Hell Hath No Fury

Harry stepped up on the cold wet stone. He dared a glance over the edge. He couldn't see far into the darkness. He just stood there with the rain gently pouring around him. He couldn't shake the memories of the terrible events of day before. They were so clear, but in his shock it all seemed like a dream.

He and Hermione had only started being a couple a few short weeks ago, having finally confessed their longtime feelings for each other. It seemed like a waste now, all the time he held back his feelings when he could have been holding her instead. Then just like the rest of his life, when he finally got a glimmer of happiness, it was taken away from him.

It was to be their first real date as a couple, a visit to Hogsmeade on Valentine's weekend. They had planned to spend a quiet afternoon, just the two of them away from the bustle and crowds of the other students. They had settled for a light lunch in a cafe attached to a cozy bookstore out of the way. None of the students went there, it was perfect. But his perfect little reality was shattered into a million pieces when the Death Eaters arrived.

Harry stepped away from the counter with two cups of tea and some biscuits. Just as he was turning around to head back outside to enjoy what little sun with his love, he heard her screaming his name. His blood went cold. He dropped what he was carrying, not caring as the cups shattered when they hit the floor. Pulling his wand from under his cloak, he bolted for the front door. He heard the screams before he even reached the entrance.

The sounds of battle met his ears when he emerged from the door. A multitude of spells where whizzing through the air. A dozen or so men in black robes where stalking through the street, blasting everything in their way. Death Eaters. Younger students were diving for cover behind anything they could find. The group was heading straight for them. Hermione looked at them, then Harry. She charged at them, whipping out her wand and screaming "Go Harry!" He watched frozen, as she threw spell after spell at them, each deflected. A figure emerged from the middle of the bunch, pointed its wand held in long pale fingers at her and shouted "CRUCIO!" Hermione screamed in pain as she collapsed to her knees in front of Lord Voldermort.

Harry screamed but couldn't hear it. He ran towards Hermione, his love. He felt a rage swelling inside of him as she writhed in pain. He felt a spell hit him in the back, and instantly wipe his mind of cares. He threw off the Imperius Curse just to be hit by it again from two Death Eaters. He fell to his knees as commanded. Voldermort raised his wand again. Harry knew what was coming and couldn't close his eyes, they were going to force him to watch. Green light shot from the wand and surrounded Hermione. She fell limp to the ground, her head rolled toward Harry. Her eyes were wide and empty.

Suddenly there were popping sounds all around them. Dumbledore appeared between Harry and Voldermort, but the Death Eaters disapparated just as quickly with Voldermorts laugh echoing through the street. Harry ran to her, collapsing by her side. He stared into her eyes. They stared back with the unique emptiness that has only one cause. He felt a hand on his shoulder and knew it was Dumbldore, but neither said anything. Her gently picked her body up. He slowly carried her body all the way back to castle, not caring about the silent stares from the students around him.

The Grangers would be arriving today to claim Hermione's body. He couldn't bear to face them. It was once again his fault that someone he loved had died. He didn't sleep at all, refusing a sleeping draught from Madam Pomfrey, tossing and turning with Voldermort's laugh echoing in his head. Now he found himself up at the top of the Astronomy tower.

'A world without Hermione Granger is not one I want to live in,' he thought as he stepped off the ledge and let gravity pull him downward.

Hermione woke with a start. She knew something was wrong, she knew Harry was in trouble. She grabbed her dressing gown and ran out of her dorm room. She paused when she reached the common room. She thought Harry would be in his room, but something told her he wasn't there. She ran for the portrait hole. If by some invisible hand it flew open before she reached it. She ran into the halls letting her feet guide her way.

She couldn't tell if the pounding in her ears was from her heart or her footfalls echoing in the halls. Harry was in trouble, serious trouble, and she had to get to him. She found herself climbing higher and higher in the castle. After what seemed like an eternity she was in the top of the Astronomy tower. She could feel that Harry was on the other side of the door. She pushed it open just in time to watch him descend from the ledge into the blackness of the night.

She felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach as she screamed. She ran to the edge of the tower and peered over the edge. Far below her, on the stone walkway, lay his now still form. His limbs bent at odd angles and a pool of blood slowly formed around his head. She screamed in pain and fell limp against the wall.

There was a small pop. Dumbledore, in his dressing gown, appeared holding Fawkes. He looked at Hermione who was slidding down the wall, sobbing, letting the rain wash over her. He quickly sprinted to the edge and looked over. With a look of alarm, he disappeared with another pop. Hermione heard the commotion below her a minute later as the doors to castle swung open. Pomfrey and McGonagall screamed when they saw his body. Fang began barking at the noise and soon the wail of Hagrid was added when he reached the castle. The bustle and noise moved inside of the castle. She knew that his body was being moved to the hospital wing, but she knew it would be no use. Harry Potter was dead. She sat there against the wall in the cold rain, weeping at the lose of her beloved.

Several hours later as the sun was rising and chasing the rain away, she was in the exact same position. Suddenly a crack broke through the quiet. Dobby was standing in front of her, his eyes red and puffy. Obviously he had heard the news.

"Would Miss like Dobby to get breakfast for her?" Dobby squeaked hoarsely.

"No thank you Dobby," she replied without enthusiasm.

"If Miss would like anything, just call Dobby," he said before disappearing with another crack.

Moments later McGonagall appeared at the doorway. She walked over to the limp form of Hermione and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm sorry to do this dear, but the Headmaster would like to see you."

"Now?"

"Yes, now." McGonagall helped Hermione up and they walked to Dumbledore's office in silence. As soon as they were inside, McGonagall left quietly closing the door behind her.

"Please sit Miss Granger." Dumbledore gestured to a chair. Ron was already sitting in the other. "I'm aware how you know about this morning's tragedy, but you need to read this. Ron found it shortly after..." His voiced faltered as he handed Hermione a sheaf of parchment. She looked down and found Harry's handwriting on it.

To whom it may concern –

It is all my fault. It's my fault that Hogwart's is constantly in danger. It's my fault that Peter was able to help Voldermort to return. It's my fault that Moody spent nine months in a trunk. It's my fault that Sirius is dead. It's my fault that Hermione is dead.

Please let the Grangers know that I'm sorry that she's gone.

I know it is selfish of me, but a world without Hermione, the only woman I could ever love, is one I don't want to live in.

Goodbye, forever

Harry

She thought she had cried all she could, but fresh tears sprang from her eyes. She hoped it was an accident, but deep down she knew it wasn't all along. She looked up at Dumbledore for answers.

"I can only assume Voldermort used his link with Harry to make him think that you were dead. Harry's grief did the rest," the headmaster replied to her unasked question.

Dumbledore watched as the truth sunk below her raw pain. He felt a cold shiver run up his spine when she suddenly stopped crying.

She was thinking of when Harry finally broke down and told her the truth.

"I'm not just some loose end, a victim that got away! I'm not just a thorn in Voldermort's side! I'm the only one that's capable of killing him, or vanquishing him for good! The entire world IS resting on my shoulders!" he screamed at her.

"Why do you think that?" she asked through her sobs, eyes full of tears. She had pushed and pushed, she wasn't going to stop now, not until he finally told her what was bothering him. She knew she was close.

"That bloody prophecy!"

"Prophecy? I thought it was destroyed?"

"That was just a fucking recording! Dumbledore told me it AFTER Sirius died! Wanna know what it says?! 'THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES... BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES.... AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT... AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES...'!"

Suddenly she remembered something Harry said about magic "I've learned that magic is all about will. All you have to do is want something bad enough and it will happen. Wands and incantations are just a means to focus the will." She wasn't gonna let a little thing like prophecy stand in her way. She would kill Voldermort herself for taking her Harry away from her.

Hermione stood and held her palm toward the Headmaster. "Sorry Professor, but I need your power - obscurum tribuo mihi vox."

The surprised look on his face was only surpassed by the one on Ron's, as a bright light moved from Dumbledore's chest to Hermione hand. Dumbledore's limp body slumped onto his desk.

"Wh- wha- what did you do?" Ron gasped.

She whirled on Ron and glared at him. He tried to back away but couldn't.

"OUT OF MY WAY!" she screamed and the chair he was sitting on flew across the room with him still on it.

Hermione stormed towards the door, leaving the room crackling with energy. As she walked determinedly towards Griffyndor tower, she could feel herself draw the energy from all around her. The suits of armor fell silent and fell apart. The paintings stopped moving. Anyone that saw her in the hall quickly headed the other way.

She had to blow her way through the Fat Lady. She entered the common room to complete silence and scared looks from the few students around. She stomped her way up to the boy's dorm. The door opened before she got to it. Only Neville was inside and he quickly scrambled out when he saw her with the door slamming behind him.

She quickly moved to Harry's trunk and opened it. She pulled his quidditch robes, Firebolt and invisibility cloak out. She threw her nightclothes off and started to put his quidditch robes on. As she did, they shrunk to fit her and their hue turned a deep green, barely distinguishable from black, and hardened. She grabbed the invisibility cloak and put it around her shoulders and watched as it melded into the armor. She turned to face the mirror and take in her new outfit. Her eyes glowed a fierce black. She willed her hair to a jet black that reminded her of Harry's. An evil smile crossed her face as she appraised her new look. She grabbed the broomstick and watched as her form shimmered and disappeared in the mirror.

Dumbledore awoke to an unusual sight, the hospital wing. He had seen the hospital wing before of course, just not from this perspective. He was in one of the beds. To his surprise, though he thought it really shouldn't, he found the young Mr. Weasley and Minerva sitting by his bed and Poppy fretting worse then ever at the foot of his bed.

"How long?" he asked rather weaker than he had hoped.

"Only a couple of hours Albus," Minerva replied.

"Wha – What did Hermione do to you sir?" Ron asked with fear in his eyes.

"Something I thought she would never be capable of doing, but considering the circumstances, I'm only mildly surprised. I believe she tapped her grief for Harry, her pure will and her knowledge of magic, specifically dark magic learned no doubt to help Harry know what might be used against him, to begin drawing magical energy from around her, starting with me," the headmaster answered somberly.

"Dark Magic? Certainly not Ms. Granger?" Minerva asked, visibly unnerved.

"Mr. Weasley, was there anything unusual about her eyes?"

"Yeah, they glowed black. It... she was scary!"

Dumbledore lowered his head with a deep sigh. "Just as I suspected. Tell me, do you know if she took anything of Harry's?"

"A quite frightened Mr. Longbottom told me that she stormed into their dormitory. When I went there, his Firebolt and quidditch robes were missing, not to mention that the Fat Lady was blown to smithereens, and no one saw her leave," replied Minerva.

"Then she has his invisibility cloak also," said Dumbledore plainly.

"His what?! Albus --" Dumbledore held up his hand and gave her a look that told her that it simply wasn't important at this time.

"She is most likely going to take her vengeance out on Voldertmort, and rightly so. I dare say that I won't be surprised if he met his end by her hand tonight, she was never a believer in prophecy and she has rarely been wrong. Now please, I'm suddenly very tired and wish to sleep," Dumbledore said with his famous finality, laid his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes.

Cruel high-pitched laughter echoed throughout the hall. The Death Eaters surrounding the Dark Lord laughed with him. The Dark Lord had summoned them to gloat in his victory over Harry Potter. They all were looking at the copy of The Daily Prophet their master was holding high above his head. The headline read: Harry Potter Dead! The Boy-Who-Lived's Death at Hogwarts a Mystery!

"Finally, the thorn has been removed from my side. Finally, my vengeance has been exacted. Harry Potter, the 'Boy-Who-Lived' is DEAD! Thanks to the information that young Malfoy provided and a simple plan, I was able to finally rid myself of that nuisance and right under the nose of that muggle loving Dumbledore too! What made it all the more sweeter is that, although the Prophet doesn't report it, he took his own life. The way is clear; the world will now tremble in fear at the name Voldermort! Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow they die!"

The crowd of Death Eaters shouted and cheered. They would raise hell throughout the night and now it was Wormtail's job to obtain the Firewhiskey that would fuel the mayhem to come.

As Wormtail was returning to the revelry with his arms full of bottles, a dark form descended in his path. The figure was shrouded in shadow, no features showing, almost as if it was made from the darkness of the night itself.

"You know, you really shouldn't drink firewhiskey. It kills the mind. And you have very little to begin with," the stranger said as the bottles in his arms abruptly radiated an incredible heat. Wormtail dropped the bottles, watching them burst into flames when then broke on the ground. He quickly reached into his robes for his wand and found nothing.

"Looking for this?" the dark form asked holding Wormtail's wand out. Before he could reply it burst into black flames. "And you're precious hand will be no use either." With a wave of the stranger's hand Wormtail's magical hand dissolved into a silver mist and disappeared into the darkness. He now felt powerless.

In the blink of an eye the dark figure was right in front of him and put a hand on his chest. Wormtail looked in its glowing black eyes with horror as blue light moved from him into the hand on him. Stumbling back, the energy flowed from him a brief moment more before fading.

"And now Peter, the real fun begins."

The figure stepped forward and as if a drape was being pulled off, its features appeared from the darkness that surrounded it. A young woman stepped forth, her wild black hair matching the color of her eyes.

"Who are you?" Wormtail asked finally finding his voice. He held up his hand and stump in fear.

"Come on Wormtail, are you saying you don't recognize me? Maybe I should have let Crookshanks eat you."

"No... It can't be... not... He-her-hermione?"

"The Rat gets it on the first try. But you see Peter; I'm a bit pissed at you, bringing back Voldermort and all that. You never made it to Azkaban did you? You never got the punishment you deserved for betraying Harry's parents. I'm here to remedy that situation, permanently. My Harry spared your pathetic pitiful life, so I won't kill you. Besides, I've got a much better idea than that."

Wormtail watched through a red haze as she got bigger. No, he was getting smaller. The ground was coming up to meet to him. Hermione leaned over the squeaking rat and spoke with a soft voice dripping with contempt.

"You are now, and forever, the rat we all know you are. No wizarding or muggle family will take you as a pet. No friends will you find in the animals of the forest." She stood and walked away. "Enjoy the rest of your life, however short that is." Her figure faded into the darkness around her.

It wasn't hard to find the party. They were loud, drunk, and extremely careless. Unable to be seen by anyone and not needing to be quiet, she snuck around to the largest table. She knew the Bitch would be at his right hand, rewarded for her unfaltering loyalty. She found the Bitch standing next to a throne that seemed to be made of blackened human bones. With a sure stride she closed in on the Bitch, quickly wrapping her arms around her prey. They vanished with a WHOOSH! of black flames.

They landed on cold stone steps. The candles burst forth, shining their eerie light on the windowless room. Before letting the struggling Bitch go, Hermione pulled the energy from her.

"You will pay for daring to harm a servant of the Dark Lord," Bellatrix Lestrange screamed as the red glow faded. She turned and pulled her wand in one fluid motion, pointing it at the Hermione's heart. "CRUCIO!"

But nothing happened. The look of Lestrange's face turned from shock to rage.

"What have you done to me? The Dark Lord himself will strike you down for this!"

"Wand broken?" Hermione asked snatching it out of the Bitch's hand. She turned and pointed it at the shocked Death eater. "Crucio."

Bellatrix fell to her knees, writhing in pain.

"Nope, works fine," she said matter of factly, handing the wand back. "How does it feel being stripped of your powers by a mudblood?" She let those words settle in before continuing.

"Now Bella... Do you mind if I call you Bella? Now Bella, I brought you here to give you a choice: die at my hand or walk through that," Hermione said coolly and pointed up to a stand-alone archway with a black curtain fluttering in a non-existent breeze.

Bellatrix Lestrange's eyes went wide with fear. Hermione thought it was probably the first time ever. The fear was replaced with a steely determination.

"I will die for my Lord before taking the coward's way out," Bellatrix replied as she got to her feet.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Hermione's wand suddenly appeared in her hand as she raised it above her head. "AV—" She hesitated. "AVA—" she tried to continue, but something inside of her prevented it.

Denied her vengeance of Harry and Sirius' deaths a hate filled rage grew inside of her. Almost instinctively she drew back her fist and struck Bellatrix squarely on the nose. Blood issued forth from the Bitch's nasal cavity as she stumbled back clutching the wound. She looked back up at Hermione and the fear was evident in her eyes again. Quickly looking around, Bellatrix ran up the stone steps to one of the exits, but it disappeared before she reached it. Hermione powerfully strode towards her, forcing Lestrange to move towards the arch. The Lestrange Bitch looked left and right, before sprinting towards, then diving through, the blackness of the archway.

The candles along the wall flared up momentarily before growing dim. Hermione stood still, just watching the arch for a few minutes before disappearing in a roar of black flames.

--

A/N: Well, my postings have finally caught up with my writing. I have the rest of the story sketched out, just a matter of getting in the proper mood to write. I don't expect a long hiatus, just a slowing of the pace of postings.

Let me also say that I hate excessive author notes. I would reply to most of your questions in the reviews, but often if I did that, it would ruin any plot twists/points/secrets that I have planned. When the fic is complete, I will answer any lingering questions either in the reviews or in an Author's Note chapter at the end.

I know a lot of you are disappointed with the short chapters, but I did it for a couple of reasons. One the plot bunnies I had to expunge are in the first three chapters. Second, I felt that to write in a hurried style worked with the events of the story, like a blurred memory.

Hermione returned to the party. She willed her appearance to look like Bellatrix. Weaving in and out of the crowd, she looked for the next person on her list. This one was a lot more personal. Finally she found him.

"Want to go muggle hunting a little early? A little death and destruction always gets me a little randy," she said coyly.

Dolohov looked at her for a few seconds before a smirk crossed his lips.

"I bet the firewhiskey has got nothing to do with it, does it?"

"I might have had too much," she answered adding a throaty growl at the end, "but I still want to raise some bloddy hell before dawn."

She grabbed him with one hand roughly behind his neck and pulled him forward for a kiss. Before their lips touched, they disappeared within a rush of black flame.

Their feet landed on the firm dirt road outside the small village. She watched as his eyes surveyed the surroundings.

"What do you want to do first? A little 'muggle toss' or 'blast the squib'?" he asked with his back to her.

"I want to kill someone," she said as she raised her hand. She started to bring her hand down to send a cutting curse that would slice Dolohov in two. A presence in her mind urged her not to kill. Instead of separating the top half of his body from his bottom half, the red energy wrapped around and bound the surprised Dolohov. He fell to the ground with a thud.

She assumed her own appearance before stepping over to him. She looked down to his eyes and saw the sudden hatred and surprise mixed in them.

"You filthy mudblood! I'll –" he said but was interrupted when the energy bonds grew and gagged him.

"Hold your tongue!" she screamed at him. "You've already made it personal. Don't make it worse."

She ripped the left sleeve of his robe, exposing the tattoo of the dark mark. She put one hand on the tattoo, the other on his forehead and uttered a few choice words. Her hands surrounded by a blue then red glow. When she removed her hand the dark mark shone on his forehead, it's red glow fading. A smirk crossed her face.

"No longer will any Death Eater be able to hide from the world who and what they are," she coolly said.

She watched as the bounds faded and Dolohov scurried away into the night like Wormtail had. A small pop behind her announced an arrival. She turned and saw the red eyes with cat like pupils. He spoke with a quiet fury, "Why it's the Mudblood Granger. I wasn't expecting you... so soon."

"It doesn't matter. You were next on my list," she spat at him with venom. She could feel her rage boiling inside, fiercer than ever.

"And you were next on mine, young mudblood. I must ask you though, how did it feel when you found out that Harry Potter killed himself, all because he thought you were dead?" Voldermort asked with air of confidence.

Black flames erupted from the ground around Hermione. She screamed with the a fury that matched the flames around her, "I WILL KILL YOU!"

"You shall be the one to die. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Hermione stood her ground and watched as the green light struck the green barrier around her. The spell made it waver, but it held.

"IMPOSSIBLE!"

"Nothing is impossible if you have the will and enough power," she said calmly. "Now it's my turn. AVADA –"

'No,' a voice said inside her head. She tried to ignore it and raised her wand again.

"AVADA –" she said before the voice told her 'NO' more firmly this time. Voldermort seeing her hesitate again laughed.

"Can't bring yourself to do one little killing curse mudblood?" he asked gleefully.

'Use the incantation 'EXPECTO' Hermione,' the voice said this time.

Unable to ever deny this voice, she cried "EXPECTO!" not sure what good it would do.

The second the sound left her lips, she felt as if her soul was being ripped from her chest where a great bright light was bursting forth. She cried out as she felt every ounce of magic she had collected was drained from her. The light swirled around in a bright green fog surrounding her, before finally coalescing into a glowing human shape in front of her. It looked like a patronus, except the color. Then she realized it was Harry.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Voldermort screamed. Hermione watched in horror as the green light streaked towards them. Then the spell stopped in mid-air, everything around them stopped. Time had frozen around them.

Harry turned to Hermione and spoke softly, "I can't hold this for long, so I must speak quickly. I must thank you Hermione. Once again you have helped me get where I needed to be, but as always the final task is mine alone. I love you Hermione."

He leaned over and kissed her gently and passionately on the lips. She felt his energy jolt through her body. Her knees felt weak, and then she collapsed to the ground unable to move. She watched as he faced Voldermort and time resumed its normal flow. The green light of the killing curse struck him in the chest causing Harry's form to glow brighter. Voldermort threw spell after spell at Harry as he walked determinedly towards the wizard who had caused so much pain to so many.

When Harry reached Voldermort, whose eyes were wide with fear, he simply reached his hand inside of Voldermort's chest. When Hary pulled his hand back, he was holding something that looked like it might be Voldermort's ghost. Voldermort's body collapsed to the ground lifeless. "Incindio!" issued from Harry mouth and the Voldermort in his hands were consumed by green flame, turning it into ethereal smoke.

Harry turned and walked towards Hermione. He bent down and smoothed the hair away from her face. She could feel the tears working their way to the surface.

"Sleep Hermione, tomorrow return to Hogwarts and tell everyone what happened. Show them Voldermort's body if they don't believe that he is finally gone for good. I love you Hermione, I always have, remember that. Good-bye."

"Good-bye Harry," she said through her tears as she watched his form dissolve into a mist and watched it dissipate into nothingness. She cried herself into a deep sleep.

Just as the Great Hall was beginning to empty after breakfast a figure appeared in the entrance hall. Her normally bushy hair was wilder than ever. The robes she wore were sagging off her fatigued form while she dragged a broomstick behind her. Everybody in the Great Hall turned and watched her make her way slowly to the head table. She didn't acknowledge the stares of the students as she approached the teacher's table.

"I must speak with Dumbledore," she said quietly to Professor McGonagall, but since the hall was silent everyone could hear the words clearly.

McGonagall quickly ushered her to the headmaster's quarters where he was resting after being released by Madam Pomfrey that morning. She didn't dare ask the young girl what had happened in the last 24 hours as the walked silently through the halls.

"Nosebleed Nougat," uttered McGonagall and the stone gargoyle slid back revealing the spiral stone steps. Hermione started climbing the steps, but McGonagall didn't follow. She knew this was something the young girl would have to face by herself.

Hermione knocked on the large wooden door and heard a quiet "Come in Ms. Granger" from the other side. She uneasily opened the door and looked inside. She felt guilty when she saw a very tired looking Dumbledore sitting at his desk, presumably finishing his breakfast from the tray in front of him.

"Sit," he said without a trace of anger in his voice, "and tell me, the best you can, about what happened. As for what you did to me, I'll only hold you to an apology." A tired smile appeared on his face. She slumped into one of the cushy chairs in front of his desk.

"I'm sorry Professor," she paused, "but at the time, I felt I had no choice. I meant to hurt all those that had hurt – Harry," she sobbed as she said his name, but forced herself to continue. "hurt him the most and destroy V-Voldermort. Actually I wanted to kill them all, but I couldn't, some...thing stopped me. Wormtail, Peter will spend the rest of his days a rat. Bellatrix Lestrange went through the veil. Dolohov and the rest of the Death Eaters are marked and powerless. I don't care that it affected Snape, he tormented Harry too much for me to care. And Voldermort is dead, for good this time. Harry did it. Harry killed Voldermort." Hermione finally broke down and began sobbing in earnest.

"And Riddle's body?"

"Just outside of Hogsmeade," she said through the tears. Dumbledore nodded in understanding.

<>

The next several days Hermione was like a ghost in the halls of Hogwarts. She hadn't uttered a single word to anyone after her talk with Dumbledore and nobody tried to push her. The students, Griffyndor especially, gave her a very wide berth in the castle, fearful of what she might do if provoked. She hardly ate anything during meals and hadn't been to any of her classes. She would spend most of her time either crying in her room or mopping with Myrtle, who seemed to have taken pity on her, in the bathroom.

The day of Harry's funeral, Hermione had slowly gotten ready, careful to make herself presentable and choose her best robes. She quietly, even more so if that's possible, ate her breakfast before joining the select group of students and teachers who would portkey to Godric's Hollow for Harry funeral.

As she sat staring at the coffin and half-listening to Dumbledore deliver what was no doubt a beautiful eulogy, Hermione couldn't help but feel numb. Everything she had to live for was in the box in front of her. Her soul was entwined with the one that was about to be put six foot under. She had cried so much that she had run out of tears. The supportive embraces from Ginny, Luna and even Ron stirred no emotion inside of her and she could barely feel physical sensations anymore. As Harry's coffin was lowered into the ground next to his parents, she was painfully aware of the hole in her heart and soul that would never be able to be filled by anybody other than Harry.

<>

Ginny was frantically running across the Great Hall towards the teacher's table with a sheaf of parchment in her hand.

"Professor, Professor!" she yelled.

Dumbledore looked up at the disturbance and saw the look of concern in Ginny's eyes. He was standing by the time she reached the table.

"I went looking for Hermione this morning – and found this!" she said, gasping for air and holding out the parchment. Dumbledore took it and quickly scanned it.

"Mr. Weasley please come with me," he said loud enough for the whole hall to hear him. "You too Ms. Weasley," he said considerably quieter to the young redhead before him. He swiftly made his way to his office with the siblings following closely behind him. Once inside, he grabbed an old teapot. He tapped it with his wand said "Portus". Ron and Ginny were touching it before the blue glow faded.

They landed with a thud on the soft ground. As one they turned and saw Hermione's bushy head leaning up against Harry's tombstone, his Firebolt, along with a silvery fabric, lying on the ground next to her.

"Hermione!" Ginny cried. They all hastily moved towards her. Dumbledore stopped after a few steps when he saw it. She had a small, empty crystal phial in her hand. His legs weakened, then buckled. He fell to his knees, the parchment falling from his hand.

Dear Friends and Family,

I've gone to be with Harry.

Hermione

<>

Luna sat next to Ron as he watched his second best friend being buried that week. He was in shock and needed Luna more than ever. He had leaned on her and it had only strengthened their growing relationship. She was glad she was there for him. He felt as though Harry and Hermione had abandoned him. Luna had to constantly reassure Ron that she wasn't going to leave, and that it would take Fudge's entire Heliopath army to keep her from him.

They were back at Godric's Hollow and once again Dumbledore was making an eloquent speech even as the grief shown on his face. Somehow the Grangers decided that Hermione's rightful resting place was right next to Harry's. Nobody could think of a more fitting place.

Luna looked up when the casket was being lowered. Something had caught her eye. Sitting on his headstone was a ghost like visage of Harry, seemingly sad and waiting for something. As the casket dropped below ground level, the image of Harry got off his headstone and walked over to the open grave. He reached down with his white, mist like hand through the lid of the coffin and pulled. A form similar to Harry's stepped out of the ground, holding Harry's hand, but this one was feminine. It was Hermione. They embraced each other. Luna saw the sadness mixed with the happiness in Harry's eyes. She knew why. He was happy she was with him, but sad as to why and when.

"They're together now Ronald," Luna whispered in his ear.

"I know. Everyone keeps saying that," he mumbled.

"No. Look over there," she said and pointed at the headstone. "Can't you see them?"

"I don't see anything. Have you finally gone Loony?"

Luna watched as the two forms approached Ron. Together they bent over and hugged him. She watched as a visible chill went up his spine.

"Do you believe me now?" she asked. He only replied with a nod, his eyes still wide with shock.

Luna smiled as the two looked straight at her. She could only take the look to mean 'Take care of Ron for us.' Luna nodded in acknowledgement. They walked away towards the edge of the clearing, where another ghostly couple was waiting for them. All four of them embraced, and shimmered out of sight.

Luna wrapped her arms around her Ronald and whispered, "We could never have stopped this from happening. She would never leave his side, no matter what the situation."