Chapter Three

Hermione woke up, her body aching. She lay naked in the dark bed sheets not daring to move, flashes of the night before shot through her mind. She could not believe what had happened. It had been so intense, so out of this world. But, in every other way it had been the worst night of her life. The dark lord had been so excited at the prospect of ridding himself of Harry; he had allowed his human impulses to play out. He had played what he saw as the last step in the game of controlling Hermione.

She knew differently. Her body longed for the gentle touch of Ron more than ever. To be loved by him, to be held by him, the pain of her aching broken body was nothing compared to the burning pain of longing, of love. Voldemort had left her broken in body and mind, but he could never take her love. He was no fool, and had bound her body in a spell so strong she could barely move, and her mind was quickly being obscured with grey smoke.

He appeared out of nowhere and stood beside her. "Oh, little one. Are we having trouble recovering from my charms?" His mouth bent into that blood-curdling grimace. "How well this week is going, I have conquered you, completely. And now I am going to kill Harry Potter. You will be coming with me; my excellent magical trickery will prevent you from turning against me. The filthy traitor that I know you can be. You can watch Harry die with me, won't that be fun, little one?"

She smiled at him. The part of her that was burning in pain and obscuring her mind felt a lean towards him; his power, his strength and that part of her knew Harry would be dead within the day. But, Hermione had been prepared for such charms and she remained control over her heart and her spirit. She loathed him and she knew that Harry would be able to conquer him. Soon the war would be over, this nightmare would be over, and she could go back to Ron.

She pushed the urge to scream out in pain to the back of her mind, to the back of her heart. His cold hands touched her pale skin. Her blood froze, but her body did not betray her, as it leaned into his touch. He took his wand and placed it against her left arm. Then, the pain in the rest of her body was nothing and the pain in her mind was forgot as she thought her left arm had been shattered. It was as if the bone had been broken into a million pieces and twisted through her skin, her arm full of excruciating heat. She screamed out, the fingernails on her right hand tore into her hand, splitting the skin. She bit hard onto her lip, letting the blood trickle down her chin. And then it began to subside. She managed to turn her head to look down at her arm, and saw the dark mark blazed against her skin.

He dressed her fragile and broken body. As all she could do was stare ahead, thinking death would soon be upon her. She could hear the seductive voices beckoning her to break, to give up. He picked her up in his arms like a rag doll. She stared at him with as much spirit as she could muster and he laughed, his chilling mirthless laugh. They apparated to Hogsmeade, where Hermione had told him Harry would be visiting Fred and George's second branch, in order to chase up one of their top secret protective lines. He lay her on the ground next to the Weasley's shop in the deserted street. There was no sign of Fred, George or Harry. Hermione knew that he would not have brought any death eaters, Harry was his, and he wanted to finish the job on his own. All the horcruxes had been found and destroyed. This could be Harry's chance. But did he have a chance?

Voldemort did not know that each one of his Horcruxes had been destroyed. He only knew of the diary and of course his beloved snake, Nagini, he believed himself immortal still. He also did not know that Harry would be prepared for Voldemort, thinking his tired and beaten down after a so-called battle with a death eater. Harry was fine. And he was now walking from the other side of the street.

Hermione spotted him first, but could do nothing. But Voldemort had seen something else and was looking in the opposite direction. Harry was coming from the right as well, and the left and from a nearby deserted shop. Hermione counted. Twelve Harrys. Her heart dropped, this was his plan. Voldemort took a minute to recover but then he laughed, he laughed and laughed, surrounded by the multiple Harry Potters.

Polyjuice potion, Hermione thought. And began to count off who they could be in her mind, wondering who of these people she knew. Shacklebolt, Moody, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, Charlie would all be there. Harry himself of course. She presumed, several aurors who she did not know. Her heart dropped…Ron would be amongst them, standing by his best friend. She searched for any sign amongst the Harrys, a sign that Ron was there. Then the Harry closest to her, right in her eye-line, turned slightly. He looked at her though Harry's eyes, taking in her bruised and broken body, her pitiful state, and his body softened, just for an instant. No one else saw the look that he gave Hermione, one of utmost love and devotion. That was him, that was Ron and he still loved her. Her heart jumped.

Voldemort flashed his wand in a dramatic display before any of the Harry's could do anything, and a snake appeared in front to each of his enemies. A menacing huge snake reared in front of each of them, jaw wide, and ready to bite.

"You're playing dirty Potter! How unlike you. How un-heroic. I, on the other hand am ever the good guy. I have brought your little friend to watch me kill you though. Let us give her a good show."

Harry knew that he was the only Parselmouth other than Voldemort and he was the only one that could tame the snakes. But before he had regained his shock at seeing Hermione, the Harry to his right had flashed his wand and the snakes burned in ashes at their feet.

The battle that ensued for Hermione was nothing but a display of fantastic magic, flashes and screams. Two of the Harry's were wounded and had apparated. She prayed to God that they would be OK, she presumed they would be, if they had the strength to apparate from the nightmare that was unfolding in front of her eyes.

The polyjuice potion was beginning to wear off and soon she saw some of her friends appearing from the disguises. Ron's hair now showed, bright red and flashing fiercely in the sunlight. Voldemort moved in Ron's direction. He knew of their friendship, he wanted to play with Harry some more. Ron pulled himself up to his full height, in a quite impressive manner. Reminding Hermione somewhat of a young lion, courageous and strong. Her body and mind was now just a sliver in reality, but her heart swelled and her eyes swam with tears as she saw Ron's display of love for Harry…and for her.

He fought well, but Voldemort was too quick for him. He hit him with a powerful curse that sent him flying to the ground; Hermione did not know if he was alive. Harry saw this and jumped in front of Ron, before Voldemort could finish him off.

"This is it!" Harry roared. "You have hurt enough people. It's over." He saw images of his Mom and Dad flash before his eyes. He saw his two best friends in the whole world, the two people in the world he loved most, and the two people he would die for, lying on the floor, their lives ebbing away, he was not afraid.

"Fighting words, silly boy" Voldemort screeched above spells he attempted to deflect from the several aurors. He was wounded. His hands were bloody, but he did not seem to notice.

Harry summoned the dead Nagini and let it wrap around Voldemort's neck. He saw the look of horror in his eyes and smiled, deflecting his now weakening curses as Nagini grew tighter and tighter. Voldemort attempted to speak to the dead snake. But it was no good. Harry hit him with a curse so strong that he fell back, and he screamed. A scream without pain, but a scream of anger.

Voldemort apparated. Casting a look of loathing and power at them all, and especially at Hermione. She felt his curse ease slightly. He appeared at the top of the three broomsticks, and in the blink of an eye, the building was on fire, encircling him, grasping him, pinning him down. Harry was wounded. He was having trouble standing up. He looked over at Hermione, her eyes began to close, if the spell wasn't released soon, she would die.

His heart began to strengthen, as the aurors held Voldemort down to the roof, whilst he fired curses at them all. Harry turned to Ron. His first friend. The best friend he could ever have, who had been with him through everything, who would have died for him, and was doing so as he stood there. Who was there to help him when no one else was. Ron's family had taken him in when no one else wanted him. Ron had stood by him through everything, Ron had believed in Harry, had seen him for the person that he was and wanted to be. He had given up everything for Harry, even Hermione.

Harry was filled with an immense and miraculous strength. A strength that Voldemort would never know. A strength that he knew would be the end of Voldemort and the making of him. He was filled with the kind of strength you can only ever know when your world has been ripped apart and everyone you love has been killed or wounded. Voldemort had taken his parents, Sirius and Dumbledore and now his two best friends were on the floor, dying. He knew, finally, what Dumbledore meant. He could do this because he had to, because he had to do these people proud, they had given him everything and it was time for pay back! He was Dumbledore's man through and through.

The power filled him from his head to feet, pulsing through his veins. He rose through the air, impressively, to face Voldemort. Who flashed several killing spells in his direction. He stood in thin air and deflected them in a blink of an eye. Tonight, he was invincible.

The aurors stood and watched, in awe of Harry. They had ensured that Voldemort could not escape in all the ways they knew; now it was up to Harry. He was no longer the boy-that-lived, he was a man. He was the one that could save them.

Fear flashed in Voldemort's eyes at the sight of Harry as the curses collapsed in from all sides. The fire flared up around him, licking him. The magical fire attacked him from all sides, making him scream in pain, a scream that no one would ever forget. Voldemort knew now that his Horcruxes had been destroyed. He screamed a scream of a desperate and alone man. A scream where death was a release. A scream that seemed to fill the whole world with pain, loss, and emptiness.

The house exploded and everyone was scattered backwards. He was gone. It was over. Harry collapsed to the floor, all his strength gone. Tonks and Lupin ran to him. Nothing could ruin this moment for Harry, he was wounded, but he was alive. He was alive! He had done them all proud. As he watched the building collapse into ash, he looked up at the night sky, and whispered a silent thank you; to all those people he had loved and lost. He knew that his parents were looking down on him and they were celebrating somewhere that night.

Hermione felt the spell disappear and regained control of her mind. She was intensely weak, but managed to find the strength to push the concerned people away as she dragged herself to Ron. She laid her head on his chest and wailed into the night. She wept so hard those around her stood back. Everything that had happened in the past years was nothing compared to this. Voldemort was gone, but so was her love. He lay there, spread-eagled on the floor. Blood was still pouring from him and covering her. The war was over, but what was left for her in this world?

This was a REALLY hard chapter to write, so I hope it's not too bad and that you enjoyed it.

Please Review.

Lorna, xxx