The final battle was finally upon them. They had found the Horcruxes in due time, although it took what felt like years, and if you count the diary in second year, they had really been searching, unknowingly, for six years. They had two left to find. Nagini, Voldemort's snake, was the only one that they knew for sure, was another. Harry had an inkling to what the other might be, it was the only thing that made sense for himself to be a Horcrux.
It may have been accidental when Voldemort created it, but it still had a likely probability that he was inhabiting a seventh of Voldemort's soul.
After the gruelling mind invasion from Voldemort himself against everyone in the vicinity of Hogwarts, Harry found himself wandering around the destroyed halls of it's walls. He was stuck in his thoughts once again, Harry had just witnessed memories through a pensieve. Severus Snape's memories to be exact.
Snape was an incredibly misunderstood person. No one liked him, and he didn't like anyone in return, and the reasons for it were unclear. For Harry, it was because of his father, which makes sense because in his early school years, James Potter was a bully. But the reason behind all the hatred, was because Severus Snape was in love with the woman James had married, Lily Potter.
Harry Potter ended up being the spawn of a swine, as Snape had called him, himself.
But, now Snape was dead.
And all that was left of his, was a memory that completely changed Harry's view of his late professor.
At the end of the day, Snape had protected Harry. In ways that made no sense and in ways that risked his life. Harry owed it to him, and to everyone on the side of the light, to win the war. To defeat Voldemort once and for all, and if that meant sacrificing himself, then that was the way it had to be.
As Harry stumbled down the blood soaked, covered in rubble staircases, he came across the sight of his two best friends sitting at the bottom. Hermione had her head on Ron's shoulder and Ron had wrapped his left arm around her. The sight caused Harry to stop, a pang of jealousy ran through him like a hot knife. He watched on and thought of the possibility of different circumstances leading then to fall for each other. The what if's of Voldemort not existing, and him not meeting the pair, Hermione especially. Ron was a good friend but Hermione was the one he would confide in if he had trouble with anything.
He halted his thoughts. Just thinking of those possibilities would haunt him for days.
Forcing himself to take a step forward, Harry continued his trek towards them.
Hermione looked up at the sounds of footsteps behind them, wand at the ready to defend herself from an attack, but dropped it at the sight of her best friend bloodied and bruised. Her wand clattered to the floor as she ran up the stairs two at a time, flinging herself into the awaiting arms of her best friend.
"I thought you left already." Hermione sighed into the crook of his neck. Harry squeezed her tightly.
"I'm leaving now." There was no room for argument and Hermione knew it. "I think we have known for a while that it is what's needed to be done." Harry lifted his head to place his chin on Hermione's shoulder, "There's a reason I can hear them, the Horcruxes." Harry looked over to his red headed best friend. "It needs to happen this way." The look on Ron's face was unreadable, but Harry could tell that the revelation had hit him hard.
Ron gave a slight nod towards Harry, a simple gesture of acceptance and that was all Harry needed for him to welcome his fate. A runaway tear slipped down Harry's cheek as he returned his head to hide in Hermione's shoulder.
"I'll go with you." She whispered, placing a soft kiss to his pulse point. Harry squeezed tighter.
"No." He said firmly, with just the slightest shake to his voice. Barely noticeable. "Kill the snake." He took a breath. "Kill the snake and then it's just him." Hermione whimpered and continued to kiss the same spot on his neck. "Hermione…" Harry whispered, relaxing his hold around Hermione's waist. "Hermione, I have to go." Hermione only whimpered again, but this time brought her face up to look into his eyes.
"I love you."
"I love you too." Harry whispered, placing his forehead against hers. "I love you too." and then he placed his lips upon hers.
It wasn't forceful, and it wasn't passionate. It wasn't romantic but it definitely held truth, love and power.
The tender touch of their lips made the room disappear around them. They held it for a few seconds, before their lips began to move in perfect sync, slowly, cautiously. They exhaled through their noses, not ready to let go. Harry's hand moved from where it had placed it on her hip to her cheek, pulling her in closer, and then guiding up to her head, fingers tangling in her long, chocolate coloured hair. Pressing just a fraction closer to add pressure to Hermione's lips, deepening the kiss. Hermione whimpered once again, her tears falling upon their lips. The salty taste was unnoticed by the couple. Hermione grabbed a hold of the old brown jacket that Harry wore and twisted it in her hands, an attempt to drag him closer.
Their moment only lasted a minute before reality came rushing back. Slowly, Harry softened the kiss and pulled back, keeping his forehead connecting with Hermiones. "Kill the snake." He whispered once again, "I love you." Then he let go, walking past Hermione and not looking back. Harry walked up to Ron, stopped at his side, lifted his right hand to place it on the red head's shoulder before squeezing it tightly. "Keep yourselves safe." Was all he said. Harry sensed that Ron had nodded and let go, continuing to walk down the stairs, ignoring the call of his name from Hermione.
He never looked back once and if he did he would have seen Hermione being held back by Ron. An attempt to keep her safe, just as Harry had asked him to do.
A couple of hours had passed and still no news had reached the survivors of the final battle. Countless lives had been lost in just a short period of time, and it only just added the torment of the day. The lack of news, the lack of knowing was traumatic.
Was he dead?
Is it over?
Have they lost?
Questions ran through Hermione's mind in rapid succession, as she sat in the Great Hall, looking upon the piled up bodies of the deceased. The possibilities are too great, The what if's too varied.
It is a very likely possibility that she had just lost the person she loved most, and she was in despair. Constant tears flowed from her eyes, soaked up by the ripped and blood soaked jeans that she wore. Ron sat next to her, a hand placed softly on her shoulder, giving the small amount of comfort that he was able to give. He couldn't make sense to the situation that was thrust upon him from his two best friends. He knew they were close, but he couldn't comprehend the possibility of them being together. It was too surreal. But, as their best friend, Ron committed himself to be there for them, no matter what the outcome was. Or at least be there for Hermione.
The lack of news had also hit Ron hard, in that second he could have lost his best friend, and he wouldn't know until Voldemort himself turned up.
Ron's fears came true as a shout from the Great Hall stilled them in fear.
"THEY'RE HERE!" Small gasps and quiet screams littered the silent Hall like an explosion. In seconds, everyone began rushing out to the courtyard in piles. People tripped over feet, rubble, debris, Death Eater bodies that had been left to rot like their soul. Everyone wanted to know the answer.
Had they won?
Or, had they lost?
As they all slowed their speed to a walk in the courtyard, they could see the figures of Death Eaters walk the bridge that disconnected the Hogwarts Castle from the mainland.
They had lost.
It was a simple realisation. The Death Eaters would not have walked to the castle if they had lost. They would have scrambled away and hidden. Cowards.
But they lost, and the survivors could see that clearly as they all took a step back in fear of the figure that led the enemy.
It took what felt like hours before the Death Eaters congregated in the courtyard, surrounding the students, professors and Aurors, but as they stopped still, Hermione could see Hagrid step towards the front of the crowd across from them. She gasped and let several tears fall as she grabbed a hold of Ron, who stood beside her. He looked at her, then followed her gaze to what she was looking at and also gasped at the sight before them.
Harry, their best friend, hero, champion, lay motionless in Hagrid's arms.
"Harry Potter is dead." Voldemort cackled. But the next few moments were lost to Hermione as all she could do was stand there and stare at the man she loved lay still.
She only just registered Draco Malfoy moving towards the enemy, fear in his features.
She only just noticed Neville wander to the front of the crowd and pull out the Sword of Gryffindor from the sorting hat. A true Gryffindor.
But she gasped and gripped Ron even tighter as she witnessed the man she loved dive to the floor. Everyone ran for cover as spells ricocheted off the castle walls. But she stood stark still. Mesmerised.
He was alive.
She watched as Draco Malfoy ran from the enemy side towards her. "POTTER!" He shouted, tossing his wand to the boy in question, who caught before firing a spell at the snake.
"The snake!" She remembered, shrieking as Malfoy barrelled into her, a split second before a green curse would have landed right on her chest. She would later come to realise that it was the Killing Curse. "Thanks." She muttered in surprise to the blonde boy, who was helping her up, before ushering her into the castle.
The snake was an evil bastard. Wouldn't die. Couldn't be destroyed. Couldn't be cursed. And Ron and Hermione were finding it really difficult to complete their task.
It was only when they were pushed up against part of a destroyed wall, fallen on their backs that they truly feared for their lives. Nagini had cornered them, and all they could do was fold themselves into a ball to better protect their vital organs from being punctured by its fangs.
But the pain never hit them.
Peeking up from behind their arms, Ron and Hermione noticed that the serpent was no longer in front of them, but a black mist that sprouted faces that resembled its master.
Neville, they noticed, stood to the side with the Sword of Gryffindor raised in the air.
The snake was defeated and all that was left was to kill Voldemort.
"Harry!" Hermione cried, jumping up and running at a speed she didn't know possessed towards the courtyard where she had last seen the man she loved.
Voldemort's followers could feel themselves weakening. Their bond to their master decayed as he was slowly dying. So they fled, just as she thought they would. But left in their departure was a crowd of confused students, professors and Aurors.
The survivors followed Hermione out to the courtyard, hoping for a swift end to the final battle.
The sound of rock being blasted by spells and the sound of shouts of those spells sounded out around them. They were close and the battle was close to its end.
The sight before them was a mess. The castle was in ruins and bodies littered the floor. But what really drew their attention was the two wizards pointing their wands at each other with the Priori Incantatem. A true and powerful connection of magic.
The survivors all gathered around the spectacle, their faces each wore an expression of exhaustion, excitement and awe.
Voldemort was winning, he was pushing Harry back with the force of his magic.
"Go on, Harry." An unknown voice shouted, followed by more shouts of encouragement. The spell broke and the two enemies stared hard at the other. The encouragement egging Harry on. The shouts stopped as the spell died out. The suspense torture.
"Go on, Harry." Hermione found herself shouting. Harry turned to look at her. Their eyes connected over the battlefield and the slight smile on her face and the love in her eyes was all that was needed for Harry to push forward, to use all the magic he had in him to defeat the Dark Lord.
With one last shout of Expelliarmus, Harry turned back around to his enemy and aimed his wand true. The red of the Expelliarmus and the green of the Killing Curse connected once more. The shouts from his friends, his family encouraged him even further. So he stood up from where he was kneeling on the floor, and pushed himself against the force of the magic.
He could feel the magic in Voldemort weaken as he inched closer and closer until finally, he was stood in front of him, the red light completely engulfing the evil wizard.
"Love conquers all." Harry stated to his fallen enemy as Voldemort's skin turned grey and cracked, his face contorting into an expression of pain and surprise, before completely turning to dust.
Everything stood at a standstill, as they watched the dust of their tormentor float along the floor and rise into the air as the wind blew peacefully over them. The silence was deafening and unnatural for so many bodies surrounded him. But Harry only had one thought on his mind.
He was finally free. He could finally breathe.
With a fat, gigantic smile on his face, Harry spun around fast to where he had last seen Hermione. Hazel eyes connected with emerald eyes from across the courtyard, and Hermione too smiled widely, before dashing towards him. Harry followed in her footsteps, sprinting towards her.
Their audience watched in silence and confusion as the victors darted towards each other.
Harry and Hermione collided with a painful grunt. Their arms wrapped around each other in a messy entanglement. Their eyes never left the other, wide smiles tuned to grins. Their lips connected.
A chaste kiss is just a mouth against a mouth, but between Hermione and Harry, their open mouthed kiss grew heavy and passionate quickly. Hermione's body melted against Harry's as their lips connected like two puzzle pieces. Harry held her tighter and tighter, his arms squeezing around her waist as Hermione's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer. It's a wave of warmth that fills Harry up, spilling out from his heart and the warmth of Hermione's lips on his and rushing to every corner of his body: the space between his toes, the divets of his elbows, the tops of his ears. Every part of him was saturated with love.
With a smack of his lips, Harry leaned back and held Hermione in front of him with a blinding grin on his face. They were oblivious to the crown around them.
"Marry me?" Harry asked. Hermione smiled so brightly, satellites in space could have seen it. She nodded so fast that she nearly caused herself whiplash.
"Yes!" She exclaimed before engulfing her now fiance in a bone crushing hug.
The sound of cheering and clapping around them caused them to separate and appropriately blush.
It was no longer their little secret.
Harry gave a short kiss to Hermione's temple as they stood side by side smiling at their friends and family. After a few moments of congratulatory praises, the hype died down, and reality set in. they still had a castle to clear up and bodies to disintegrate or bury.
But as the saying goes, there is always good that comes from something bad.
Author's Note -
Thank you to everyone who gave this story a read, or left a comment. They mean a lot to writers as it can give a lot of encouragement.
This is the end of this story. I had an idea for an epilogue, but I think I will leave it here.
But please leave a comment. Reviews are greatly appreciated, and you never know, it could persuade me to write another fic.
Thank you!
KJES x