Author's Note: I am so sorry that I didn't get this chapter posted earlier! Now I imagine some of you will think this chapter ends a bit quickly but given the circumstances I say it makes perfect sense. I hope you like it and look forward to a short epilogue within the next ten days!
Hermione and Draco took Buffy's advice to heart and didn't hold back anything, not even their budding relationship. They sparred on the lawn in full view of everyone whenever they had free time. They were frequently seen studying together at the library. And right around Valentine's Day, once Harry and Ron had finally started to accept if not like the interloper, Draco started sitting at the Gryffindor table during at least one meal a day.
At first it was weird for everyone but the students were resilient. House relations were at an all time high and even the professors commented on it.
McGonagall watched in amazement as Daphne Greengrass waved Cho Chang over to the Slytherin table. The two girls peered at a scroll and laughed before going their separate ways. Cho hadn't shown any signs of nervousness and the Slytherins hadn't booed or hissed or shown any sighs of caring about the visit.
"Finally, after all these years Albus! Interhouse unity!" McGonagall said with tears in her eyes. "Isn't it wonderful?"
The Headmaster nodded but didn't smile. "It is Minerva, it truly is. But I'm not sure it will survive what is to come."
After the Easter holidays everything changed. Defense classes, magical and physical, took precedence over everything else with many classes cut in half. Hermione and Draco were even asked to help train their classmates.
And then, on a bright late spring morning the week before finals, all hell broke loose. It happened over breakfast when a strange owl delivered a Howler to one Mr. Harry James Potter.
Ron looked at the red envelope with distaste but didn't say anything around his mouth of food.
"Who'd you piss off now?" Draco asked as the whole school stared.
Harry shrugged. "I dunno," he said then slit the paper open before it exploded.
A horrible voice, magnified so everyone could hear, filled the hall.
"The time has come Harry Potter and the question is, will you face your death alone or will you have even more of your friends and family die for you? I will be waiting for your answer on the Front Lawn tomorrow at dawn."
The room fell dead silent for about fifteen seconds before the crying and the screaming started. Everyone knew who had just threatened Harry Potter even though most had never heard his voice.
But one person didn't say a word, he just stared at the smoldering remains of the Howler.
Surprisingly enough it was Draco who pulled the Boy Who Lived out of his stupor. The Slytherin stood up and gently tugged on the dark haired boy's arm. "Come on Potter. Let's go see the Professors."
The Golden Trio plus their entourage (Draco, Ginny, Luna, and Neville) approached the teachers table. It was slow going since most of the students were trying to figure out if they should stay in the Great Hall or run far away.
It was Hermione who finally spoke up when they got close enough that the professors would be able to hear over the chaos. "What do we do?"
Dumbledore closed his eyes as though he were in pain then opened them wide. "We have been preparing for this all year so we will do what we must. Ms. Rosenberg? Severus? Is the potion ready?"
The Potions Master and his Apprentice shared a look but nodded. "The castle and grounds should be doused once the sun sets," Willow instructed.
"And tomorrow morning we will see if the concoction is a success," Snape added.
A heavy silence descended as they took that in. They all knew of Voldemort's plan to overcome them by taking away their magic. It was strange to not know if their counter measures would even work. It wouldn't be until the fight actually started that they'd know whether it would be magic versus magic or wands versus fists.
Dumbledore stood up and magnified his voice so that everyone could hear. "Fourth Years and younger return to your dorms and pack your necessities and we will send you to safety as soon as we can. Everyone else, make your decision now. Stay in the Great Hall if you want to fight but know that I will not think badly of you if you choose to leave with the younger students. Hagrid, Minerva, contact our reinforcements. Tomorrow we go to war."
The preparations started as soon as the youngsters left the Great Hall. Only a handful of the older students, one or two from each house, left with them. The ones who had stayed practiced their spellwork and hand to hand combat until Willow and Snape returned with crates filled to the brim with vials of sky blue liquid.
"Take a vial everyone," Willow instructed. "The professors will then tell you where to take it. When the gong sounds pour the liquid out the windows and let it drip down the sides of the castle."
"It should imbue the stone and grounds with its properties so that tomorrow, when the first waves of spells are cast against us, they will dissipate," Snape continued.
Hermione frowned at the vial she suddenly found in her hand. "Aren't there easier ways to get the same result?" she asked out loud.
Willow caught her eye and winked. "Not the same result, not exactly. This contains something a little extra."
Once given their assignments the students, past and present, because of course the Order of the Phoenix had arrived, and professors rushed to the windows they were to pour from.
They watched in awe as the blue coated the castle and then disappeared in a flash of bright white light.
And then all they could do was wait, pray, hope, wish, and try to get what little rest they could.
Sleep was hard to find.
It took nearly an hour for Voldemort and his army to take down the outer protective bubble and then they were marching right up to the front doors. The fighters nearest the door could see Voldemort's lips form the words of the anti-magic spell he'd created.
And then he let the curse fly and a jet of black hit the castle and a spark of pure white flared up before quickly dying back down.
"What just happened?" Ron whispered.
"Wait for it…wait for it…" Willow whispered back.
Those in the castle watched, unsure of what exactly they were waiting for until Bellatrix Lestrange flicked her wand and nothing happened.
Hermione gasped as she realized what was going on. "The potion bounced the curse off the castle and onto them. Their magic is gone!"
Snape finally spoke up. "Ours is gone as well, we couldn't negate that, but at least we're even now." He nodded at Willow, a touch of what looked like pride on his face.
Buffy moved through the crowd until she was right at the front. "And now we kick ass. My way."
To say the Death Eaters were shocked when an army rushed towards them with fists raised was an understatement. Clearly they hadn't expected the students to be prepared to fight in such a manner.
It was easy really because as mad and mean as the Death Eaters were they weren't trained in hand to hand combat. The path to Voldemort was clear within minutes even with the time it took Hermione and Draco to dispatch Nagini.
And then it seemed as though time froze. Harry and Voldemort stood less than a foot away from one another, glaring.
"You're finished," Harry spat.
Voldemort didn't even try to block the punch the Chosen One threw.
When Harry's fist connected with his foe's face time seemed to snap back into place and then speed forward. Voldemort's already pale skin turned even paler and wrinkle lines spread across his face. He keeled over right then and there, a dusty puff of air exploding from his lungs and hovering in the air above his body.
A cry of despair rose up from the Death Eaters who were still conscious. Dumbledore strode through them until he reached Harry and the body. "Tom Riddle is dead," he murmured after checking for a pulse. "I shall contact the Ministry and let them know they have prisoners to collect."
Harry couldn't take his eyes off the shriveled corpse at his feet. After all this time he'd expected a tougher fight. "How did this happen?"
Dumbledore clapped him on the shoulder. "By the time you first met him Tom Riddle was more magic than human. When his anti-magic curse bounced back to him it was the last straw. A punch like that would finish any old man who was already near death. But don't feel badly Harry. He wasn't just an old man."
"It's over Harry," Ron said.
Harry sighed in relief and finally cracked a smile.
"The curse blocking our magic will reverse at sunset," Snape announced as he sidled up beside them.
"And by then our captives will be in Ministry custody," McGonagall added.
The cheers could be heard halfway to Hogsmeade.