Thanks for all your reviews - glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Here we go...
"And now…I'm going to fix everything," she says.
"Fix it how?" he asks. "What is the world you have come from?"
"It is dark," she says. "You were close to winning the war. And…and everybody here that I love is dead. I need to stop that from happening. They deserve better."
"And who are you to decide that?" he asks icily. "You have come here and played God with these people's lives. What gives you the right?"
"I'm making it better," she says tearfully. "They're good people, they deserve their chance."
"How do you know?" he asks. "How do you know that one of them won't grow up and accidentally wipe out the entire wizarding population?"
"I don't," she says. "But anything is better than the world I came from. The world where you're winning."
"You don't know that," he says coldly. "You are a child, you have no life experience. You think if you just get rid of me, they'll lead perfect lives? Like I'm the only evil out there? Because I've got news for you – you need dark in order to have light."
"You don't get to say that to me," she says. "You don't understand what I've lived through, you don't know what I've done. I have lost everything – everyone I ever loved, everything I have ever known and every dream I ever had because of you. I may look like a child, but I've killed and I've cried and I'm so much more messed up than anyone ever gets to see. And that's down to you. And I'm not going to let you do it to anyone else. I watched you ruin these people's lives in my time and I'm going to stop you before you get to do it again. Whatever happens from there is out of my control, but I can fix this and I have to try."
"Hermione Granger," he says. "If you've killed and you've lost and you've cried, you've got some darkness in you. So, what makes you better than me?"
"I'm doing it to save them," she says. "This doesn't benefit me in any way."
"Oh no?" he says coldly. "What about young Sirius Black? You're telling me it doesn't help you if he lives? You won't go on and get married and have beautiful babies when this is all over?"
"Maybe not," she says. "I don't know if he'll even remember me when this is all over."
Tom stops now, caught off guard, and says, "Excuse me?"
"I've had them under my spell since I got here," she says, smirking at her own joke. "Literally in this case."
Tom looks puzzled for a moment and then realisation dawns on his face. "You charmed them," he says. "When?"
"That first day in the Great Hall," she says sadly. "After I spoke with Professor Dumbledore and he asked me to try and change things, I knew that to get what I wanted, I'd need them to be reasonably compliant. So, I did it from around the corner and I've been maintaining it ever since. I mean, come on. I'm a pretty girl, I have been for a couple of years, but I'm not… stop-eating hot, you know? Like people were climbing on tables to get another look at me. And I've not had to work too hard to get them to work with me. Or each other. But it's been a year, almost, and I don't know what will happen when I lift the spell. Whether it will have had some permanent impact or they'll forget the whole thing or they'll know and hate me? I could lose everything."
"I think you are overestimating the power of this spell," he says. "To maintain any sort of control for a whole year is an incredible feat and I can see that you are a witch to be reckoned with. But even I could not maintain the power you are suggesting for as long as you have. And as for your beauty, I think you're underestimating yourself. You are a captivating girl. And that, combined with your mystery, was probably… I suspect your friends will not undergo any noticeable change."
"Why are you comforting me?" she laughs, wiping her eyes. "I've been deceiving you for months. And you're the Dark Lord."
"Forgive me," he says. "I'm afraid it's rather selfish. I still have questions."
"Oh, ask away," she says.
"Your opinions about Albus Dumbledore?" he asks.
"True," she says. "I do not agree with his methods or the majority of his decisions; some of the things he did directly hurt my friends, both here and in my time. But I figured that if I wanted to fully achieve my goals, I needed to align myself with one of you. And seeing as I wanted to kill you, he seemed like the better choice."
"Hmm," Tom says. "So, you want to save your friends? And you may lose them if you do? In theory, then, your actions are selfless. Nonetheless, playing God with their lives is-"
"Unforgivable," she finishes. "I know. But I couldn't just stand aside and watch it happen. It was too painful last time."
"Hmm," he says. "So, what happens now?"
"Well you know I've made my choice," she says. "I suppose you're not going to let me just walk away."
"What would you do if I said yes?" he asks. "Would you afford me the same courtesy?"
"No," she says softly. "No, I'm sorry. I have to kill you and I have to do it today."
"Foolish child," he says, shaking his head. "I am the most powerful wizard of all time. Even with all your planning…you are nothing. A brief flash of interest but now…nothing."
"You're wrong," she says. "You've always been wrong. You are nothing. You think you're the most powerful wizard ever just because you've killed a few people and made a few Horcruxes?" He visibly pales, shocked. "Yes, that's right," she says smugly. "I know who you are, I know what you've done and I know how to beat you. They're gone, Tom, all of them. It's just you and me now."
"You and me," he says thoughtfully. "How did you get rid of them?"
"The Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets," she says.
"Oh, delightful," he says, clearly thrilled. "You really did your research, Miss Granger."
"Indeed," she says. "They weren't easy. That one in the cave, I mean... what was that potion?"
"Oh, a little something of my own invention," he says.
"It was excellent," she says. "Better than any Cruciatus Curse I've been under."
"You flatter me," he says. "Now…what are you going to do?" Hermione stares at him; he is pointing his wand at her and she at him, but she isn't quite sure when either of them armed themselves. She is about to answer him, to make one final move, when there is a loud crack behind him. In the split second it takes for him to glance round and see what's happening, she has raised her wand and she shouts, "Avada Kedavra!" He turns back but he's a second too late and the spell hits him dead on. He stands for a moment, that perfect shock frozen on his face. Then he crumples, falling to his knees and then onto his front. His eyes roll to the back of his head and he is still. Dead.
Hermione looks up to see Professor Dumbledore staring at her.
"You really did it," he says, shocked.
"You're late," she says. "I had to stall."
"Apologies," he says. "To be honest, Miss Granger, I wasn't entirely sure I wasn't walking into a trap."
Hermione looks at him, smiling sadly. "You thought I was going to choose him," she states, no surprise in her voice.
"You have been…frank about your dislike for me," he says.
"I don't dislike you," she says. "I disagree with you and your methods, on a lot of things. But I don't dislike you, Dumbledore. And I was always going to choose you."
"Good," he says. "For I fear you'd be an even more challenging adversary if you ever decided to switch sides."
"You flatter me," she laughs. "I can't believe I did it." She stares down at the body, clearly deep in thought; Dumbledore notices and watches her with concerned eyes.
"What's the matter?" he asks.
"He said…he asked me…what's the difference between him and me," she says, still staring at his corpse. "We're both dark people, both willing to kill and hurt others to get what we want. The difference is…he wants to rule other people and I just want to save them. But I've been pretending, for so long, that I'm perfect, and I don't want to do it anymore. I'm pretty and I'm quite clever but I'm also…ruthless and manipulative and sometimes cruel. I'm not good but I'm starting to think that maybe nobody is? Not really? We're all flawed in different ways but as long as we love each other and we try to help each other, maybe that's okay?"
"I'd say so," Dumbledore says, his gaze very direct. "It's over now. He's dead."
"How will we…how will his followers know?" she asks.
"Word will spread, as it so often does," he says. "I'll take the body to the Ministry now if you wish."
"You don't think I should go with you?" she asks.
"You'd be more than welcome," Dumbledore says. "But the media attention would be…intense and I wasn't sure if you'd want it?"
"I think I should probably not go," she says. "If you go and say you killed him, nobody asks any questions. If I go, I'm the 18-year-old who killed the greatest wizard of all time. People will want to know everything and…I'm not sure that's the best idea."
"Very well," he says. "I will take the body, tell the Minister exactly what happened and ask him to keep it to himself. You can return to the Potters and inform your friends. I'm sure the party is set to continue for hours more."
"Maybe not," she says. "They're not going to forgive me when they find out what I did."
"Miss Granger?" he asks, confused.
"I've had them all under my spell for months," she says, suddenly tearful. "I charmed them all to make them more compliant. They're all going to hate me."
"No," he says. "First of all, I'm not convinced you lifting the spell will have any noticeable effect. Over such a number, I'm sure the impact was minimal. Secondly, when they step back to think about it, the effects of what you did have been vastly more positive than negative. They'll understand and they'll forgive you."
"I hope so," she says. "I better go and tell them. Write to me when you've spoken to the Minister?"
"Of course," he says. "And Miss Granger…thank you. On behalf of the wizarding world, thank you. They may never know what you did, but I do and I will never forget."
"Anytime," she teases.
She watches as Dumbledore disapparates with Voldemort's body. Then she turns on the spot and reappears in the Potter house. She hurries into the ballroom and stops in her tracks. Everybody is sitting on the dancefloor in silence, waiting. They turn as she enters and Sirius bursts into tears immediately.
"You're alive," he shouts, getting to his feet.
"No," she says. "Wait. Everybody stay where you are. I need to tell you something."
Everybody watches as she walks to the front of the room, sitting cross-legged on the stage. "Okay, so the first piece of news is that Voldemort is dead," she says quietly. A gasp runs around the room. People are in tears, people are hugging and people are laughing, but Hermione doesn't react, watching them carefully and waiting for silence.
"Why aren't you happy?" Sirius asks quietly.
"Because I've been keeping a secret," she says and suddenly everyone is listening. "I'm really sorry, but when I arrived…I placed a charm on all of you."
"What?" James asks, going pale. "What kind of charm?"
"It was a sort of lighter version of a Confundus charm," she says. "I…I needed you to be as compliant as possible. It just made you a little more likely to agree with me."
"So, you manipulated us," Remus says.
"Yes," she says sadly. "And I can understand if you can never forgive me but…I did it to save you."
For a moment, nobody speaks. They are all looking at her with horror and mistrust and doubt in their eyes; she is sure they're going to throw her out and never speak to her again. And then, Peter slowly gets to his feet.
"Without you, I would have betrayed my friends and ended up killing everyone I love," he says quietly. "Whatever you've done, you've saved me from that. You need no forgiveness from me."
For another moment, nobody breathes and then Lily gets up too. "You brought me to the man I want to marry," she says. "You've killed the man who would have gone on to kill me. You've given me the best friends I could have asked for. You need no forgiveness from me."
"You've saved me from a life of darkness," Avery says, getting to his feet. "You've shown me that there's another way to live. I owe you my everything. You need no forgiveness from me."
"Nor me," Bellatrix says, getting up as well. Slowly but surely, the rest of the room join them in standing. First Narcissa and Snape, then Marlene, Cass and Alice, and then Remus and James. Finally, everybody is on their feet, except for Sirius. She looks down at him, tears pouring down her cheeks, and then he gets to his feet as well.
"You have saved me…in every way," he says gently. "You've helped me deal with the horrors of my past, you've saved me from the horrors of my future. You are the love of my life, one of my favourite people in the world, and…whatever you did to help save us, Hermione, you did it for the right reasons. I could never be mad, not really. You need no forgiveness from me."
"Thank you," she says, burying her face in her hands. "I'm going to lift the spell now. I don't know what will happen. I don't know if you'll forget me or the way you feel about me will change, but…whatever happens next, I want you to know that I love you all and I am so proud of the people you are."
"I love you too," Sirius says, stepping forwards and kissing her deeply. "Now do it and we'll see you on the other side."
Hermione raises her wand slowly and performs the counter-curse. She waits, staring out into the room to see what happens next; nobody moves, all frozen in anticipation. And then, from the back of the crowd, Bella shouts, "Is that it?"
"Nothing happened," James says. "I don't feel any different."
"Hmm," Hermione says. "Well, maybe if I-"
"Oh, just face it, Granger," Avery says. "Your charm wasn't the reason we all worked together and got along. It was just you."
"Well, I-" Hermione begins, still deep in thought.
"Nope, that's enough of that," Sirius says. "Voldemort is dead, we all remember you and we're in the middle of a big party. We're going to start it back up and we're all going to drink and dance and have the time of our lives, because we're celebrating."
"Quite right," James says. "Cheers to the hero of the hour – Miss Hermione Granger!"
"Come here," Sirius says, grabbing Hermione by the waist and kissing her hungrily.
"We're free," Lily says, grabbing James and hugging him close.
"You did it," Remus says, grabbing Hermione off Sirius and spinning her in a hug.
"Oh, my head," Hermione says as she rolls off the stage and onto the dancefloor. "Shit, sorry, Sirius."
"Not at all," Sirius grunts, getting to his feet as she pulls him up. "My fault for sleeping there."
"What day is it?" Hermione asks, blurry-eyed and confused.
"I have no idea," Sirius says. "How long were we drinking?"
"Good question," Hermione says. "Come on, I need food." She leads him through the ballroom, climbing over body after body, until they reach the doors and walk down to the kitchen. Fleamont and Euphemia are sitting round the table, both with mugs of coffee, but they spring up as Hermione stumbles in.
"Oh Hermione," Euphemia says, pulling the young brunette into a tight hug as tears start to pour down her cheeks. "Come here, you brave girl. You've saved us all."
"Oh, let her go, Mum," Sirius says, hugging Fleamont. "We're starving and absolutely exhausted."
"We'll make you some dinner," Euphemia says.
"Dinner?" Hermione says as Euphemia lets her go and hurries over to the stove. "What time is it?"
"What day is it?" Sirius jokes, sitting down at the table.
"It's Monday," Fleamont says, hugging Hermione tightly. "About 4.30pm."
"Are we the first ones to wake up?" Hermione asks, sitting down beside Sirius. "What happened while we were partying?"
"Dumbledore turned the body in to the Ministry," Euphemia says as she starts cooking. "He met with Harold and explained the whole thing, how you'd managed to bring him down. He did try and keep it a secret but the papers found out within 12 hours – they're still camped out by the gates now. Everyone's basically been partying ever since though, really."
"What are the next steps?" Hermione asks anxiously.
"Next steps?" Sirius laughs. "Blimey, Hermione, saving the world once isn't enough for you?"
"The Minister wants you to speak to the papers," Fleamont says. "Dumbledore refused to agree on your behalf, so you'll need to make the decision. And then you take the summer and I suppose when you're ready…you get a job. You start living your life."
"What about his…Death Eaters?" she asks. "Who's going to catch them?"
"Most of them have vanished," Euphemia sighs. "A few have claimed they were under the Imperius Curse. Now he's gone we'll never know. But without a leader, they just don't have the power anymore. It's over. You ended it."
"You saved the world, kid," Fleamont says, grinning at her. "You want sausages?"
I'm not sure about this chapter - I think the characterisation of Voldemort is a bit off.
One of the big criticisms I've had on this story is that Hermione is being written as too perfect. This honestly was never my intention but I can completely understand why it may have come across that way, so I tried to address that in this chapter. I think, after everything she's been through, she would definitely not be the same Hermione that we knew in JKR's books, but maybe now it's all over, she can start to head back in that direction.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading. X