~A/N> I want to apologize for the length of time it's taken me to update this story. Between a major block
on this chapter and RL rearing it's ugly head, I've had a heck of a time with this. I am hoping to have the
last chapter posted this weekend, so it won't be so long between updates this time. Thank you for all of the
wonderful reviews and thanks to my wonderful beta Spaz for all her help!!! :) AND THERE WILL BE A HAPPY ENDING!!
I'VE PROMISED ONE ALL ALONG!
I followed Dumbledore up to his office, various thoughts flowing through my mind as I went. 'How could this have happened?' I thought, mentally kicking myself in the ass. 'I promised Mrs. Granger, on her deathbed, that I would watch over Hermione no matter what! How could Voldemort have taken her so easily?'
Walking into the office I saw Draco, Ginny, Neville and Luna standing there, waiting for us. Before I could ask what they were doing there, the fireplace roared to life with green flames and Remus came stumbling out. Looking around the room quickly, he spotted Dumbledore by his desk and hurriedly made his way over.
"Albus" he said, getting the Headmaster's attention, "I've found something in Sirius's vault that I think will help us find Hermione."
I quickly made my way up to the desk along with Draco and the others, curious to see what it was Remus had found. We watched as Dumbledore unrolled the parchment he had been given and looked it over. Looking up at me, he set it down on his desk so that I could see it and I realized that it was a map.
"What is that a map of?" I asked as I thoroughly looked it over.
"I know" said Draco with a haunted look in his eyes, "It's a map of Black Manor."
"Black Manor?" I asked, "I thought that Grimmauld Place belonged to the Black family?"
"It does for Sirius' line of the family," Draco replied, "Black Manor is attached to my mother's line of the Black family. It belongs to her and Aunt Bella currently, and as I am the only male heir it will eventually pass down to me." Both Harry and Neville scowled at the mention of Draco's aunt.
Draco continued, "In the first war Father had offered the home to the Dark Lord and his followers as a show of support. I think it was used for meetings and parties mostly…obviously its being used again."
I stared at Draco for a moment, noting how all the color had drained out of his face while he described Black Manor, and knew there had to be more to the story. "What aren't you telling us?" I asked, never breaking my stare.
He was quiet for a few moments, staring at the floor, and when he finally looked up I knew I wasn't going to like the answer. Walking up to the map, he pointed to the lower half of the house and said, "This basement isn't just a basement; it's a magically enhanced dungeon, a labyrinth of cages and rooms used for torture...and other things."
A wave of nausea rolled through my stomach at the thought of Hermione being held there; my mind kept dredging up pictures of her manacled in one of the cages, being tortured mercilessly by Voldemort. Unable to stand those thoughts any longer, I asked, "Draco, do you know where this house is?"
"Yes," he answered, "but it's going to be hard to get inside Potter; the wards are very strong and there are Dark spells on all of the doors and the entrance to the dungeon will probably have extra wards and guards."
"We will be able to disarm the wards and Dark spells Mr. Malfoy." said Dumbledore, radiating with more power than I had ever seen, "You just explain where the Manor is located and I will take care of the rest."
After assembling the entire Order of the Phoenix, Draco explained the exact location of Black Manor and what to the best of his knowledge what we would be facing when we got there. No one questioned how he knew of the protections and secret entrances...they knew that Lucius had probably taken him there to initiate him into the world of Dark magic.
There were three groups, taking three seperate Portkeys at two minute intervals; Malfoy was in the first group, I was in the second group with Ron, and Remus was in the third group. Neville, Ginny and Luna were left behind with Professor Flitwick to help keep the students safe; they were to send Fawkes if any emergency arose at the school.
Just before the first group left, Dumbledore walked up to me and pulled me off to the side, away from everyone else. "Good luck Harry. This is it. The order will provide as much protection as possible and I will do all that I can; however, this is your destiny. Are you ready?"
I stared at him for a moment and then replied, "I made a promise to Hermione's mother and I keep my promises. Yes Professor, I'm ready…more than ready."
Dumbledore looked at me with what I perceived as a look of pride and nodded his head slightly. Turning away he looked around the room and announced, "It is time to go."
As I watched the first group Portkey away, Ron walked up next to me and patted me on the back. I looked at him but remained silent; I knew we were sharing one last moment of friendship before setting off for battle. "Stay safe mate," I said, socking him lightly on the arm.
"You too," he replied, "and good luck."
~*~
I gritted my teeth together, trying not to scream, as Voldemort cast the Cruciatus curse on me for the third time, this time holding it a little longer than the last. My body was racked with pain and small blasts of white light were bursting behind my tightly shut eyelids; I was desperately trying not to give in to the pain, but it was getting harder to do with each curse cast.
When it was finally lifted, I lay panting on the slab that I was bound, and I could feel the sweat trickling into my hair along with the tears that had involuntarily leaked out of my eyes. The only thought running through my mind was of Harry; I knew he must be worried by now, and I prayed that he didn't try to rescue me...unbidden visions of Harry falling dead at Voldemort's hand kept flashing before my eyes and I fought to keep the sob that was threatening to burst forth inside. I couldn't lose him, and I wouldn't let him die; the Wizarding and Muggle world needed him too much. If anyone died this night, it was going to be me; I had made that decision a long time ago. His life was much more valuable than my own.
A shadow cascaded over me as the light behind my eyelids dimmed and I didn't have to open them to know who was standing over me. I knew it was Voldemort. I opened my eyes and glared defiantly at him; I shrunk back as his shrill laughter rang throughout the room.
"Stupid Mudblood," he hissed, his red eyes boring into mine, "trying to resist the Cruciatus curse is pointless...since it wasn't enough pain for you, let's see what fears you have locked away in your mind...Legilimens!"
Suddenly I could see memories appearing in my minds eye; my Mum playing with me in the backyard of our house, my fourth birthday when I got the bicycle I had wanted so badly...and then I gasped as a picture of my Father appeared, standing ominously over me. I involuntarily flinched as he struck out at me and knocked the air from my lungs. The punches, slaps, pushes, and every other pain he had put me through played out in my mind and I cried out, "Stop it!"
Weakened from fighting the Cruciatus curse, my attempts at Occlumency failed as the memories crashed faster and faster through my mind, and each one more painful than the next. When Voldemort dug out the memory where my Mum shot my Dad, I started thrashing about, praying that I could somehow get free and stop this horrendous mental torture. I watched helplessly as I relived my Dad throwing me to the floor and climbing on top of me. I felt useless as I watched him wrap his hands around my throat...the memory started to fade as he continued to strangle me and memory Hermione started to lose consciousness.
Unable to bear the pain any longer, I felt myself slipping into darkness, my head feeling as if it were going to explode at any moment. Just before I fell into unconsciousness, my mind registered the sound of a loud explosion and then I drifted into a blissful nothingness....
~*~
It took a great deal of strong magic from many of us, but we finally knocked the last door down and I was the first one to enter the dark, dank room. My breath caught as I frantically searched around and then I saw her...Hermione was lying on a slab, her face was covered in sweat and her skin was white as a sheet. I felt the cold grip of fear wrap around my heart when I saw that her eyes were closed and she wasn't moving; Voldemort, who had been standing over her, had his wand pointed directly at her heart as he said, "I wondered how long it would take you to get here Potter. I have been waiting…patiently."
"It's me you want Riddle, not her" I said with more force than I was feeling.
"Oh you are wrong Potter, I want both of you…dead. I think I shall revive her just long enough to watch you die. Sound familiar?" he hissed as his slit for a mouth curled into a sick twisted grin.
"Yeah, we know how well that worked out for you." I replied with false confidence; I was then distracted, thankfully, as Hermione's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head in my direction.
She stared at me for a moment, as if she didn't recognize me at first, and then she whispered, "Harry?"
Before I could say anything, Voldemort shoved his wand into her chest; just as his mouth opened to mutter a curse, a blast of red light hit him square in the side and sent him flying across the room. I looked in the direction the jet of light had come from and saw Dumbledore standing there with his hand still outstretched.
The Death Eaters were surrounding us and Dumbledore said, "Hurry and free Miss Granger Harry; we will keep the Death Eaters occupied."
I ran to where Hermione lay and tried to sit her up; I couldn't move her at all and I felt my anger start to rise over the fear in the pit of my stomach. With a quick wave of my hand, I muttered, "Finite Incantatum" and saw her body jerk a little. Quickly putting my arms underneath her, I lifted her up and carried her back towards the door, behind the group of Order members.
"Hermione?" I said, caressing her cheek, "Luv, can you hear me?" Her eyes slowly opened again and she focused on my face.
"Harry...why did you come?" she said, gripping onto my hand. I looked up quickly to make sure we were covered for at least a minute more and then looked back down at her as she said, "You should be back at Hogwarts where you're safe."
"I'm not safe anywhere anymore luv," I explained, bewildered by her question, "Are you hurt?"
"Cruciatus a few times...and he used Legilimency on me" she replied.
"What did he see?" I asked.
Tears sprang to her eyes as they glazed over a bit as she remembered; "He made me relive my worst memories" she whispered.
Suddenly someone slammed into the wall next to us and I knew our time was up. "Hermione, I have to go back and help them," I said, kissing her softly on the lips. I helped her stand up and watched as she leaned heavily against the wall.
"Stay back here, behind everyone if you can." I said, looking around the room. The Order was doing a fair job of taking down the Death Eaters, but unfortunately Voldemort stood in the middle of the room, throwing the killing curse at anyone that moved including his Death Eaters.
"Come out and play Potter," Voldemort taunted and then laughed chillingly as he struck yet another Order member down, "Come out and let you're Mudblood watch you die!"
I turned back to Hermione and saw the fear in her eyes. "I'll be okay Luv" I reassured, stepping closer to her. I dug into my pocket and brought out her wand, which I had made sure to grab before we had left Hogwarts.
"I can't believe you went to Hagrid's without this." I said, handing it over to her.
"Neither can I," she replied, and then I watched as her face took on a very sad expression. "Hagrid..."
"Don't think about it now," I replied hastily, "Just stay here and defend yourself. Your the smartest witch in the history of Hogwarts...You need to draw on that brain of yours and keep yourself safe."
"I love you Harry," she said, kissing me.
"I love you too," I replied, taking one last look at her and then turned to make my way towards Voldemort, ready for the fight of my life.
~*~
I watched him go, tears streaming down my face, and prayed to every God there was that he would make it through this alive and well. As I continued to watch, Voldemort struck Harry with the Cruciatus curse and laughed cruelly as Harry writhed in pain on the ground. 'I can't let him do this alone' I thought, thinking of the plan I had devised a week ago. I felt the familiar hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach as I thought about what I was about to do; thinking how the Wizarding World needed Harry to defeat Voldemort; I steeled myself against the pain and gathered my nerve about me.
Pointing my wand towards him, I closed my eyes and gathered all the love I felt for Harry in my heart; calling on all my magical reserves, I opened my eyes and said, "Prostateuo enaz ego agapol, dino zoh gia dikoz tou!"*
There was a rush of wind around me suddenly and I could once again feel a strong connection with Harry; I watched as a bright white light floated up from my chest and made it's way towards him. It entered his body and his body glowed bright white for a few ticks; after that, I lost the strength to stand and sank to the floor, feeling as if my heart had just been ripped from my chest.
"Miss Granger, what have you done?!" asked Dumbledore as he rushed to my side, "Do you realize what that spell will do to you if Voldemort uses the killing curse against Harry?"
"I understand completely Professor Dumbledore," I whispered as all the strength seeped from my body. "If I don't make it through this, will you please let him know that I did it because I love him so much?"
The Headmasters face took on a sad expression, one I had never seen before, as he stared at me for a moment. "Your love for him must be great," he stated, a small smile gracing his lips, "I will tell him if I must, but knowing as I do of Harry's love for you, I am certain that conversation will be unnecessary."
I watched as he stood slowly and then I heard him cast the concealing charm over me. "Lie here and rest Miss Granger; when it is all over, I will come back for you."
~*~
After being hit with the Cruciatus, I lay on the ground, pain coursing through my body. As I tried to quickly throw it off, something strange happened; my body grew warm and suddenly I felt at peace, as if I was being shielded by something so great, nothing could get to me. As Voldemort hit me with the curse once more, I didn't feel the pain but I started to see flashes of memories; after seeing a few of them I realized these weren't my memories, they were Hermione's. Just as I thought her name I heard her cry out in pain and I frantically looked back to where I had left her, only to see an empty space.
"She is safe Harry," Dumbledore whispered in my mind, "you must concentrate and do what you must do."
Putting my trust in his words of assurance, I turned back to Voldemort and noticed a flicker of indecision in his red, snake-like eyes. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted, as the spell hit me without effect.
"Trying to disarm me Riddle?" I taunted, taking a couple of steps towards him, holding out my empty hands, "Too bad I don't have a wand...but you do, don't you? Expelliarmus!"
I caught him off guard and watched as his wand went sailing through the air. I heard it bounce off of the ground a few times and felt a smirk playing at my lips. Unfortunately, Voldemort just held his hand out and said very calmly, "Accio wand!"
Armed once more, he fixed me with his cold stare and said, "I wouldn't get too cocky Potter because I am going to kill you, and then soon after your Mudblood will join you. Crucio!"
I watched as the jet of light from the curse left the tip of his wand, as if in slow motion, and hit me in the chest; bracing myself for the pain that I knew was coming, I was surprised when I felt nothing at all. I heard Hermione cry out once more, her voice fainter this time, and knew I had to end this. I threw my hand out in front of me and yelled, "Reducto!"
The ground beneath Voldemort's feet exploded as if he had just stepped on a land mine and he flew backwards through the air, shock evident on his face. He landed with a loud thud and I stared in disbelief, as he immediately regained his footing, unfazed. Pointing his wand at me once again he said, "I've had enough of you Potter, play time is over...Avada Kedavra!!"
The green jet of light streaked towards me and I had no time to move out of its' path; it hit me and knocked me onto the ground. I opened my eyes and realized that, even though my chest hurt, I was still alive…again.
Missing the strangely sad expression that crossed over Dumbledore's face at that moment, I got up and stood facing Voldemort, reaching into my back pocket to retrieve my wand. To cast the killing curse correctly I would need to channel all of my love and happy memories through that one piece of wood, and I was ready to do it; the world deserved to know peace once again and Hermione and I deserved to have a life together without having to live in fear. Summoning all of my magical energy and love I took a deep breath and yelled, "Avada Kedavra!!"
A split second before the curse hit him in the chest, Voldemort's eyes grew wide with surprise. I had counted on him doubting me, doubting that I was capable of killing another human being; in this instance, I wasn't killing a human being, I was killing a monster.
Instead of a jet of light soaring towards him, the green light became a beam and stayed connected to the tip of my wand. I could feel the magic being drained from me as the beam stayed connected with Voldemort's body; a second later the beam turned from green to white and then a brilliant golden color, causing Voldemort to emit an unearthly scream.
I could feel my body pulsing with power and my heart felt as if it were going to pound out of my chest; bracing myself against the pull of magic I suddenly heard my Mother's voice say, "You can do it Harry." Trying to hold on to my wand I heard Hermione's voice say, "I love you Harry. You can defeat him."
Replaying those voices over in my mind I tightened my hold on my wand and held on until Voldemort released one last scream of agony and in a flash of bright white light he disappeared, leaving nothing behind but his wand.
~*~
I lay on the ground, gasping for breath, after Voldemort had used the Cruciatus on Harry not once, but twice. All of my strength was depleted and I could hardly keep my eyes open; the only thing that kept me hanging on to conciousness was Harry and the fact that he was still standing, able to fight his greatest enemy.
I watched the fight play out, and when I heard Voldemort cast the killing curse, I started to weep. This was it, if the curse struck Harry, I would die instead of him. Various thoughts started to drift through my mind of how his Mum had sacrificed herself for him in much the same way...all of our happy memories together...how much I loved him...how he was my soulmate in every sense of the word. Feeling the greatest sadness I had ever felt, I braced myself as Harry's body absorbed the green jet of light; the last thought I had before I drew my last breath was of Harry and my unconditional love for him.
~Please review, it only takes a minute and I greatly appreciate it!~ *-"Protect the one I love, give my life for
his"