Author's Note: I am well aware that Author's Notes are somewhat annoying, but I felt that I should at least note that this particular story was begun over three years ago, so many of the scenes that were canon-based when they were written are now AU. Also, the existing parts of this story have undergone no less than three revisions, and the story has still to be completed. Please be patient while I revise, update, and finish! Enjoy!
Tree Climber
Ron Weasley ran silently down the hall of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, heart pounding. To be caught was to be dead. Finally, panting, Ron saw a figure crouched in the doorway leading to Dungeon #3.
"I found you!" Ron whispered, relief filling his mind. Harry sat with his legs pulled close to his chest. He lifted his chin and rested it on his knees, staring bleakly at Ron's legs. "Harry, come on! Voldemort's taken the Great Hall!" Ron panicked at seeing his friend so hopeless.
"It doesn't matter," Harry muttered, his eyes gleaming with unspilled tears. Ron stood, horrified, in front of Harry.
"It matters, Harry! We'll all die without you!" Ron's voice rose with anxiety.
"Yeah, and no pressure, right?" Harry jumped to his feet, glaring at Ron. "I'm not going. It's not worth failing."
"I didn't mean that!"
"You always mean that!" Harry's eyes blazed. "It's always 'Harry will save us!' He's not afraid of anything! Well, I have news for you: if I go up there, Voldemort will kill me! Oh, stop cringing, Ron!" Harry stalked away down the corridor, calling over his shoulder, "Get another hero!" Ron stood there, paralyzed until Hermione skidded down the hall.
"Where's Harry?" she asked breathlessly, breaking into Ron's reverie.
"He- he left," Ron said lamely.
"He was here, and you let him go?" Hermione all but shrieked. "People are dying up there! Does he not understand?"
"Hermione," Ron turned to her. "I think he's scared." It was the one thing that the two of them had never imagined Harry being. Angry, yes, God knows, they'd seen that. Sad, yes, he led a sad life. But afraid? Never. They were silent for a moment, giving silent sympathy to Harry.
"Hermione, what are we going to do now?" Ron asked. He had been relying on Harry to save them. Now, Harry was gone, probably lost in the maze of dungeons. Ron looked at Hermione. She had a determined gleam in her eye.
"We're going to kill Voldemort, Ron."
"No! It's suicide! I'm not going to do it, and you aren't either!"
"Don't try to stop me. Someone has to kill Voldemort," Hermione told him as she brushed past him to walked resolutely up the stairs. "And stop cringing!"
Harry blocked her path.
"You're not going." He told her firmly.
"Who says I'm not going? You? You won't even go to save your friends! You can't stop me." Hermione's lip quivered, as if she might cry, but no tears streamed down her cheeks. "I need your wand." None too gently, she pulled his wand out of Harry's back pocket as she pushed her way past him and made her way up the stairs. Her last image of Harry was his expression, like he had been slapped. She knew by Ron's outburst that he had gone again.
It was little trouble for Hermione to reach the Great Hall. No one was going to stop her; everyone knew that Voldemort would eventually kill anyone there. The hard part came after entering through the small side door. Hermione gulped, standing at the edge of a battlefield. Holding Harry's wand, she plunged into the midst of the fighting.
It was only luck that saved Hermione from being blasted to bits by ricocheting spells. In the end, however, she managed to take cover behind the Ravenclaw table. She crouched behind it, breathing hard. Hermione saw McGonagall dueling with Lucius Malfoy. Hermione tried to scream, to help as her professor fought and died.
Boiling anger replaced her fear. How dare Voldemort invade her home like this? How dare he? How dare he kill these people that she knew and loved, how dare he take them away from her?
Hermione saw Voldemort close by, dueling with Dumbledore. It's too dangerous, you might hit Dumbledore! her senses all screamed. But Hermione carefully pointed Harry's wand at Voldemort.
"Avada Kedavra!" she tried to scream. Her tongue stumbled over the words, and they didn't come out of her mouth. She had never uttered these syllables before. Swallowing, Hermione tried again. "Avada Kedavra!" she said, pushing each sound out. She wasn't the only one to say it. There was a blinding green flash, and Voldemort fell. At the same moment, Hermione was pushed over by someone hurtling into her. When she sat up, Harry was sitting on top of her, looking sheepish.
"There were so many things that could have gone wrong. I was trying to stop you." he offered in way of explanation.
By that time, Voldemort's followers had realized that their Lord had fallen. Many were surrendering, and some were slinking off into the shadows, never to be seen again. People on Dumbledore's side were pointing at Harry and Hermione. "Before we explain this," Harry whispered in Hermione's ear. "I have to tell you that it was Ron who convinced me to come. Some Death Eaters got him on the way here."
Harry kissed her quickly, but softly on the lips before getting up. He put a hand out to help Hermione up. She took it, dazed.
More people had seen the two teenagers then, and a chant went up. "Harry! Harry! Harry!" Harry waved.
"Thank you," he said, pulling Hermione close to him. She sagged against him, and he looked startled. Harry started to lead Hermione away, to go somewhere quiet, but Hermione stood up again.
"No! Stop it! You…coward, hiding down in the dungeons while everyone here was fighting! You didn't kill Voldemort!" she said, furious.
"Hermione, you've been through a lot, come lie down," Harry replied. He didn't expect Hermione's response. She swooped down to the floor and picked up Harry's wand. In one swift move, she pointed the end at Harry.
"Avada Kedavra!" There was a green flash, and Harry was dead. A hush fell over the crowd, then all hell broke loose. Their hero had been killed.