Next to them, Avery and Sirius were duelling

Disclaimer: The Potterverse and its characters belong to Joanne K. Rowling. I'm making no profit of this.

Next to them, Avery and Sirius were duelling. Avery managed to throw a stunner at Sirius, but was hit with a stray killing curse from Harry's and Bellatrix's match just a moment later.

Harry turned towards them when both men fell towards the floor, giving Bellatrix the time for yet another Crucio. He lost his wand when he fell, making Bellatrix laugh again.

"Now, baby Potter, what will you do? You're disarmed and when I'm finished with you, I'll get to my dear cousin."

As she continued her taunting, she never saw him change the letters on an old, golden coin.

Only minutes later, a beautiful, proud lioness was running through the woods. She prayed she would not be too late, for every minute could decide the fate of her best friend and the man she loved. She didn't slow down for a minute, not even when she had long crossed the wards to the building. Finally, finally, she reached the mansion. Once inside, she made her way through the rooms quickly, till she heard the voice of a woman, a voice she recognised all too well. The door had been blasted open and she ran straight into the room.

Bellatrix had been standing there taunting Harry for minutes, no matter how unwise it was. She was about to send a killing curse at the boy-who-lived, finally ridding this world of him and allowing the Dark Lord his victory when she was attacked from behind. She never realized what was happening, the next thing she knew she was down on the floor, a giant lioness hovering above her.

As soon as he had his wand again, Harry revived Sirius. When Sirius opened his eyes, and looked around the room, expecting to be captured, he was surprised. Harry was sending a stunner at Bellatrix who was lying on the floor under a …lioness?

He stood up, pulling his wand at the beautiful animal. He had no idea what was happening, and years of war had taught him that it was better to be cautious sometimes. What he had not expected was the lioness to turn into Hermione. She jumped up, hugging his godson. "God, Harry, I was so worried when I received your message! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He smiled at her gently, while her gaze travelled to the other person in the room. Sirius had lowered his wand and was staring at her with a mixture of shock, relief and something else in his eyes. He held her gaze for minutes, before they simultaneously rushed forwards to embrace. Somewhere behind them, they heard Harry's half-shocked, half-amused voice. "I'm going to apparate to Grimmauld and tell the other's we're all right. I'll be taking her", he pointed to Bellatrix "with me."

Hermione registered his words somewhere in the back of her head, but she wasn't really listening. "I was so worried." It was just a whisper, but he still heard it, and pressed her closer to him, holding her as not to forget that she was here and that they were safe, for now at least.

Minutes later, he finally released his tight hold on her, when she asked what had happened.

"Well, everything was pretty good, and we had most of them, but then Avery got me with a stunner. I was lucky, I guess. With the stuff he was sending at me, it could have been something much worse. Harry was duelling Bella the whole time, and the next thing I knew, I was looking at a beautiful lioness. By the way, how did you know that we were in trouble?"

She smiled, for the first time that day and reached into her robes to pull out a small golden coin. "We used these for Dumbledore's Army, when to meet. I had a Protean Charm on them, and I gave Harry another one, sometime last year. You don't need a wand to change the letters. And then he sent me a message today, telling me that the two of you were in trouble. And did you really think he did the Animagus turning on his own? I would have come with you right away, but I knew no one would accept a lioness as an animal living around here."

"How did you do it, the Animagus transformation?"

She smiled. "Last year, when things were getting more dangerous, I thought about how we could get some kind of extra protection. Something we could use if we lost our wands. Well, Ron and Harry were in the kitchens, and when they came back they had the cloak and the map with them. I thought of you guys and becoming Animagi, it seemed like a good idea. The day after that, I started brewing the potion."

"Impressive." He pulled her close again. "My clever little witch."

"Yours", she whispered back to him. They stood there for hours, or maybe not quiet that long, until Narcissa apparated in, now that the wards had been removed, called them lovebirds, and told them they should come back before anyone noticed, well unless they wanted people to know.

And then she was gone again, and despite their better knowledge thy stayed for another moment. And in Sirius' arms, looking out of the window of a Death Eater mansion, Hermione decided that they could win this war, that they had to. Not because they were fighting for what was right, but because they had everything to lose, and Voldermort had long lost everything.

There is a room in the Department of Mysteries…

AN- IMPORTANT: This chapter will be the last one- but there will be a sequel. As soon as I know more about where I want to go with it, I'll post an AN.

My thanks to all my reviewers, especially to those who have reviewed for this chapter and to those who have reviewed the whole time. It has helped me so much throughout the story

I hope you'll still review, despite this short chapter and see you for the sequel.

Katja