Hermione waved at Harry and Ron as she ran up the stairs. When she finally met them on the landing in the middle she was out of breath. "Harry! Ron! Where have you been?" she asked, resisting the urge to put her arms on her hips like she was scolding them.
"Where have you been?" Ron said, his voice bordering on suspicion and teasing. "You are so out of breath."
Hermione scoffed. "I was out fighting in the courtyard, looking for Nagini. Bellatrix is dead," she said with a bit of pride, remembering that it was her husband that had killed the awful witch, but still letting her two friends think that she'd done it.
"Nice one," Ron said quietly, impressed with the knowledge. "We were off at the Shrieking Shack."
Hermione let her eyes wander over Harry's face. He was clearly distraught about something. "Voldemort killed Snape...or rather, had his snake do it," Harry said with a grimace, clearly still remembering the act that they'd witnessed. "He gave me some memories."
Hermione's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "Memories? What for?" she asked, confused as to what Snape could have possibly wanted to show Harry. Sure, from talking to Draco, she knew that Snape had tried to keep things together during his tenure as Headmaster at Hogwarts, but as far as she knew he was still a Death Eater through and through.
"He was with us until the end," Harry said, a tortured look on his face. "He was in love with my mum all this time, and...and my father was horrible to him." Hermione's own face softened, seeing how much it hurt Harry. "And, even though I was an absolute little shit, he still looked out for me."
"We didn't know," Hermione said weakly, as if it could erase all the mistrust that Snape had likely faced through the years.
"And he didn't agree with Dumbledore," Harry said firmly, understanding now that he'd had an ally in Snape, even if he'd never realized it. He felt tears coming to his eyes, but quickly blinked them away. "I am a horcrux Hermione." Harry whispered. "I have to go face Voldemort now, and...I am going to die."
Hermione couldn't believe what he was saying. Shaking her head, she wrapped her arms around her oldest friend. "No, no you don't have to die, Harry. Please, we can find another way."
Harry hugged her back, smiling wryly, before shaking his head. "No, there isn't another way. It's time," he said with a finality that suggested that he'd accepted his fate.
Ron hugged his pair of friends, not caring who saw. "Let us go with you. We should be by your side when you face him."
Again, Harry shook his head. "No, I need you two to find the snake. And then, he will be mortal again. It will be up to you and the rest of the Order to finish him off. Let's end this once and for all.
Hermione stared at the limp form of her best friend being carried by Hagrid. He was the head of a parade of victory, led by Voldemort. She knew that she'd said goodbye to Harry for probably the last time, but she couldn't believe that it had actually happened. He'd come through so many death defying situations before unscathed. She couldn't believe that this one was different.
Ginny Weasley's anguished cries were a sickening aria accompanied by an orchestra of sniffles and tears from the surrounding students and Order members. Professor McGonagall's usually coiffed hair was down and she had a look of stunned disbelief.
Hermione couldn't even listen to Voldemort's little celebration speech, and instead her eyes wandered over the Death Eaters, looking for her husband. She met his stricken light green eyes and for a moment she wished that she had run away with him. She could be blissfully unaware of everything that had happened if she was on a tropical island discussing arithmancy.
She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Voldemort calling for Draco to come across the courtyard and join his rightful place among the Death Eaters. He briefly met her eyes, before resigning himself to his fate, slowly walking past the rubble, only to be embraced by Voldemort.
Once he was released, he was quickly tucked under his mother's wing and led away from the school. Hermione didn't know what to think, but she knew that Draco was the most important thing to Narcissa and she would keep him safe at all costs.
"Hermione Granger!" She heard her name bellowed by Voldemort. "You dare defy me after I have given you a life that many would envy?" he asked.
Hermione took a deep breath before stepping forward. She knew that this could be the end for her, but she had to face him head on. When she left this morning, she knew that it was a possibility that she might die. She felt Ron's hand on her's, trying to pull her back, but shook it off. "I told you that I would never support you," she said vehemently.
She heard outraged gasps on the Death Eater side of the fight. "How did you even get here?" he asked, with a frown.
Hermione felt her heart speed up, not wanting to cause any trouble for Rabastan. "You left the floo open." She hoped that sounded as flippant as she intended.
Voldemort seethed. "Unfortunately, your new...status...means that I cannot punish you publically. Return to your husband now. He will see that you are dealt with." Voldemort looked at Rabastan, who nodded, but didn't make eye contact with the Dark Lord.
Hermione sighed, before walking across the courtyard to be returned to Rabastan. Before she could make it half way across, though, Harry — Harry that wonderful boy — thrust himself from Hagrid's arms, and landed on his feet. "No! I won't let you take Hermione again!"
Before Hermione could even comprehend the way that he had stood up for her, the fighting exploded again, curses and hexes firing past her. Some of the Death Eaters were apparating away, unable to believe that Harry had survived a killing curse again. How could they stand with Voldemort when he couldn't even kill Potter?
One Death Eater, though, ran towards her, wrapping her up in his arms. Rabastan's scent filled her nostrils, and she couldn't believe that he was here again, protecting her. She never wanted to let him go.
A slicing hex caught him by the arm, and they began fighting side by side, sending offensive spells at Death Eaters and protective enchantments to keep the Order at bay. It didn't take the other Death Eaters long to figure out that Rabastan had changed sides, so they were quite a target.
Hermione was momentarily distracted by the sound of someone drawing a sword. Looking around, she spotted Neville Longbottom, standing at the top of the stairs, sword of Gryffindor in his hands. Hermione smiled, thinking that there wasn't a more worthy Gryffindor to hold the sword. She cheered when she watched Neville swing his arms down and behead Nagini, Voldemort's final horcrux.
She spotted the part of the courtyard where Harry and Voldemort were locked in a fierce duel. This was his best chance, Hermione realized, but everything was up to Harry at this point. He had to finish this, and she never had believed in her friend more.
The sound of a curse being thrown their way brought Hermione back to the present. She saw Tonks advancing on her and Rabastan and knew that the young auror had one thing on her mind — getting rid of Rabastan.
Hermione didn't want to face Tonks, but she knew that what she had said earlier was absolutely true. She wouldn't let anyone hurt Rabastan. He'd fought his own brother for her and killed Bellatrix Lestrange, and anyone who was willing to go to those lengths for her, for her love, she was going to do everything she could to keep them safe.
She put up shield spell after shield spell, watching Tonks get annoyed, but not wanting to hurt the auror either. Hermione watched as her hair got darker and darker red, clearly getting annoyed by being constantly thwarted. "What the hell, Hermione? Stop with the shield spells. I am trying to rescue you, not hurt you."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't need rescuing Tonks. Rabastan would never hurt me." She could see that Rabastan was tense at the publicness of her proclamation, but he was happy for her to stand up for him. Plus, he was still trying to get rid of Dolohov, who was proving to be quite persistent.
Tonks was clearly confused. "Hermione, I need you to trust me. I know that you have been through a lot with...Rabastan...but, I need you to trust me. I will take you to safety and we can remove this unnatural hold he has on you." Tonks was trying to gain her trust but it wasn't working.
"He doesn't have an unnatural hold on me. I love him, and nothing you can do will make me want to leave him," Hermione insisted. "Now, please help us fight the Death Eaters, or I will be forced to fight with you. I don't want that Tonks." She was one hundred percent serious and held her wand tightly in her hand, hoping that it didn't come to a duel.
Without speaking, Tonks threw a Reducto spell at Rabastan, which Hermione was barely able to block. Seeing that Tonks had made her decision, Hermione frowned, but sent an incarcerous at the auror's form. Afterwards she sent protections to her so that she wouldn't be hurt by the others fighting around them.
Rabastan felt her breath leave him, so pleased that his wife had chosen him, but he knew it wouldn't be the last time that their relationship faced opposition.
Hermione wasn't sure what exactly had happened when Harry had finally killed Voldemort, just that cheers had erupted all over the Hogwarts grounds that he was truly and finally gone. She did know that she was in a passionate embrace with Rabastan, excited that a very different world had been avoided, not caring who saw them.
It didn't take Ron and Harry long to find them, though. Ron separated the pair with a jinx, sending Rabastan sprawling, unsuspected, onto the hard ground. "Ron!" Hermione cried. "What are you doing?"
"I'm protecting you from this foul Death Eater," he said, his eyes narrowed, not liking the way that the dark man had had his arms around Hermione.
"I already told the Order, I don't need protection from Rabastan. He is my husband, and I love him," she said quietly, trying to get Harry and Ron to see reason.
Harry frowned. "Hermione, you don't love him. I am sure that you got used to him, since you were around him so much this past year. It's like Stockholm Syndrome, yeah?" He was upset to see his independent friend so adamant about protecting her husband.
"It is not Stockholm Syndrome!" Hermione said insistently. "And in any case, he is it for me. We've consummated our wedding vows," she said with a slight blush on her cheeks. Though she wasn't embarrassed to discuss their love, she didn't really want to talk to Harry and Ron about how she'd had sex with him. "It's until death do us part."
"That's not a problem," Ron answered, leveling his wand at the green eyed man, still on the ground. "I will just kill him, and then you and I can be together."
Seeing the intent to kill in his eyes, Hermione was horrified. "No!" she cried, before leaping to stand in the way of Ron and Rabastan. She shielded her husband's body with her own, tears coming to run down her face. "I won't let you kill him. I love him."
She could hear Harry and Ron sighing. She knew that it would take them time to come around to her new husband, but she'd hoped that they wouldn't try to kill him outright. "He's been on our side for months. We destroyed a horcrux together. He protected me from Bellatrix, and killed her for me." All the words came tumbling out of her mouth.
She felt Rabastan's fingers running through her tangled curls, and sagged against his body. She wasn't going to give him up now. Looking up, she noticed that she was surrounded by Order members, all looking at her, very concerned. "Please don't hurt him. We will leave and never come back," she pleaded.
Remus was the first to speak. "Hermione, he's a Death Eater. We can't just let him go."
Hermione practically growled at him. "Well, I won't let you have him. You almost killed him once before."
Remus looked shocked, but clearly remembered the incident. "I didn't know that you felt about him this way, Hermione. We all thought that you were in danger."
Finally, Arthur Weasley cleared his throat. "Hermione, he is a Death Eater. We are going to need to arrest him, but he will have a trial. You can support him there and make sure that he gets a fair one." He saw Hermione deflate, sensing that all of her friends were against her. "And, I will sit with you, if you'd like, at the Wizengamot."
She could feel Rabastan's body beneath her, tense and unyielding. "This time," she hissed, glaring at the aurors among their numbers. "Last time they put an underage wizard in Azkaban." Hermione looked into his spring green eyes, apologizing. She knew that there was no way to get them out of this alive at the current time.
Rabastan nodded, knowing what she was asking. "Alright, I will let you take him, but can I have a moment alone with him to say goodbye?" Her voice sounded small, and broken, but the Order members in charge nodded, looking concerned. Ron looked disgusted.
Hermione helped Rabastan to his feet and she sighed again as he wrapped his arm around her, pulling her face to look at him. Hermione felt her tears begin anew, seeing his defeated face search hers. His slight accent came out in his stress. "Do not worry about me, Hermione, it's nothing I haven't been through before."
"I won't let them hurt you, Rabastan, I promise." He could see the fierce determination in her face, and knew that she was being earnest. "I will get you out, as soon as I can." Her hair was wild around her, as though she was some fierce goddess.
Rabastan smiled at her and let his fingers tuck a curl behind her ear. "I believe in you. You will have access to the house and if Maurice doesn't listen to you, tell him I will be very disappointed in how he is treating the future mother of my children."
Hermione blushed. "I want that, Rabastan. I want to help to continue our family line," she whispered. Motherhood hadn't been something that she had contemplated much as a student, wanting to get through schooling first, but now she knew that it was something she wanted with Rabastan.
Hearing her words made his face morph into something intoxicating. He was so happy with her words, he couldn't stop from dipping his face to pull her into a passionate kiss. Hermione couldn't stop from moaning when his tongue stroked against hers. "There will be time," he told her, when he finally broke the kiss, breathless.
"Alright, Hermione, it's time," Remus said, from the periphery. He didn't sound at all reluctant.
Hermione just wrapped her arms around Rabastan, holding him tighter. "I don't want you to go," she said, breathless.
Rabastan hugged her back, before gently pressing against her shoulders. "I know, darling, but I have to go."
Hermione looked up at him, smirking at the pet name she'd initially hated, but now loved. She reluctantly let him go, and watched as Kingsley took his wand and bound his hands together behind his back. "I promise that I will get you out!" Hermione said, unable to remove her eyes from his form. "Soon!"
With a pop, they had apparated away, leaving Hermione crying. Harry walked over to her side, tentatively, wrapping an arm around her. Ron stayed away, looking disgusted at a girl that he'd been thinking of for months. How could she betray them this way?
Hermione hugged Harry back. "Oh Harry! What am I going to do?" she asked, her mind already whirring about what and who could be counted on for Rabastan's defense. She'd need to get a solicitor first thing in the morning and she'd need to collect her memories into a pensive. The sooner the better the memory was.
Harry patted her on the back, awkwardly. "Everything will work out okay Hermione," he said, feeling sorry for Hermione's anguish. "Let's get you somewhere where you can get a hot meal, hell I could use one too."
"I don't know." Hermione said. "I kind of just want to go to sleep. I don't know if I can be around everyone judging me right now, when they have no idea of what I've been through." She hated the pitying looks and confusion about why she would risk her life for a Death Eater.
Harry nodded. "I understand, Hermione. Will you please owl me when you are ready to talk?" he asked, understanding Hermione's need to be alone, but desperately needing to know what had gone on with her for the past few months.
"I will, but...will you be ready to listen?" Hermione asked, before popping away to her home in Jersey. When she arrived in the little sitting room, she found that Maurice was waiting for her.
Even though the little house elf didn't particularly care for her, he looked at her distraught form and quickly ushered her up and put her to bed. Hermione hugged the pillow as she drifted off to sleep, wishing that it was Rabastan she was holding onto.