A/N: Anogete gets an extra special thanks on this chapter, because the Death Eaters had run away with my commas, and she had to try to find them again! More thanks to my wonderful readers and reviewers: your comments have been very heartening as well as helpful!
Obligatory: None of these things belong to me; they all belong to JKR. I just like to have a bit of fun with them, and no profit is desired.
--
After giving the highly edited version of all that had happened at the Death Eater manor to Harry and Ron, Hermione found herself cleaned up and in fresh robes having tea in her room with Albus Dumbledore.
"How did Harry and Mr. Weasley take the news, dear?" He smiled kindly at her.
"Well, I left out the bit about the bond and the blood because I think they are having a difficult time accepting that Severus is on our side. In time, perhaps they will understand why I did what I did, but for now, all they need to know is that I trust him, and that he helped us in keeping Harry safe." Hermione took small bites out of a biscuit.
"That is probably best, Hermione. How are you feeling?"
"Not great, Professor. Ever since I got back here, I've been feeling sick. I felt sick a lot when I was with Draco and the others, but now it's much worse. I asked Madam Pomfrey for a potion, but it doesn't seem to be working." Hermione put down the biscuit she had been unsuccessfully trying to eat.
"I think that we need to discuss this. It is no ordinary stomach ailment that's bothering you." He sipped at his tea. "When did you feel relief from this discomfort?"
Hermione thought for a moment. "When I was with Severus. I suppose that knowing he wasn't going to hurt me made me feel safe."
"I'm afraid it's a bit more than that. The pain you feel is the warning of the Animus Redimio. It's reminding you that it is there."
Hermione's face wrinkled in confusion. "I don't understand."
"When the bond was first activated in the fall, it was weak because you had not yet seen your match. Once you were united, it saw hope for its consummation. Once it was consummated, it took complete hold of you. It will never be satisfied until the two of you are together again." His eyes darkened. "I'm afraid that you will never find peace until you and Severus are reunited."
Hermione looked down into her teacup. "I'll die, won't I?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, you will. I know that it sounds cruel in those terms, but the assumption is that you would not be able to go on living having been denied your one true match. You were brought into Severus' life to save him, and, if he turns away from that salvation, you will fade as his heart does."
"Will he die?"
"Physically, no, he will not die. But he will be tortured. He will not be able to sustain his magical abilities without the support of his heart." Dumbledore reached across the table and patted Hermione's hand. "I am sorry. I know that this is a lot to absorb."
Hermione looked about the room for a moment. "Do you think Severus knows that we are bonded?"
"Yes, I believe that he does. He certainly knows about the Animus Redimio enchantment, because he knows that I have one with the castle, but he is also very attuned to the magic that affects him. He may not have known what it was at first, but, now that you have sealed the bond, he likely most certainly understands what it is."
"Does he know that I will die if he does not embrace it?" She stirred her tea with a spoon absentmindedly.
"I cannot say. The Animus Redimio is complicated, and he may not understand the particulars of the bond you share."
"I hope that he does not know. I promised him that I would support whatever decision he made, so I will not force him to return to me out of obligation." She sat back in her chair, resolved. "That probably sounds awfully foolhardy, doesn't it?"
"It sounds like you are mature beyond your years, my dear." He stood and vanished his teacup. "It is quite late, and you certainly need your rest. Tomorrow, I must give Harry a crash course in defeating Voldemort, and I believe you should train Draco and his friends if they would like to join our side in battle. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes, of course. I know that they want to help." She smiled and escorted him to the door.
Just as Dumbledore was about to leave, he turned back to her. "Whatever you decide to do about Severus, you are still a very brave young witch. Do not let anyone, least of all me, try to persuade you one way or the other."
Hermione grinned sheepishly. "Thank you, sir. Goodnight."
The next day was a flurry of activity. Early in the morning, Dumbledore went to see Horace Slughorn and dragged him nearly kicking and screaming back to Hogwarts to teach Potions for the rest of the year. He told Hermione that she was welcome to assist him as she had Caveo, but that she was under no obligation.
She kindly informed him that, for now, she was turning all of her attention to the pending confrontation.
News of Dumbledore's resurrection spread like wildfire through the castle, as he had decided there was little useful tactical advantage in keeping his return a secret. Over Minerva's protestations, he refused to resume his position as Headmaster, choosing instead to keep a small office and commit himself to preparing Harry for his upcoming trials.
Hermione began her work with Draco's Army in the Room of Requirement, trying to teach them key hexes and defensive spells. Jane sat quietly and watched, refusing to let on her frustration that she would be unable to lend magical support to her friends.
Harry and Ron were both having a difficult time accepting that neither Severus nor Draco were their enemies, though Ron tried to bite his tongue when he was working with Hermione in training for battle. He was largely kept quiet by her promise that she had learned some very interesting hexes in her time at the Death Eater manor, and that she wouldn't hesitate to use them if he misbehaved.
The air in the castle was heavy with anxiety and apprehension as the older students waited for the storm to come. The eye of the hurricane was a calm place, but it also meant that wilder weather was on the inevitable horizon.
Hermione tried all day to hide the pain her stomach was causing her. Every time she took a moment to dwell on it, her thoughts would return to Severus, the man she loved, her perfect match. She knew that he was still alive, because she was still functioning. She needed to see him again, and soon, or her entire world would fall apart.
Eating dinner with Harry, Ron, and Draco's Army in the Room of Requirement, Hermione found that her appetite was still missing in action. Harry and Ron were busy regaling Andrew and Jeffrey with stories of their adventures while the other girls looked on in amusement.
Draco turned to the sullen Hermione. "Do you feel it?"
Hermione looked up with surprise. "Feel what?"
"That magic in the air. Dark magic. I always felt it when I would come home from Hogwarts. Dark magic seeps into your veins and chills your bones. If you have some kind of connection with Severus, I'm sure you can feel it too."
Hermione shuddered. "I suppose I just didn't know what it was. What do you think it means?"
Draco thought for a moment. "Hey, you lot, follow me." Draco made for the door.
"We can't all just go running out there, Draco. Someone could see us!" Hermione scolded.
"Don't you worry, Lieutenant. I know an obscure path, and everyone's at dinner." He grinned. "Just follow me, alright?"
Hermione nodded hesitantly, but they all walked quickly in silence to where Draco was leading them. He followed one of the most convoluted paths about the halls of the castle that Hermione had ever seen until they found themselves at the Astronomy tower.
"Look," Draco ordered, and they all gazed out the window.
In the dark and distant sky, Hermione could see ominous storm clouds gathering. Lightning burst forth from them and tore through the silence of the night.
"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked, her whole body shaking with fear.
"They're coming," Harry answered. "He's coming."
"Now?" Ron spat out, horrified. "So soon?"
"He has no reason to delay any longer," Draco replied evenly. "If he knows that Dumbledore is back, he'll want to strike while we're still disorganized."
"We've got to get to the Headmistress' office. Harry needs the potion. Come on!" Not caring for who saw them, Hermione led the stampede up to Professor McGonagall's office.
Once they got past the gargoyles and threw open the door, they found that they were not the only ones preparing for the confrontation. The eyes of Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody, McGonagall, and Dumbledore all turned to face them.
"Ah, children, just in time," Dumbledore greeted them jovially.
"They're coming!" Hermione gasped through labored breaths. "Harry! The potion!"
"I know, my dear, I know. Here, Harry, take this. It might not taste too pleasant. Severus never has been able to figure out how to make potions with valerian root more palatable." Dumbledore held out a vial to Harry, and Harry swallowed it with a grimace.
"That smells awful, Hermione. What on earth is in it?" Harry shook his head and waited for the sickness in his stomach to pass.
i If only you knew /i , Hermione thought to herself.
"We must try to keep the Death Eaters from getting into the castle and endangering the younger students. We have Aurors all around the gates, but we should all take up positions around the grounds, concentrating on protecting Harry," Moody growled, his magical eye pinned on Draco.
"I'll gather all of the willing older students and meet you at the main door." Remus stood and made to exit. Before he left, he turned to Harry. "We'll all be there for you, Harry. Be strong."
"Thanks, Remus." Harry tried to look more cheerful, but it was clear that the pain in his scar was taking up a lot of his energy.
"Right, then. Let's make our way to the grounds." McGonagall motioned towards the door, and everyone filed out silently.
No one dared to breathe as they moved into secure positions outside on the grounds. The dark magic that Hermione and Draco had felt earlier became even more palpable, and everyone shifted uncomfortably as it moved through their bodies.
"Malfoy?" Hermione whispered. She stood with Draco and his army a few yards from the front doors of the castle.
"Yes, Granger?" His voice was tense.
"Whatever happens, I want you to know that I admire you. You've turned out to be a decent ferret after all." She turned to him and smirked.
"Thank you," he replied, holding his hand over his chest in mockery. "As for you, you're not too bad for a Mudblood." He grinned.
"Don't let Angelica hear you say that," Hermione quipped, punching him lightly in the arm.
The thunder cracked in the distance, and Hermione shuddered. This was it, this was the moment she had been waiting for these many months. Since she had begun studying obscure branches of magic, since she had learned of Severus' innocence, since she had begun looking for a way to brew the Animus Redimio, since she had been taken prisoner and forced to spend day after day with Severus, she had been waiting for the truth to be told. She wanted nothing more than to see it all be done and find some way to live a normal life.
The clouds in the distance got closer, and rain began falling all around them. Several of the younger witches and wizards pulled their cloaks about them more tightly to protect them from the cold, but Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Draco all stood unmoved by the chill in the air. All that they could do was wait.
Minutes that seemed like hours passed as they all waited. Hermione didn't want to face the Death Eaters, but she also couldn't wait for this all to be over.
As if in answer to her silent prayer, pops of Apparation sounded outside the gates of the school, and from their position on the grounds, Hermione and the others could see the unmistakable black robes of a sea of Death Eaters. They wasted no time in beginning to throw hexes at the Aurors, and the Aurors responded.
Fighters from both sides poured in from their covered positions, and before long enough of the Aurors had been weakened for the Death Eater to breach the magical barriers keeping them from the gate and stormed in.
Without taking a moment to think about their strategy, Hermione and the others began fighting off as many Death Eaters as they could, Stupefying, freezing, and generally knocking over as they moved through them.
Dumbledore stood beside Harry, waiting for Voldemort to appear, and he didn't disappoint. He threw off all the curses Dumbledore tried to throw at him, trying to avoid facing any spell with Harry that would enact the Priori Incantatem.
Hermione found herself face-to-face with Bellatrix, and all of her anger at how the mad witch had treated her at the manor coursed through her veins.
"Ah, the renegade Mudblood. How like Severus' whores to lead him astray. Crucio!"
Hermione rolled on the ground to avoid the curse. "Expelliarmus!" she cast, pointing her wand at Bellatrix and taking her unawares. As Bellatrix's wand flew from her hand, Hermione cast, "Petrificus Totalus!" Bellatrix stopped in her tracks and fell over, frozen.
Hermione dodged hexes and curses as she made her way through the crowd, trying to make sure that all of her friends were safe. She tried to ignore the remaining pain in her stomach, but she couldn't help but worry that her illness would slow her reactions and put everyone in danger.
Still, she pressed on, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Harry standing strong behind Dumbledore as he and Voldemort taunted each other with easily blocked curses.
Bellatrix had begun to stir several yards away from her, and Neville was upon her, the need to get revenge for the torture of his parents making his battle readiness impressive.
The grounds of Hogwarts were covered with crisscrosses of hexes and curses. There was no way to tell who lay among the fallen bodies, and whether they were friend or foe. All she could do was seek out the frightening masks and robes of the Death Eaters and bring down as many of them as she could.
A voice from somewhere behind her and to her left called out to her. "Hermione! Look out in front of you!" announced Draco's voice urgently.
She whipped around to see the towering figure of Lucius Malfoy, his mask removed, and his eyes dancing with evil delight.
"Ah, Mudblood. I thought I would see you again." With a flick of his wand, he disarmed her.
"You will have to do better than that, Malfoy," she taunted, shooting a Stunning Hex at him with her wandless magic.
"Very impressive, Mudblood slut. Tell me, did you use this power of yours to brainwash my good friend Severus?"
Their verbal and magical spar continued in tandem, each managing to elude the curses of the other.
"Perhaps I should ask you the same question. Take that!" She tried out a darker curse, one that was meant to cause the feeling of fire on one's genitals.
"And that's probably why Severus likes you. He always was one to be led around by his balls." He tried Stunning her again.
"Lucius!" came a voice from behind the blond Death Eater's shoulder.
Both Hermione and Lucius turned to look at the source of the voice, but Hermione hardly needed to hear it to know the person to whom it belonged. She knew it the moment she felt her stomach relax right before Draco warned her that Lucius was there.
Severus stood tall in all his glory. What shocked both Hermione and Lucius was the fact that Severus was dressed in Death Eater robes, his mask having fallen off somewhere in the struggle.
Hermione went completely numb as she met his cold eyes and watched him look back and forth between her and Lucius. Feeling completely alone and afraid, she turned behind her to see Draco crawling towards her, his wand trying to find a target to defend her. She turned back to see Lucius and Severus raise their wands. Some unreadable expression crossed Severus' face as his wand pointed in a decidedly neutral direction.
"Severus, don't," she choked out. "Please, Severus," she called out to him through Silent Speech.
"Hermione!" Draco called again, just a few feet away.
As things started to seem hopeless, she watched as Lucius turned to Severus and remarked, "Don't worry, Severus, I'll take care of this thorn in your side for you." He turned back to Hermione with his wand raised as she doubled over on the ground and wretched. "Avada Kedavra."