Story Number 4:

He made a promise to her, that he will keep her safe, then she was marked a 'Mudblood' for life and now he had an appointment with destiny, to face an insurmountable fate; what was he to do?

Absolution

Hermione was returning to the Gryffindor common room her spirits high, with Ron playing wonderfully and literally saving the match with his excellent keeping, why wouldn't she be. Now that he had finally managed to earn his own commendation, she hoped that Ron might lose his jealousy streak and grow up enough. She hoped that she would finally be able to have her dreams come true; after patching up with Harry over the stupid 'Half Blood Prince' book and now things looking up with the possibility of bagging Ron as her boyfriend; Hermione was certainly doing cartwheels in her mind.

She took a slight detour to the library to return some of the books she had and get new ones. She did not mind missing the party too, but was tempted to enjoy the sight of Ron basking in the glory that he earned all by himself.

Her heart was shattered however when the very first thing she was upon entering the boisterous party, was Lavender Brown pouncing on Ron and locking her lips with him. Ron was shocked at first but when Lavender pulled back, he dived in to deepen the kiss. Tears threatening to break through, Hermione turned tail and left the common room at a brisk pace and entered the first unused class room she saw. She hoped that no one saw her departure and then began crying bitterly, after so long, she finally hoped that Ron would see what was before him and ask her out but them at the very first opportunity he went and broke her heart, again. She could not deny that she was dreaming about it and though she would vehemently deny it, the thought of Ron asking her out in the middle of the common room after one such emphatic win kept her awake many a nights and now her dreams were shattered beyond repair.

'Could she get over this heart break and hope to catch Ron on the rebound? Did she really want to be the second choice? Would Ron even break up with Lavender for that to even be possible? Was Ron really interested in her or was she living with a delusion?' All these raging thoughts brought on a headache and even the amazing twittering birds she created without any serious thought and were now encircling her did not soothe her anguish. She did not want anyone to find her in such a state especially Harry or worse Ron; she did not want to have the humiliation of seeing Lavender flaunt her new catch in front of her. It was no secret among the girls of her year that Hermione was pining for Ron and now that everyone saw Ron prefer the buxom blonde over her, it would add fuel to the gossip that was sure to start.

She thought that she was safe in the out of the way classroom and so was startled when the door opened. Hermione hastily tried to wipe her tears but they were unrelenting, thankfully it was only Harry, even though she wished that she was not found out, it was better that it was Harry.

"Oh! Hi Harry, I was just practicing" Hermione said referring to the twittering birds.

Harry gave her an awkward smile, "They are beautiful".

He settled beside Hermione on the teacher's table with his legs touching the ground while hers were hanging in the air, not quite reaching the ground. Hermione was thankful that Harry did not say anything, did not try to defend Ron or apologize on his behalf, just sat beside her, giving her his silent support and Hermione was grateful for that. She had her breakdown and was in no mood for any explanations or awkward apologies which were neither sincere nor from the one who actually was the culprit.

After a few minutes of companionable silence, Hermione sighed heavily, "How does it feel, Harry? To see the one you want with another guy?"

Harry looked at her, contemplating his answer, he knew that she was alluding to Ginny, but no one, not even Hermione knew who he was actually thirsting for; someone who he was now convinced was out of his reach. He wanted to stall, to lie that it was going to be alright in the end to cheer her up, but at that moment with his future uncertain, he wanted someone to really understand what his life was like. He did not want to burden Hermione, who was carrying her own share of problems, but he felt that she should know the truth. What she thought was a burden she was carrying around or feeling crushed about, was nothing in comparison to what he had felt all his life.

"It doesn't feel any different than I feel every day of my life actually" Harry replied frankly.

Of all the things Hermione expected, this was nowhere close and that proclamation alone stopped her tears. She tried her best to puzzle out Harry's statement but finally had to concede defeat, "What do you mean Harry?" she asked with a frown marring her face.

Now that he had actually taken the first step, the rest followed soon, "Like a reject" he said without any emotion in his voice. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise at that, she could barely hang on in the torrent that was Harry's anguish pouring out of him and frankly it scared her, "Ever since I have known, I felt only rejection in my life; rejection from my Aunt and Uncle when I was a mere babe. Disappointment when they took away my perfect homework to give it to their darling son, rejected by my peers and teachers at primary school for being dressed in my cousin's castoffs and generally being a freak. Coming here was no better, praised one minute and pushed into a hell the next, I have stopped looking for the rainbow after the storm. Now that I know what's in store for me in my future" Harry scoffed before continuing, "… a distinct lack off any future, I feel as if I understand everything that has happened to me, all of this was for my own good. If need be I can go to my death knowing that it was what I was prepared for, a total lack of any hope. What is the disappointment of losing the girl I love to another guy?" What he did not say though was the pain at seeing her pining over someone who was not him and who was not at all suitable for her in his opinion. If she was to choose someone over him, it should have been someone who would appreciate her and support her in everything she wanted to do. Ron was a good guy but he had his own beliefs that were ingrained, and never took the time to understand any other point of view, he was not someone who would support Hermione's sometimes very radical ideas.

Hermione was frankly horrified; she thought that she knew the boy who she considered her best friend, but what she knew was what she saw through a tinted glass. Overcome with emotion, she grabbed him in a fierce hug, "You are not a reject, Harry; you are a wonderful person. It's Ginny's loss that she does not realize what she's missing."

'… and therein lies the problem. The one I want to spend my life with, the one I want to fight with death for, does not realize who I really want, and she does not want me' he thought but aloud he said, "What you say does not change the fact about how everyone sees me as, Hermione, what I am intended to be. I was born to be only one thing, a means to end Voldemort, nothing else." He returned her hug, "Thanks for the thought though."

Hermione wanted to refute his argument, his entrenched opinion of himself, 'does he not realize what he really is, his selflessness, his courage, his impeccable morality, and not to mention those utterly gorgeous eyes. Who would not fall for them?' she thought. Unfortunately, it did not occur to her that she herself was a contradiction to her own assessment. Before she could say anything though, the door burst open to admit a giggling Lavender dragging an equally silly looking Ron.

"Oops! It looks like this room is taken" Lavender blurted out before darting out again.

Ron scratched the back of his neck and gave the two a lopsided smile, "Hey Guys! What are you doing here?"

Hermione's temper rose, that question was probably innocent enough but the circumstance that she was in; snuggled into Harry, with her head on his shoulder could be misconstrued. Besides the revelations from her best friend shocked her very core, "Nothing that would interest you Ron, go back to your girlfriend. I am sure that she would not like if you keep your lips away from her for too long" Hermione gritted out barely restraining her fury at the redhead.

For the umpteenth time, Ron's jealousy at Harry surfaced again, "Doesn't look like nothing to me."

That was the trigger to her bottled up frustration, without any other word she directed the circling birds to attack Ron who beat a hasty retreat at the furious onslaught. Hermione choked out a sob but managed to keep her tears at bay.

"That was awkward" Harry broke the ensuing silence, "Your potential boyfriend catching you with another guy all alone." Harry was proud of himself that he kept the bitterness he was feeling away from his voice.

Hermione chose not to comment on the boyfriend tag but instead inadvertently dug the barb deep into Harry, "Nothing compared to your life though" she snorted.

The silence gave Hermione a chance to really think about the events, though her judgment was clouded due to her infatuation with Ron, she had to accept that she thought very less about Harry's real plight. "I never knew, Harry. I always thought that you were happy with your life, yes, I heard tales from Ron and the twins but never thought that they had some truth in them" she sighed.

Harry shrugged; what could he say, he never tried to garner sympathy or broadcasted his miserable life like Malfoy would flaunt his opulence. "I do not blame you Hermione; I only let you see what everyone wanted to see. I was afraid to open up to you, to get any closer to you, for the same reasons as I have mentioned before, of being disappointed."

Drowned in her own self-pity, Hermione was oblivious to the implications of Harry's words. '… and here I was worried about grades, deathly afraid of losing a single mark in a test, pitying myself about boyfriends.' She did not voice her thoughts on the matter, '… when Harry is convinced that he does not have a life to live…' An involuntary snort escaped her.

"Care to share what was so funny?"

"Nothing of importance, Harry" she hedged but then she sighed, "… it's just that I was worried about things like boyfriends, crying my eyes out that the person I imagined kissing me, kissing someone else right before my very own eyes, that too when I did not even have my first kiss." She hesitated trying to impart the seriousness of her words, "… when I should have been concerned about my best friend surviving an impossible fate."

"It's not your life to be worried about, Hermione" Harry was pragmatic.

Hermione acknowledged that, "It's not but without you, I might not even have life Harry, so of course it's my concern." The summer before school was to begin, Ron finally revealed to Hermione that it was Harry who forced him to come to the toilet that she was trapped in with the troll; he never apologized for his crass comments though.

"I do not know how you remain sane with all this going on Harry. Just worrying over my classes and the follies of one Ronald Weasley is driving me nuts. I would have run to the hills a long time ago…"

"No" Harry objected, "You would not. You care about your friends and would never abandon them; just like I care about my friends. There are people like Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore, McGonagall, Remus, Tonks, Ron, the Weasleys but above all others, you. I care about you too much to even think about leaving you in danger. I would do anything to see that you have a happy life, even if it meant that I do not have a life."

Hermione was thunderstruck. She knew that Harry cared about her to do anything to keep her safe, but hearing it said, was something else altogether. 'Does he even know what he is saying?' she thought. She could not know that Harry did indeed know what he was saying. His declaration set her on an irrevocable path of analyzing all her interactions with both Harry and Ron, her priorities in life. Yes, she always maintained that education was the most important thing for her but her actions of late did not match that. Her unbridled infatuation about a boy who was immature at best and an absolute nightmare when her opinions did not match his own, quite frankly ashamed her. Harry inexplicably replaced Ron from the forefront of her thoughts, but to what extent, and were her thoughts and feelings about him strictly platonic or not, she could not say yet.

"I wish there was something I could do…" she sighed.

A short silence followed while Harry debated whether he could take the plunge, he might never have a chance to kiss Hermione and so taking a deep breath to steady his rattled nerves, he tried to put up a nonchalant air, "… Let's see what we can do about one of your problems." When Hermione looked at him bewildered, he elaborated, "… your first kiss."

"Oh! That…" Hermione blushed brightly. She was unable to respond either way to that, what could she say? Be merciless and step on an already beaten Harry or jump for joy that she was going to kiss someone at last, and the fact that it was Harry Potter she was going to kiss not some desperate date, was an added bonus.

"… Just to get it out of the way" Harry proposed cursing himself for his blunder. He was relieved though when Hermione agreed and their slightly parted lips met in a gentle caress.

"Her… mi… nee" Ron mumbled in his sleep. He was in the hospital wing, recovering after barely escaping with his life due to the poison in the glass of mead he consumed. His tendency to be the first to grab anything to eat or drink, biting him back hard; it was only thanks to Harry's quick thinking and seeker reflexes that Ron even survived.

Harry caught Hermione's eye and grinned at her, eliciting a roll of her eyes accompanied by a furious blush and an angry hiss from Ron's girlfriend Lavender. That simple mumble while unconscious put paid to the relationship between Ron and Lavender and it was not pleasant; accusations were thrown around in the common room. Lavender accused Ron of chasing after another girl even when she was his girlfriend, while Ron accused her of being too promiscuous and forward.

That argument escalated quickly and might have ended with Ron getting slapped if not for the timely intervention of Ginny who dragged her brother by his ear when his infamous temper started to boil over.

"Now that he is available, you should go get him" Harry whispered to Hermione, joining her on the common room couch.

She shook her head instead, "No Harry, I am determined to help you out. I finally realized that surviving this war was of the highest priority than any thoughts of romance; I want you to survive this Harry, help you live your life. At the end of it all and if Ron is still single and stopped acting like a prat, I may look to a relationship with him."

Harry missed the final match of the quidditch cup due to his detention with professor Snape; he was desperate for some news about the fate of the match. He was relieved when he was hit by a blast of noise as soon as he opened the portrait to enter the common room, and was greeted by wild celebrations.

There were cheers of "Ginny!" interspersed with random noise. Harry understood that it probably was the youngest Weasley that saved the blushes this time and not his brother. He sported a large grin when the heroine of the match came sprinting towards him. He opened his arms to receive her and as he was gathering her in a hug, he felt that Ginny wanted more than a hug; he was sure that she was going to kiss him.

At the last minute Harry turned his head to take it on his cheek instead. Ginny tried hard to hide her disappointment, she felt that Harry was interested in her and broke up with Dean over a silly matter only to find that Harry was drifting away from her. She managed to return Harry's bright smile as he thanked her, "Thanks for getting the cup to Gryffindor Ginny; told you that you were a brilliant seeker" he disentangled himself from her embrace and gave her one last pat on her back before proceeding to congratulate the rest of the team. He had to endure another of Ron's bragging episodes but he endured it with a grin on his face and if he showed any sign that he was bored, it was limited to an exasperated roll of his eyes directed at Hermione.

Later that night when everyone retired to their beds, and Harry was left alone in the common room with Hermione, "You know she was about to kiss you" Hermione challenged him.

Harry knew who she was talking about and made no pretense otherwise, "Yeah!" he acknowledged.

Hermione was at a loss as to why he did it, Harry did look like he was hoping to get together with Ginny, "Then…" she trailed off.

This time though, Harry wanted to hide the real reason, he could not tell her that he was actually hoping to get together with Hermione and not Ginny. So he gave the next best answer he could, "You know about the path that I am to walk on, at least for the near future Hermione. How could I go on about as if my life was all rosy? Just like you said, ending this war takes precedence over everything else. If I survive and Ginny was still interested, then I will think about starting a relationship with her just like you will with Ron. I do not want to raise any false hopes in her, better for her to think that I am not interested in her and let her move on."

Hermione gave him a fond smile, "You care for her don't you?"

"You know how they call me an honorary Weasley; of course I care for her. They are like family to me."

For once Hermione was selfish, she felt bitter when Harry did not include her, "… and what about me Harry? What am I to you?"

Harry brought Hermione into his embrace and with tenderness lacing his voice replied, "They are like family, but you my dearest, loveliest Hermione, are family."

"Do you have to go Harry? It could be very dangerous?" Hermione pleaded with him.

Harry gave her an apologetic look, "I have to learn these things Hermione; you know that Dumbledore is not going to live long, with his cursed hand and all. Then it is left to only me" at her stern gaze he hastily added, "… and you, and possibly Ron."

Hermione relented, "Be safe Harry; come back to me" she grabbed his collar and pulled him to her and kissed him fiercely, "for luck" she whispered for his ears only. He gave up the remaining part of the 'Felix Felicis', the potion that would give them enormous good luck for a limited time so that they could accomplish their part of the mission; so it meant that Hermione had to kiss Harry for his own good luck.

Ron and Ginny looked dumbstruck with a little jealousy and probably resignation mixed with it, while Neville and Luna sported wide grins. Harry and Hermione ignored all of that as they were only focused on each other, "Don't worry; I will come back to you. I am with Dumbledore and today is not the day, at least I think so" he added with a grin. He then continued in a sterner voice, "You use that potion and do not take unnecessary risks. I want to come back to see you whole and healthy."

This time Hermione gave him a grin and nodded her head to send Harry on his mission. Now it was left to their small batch of Harry's inner circle of fighters and the DA to defend the castle.

The fight with the small band of Death Eaters that were led into the castle by Draco Malfoy was brutal but miraculously, they did not suffer any losses, except that of Dumbledore of course, killed by Severus Snape no less. Barring a few minor injuries, the defenders came unscathed; Hermione realized that Harry still kept her safe even without him being near her. There were a lot of very narrow escapes and all of that was due to the luck potion they have taken, again due to the fact that Harry anticipated the attack and gave them the potion.

The funeral for the headmaster was attended by a lot of wizards and witches who came from far to pay their last respects. There were a lot of people clamouring for the small amount of glory that came with being friends with the man and they were eager to tell the world about that; everyone, except for Harry who refused to say anything. He just stood behind the seated guests with Hermione leaning heavily into him and Ron on his other side.

Hermione cast her mind to the last time she so openly relied on Harry for support through difficult times and to keep her sane, but could not come up with an answer. During their third year when they thought that Buckbeak was being executed, she clutched Ron for support, she pined after him to take her to the yule ball in the fourth year, during the fight at the 'Department of Mysteries' she looked for Ron even disregarding her own safety which led her to be seriously injured and finally this year she was being pathetic trying to seek the redhead's attention. '… but who was the one who always kept her safe, who was the one that risked his very own life to save her and the entire world? Harry, not Ron. Then why was she not attentive to Harry? Why was she after the one who bailed out on Harry when he needed the support of his best mate the most?' Hermione had no answers to her own musings, but now that she was cocooned in Harry's arms and amazingly, she felt safe like she never did before, even with the ominous clouds gathering on the horizon.

"Choose Hermione, Choose now" Ron bellowed, his body trembling with suppressed rage. Harry was not sure why the man he thought was his best mate was so prone to such fits of jealousy. Harry remembered the quote, 'When the going gets tough, the tough get going' and here Ron was trying to turn tail and worse was trying to influence Hermione to follow him and abandon their search for the horcruxes.

"I know you love me; I know you want a life with me. Now is the time for you to make the move" Ron laid down the law like all husbands or boyfriends who thought they had the upper hand in a relationship do and Hermione was not even any of that to him, she was only his friend. He also forgot that she was a very strong woman with her own opinions about how things should be done.

Hermione gave him an equally furious look in return, "You are mistaken Ron; Yes I admit that I thought I loved you and even imagined a life with you. Despite all your immaturities I tried to love you but your actions last year have made me realize that you are still a child; flaunting your relationship with Lavender in my face, even with her on your arm, your main aim was to try and win me back rather than taking care of your girlfriend. Your priorities never matched mine, and now you want me to abandon a promise I made to my best friend; your actions have convinced me that unless you change, I cannot have a life with you."

Ron fumed at her and stomped out of the tent, throwing away the horcrux in fury. Hermione was stunned, she thought that her reprimand and frank assessment of Ron's behavior would actually beat some sense into him but never expected that he would abandon them again. Dropping the shield she erected to keep Ron from attacking Harry, Hermione sprinted to the tent opening.

"Ron! Ron, please come back." Hermione cried in despair hearing the 'crack' of someone apparating out. "You promised that you will stay and help Harry" she shouted in despair slowly turning to anguished sobs, "You promised!" Unable to stem the flow of tears she promptly fell onto the floor of the forest and burst into tears.

Harry was also stunned at Ron's actions but more importantly he felt his heart being crushed. Despite Hermione's words, he felt that her actions meant that she still harboured some feelings for Ron. Harry's assessment was however, far from the truth; Hermione was being genuine when she chastised Ron; any lingering feelings she might have had for their mutual friend died at that moment.

Putting up a brave front despite his heartache, Harry gathered the distraught girl into his arms, "He will come back Hermione; It's just Ron being a prat" he tried to cheer her up.

That did not help in stemming her tears, "He left us Harry, he left us alone to deal with the horcruxes…" she broke down again. Harry simply held her and tried to comfort her as best as he could, but his own grief at the realization that he lost all hope of having a relationship with Hermione did not help matters. He simply lifted her into his arms and walked back into the tent to lay her down on her bed before taking up watch outside the tent.

Hermione's tears abated at last but strangely she did not feel the hurt as intensely as she expected she would. Maybe it was the thought of Harry and herself left alone to face overwhelming odds or the stress and lack of food finally catching up with her that caused her to breakdown, she did not know, but she felt liberated. It was almost as if the mist had finally cleared and for once her thoughts and actions regarding Ron were clear; she could never imagine a life with the guy who time and again took the easy path when their journey became rough.

Her fatigue finally forced her to fall asleep but her slumber was nowhere peaceful; only a few minutes into it she began tossing and turning. "Do not leave me Harry; please I chose you. I will always choose you…" she began muttering, loud enough for Harry to investigate.

His heart soared at the thought of Hermione choosing him over Ron, frankly over everyone else. He finally realized that he was always at the forefront of her thoughts just as she was in his. He could not stop the tears that began to flow from his eyes, 'Oh! How did I put such a gentle soul in such pain? Give me your pain Hermione, let me take away your burden' he cried in his own thoughts.

He picked up the blanket from the floor and stretched out beside the fidgety woman and gathering her into his arms covered them both with the blanket. Harry felt her relax in his arms and her breathing evened out, he smiled at her imagining that she fell asleep in his arms. In a soft voice barely above a whisper he promised her, "I will never leave you Hermione; just like you chose me, I will always choose you. Even in the fifth year with Cho, you were the one I always thought about. I promise you this Hermione; I promise that as long as you live and let me, I will take care of you. I will keep you safe. I will never abandon you…" Saying that Harry bent down to gently brush his lips over hers in a fleeting kiss; it was a long time since they kissed, mindful of hurting Ron, and more often than not it was just a reminder of their promise to stay with each other, but in that instant Harry wanted to show her, even though she was asleep, that he would do anything for her.

After Harry drifted off to sleep holding her close, Hermione smiled to herself and settled more snugly into his embrace.

"You were never my choice, I chose the man in my arms" the ghostly figure of a woman raising out if the open locket spoke in a sultry voice.

"Stab it, Ron. Stab the horcrux" Harry shouted trying to get his friend to comply.

He however could not help but watch in fascination as two figures, naked and entwined rose out of the locket. Harry realized that it was Hermione and he, 'Oh! How he dreamed of that happening' Harry thought. He was suddenly warm all over inside, but one look at Ron shattered his dream.

His friend was holding the sword over his head ready to plunge it into the locket but his face was distorted with unbridled jealousy and maybe even a little bit of loathing at Harry. Harry was caught in a dilemma now; could he really tell him that the ghostly figure of Hermione was correct and risk losing Ron again? Or worse have the soul piece of Voldemort from the locket possess Ron just like what happened to Ginny? Or should he swallow his own hope and pride and tell him that there was nothing between Hermione and him? As usual he chose to go by his 'people saving thing', he was used to disappointment and rejection but Ron was not. He also knew that Hermione never said anything about her feelings regarding him, was he reading too much into her befuddled mumblings when asleep?

"Don's listen to that, Ron; Hermione is my family. She…" he was successfully able to hide his bitterness when he continued, "… she is like a sister, Ron." It was a diplomatic statement to let Ron make up his own meaning and Harry was successful, as Ron brightened considerably. With determination shining in his eyes, Ron stabbed the horcrux, getting rid of another one of Voldemort's soul piece.

"Let's not tell Hermione about this, mate. We do not want her upset, do we" Ron grinned at Harry.

Not trusting his voice, Harry nodded his head as that suited him just fine. During their walk back to the tent, Harry began worrying about Hermione's reception of their wayward friend but amazingly there were no explosions. On the other hand there was no warmth either; Hermione was just cordial to their friend, probably thinking the same way as Harry. 'Would she want to take the risk of going forward on the hunt, one man down? Probably no' she decided.

'MUDBLOOD'

Hermione could see the scar vividly, inflamed and an angry red on her fair skin. She was lucky in a sense that it was Bellatrix Lestrange who decided to torture her and mark her rather than the werewolf Greyback. She shuddered at the thought of being marked, in more than one sense, by him or even touched by him, for Hermione was sure that her fate would have been far worse.

All that she had now was a scar which she would carry for life, just like Harry and his lightning bolt scar, assuming she survived this ordeal, that is. Her thoughts were cut short as another scream shot out of her parched throat, in response to the agony that was her frayed nerves due to the 'Cruciatus Curse' from Bellatrix.

Hermione now understood with clarity what it meant to be Harry Potter; the pain he had to endure to be the savior of the wizarding world. Bellatrix was a powerful witch but she was still not Voldemort, Harry was tortured for far longer time than herself at the hands of the darkest wizard, but he still found the strength to get up and fight back. Hermione felt humbled in that moment and gritted her teeth in resolve, she was going to fight this; she was not going to succumb to the torture but still she could not prevent the next scream.

The fog of her pain cleared momentarily when she heard a scream that issued from another throat, but this one was not of agony but of anger and frustration. 'Ron!' she thought, she did not know where the others were held captive but hoped that her cries for help would be heard.

"Ron, help me" Hermione called out weakly only to increase the amusement of her captors. "Ron, please save me" she pleaded. The thought of Ron being alive cleared her mind some more and she remembered the one who always kept her safe, Harry. Even in her pain she was not prepared to betray Harry, so she kept her prayer to herself, 'Harry! You promised, you promised to keep me safe.'

Miraculously, her prayers were answered in the form of Dobby the house elf. Even before she could register what was happening, Hermione was whisked away from Malfoy Manor to the safety of Shell cottage where Bill and Fleur Weasley had a home. It was only later when she saw Harry digging a small grave she learnt that their diminutive savior did not make it out alive.

Long after the others went back into the house, Ron grumbling about food all the way, Hermione gave company to Harry beside the freshly filled grave of their little friend. Hermione knew that Harry was hurting and that was not just because of Dobby's death; she knew that he would be digging up old memories as far back as Cedric or may be even his parents. She had to give him hope, some incentive for him to find that extra bit of strength to rise from this new blow to his morale.

Hermione turned to Harry and taking his face in her hands kissed him deeply. The kiss was her desperate need to show him that he was not alone, that she was with him all the way, wherever that path might eventually lead to. It was also probably the most passionate kiss she shared with Harry, well the most passionate kiss ever for her, as Harry was the only one she had ever kissed.

The kiss brought Harry out of his funk though, "Not that I mind but what was that for?"

Hermione gave him tender smile, "You have kept your promise Harry, thank you for saving my life."

"You heard?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yes, I was only vaguely aware at first, thought that I was dreaming. But when I realized that you kissed me and were in my bed and holding me I was convinced."

Then his smile faltered, "… but I failed you Hermione, I did not keep you safe. It was my stupidity that led you into danger."

"No Harry; it was bound to happen. You do not know how many times I was on the verge of saying the name. We were riding our luck and Ron was not helping one bit by being a prat about food and being warm; we were all frustrated but especially you. No, it was not your fault; you risked your life to save me."

Harry snorted; he was probably choking back a sob, "It was Dobby who gave up his life to save ours."

Hermione ran her hand on the makeshift marker that Harry carved without magic, "… and he did it out of love for you. House elves only respond to their masters Harry and Dobby considered you a friend, ask him and he would say that he would do it again without hesitation; everyone would do that for you Harry, I would."

"That is my greatest fear Hermione; losing you. I cannot survive that" Harry replied, his grief over the loss of Dobby weighing heavy on his mind.

Hermione sighed; she knew that Harry was stubborn when it came to blaming himself. 'Damn that noble streak of his' she cursed. She also knew what would get him out of his funk, something to look forward to, something that he would take as a duty. She knew that she was playing dirty, blackmailing him on his 'people saving thing' but she had a 'Harry saving thing'.

"Ok Harry, I will give you a chance for penance. Promise me that you will talk to me before taking any major decisions in your life." Seeing the skeptical look on his face, she amended, "… at least until Vol… Riddle is dead."

Harry agreed to that immediately and they sealed that pact with a gentle kiss. They began walking back to the cottage hand in hand and Harry muttered to himself, "I will gladly do that all my life if only you would allow me to." Unfortunately what he thought was a whisper was loud enough for Hermione to hear, she hid her triumphant smile from him. 'Yay!' she thought, 'I got you now all to myself Mr. Potter'.

Now all she had to worry about was getting them through the war alive.

The battle was raging all around them and Hermione was glad that they now had only one more horcrux to destroy before Harry could finally take down Voldemort once and for all. Hermione could not believe how Ron did it but he opened the 'Chamber of Secrets' apparently mimicking the sounds that Harry made when they both entered the chamber the first time in their second year. 'Could parseltongue be learnt?' she wondered but the middle of a battle was not the place to solve a riddle.

She was fighting alongside Ron and Harry was nowhere to be seen and that worried Hermione.

Suddenly, Ron turned to her, "Hermione! Shouldn't we talk to the house elves?"

Hermione was shocked and anger quickly followed, "You want to force them to fight?"

"No" Ron took a step back in face of her anger, that was another difference Hermione noticed. Harry never backed away from her, he met her anger however justified it might have been, with assurance and tried to work it out. "No, we should warn them to either flee or take cover somewhere safer."

Hermione beamed at her friend, "Great Ron, why don't you go warn them while I look for Harry." The disappointment Ron felt was clearly etched on his face but Hermione was far too worried about Harry to even care. She began to walk towards the great hall when she heard Voldemort's broadcast giving them a respite for an hour and asked Harry to surrender or else face the destruction of every one inside the castle.

If she knew Harry, then he would take him up on that offer and would probably head towards Voldemort about this time. Hermione hastened to intercept him and just as she feared, Harry was trying to be as unobtrusive as possible while walking out of the main door. She ran and reached him, "… and where do you think you are going mister?"

Harry sighed and turned to face her, "I am going to see where the snake was, if I get a chance to kill him, I will kill him and then it will only be Voldemort."

"You didn't think about telling me this? You promised that you would talk to me, the Harry I knew would never break his promise" Hermione was angry.

"I did promise you, but this had nothing to do with that. I am not making any life changing decision here" Harry protested.

"Oh No! This is a life threatening situation and I am coming with you."

"Hermione, please" he pleaded, "I cannot put you at risk. Please let me go and I will try to be very careful and not seen."

Hermione was adamant however, "No Harry, I do not trust you on this. I am coming with you wherever you are going."

Harry admitted defeat and led her to the shrieking shack, "When he was sending out the ultimatum, he also forced a vision on me of him being in there and with Nagini too; I think he was baiting me."

They crept forward carefully after silencing their feet and masking their scent. When they looked in they could see that Voldemort was talking to Snape but the snake was coiled at Voldemort's feet which made it impossible for them to try anything. They caught the tail end of the conversation, "… I know why the Elder wand is not obeying me completely Severus. You were the last master of the wand and unless I defeat you, the wand would not be mine."

Snape lost even the small amount of colour he had on his face but before he could say anything, Voldemort hissed in parseltongue, "Nagini, Kill him."

Snape could not even make a move before the serpent sank her fangs in the erstwhile headmaster of the school, and repeatedly. Hermione stilled a cry and buried her head into Harry; she did not wish such an agonizing death on anyone, even if it was someone like Snape. Sure that the potions master was dead, Voldemort led the snake out of the shack and into the forbidden forest leaving behind a struggling man.

Harry and Hermione darted into the room to try and see if they could do anything to reduce the man's agony. Snape however, had one last act to do; he brought forth a memory that should have been given to Harry a long time ago if there ever was a chance to defeat the dark lord. Harry and Hermione would wonder later what would have happened if by some quirk of fate they could not meet Snape before his death. With the knowledge that Harry was a horcrux dead with Snape, they would have thought that Voldemort was mortal. Even if they would have succeeded to kill Voldemort, he would have fled as a wraith again. What would have happened then, would Harry have been taken over by Voldemort even if they destroyed his physical body again? That was the main reason why Harry and Hermione never forgave both Dumbledore and Snape even after their deaths.

Hermione was stunned at the revelation of Harry being a horcrux; they just exited the pensieve in the headmaster's office after watching Snape's memory and the import of what they saw hit her hard. This was a very big jolt to her hopes of having a life with Harry and she had nothing to say; for once her incredible mind froze at the prospect of living a life without Harry in it.

She was brought back to the present when she saw that Harry was kneeling before her, "Hermione, I made two promises to you. One was to talk to you before making any life changing decisions and I am fulfilling that now. The second was to take care of you as long as you live; I regret to say that I am unable to fulfill that promise. I humbly beg you to relieve me of that burden."

A spark of hope rose in Hermione; "No Harry, I cannot release you from that promise" she refused flatly.

Harry was stunned; he was prepared for arguments and even a bitter fight but was not ready for a flat out refusal. 'Did she not know the import of what they saw? He had to die if they wanted to destroy Voldemort forever, does she want to make a liar of him and force him to break his promise?' Harry thought. He was willing to do that if needed. Then another thought occurred to him, 'Would his promise be considered a magically binding oath? If so then breaking that promise would be enough to remove his magic and kill him'. With his death Voldemort would be rendered mortal; it certainly looked like a win-win situation from his standpoint.

Harry began to rise from his kneeling position, "The horcrux has to be destroyed Hermione; it does not matter if it was in me or not."

"No Harry" Hermione was unable to contain her tears, "No, I will not allow you to kill yourself, we can have a life together Harry. With all his other horcruxes destroyed, there is no chance for him to get back to life; we will never allow him to rise again."

Harry laughed bitterly, "It does not work that way Hermione. He existed as a wraith all those years ago, surviving; as long as there is even a single horcrux remaining, he could return to life, it did not take a horcrux in the ritual that brought him back. What would you do if the horcrux in me takes control?"

Now Hermione plunged into her stubborn side, something that she rarely did and never with Harry. He would always listen to her and either bow to her logic or convince her that he was right, but she knew that in this matter Harry would never listen to her, especially if there was even a remote chance for Voldemort to survive. So she dug in her heels, "Nothing of that sort happened before."

"Yes, but that was when his other horcruxes were present, maybe the one in me was dormant but without any anchors, the soul piece may possess me."

"He was unable to take control of you all these years, why would you think he can now? He could not survive in your body during the fight at the department of mysteries; your love, towards Sirius, me and all our friends made your body inhabitable for him." Finally she felt she had a foot hold here, "Didn't Dumbledore tell you that love was the most powerful weapon against him; didn't you believe that it was your mother's love that protected you from Voldemort that night? Do you think that she would stop loving you any more Harry? There are a lot of people who love you Harry, not just your parents and Sirius."

Harry snorted, "Yeah! For my fame and my money, for my purpose of keeping them safe by killing Riddle" he added with bitterness.

"Do you believe that of me Harry" Hermione challenged.

His gaze softened at that, "No!"

"Then let me continue loving you Harry; I will love you so much that he will never have a chance to even touch you, let alone possess you. You always say that I am your family, let me be that family Harry; let me give you that family you always wanted. Our children will love you so much and you would be so full of happiness that it will smother Riddle's soul."

Harry's eyes glazed over for a moment at the thoughts of having a family of his own, with Hermione. Hermione's own thoughts wandered to what they would have to do to have that family, 'This was not the time for such thoughts' she chastised herself. Then again maybe it was a good thing to keep his mind away from morbid thoughts, from his perceived death.

Hermione was sure that she was able to convince Harry to fight Dumbledore's interpretation of the prophecy, of his destiny. She was ready to take a huge step for Harry and herself even if Harry did not believe in it; she wanted to give him hope that he never had for himself. Hermione took Harry's hand in hers and placed it on her breast, "Yes Harry, happy thoughts, think about the future, our future and our family, the child that we will make together."

Harry was entranced gazing at his hand cupping her breast and Hermione took his other hand and placed it on her womb, "I will give you so many children and you will spoil all of them rotten; a little girl who will be the apple of your eye. They will love their daddy to pieces" tears began to rush in a torrent out of their eyes.

"Daddy!" Harry whispered in awe.

"Yes Harry, daddy" with that she grabbed Harry and kissed him with all the emotion and all the love she had for him. They stayed in each other's embrace for a long time but eventually returned to reality.

"Then make me one promise Hermione."

Hermione gave him a bright smile, "Anything Harry."

"Promise me that you will make sure that Voldemort never returns; you will kill me yourself if needed."

"I promise Harry" and then she promptly burst into tears.

Well, there was nothing much to say after that.

Hermione accompanied Harry to the forbidden forest and hiding under the 'cloak of true invisibility' they took a pot shot at Nagini, killing the snake instantly. The distraction allowed them to rain lethal curses on the congregated death eaters and escape in the ensuing chaos; freeing Hagrid in the process who unmindful of the danger to himself added to the destruction.

An enraged Voldemort launched an all-out attack on the remaining defenders of the castle but under Harry and Hermione's leadership, the forces of light were able to put up a brave resistance. Hermione took on Bellatrix by herself and held her to a standstill but with Luna hitting the insane witch with a 'bludgeoner' the Lestrange line was ended forever. Ron, Molly, and George teamed up to take down the three Malfoys and several other death eaters were brought down by the light side.

The elder wand refused to fight against its true master and when Harry fired a disarming curse at the same time, Voldemort's killing curse back fired on him. Harry and Hermione had no way to confirm that Harry did indeed have a piece of Voldemort's soul inside him or for that matter that he did not have one either, and so prepared themselves to make sure that there would not even be a wraith this time. As soon as Voldemort's body hit the ground, Hermione dropped a vial full of 'draught of living death' on him and Harry immediately transfigured it into a stone statue. That made the body and the wraith, if there was one, inanimate.

In the basement of Potter Manor, there lies a crypt under heavy wards even to this day, while in the void that was the way station where the departed souls were sorted to their destinations; either heaven or hell, an aged wizard with a long flowing beard waited patiently to guide the 'Boy-Who-Lived' to his destiny.

Harry's scar never bothered him again; was it due to the love in his life or was it because he was never a horcrux, they never knew. Harry and Hermione Potter never bothered about it too.

In the end, what was the absolution about; who felt the need for forgiveness and from whom. Was it Hermione for her failure to realize the real horrors in Harry's life, the love he had for her and be there for him sooner than she did, or was it Harry for faltering in his promise to Hermione and allowed her to be marked for life? It did not matter though as Harry and Hermione finally had their 'Happily Ever After'.