Without thinking about it, Hermione automatically gravitated towards Harry. She didn't stop to consider the wards her father had erected, and as luck would have it, they allowed her to pass through without trouble. Vaguely she was aware of the commotion behind her when she'd passed through the wards, and from the sounds of things people were trying to follow her lead with no such luck. However, her focus was on Harry and she dropped to her knees beside her best friend.
"Harry," she whispered, needing reassurance that he was okay. Even though she knew her father hadn't killed him, she knew the spell would have briefly knocked him out and she wanted to be sure that he was recovering.
Harry's lips curved in response to her query, and even though he didn't open his eyes, Hermione was sure that he was awake. However, at the moment he was playing dead and would no doubt rise when the time was right to create the most havoc. Needing to be sure that she was right and Harry was okay, Hermione slipped her hand into his and quietly whispered to him to squeeze if he could hear her. Instantly Harry squeezed back and Hermione was reassured that everything was as it should be.
"Get away from him you bitch!"
Ginny's cry echoed around the graveyard and whipping her head around, Hermione saw that while the redhead was still in Draco's grasp, he had lowered his wand, allowing her the freedom to speak. Slowly rising to her feet, Hermione looked Ginny dead in the eye and could see the redheaded witch knew exactly which side she was on.
"Are you talking to me Ginny?" Hermione asked, playing innocent.
"Yes, I'm talking to you. You traitorous little cow," Ginny spat. "I know what you've done, Hermione."
"Do you now," Hermione retorted with a chuckle. "Why don't you come here and tell me."
Before Ginny got a chance to protest that she couldn't go anywhere, Hermione noticed her father give Draco a nod. Without missing a beat, Draco stepped forward with Ginny in his arms and without warning he pushed her through the barrier Voldemort had erected. Clearly the dark wizard had ultimate control over the barrier and it freely allowed anyone he chose to bypass it.
Ginny stumbled into the secluded area of the graveyard that now held four people. However, she quickly regained her footing and stood tall in front of Hermione. Although Hermione noticed she didn't come too close as while he hadn't made any move towards them, her father was standing with his wand pointed in Ginny's direction.
"I believe you have an accusation to make, Ginny," Hermione said calmly, making sure she was standing between Ginny and Harry.
"You're the leak," Ginny spat, hatred burning in her eyes. "You're the one whose being helping the dark."
"And what on earth gave you that idea?" Hermione asked. To be fair the very fact she'd been able to pass through her father's barrier should have aroused the suspicions of the Order, but she had no idea if anyone other than Ginny had yet to put two and two together.
"Malfoy," Ginny retorted, her lip curling as she spat the name. "I was taken by someone who looked like you, and when he first saw my captor he thought it was you. It was just a moment before he realised it wasn't you, but his initial reaction was enough to tell me whose side you're really on."
"Smart girl," Hermione remarked with a chuckle. Glancing back towards the Order, she could see the horror and disbelief written over their faces, and she suspected that it was a similar sight behind the masks the Death Eaters were wearing. However, there were more shocks to come and no doubt subsequent revelations would create a bit of havoc.
"You're the reason Ron's dead," Ginny continued. "And I bet you encouraged Harry to come here tonight. You wanted him dead as well."
"Not quite," Hermione chuckled. "You are right about me passing information onto the dark. I gave my father all the information he needed to orchestrate this plan."
"Father?" Ginny echoed, glancing towards the mass of Death Eaters as if one of them was going to identify himself as Hermione's father.
"Father," Hermione clarified, nodding her head in Voldemort's direction.
"Dear Merlin no," Dumbledore cried from behind the barrier that was still keeping him away from the action.
"It's true old man," Voldemort called jovially. "It seems that despite your claims to know all about me and my life, you don't really know the important bits. You judged me long ago, Dumbledore, and you deemed me incapable of loving anyone, and so it never occurred to you that I might have changed as I grew up. It never occurred to you that I had a family like any normal wizard."
"You are not any sort of normal wizard," Dumbledore spat. "And I stand by my judgement about you not being able to truly love anyone, not even your own daughter. If you truly loved Hermione, you wouldn't have used her the way you have done."
"No-one has used me headmaster," Hermione said with a low chuckle. "Everything I have done has been of my own free will. I stayed with the Order, because it was what I wanted to do. If I'd wanted to, I could have being publicly acknowledged as the Dark Lord's daughter at any time."
"No, you couldn't," Dumbledore argued. "He may have told you that, but he never meant it. He saw you could be useful to him, and he used that. He used you, Hermione. He used you to kill Harry."
"No, I was the one using the Order," Hermione shot back with a stubborn shake of her head. "Although I have to admit, I couldn't have done it all by myself. I will admit that I came up with the plan to target the Order, starting with Ron, and I was able to sneak a look at where we were going after you'd told him and inform my father. But I wasn't the one who manipulated you into sending me and Ron into the unknown. I had help in that department. I had a partner in crime. Correction, I have a partner in crime."
Hermione didn't have to look behind her to know that as she finished speaking Harry had started to sit up. The cries and gasps around her told her everything she needed to know. The Order were in chaos, and while Dumbledore stared dumfounded as Harry rose from the dead, Sirius hammered at the barrier, calling for his godson. Other members of the Order looked frozen in place and Ginny was actually swaying on her feet as Harry rose to his feet and took his place at Hermione's side.
"This isn't possible," Dumbledore muttered, clearly trying to work out what sort of nasty trick the dark were playing.
"I assure you, it is possible," Harry chuckled.
"We saw you fall," Ginny whispered in a hollow voice. "We saw him kill you."
"And did you hear me use the killing curse?" Voldemort questioned in an amused sounding voice. "No, you didn't. All you saw was the green light I added to the spell I did cast on Harry. A spell that released the Horcrux that has been residing inside him all of these years."
"No," Dumbledore yelled. "That is impossible. The only way to destroy a Horcrux is to destroy the vessel it is in."
"You poor foolish old man," Voldemort cackled. "You really think you've been destroying my Horcruxes? All you've been doing is giving me back the pieces of my soul. Pieces I wanted back. I decided that I'd pushed it too far creating so many Horcruxes, so it was time to fix myself and leave myself with just one Horcrux, which I plan to protect for the rest of my life. You haven't destroyed anything, Dumbledore."
"Although you would have destroyed me if you'd been given the chance," Harry said, glaring at Dumbledore and allowing his hatred of the old man to finally show through. "You knew about the Horcrux inside me, didn't you? That was why you didn't want me to face The Dark Lord until you said so, because you thought I needed to be killed to release the Horcrux inside me. So what were you going to do, headmaster, let him kill me and then step in and kill him while he was revelling in my death?"
Dumbledore didn't answer Harry's questions, but the look on his face said it all. Harry had been spot on and he'd exposed Dumbledore's plans to the world. Crucially, he'd exposed his plans to Sirius and when he realised what the headmaster had been planning on doing, he launched himself at the old wizard. For a moment, Hermione thought that Sirius was going to do the work for them and dispose of Dumbledore, but Bill and Charlie dragged him off the headmaster, leaving Dumbledore with a bloody nose from the scuffle.
"You monster," Sirius screamed. "You're just as bad as him," he yelled, jabbing his finger in Voldemort's direction. "You were going to sacrifice Harry."
"It's the only way," Dumbledore protested. "I'm sorry Harry, but you've been tricked. The Horcrux still resides on you. As long as you live, so does the Horcrux."
"It's gone," Hermione quietly assured her best friend. Not only did she trust her father, but she could feel that Harry was different now that he no longer held piece of her father's soul.
"I know," Harry assured her. He could also feel the difference in himself, but even if he hadn't been able to tell the Horcrux was gone, he wouldn't have been stupid enough to believe anything Dumbledore said.
"Harry," Sirius cried, turning his attention back to trying to break through the barrier Voldemort had erected. "You can't mean this, Harry. You can't seriously be siding with the dark. He killed your parents."
"I know the truth about what happened to my parents," Harry replied. "I know my father was willing to raise me as Dumbledore's weapon and my mother objected. She was so scared for my future, that she accepted help from the people she should have feared the most. And that tells me everything I need to know. My Mum trusted The Dark Lord, and so do I. I made my choice, Sirius. Now it's time for everyone else to make theirs. Fight tonight, and you will forever be the enemy. But leave, and maybe we can all learn to live in peace."
Hermione was surprised by the offer Harry made, but a glance at her father revealed that it wasn't taking him by surprise. Either this was something they had discussed together and not told her about, or else Harry was making spur of the moment promises that her father was planning on honouring. Either way, it would be interesting to see who would stay and fight and who would leave in the hopes of brokering peace.
"Please Sirius, just go," Harry begged. "If I can, I will try and explain all of this to you. But for me to do that, you have to go."
"No, don't go," Dumbledore cried, turning to address the entire Order. "It might be tempting to run, but that won't save our world from darkness. We have to do the right thing, we have to fight." Slowly he turned to Sirius, who was still being held onto by Bill and Charlie. "We have to fight for the people we've lost. You have to fight for Remus, Sirius."
Sirius let out a cry at the mention of his best friend's name, but Hermione had no idea if that meant he was going to fight for the memory of his best friend, or leave to try and maintain a relationship with his godson. For Harry's sake, she hoped it was the latter and Sirius chose not to fight against them. She also hoped a few other members of the Order would chose not to fight, including Professor McGonagall whom she had always had a soft spot for. However, she knew plenty of them would fight, and even if they survived the night, they would be treated as the enemy and she had no doubt that her father and his Death Eaters would work on tracking them all down and disposing of them.
"It's time for people to make their choice," Voldemort announced in a loud voice. "Let the battle commence."
Hermione gripped her wand tightly as her father waved his hand and the two barriers he had erected disintegrated in a shower of silver sparks. Caught in the middle as she was, the sound was deafening as both sides rushed into battle, each as keen as the other to make their mark and take out some of the enemy. Hermione just had to hope that when it came to the fighting everyone she cared about would make it out alive, and that the main casualty of the evening would be Dumbledore, who must surely still be reeling by the revelation that not only was Harry aligned with the dark, but that he hated Dumbledore with every fibre of his being, and had been most helpful in bringing him to the big showdown with Voldemort.