Disclaimer: The characters of Harry Potter belong to JK Rowling.
Chapter 16
"We need to leave now. Who knows what might've happened to Neville and his family in the few hours they've been held captive?" Turning to a revived Shacklebolt, she asked urgently, "Do you know where they took them?"
Her heart seized up as Shacklebolt rasped out, "Godric's Hollow."
Shit. Where it all began.
She could feel a headache coming on to her. "Do the Death Eaters have a stronghold there?" she asked Bill Weasley.
"According to our agents, yes."
She closed her eyes and tried to think. Okay then, obviously this is a trap. We will need a lot of people…she was not sure how many would want to go.
She looked at the witches and wizards surrounding her, and implored for their support from her heart.
"I know this was not the way we had envisioned our comeback. And I know not all of us are entirely ready. But…if all goes well, not only will we have saved the lives of three people, but we'll also have retaken Godric's Hollow."
"It is time to make a stand," said Hermione slowly, clearly, "Who will come with me?"
In the end, the room was so loud with everyone volunteering and offering to help that Hermione had to handpick twenty people for this task. She even had to bar an extremely pumped up and eager Arthur Weasley (Draco though was the one who had dissuaded him with a "Grandpa, you'd just be a liability.").
And in that moment, she was prouder than she'd ever been, prouder even than when she'd finally taught Ron how to do a proper Wingardium Leviosa.
They would make it through this war. She just knew it. And she was not a know-it-all for nothing.
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Godric's Hollow was strangely silent as they made their way through the brambles and bushes that surrounded the area. Suddenly, they heard a terrible scream coming from the lit window on the second floor of the ruins of the house.
The scene was so eerily similar to what had happened to the Potters all those years ago that quite a few of them gulped in fear.
"Come on, let's go." whispered Hermione. They had earlier decided to separate into three groups before apparating to their destination. Hermione was to lead the first faction to the second floor, where Bellatrix and probably the Longbottoms were; Draco was to lead the second faction on the first floor, and Bill and Fred; the perimeter of the house and the surrounding area. All were to join Hermione and her group as soon as they had subdued the Death Eaters at their designated sections.
Draco had been quite reluctant to be apart from Hermione but she'd looked at him and said firmly, "I will be fine."
He knew she would, but still felt uneasy. "You'd better be." he'd drawled to hide his nervousness and fear for her safety.
They could see several Death Eaters from their hidden positions. One good thing about taking back territory was that it had been yours in the first place, and you therefore knew all the good hideout spots and places where you could ambush the enemy. Bill and Fred put this theory to test with great effect as they and their group silently stupefied a couple of goons lounging outside the house. Giving Hermione and Draco's group the thumbs up, they proceeded to keep a lookout for other Death Eaters as the two groups stormed the house.
All of Bill and Fred's group were under invisibility cloaks, derived and patented from Harry's own.
The both of them grinned evilly.
Time to test out all the new pranks and spells that Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes had invented before George was killed. Tonight, the Weasley brothers promised themselves, George would live again. This was going to be such fun.
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Hermione panicked slightly after they burst into the house as she realized that the Death Eaters had, indeed, been getting ready for their arrival. Green light shot towards them and she steeled herself for the inevitable, before the light bounced off harmlessly from a shield someone had erected. Winking at her, Draco moved forward with the rest of his team and thereon ensued a fierce battle.
Resolutely ignoring the sharp screams and chemical zings of magic all around her, Hermione motioned to her team members to follow her up the flight of stairs. She stunned a few Death Eaters who had come her way without thinking, and they flopped over the stairwell onto the ground below. The scene was…chaotic to say the least, with Death Eaters shooting spells left and right, Draco's faction trying to cover Hermione's faction and protect themselves at the same time, and Hermione's faction basically just cursing anyone who came in their way. Outside, the sky was red, with the crackle of…firecrackers? booming loudly in sync to slightly crazed laughing and taunting. She would have been worried had she not recognized that hyena-like laugh as being Fred's. Well she certainly hoped the Weasley brothers were enjoying themselves.
A particularly loud shout she recognized as being that of Draco's distracted her momentarily, and she looked over the railings in dread, hoping to catch a glimpse of what had happened. The air was knocked out of her however when a large and heavy body pushed her to the side. It was Zacharias Smith. She felt mildly annoyed at this before seeing the blood dribbling down his right arm. His shoulder…so much blood…oh Merlin…
"Zacharias? Are you all right?" she whispered frantically while ducking a curse that zinged over their heads.
"I'm…I'm ok…" he whimpered feebly. "You g…go ahead, go get Neville, I'll be all right here."
"Are you sure? Your shoulder…let me just heal you now."
"Hermione!" he responded exasperatedly, wincing as his shoulder shifted painfully at this exclamation, "there's no time and anyway we'll all get blown to smithereens if you persist in staying here any longer. Go get Neville."
Eyes shining, she dragged him off to a more deserted corner. He smiled a weakly reassuring smile at her. She looked at him in the eye and said firmly, "You heard me before, right? No one gets left behind. We'll be back for you."
She rushed off to join the others. The battle had only just begun.
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Death Eaters galore were ranged on the upper floor of the house, and Hermione could see that all seemed to be blocking their way to the door at the end of the corridor. That's where the Longbottoms are being kept then, she told herself.
The two opposing factions circled each other warily, wands out in front, before Blaise Zabini yelled out the first curse. The scrimmage that followed was frenzied and brutal, with the Death Eaters shouting one unforgivable curse after another, and the Order wizards and witches trying to counter as frantically as they could.
She found herself backed into a corner by a startlingly familiar face. The Death Eater pulled back the hood that shadowed his features, and she stared into the pitiless granite eyes of none other than Antonin Dolohov, her opponent at the Department of Mysteries in her fifth year at Hogwarts.
"So, we meet again devushka. This time I will make sure to finish you off," he drawled confidently.
She straightened her back and glared at him, giving as good as she got. She might have been bested the last time they met, but she was now stronger, faster, and better. She would not give him any chances to find the chink in her armour this time.
"Serpensortia!" she cried as Dolohov yelled out "Crucio!" almost simultaneously. She ducked his curse but he had no opportunity to escape hers, which formed into a small but highly poisonous red coloured snake that darted forward to pierce his exposed ankle, injecting a paralyzing poison into his bloodstream. Dolohov howled in pain and grimaced as the poison began to take its effect. Hermione left him on the ground and continued on forward to the door at the end of the path.
She shot curses at the other Death Eaters who came forth to challenge her, occasionally looking around to see how her team members were doing. There was a slightly harrowing moment when she saw out of the corner of her eye a tall and intimidating MacNair transfiguring his wand into a large axe, swinging it at a yelping Luna Lovegood. All was all right the next time she turned around, however, as she saw that a beaming Luna had transfigured him into a cute, pink bunny rabbit, with two oddly large front teeth. Luna gave her the thumbs up and Hermione grinned back. Good girl.
She then realized that, intentionally or not, a path was being cleared for her directly to where the Longbottoms were being kept. Sprinting forward with Charlie Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks, she burst through the door and immediately put up a shield around them (she had learnt her lesson), all the while hoping in like mad that the others she was leaving behind were capable enough to take the other Death Eaters on their own.
"Well, well, well. The cavalry have finally arrived. Took you long enough. No matter though, at least you all have had a few extra hours to live."
The icy and haughty tones of Bellatrix Lestrange cut through Hermione's consciousness. But she paid her no mind. Her attention was instead fixed entirely on the Alice and Frank Longbottom, their corpses looking like broken rag dolls, staring blankly up at the ceiling with almost identical grotesque looks of terror on their faces.
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Hermione snapped her head back to Bellatrix, who was smirking gleefully at the three horrified members of the Order.
"Like my work? You'll like this even more!" Bellatrix stepped aside with a flourish, and so fearful was Hermione of Neville's life that she almost sighed in relief when she saw he was merely dancing the cancan under the Imperious curse, with a ludicrous purple feather boa wrapped around his shoulders. Red, blistering burns and sores covered the parts of his body that she could see, and dried blood crusted his forehead, revealing a wicked gash just above his right eyebrow. And while the expression on his face was one of ludicrous joviality, she could see that his eyes were desperate and frightened. He was trying, but failing to fight through the haze that kept him under.
Hermione strode forward and gave her best Draco-learnt sneer, "Is that it? How unimaginative. My, my, Bellatrix, you really are getting worse with age."
She could see her opponent tightening her jaw and clenching her fists before relaxing slightly. "And you, my dear mudblood, are entirely too transparent in your feeble attempt to be a Slytherin. Trying to taunt me into distraction? Tsk, tsk."
The three Order members were tight-lipped and tensed, wands at the ready for the imminent attack.
"Instead of attempting to do that, my dears, maybe you should've paid more attention to the ratios in this room. Just three of you…and seven of us." She grinned even more widely.
Charlie was so lightning fast that Hermione didn't even have time to blink. Rapidly, he stupefied two Death Eaters standing side by side, and even managed a, "And then there were five!" before the room spiralled into madness. It was like an old-time cowboy shoot-out in those American movies, with the Order members basically throwing curse after curse at the Death Eaters, while they in turn did the same. Hermione did not even have time to think; she just said whatever spell came to her mind first, she didn't even know if some of what she had yelled out were actual curses.
Spells were ricocheting off the walls and Hermione let out a gasp when she saw that one had gotten to Charlie. He let out a shout and managed to stun another Death Eater before collapsing in pain. She found herself looking over to him, wanting to help him, before stopping herself brutally.
Focus! Hermione! She screamed to herself in her head. Pain! It means he's still alive!
Then there were two against four.
Hermione disarmed one more with a quick Expalliarmus before Tonks went down, letting out a blood-curdling shriek after being hit by an excruciating Cruciatus by her aunt Bellatrix. Her previous injuries had not been completely healed, and she lay on the ground, writhing in pain that would not dissipate.
"And then there was one." spit out Bellatrix triumphantly. "Crucio."
It hit her before she had a chance to react, so stunned was she by the fact that she was the only Order member left standing in the room.
In the haze of her pain she could head shouts and screams echoing in the background outside the room.
"Crucio!" an ecstatic Bellatrix cried out once again.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, Hermione was glad that Bellatrix was the kind of twisted witch who liked to go for the long drawn-out torture instead of the quick, clean kill.
Then regretted that thought immediately when she felt another wave of agonizing, searing pain wash over her,
Oh Merlin. What if we lose?
What if she'd led them all to their deaths? What if they weren't ready to take this on? What if Zacharias had been right, that it was a fool's errand to go gallivanting to the rescue of the Longbottoms, all the while knowing it was a trap?
It was all her fault. Her fault her fault her fault…
Hermione? Stop mucking around. Get up.
In the confusion that fogged her mind, Hermione wondered vaguely who it was who was speaking to her. That voice sounded so forceful and assured. Supremely confident. Slightly bored even.
Draco? Harry? …Professor Snape?
No you silly twit. I'm you!
What? It can't be, I…
And slowly, she came to the realization that it was her. Just a…bossier version of her. The no-nonsense Hermione; the know-it-all, the girl who'd never left well enough alone, who ordered everyone around, who'd pushed and heaved and dragged the Order kicking and screaming back into the fight. She was in there somewhere, and she was very, very pissed off.
Oh my goodness. Do I really sound that bossy and annoying all the time?
Get up. You're too strong for this rubbish. Don't let her take you.
What do I do? The version of herself that she had termed 'whiny Hermione' asked.
Bossy Hermione gave a derisive snort, as if saying, "I can't believe I put up with this".
Use your god-given talents for goodness sake!
What talents? She's got me on the ground. I don't see what I can do.
Oh…sod it. Your brains! Use your brains! They're your talents! Although at this point I'm not quite sure if they really are…
For some reason, a bossy Hermione sounded a whole lot like an acerbic Professor Snape. She wondered if this boded well for her future…
Looking up slightly, she could see from her vantage point on the ground that Bellatrix was strolling forward to deal with her, smug grin firmly on her face the entire time.
Oh great. She thought. I bet she's going to come closer to kick me while I'm down.
Wait a minute. She's coming closer…to…she's coming closer!
This was her chance! Bellatrix might be alert for anything Hermione tried to do with her wand, but would she be alert for anything else Hermione might try to do? Especially if it was so muggle-ish, so unexpected, so…beneath her (or so she thought) that she would not expect it at all?
She steeled herself for the kick that came predictably. Whimpering and rolling around on the ground for added effect (though she did wonder if it wasn't a bit too much), she got ready for when Bellatrix reached down to haul her up by the front of her robes. As the older witch's fingers came closer Hermione reached out quickly to grab her hand and bit down hard, so hard and so savagely the flesh ripped and blood spilled.
Lestrange let out an ear-piercing howl, and Hermione took this opportunity to jump up and point her wand at the three remaining and very surprised Death Eaters, yelling out, "Immobulus!" All three of them were caught up within the perimeter of her spell's reach and froze in their places, as still as statues.
She grinned happily but had to turn her attention to the now glowering and fully focused Bellatrix who was now once again on her feet.
"Impedimenta!" "Avada Kedavra!" Both witches shouted out their curses at the exact same time, and Hermione was very surprised to see the much more malignant Avada hit her Impedimenta and dissipate into mere sparks. Her Impedimenta, on the other hand was only diverted from its path and hit a window to the side of the dancing Neville, breaking it with a loud crack. Bellatrix looked equally surprised and somewhat horrified as well, and Hermione took this opportunity to hit her with a stunner.
She flew backwards and hit a wardrobe quite spectacularly, smashing the wooden doors and landing with a loud "OOF!"
Grimacing, she got up again and Hermione was honestly quite impressed with the woman's endurance.
"You filthy little…" not finishing her sentence, Bellatrix shrieked out a "Crucio". The fall and the bite however had made her ungainly and slow, and Hermione saw this coming from a long way away. Putting up a shield to deflect it, she immediately countered with another Impedimenta that this time caused Bellatrix to collapse and stay down.
Panting heavily, Hermione could see Draco and the other members of the Order sliding into the room out of the corner of her eye. They appeared tired but grimly determined. We must have won the battle outside. Her confidence came sprinting back twofold.
She walked closer; casually flicking off another curse the now frightened but still defiant Bellatrix sent her way.
It would have been so easy to kill her, so easy to shout those two words that would totally eradicate this waste of space.
She's cowering now! You've got her backed up against the wall! So why not do it? Why not exact a little retribution on the behalf of countless souls and people who had been done in by her?
She took out her wand, and then stopped.
The tableau in front of her was all too familiar. The defenceless, helpless position Bellatrix now found herself in was one that Hermione herself had experienced not too long ago.
She felt a short stab of pity for this horrible woman before finally beginning to understand.
This was what Harry would've wanted you to do. What Dumbledore would have wished for you to understand.
Decision made, she stalked forward, her hard eyes and pitiless.
"Bellatrix, I'd like to say that this isn't personal, that it's all just about the war…but you're such a smarmy bitch. So yes, this is personal…
"Accio wand!" cried out Hermione, and as Bellatrix's wand fell into her hands she took great satisfaction in snapping it against her thigh.
The fallen Bellatrix backed up against the wall, whimpering as she stared at all the unfriendly faces around her. Her crazed and unfocused gaze locked onto Draco and she pleaded, "Draco…you…you know me, right? I'm your aunt Bellatrix, your mother's sister! You belong with us…with the Death Eaters. Stop all this foolishness right now! Come with us, join us! Our lord will forgive you, I promise you that!"
Whatever she expected however, Draco's response was not it. He seemed to grow more and more furious with each word she said, gripping his wand to tightly that his knuckles turned white.
"You want me to join you?" He finally burst out in disbelief. "You want my mercy? Where was YOURS when my mother was killed! Where was it when you LET THEM INTO OUR HOUSE!" He stalked closer in anger, all the while roaring, "Let me just kill this bitch Hermione! Let me kill her!"
"No!" shouted Hermione. "No, stop it Draco! We won't do this, we're better than them." She put a pleading hand on his shoulder, "We have to be." She took a deep breath and whispered to him, willing him to understand, willing him and everyone else in the room to comprehend what she had only realized just now, what Dumbledore would have wanted them to know, "Or else what separates us from them? What use is this war?" Draco was still panting deeply and angrily, but he stilled.
"She is helpless now. And unlike Voldemort, it is quite unlikely she will be a danger if she is incarcerated and put into a full body-bind. We will send her to Azkaban where she will await trial, like the others."
Just as she said this, she heard Bellatrix snarl from behind her and scream out the killing curse.
Everything happened so fast, Hermione had only time to think vaguely, "where did she get another wand?" before instinctively muttering "Protego", putting up a shield around her. The malignant green light bounced off it and to everyone's astonishment, rebounded back at breakneck speed towards a shrieking Bellatrix, killing her instantly.
Neville was released from the Imperio immediately after Bellatrix toppled over, dead. He stopped his macabre dance, panting heavily from the exertion. The whole room held its breath, not daring, not wanting to say anything. He took one look at his parents, and then at Bellatrix, and before Hermione could do anything to stop him he rushed towards the body with a wail and started to kick it viciously and desperately. Charlie moved to stop him but she shook her head at him.
The sobbing and strange whimpering finally stopped, and Neville backed away from the body in terror and disgust. What was once Bellatrix Lestrange was now beaten into a bloody pulp of flesh and bones.
"What…what have I…?" She put her arms around him and pulled him close as he ran into her and sobbed on her shoulder. "I…I didn't mean to Hermione! I didn't mean to!"
His stricken voice broke her heart. Everyone else in the room looked down or away, averting their eyes from the terrible scene.
For a long while, she just stroked his back, not knowing what to say. Then finally, she whispered, "I understand Neville, I understand."
And the thing was, she really did.
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Night time in the Slytherin Dungeons was silent and velvety dark. It was the kind of darkness however that was welcoming, embracing; one that absorbed you and made you part of it. Hermione was just dreaming about how she'd forgotten to do her homework (a recurrent nightmare with her) when she felt something snake across her arm, a light and feathery caress. Before the known-perpetrator could streak back to his bed, she reached out and grabbed him, eliciting a yelp from a panicking Draco Malfoy.
"I um…I was ah…I was just um looking for my…err…"
"I believe we have some unfinished business, you and I," she blurted out before she could start analyzing and change her mind.
Draco's eyes widened and turned silvery as he realized what she was saying. Trembling, he tangled his fingers in her soft sleep-mussed curls and leaned in closer, heart thrumming in time to his anticipation and exhilaration.
And as he bent his head towards hers in wonder and surrender, she could feel the blood in her body sing and rush to her head. His lips touched hers, softly, gently, nibbling on her lips to get just a taste, and then deeper, wilder, and more demanding. His hold on her tightened and his lips were pressed desperately against hers, taking everything she had to give. She was falling…losing control, losing herself in his embrace, in his touch, his tongue that was plunging so delightfully into hers.
There was something…natural in kissing him, something primal and raw and beautiful.
And in that moment the stars could have burst in the sky and the whole world could have exploded but she would not have cared.
So this is love.
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Author's Note: For all those who screamed/yelled/fell off their chairs after last chapter's non-kiss: I hope this makes up for it!
Also, devushka means 'girl' in Russian (I'm assuming Dolohov's Russian).
