A/N: So I wrote this quick One Shot about what would happen if Harry had actually died in battle and Hermione, being a "mudblood" and the very target of Voldemort's prejudice was the one to take it up to him in the final battle. Much like how JK Rowling explained that the reason she had Molly kill Bellatrix was because they were the polar opposites of each other. A quick note on the changes to canon.
Obviously, Harry dies. Before he died though, Hermione and Ron went with Harry to view Snape's memories in the pensive. The trio in their discussions with Ollivander at Shell Cottage have worked out that Harry is master of the Elder Wand. They surmise that the Elder Wand won't kill it's master (however, unlike canon, that is not the case).
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K Rowling, as well as dialogue taken from Chapter 36 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
Hermione was sitting with Ron and Ginny among the Weasley family, tears tracks visible among the mud and grime that had accumulated on her face during the course of the battle. As she sat there, she reflected on the losses that they had sustained so far. Fred, Lupin, Tonks, Colin Creevey, Lavender Brown and the countless others that lay dead in the Great Hall. The battle wasn't even over yet, it was just a cease-fire. She then thought of all those who had been lost in the war so far, Dobby, Dumbledore, Moody, Sirius and of course, the death which had marked the beginning of the war – Cedric Diggory. So many senseless deaths. Yet the war wasn't over. The war wasn't won for either side and Hermione, as a muggleborn, knew that the war would never be over for her if Voldemort won. She'd never be safe as a member of the group the target of Voldemort's prejudice. There were still more losses to come.
"Harry Potter is dead. He was killed as he ran away, trying to save himself while you lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body as proof that your hero is gone." A cold chill went down Hermione's spine. She knew Harry would never run. She knew Voldemort was lying. But she couldn't help the fear she felt after everyone she had lost that maybe she had lost her best friend, her first real friend in her life, the person she'd stood loyally by for not just the last year on the run hunting horcruxes, but for the last seven years on their many dangerous adventures. She looked over at Ron to see the same fear reflected upon his tear strained face, as Voldemort continued.
"The battle is won. You have lost half of your fighters. My Death Eaters outnumber you, and the Boy Who Lived is finished. There must be no more war. Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. Come out of the castle now, kneel before me, and you shall be spared. Your parents and children, your brothers and sisters will live and be forgiven, and you will join me in the new world we shall build together." Voldemort's voice died away and slowly, Hermione stood. Her legs felt like lead and moved on their own accord, like Voldemort's words had cast some form of imperius curse upon her to make her legs carry her to the front of the castle. She didn't pay much attention to who was around her, or where she was. She was numb with all the loss she had suffered. As she was nearing the oak front doors, she heard a shout from ahead.
"NO!" She had never heard a sound like it, not least from the stern teacher she looked up to most. The scream of despair from her Deputy Headmistress and head of Gryffindor House Professor McGonagall ripped through her like Bellatrix's knife. She finally passed through the oak front doors, seeing the group of surviving Death Eaters in black cloaks, standing behind Voldemort who was stroking Nagini, no longer in her protective cage, and then she saw Hagrid, with a prone, unmoving figure with glasses in his arms.
"NO! NO! HARRY!" She screamed. She could hear Ginny and Ron beside her but didn't register what they were saying. Despair and fury coursed through her in equal measure. Despair that she had lost her best friend and fury at the man responsible standing there with an evil smile on his face. Suddenly, all around her, the crowd of Hogwarts defenders erupted, yelling abuse at Voldemort and the Death Eaters. But it didn't last long. With a slash of Voldemort's wand, the crowd was silenced.
"SILENCE! It is over! Set him down, Hagrid, at my feet, where he belongs!" Voldemort said. Hermione was barely struggling to contain her urge to curse that grin off his face. She wanted to end him, but the rational part of her brain told her that there was still one more horcrux left before that could be done. She told herself the same thing she told Ron after Fred's death: "We need the snake, we've got to kill the snake… let's not lose sight now of what we're supposed to be doing! We're the only ones who can end it!"
"You see?" Voldemort said, while striding backwards and forwards before Harry's body. "Harry Potter is dead! Do you understand now, deluded ones? He was nothing, ever, but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him!"
"He beat you!" Ron yelled, and the silencing charm that Voldemort had cast broke. The crowd of Hogwarts defenders were once again yelling abuse at Voldemort and the Death Eaters with one voice. Voldemort slashed his wand through the air and a second, more powerful silencing charm fell upon the defenders of Hogwarts.
"He was killed while trying to sneak out of the castle grounds," Voldemort said with relish. "Killed while trying to save himself."
"You liar!" Hermione yelled in fury and strode forward from the crowd so that she was in front of the crowd of the Hogwarts defenders facing Voldemort and the Death Eaters. The grin was wiped off Voldemort's face with her audacity.
"And who are you young lady? Who has volunteered to demonstrate what happens to those who continue to fight after the battle is lost?" Voldemort said. There was a cackle from behind Voldemort.
"Hermione Granger my Lord, the mudblood who's Potter's friend remember?" Bellatrix said with glee.
"Ah yes, I remember, the mudblood you and Lucius let escape. That's right." Voldemort said silkily. Bellatrix sunk back into the crowd of Death Eaters, no longer laughing. "I am told by Lucius and Severus that you are quite a talented witch Hermione, and you clearly possess the bravery that Gryffindors are so famous for, even if it is foolish to oppose me when the war is lost. You would make a valuable Death Eater. Lord Voldemort knows how to value talent and bravery, even if that talent and bravery comes from less than desirable blood."
"I'll join you when hell freezes over. I have some words for you that need to be said before you make a terrible mistake." Hermione said through gritted teeth.
"Well Hermione, I'm sure we'd all be fascinated to hear what you have to say." Voldemort said in a falsely polite tone, although he gripped his wand tight.
"Firstly, the war isn't lost." The crowd of Death Eaters laughed, but Voldemort held up his hand to silence them. He turned to face his Death Eaters.
"Now, now. Where are your manners? This girl wants to show that foolish Gryffindor bravery. The least we can do is indulge such an act of foolishness before we show her how wrong she is." Voldemort said. He turned back to Hermione. "Continue Hermione."
"The war isn't lost. We on this side," she waved her hand to indicate the crowd behind her. "We're not like you. Our destiny has never been tied to Harry. It doesn't matter that we have lost Harry. We have lost a lot of people tonight." She turned her body slightly, so she was partially looking at the crowd behind her, partially looking at Voldemort and his crowd of Death Eaters. "Fred, Remus, Tonks. We have lost all of them. But they didn't die for Harry and they didn't die in vain." She turned her body so that she was again completely facing Voldemort and looked him directly in the eye. "They died so that you and your hideous ideology will be defeated. They died because they believed that everyone, regardless of the circumstances of their birth, are equal and should be judged upon their character rather than who their parents are. This isn't over because Harry died for us. I know you're a liar Tom because Harry's had the last year to run and save himself. I know that you know what we've been doing. If Harry wanted to save himself, we wouldn't be here right now." Voldemort's face was impassive throughout Hermione's speech, but his impassive mask did slip and his lip curled when she called him Tom.
She heard someone shout her name from behind her, she turned around to see Neville with the sword of Gryffindor. He chucked it to her and with a shout of "FOR HARRY!", which earned an answering cheer from the Hogwarts defenders, she brought the sword swishing down and Nagini was no more. Voldemort was mortal once more.
Then, many things happened at once. They heard a roar from the distant boundary of the school and the sound of hundreds of people climbing over the out of sight walls, charging towards the castle. Grawp came around the side of the castle and shouted "HAGGER!" Voldemort's giants answered with roars and ran at Grawp, making the earth shake. Then, arrows landed among the crowd and they saw the centaurs emerging from the Forbidden Forest, charging towards the castle with Bane in the lead. Absolute chaos reigned. Voldemort let out a scream of fury upon seeing Nagini's headless body, however, before he could do anything, he was forced to jump out of the way of one of the giants' massive feet.
"RON!" Hermione called out. Ron joined Hermione's side. "Keep your head down, get Harry's body out of harm's way! We don't want him trampled by the giants!" Ron nodded and went to safeguard Harry's body. She retreated into The Entrance Hall, looking for Voldemort. She passed Neville, Seamus Finnigan and Hannah Abbott in the Entrance Hall. Suddenly, there was a massive blast and the door to the kitchens was blasted off its hinges.
The house-elves swarmed into the Entrance Hall with meat cleavers, chopping at the ankles of the Death Eaters. Kreacher was in the lead with Regulus's locket swinging off his chest. Hermione could hear him in his bullfrog voice "Fight! Fight for my master, the defender of House Elves. Fight the Dark Lord in the name of brave Regulus! Fight!" Hermione smiled to herself momentarily. She made her way into the Great Hall and all around her, Death Eaters were falling under the sheer weight of numbers.
Yaxley was brought down by George and Lee Jordan, Dolohov fell at the hands of Flitwick, Hagrid threw MacNair across the room, Ron and Neville brought down Greyback, Aberforth brought down Rookwood and Arthur and Percy floored Thicknesse. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy however were running through the crowd defenceless, searching for Draco.
Suddenly, Hermione heard a shout behind her. "MUDBLOOD!" She turned around to see Bellatrix making her way towards her. "You're going to pay for that little speech out there mudblood." Hermione smiled.
"You know Bellatrix, I don't think I will. Are you sure you want to try me?" Hermione replied.
"Let's see if you remember this one mudblood. Crucio!" Bellatrix replied. Hermione dodged the curse and laughed.
"Gonna have to do better than that. I think you're losing your touch. Have you ever experienced that curse Bellatrix? How about I give you a taste of your own medicine? Stupefy! Crucio!" Hermione's tactic worked. Bellatrix parried the stunning spell, but wasn't quick enough to avoid the torture curse and writhed on the ground. Hermione released the curse after a few moments and was joined at that moment by Luna and Ginny. "Not pleasant is it? Thought you'd enjoy a bit of what you've been dishing out all these years."
Bellatrix's face was full of rage. She sent a killing curse which missed Ginny by inches. Hermione found herself knocked sideways by a red blur. "NOT MY DAUGHTER YOU BITCH!"
Mrs. Weasley began to duel with Bellatrix. As the three girls ran forward to assist, Mrs. Weasley yelled, "NO! SHE. IS. MINE!" Punctuating each word with a curse. Both women were duelling to kill. Hermione didn't need convincing. She spotted Voldemort about 50 yards away duelling McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley and made her way too him. She heard Bellatrix taunting Molly.
"What will happen to your children when Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?" Bellatrix said.
"YOU. WILL. NEVER. TOUCH. OUR. CHILDREN. AGAIN! screamed Molly, still punctuating each word with a curse. Suddenly, Hermione heard the crowd cheer and saw Voldemort's face contort with rage. She knew then what had happened. She turned to see Bellatrix's shell on the ground at Molly's feet. Suddenly there was a yell from Voldemort and McGonagall, Slughorn and Kingsley were thrown backwards. He raised his wand and pointed it at Molly.
Hermione cast a shield charm and yelled "NO! Tom, you and me – now!" Voldemort just stared at her.
"You think you've inherited the job of finishing me from Potter, do you? The boy that has survived by using people as a shield?" Voldemort said as they faced each other.
"No. It was never Harry's job. You just believed in the guesswork that is divination and marked him as your equal, so he just took up the mantel. You never would have stopped coming after him, so he just took up the challenge that you gave him. There's no more horcruxes Tom. There's no coming back this time." Hermione replied.
"You dare call me by that name?" Voldemort hissed.
"Yes I dare. You're a hypocrite Tom Riddle. I know all about how you had a common muggle father and a witch mother. For all your preaching about blood purity, you're nothing but a bitter hypocrite full of self-loathing. Harry was raised by terrible muggles, but he never descending into the bitter self-loathing hypocrisy that you have, which means he already defeated you even before you attacked him in Godric's Hollow. He was a better man than you will ever be. Ultimately, Harry will be the reason you are defeated for good, even if it wasn't his job."
"Potter was a boy who survived by accident and because Dumbledore was pulling the strings." Voldemort jeered.
"Accident was it, when his mother died to save him?" asked Hermione. "Accident, when he decided to fight in that graveyard? Oh yes, I know about that Riddle."
"Accidents!" screamed Voldemort. "Accident and chance and the fact that he crouched and sniveled behind the skirts of greater men and women, and permitted me to kill them for him!"
"Haven't I already told you? We were never fighting for Harry. We were fighting against you and your hideous belief that pure-bloods are superior and mudbloods are inferior, yes I'm proud to be a mudblood," when she said this, she pulled up her left sleeve and showed her mudblood scar which Bellatrix had carved into her skin. "But you won't be killing anyone else tonight. You won't be able to kill anyone ever again. You never learn from your mistakes Riddle do you? Harry died to stop you from hurting us."
"So? That makes no difference to the fact I am about to wipe you from the face of this earth." Voldemort hissed.
"Harry has done what his mother did. His mother died to save him which meant that you couldn't touch him. He had a chance to walk away tonight. He could have done as you claimed he did and saved himself when you made the threat that you did, but he didn't. He went and met you in the Forbidden Forest. He let you kill him." Hermione said, eyes locked with Voldemort.
"That's a lie." Voldemort said.
"No it's not. You know how I know? Do you notice that none of the spells that you try and put on us are binding? You can't silence us. You can't torture us. You can't touch us and only one form of magic could have that effect. Do you want to hear some important things that I know, that you don't, before you once again make another big mistake?" Hermione said.
"Is it love again?" Voldemort said, a smile appearing on his face. "Dumbledore's favourite solution, love, which he claimed conquered death. Though love didn't stop him falling from the tower and breaking like an old waxwork. Love, which did not prevent me stamping out Potter's mudblood mother like a cockroach, and nobody seems to love you enough mudblood to run forward and take my curse. So what will stop you dying now when I strike?" Hermione smiled, knowing that she held all the cards and that her opponent never learns from his mistakes.
"Just one thing." Hermione said.'
"You must believe that you have magic that I do not, or else a weapon more powerful than mine?"
"I believe both," said Hermione. She saw shock momentarily cross Voldemort's face, before he began to laugh.
"You think you know more magic than I do? Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?" Voldemort said.
"Oh, he dreamed of it," said Hermione. "But he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."
"You mean he was weak! Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!" screamed Voldemort.
"No, he was cleverer than you. Like Harry, a better wizard, a better man." Hermione replied.
"I brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore!" Voldemort yelled.
"You thought you did. But you were wrong." Hermione replied.
"Dumbledore is dead! His body decays in the grounds of this castle! I have seen it mudblood, and he will not return!"
"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," Hermione said calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died. He arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."
"What childish dream is this?" Voldemort hissed.
"Severus Snape wasn't yours. Snape was Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down Harry's mother. You never realised it because of the very thing you can't understand above all others. You never saw Snape cast a patronus did you Riddle? Snape's patronus was a doe. The same as Harry's mother's. Because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time they were children. You should have realised Tom, he asked you to spare her didn't he?" Hermione said.
"He desired her, that's all. But when she was gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him." Voldemort replied. Hermione laughed.
"Of course he told you that. But he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her and he's been working against you ever since. Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him."
"It matters not!" shrieked Voldemort. "It matters not whether Snape was mine or Dumbledore's, or what petty obstacles they tried to put in my path! It's all academical. I crushed them all like I crushed Potter's mother, Snape's supposed great love! Oh but it all makes sense mudblood, and in ways that you do not understand! Dumbledore was trying to keep the Elder Wand from me. He intended that Snape should be the true master of the wand, but I got there ahead of Potter and you. I reached the wand before either of you could get your hands on it. I understood the truth before you trio of heroes caught up. I killed Severus Snape three hours ago, and the Elder Wand is truly mine! Dumbledore's last plan went wrong mudblood."
"Yeah it did. You're right. But before you try and kill me, I'd advise you to think about what you've done. Think, and try for some remorse Tom."
"What is this?" Voldemort was clearly shocked.
"It's your one last chance. It's all you've got left. Be a man, try, try for some remorse." Hermione said.
"You dare?"
"Yes I dare. Because Dumbledore's last plan hasn't backfired on me at all. It's backfired on you Tom. That wand still isn't working for you is it Tom? It's still not working properly because you murdered the wrong person. Severus Snape was never the true master of the Elder Wand. He never defeated Dumbledore." Hermione said.
"He killed…"
"Haven't you been listening? Snape never beat Dumbledore. Dumbledore's death was planned between them. Dumbledore intended to die undefeated, the wand's last true master. If all had gone as planned, the wand's power would have died with him, because it had never been won from him!" Hermione said.
"But then, Dumbledore as good as gave me the wand mudblood! I stole the wand from its last master's tomb! I removed it against the last master's wishes! It's power is mine." Voldemort said with malicious pleasure in his voice.
"You still don't get it, do you Tom? Possessing the wand isn't enough. Holding and using it doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard. The Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realising exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance." Hermione paused. "The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."
Shock showed on Voldemort's face for a moment, but it was gone as quick as it had come. "But what does it matter? Even if you are right mudblood, it makes no difference to you and me. You don't have Potter's phoenix wand, we duel on skill alone, and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy." Hermione once again smiled at Voldemort's ignorance.
"But you're too late. You've missed your chance. Harry got there first. He overpowered Draco weeks ago, the same night I got this." Hermione once again showed Voldemort her mudblood scar. "He took his wand from him, and he took this wand from Bellatrix." She twitched Bellatrix's wand in her hand.
"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it? Does the wand in your hand know its last master was disarmed? Because if it does, Harry was the true master of the Elder Wand and we both hold wands who's master has died undefeated.
"I killed Potter!" screamed Voldemort.
"Haven't you been listening? Harry didn't raise his wand against you, did he? He willingly sacrificed himself and allowed you to kill him to protect us, to protect me. The same as Lily. He accepted and planned his death just like Dumbledore did with Snape. You didn't defeat him. He greeted death like an old friend." Hermione said.
Just then, a blinding light flashed across the enchanted ceiling as the edge of the sunrise appeared over the sill of the nearest window. Hermione heard Voldemort yell as she too yelled, pointing Bellatrix's wand at Voldemort.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
There was a bang like a cannon blast and the spells collided in the dead centre between them and passed through each other. Hermione felt the green jet of light hit her and blast her backwards at the same time as she saw her red jet of light reach Voldemort and the Elder Wand fly out of his hand. She distinctly heard Ron yell out in despair, but when she landed, she took a moment for the wind that had been knocked out of her to return and sat up. She was alive. She looked over at Voldemort and saw his prone body lying where he previously stood, lifeless.
She stood up and The Great Hall erupted in cheers. A moment later, she was engulfed. The first to reach her was Ron, then came Ginny, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then the rest of the Weasleys, Luna, McGonagall, Neville and then all the rest. Everyone wanted to touch, congratulate, and thank the girl who finished what The Boy Who Lived had started and vanquished the Dark Lord once and for all – The Girl Who Lived. From that day forth, she had a lasting memory of Harry – the same lightening scar that he had on his forehead as a mark of his mother's loving sacrifice, she had on her forehead as a mark of his sacrifice for his friends, for her.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed that. To explain a few things for the avoidance of doubt.
1) It may seem out of character for Voldemort to offer Hermione a place in the Death Eaters. However, he did attempt to recruit Lily and James (Lily of course being a muggleborn) prior to the creation of the Prophecy - their refusal serving as one of the incidences that they "thrice defied him" mentioned in the Prophecy. This shows that Voldemort in canon was prepared to overlook "less than desirable blood" if the muggleborn was sufficiently talented enough and he could use them to further his goals - primarily to amass power.
2) When Hermione mentions the wand's power dying, it doesn't mean the wand becomes useless and is just a stick with no magical power. It means that the power was neutralised. Harry being the master of the Elder Wand and Bellatrix's wand and dying undefeated meant that Voldemort's and Hermione's wands were on an equal footing.
3) I think it was pretty obvious, but what happened at the end was history repeating itself. It was the same magic that saved Harry, and defeated Voldemort in Godric's Hollow. Harry sacrificed himself to prevent harm to the Hogwarts defenders at the hands of Voldemort. Voldemort's threat was "You have one hour to meet me in the Forbidden Forest or I will enter the battle and seek you out myself and slaughter every man, woman and child who attempts to conceal you from me." Harry had the opportunity not to meet Voldemort in the forest, but wait for him to enter the battle. This conferred the same sacrificial protection on Hermione that was conferred upon Harry in Godric's Hollow when Lily refused to step aside, despite Voldemort's orders. This meant that when Voldemort cast the killing curse at Hermione, it rebounded upon him (like it did in Godric's Hollow when he cast it at Harry after killing Lily) and killed him and Hermione got the lightening scar as a souvenir.
4) Lastly, the "magic" that Hermione had which Voldemort did not and the "weapon more powerful" that Hermione had than Voldemort's was the same - Love. She had Harry's sacrificial protection and was wearing it like a shield. It was both a weapon which ultimately ended Voldemort (through a rebounding curse) and magic which Voldemort did not have because he didn't understand it.
A/N #2: I'm considering posting a short epilogue to this however, I'm unsure when that will be.