Chapter Five: A New Ending

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Hermione yelled as loud as she could, pointing her wand at Bellatrix. The jets of green light caught her square in the chest.

Weak with relief, Hermione collapsed to her knees, as did Ron. She looked at him. He was alive.

She was startled to see that he had tears in his eyes, and she suddenly found that she did too as she watched him gently lift her past self off the floor. Hermione, still under the cloak, continuously looked around, ensuring that no one else was going to try to kill Ron.

Or her…wouldn't that be ironic?

Pushing that thought aside, she turned back to where Ron sat with her in his arms. Only, he wasn't looking at the Hermione in his arms. He was staring just to the left of Hermione, as though he could see her.

She quickly double-checked to make sure that the cloak was still on, and after finding that it was, she turned back to him. But he was now helping the Past Hermione to her feet and embracing her, closely but carefully.

The rest of the battle played out how it had the first time, with Harry killing Voldemort, and Ginny running to him afterwards, throwing her arms around him and kissing him with everything she had.

The cloaked Hermione watched as everyone celebrated and mourned at the same time, and was incredibly grateful that she had been successful. She followed the Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione to the Burrow, and then sat and watched as they talked long into the night.

Fred kept looking at Hermione oddly, but every time he seemed about to say something, he stopped. The cloaked Hermione wondered if her actions had been wise, but she did not regret saving his life.

After a good half hour of failed attempts, Fred finally blurted out, "Hermione, how did you do it?"

The cloaked Hermione had no idea what she was going to do now, but somehow, Ron saved her. "Fred, I'll talk to you tomorrow about it, okay?" At Hermione's perplexed look, Ron merely shook his head and kissed her soundly.

They retired soon after that; Hermione in Ginny's room, Harry in Ron's. The cloaked Hermione followed Ron and Harry up to Ron's room – closing her eyes and blushing while they changed – and listened to them talk.

Hermione was content to sit against the wall, her eyes closed and listen to the boys talk, but Ron suddenly mentioned her. "Harry, mate, in case I forget tomorrow, please remind me to thank Hermione."

Both Hermione and Harry looked at Ron in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She's saved me," Ron said with his goofy grin. "In more ways than anyone can ever know."

The boys fell asleep soon after that, but Hermione stayed awake – not wanting to fall asleep and accidentally give herself away – thinking about what she did.

She wondered if Ron had any memory of his death. His last words indicated that he did, but Hermione knew that to be next to impossible. At the same time, however, she thought of how strong Ron's presence had been.

At first she had thought it was merely his room, but during her time at Hogwarts she had felt him too. A sudden thought occurred to her – had Ron been with her?

She looked at him on his bed and felt tears in her eyes. She could hint at it tomorrow, after she was herself again. She could only hope that she had been logical in thinking that Hermione would still turn back time.

With a sinking feeling, she realized that if she didn't, Hermione could never come out from the cloak. Sighing inwardly, she rose and walked quietly to Ginny's room, and over to the cot where Hermione lay sleeping. Whispering in her ear, she told herself the importance of going back to her place, and repeated everything that she had done. As an added precaution, she used a light Imperius Curse, pretty sure about the outcome of the effect on herself.

Only time would tell if it actually worked.

In the early evening, Hermione was sitting in her living room, still under the cloak. In any minute, her past self was going to appear. To get rid of her nervousness, Hermione thought through the logic of it.

She'll come, she thought to herself.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, Hermione appeared and ran up the stairs. Not wanting to confuse herself even more by thinking about it, Hermione followed her up, watched her disappear through time, and then Apparated back to Ron's room.