AN: Sorry this has taken so long…I struggled through the battle scene and lost my muse over it. However, it is finally done! Have more written, so hopefully will be posted soon ;)

Chapter 22: The Final Battle Part II

Everything was in chaos as spells were sent flying across the small meadow. At first, the Deatheaters merely tried simple yet viciously cruel hexes toward their intended victims. The Order members were fighting just as fierce, yet keeping the hexes at an equal level.

Ron could barely keep track of everything as people flew by him left and right. He knew which members were on their side, and heard the scream as Aragog took the first casualty. Ron barely caught sight of a Deatheater being swallowed by the magnificent spider, and all of the sudden he was less frightened by them. Hagrid was a true friend to the spider clan, and likely the fight meant enough food without themturning to the Order and Harry's side. (AN: for food, that is)

The sound of flames and the smell of flesh burning told him that the dragons had claimed their first Deatheater – a victim for victory.

Hermione was fairing quite well. Her wand in one hand, a flamethrower in the other. She found the second item quite handy in deflecting spells as she cast out her own to those she battled. As Charlie had shown her, spells could easily be deflected, sending them fizzling to the ground, losing the force of the spell. Unfortunately, the sound of an Order member screaming was heard as a woman fell to the ground after Lucius Malfoy sent a killing curse. She did not see who it was, and would later learn it was a cousin of Fleur's.

Buckbeak was there, charging at the figures wearing their masks. Dragons sent flames down at the Deatheaters, the flames taking out some of the dark spells they cast toward the Order members and others fighting. Centaurs clashed with dominions of the Dark Lord's army. Another Order member fell at Bellatrix's feet. She stood there in triumph and hummed merrily to go and find her next victim.

Harry and Voldemort were close, and the snakelike man was smirking as they drew closer, away from the others. The Deatheaters knew not to touch Harry; that was Voldemort's order. Neither of the two wizards said a word or cast a spell; they seemed to be waiting for something…

Dumbledore was not seen, as he had disappeared to concentrate on Harry from his position above everyone else. He levitated above the battle, in his own spelled trance. He had even fooled Voldemort, who seemed more focused on Harry; forgetting his other strongest opponent.

The twins were almost laughing at the effective yet humorous spells they cast on their opponents. One had a huge sticky mess, like bubble gum plastered all over him. He could not move, and fell to the ground struggling. Some of the Order members were hiding still, and quickly disapparated with the fallen Deatheaters, taking them to a holding area.

Ron was now facing a new opponent. He knew who it was; it was Rudolphus LeStrange. He remembered the man, and got ready to duel.

The spiders were running amuck, a couple had already gobbled up a Deatheater. Or two…Fred nearly tripped over a piece of an arm.

And so the fighting continued, casualties began to number up. Finally, as Hermione looked over she saw Voldemort cast a spell. Harry was quick to cast one too, and the two spells clashed as she remembered Voldemort and Dumbledore's battle a couple of years before.

The fighting seemed to pause for a moment, as members from both sides stood in awe at the sight the spells the two were casting glowed around them. It almost seemed to immobilize everyone, but then the spells clashed and the fighting continued.

Harry and the Dark Lord sent spell after spell upon the other, each powerful but deflected. Harry thought frantically about what he had to do, not sure what it was exactly that was needed. Hermione had disappeared, not that he noticed, but then he saw her, from the corner of his eye, behind a tree near his opponent. Next, she did something no one expected. She had taken off her shoe and threw it at Voldemort with all her might.

It seemed rather silly to her, in doing so, but she knew Voldemort likely had some protective spell warding off spells from behind him, or something like that, but not from simple, harmless items. The shoe, actually a hard toed boot, hit the Dark Lord directly in the head. He turned slightly and scowled, but another Deatheater was quick enough to throw a spell at the girl.

Ron, who had seen what Hermione was doing, had been running toward her. He reached her just as the spell came and threw himself in front of her. Aumon, who, along with two other centaurs, saw what Ron had done – he knows his heart, Aumon thought – and sought any near Deatheaters to ward them away from the scene.

Unfortunately, the curse hit both Ron and Hermione and threw them to the ground. The two lay lifeless on the ground.

Voldemort smirked triumphantly at the boy-who-lived, hopefully the boy-who-lived-no-more. He could see the pain on the boys face, his two best friends had fallen to a curse.

Anger, love, and a whole flurry of emotions went through Harry as he set a new spell in motion. Voldemort was laughing, but seemed confident. He cast the spell, and Voldemort was struck down. He was not dead; it was not a killing curse.

Harry was not ready…

Harry ran to his friends and quickly checked for vitals. They were still alive. Ron groaned, as did Hermione. They were weak, but awake; immense pain shooting through their bodies.

"Harry, we have to finish this together." Hermione mumbled weakly. She then groaned as another pain gripped her body. Luckily, the Deatheater who had cast the spell had been taken down by Lupin, and he and Tonks were helping by deflecting any Deatheaters who approached the Trio.

Voldemort was now up and ready to face Harry again. Hermione looked in fear as the snakelike man laughed at them. He set his wand as Hermione gripped Harry's arm as she struggled to stand up.

Dumbledore sent an essence of himself to Harry and whispered "It is time."

"Ron, hold him." Hermione said, "We have to give Harry all our energy." She then whispered a spell.

Ron did the same, and struggled to get up as well and held onto Harry's shoulder. The two closed their eyes and gave Harry all their strength, their energy,…their love.

As their spells deepened through Harry's body, the boy-who-lived knew it was time to end this war once and for all.

Only seconds had passed, but Voldemort was now casting his most powerful, final curse.

Harry shouted out the killing curse at the same time, the spell shot out of his wand in a way no one had ever yet seen. The spell crashed through Voldemort's own killing curse, leading the Dark Lord to suddenly stare in awe, as the spell exploded into his body.

Voldemort was no more. The killing curse had been so strong that his body blew into bits, then burned into the ground. Dumbledore then appeared in his physical form beside the remains. No one knew what had happened to him. Now, he set his wand over the site of Voldemort's ashes and sent a curse assuring that Voldemort could be no more.

It was over. Order members had overpowered the remaining Deatheaters and brought them to the holding site, while others helped secure the area. Centaurs, who had fought alongside the Order, were now helping by searching for any who fled. They did find a couple of Deatheaters, and a Ravenclaw boy who had fled in fear. He had been hiding under a tree log.

Aumon walked over to Dumbledore. "We seem to have everything under control. I must now go with my clan,"

"Yes, I know your ways. It is important that you do what is needed for the clan."

Aumon nodded. "Yes, we must gather at the Tree of Light. My clansmen have welcomed me back and want me to advise them."

Dumbledore smiled. "You were always the most wisest of your kind; now they understand that relations with others are essential."

"I must go now; I believe young Ronald finally understands more of his heart."

"I saw, too. He is ready to know…"

The two looked over to where a healer with the Order was helping transport Ron and Hermione back to the hospital wing. Others were doing the same for the rest of the injured and deceased.

"Yes, I believe things will work themselves out." Aumon said as he gave Dumbledore a bow. "Please tell him to come see me in three days. I have something for him."

Dumbledore bowed in return. Aumon then returned to his clan.

Later that day everyone settled into the Great Hall. Two students had been lost, one centaur, and a number of Order members. Many more Deatheaters had been killed; the dragons had burned some to a crisp, Buckbeak had flown of with two Deatheaters, one being Bellatrix Lestrange, and an unknown number of them eaten by Aragog's happy tribe.

Charlie, Fleur, Ginny, and several others had been gravely injured; Hermione and Ron were also in the hospital wing as Professor Snape helped Pomfrey search for the counter curse.

Draco had suffered several wounds, but was well enough to get around and was being comforted by Luna and Kat. His father was gone; he had been eaten by Aragog in one gulp, and Draco had witnessed his father's final screams.

The next day

Ron groaned for what seemed the hundredth time, but this time he was awake. Not sure what was happening, the young man looked around and saw that he was in the hospital wing. The first site he saw was Hermione next to him. He could see her breathing and knew she was okay.

Nearby Ron saw Snape attending to Charlie, and Harry was in a chair asleep, near Ginny's cot. Pomfrey was giving something to another Order member, and looking around he saw other familiar faces, like Fleur. Bill was there, gently caressing his wife's hand. Bill looked over and smiled at Ron, glad to see his brother awake. He was about to get up, but Ron shooed him weakly with his hand.

Ron got up and hobbled over to Hermione's cot. She was laying peacefully, and he smiled as he watched her. He took her hand, and then leaned over and kissed her gently.

Hermione moaned, then shifted in her sleep. Ron kept hold of her hand as she slept, but was gone by the time Hermione finally awoke some hours later.

It was dinnertime, and Hermione felt well enough to make her way to the Great Hall. She was famished, not having eaten since breakfast. She eyed the Slytherin table, where Luna and Draco were holding hands and trying to eat, and the other tables. For the first time in her year at the school, she saw students mixing about, talking to one another. Even the Slytherins! And all the younger year students had returned.

Kat nearly exploded with happiness when she saw Hermione and ran over to give her dear cousin a hug. Some of her friends followed, wanting eagerly to talk to one of the "heroes" of the final battle.

"Oh, I heard you were alright! They wouldn't let us into the hospital; too many wanting to go in. Your mom and dad are on their way with my parents; they want to see us. They'll be here tomorrow."

Hermione squeezed her cousin, noticing Ron over at the Hufflepuff table. He was likely telling those who didn't fight about the battle. A couple of girls were gazing at him, and had edged their way near him. He saw Hermione from across the room and smiled at her.

Hermione smiled back, but was then surrounded by a group of students asking questions about her role in the battle. She was then led to the Ravenclaw table where Kat and her friends helped get her a plate of food. The older Ravenclaws soon moved to sit over by her, as did a Slytherin boy who winked at Hermione. Hermione blushed, but answered their questions as much as she could. She was still a little tired, but soon was replenished as she ate during the conversations about her.

"So what's this about the centaurs, spiders, and other creatures." The Slytherin boy asked Hermione.

"They joined the battle. It was really quite amazing."

"And what were they like? I mean, I've never been close to a centaur before." He asked.

"Well, there wasn't really much time to think about it, other than knowing that we had support from others." She replied, as she took her last bite of supper.

The questions continued, and it seemed that Hermione kept repeating what all she had the strength to reply to while remaining polite. And she was tired.

Ron had had enough of watching everyone celebrate. Unfortunately, he had seen Hermione leave for the Head's quarters some time ago, telling Harry and Ginny that she just wanted to rest, her wounds still hurting. He had wanted to follow her, but he had a prior commitment. One that needed to be dealt with.

He sighed looking at everyone. Harry and Ginny were snogging, as were other couples. Neville and Parvati, Seamus with some sixth-year girl he didn't know well; even Lavender was snuggling up with Colin Creevy, looking over the photos he'd taken after the battle.

Ron took a moment to slip up into the boy's dormitory, where Dean was busy with his latest conquest who turned out to be Padma, and without their noticing Ron took Harry's invisibility cloak and made his way toward the Astronomy Tower.

He climbed the steps to the outside observatory, his speech going through his head. He opened the door and saw a lone hooded figure, staring out toward the skies.

He gulped. She was here. Maria was mere steps in front of him, waiting as promised.

As his presence was known, the figure started to turn.

"Don't…" He whispered. "Please hear me out."

Maria stopped and continued to look outward.

"I…I made a mistake. I wanted to meet you, but these circumstances were made because I was hurting. I hurt someone, too. You see, all these years your letters really meant a lot to me, but then I met someone. I told you about her, the transfer student who became Head Girl. I fell in love with her. But then I mucked it all up. That's why I sent you that last letter. I wasn't being fair to either of you. I know I feel something deep for you, but I have come to realize that I am in love with Hermione. Hermione Granger. I know you may never forgive me for this, but I had to tell you. She probably still hates me right now, but the truth is I love her so deeply that I cannot meet you like this. I…I am truly sorry. I just hope you will one day forgive me. Goodbye, Maria."

With that Ron turned to leave.

"Don't go." Her voice whispered.

AN: Okay, anyone catch onto what Hermione did to Voldemort? I mean, the inspiration behind it? Hey, it's almost the season for the that this scene is famous from.