Okay guys! This is the LAST CHAPTER! Thank you so much for sticking with me until the very end! For all of you who have continually written me reviews, I just want you to know how much that means to me. Your support has kept me writing this story! Anyway, I really hope you enjoy the final chapter of "A Lesson in Loyalty"!
Past the blurred images of his friends and enemies and the burning, broken ruins of the castle Severus pursued his target. Bellatrix would die for what she had done to Hermione; for everything she had done to Hermione. This crazy witch was the reason his beloved would carry the mark of her blood status in the form of a scar for the rest of her life. But also, she had very nearly gotten the girl killed. Severus would have her begging for mercy by the time he was done with her. She will pay!
Bellatrix's cackling laughter was an obvious cover for the fear he could see in her ebony eyes. She was no fool and he was a far superior fighter.
They burst through the front doors of the castle and into the chaos beyond, sending curses at each other all the way. She was trying to lose him! Oh, but he would not let her. Cutting a jagged line through the raging battle of wizards, giants, werewolves, centaurs and more; it became clear that Bellatrix was running toward the Forbidden Forest. She was headed to the apparition point! He would have to catch up fast.
Not far inside the cover of the trees, however, Severus found himself suddenly thrown backward, hitting the ground and convulsing in fits of Cruciatus that the dark bitch had not cast. The current of pain ceased and he came back to reality to find himself flat on his back; sharp rocks biting into his flesh. Bellatrix's cackle of laughter sounded distant, but she was standing above him in triumph. "Fool!" she cried out happily. "He followed me right to you!" A pang shook Severus's chest with fear as he realized to whom she was speaking. The figure stepped into his line of sight and Severus met the twisted and ruthless face of lord Voldemort. The dark lord is here?! He couldn't believe his eyes.
"Severus!" the snake-man hissed. "You had such… potential." Severus did not respond. He was currently working out just how the hell he was going to escape now. "I find myself very… disappointed… that such a faithful follower would betray me for a filthy… little… mudblood!" The dark lord raised his wand angrily and Severus braced for impact. He could not fight, for his own wand was nowhere to be seen. "Crucio!" The agony ripped through him like a rusted knife and his nerves were set on fire with pain. He could feel the dark lord's fury in his very blood. Then it stopped and Severus was gasping for air, no longer involved in the scene around him.
"You are a fool, Severus. I would have made you an important man. Now you are of no use to anyone. I hope the little bitch was worth it. Sectum Sempra!" Severus felt his own spell slice through his flesh with a smooth efficiency as hot blood spilled down his chest. He coughed at the sensation of drowning as the thick liquid poured down his throat. He tried to swallow, but his lungs were already heavy and he could not breathe. "Perhaps Nagini can find some use for you. Nagini! Kill!" Through the red haze of slow death, Severus saw the large snake float toward him in a large bubble as the dark lord and his faithful witch left her to finish the job. The bubble landed and disappeared and suddenly the viper was upon him.
Once! Twice! Three times she struck him with a force that seemed to break his bones. Her many bites began to sting with deep agony as he felt his life's blood leaving him. In that moment, he knew that he had only one regret: that he would never be able to live the life he could have lived with Hermione. He could feel the large snake close beside him and knew she would soon be feasting on his body. He prayed he would be dead by then. A weakness fell over him as his life drained away and his vision grew dark.
Suddenly the flash of a large object flying toward him brought his focus back to the present as Hermione Granger landed atop the giant snake armed with a giant fang. The point easily pierced the serpent's flesh, and as she pulled back for another blow, the snake exploded into a whirl of black smoke and dissipated into the thin, night air. Then, her weight was pressing into him as she sprawled across his chest to hold his face in her hands.
"Don't leave me, Severus!" she cried, and through the haze he could feel her tears spattering his cheek. She pressed her lips to his and pulled back before he could respond. He only coughed, wishing he could express his deepest regrets to her. Wishing he could tell her he had at least killed Bellatrix, though that seemed so very trivial now. He lifted a hand to her hair and realized that she was rifling through her bag. "Accio Potions kit!" she cried. His heart sank painfully. She thinks she can save me. She will blame herself when she cannot. He tried to protest as she drained several Blood Replenishing Potions into his mouth and forced him to swallow. He immediately felt stronger, but knew that she was only prolonging the inevitable. Nagini's bites would not heal without the antidote. The next bottle she pulled out was obviously Essence of Dittany, but he feared it was a lost cause. They had only ever speculated that Dittany would cure Nagini's bite. Merlin, what he would give to be back in that classroom with her, discussing Potions theory and brewing Calming Draughts. It all seemed a world away.
Hermione was desperately applying the substance to every bite she could find, ripping open his frock coat and shirt to reach the skin beneath. He felt stronger every minute, but knew that it could not last. Nothing could save him now. But there was a silver lining to her vain efforts: perhaps he would gain enough strength to say something to her; to tell her not to worry, as he had done just a little while before in the Room of Requirement. That everything would be alright. He swallowed harshly and tried to clear his voice. At the very least, he was now able to breathe.
"Hermione," he said softly and she stopped her ministrations to meet his gaze with her own teary eyes. He blinked back his own tears of regret at the sight and swallowed again at the newly formed lump of emotion in his throat. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, but speaking was a challenge and he knew he could not voice them all. Even as he opened his mouth again, he did not know what he would say.
"I love you."
There it was. As he said it, fresh tears sprung to her eyes and she pressed her face into the crook of his neck. "I love you too!" she whimpered into his bleeding throat. Her tears were like rivers of heat against the cold of his gaping wounds. Then she pulled away, stubbornly returning to the task of saving him. He reached for her hand, trying to communicate that it was no use. To his surprise, she slapped it away and continued with her ministrations. He looked down at himself and was shocked to see fresh scars lining his chest, rather than bleeding gashes. She dabbed the dittany on his neck and he could feel it closing up, allowing him to breathe properly again.
"How…" he began and was surprised by the strength of his voice. She only smiled and placed a gentle kiss on his lips.
"We were right about the dittany." She gushed, tears sliding down her cheek in relieved happiness. "I used it on Harry's bite when Nagini attacked him in Godric's Hollow." Severus was dumbfounded at her admission. He was about to ask her why she had never told him of it before, when she tipped another potion down his throat. Strengthening Solution. Severus was feeling better every minute and for the first time, he allowed himself to hope. She had brought him from the edge of death to almost full vitality using the very thing that had originally brought them together: potions.
Hermione gave Severus several more potions and allowed him a moment of rest before returning to the battle. He could not stay there long, however, and finally she could put it off no more. Hermione slowly helped Severus to his feet. He limped for a minute, but steadily his strength was increasing as she helped him back toward the castle.
"Wait," she cried softly, pulling him into her embrace and finding his lips with her own. His arms wrapped around her, holding her gently close as he met her sweet kiss. They melted together for a moment of harmony in the midst of the chaos before Severus finally pulled away. He took her hand and started toward the castle. "Wait," she whispered again. He turned to her with a stern look that said 'we really do need to get back,' before she withdrew the basilisk fang from her beaded bag. Understanding dawned on Severus's features and he retrieved the diadem from the pocket of his tattered coat, holding it out to her. She only shook her head. "You do it," she said simply. He hesitated before taking the offered fang.
He moved to the side of the clearing where a flat rock was nestled against a tree. Severus sat the diadem upon it and held the fang up like a dagger. He looked over at her, unsure, and she nodded her encouragement. With one quick sweep, he lifted the fang high above his head and brought it down right into the center jewel of the diadem. A sudden blast of wicked darkness filled the clearing with smoky forms. Hermione imagined that they were the monsters that made up Voldemort's soul. To her credit, she did not scream as she took hold of Severus's arm, and after a moment the images disappeared. They were both panting with the rush of adrenaline that the explosion had caused. Finally, they shook off the emotions and headed back toward the battle.
The forest was so dark and dense and Hermione had no clue where she was going. Luckily, the Potions Master knew these woods like the back of his hand and led them easily back toward the castle. A little farther on, they heard voices, and for a moment Hermione thought they were already back. But Severus pulled her to him, clapping a hand over her mouth, and she knew that wasn't the case. The indistinct words were spoken with the distinct hiss of the dark lord and Hermione felt her heart leap up in fright. Then, there was another voice; one that was so startlingly familiar that Hermione gasped against Severus's palm.
It was Harry.
Severus must have heard it too, because he drew his wand and moved them slowly closer to the clearing from whence the voices came. Through the heavy foliage Hermione could see the figure of her friend, and he was alone.
Just then, there was a flash of green light and she watched Harry Potter crumple to the ground. Her scream was muffled by a hand over her mouth as Severus held her tight, keeping her from running to Harry's side. Despair rushed through her like a force and she crumpled back against Severus's chest, tears springing to her eyes. For a minute, there was complete silence in the forest and all Hermione could hear was the throbbing of her own blood in her ears as panic surged through her.
A Death Eater bent over Harry was suddenly blasted away and The Boy-Who-Lived jumped up from the ground to face the dark lord once more. There was a collective gasp of shock within the clearing and outside of it before jets of light began soaring through the air. Suddenly, Hermione was thrown backward as Severus jumped into the clearing, standing between Harry and the Death Eaters. Hermione tripped over herself to join him as he defended the boy with astonishing skill.
Hermione took a couple of confused Death Eaters out with a few stunning spells as they focused on Severus and Harry. There was chaos in the clearing as Hermione found herself pitted against two incompetent Death Eaters and Severus was fighting Bellatrix while defending himself from the blows of three other wizards.
And Voldemort was dueling with Harry.
A large hand latched onto her arm and yanked her around to face a robust, ugly Death Eater. No sooner had he sneered at her than a lash of fire slapped across his front, knocking him into the bushes, screaming in agony. Hermione whirled around just in time to block a hex from another wizard and she caught a glimpse of Severus Transfiguring Bellatrix into an ice sculpture and setting the woods on fire around her. Just then, everyone in the clearing was knocked backwards away from Voldemort and Harry. They were facing each other, a beam of red and green light connecting the tips of their wands, and an orb of white light had begun to surround them. Everyone froze to watch what was happening.
The divide between red and green was inching along first in one direction and then in the other, and Hermione knew that the wizard would win who was able to force his own light all the way across to the other's wand. But Voldemort's light was green and that meant a Killing Curse. Harry and the dark lord appeared to be screaming at each other, but no one could understand a word over the vibrating power of their magic ricocheting off of the woods around them.
The green was getting closer and closer to Harry's wand and Hermione held her breath in anticipation. She was completely powerless to help him. I cannot watch him die twice. Just as the green light was about to touch the end of Harry's wand, the young boy's stance was suddenly defiant and his own red beam blasted forward against the current of the dark lord's. As she watched red overtake green, Hermione could see the wand in Voldemort's hand cracking apart. At first, she didn't believe what she was seeing. But it was true. The wood was splintering under the force of the magic. She shot a glance at Harry's and saw that it was perfectly well. Her heart clenched in anticipation as the red neared the end of the splintering wand and blasted it apart. The orb was broken and the dark lord was shot backwards. His body burst against a tree into a million dark fragments that blew away into the night.
The air was still for a moment. No one dared to breathe. Hermione thought, at first, that this was some trickery, like flight. Then a horrible scream went up from the melting Bellatrix Lestrange as she shattered with apparent grief and rage. The remaining Death Eaters began to Disapparate and fly away, leaving Hermione, Severus and Harry. Hermione ran to her friend, throwing her arms around him and crying into his messy hair with all the relief of a lifetime.
"You've done it, Harry!" She cried. "You've defeated the dark lord!" She pulled away from him and turned to see Severus staring down at the place where lord Voldemort had died. Dropping Harry's hand, she ran over to him, jumping into his arms, practically knocking him over, and kissing him hard on the mouth. He was momentarily taken aback before wrapping his arms tight around her and kissing her with a passion and tenderness greater than he had ever shown. When they pulled away, Harry was still standing there, his face eloquent with complete shock. Hermione just shrugged, taking Severus's hand and walking over to Harry to take his hand in her other. And in this way, they headed back to the castle.
When the rest of the castle finally began to believe that lord Voldemort was gone forever and started to celebrate their victory, Severus decided it was time to slip away. Most of the people present still saw him as a villain and didn't want to believe that he truly had helped to bring about the dark lord's demise. Hermione was currently crushing her two best friends in a hug, and he knew she needed this time with them, so he turned to leave.
A small hand on his arm stopped him and he looked back to see those sweet, cinnamon eyes looking up at him. She pulled him around to face her and lifted onto her tiptoes to plant a kiss against his lips. The corner of his mouth lifted a little as she leaned back and his eyes self-consciously swept the hall.
"People are starting to stare at us," he whispered. Her face lit in a brilliant smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to her.
"Let them," she said simply as she trailed her lips across his jaw to meet his mouth again. He growled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close as he parted his lips over hers. Their mouths slanted across one another a few times before Hermione tentatively slipped her tongue out to tease his lips. He met it with the tip of his own and they battled for admittance into the other's mouth. She laughed against his lips and he took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into her sweet mouth, exploring and tasting her. She rubbed her own tongue eagerly against his and moaned into his mouth. Her hands roamed his chest—which was still bare—as she pressed her body more and more urgently against his. When they broke away, they were panting and flushed with need.
By now, everyone in the hall seemed to have noticed their public display and were sending them a wide variety of glances, obviously trying to be subtle. Harry and Ron had never looked more confused, even when looking over Hermione's study guides. Ginny Weasley was grinning with shock at the scandal. Minerva McGonagall seemed a little uneasy, but Flitwick had never looked so ecstatic.
Timidly, Hermione grasped Severus's hand, sending him a mischievous glance full of promise, and turned with him to leave the hall.
The End!
I know many of you wanted me to continue with this story, but I didn't want to drag it out. I hope you enjoyed my finale and maybe you'll come back and read some more of my writing in the future? :D Thank you all for your support and encouragement! You have made the difference between me finishing this story and not. So please, let me know how you like the ending!