Of. The. Earth." Said Harry darkly, and through gritted teeth. He raised his wand slowly to Voldemort's chest, breathing heavily. Voldemort laughed again, as if somehow so sure that Harry wouldn't be able to do what he was about to.
Harry closed his eyes tightly, tears streaming down his face. He turned to Hermione and mouthed 'I'm Sorry'. Voldemort had gone off on another one of his speeches, but Harry interrupted him.
"This is your end. AVADA KEDAVRA!" A bright green light flooded the room, and a high, blood curdling scream filled Hermione's ears. She screamed from the pain of the sound in her ears.
Finally, the light was gone, and all she could hear was sobbing. She opened her eyes slowly, and saw Harry on his knees on the ground, his face in his hands, sobbing. She stood up and walked towards him slowly, not sure if she should invade on his space at such as time as this. She placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt down beside him.
"Harry?" she asked, whispering.
"I'm a murderer" he sobbed, "No better than anyone in Azkaban. Just a filthy killer, and its not my fault!"
"Harry, you have nothing to be ashamed of. You are right, this wasn't your fault, but that was Voldemort. Harry, you just saved the world." She kissed his forehead lightly, whispering "My hero" trying to lighten the mood, but knowing that it was a hopeless cause. To her surprise, he chuckled a little. He kissed her on her cheek, and held her in his arms tightly, afraid if he let go, she might not be there anymore, or might think him a dirty criminal.
Ron appeared beside them, a cautious look on his face.
"Harry, mate. It's alright, you did brilliantly, better than anyone else could have done. Old Voldy knickers is gone. We've got you to thank for that. It's nothing to be ashamed of." He said, placing a reassuring hand on his best friends shoulder. Harry broke down into tears again and looked up at the two of them. Ron and Hermione brought him into their warm embrace. The three of them sat there, for a time. Maybe it was a minute, an hour, 2 hours. They didn't know. All that mattered was that Voldemort was gone, and the trio was still there, they still had each other, but most of all, they still had Harry.