A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I seriously cannot believe that we are very nearly at the end of this story. I am so glad that so many of you were happy to see it expanded. I had initially planned on stopping it after the end of sixth year, but I think this way is better. Now, we just have the epilogue left after this one. Ending stories is always so bittersweet, but I hope that you will read some of my other work in the future. I've just started a Rodolphus x Hermione story yesterday and I will be writing another Theo x Hermione, hopefully starting in April. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter thirty-five and be on the lookout for chapter thirty-six soon!
After leaving the Room of Requirement, they had found Ron in the main entrance of the school, with tear tracks streaking down his dirty cheeks. Hermione had asked - demanded to know where Harry had gone, if Ron had really been so irresponsible as to let Harry go off into the forest to face Voldemort all on his own.
Ron had pulled her in for a hug, before tearfully explaining everything that had happened since they parted ways. "Snape is dead - Voldemort killed him to get control of the elder wand," Ron said, sounding defeated. "But he gave us memories that we watched and...well, Harry is a horcrux. Dumbledore's known all this time and...he has to die, Hermione."
She had shook her head, not wanting to believe the words that he was saying, even if it made so much sense. Too much sense. "We could have gone with him," she insisted weakly, blubbering like a baby.
"No," Ron countered, with a forlorn look on his face. "You know he wouldn't have let us. And besides...we still need to kill the snake. I promised Harry I would."
Theo pressed his hand to her shoulder and Hermione knew in that moment that what Ron said was the truth, even if she couldn't bare the thought of never seeing Harry alive again. Even when she knew what was coming, it had been utterly heartbreaking to see him, limp body cradled by Hagrid while Voldemort gleefully announced that he was dead.
Her mate never left her side, not even when Voldemort tried welcoming some of them back. His father wouldn't meet Theo's glare, but she was confident he wouldn't have left her even if his relationship with his father was positive. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had insisted that Draco join them, but to her surprise, he remained resolute, shaking his head while his stormy eyes kept darting back to Harry.
It had seemed hopeless.
But then all hell broke loose when Harry leapt to his feet, somehow not dead at all. She didn't have time to question what the hell had happened to him because the fighting was back on then. She would have time to celebrate with him later, once they had won.
The Death Eaters had been apparating away left and right, move convinced than ever that Harry Potter had some kind of power over their Dark Lord, seeing as he'd been killed by him twice and come back to life just as many times.
She wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, but she had found herself separated from Theo and from Ron and Harry, dueling away with the Death Eater called Rowle. To her utter dismay, he was besting her, if only for the ferocity of curses he sent her way. The only reason she hadn't been killed was due to the fact that he didn't have very good aim, but it was only a matter of time before one of the deluge of killing curses he sent her way would strike true.
Any other day she was sure she would have lost their duel. But this day, she had a wand that had once belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange and it allowed her to cast with a ruthlessness her vinewood wand didn't. A severing hex was dangerous, yes, but she had never seen one fell a grown man before. Shaking with the realization that she'd killed a man, Hermione knew that she couldn't allow herself to relax.
It was nearly immediately after her duel with Rowle that she found herself trapped by the snake they had all been looking for, Nagini. The beast struck at her with an unnatural quickness, eager to kill her if it could. No matter what spells she sent its way, she couldn't kill it, stumbling backwards with each progressive exchange.
Finally, she had tripped back over some stairs, the hard marble digging into her back, and she was certain that it was the end for her. The snake reared its head, looming over her, and Hermione waited for the bite to come, but...
Godric, she had never been so happy to see Neville Longbottom in her life. Sword of Gryffindor in hand, he had decapitated the snake handily, leaving the last of Voldemort's horcruxes dead.
There wasn't even time to properly thank the now tall and lean young man, who was brimming with confidence that she had never seen before. She wasn't sure how she knew it, but she needed to get to Theo. Sprinting across the school, her feet followed an unknown path to her mate. It wasn't hard to find him even if she couldn't understand how she had done it.
Theo was dueling with his father, sweat dripping down the side of his face. Although his father might have been old and left frail after many months in Azkaban, that didn't mean his wandwork wasn't particularly vicious. He seemed to want to destroy his own son, no matter what it took. But, Theo was filled with just as much rage as his father was, and he was fighting for so much more. Hermione watched in horror as Theo finally struck his father with a horrific looking curse. The older man had fallen to his knees, crumpled in agony, before he finally died.
Rushing into Theo's arms, the pair had remained together, fighting off random Death Eaters until they heard an inhuman screech. Everyone turned to watch as the man known as Lord Voldemort disintegrate into dust. Harry was victorious.
The assorted Death Eaters began to apparate away, knowing that further resistance would only spell death for themselves. Cheers from everyone fighting on the winning side seemed deafening, but all Hermione could focus on was Theo wrapping her tightly in an embrace, lips pressed firmly to her own, pouring every ounce of love that he held for her into it.
As Hermione let Theo hold her in his arms, stroking his hand up and down her back in soothing circles, she tried to make herself recognize that it was over. That she could finally relax. That Voldemort was dead now and he wasn't coming back. That the man who had tormented her life for approximately seven years at this point was no more. It was difficult to relax after being so on edge for so long, especially when they had to work through so much to get there.
Harry and Ron found them like that. Hermione had let Theo go, if only to wrap her two friends into a tight, bone crushing hug. "I can't believe you ran off without saying goodbye to me, Harry," she scolded with a laugh. "But I am so proud that you did it. He's really gone."
"I couldn't have done it without the three of you," Harry said, giving Theo a significant look. It was nice to know that Harry well and truly appreciated Theo, especially after the less than warm welcome he'd initially gotten.
"Yeah, you are alright, Nott," Ron said with a hint of a blush on his face, perhaps embarrassed for the abominable way he'd treated Theo at the beginning, when he'd been so jealous of his relationship with Hermione. "I-thanks...that is...I'm glad that you and Hermione are happy together," he said, swallowing thickly. "And I never said...thank you for saving me back at Gringotts."
Hermione squeezed Theo's hand tightly. "It's - you're welcome Weasley," Theo said magnanimously. While she was certain they wouldn't become best friends, she thought that Theo and Ron would at least be able to get along with one another well enough to chit chat with each other, and maybe over time, they could become better friends.
"Well, I am gonna go find my family," Ron said brightly, before Harry agreed to go with him.
When the pair of them was gone, Theo and Hermione began to wander the castle grounds together. It wasn't long until they came across Remus, who was looking a bit worse for wear, but with a huge smile on his face. "Hermione, Theodore!" he called out, waving them over to where he was standing. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes."
"Remus," Hermione greeted him. "I am glad to see that you are alright. Is everything okay with Tonks, too?"
"Hmm? Oh, yes, yes, Nymphadora is wonderful - just gone to get our son from her mother's house," he said absentmindedly, before a smile lit up his face once again. "Oh, I suppose you hadn't even heard - our son, Teddy, was born last month," he told them proudly.
"That's wonderful, Remus!" Hermione said brightly. "Congratulations. I can't wait to meet him."
"Nymphadora and I talked a lot, and well, we were wondering if you'd be godmother to him, Hermione?" he asked, looking at her hopefully. Perhaps he remembered that the way that they had parted had not been the most pleasant, especially the way he had tried to interfere in their relationship. "You've always had Teddy's best interest at heart. Harry's agreed to be godfather."
Hermione swallowed thickly, looking up to Theo out of the corner of his eyes, hoping he wouldn't object. "Of course I will," she answered, knowing that she really would always keep Teddy's best interest at heart. Who knew, he might still need someone to balance out Remus's pessimism out. Maybe Teddy seeing her relationship with Theo would give him another perspective of what it was like to be a werewolf.
Remus cleared his throat, looking at the way the two teenagers stood together, before his eyes zeroed in on the faint scar at Hermione's neck, exposed by ripped jumper. "It seems that congratulations are in order for you as well," he said, not quite sounding disappointed, but not quite thrilled either. Hermione knew he'd rather they had waited longer before mating one another, or at least until the war was over.
"I- Greyback captured us, and at Malfoy Manor he strongly suggested that I mark her-" Theo said, authoritatively, his arm wrapping around Hermione's shoulders possessively. He had been pushed to mark her, yes, but he wasn't about to apologize for it, either. They were meant for one another, he was more sure of it now than he'd ever been.
"Yes, thank you for your congratulations," Hermione said, with a smile firmly in place. She wasn't going to let Remus think that it was anything less than the wonderful thing that it was. "We are very happy." Hermione pressed herself up to her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to Theo's jaw.
"Of course," Remus nodded, realizing that he might have overstepped.
"Greyback-" Theo started, unsure of what he wanted to say. Wetting his lower lip, he continued. "Greyback helped us when we were at Malfoy Manor. He said that he would put our kind before the Dark Lord every time." His dark eyebrows were furrowed together in thought, unsure of what he was trying to say. Did he want to thank the ferocious werewolf?
"Greyback is dead," Remus said firmly. "I saw him felled down myself. Just remember, you wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for him," he added, pressing his hand to Theo's shoulder. "Well, I better get back to helping Kingsley track the remaining Death Eaters down."
When the two teenagers were alone once again, they turned to face each other. Hermione smiled first. It was infectious, the corners of Theo's mouth turning up in a smile. He pulled her closer to him to press a lingering kiss to her lips, uncaring if anyone saw them. When he finally broke away, he smirked at the dazed look on her face. "Could I interest you into investigating my home with me? I believe I am now the master of the house," he said cheekily, as though the reason wasn't because of the death of his father.
Still, Hermione was desperate to sleep in a real bed, and to be truly alone with Theo for the first time in months. "I could be convinced," she answered back, pressing her face against his chest, hearing his heart beating strongly in his chest, full of love for her.
His eyes softened when he looked into her eyes. "My mate," he said affectionately, before apparating them away.