A/N: So I am a few gins deep on this one- do let me know if there is anything that doesn't make sense so I can go back and edit :) Much love x
Hermione awoke with a jolt, startled by the scream beside her. For a horrible moment she didn't know where she was, whether she was back in Malfoy Manor or in Gringotts. But then the blonde beside her sat bolt upright, chest heaving and covered in a sheen of cold sweat.
"Fleur?" Hermione asked, sitting up and putting an arm around the blonde witch's back.
"I-I was back at Malfoy Manor…" Fleur said, her voice trembling.
"Shh, its okay, you're safe now," Hermione murmured soothingly, stroking Fleur's long hair.
"Th-they were going to cut my hair off and sell it for wand cores," Fleur stammered, "I told them it wouldn't work, I'm only a quarter Veela, b-but…"
Hermione drew Fleur close to her, letting the blonde rest her head on her chest as she regained a more even rate of breathing.
"Fleur, I'll never let them hurt you again," Hermione said quietly, wrapping her arms around Fleur. Fleur let out a long and shaky breath.
"I'm sorry, Hermione," Fleur said in a small voice. Hermione gave her a squeeze.
"The nightmares get less over time," Hermione murmured, reaching a hand to run it through Fleur's hair again, "We will get through this together." Fleur's breathing was back to normal and Hermione relaxed. Soon the pair were drifting off to sleep again.
Hermione awoke much later to the sound of birds chirping at the break of dawn. It appeared that she had slept through most of the previous day and through the night to the morning. She hadn't felt this well rested for a while.
With a yawn, she stretched, earning a sleepy grumble from the blonde cuddled next to her. Fleur pulled her arm tighter around her waist and she felt her stomach flip. It had felt good holding Fleur safe through the night. And not just in a 'returning the favour' way. They fit together well.
"Fleur, I'm gonna make a mug of tea, do you want one?" Hermione said softly.
"Mn?" Fleur murmured sleepily before rolling onto her back and stretching.
"Tea?"
"You know I prefer coffee…" Fleur pouted, prompting Hermione to giggle. It was nice feeling some normalcy between them after the recent horrors.
"Fine, coffee it is… You know you're a brat, right?" Hermione smirked.
Fleur smiled back sleepily, sitting up and running a hand through her hair. "And yet you still like me," Fleur quipped. Hermione was glad she had already got up from the bed and turned to head outside so that Fleur couldn't see the blush playing at her face. She knew Fleur meant it as nothing more than playfully, but her feelings for the blonde Frenchwoman were growing stronger by the day.
She headed out to the little campfire and fished out two small tin mugs for herself and Fleur. She made herself a tea and Fleur a black coffee. When she headed back inside, a mug in each hand, Fleur was sat up in bed reading a book. Hermione hopped into bed beside her and picked up a book for herself. They settled into reading and sipping their hot drinks in a bizarrely relaxed fashion considering the past couple of days they had been through. Fleur shuffled closer to Hermione and leaned against her. They stayed like that in quiet content for over an hour as the sun slowly began to rise.
"Hermione," Fleur whined suddenly, "I have finished this book now." Hermione sighed heavily and exchanged books with Fleur, giving her the one she had been halfway through.
"You really are a brat, Fleur," Hermione grumbled and Fleur smirked.
"Its funny…" Fleur murmured as she opened up the new book and scanned the contents page, "This is so much closer to what I imagined married life would be like. So different to what I have with Bill…"
Hermione tensed, unsure of what to say. She wanted desperately to bring up their two brief kisses to Fleur, to see if she felt anything too, but her Gryffindor bravery had abandoned her. She opted for a safer route.
"Do you think maybe you will leave Bill?" she asked carefully, not looking at Fleur. Fleur sighed heavily.
"I don't know. I—" Fleur was cut off by Ron and Harry ambling into the room.
"Morning guys!" Harry exclaimed as he stretched, "I don't know about you but I feel like I just slept for about a week."
"Me too," Ron grunted as he sat down heavily on the end of the pull out bed.
Hermione sighed. She supposed her investigation of Fleur's feelings would have to wait for another time.
"How did it go with the cup yesterday?" she asked, noting that the boys' faces fell instantly.
"No luck," Harry said in a dejected voice.
"And we tried bloody near everything!" Ron exclaimed, "The thing is indestructible! Dunno what would be able to wreck that thing."
Hermione bit her lip, her mind suddenly whirring into overdrive. It was amazing how fast she could think after having a thorough rest. Her mind started running through all the destructive spells she knew.
Suddenly, Harry hissed and fell to the ground gripping his forehead. Ron leapt off the bed and knelt beside him, holding his shoulder.
"Another vision?" he said, paling as he looked up at Hermione. They watched helplessly as Harry grunted and screamed, writhing in the floor in pain. After a few minutes he stopped writhing and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily and his eyelids fluttering.
"Harry are you okay?" Hermione said, moving from the bed to kneel on the other side of him. Harry's eyes fluttered open and the green of them was tainted with fear.
"He's gathering the last of the horcruxes… trying to p-protect them from us…" Harry said hoarsely.
"Where is he going, mate?" Ron asked, his face furrowed with concern.
"H-Hogwarts." Harry stammered, and the blood drained from their faces.
After Harry's vision the group sprang into action. They scrambled and got changed for the day before dividing up into tasks. Hermione turned her attention to destroying the cup, Harry to sending a message to the Order to warn them of the impending attack, Ron to packing up their things, and Fleur to cooking them all a quick breakfast.
Soon they were finishing their breakfast and readying themselves for their travel. Hermione nudged Fleur.
"Don't think I didn't notice that you added cinnamon and berries to our porridge," she smirked. Fleur elbowed her back.
"Hermione, just because we are living in a tent doesn't mean we have to eat like it too!" Fleur huffed. The pair descended into giggles. It was strange. Despite the impending battle, the group were relatively relaxed. Perhaps it was the knowledge that one way or another, things were about to come to an end. Or maybe it was just the relief that at least they had managed to send off a warning before Voldemort had arrived at Hogwarts. They packed up their food things and put out the campfire before standing in a small circle.
"We can't apparate into the school grounds," Harry said. Hermione smirked.
"Good to know you picked up at least something from Hogwarts: A History," she joked, and the others gave small laughs, "I was thinking Hogsmeade. Somewhere we won't be interrupted." Harry nodded and put an arm on her shoulder. Ron took her arm. Fleur's hand took Hermione's and laced her fingers with hers.
Hermione pushed her thoughts away from her love for her friends and Fleur, the impending battle and horcruxes. She cleared her mind, picturing Hogsmeade, and apparated.
The Battle of Hogwarts was vicious and visceral. Hermione could barely contain her horror as she watched children face off against Death Eaters. Of course they were no match. The bodies of young students were beginning to pile up alarmingly.
The only thing she could be grateful was the sheer number of incompetent Death Eaters. Clearly there wasn't a very high bar set for Voldemort's followers. Older students and Order members were cutting them down in large numbers where they could.
But as much as Hermione hated to admit it, there were talented Death Eaters too, and they were proving hard to cut down. Hermione felt her stomach sink horribly as she saw the familiar ragged black dress of Bellatrix striding through the crowd, laughing loudly as she flicked off curse after curse. She was distracted by Harry running up to her.
"Diadem," he puffed, trying to catch his breath, "Its in the Room of Requirement…"
"Lets go." Hermione replied, whipping after him. Ron saw them running and joined, storming up the steps of Hogwarts and into the dark and winding hallways. Soon they were in the Room of Requirement, which was stacked high with old furniture and supplies.
"Cripes, this is worse than looking for the cup in the vault," Ron groaned, and the trio fanned out to search the room. Hermione hadn't got far when she felt herself levitated and thrown roughly into a pile of old desks. She let out a yelp of pain.
She started to get up when she was knocked down by the bodies of Harry and Ron thrown into her. The weight of the boys winded her and they struggled to disentangle themselves from each other and the desks. A familiar laugh rang out and they looked up to see Malfoy staring at them, wand raised, Crabbe and Goyle flanking him.
"Fucking hell, Malfoy," Ron groaned, managing to pull himself off Hermione, "When are you gonna realize you're on the wrong side?!"
Suddenly there was a flash of light and Malfoy's smirk froze on his face as his body went stiff and he toppled to the ground like a statue. Crabbe and Goyle whirled around to be met by an icy looking Fleur who quickly whipped off two stunning spells in quick succession. She ran over and helped the trio out of the desks.
"Fleur, we need to find Ravenclaw's diadem," Harry said quickly. Fleur immediately glanced to his right and to their astonishment, the diadem had fallen out of the pile of desks as they shifted. Hermione picked it up triumphantly.
"Great, 'Mione, destroy that like you did with the cup," Harry rushed, "Ron and I'll go find the snake."
The boys ran off as fast as they could and Hermione turned to the diadem. She raised her wand, thinking back to the spells she cast at the cup in a flurry that morning. Before she could utter a word, there was a loud thump and Hermione was tackled by a large mass and thrown across the room with it.
"If ya love beasts so much, you're gonna love becoming one," Fenrir Greyback snarled, opening his mouth as his fangs extended. Hermione tried to struggle out from under his large body but he pinned her down, laughing as he did. Hermione could feel his hot sour breath brushing her face as he leaned in, his eyes gleaming with delight.
Thwack!
The shine in Fenrir's eyes died out as they went blank. His mouth turned from a snarling smile to a blank gape. His shoulders slumped and he fell heavily on top of Hermione who screamed and rolled his lifeless body to one side. Standing in front of her was a pale and horrified looking Fleur, clutching a heavy looking stone statue in her hands.
"Merde! I'm sorry, I panicked!" she yelped, as blood began to pool from Fenrir's head on the ground beside Hermione.
"You saved me," Hermione spluttered, as she drew herself back to her feet.
"Is… is he dead?" Fleur asked, her voice trembling. She had never killed a person before.
"I don't know… but right now we don't have time to find out…" Hermione said urgently pulling Fleur by the arm. They stumbled back over to the diadem, Hermione letting off a volley of her most complicated spells to destroy the diadem. Finally, an ancient obscure one worked and the diadem cracked, expelling an acrid hissing steam. Hermione and Fleur exchanged relieved smiles and they took off out of the Room of Requirement as fast as they could.
The halls were littered with bodies of both sides and they had to stop slow their pace to avoid stepping on the corpses. As they picked their way out to the steps leading outside, they stepped over the gigantic body of a headless snake.
As they reached the crumbling courtyard the battle was once again in full swing. A familiar wild cackle rang out and Hermione's head snapped in a panic to see Bellatrix shooting a green beam of light.
"No!" Hermione screamed. But it was too late. The spell hit a redheaded boy square in the back and he froze before crumpling to the ground. There were screams as nearby Weasleys saw, and suddenly Bellatrix was battling Molly. Bellatrix frowned as the matronly woman's skill proved a worthy match, whirling around and running out of the courtyard. Molly gave chase.
Hermione went to follow but was stopped by Fleur strongly gripping her arm and gesturing across the courtyard. At the far end, in a thinned area of people, Voldemort was turning the Elder Wand on Harry.
Hermione's mouth fell open but no words came. She took Fleur's hand and squeezed tightly, frozen in this one horrifying moment.
"Avada Kedavra!" bellowed Voldemort triumphantly and the green beam seemed to course towards Harry in slow motion. Around them the battle seemed to freeze, as others turned to look. As the spell was about thirty centimeters away from Harry, it bounced back as if against an invisible barrier, flying wildly back to hit Voldemort in the stomach.
There were screams, there were cheers. Voldemort doubled over and fell to the ground. The war was over. They had won.
Hermione stood in what was left of the Great Hall as the survivors were finally getting near an end of laying out bodies. She had an arm around Ron who was sobbing heavily into her shoulder. Fred was laid out in front of them, George bent over him, refusing to leave his side. Ginny was howling with cries, thumping a fist against Harry's chest with grief. Harry looked as numb as Hermione felt. Molly was sheet white, holding her husband's hand as they looked at their dead child.
"Mum, I don't see her body anywhere… Tell me that bitch didn't get away," Charlie said, his long hair flicking around as he scanned the rows of Death Eater bodies. The other Weasley siblings looked up at this, stunned and angry.
"I'll kill her," Ron said, his voice hard and serious. His siblings nodded in agreement. Molly looked pained.
"She's dead," Molly said quietly, "I killed her."
Hermione looked around at the relieved faces of the Weasleys, realizing someone was missing. Fleur was standing beside Harry, a hand comfortingly on Percy's shoulder, but her husband was nowhere to be seen.
She looked around the hall and saw Bill standing not far away, an arm slung around a crying Tonks as she stood holding her baby and looking at the dead body of Lupin.
"You've got to be bloody kidding me," she hissed between clenched teeth. Ron turned to look at her, wiping tears away and looking confused.
"S'wrong, 'Mione?" he asked, his voice hoarse from crying.
But Hermione couldn't hear him. Her rage was roaring in her ears. After everything everyone had been through, Bill still couldn't just do the right thing? Hermione released Ron and stormed over to Bill. She didn't even care that this wasn't concerning her.
"Really, Bill? Over his dead body?!" Hermione said shrilly, the roar of her anger still loud in her ears.
Bill released Tonks as though he had been burned, moving a half-step away from her. Hermione could sense the collective eyes of the Weasley family on her, but didn't care.
"Its not enough that you were seeing his wife behind his back while he was alive? You have to cosy up to her over his dead body too?!"
There were gasps from behind Hermione and a sound as if someone had dropped something in shock. Bill's face contorted horribly from grief to mortification.
"Your brother is lying dead over there and your wife is the one grieving him and supporting your family. Not you. The same wife you've been cheating on." Hermione said acidly. Bill stepped forward, a hand up to try and pacify Hermione.
"Now look here, Hermione… I think you've got the wrong end of the stick…" he began, a large fake smile fixing itself on his face.
There was a loud clap as Hermione slapped him heavily across the face. She didn't even stop to watch his reaction, turning on her heel and striding out of the Hall.
