They landed in a puddle of mud.

The Crabbe Estate was nowhere near as grand as Malfoy Manor, though it did have potential. It sat on the bottom of a hillside, overlooking a cliff that if one were to jump off, there would be no certainty of survival. The waves below crashed loud enough to scare anyone who might try.

There was a hedge surrounding the property, and trees that were conveniently placed to block the view of the three storied house. Even at the top of the hill, there was no way of seeing in.

If Voldemort was in there, they'd have to go off Harry's instinct.

"This is it," he said. "Snape was telling the truth. You-Know-Who's in there."

"Doubt you really need to care for the taboo, Potter." Draco said. "You are here to die after all."

Hermione's lip was trembling. She turned to Harry knowing that words were of little worth right now, and asked him to hold her in his arms. He obliged if only for his own comfort.

"I'm sorry for doing this to you," he whispered. "I don't want to leave you alone."

She couldn't figure out the right response, and simply held him tighter.

His heartbeat was steady against her ear. He'd been preparing for this day longer than a teenager should have to think about their own death. They both have, and yet standing here, in the moment they'd expected, it hurt so much more.

"If by chance I make it out of here alive, I vow to you that we will get the most boring jobs either of us could ever think of."

This made her laugh. He continued, "I'm talking desk job, paperwork after paperwork, never seeing daylight ever again, kind of boring."

"That might be boring for you, but to me it sounds like my true calling."

He leaned back and wiped the tears under her eyes, "Then if I don't make it out of here alive, you have to do the boring stuff for us both, yeah? Every time you stare at the clock in a Tuesday meeting I want you to think about how grateful I am that I'm dead and not falling asleep beside you."

She smiled, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek, "I'll try to stay away from the dangers of this world, but I won't make any promises."

"That's good enough for me."

Draco had his hands in his pockets and was having a staring contest with a leaf on the ground. He looked up at them with his head low.

"Oh, I'm not hugging you," he said to Harry.

"Would rather die, Malfoy."

Putting their guards down, Draco made the first move of putting his hand out to which Harry had no hesitation taking. They shook firmly, communicating with fierce eye contact. Hermione found their dynamic fascinating.

"How do you want to do this?" She asked.

Harry stuck his hand in her purse that he was still carrying and pulled out the snitch that Dumbledore had gifted him as well as the invisibility cloak. He gave them the cloak and the bag.

"There's something I need to do first."

Stepping a few yards away, Harry brought the snitch to his lips, to which Hermione knew it would read: I open at the close. He mumbled something under his breath and in command the metal shell broke to reveal a small black stone. Taking it in his hand, Harry turned the stone over three times.

Hermione stumbled back into Draco. He caught her, but she felt him gasp at the sight that was before them.

They were neither ghosts nor truly flesh, the people that stood around Harry, but it was clear that they were not of this earth any more. James was the spitting image of his son, with lopsided glasses that matched the ruffled hair. Lilly with eyes that deserved the reputation that had carried long after her. Both of them were not much older than Harry now.

Sirius and Remus were younger than they had known them in the past years. Both happier, no longer bound by the passing of their best friends.

But Ron—Ron was the one that made Hermione fold in on herself. He had colour in his skin, a rose tint to his cheeks, wearing the same clothes he died in, but nothing was torn.

She fell to her knees, in a mix between crying and screaming but no sound was coming from her mouth. Draco fell with her. He kept her from crawling over to him. They were here for Harry, not for her.

Harry was talking with each of the ghosts, absorbing every one of their loving smiles.

With the help of Draco's soothes, Hermione remembered how to breathe again when Lupin informed Harry that Voldemort would want to kill him quickly.

"I didn't want you to die," Harry said. "Any of you. I'm sorry–" He addressed Lupin personally, "-right after your son… Remus, I'm sorry–"

"I'm sorry too," said Lupin. "Sorry I will never know him, but he will know why I died and I hope he will understand. I was trying to make a world in which he could live a happier life. I trust that he has people who will raise him to know that."

Lupin looked past Harry's shoulder to Draco. He curved his mouth to a smile. A ceil of approval that Draco needed more than he would ever admit.

"You're gonna be alright, mate," Ron said to Harry. "We'll be with you the whole way."

Hermione squeaked at the sound of his voice. She wriggled on the muddy grass, but Draco kept her close. He whispered to her apologies that weren't necessary.

Harry sagged too. He went to reach for his friend but his hand fell through the ghostly illusion.

"You should be here with us, Ron. It feels wrong not having you by our side."

"As barmy as it is, I reckon you've got me a pretty good replacement."

Ron turned to face Hermione and pulled one of his puppy dog grins. She sobbed, shaking her head in sorry for everything that this year had changed. He forgave her silently, then nodded at Draco, a sign of respect and understanding for them both.

Harry kept talking with the ghosts, but Hermione turned to Draco.

"I'm s-" she started, but he stopped her.

"I know. It's okay."

Draco turned her back around on his lap and let her say a proper goodbye to the boy she was once going to love. They stayed that close for only a few seconds, until they knew Harry was about to leave.

Holding her uninjured hand, Draco wrapped the cloak around them both and they followed Harry, and his trail of loved ones to the edge of Goyle Estate.

Harry didn't fight the wards that were hovering over the hedge. He let them inform the estate of his arrival.

Two guards came to the gate, their wands drawn.

"Tell him that I am here," Harry said. "Tell him that I've come to end this once and for all."

Both guards knew instantly who they were talking to. Albeit hair a little too long, Harry looked the same as he had on all of the Daily Prophets slandering him for the past two years. The pair of them left and walked back up the short driveway inside the house.

Harry's shoulders straightened when his mother whispered something in his ear.

Under the cloak Hermione almost clawed at Draco's hand. He steadied her by standing behind and holding her by her shoulders. Something about the grip he used made her think that this was in preparation for what was to come.

The front door of the house opened and Bellatrix stepped out. She cackled as she skipped to the gate. Harry rolled his wand in his fingers.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Pretty Potter coming all the way here with his white flag? The Dark Lord will be so pleased."

"He'll be even more pleased when he comes here himself instead of hiding behind his servants."

Bellatrix sucked on her teeth. "Where is your little mudblood girl? I've been waiting to reunite with her. I have an art project that I plan to finish on her skin."

Hermione swallowed the words she wanted to spit. The scar on her forearm no longer had a phantom ache, it had a phantom burn.

"You will never go anywhere near her," said Harry. "Even if you tried, she'd make you look like a fool."

"A shame you aren't mine to kill, boy. I'd tear you limb from limb for talking to me like that."

"A real shame, indeed."

Bellatrix spat through the gate and swivelled on her heel. She returned to the front door, opening it for a group of Death Eaters that parted for Voldemort to march through.

He was weak.

Gone was the powerful glide he once possessed, in its place, a humane walk. It liberated Hermione to know that he had to face his humanity.

Amongst the crowd of Death Eaters stood Narcissa Malfoy. A face so beautiful, and yet so haunted. There was a crack in her straight expression. A crack that told them she wished that this was not where she had hoped to see the final battle.

Draco stiffened. Hermione relaxed him with a touch of her hand over his.

"It's okay," she whispered. "She's alright."

Voldemort swung the gates open with a thrashing of his wand.

"Harry Potter… It has been too long, dear boy. A pity that you have been hiding from me all these months."

"I've come to end this war, Tom."

"Alone, I see. How brave."

"This was only ever between you and me. No one else should have ever been hurt."

Voldemort gave a cunning smirk, "Yes. If only you could have saved poor Ron Weasley."

Hermione could tell that Harry was holding back. His knuckles were white and one foot was planted in front of the other, similar to a boxing stance. Voldemort could see it too.

Narcissa and Bellatrix were both heaving. One in anticipation, one out of apprehension.

None of the other Death Eaters moved.

Harry dropped the stone from his hand, and as it fell to the ground his parents, Ron, Sirius and Lupin vanished. He placed his wand into his back pocket and lined his feet back up.

Surrender.

Voldemort raised his wand and tilted his head like a curious child, pondering why after all this time Harry Potter, the boy who lived, was giving up. His red eyes portrayed an early victory.

In a single breath, as the killing curse was shot across the driveway, Draco's arms wrapped around Hermione's torso. The green light struck Harry in the centre of his chest and his newly healed body now dropped to the ground. The dark spell cleared and everyone waited; even the trees waited.

Under the cloak for no one to see, Draco's shaky palm came over Hermione's mouth and she cried into it.

"Oh God," she tried to say. "Oh God, oh God."

Draco pulled her in so he could whisper, "Shh, not yet. Not yet, Granger."

Harry laid on the ground, unmoving. His left arm was bent out in an awkward angle and his mouth gaping.

Hermione had expected there to be hollering and cheers of celebration, but instead there were scraping of feet on gravel and mumbled worries. Voldemort had fallen over unaware that he had taken part in his own demise. Only one Death Eater dared to check on their master.

"My Lord… my Lord…" Bellatrix spoke as if to a lover.

Draco's shaky hand fell from Hermione's mouth and wrapped back around to hold her against him.

"My Lord?"

"That will do," said Voldemort. His voice scratched from his soul being torn.

Bellatrix tried to help him up but he denied her hand so viciously that she stumbled backwards in fear. She returned to her sister, who was secretly distraught. Those hollow eyes could not be covered up by a good lie.

"The boy—is he dead?

Every gaze was concentrated on Harry but no one stepped forward.

Voldemort pointed towards Narcissa, "You. Examine him. Tell me whether he is dead."

Narcissa clicked back into character and blinked away her misty despair. Her heels crunched with every step down the driveway.

As if they were thinking the same thing, Draco and Hermione got closer to Harry to join the inspection. They arrived at the body at the same time as Narcissa. For reasons that were not of her own benefit, Hermione wanted to rip the cloak off so that mother could know that her son was alive.

Narcissa touched Harry's face, pulled back an eyelid, crept down his shirt to check his heart. She was breathing equally as fast as they were under the cloak, if not faster. Her hair dangled over his brows.

"Did Snape send you here?"

The whisper was barely audible, if they had not gotten closer that would not have seen her lips move. Her head was bent so low that Harry's face was shielded from view.

Hermione's ribcage felt as if it was being stepped on. She nearly choked. Could Narcissa have felt a heartbeat?

"Yes," breathed Harry.

Struck by a lightning bolt of relief, Hermione's knees buckled but she caught herself before she could fall. Draco loosened his arms. They both silently whimpered.

Narcissa stood and called out to her watchers, "He is dead!"

The hollers and cheers came now. Some Death Eaters stomped their feet, others shot sparks of red and white into the air. Bellatrix screamed with delight.

"You see?" Voldemort screeched above them all. "Harry Potter is dead and no man alive can threaten me now!"

Celebrations continued as Voldemort threw Harry's limp body into the air, once, twice, three times. His glasses fell to the floor and Hermione prayed that he could remain as still as possible.

A Death Eater was commanded to carry Harry's body.

"Take him to Hogwarts castle!" Voldemort instructed. "We will hang his body from the astronomy tower and make an example of him for the rest of the Order!"

One by one, Death Eaters apparated away, their dark cloaks swishing with them on their departure. After the last one was gone, Draco ripped the invisibility cloak off them.

"He did it!" Hermione exclaimed.

She jumped into his arms and they spun in jollification. Draco could hold her by her waist with ease. He placed her on her own standing with a smile that spread across his entire face.

"Draco, your mother-"

"Don't worry about her," he said. "We have to get to the castle. Nothing else matters right now."

"But if she sees you-"

"If she sees me, she sees me. Come on, the Order is waiting for us."

Draco picked up Harry's stone and his glasses, stuffing them into his pocket.

He grabbed her by her hand and apparated them away from Crabbe Estate to land on the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest. They left in such a rush that the transition ripped open Hermione's injury. She gritted her teeth but ignored the blood seeping through the bandage.

Draco checked to see if she was okay. She scrunched her face up in pain and then relaxed it. They ran up the hill to the castle holding hands.

Hermione remembered doing this a year ago with a different person, and the feeling was different for a multitude of reasons. This time, she was certain about how she left, and even more certain in how he felt about her.

Coming up to the courtyard, two separate crowds were forming. One filled with Death Eaters, the other filled with Order members. An enemy line drawn in between.

McGonagall was on the front line, along with Andromeda, Molly and Slughorn. They had brought everyone in the safehouses and had been here prepared. Neville had convinced them to give people the choice, and everyone chose to fight.

Hagrid stood behind the leaders, then there was Cho, Dean, Fred, George, Ginny, and a multitude of more people that had been summoned.

The front of the school looked as if a battle had never occurred. Hermione remembered that elves were hired to bury those that had passed and in the process they must have restored this part of the castle.

Draco guided them to mix in between the Order to stand by Cho.

"Cho," he whispered. "Why is Andromeda here? Where is Teddy?"

Cho turned, shocked at who she was seeing, "He-uh-he's with Ophelia at the farm. She didn't want to fight. Where the hell have you been?"

No one else noticed their arrival thanks to what was happening on the other side. Voldemort making an expected show of Harry's death.

"Harry Potter is dead!" The snake-like wizard bellowed across the school grounds. "He was killed trying to escape the country to leave you all to lay down your lives for him. We bring you his body and shall put it on display as proof that your hero is gone."

The Death Eater struggling to carry Harry's body dropped him onto the cement. Those in the Order weren't brave enough to hold back their emotions. Gasps and cries echoed.

"The battle is won. Whilst you were in hiding, my Death Eaters doubled in number. The Boy Who Lived is finished, there will be no more war."

Hermione could see Ginny crumbling by her father's side. She tried getting to her but there were too many people blocking her path.

"Anyone who continues to resist, man, woman, or child, will be slaughtered, as will every member of their family. 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."

No one responded.

"We need to create a distraction," Draco whispered. "So that Potter can get up without being seen."

Neville stepped forward, "We'll join you when hell freezes over!" The Order backed him with a united yell. "Dumbledore's Army!"

Bellatrix laughed psychotically in the background, followed up by the rest of the Death Eaters. "Fools!"

Letting go of Draco's hand, Hermione slipped through the crowd to reach Ginny. The redhead was straining from holding back how badly she wanted to cry.

Hermione reached for her, "Ginny, Ginny, listen to me-"

"Hermione, it can't be," she gasped. "He can't be gone. He can't, I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye."

Voldemort and Neville continued to yell at one another from across the courtyard as the two sides of the war watched.

Looking at a heartbroken Mr Weasley and then back at Ginny, Hermione spoke so only those two could hear, "Ginny, he's not dead."

"W-what? He's right there."

"Trust me, he's not dead. He's still alive. We need to create a distraction, okay? So that he can get up and kill him. Can you do that? Can you help me make a distraction?"

Ginny was in disbelief. She was stuck in between anger and sorrow, and then told it was all for nothing. Wiping her nose of snot, she pulled herself together enough to grasp that her worst nightmare wasn't real.

"What do you need me to do?"

Hermione held up her wand. "I need you to start the final battle."

Not needing to hear a word more, Ginny fell back from the crowd. Mr Weasley gave Hermione a fatherly look that she had missed dearly. A tight lipped smile like that could mend anything. She returned the gesture with a brief but needed hug.

Turning back around, Hermione realised she had lost sight of Draco. He was so tall she thought he would stick out but there was just a mass of familiar faces that didn't serve as her saving grace. She searched for him through the sea of people, but he was nowhere to be found.

On the other side of the courtyard, an explosion drew everyone's attention. A pillar had been obliterated. Voldemort stopped his speech and as he turned to face the action a second pillar exploded. Then a third.

Ginny had officially started the final battle.

Someone amongst the Death Eaters yelled, "Attack!" and spells and hexes started flying across enemy lines.

The Order grounded themselves in their defence. McGonagall took charge and the rest followed, integrating the fight. Shield charms were flicked up but harsher curses fought through. People began to run. Not away from the battle—towards it.

In a rush of panic, Hermione cried out Draco's name.

Her throat was hoarse from how harshly she was screaming, but no one called her name back. She bumped into a solid body and looked up in fear of the black robes. It was Snape.

As an act they pretend to throw spells at one another but they were harmless and only sparked colour.

"Where is he?!" She growled over the commotion of the battle.

He knew whom the he she was referring to. "With Potter."

"Why are you fighting us?! Why aren't you fighting against them?!"

Snape broke their fight to strike his wand at a Death Eater duelling Neville at their side. Both of the Death Eater's arms were sliced off in perfect precision. Blood poured out at a stunned Neville's feet before screams of agony blended in with the rest of the roars.

"Thanks," Neville said in disbelief.

"Leave Longbottom. Aim to kill."

"Right. Yeah."

Neville bolted in search of a new masked foe. Snape used his robes to hide Hermione from view and directed her through to the back of the courtyard into a side passage.

"Stay here," he instructed her. "Don't move. You have a target on your head."

"I can handle Bellatrix."

"No you can't." He ducked out of the passage to kill another Death Eater that was getting too close and returned without showing any remorse. "She won't stop until she finds you."

"Then let her find me."

"I cannot do that."

Before she had a chance to argue back, Snape wrapped ropes around her ankles and what felt like glue to the bottom of her shoes, sticking her to the ground. Her wand was pressed against her thigh when a second rope looped itself around her waist, keeping her hand pinned to her side.

"What are you doing?!" She yelled. "I need to be out there! I need to fight!"

"You need to be kept safe. For Potter's sake."

Snape's robes swished with him when he left the hidden passage. Hermione screamed in frustration.

She understood that he was doing it so that history did not repeat itself. The last thing Harry needed was for her to be slaughtered mid-battle. There was a chance he would do something reckless or call a ceasefire like he had with Ron. It still pissed her off that these men were trying to protect her as if she couldn't fend for herself.

From her glued position in the secluded corner, Hermione could see the war raging in the courtyard that was migrating into the castle.

She spotted Dean, who had taken everything he had learnt in training on the farm and used it to his advantage. The twins were close by, fighting side by side in creative ways that would be laughable if people weren't dying around them. Cho was ruthless. No one was daring to come near her, but she was daring to go near them.

Ginny was as savage as she had ever been, Seamus working with her to blow up everyone and everything that got in their way.

Hermione itched to get out there with them.

Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, she calmed herself. With little movement she had in her wrist, she turned her wand upwards into her palm and cut through the rope around her stomach. It set her arm free.

She cut through the ropes around her ankles and used the reverse spell on the glue on her shoes.

"Sorry, Snape," she said out loud. "This is for my own sake."

Running out into the open courtyard, Hermione helped her friends by throwing hexes to aid them in their duels. She narrowly dodged spells coming her own way.

Near the double doors leading into the castle she could see Voldemort retreating in an emotion much stronger than anger. Harry's body was missing and he was clearly second guessing himself on his triumph. He was seething and attacking anything that got in his way of finding Harry. Primarily his own servants.

Someone grabbed Hermione from behind and pointed their wand in her throat. She tried to fight them off but it was too difficult with her sling.

"I'm not going to kill you," a soft voice said. "You called out my son's name."

Narcissa.

Hermione purposely dug her heel into her shoe, forcing her to let her go. She spun and pointed her own wand at the blonde witch.

"He's alive," she said. "I'm trying to find him."

"He's alive?" Her voice wavered.

"Yes. He was kept in the Order's protection in a safehouse after the last battle."

A second Death Eater approached and both Hermione and Narcissa shot him with hexes that sent him skidding away.

"Why was I never told?!"

"Because McGonagall could not trust you otherwise. You are the spy, yes?"

"Y-yes. I am."

"Then you can see why she used him as leverage."

Narcissa covered her mouth, "Oh my boy. He's alive. My boy's alive."

Hermione empathised with the witch she once despised. She remembered the betrayal that she felt learning of Neville's death and then coming to know he wasn't. Narcissa must be experiencing that a hundred times more.

"He is helping Harry take down Voldemort. If I find him, I will bring him to you."

Naricssa blew up a wall in a rage. "Promise me that you will keep him safe!"

"I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to keep him safe."

Cho was struck a few yards away. Hermione didn't bother saying more to Narcissa before running to help her friend.

She duelled with a Death Eater that was quick on their feet, hidden behind their mask. They weren't holding back. Hermione tore her arm over and over again in an attempt to get better momentum. Eventually, the mask came at an advantage to her when she threw a curse at their blindspot, catapulting them into a pillar and breaking their back.

Her sling was now bright red, covered in blood.

Over on the floor, not ten metres away, laid a body. Pale skin. White hair. A scar running across their face.

Hermione screamed. She screamed running to him.

"No!" She held his body. "No! You are not allowed to die! You're not allowed to leave me!"

Her cheek rested against his chest, she stilled herself to check for a pulse. There was thudding but she wasn't certain on whether that was her heart or his.

His body was too heavy to hold with her arm the way it was. She tried dragging him but she was too weak.

Wiping dirt from his face, Hermione cried as she kissed Draco's lips. It was shaky, and wet.

"Please," she sniffed. "Please. We are not doomed, do you hear me, we are not!"

Ever since he told her that their happy ending was happening too soon, she refused to accept it. She knew that she should have told him to go to the muggle world. To be safe from her and the tragedies that follow.

In the middle of the courtyard, she kissed him again. Then suddenly, he kissed her back.

Hermione leapt back as Draco opened his eyes, coughing over the dust in his lungs. She pulled him behind a wall away from the cross fire.

"You arse, Draco Malfoy!" She slapped his arm. "I thought I lost you!"

He coughed again, "Can't get rid of me just yet."

She kissed him over and over again.

"I had to get the cloak to Potter," he explained. "I'm sorry."

"Never mind apologies, as long as you're okay. What hit you?"

He lifted his shirt to reveal a deep gash that ran diagonally across his stomach. "Courtesy of Aunt Bella. I got out before she could try again. Some nitwit hit me in the courtyard thinking I was still a Death Eater."

"Oh Draco, we have to heal it."

She tried to touch the open wound but he stopped her, "Later. This isn't over yet."

"Where's Bellatrix now?"

"I don't know."

The wall next to them blew up. They crawled to the other side of the pathway. Draco shielded her with his frame.

A Death Eater spotted them and agrilly threw red sparks their way. Hermione put up a blocking spell while Draco threw a curse that broke the bones in all of their limbs. She didn't dare ask where he learnt that type of spell.

He tugged her into a dark corner of the castle, "I'm going to lead Voldemort to the Great Hall. Potter will end it there."

"Okay, I'll tell McGonagall."

"Stay low. By the looks of your arm it's about to tear in half. If someone comes for you, run and hide, don't try to attack unless someone else is with you."

"Draco, you know-"

"I know it kills you and your courage but you need to fight with your head not your heart, Granger. Stay low. Okay?"

It pained her to admit it but he was right. There was no way that she would be able to survive should she start another duelling match. The stretch of her injury was holding her back enough as it was.

"Fine," she submitted. "But don't do anything idiotic and try to right your wrongs by getting yourself killed. I need you to make it out of this alive."

He smirked, "I'll try."

Draco went to run but Hermione pulled him back. "Wait, wait, wait."

"What? What is it?"

She went on her tiptoes to kiss him. He kissed her back with force, cupping her face and scrunching her hair into his fists. They were breathless when they finally pulled apart.

"Come back to me," she said.

"I will."

He backed away holding onto her hand for as long as he could until he had to let go. Hermione could feel the tether between them was stronger than ever, and even as he ran away, they were still connected.

She looked around the castle and made sure no one was near for her to make an escape.

McGonagall was easily defeating a group of cocky Death Eaters that were too blinded by their own confidence to notice the power that the elder witch carried. When the three wizards fell to the floor unconscious, Hermione didn't waste time in getting her attention.

"Professor! Harry is alive. He is in the Great Hall now waiting for Voldemort. We need to gather everyone there."

"Potter's body was just on the floor dead. Why on earth would we do that?"

"Because the Death Eaters need to see their master fall. That's the only way they will stop fighting. They're only attacking us out of fear of the reprecuations if they don't."

McGonagall took a look around at the remaining fighters. There were several injured Order members but no casualties. If they moved now they could keep that number at zero.

"Start a fire," she said. "That will draw everyone inside. I trust you know a strong enough spell?"

Hermione nearly cracked a smile, "I do."

"Then go. I will direct from the doors."

They split ways. Hermione ran to the edge of the courtyard and began a fire from her wand. The flames ate at the grass and debris as if it were starving. Soon enough it began to spread towards those still fighting outside.

People withdrew from their duels and sprinted inside.

"Harry Potter is alive!" McGonagall bellowed from the top of the entrance. "He is in the Great Hall ending this war!"

The few left over Death Eaters went to find their lord. Order members followed fast on their tails.

When Hermione reached the doors, McGonagall said, "You go. I'll stay and keep the fire from coming any further. Well done, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, Professor. Come to the Great Hall when you are finished. We may need you."

"Very well."

Hermione had lost a lot of blood at this point. Despite blinking, she still struggled to see clearly. Her legs were wobbly when she tried running into the Great Hall. When she made it, she had to lean on a wall behind everyone.

Harry and Voldemort were circling one another in the centre of the room. Glaring. Green into red.

Voldemort's hand was trembling on the Elder Wand and Harry gripped Draco's very tightly.

"Funny how that wand defies you, Tom. Care to know why? Because it's true master is Draco Malfoy."

Blank shock showed in Voldemort's face for a moment, and then it was gone.

"But what does it matter?" He said softly. "You no longer have the phoenix wand: we duel on skill alone."

"I overpowered Malfoy. I took this wand from him." He twitched the hawthorn in his hand.

Hermione scaled the Hall to find Draco. She spotted him standing with his mother, their longlasted reunion held in the far back of the audience that had formed. Her weak legs took her to him.

He sought her out before she reached him.

"Hermione, are you alright?"

She dropped, "Fine, just a little woozy. We have to be ready in case this goes poorly."

Narcissa helped her son sit Hermione down onto a nearby chair.

"Sit," he told her. "Potter will kill him. You know he will."

Voldemort was hissing. The two continued to circle until Harry shot his wand first.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

The bang was like a cannon-blast. Golden sparks erupted when the two spells met halfway. The Elder Wand obeyed it's true master and flung from Voldemort's grib with no mercy. Ever the Seeker, Harry caught the wand in his free hand as Voldemort fell backwards. Arms splayed and red pupils rolled to the back of the head, Tom Riddle died with mundane finality.

Harry stood with two wands in his hand, staring down at his enemy's shell.

One shivering second of silence.

Then, an outburst of screaming and cheers from the Order. Hermione leapt to her feet from adrenaline and hobbled to Harry, wrapping her arms around him. She praised him, thanked him, and held on to his frame with all her might.

Then Ginny joined, and Neville. Then Cho, Dean, the twins, everyone surrounded him with their gratitude.

Death Eaters fled. Some stayed.

Crabbe Sr roared as he charged for Harry. The person in whom he blamed for his son's passing. Everyone went for their wands but someone struck him before they had a chance.

Snape.

Crabbe went out in dust.

Harry took a step forward and shook the Professor's hand, "Thank you. For everything," he said.

"It wasn't for you," Snape replied.

Without being given confirmation, Hermione understood that everything Snape did was for Lilly. He had sacrificed everything and protected them for years, for Lilly.

Bellatrix mourned over Voldemort's body. She clawed at his robes and sobbed. Her sister's went to her.

Not bothering to even look at who she was casting to, and out of anguish alone, Bellatrix killed the first person that touched her.

Andromeda fell knees first.

"No!" Hermione cried.

She landed on her side, head thudding against the stone floor with a crack. Her limbs gave way and she flopped onto her back, eyes open, staring up with no life left to live.

Narcissa killed Bellatrix while she screamed. She threw the unforgivable curse four more times out of anger for her final action. The dead body thrashed over and over again.

Draco scrambled to his aunt, holding her by the neck and rocking her back and forth. "No, no no," he breathed in denial. "We won, Aunt. We won."

His mother knelt beside him, tears streaming down, some previously from joy, others new from grief. Her delicate fingers stroked her sister's hair away from her soulless face.

"Please, Andromeda," Draco quivered, "Teddy needs you."

Hermione's stomach was heavy. She collapsed at Andromeda's feet.

Draco looked up at her in hopes that she would have the answers to heal her, but there were no answers to give. His aunt was gone. He accepted the reality painfully, and clutched Andromeda's corpse to his chest with whispered promises to keep her grandson safe.

The Order remained silent as they mourned with him.

He sat there for another hour. Hermione stayed with him.

The rest of the Order tended to their wounds.

Eventually, Draco let his aunt go and they went to get their injuries checked out. They sat holding hands. Narcissa had helped those needed to be healed. She returned sheepishly. Hermione let her sit with her son while she looked for Harry.

"Don't go far," Draco told her.

She kissed his cheek, "I won't."

She found Harry coming out of Dumbledoor's chambers.

"Hi," she breathed.

"Hey."

"Care to go for a walk?"

"Sure."

They made their way down to the Black Lake and sat on the green grass overlooking the water. Harry explained what Snape had shown him in Pensieve. Hermione reacted at the right times, shocked at yet again, another lie being told to them.

"So all this time?"

Harry blew raspberries, "Yep. Always."

"I can't believe it's over."

"Should have been over a year ago."

"Harry, no one blames you-"

"I know," he said bluntly. "But it's the truth."

"Maybe not. We'll never know."

He nodded and continued to stare out into the dark water.

"What are you going to do with the wand?" She asked, pointing at the Elder Wand.

"Return it to Dumbledore's grave."

"Did his portrait tell you to do that?"

"No, I wanted to. Besides, I've had enough trouble for a lifetime."

She laughed and nudged their shoulders together.

Someone approached them from behind, they turned quickly out of reflex, and relaxed when they saw that it was Draco. He sat beside Hermione with his knees to his chest.

"Reckon Teddy might need someone to take care of him, Potter," he said, looking forward.

"Yeah, I reckon he might. Are you volunteering?"

"Not by myself. I'll need help."

"He has a Godfather that might be of use."

"Could be. If he's not too busy getting awarded the Order of Merlin and being on the cover of the papers for the next eighteen years."

Harry turned to face Draco, "I think he'll find the time."

Hermione lent her face on Draco's shoulder. He scooped her into the knook of his arm. All three of them watched as the sun began to set over the mountain side, knowing that the farmhouse that bonded them was not so far away.

"So," Draco sighed. "What do we do now?"