a/n: Shout out to Time Keeper for the review. I do have a different take on death in this story! It will come back around again.

Prompt: Afterlife

Chapter 12: Confrontations

The white void was exactly how Hermione explained it. Well, not exactly. He didn't see a lake or a boat. The feeling of peace was intoxicating. It made him feel like he could just stay there forever. She hadn't mentioned feeling like that exactly either, but he got the sense that Lily and James had helped her find the strength to leave it. Perhaps the entrance to the afterlife was always slightly different for the traveler. He kept looking for his parents. It was strange she met his parents and he got Dumbledore.

Harry found it odd that he wasn't nearly as angry at the man as he had been in the headmaster's office. He was certain it was the place taking the edge off. It was actually a welcomed effect. It helped Harry actually listen to Dumbledore provide justifications and excuses. Some of it made sense to Harry the rest sounded like it was nothing more than hunches. Hunches that if wrong would end terribly for Harry. Still, Harry listened. He needed to know everything. Especially if he wasn't dead. Hermione had visited this afterlife to see Shiloh on and returned. It appeared he was there to see the bit of Voldemort on. A grotesque and cruel dark mirror of her experience. He listened. Until Dumbledore claimed he used Hermione. To slow him down no less, to make it more difficult to go after the hallows.

"That's not what happened."

The headmaster looked in surprise at the interruption.

"The only reason we knew anything about the deathly hallows was because you gave her The Tales of Beedle the Bard. We would have never started down that path. That symbol. You etched it in the book. We actually agonized over what you meant by it. You could have just told us. You could have just explained they wouldn't help us with the hocruxes, that we couldn't use them to destroy Voldemort. And if you wanted to help us, you could have given her Magick Most Evile. But you didn't want her to learn the truth about me. Afraid there might be someone who would care enough about me to not want me to sacrifice my life for the greater good," he used the term knowing it would hit. He wasn't sure where the courage was coming from. The man had just poured himself out to Harry but maybe that was all just to manipulate him too. It was clear Dumbledore thought he and Harry were alike. That he was trying to stop Harry from making the same mistakes when they were nothing alike. "She got that book anyway. She figured out about the horcrux inside me," he finished quietly.

For his part, Dumbledore looked to be processing the revelations. "Harry, you have to understand, I didn't think it was possible for Voldemort to kill you. That he'd only be capable of killing the horcrux."

Maybe. Maybe that was true. The insult was that he hadn't trusted him to know. He looked at the dying horcrux. Did it get to go on to the afterlife? That outcome was too good for it. No one was here to help it along. Maybe it would just suffer in limbo forever. "She was here not long ago. In the entrance to the afterlife. Met my parents. I understand from that that those in the afterlife have knowledge of the present. They knew her name. Knew what she is to me."

"I know things that happened after my death," Dumbledore answered warily, uncertain where Harry was going.

"I'm sorry you made mistakes but I'm not you. I think you established that. And I think that's because of her. She never let me think this was something I could do on my own. She never pretended that one person could possibly have all the answers even when most of the time she has all the answers. Maybe, if you trusted people around you, you wouldn't have ended up here when you did. So you can drop your self pity." He stood, he understood when he left Dumbledore would know what happened next. Harry understood he might find himself in the same spot in a few minutes. It also might be decades before he saw the headmaster again. "I don't hate you. When you trusted me, you taught me a lot that I will never forget. I'll always be grateful for that. I just wish you would have trusted me more so you could have been there with me when we beat Voldemort."

He turned, wondering what would happen next. Voldemort wasn't mortal yet. There was one last horcrux. Glancing at the piece that had been with him since the day his parents died, he touched his forehead again. The connection was gone. He was fully himself. No one was making choices for him anymore. When he left he'd be free from it all. And then he stepped forward without looking back.

~~/~~

The chaos that erupted the moment Grawp crashed through the Death Eater line hadn't registered with Hermione. Her eyes had been completely focused on the unmoving body of Harry. She hadn't been able to process it. Then she saw him move and disappear under the invisibility cloak. In a split second hopelessness was replaced with a surge of love. The walnut wand was out, she ready to fight. She watched the snake split in two as the sword sliced through it. It was time.

She couldn't see Harry but she knew he was there. He was alive and he'd know the last horcrux was destroyed. As she scanned the advancing death eaters for signs of the cloak, someone else stood out. Bellatrix Lestrange. Hermione's grip on the witch's old wand tightened. She felt heat on the palm of her hand where the handle rested. Bellatrix had destroyed countless lives. She wasn't getting away and she wasn't going to hurt anyone else if Hermione had anything to say about it.

Weaving through the tangle of duelers, it seemed the crowd was moving into the great hall. That was fine by her. Hermine didn't think even Bellatrix would be stupid enough to use the killing curse in such close quarters. Especially if her Dark Lord was nearby and might fall victim to a poorly timed spell. By the time she met up with Bellatrix, Ginny and Luna had already engaged. A hex was hurdling in Luna's direction, Hermione got a shield in place and then stepped in front of her friends. In between them and the person she hated more than Voldemort.

Bellatrix smiled, "Ah, the mudblood. Back for more?"

Hermione didn't give her the satisfaction of a reply. She sent a ball of white hot flames at her. A quick counter spell had it dispersed, but it looked like the sleeve of her wand hand was singed. Hermione followed up with quick hexes in succession. She wasn't trying to land a hit, she was trying to get Bellatrix isolated, away from Luna and Ginny.

Something in Hermione's eyes must have warned Bellatrix she might be in trouble. "That's my wand!" she cried, retaliating with a series of spells erupting with purple jets of light.

Hermione was ready, she advanced, deflecting and firing off spells of her own. She felt electricity building in the air around her as she dueled. Despite the chaotic criss cross of dueling magic, Hermione felt like she was in a calm in the middle of a storm. The calm blocked everything else out. There was just the witch who destroyed the precious life formed from her and Harry's love. She had no right to take it away. With a primal scream all the energy in the air around both women collapsed into a bright ball of electricity and it was shot faster than a bullet at Bellatrix. The witch was thrown back so violently the stone wall cracked from foundation to ceiling. Hermione stood, chest heaving at the exertion. She wanted to finish her off. The peace she felt in the afterlife was too good for her. She didn't deserve to be anywhere near Shiloh or Lily or James. She wanted Bellatrix to live to see Voldemort fall. Understand her reign of terror was over. Justice would be torturing her to insanity. Hermione would let Bellatrix live long enough to make sure she got that justice.

"Protego!"

It was Harry's voice. Hermione whipped around and locked eyes with him. Was he aware she had been so close to using a unforgivable curse in front of hundreds of witnesses? Had he revealed himself in time to protect her? He gave his instructions to let him fight Voldemort on his own. They weren't just meant for her, but were perhaps spoken for her more than anyone else. She would honor his request, but was determined to be ready to help if needed. That meant she couldn't worry about Bellatrix. Ensuring the witch wasn't getting away, she hung back, wand out, guarding a bound Bellatrix and ensured she was in a position to watch Harry tear down every argument Voldemort hurled at him. The final spells cast. Hermione held her breath, trusted Harry. And Voldemort was falling. It was over.