Hermione sobbed, almost on the verge of hysteria as she clung to the back of a partially blind dragon. Her face and arms stung from the burns of the treasure inside the Lestrange vault, her heart still pounded too fast from their escape which had been far, far too close. And she daren't move a muscle for fear of losing her grip and falling through the sky to some unknown location below. There was no way for her to send word to Severus, she could only hope that news of their explosive escape would reach him. Her mind kept racing… How long until Voldemort realised what they'd taken? What they had been doing all this time? What were they going to now, with no way of destroying this new horcrux?
*"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry called. "Straight into the water before it realises we're here."
"… NOW."*
They jumped into the freezing lake, fear, hunger and exhaustion all twisting Hermione's stomach painfully. And as they stumbled onto the shore, coughing, shaking, injured, she had to force herself to breathe and keep it together, dishing out the dry robes, dittany and pumpkin juice she had brought with them.
*"He knows." Harry announced, his voice strained and grave. "He knows, and he's going to check where the others are, and the last one," he leapt to his feet, "is at Hogwarts. I knew it. I knew it."
"We need to get going." He said firmly. "Can you imagine what he's going to do once he realises the ring and the locket are gone? What if he moves the Hogwarts horcrux, decides it isn't safe enough? We'll go to Hogsmeade, and try to work something out once we see what the protection around the school's like. Get under the cloak Hermione, I want us to stick together this time."*
Hermione's mirror had grown warm in her bra as they'd raced through Hogsmeade, narrowly avoiding capture. And although she cried listening to Aberforth's story of his past, of the Headmaster's past, she couldn't help but itch, ache to be alone, to see what message Severus had sent her, and warn him that they were coming. Neville, his face bruised and bloody, his hair long and unkempt, lead them through the passageway hidden behind Ariana Dumbledore's painting. Seeing and hearing about the horrors of Hogwarts from someone who had endured them made Severus' suffering all the more real to Hermione, and she kept her mind on the present with difficulty.
Soon there were voices screaming their names, and she and the boys were being hugged and thumped on the back by so many people, real people, all hiding together, all fighting and suffering and resisting and it felt so wonderful. She was pleased to see every single one of them, even those she'd never been close to, here was the solid proof that it wasn't just her and the boys against the world. It was after the discussion of a revolution and after Harry set off with Luna for Ravenclaw tower that Hermione finally managed to have a moment alone, mumbling about the toilet. Inside a small but well-equipped bathroom, she finally managed to slip her mirror open and look at the message from Severus.
'You mustn't come here; the Dark Lord is expecting you.'
Hermione breathed deeply and willed herself to stay calm.
'Severus, I have quite a lot to tell you in a very short space of time so you mustn't interrupt. Okay?'
'Very well.' Thankfully his reply came quickly.
'We're already here, in the room of requirement. We have Hufflepuff's cup and another horcrux is here somewhere, we just have to find it.'
She paused for a moment, giving him time to read before she filled the mirror with more text.
'He knows what we've been doing and he's on his way. I think this might be it, Severus, I think there might be a fight. You must do what you can to stay safe. Remember your promise and I'll remember mine. I'll try and tell Harry that he is the final horcrux when I can.'
There was a pause, and her heart beat too loud and too fast in her chest. If Severus fought alongside the Death Eaters, there was a chance an Order member would kill him. If he fought against the Death Eaters, there was a chance either side would kill him.
'I will do what I can to help. If I see Potter, I will tell him of his fate. You must stay safe, my Hermione. You must survive. What can I do to assist you?'
His reply made her eyes sting. 'To be perfectly honest, just stay out of our way as much as you can! And be safe, my Severus.'
'I will try and tell Potter-'
'He's not going to believe a word you say!'
"Hermione…" Lavender Brown was outside the bathroom, knocking softly. "Are you okay in there?"
"Yes, fine Lavender," Hermione struggled to keep the anxiety and frustration out of her voice. "I'm just coming."
'I have to go, be careful! I love you.'
'And I love you.'
With a huge amount of difficulty, she put her mirror away and forced herself to stay focused on the here and now.
The journey to the Chamber of Secrets had been terrifying, and Hermione was a little ashamed that she hadn't been the one to think of Basilisk fangs as a way of destroying the remaining horcruxes. How they were going to manage to stab Nagini with one was beyond her, how she was going to tell Harry he had to die was beyond comprehension entirely, but she was trying to just take things one step at a time so she didn't panic and lose her head completely.
"You should destroy it." Ron said easily.
"What?! Why?!"
"This is your one. Harry's done one, and I have too, it feels right, Hermione."
She blinked back at him several times. It did feel right. Who was this man standing in front her, with intuition and good ideas and this instinctive understanding of such deep magic?
"Okay." She said faintly.
"Just remember they put up a fight, don't believe anything you hear or see, just stab it."
They lay the little goblet in the centre of the chamber, then Ron handed her a fang and stood well back. She took a measured breath in, raised her hand…
"I have seen your heart." A high, cold voice whispered in her ear. "And I know who it belongs too. He's going to die, Hermione Granger. He's going to die, scared and alone and you are the only one that can save him. You're running out of time. Go… Find him…. Save S-"
Her arm wavered for only a split second before she brought the fang down upon Hufflepuff's cup with all her might as her heart raced and tears stung her in her eyes. Something like black dust began to pour out of the horcrux, Hermione snatched her hands back away from it, and for a moment, the ground under them seemed to shake, as if the Chamber itself knew a part of its heir had just been destroyed. Eyes wide, she turned to Ron, he looked shaken too, but didn't seem to have heard what the voice had said to her.
"We need to find Harry." She murmured, rising off the cold stone floor and reluctantly putting the destroyed artefact back in her beaded bag.
They left the chamber in silence, laden with fangs, relieved to be rid of another horcrux, but acutely aware of the ever-present time pressure. That disembodied voice had scared her far more than she was ready to admit to herself, and the temptation to hunt Severus down and protect him at all costs was stronger than ever. But they were so so close now, and she wanted to end this, for him as well as for her. A wave of guilt almost drowned her then, finishing this would mean Harry's demise. She had found no way to save Harry, and Severus hadn't either. She hadn't even really begun to process the enormity of it yet.
By the time they had located Harry, a full evacuation was underway and flashes of light outside the windows and shouts and bangs and smashes made the oncoming battle all too real. The walls of the castle seemed to tremble and the three of them rushed back to the room of requirement, the hunt for yet another horcrux pushing them forward, driving everything away but the task at hand. They ran through stacks of contraband, piles of old junk, crates, furniture, books, weapons…
*"It's that Mudblood! Avada Kedavra!"*
The spell missed her my millimetres as she dove aside, and real adrenaline began to pump through her veins. Soon they were fighting in earnest, Crabbe and Goyle fighting to kill, the rest of them to stun, green and red jets lighting the room. Then, a roaring noise thundered around them, flames, larger and hotter than anything she had ever seen, ever imagined possible were chasing after them, rushing over decades worth of jumble and destroying everything in their path. Crabbe seemed to have no control over what he had done if his terrified face was anything to go by, and he ran faster even than them.
*"What can we do?" She screamed desperately, as flaming serpents, Chimeras and dragons surrounded them. "What can we do?"
"Here!" Harry threw them a broom, and then they were airborne, her dislike of flying dwarfed in comparison to the cursed fire relentlessly pursuing them.
"IF WE DIE FOR THEM, I'll KILL YOU, HARRY!" Roared Ron, and Hermione quite agreed as she dragged Goyle onto their broom and rose, rolling into the air once more as Malfoy clambered upon Harry's broom.
They tumbled through the entrance, falling, coughing and spluttering and the door slammed shut and disappeared.
"C-Crabbe," choked Malfoy, "C-Crabbe…"
"He's dead." Said Ron harshly, and Hermione couldn't quite find it in herself to be sorry.
Her hair was singed, and for a few moments, none of them could do anything but get their breath back. Then they turned their attention to the broken diadem in Harry's hands…
"This means, if we can just get the snake-"*
But she didn't get a chance to finish that thought, as at that moment, the battle came to them. Death Eaters had penetrated Hogwarts. They ran to help Fred and Percy, and light flashed in all directions, the heat of spells warmed her skin as they rushed by her, she lived second to second to second…
And then the explosion hit them.
There was heat and darkness and pain. Her hand was still gripping her wand tightly, she noticed her side was bleeding quite substantially as she struggled to her feet and whispered a healing charm she doubted would last more than a few minutes.
And there was Fred, silent, immobile, dead on the floor.
Everything seemed to move as if in fast forward after that. She caught flashes of giant spiders, Ron screaming, students fleeing. Her grief was a savage beast inside of her, barely capable of being restrained.
*"We have to reach the snake. We're the only ones who can end it." She was surprised to find herself crying as she spoke, and had to take deep, shuddering breaths in to control herself.
"You need to find out where Voldemort is, because he'll have the snake with him, won't he? Do it, Harry – look inside him!"*
And then they were off again, running as fast as they could under the invisibility cloak, dust clogged the air, stone fell around them, the shimmer of spells made the air itself feel charged. There were Death Eaters everywhere, fighting without restraint, whether it was against Order member, teacher or student. Hermione felt a sickening rush of fear for the fighters, and for Severus, but quashed it down ruthlessly. Spiders flooded the hall, spells flashed from all directions, giants approached, they helped as much as they could, firing spells whenever they dared, and they ran and ran… Down the steps, across the castle grounds, to the Whomping Willow, then wriggled into the earthy passage, moving as quickly as they could, crawling through most of the low-ceilinged tunnels.
*"… my Lord, their resistance is crumbling. Let me find the boy, let me bring you Potter. I know I can find him, my Lord. Please."
Severus.
Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth to keep quiet as everything suddenly stopped.
He was there. Right there. With Voldemort. And he was trying to get away, to get to Harry, so he could tell Harry his fate. Hermione's heart ached, ached so badly she wasn't sure she could stand it, her eyes streamed, her whole body trembled. She couldn't see anything from her position, and infuriating as it was, the rational part of that was still functioning knew this was probably for the best; she doubted she'd be able to stay put if she caught sight of the most important man in the world. She listened to the conversation that followed, and realised, slowly and with horror and fear so profound she could barely breathe, that Voldemort believed that Severus was master of the Elder wand and that meant… Surely, that meant that-
"The Elder Wand cannot serve me properly, Severus, because I am not its true master. The Elder wand belongs to the wizard who killed its last owner. You killed Albus Dumbledore. While you live, Severus, the Elder Wand cannot be truly mine."*
Severus screamed.
And Hermione could do nothing.
She couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything but that terrible noise, echoing inside her head, over and over and over again. Nothing else existed. She didn't know if she was standing or sitting or laying, she didn't know where her arms were, didn't know if her eyes were opened or closed. Everything was over, surely. He must be dead. There was no way a noise like that would have ever come from him unless he was dying. Had surely died.
And then she had to know.
"Harry." She breathed, shoving the body in front of her, not knowing, not caring if Voldemort was still there.
And finally, he moved, and she tumbled into the Shrieking Shack. Her knees almost buckled as she took in the scene before her. There was so much blood. Severus was white, so white it was hard to believe he had ever been alive. His neck was open, the wounds gushing with yet more blood. There was a pounding in her ears, and she stood there, frozen as if petrified, watching numbly as Severus clutched at Harry's clothes, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
With a jolt she realised that he was giving Harry memories, and mutely passed him a beaker to use…
Oh.
He was surely giving Harry the information he needed to defeat Voldemort once and for all… He was saving her the necessity. This final act of bravery, of compassion, undid her completely, and she covered her face with her hands as she sobbed helplessly, pain like she had never experienced almost destroying her.
*"Look … at … me." He whispered.*
Her hands dropped from her face, and finally, she fell to the floor next to Harry, took Severus' hand in hers, and forced herself to meet his eyes. Amber locked with black, she tried for a reassuring smile, and watched as something flickered, and vanished in their dark depths, leaving them fixed … empty. The hand in hers slackened and fell, and Severus, her Severus, moved no more.
*Text in between asterisks* taken from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
I know this chapter is short and mean so I'll upload the next one on Saturday rather than making you wait a whole week, we do start to diverge from cannon a little here. This story is now completely finished, there will be 47 chapters and then an epilogue, so we're almost done - it's giving me emotions ;)
Also if anyone has any good Hermione/Severus story recommendations please could you drop me a message? I haven't read any for years!