Her hope leapt when she saw his eyelids flutter. She immediately felt for his heart… it was beating faintly, but surely. Gradually, his breathing became clearer. He was alive. Harry Potter, her best friend, was alive.

Harry opened his eyes. "Hermione."

"Oh Harry, you're alive! You're alive!" Relief washed over her. She wanted to kiss him right there. Instead, she held his head to her bosom.

"I am." He whispered.

"I thought… I thought you had…" She couldn't bring herself to say it.

"It's all right, Hermione. I'm… I'm fine. Where's Voldemort?" Harry sat up and it was then he saw the state of the room he was in. A huge snake with its head severed covered the floor. And by the doorway, lay a heap of ash which Voldemort's disintegrated body had turned into.

"He's… gone. He fell unconscious when the Killing Curse struck you. I used a Blasting Curse to destroy his body."

"Oh Hermione, you brave woman. You saved both our lives today, didn't you? First the snake, then Voldemort. I'm so lucky to have you by my side. I don't know what I'd have done without you."

"But… he's not dead, is he? He still has Horcruxes."

"No, he's not dead. Yet. Until we destroy the three that are left. But he'll have to get back his body, that gives us some time. And before he was gone, in his anger at the destruction of the snake, he unwillingly revealed their locations to me through his connection with my mind."

"He did?"

"Yes. We have the locket with us. The cup in is Snape's vault at Gringotts. And the final Horcrux is a diadem, which, I suspect, belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw, somewhere inside Hogwarts. If we destroy them before he rises again, he'll be gone forever." He looked at her, as realisation dawned on her face.

"Harry! This is wonderful! But how on earth will we get to Snape's vault? It's got to be heavily guarded. Hogwarts too."

"Hermione…"

"And we still haven't got the Sword."

"Hermione, listen, I have to tell you something." His face was grave. "Do you know what happened after I got hit by the Killing Curse?"

"Harry…"

"I didn't die. I went into some sort of Limbo. And there I met Dumbledore."

Hermione looked astonished. "Dumbledore?"

"Yes. An imprint, a memory or something. We talked. He told me quite a few things."

"Oh."

"The Killing Curse didn't kill me because I had a piece of Voldemort's soul in my body all the time. From when he tried to kill me as a baby. That is why our minds had a connection. That's why I could speak Parseltongue. And he destroyed that piece, a piece of his own soul when he tried to kill me now."

Hermione could only stare at him, captured by his tale.

"Severus Snape is on our side. He has been, all the time. The Ring Horcrux had a deadly curse on it which afflicted Dumbledore when he touched it, tempted. Snape killed Dumbledore on his own orders, Dumbledore was already dying a slow death due to that curse. It was like an assisted suicide."

He paused, trying to get his head around the earth-shaking information he had just received. His respect for Snape had grown hundredfold. He had been wrong about Snape all this time.

"Snape loved my mother. He still does. That's why he did it, he turned spy against Voldemort and has been trying to protect me since."

Hermione's mouth fell open. Her own world had been shaken to the core. She put an arm around his shoulder. "Harry… that means…"

"Yes, Severus Snape will help us destroy Voldemort once and for all."

They quickly got to their feet. Hermione found Voldemort's wand intact, which they kept with them as proof that Voldemort had gone since there was no body. Harry shuddered as he saw it, this was the wand which had murdered his parents and countless other innocent people, and had been used to commit unspeakable crimes.

He looked at her and said, "We're going to Hogwarts."

"Neville, I must ask you to trust me."

It was nearly midnight. They were in Hogwarts, in the Room of Requirement, having snuck in through a secret passage from Hogsmeade. Neville had been delighted to meet Harry and Hermione. Nearly everyone was at home for the Christmas holidays, glad to get away from the dastardly place Hogwarts had become under the reign of terror the Carrows had instituted. Neville hadn't gone, since his grandmother was on the run and he had no place to go. Instead, he had taken refuge in the Room of Requirement.

Neville nodded, "Of course, Harry."

"We're here to see the headmaster. Professor Snape."

"Are you nuts? He's a Death Eater, Harry, he'll kill you on sight!"

"Trust me, Neville. I know what I'm doing. I assure you, he won't do that. But the Carrows, they surely will. Tell me, do you know the password to the gargoyle?"

"It's 'boomslang'. I caught it last week, eavesdropping on the Slytherin Prefects."

"Perfect."

A few moments later, Harry knocked against the door to the headmaster's office.

"Enter." Harry instantly recognised the deep voice.

Snape stood transfixed as Harry and Hermione entered the room rather fearlessly. The next moment, his wand was pointed at them.

"You, Potter, you have the nerve…"

"Professor, hear me out, please. I know about Lily."

Snape lowered his wand, stunned.

"I know that you loved her." He said, softly. "I know that you're on our side. I'll explain everything later, but right now, we need your help. To destroy Voldemort forever. To complete Dumbledore's mission."

Snape's face was inscrutable. "Don't say the name. There's a Taboo on it."

"Then it would have been broken. Because he's no more."

"The Dark Lord is dead?"

Hermione spoke, "No. Not dead. But if you act right now, he will be. We are very close to winning this war, Professor. But we need to act fast."

She brought out Voldemort's wand. "Here. Do you recognize this?"

"That… that is indeed the Dark Lord's wand. I have seen it before quite a few times." Snape nodded, thoughtfully. "What do you want me to do, Potter?"

"Voldemort gave you a golden cup, to keep safely in your vault at Gringotts."

"He did, indeed. But how you know this, I cannot fathom. Bellatrix Lestrange had it first. Then, a few months ago, the Malfoys and the Lestranges fell out of favour with the Dark Lord. After Dumbledore's death, he trusted me more than anyone and gave the cup to me."

Snape paused for a moment to think and then slowly continued, "Also, the Lestranges are a family known for their immense wealth. I think he feared that their vault was more likely to be the object of an attempted robbery."

"Professor, we need to destroy that cup. But first, I take it that the Sword of Gryffindor is in your possession?"

"It is." Snape brought it out from a hidden cavity behind Dumbledore's portrait.

"Hermione."

Hermione took out the accursed locket from her beaded bag. She shared a look with Harry. Finally, we're getting rid of this.

Things moved quickly. The locket was destroyed by Harry, stabbed with the Sword. Next, the Carrows were swiftly taken care of by Snape. After Harry and Hermione had been safely hidden, Snape called them into his office and, in a flash, had them Stunned, Obliviated and magically bound by thick cords. Then, he immediately left for Gringotts to retrieve the cup.

"The diadem, Harry. We need to find Ravenclaw's diadem."

"Voldemort said that the diadem was in an 'unknowable room' at Hogwarts. What on earth did he mean by 'unknowable'?"

"The Chamber of Secrets, perhaps? Harry, if you had to hide something precious inside Hogwarts, where would you do it?"

"Hermione." Harry said quietly, his voice trembling as something clicked in his mind. "I did hide something once, last year. Something precious. The Half-Blood Prince's Potions textbook. I hid it in the Room of Requirement. In a cupboard. I placed a bust on it, so that I could easily find it again." Harry's voice dropped to a whisper. "And I placed a tiara on the statue's head. To make it more distinctive. A blue tiara. A diadem. The diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw."

The now knew where the final Horcrux lay.

Harry and Hermione did not waste a single moment. Heart pounding, they ran back to the Room as fast they could. So close, they were so close to finishing off Voldemort, Harry thought.

"Neville, we need the Room. Urgently. Don't worry, the Carrows are out cold. You've nothing to fear."

Inside, Harry ran frantically up and down the aisles, trying to remember as hard as he could where he had hidden his old Potions textbook. He had an image of the tiara in his mind, but couldn't remember exactly where it was, among the mountains of junk. Come on, come on he thought.

And then he saw it, the diadem, sitting innocently atop the statue, the final Horcrux, found at last.

"Hermione! I've found it! I've got it!"

They went back to the headmaster's office with the Horcrux, just as Snape returned from Gringotts.

"You wanted this, Potter?" He said, as he held out Helga Hufflepuff's cup.

The destruction of the last two Horcruxes was quite uneventful. They went for the cup first and then the diadem. Twice, the Sword of Gryffindor was swung. And in two small puffs of smoke, all traces of Lord Voldemort were wiped off the earth.