Chapter 23: Memories
"Distance" by Christina Perri and Jason Mraz.
Regulus made no attempt to shield his mind from Snape's Legilimency. Even if he wasn't mere breaths away from death, he wouldn't resist. He wanted Snape to see everything. He let Snape see and hear all that had passed between him and Hermione. The last memory Snape saw was of Hermione telling Regulus everything about her life in her real time, including all that he, Snape, had done for her side in the war. Snape finally released Regulus from the spell and stared down at him, stunned.
"That's why she had to save you," Regulus whispered, a sickening gargling sound coming from his throat. "You're on her side… You're a hero… You're far better than all this…" Snape stared at Regulus for another moment, dumbstruck, then he abruptly kneeled beside Regulus and aimed his wand at Regulus' wounds, intending to try to heal him. Regulus grabbed the wand, his weak grip barely holding onto it. "Too late…" He breathed, "But not for her… Off the cliffs… A cave… Save her…"
"Cave?" Snape asked, "What cave? Save her, how?"
"Save her…" Regulus breathed and his eyes glazed over. His hand slipped off Snape's wand and dropped to the ground. He was dead.
The tension in Dumbledore's office could be cut with a knife. Lily's tears splashed down onto the coin in her hand. It had been an hour, and the coin was still cool. Lily's fist closed around the coin and she screamed as she threw it across the room.
"NO!" She screamed, tears splashing down her face. "She can't be dead! SHE CAN'T BE! NO! HERMIONE!" Lily collapsed to her knees. James dove forward and hugged her shaking body close, brushing her long red hair from her face. A few feet away, Sirius was awkwardly stroking Narcissa's hair as she cried into his shoulder. Dumbledore looked solemnly at all the crestfallen students before him and felt a need to refocus them on what they had been so intent on an hour before.
"Lily, Remus, can't you explain all of this to us yet?" He asked gently. "If there really are students dying over it, please, at least let us know why."
Lily sniffed loudly and pulled away from James. "Yes, we can tell you now," she said softly. "If something really has happened to Hermione, it won't matter if you know the truth anyway. None of us will remember for long. Besides, we promised Hermione we'd use the mirror to tell Harry and Ron if something went wrong."
"Harry and Ron?" James asked. Remus shook his head.
"You're jumping too far ahead," Remus said. James gave him and inquiring look. "Well," Remus continued, "since Harry is your son, we should probably start where you and Lily got married."
"Got married?" Sirius said, nearly laughing at Remus' statement.
"Hermione is from the future," Lily said. Everyone but Remus gaped at her…
Hermione wanted to die. She wanted to crawl out of her skin. She still had a goblet of potion to drink to reach Slytherin's locket, but her hands were trembling so violently that she could barely keep hold of the goblet. Her body was on fire, but her skin felt cold to the touch, icy cold. Her stomach was protesting the potion in no uncertain terms and her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her skull. Hermione screamed so loud she worried she would wake the inferi, plunging the goblet into the rest of the potion. She brought it to lips that bled and she swallowed the goblet's contents. She dropped the goblet and grabbed Slytherin's locket. Even as she sank to her knees, she drew her wand and touched it to the locket. She transfigured it into a glass plate, and she smashed it against the pedestal that held the potion with a blood curdling shriek.
Hermione fell across the cold, hard ground. Her knees curled into her chest even as her fingers fumbled with the clasp of the locket around her neck. She screamed again, but her fingers were shaking too violently to grasp the chain. She became unbearably dizzy and her vision swam in and out. She flung an arm out toward the water, but she couldn't reach it. The inferi killing her would be merciful, but she couldn't provoke them. She clawed at the rock floor, breaking some of her fingernails as terrible pain flooded through her body. She screamed once more, and everything went black…
"How can you be sure she destroyed the Horcrux?" Molly sniffed, "If she was caught—"
"Dumbledore sent her back here!" James interrupted. His voice cracked as he spoke, but his face was hard, determination shining in his eyes. He looked over at Dumbledore as he spoke again: "In the future, you sent Hermione here to destroy that Horcrux. You wouldn't have put her in so much danger for no reason. You believed she could do it, and if you believed she could do it, then we should believe she did it now." James choked slightly and looked at Lily and Remus. "Hermione gave you two a job to do, right?" He asked. Lily and Remus nodded.
"We need to tell Harry and Ron," Lily sniffed, slow tears rolling down her face. "How can we, though? How can we look into the eyes of our children and tell them their best friend isn't coming back to them? They've already lost most of us! How can we tell them they've lost Hermione, too?!"
"Because they need to know they haven't really lost any of us," Sirius said. "If we don't give them reassurance now, while we all still remember all this, while we know everything they've done, then they might think they've lost us. If we show we're still with them—if we do all we can to help them, then they'll stay strong. After all, even if we're dead in their time, you know we'll still be watching over them. There's no doubt about that! If Hermione is dead, we'll all be up there waiting for her. We'll take care of her. They need to know that." Sirius jumped slightly when Molly flung her arms around him and clutched him tightly, sobbing heavily into his shoulder which was already wet from Narcissa's tears.
"Sirius, you're a wonderful godfather!" Molly sobbed, "Whatever I say to you in the future, you're a wonderful godfather for Harry!"
"Thanks, Molly" Sirius said softly, hugging her back. Frank and Alice were also hugging each other. Alice was struggling not to cry. Everyone looked in their direction. Alice shrugged and half-laughed.
"Just thinking about Neville," she said. "Even if we're technically still alive in Hermione's time, we're as good as dead too. We can't even recognize our own son, Frank's mother, or any of our friends."
"Voldemort could've chosen Neville," Frank said softly, shaking his head. "Voldemort could've decided the prophecy was about Neville and killed all of us…"
"We can't do this!" Remus suddenly shouted, his fingers in his hair, tugging at the roots, "We can't do this now! We have to be strong for Harry and Ron! We've got to pull ourselves together and help them get through this!"
"Remus is right," Lily said, shaking her head. "We promised Hermione. We have to help Harry and Ron get through this." Lily walked over to Dumbledore's desk and picked up the two-way mirror that Remus had placed there earlier. She walked back to her group of friends and looked at them calculatingly. Lily drew her wand and pointed it at the mirror in her other hand.
"Engorgio," she said and the mirror quickly grew to about thirty times its original size, becoming so large and heavy that Remus had to help her hold it up. The two of them carried it over to the nearest wall and propped it up so everyone in the room was reflected in its large, glass surface. "They'll be able to see all of us now," Lily said, wiping away the last couple tears from her eyes. She and Remus backed away from the mirror and stood close to the rest of the group. Lily looked directly into the mirror and took a deep breath.
"Harry? Ron?" Lily spoke clearly, "Are you there?" The mirror became cloudy for a moment, then it showed the ceiling of the Gryffindor common room. The sight surprised Lily, but she called out again. "Ron? Harry?" She called loudly.
"Mum—er, Lily?" Harry's voice sounded. Lily's eyes promptly welled up again, and there was a collective, sharp intake of breath from everyone around her. A moment later, the image in the mirror moved and Harry and Ron's faces both came into focus. Both boys blinked and stared, stunned by everyone they saw looking back at them. "What the—"
"Use an Engorgement Charm on your mirror, Harry" Lily said. "Make it full-length, and wider." Harry nodded and drew his wand.
"Engorgio," Harry said, and the image in the mirror blurred as it expanded. When it came back into focus, Harry and Ron were, face and body, completely within the mirror's frame.
"He does look just like me," James said in a barely audible whisper as he stared at Harry.
"L-Lily, what's going on?" Ron stammered. "Why is everyone there with you? Did they all find out about Hermione?" Right next to Lily, Molly gasped and her eyes welled up again. "What is it, Mum?" Ron spoke before he could stop himself. Molly let out a sob in response, and tears streamed down her face.
"Ron, Harry," Lily said softly, "I think Hermione's dead." Harry and Ron's faces went deathly white.
"W-What?" Ron whispered.
"When she and Regulus left, to go after the Horcrux earlier tonight, she said she'd check back in with us every half-hour with the Protean Charm coins," Lily said, her voice cracking as her own tears began falling again. "Hermione's missed three check-in times now. She told me and Remus to contact you with the mirror if she missed one check-in and tell you to carry on without her—"
"NO!" Ron screamed and his knees buckled. His knees hit the floor and he convulsed, doubling over and vomiting on the floor in front of him. He coughed and his body trembled slightly. Harry choked out a cleansing spell to clean the floor and knelt beside Ron. Harry was trembling and crying as well. "Hermione…" Ron whispered, "You can't be dead… You can't be… Please…"
Molly was sobbing uncontrollably. Frank, Alice, and Sirius were trying to calm her, whispering soothingly and stroking her hair and back. Remus and James were both trying to keep Lily calm, too. She was faring better than Molly, but she was still crying heavily. "I'm so sorry," she said to Harry and Ron. "She told me to tell you that, no matter what happened, she did destroy the Horcrux, and that she wants you two to finish it—finish what the three of you and Dumbledore started. She wanted us to encourage you, to help you end it."
"We know she'll have made sure the locket was destroyed," Harry choked out, forcing himself to look back through the mirror at Lily and all the others in Dumbledore's office. "Hermione would settle for no less…"
"You can do this, Harry," Sirius spoke suddenly, making everyone jump. "You too, Ron. Both of you can end the war. You can beat Voldemort."
"Yes, you can," Dumbledore spoke up, laying a hand on Sirius' shoulder in encouragement. "I'm still there with you in your time, as are many surviving members of the Order. We'll be right there beside you two."
"And you know that we're there, too," James said. "All of us that died before your current time, are still there with you."
"Always," Lily said. "Even if you can't see us, we're there, and dead or alive, Hermione will be too. We're all with you."
"Ron, I'm so proud of you," Molly sniffed loudly. "I'm sure I've told you that a lot in your time, but I'm saying it anyway. I'm so proud of you."
"We couldn't be more proud of you, Harry," James said. Lily nodded and gave Harry a watery smile. "You're brilliant and we love you."
"We all do," Sirius and Remus said.
"We all do," Frank and Alice both echoed.
"And boys, if you see our Neville again, please tell him how proud we are of him as well," Alice said. "For all he's done to help you—tell him what Frank and I can't tell him ourselves."
"We will," Ron said softly, finally collecting himself enough to speak.
"Harry, Ron," Dumbledore said, "if you're inside Hogwarts, I assume the rest of the Order is there with you? That is, at least, what Lily and Remus told us of the Order's current residence in your time?"
"They're here," Harry said. "Snape went to Malfoy Manor, to steal Nagini and get Draco out of there." Harry glanced over at Narcissa as he said those last few words and gave her a reassuring nod. Narcissa nodded back and smiled tentatively at Harry.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"Lily," Ron spoke suddenly. Lily looked at him inquiringly. "Hermione…" Ron continued softly, "I never told her… I never actually said that I…"
"I'm sure she knew, Ron," Lily said reassuringly, even though her heart broke as she spoke the lie. Hermione didn't know how Ron really felt about her. Hermione had told her that much. She never knew…
"We should go," Harry said, though saying such a thing was a knife to his heart. "Especially now that the Catch in the Glitch was tripped, we don't have time to waste."
"It will be okay, Harry," Lily sniffed. "You'll be okay…" Harry just nodded.
"Bye, Mum," Harry said. "Thanks for all your help. All of you, thanks for everything…" Everyone in Dumbledore's office, in the past, murmured their goodbyes to Harry and Ron. Then the mirror clouded over again, and all they could see in the mirror were their own reflections, each of their faces streaked with tears.
Draco and Lucius both looked up at Snape, startled, when he entered their house. Snape stared at Lucius with a strange look on his face—he looked preoccupied, tense, agitated... Lucius shifted uncomfortably. "Something wrong, Severus?" He asked, confused.
"Where is Nagini?" Snape asked him. Lucius nodded in the direction of a wall on which hung a long, thin sword. Nagini was on the floor below it, eating what might've been a living owl not too long ago. Snape nodded.
"Did the Dark Lord send you here for something, Severus?" Lucius asked, still trying to make sense of Snape's behavior, "To make sure no one else here is going to try taking the easy way out?" Lucius continued, "No, Narcissa was the only one that weak. I'm going to enjoy finally killing off those meddlesome children and their friends. It will be good for Draco, too—this will toughen him up." Lucius spoke as though Draco wasn't sitting in the same room, cringing as he watched Nagini devour her prey. Something in Snape caught fire and snapped.
"Like you tried to toughen Narcissa up?" He spat at Lucius, "Beating her up, just because you felt like it? For no reason? Hermione was right to get you back for it. You had it coming to you!"
"Excuse me?" Lucius spoke angrily, "You're defending that Mudblood?! Since when do you call her by her first name anyway?"
"Since she earned it!" Snape's voice whipped. "Muggle-born or not, she's a brilliant and brave witch you weren't worthy of harming! You certainly weren't worthy of Narcissa and her son!"
"What the hell is wrong with you, Snape?!" Lucius shouted back, drawing his wand and aiming it at Snape.
"STOP IT!" Draco shouted. Lucius and Snape both turned to see Draco standing over Nagini. The snake seemed to have been knocked out by a Stunner. Draco was holding the sword from the wall with both hands. The tip of it was resting just below Nagini's skull. "Drop your wand and back away from him!" Draco shouted at his father. Lucius stared at him, stunned at first, then furious.
"Draco?!" Lucius spat, "My own son?! You're the traitor?!"
"Close," Snape said. Lucius turned back around to face him and he found Snape's wand within and inch of his face. "I am," Snape said calmly. "Draco only recently decided to side with me and his mother."
"Narcissa?!" Lucius spoke in spite of the wand that was almost touching his nose.
"She didn't commit suicide," Snape said softly, glaring daggers at Lucius. "She died in Dumbledore's place, using Polyjuice Potion, to save him and mislead the Dark Lord."
"Dumbledore's alive?!" Lucius said, backing away from Snape and scanning the room with fearful eyes.
"He and I have been in contact with Potter, Weasley, and Granger, all along," Snape continued calmly, though his eyes never left Lucius' face, "ever since they fled to that village outside Azkaban." Lucius stared at Snape for another moment, dumbstruck, then his eyes narrowed.
"Granger isn't coming back," Lucius nearly laughed. "It will all have been for nothing. That Mudblood isn't going to reach whatever Horcrux she went to get. She and Regulus are probably already dead—"
"Never!" Snape spat, making sparks shoot out of his wand, but Lucius looked smug and steady as ever. He raised his own wand higher, aiming it at Snape again.
"That's what changed you, was it, Severus?" Lucius drawled mockingly, "Regulus and that jumped-up little girl made you soft? Was it because she saved your life?" Snape didn't answer. Neither he nor Lucius moved for what seemed like ages. Lucius laughed again, "Too bad you won't be able to save her. Avada—"
"Avada Kedavra!" Snape shouted. Draco's voice cried out as a flash of bright green light illuminated the room. When the light flickered out, Snape strode past Lucius' dead body, toward Draco. The young Malfoy had released the sword and was crouched down behind a nearby table, his arms shielding his face. Snape gently pulled Draco up to his feet.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Draco," Snape began, but Draco wasn't looking at his father's body. He was staring at Nagini. Snape followed Draco's gaze until he too saw the pool of blood around the snake. The sword Draco had dropped had fallen across the massive snake had left a deep gash in its body. Snape's eyes widened and he waved his wand at the serpent, striking it with a short jet of light. It didn't stir. Nagini wasn't unconscious. She was dead.
"She did it," Snape said more to himself than Draco. "She destroyed the Horcrux! Granger made it!" Snape felt slightly light-headed. He hadn't realized just how worried he'd been about Hermione and that Horcrux. He became a little dizzy from the amount of relief that washed over him as he thought that she might still be alive. "Draco," he said, snapping out of his daze, "Apparate to the school gates and get inside the castle! Tell the Order what's happened! Tell them all the Horcruxes are destroyed and I've gone to the Ministry to make sure it's safe for Granger's return! She might still make it!" Draco nodded a little frantically and Disapparated on the spot. After one more glance over at Lucius Malfoy's body, Snape Disapparated too.
When Draco ran inside the Great Hall, the Order was seated, dinner before them, but none of them ate. Many of the eyes that glanced up at Draco were puffy and red. They had been expecting his arrival, so it didn't surprise them. What did surprise them was that Snape and Nagini weren't with him.
"Nagini's dead," Draco panted immediately. "Granger destroyed that other Horcrux. My father's dead, too… Snape… He had to…" Draco suddenly became extremely tired as the weight of all that had recently happened finally caught up with him. He had betrayed Voldemort, his mother was dead, his father had just been killed right in front of him, he had destroyed a horcrux, and Snape had just taken off to help Granger.
"Draco, where's Snape?" Harry asked, making Draco jump and snap out of his weary daze.
"He went to meet Granger in the Glitch room," Draco said. "He said she might still make it back, so he has to make sure it's safe."
"My mum told us they think Hermione's dead," Harry said. "Hermione was supposed to keep in touch with the others in the past, to let them know she was okay. It's been hours since they heard from her…"
"She's dead?" Draco looked confused, like he just couldn't comprehend Hermione Granger being dead. Everyone was silent…
Hermione coughed, choking on what felt like a smooth, round rock in her throat. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She felt a hand slipping under her neck and lifting her head up, encouraging her to swallow. She did so, whimpering as the hard object moved down her throat. Her body was still throbbing with horrible pain, but the moment she swallowed, the pain decreased dramatically and she felt significantly more lucid. She still couldn't open her eyes, but she was suddenly aware of a familiar noise—a song. Someone was humming the same song that she had used to stop Bill's crying, the song she'd heard a woman's voice humming, when Snape and Dumbledore helped her make the Pensive Perfume. The voice she heard now was lower, male... Whoever it was, their voice was helping to ease her pain. Or was it the song that they were humming? Hermione tried to move, but it still hurt too much. When she whimpered again, someone's hand grabbed one of her bloody, aching hands.
"Don't try to move yet," a familiar voice said softly. "The bezoar you swallowed saved your life, but you're still in bad shape. What did you do to your hands? Hold still." Hermione felt a wand tip touch each of her sore hands and she could feel the broken skin mending. "That fixed the broken fingernails and some of the cuts on your hands," the crisp voice spoke again. Though she still couldn't open her eyes to see him, Hermione was able to identify the speaker.
"S-Severus?" Hermione whispered weakly, her dry lips cracking and bleeding again.
"Yes," the young Slytherin answered. "It's alright. The Dark Lord, Bellatrix, and Lucius are gone. I'm here to help you." Hermione was finally able to force her eyes open. She started to reach a hand toward her neck, but Snape grabbed it and held it still. "Don't move," he repeated. "Relax."
"The locket," Hermione whispered, "take it off me." Snape released her hand and did as she asked, taking Regulus' locket off her neck. "Put it in the bowl on the pedestal," Hermione whispered. Snape stood up and placed the locket where she indicated, the Slytherin robes he was still wearing finally coming clearly into Hermione's view. He jumped slightly when the bowl promptly refilled itself with the deathly potion. "Don't touch it," Hermione whispered. "Don't touch the water, either. It's inferi-infested."
"I won't do anything you don't tell me to do," Snape said to Hermione, coming to kneel beside her again.
"Regulus?" Hermione asked, though she already knew the answer.
"He's gone, Hermione," Snape said. "I'm sorry. I—"
"Did whatever you were meant to do," Hermione said softly, tears spilling across her face, mixing with dirt and blood.
"He told me where to find you," Snape said, "but not… What can I do? What do you need?"
"To go home," Hermione said. "I need to go home. Is my watch okay?" Snape gently grabbed her left hand, pushing up the sleeve of her robes to see the watch. The face of the watch was cracked, but it was still working.
"It's working," he said. Hermione tried to lift her arms, but winced in pain.
"I have to cross my arms in front of me," she said to Snape. He gently lifted both her arms off the ground and folded them across her chest. Snape blinked when the face of the watch instantly expanded and showed a large number twenty-one, followed by a small image of a room filled with pearly white light. "If you leave the cave, will you be able to Apparate back to Hogwarts, alright?" Hermione asked Snape, taking his attention back off the watch, "Even if you can't remember why you're out here?"
"What?" Snape asked. "Why—"
"The second I return to my time, everyone in this time will forget I was ever here," Hermione said. "Your mind will create false memories to compensate. I don't know what you'll end up thinking is the reason you're all the way out here, but—"
"I'll be fine," Snape said.
"You can't Disapparate in here," Hermione said. "You have to get out of this part of the cave. Get back in the boat and leave. Remember, don't touch the water. As soon as I can't see you anymore, I'll wait a minute longer before I go, to make sure you're out. Go now, Severus."
"I'll see you when you start your first year, Hermione Granger," Snape said.
"I'll see you then, Professor," Hermione laughed weakly. She blinked when the young Slytherin laughed too. A genuine, happy laugh was actually coming form the young Severus Snape. He had changed. "Go, Severus," Hermione repeated. Snape nodded and stood up. He walked over to the boat and climbed into it, careful to not touch the water, and he glided away across the glassy surface. Hermione watched him go, wincing as she twisted her neck around to keep him in view. As soon as she saw him climb out of the boat and disappear into darkness, she began counting out a minute in her head. When she got to zero, she took a deep breath and focused all her thoughts on that room in the Ministry.
"Fleur Weasley," Hermione spoke her activation phrase clearly. A flash of white light engulfed her and she was gone.
Snape had made his way into the Ministry fairly easily. It was well after closing. He was just pulling open the door to the Garus Glitch room when the pearly light flashed even brighter and he heard a familiar voice whimper in pain. Snape rushed forward before he could even clearly see the girl in tattered, bloody Gryffindor robes. Before he reached her, he stumbled and clutched his forehead. He recognized this searing headache for what it was. Moments later, the pain eased and he remembered the rest of what had happened in the past, as the Garus Glitch was completely broken. He could remember everything, as could everyone else in the present time. Hermione whimpered in pain again and Snape closed the distance between them. Snape knelt beside Hermione and immediately started humming the same song his past self had been humming to her. Hermione immediately felt more relaxed again, and the remaining aches and pains in her body eased still more.
"That song…" Hermione whispered, blinking wearily up at the much older version of the Slytherin boy she'd just left.
"It's a mystical song," Snape said gently. "It's very old magic. Mystical songs have healing properties—hearing the tune, even if not the words of the song, helps ease pain and anxiety. Humming the tune or singing the song yourself helps even more."
"The woman's voice I heard?" Hermione whispered, "In that memory?"
"Was my mother's voice," Snape said. "She actually knew the words of the song, but I could never remember them. She once told me that the lyrics weren't something you could hear and learn, but something that some witches and wizards just come to know intuitively after hearing the tune a few times. My mother would always sing the song when my father would hurt her. She would come up to my bedroom, lock the door, and sing the song to me. Sometimes she would stay in my room with me for hours, singing the same song over and over to help the two of us get through it…"
"That explains why it stopped Bill's crying," Hermione laughed wearily.
"I assume that is something Molly will have just remembered," Snape said. Hermione nodded, then she began humming the mystical song herself. Snape resumed humming the tune too, and he slowly helped Hermione to her feet. She winced again, but she stood steadily, at least for a minute.
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" Rodolphus growled, standing in the doorway of the room. "Bellatrix thought you were acting strangely when you sent her back to the hideout, but this?! You're the traitor! You—"
"Avada Kedavra!" A flash of bright green light erupted from Snape's wand and engulfed Rodolphus.
"Let's go!" Snape said, grabbing Hermione's hand and pulling her forward, around Rodolphus' body. The two of them ran as fast as Hermione could manage. The moment they made it outside the Ministry, Hermione latched onto Snape's arm as tightly she could, so he could Disapparate and take her with him sidelong. Snape spun on the spot and pulled her into the whirlwind of Apparation. A second later, they were outside the front gates of Hogwarts.
Hermione looked up at the castle and froze. A tear rolled slowly down her cheek as the fact that she was back in her real time finally had the chance to sink in. "A lot has changed in twenty-one years," Snape said gently. Hermione sniffed and a few more tears escaped her eyes. She nodded mutely. After taking a steadying breath, she mentioned what was still weighing very heavily on her mind.
"Regulus didn't need to get involved," she said. "I didn't realize it until it was too late, but I didn't really need his help…"
"I did," Snape said. Hermione blinked up at him. Snape nodded up toward the castle, and they both started walking across the school grounds as he continued. "I only realized it after the Glitch was completely broken, only minutes ago. He was a large part of the reason I came to the Order's side, as were you, of course. Once Regulus and I were left alone outside that forest, I used Legilimency to see all that had passed between you two, and I heard all that you had told him about the future. When you vanished and the Glitch modified my memory, I remembered using Legilimency on Regulus as he died, but I saw different, false memories—I told the Dark Lord he was merely defecting, but I hid how inspiring I found his defiance. All that it took for me to change my position in the war was some understanding of just how much good I could do, how much I could change."
"If that's the case, couldn't the same result have been achieved if I had just told you all that I told Regulus?" Hermione asked, "Or, better yet, if you had used Legilimency on me and seen my actual memories from the future instead of just hearing me explain it all to Regulus in his memories? Wouldn't you have drawn the same, if not stronger conclusions? Was Regulus really needed?"
"Yes," Snape said, a barely noticeable smile coming to his lips as his conversation with Hermione almost made him feel like they were in a classroom again, with her hand up in the air as usual. "While seeing your memories might have also been helpful, seeing what you've done would not have impacted me as intensely as seeing what Regulus had done," Snape continued. Hermione still looked a little confused. Snape raised his left arm slightly, turning the inside of his forearm toward her. If his robes weren't covering his arm, he would've just shown her his Dark Mark. "Brave and inspirational as all your efforts in the past were, Regulus was a fellow Death Eater," Snape said. "He was proof of all the good that one of us could do, because of all he did to help you, including telling me where to find you. While Regulus' help wasn't necessary to destroy the Horcrux, it was necessary to save us both." Hermione nodded understandingly as she and Snape finally reached the castle's main entrance. She paused at the doors.
"Thank you for everything you've done, Sev—I mean, Professor," Hermione said sincerely. "Thank you for saving me."
"Use my first name if you wish, Hermione," Snape said. "And thank you for saving me." Hermione thought for a moment of hugging Snape, as a few more tears came to her eyes, but she extended her right hand to him instead. Her hand was still covered with dried blood, so Snape took it gently. Snape and Hermione shook hands and, in one moment, said all they needed to say to each other. They finally understood each other. As soon as he released Hermione's hand, Snape drew his wand and tapped the doors in a deliberate pattern until the distinct sound of the final lock on the door opening could be heard. Snape pushed open the doors and he and Hermione were both greeted by deafening cries of joy, relief, and triumph.
Snape stepped between Hermione and the Order members to make sure her ecstatic friends didn't overwhelm her, or even worse, accidentally hurt her since she was still in need of a proper healing. Everyone eventually took their turn to gently hug her and welcome her back. Harry, Ron, Mrs. Weasley, and Remus were the last four people she reached.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry," Mrs. Weasley sobbed, hugging Hermione a little too tightly, though Hermione didn't seem to mind the pain as much. "I said such terrible things to you, and I might've never seen you again! I'm so sorry!"
"You thought I was a spy for the Death Eaters, Molly," Hermione said. "I would've reacted worse than you did!" Mrs. Weasley blinked and pulled away from Hermione, giving her an odd look. Hermione quickly realized what was wrong. "Oh! Is it okay that I call you Molly now?" Mrs. Weasley gave Hermione a watery smile.
"Yes, of course, Hermione," she laughed, giving Hermione one more brief hug. She stepped aside for Remus. He hugged Hermione a little more timidly, though just as warmly. Hermione hugged him back, ignoring the sting of cuts reopening. Neither one of them said anything. Words that could express how they each felt about all that had passed between the two of them did not exist. When the two of them broke apart and Hermione finally faced Harry and Ron, the lack of glass between them made her burst into tears. She leapt toward both of them and collided with Harry first.
"You did it, Hermione!" Harry spoke over Hermione's sobs, holding her snugly in his arms.
"We did it," Hermione spoke into Harry's shoulder. "I never could've made it through all that without having you two to talk to. I missed you so much…" Hermione sniffed and slowly pulled away from Harry. She turned to face Ron and her heart skipped a beat.
Hermione had never seen Ron look at her quite like he was looking at her in that moment. Her hair was a dirty mess, she was covered in blood, mud, and even some broken shards of glass clung to her tattered robes, but Ron could've been staring at a veela. He pulled her into a tight hug and she looked at her own skin, to make sure she wasn't literally glowing with happiness. When Ron finally spoke, her breath caught in her chest.
"We thought we'd lost you, Hermione," he said softly. "Lily told us she thought you were dead…"
"You could never really lose me, Ron," Hermione said. "I love you." Hermione blinked, surprised by her own words. They had just fallen out, but she had really meant them. She cried harder than ever, even as she began laughing giddily. She loved him! She loved Ron! How she had taken so long to realize it, she couldn't understand, but she didn't care.
"I love you, Hermione," Ron said. "I have for ages."
Ron loved her. Hermione finally heard it from his own mouth, and all she wanted was for the war to be over, so she could be with him in peace. She blinked as she remembered that they weren't even alone in that moment. Hermione and Ron both looked up and saw the entire Order beaming at them. Harry and all the other Weasley's, in particular, looked like they were about to burst with joy. If only it could last as long as they all wished it could...
"Hermione, you're bleeding again," Snape said, gesturing to the cuts on her hands that had torn open again. No one in the room even blinked at Snape's use of Hermione's first name.
"Oh dear, what did happen to you, Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley fussed, coming toward Hermione again and gently taking her hands to inspect them more carefully.
"You don't want to know, unless you absolutely have to, Molly," Snape said. "Between the past and present, I used a bezoar and a mystic song to keep her alive and able to stand, but she still needs much more, proper treatment."
"Then you should go tell Madam Pomfrey what you know of Hermione's condition, Severus," Dumbledore said. "After Draco arrived, I sent an owl to her, expecting we would need her help. She was all too glad to come help us. Draco should still be up there with her. He'll be happy to see you." Snape nodded and sped upstairs, heading for the Hospital Wing.
"Draco's here?" Hermione asked, looking inquiringly at Harry and Ron.
"Long story," Harry said.
"Tell me while we walk up to the Hospital Wing," Hermione said. "It will take a while. I'm so tired…"
"Just a little longer, Hermione," Ron said, gently taking one of Hermione's hands and beginning to help her up the Entrance Hall stairs. "We can stop Voldemort for good now. It'll all be over soon…"
Dumbledore's eyes glistened as he watched Harry, Hermione, and Ron climb the stairs and disappear around a corner, at the top. "It will all be over soon," he echoed.