DISCLAIMER: Since I neglected to post the disclaimer on Chapter 1, I figured I'd best put it on Chapter 2 at any rate. I own only the idea for this story, none of the characters are mine. Thanks JKR for allowing us mere Muggles a glimpse into the wizarding world of your imagination and for giving us characters with such depth that we can't help but feel compelled to share stories of our own.
A/N: This is an update to the Chapter 2 I had posted previously. I really didn't care much for what I'd previously posted so I added to it and hopefully made it better. I hope you enjoy it.
This chapter has not been reviewed by anyone other than me. If there are mistakes (which there are bound to be) please feel free to point them out.
To all of you…thanks for sharing your stories and your reviews; it's all wonderful. Take care. H_HrFan
Voldemort's Defeat
"I promise!" Hermione muttered to herself. She'd been cursing herself much too much over her impulsive use of those words three years ago. Three very, very long, very frustrating years! She remembered it clearly. It was the first time they'd declared their love for each other and her words had played over in her mind like a mantra ever since, "I know that you're right and I promise that until this war is over I will never push you…no matter how much I may want to." Damn it! Why the hell did she have to promise?
She vacillated daily … sometimes hourly … between placing the blame on herself, her parents, Harry, Voldemort…pretty much anyone who might have crossed her path or…well … yeah … just pretty much anyone! More often then not she blamed herself but when the tension really built within her she had to find another outlet. Sometimes, no matter how irrational it was, she blamed her parents; if they hadn't set such a good example she wouldn't be compelled to be so damn good about keeping her word. Other times she blamed Harry; if he hadn't been so damn adamant about keeping her `pure' then she wouldn't have felt the need to promise. Still other times, when her frustration turned particularly venomous she blamed Voldemort; if he'd just come out of hiding so we could kill him we could get on with our lives, but No-o, he's found a new method of torture…DAMN HIM! Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn…
Then there was that stupid little voice, "Your father always said, `don't make promises you don't intend to keep, sweetheart. If you promise something, your bound to honor that promise until its been fulfilled or until the day you die'"…I KNOW!" She yelled at it for the umpteenth time. She only wished she knew whose voice that was because she knew a few good curses that would shut them up for a bloody long while. She was getting tired of waiting…scratch that…she'd been tired of waiting…for three very, very long, very frustrating years!
Harry knew how exasperating it was for Hermione that they were unable to take their relationship to the next level. He'd been feeling the same frustrations for as long as she had. Through the years there had been so many snogging sessions that ended with them retreating to their own private places to find release, that there was no longer any pleasure in pleasuring themselves.
He knew they would have to wait for as long as it took to defeat Voldemort once and for all. For their future…not to mention their sanity…they wanted to find and destroy him soon. All they could do however, was hope that it wouldn't take three more years.
Although the thought of sex was certainly a motivating factor in the overall scheme of things it really wasn't that important. Everything about their lives had been put on hold. They wanted to get married and start a family; they wanted to begin their happily-ever-after…they wanted to live. They weren't interested in beginning their lives on the run, just so they could have sex.
Although Harry had by now mastered Occlumency, he'd recently taken to leaving his mind open at night in the hopes that Voldemort would invade his dreams and hang around just long enough for Harry to figure out where he was hiding. He came, but he never lingered, each time he stayed only long enough to hiss, "She'll leave you if you don't give her what she wants, Potter. You'll die if you succumb. Either way destroying you will be easy. I can wait…just a little longer." With that, he would be gone; leaving Harry to his own thoughts and fears of whether or not there was an ounce of truth in his words. He never told Hermione the things that Voldemort said for fear she really would leave him. If the thought of leaving him hadn't occurred to her, he was not going be the one to plant that seed. Instead, he let her believe the reason they hadn't made love was the promise she'd made all those years ago to not push him. He knew she didn't make promises lightly and that her parents' lessons were important to her, so it became easy to let her believe it.
Three years ago. He remembered thinking that, `If he made love to Hermione right now he'd die a happy, happy man'. Voldemort had been there then. The last thing Harry had been thinking about was closing off his mind to Voldemort's intrusions. Now he feared that giving himself over to her completely would weaken him somehow; that it would redirect his focus and make it easier for Voldemort to catch him off guard. Right now, Harry was hell-bent on finding and destroying him so he could move on with his life. If he moved forward with her before he defeated him he would be risking not only their lives, but the lives of thousands of others as well, because his attention would be solely on her. He knew that when their time came there would be nothing he wouldn't do for her, no place he wouldn't go for her, and that nothing would draw his attention away from her. Everything else would take second place…including the fulfillment of his destiny. She would be his everything. He needed to be able to give himself over to her completely and so far he couldn't.
Harry remembered thinking that Voldemort's anger the day he and Hermione declared their love for each other was a good thing. He knew then that Harry had found what he needed to destroy him. What Harry failed to consider was that Voldemort had a new weapon to use against him…time. Apparently he could be a very patient man…snake…thing. The bastard! Harry thought…not for the first time, and certainly not the last. He was biding his time, waiting for Harry to either become so consumed with Hermione that nothing else mattered or for Harry's life to fall apart when Hermione left him.
For her part, Hermione had decided that the best course of action was for her to follow Harry into auror training so they could condition themselves in preparation for the battle. They truly had no idea what it would take to defeat the dark wizard so they trained hard in everything. They excelled and completed their training in record time; both motivated by the idea of ridding the world of Voldemort and beginning their life together.
Upon completion of her training Hermione dedicated her time to tracking down Voldemort. She kept tabs on his known Death Eaters and was the first to arrive at any scene of devastation; always with the assumption that Voldemort was behind it. Somehow…some way, she was going to find him and together she and Harry were going to destroy him.
She'd been looking for him for over a year now and it seemed no matter what she did she was always at least one step behind him until…
"I've found him, Harry! I've found him!" Hermione was yelling excitedly. Harry was watching her head in the fire and he could see that her eyes were shining brightly.
"You what? You found him? Tell me you're not joking, Hermione." Harry said, not quite recovered from the shock she'd given him.
"I did. I know where he is, Harry. I know where he is!" She sounded fit to burst and Harry couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, are you going to tell me where he is or am I going to have to force it out of you?" Harry asked, his excitement more controlled, yet still evident in his voice.
"Well…it kind of depends on how you plan to force it out of me. Will I enjoy it?" She teased.
Harry laughed, "Come on Hermione, out with it."
"He's finally returned to his family's home in Little Hangleton. I guess he figured after all this time it would be a safe enough refuge for a while. Remember, we put out the word a couple of years ago that it was no longer under surveillance because we didn't think there was any way he'd go back to that place? Looks like he finally believed it." She said sounding more than a little pleased with the sudden turn of events.
"Sounds like we need to make our move quickly then. When will you be heading home?" He asked, hoping she would say immediately.
"I'm on my way. I need to get a few things from my place and I'll meet you at your apartment in an hour. This is it, Harry. It could be all over by this time tomorrow!" She let out an excited squeal and disappeared from view.
Still laughing at Hermione's excitement, Harry briefly wondered if he should try to contact Ron when a thought came to him from seemingly nowhere, `sometimes it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission.' He couldn't place where he'd heard it before and he didn't quite know why he might need Ron's `permission' but he did like the sound of it being better to ask forgiveness. Somehow he was sure facing Voldemort was something that he and Hermione needed to do…together. He knew how angry Ron would be, but he couldn't risk getting any more people involved…especially someone he cared for as much as Ron. As it was, he hated that Hermione was involved but he knew there was no way she would let him go alone so he'd acquiesced a long time ago during a discussion he had with himself. He figured then, that if he couldn't win an argument with himself there was no way he was going to win one with her!
Harry and Hermione had decided long ago that living in separate apartments was the best thing they could do for their relationship. The temptation to take things too far would have been too great if they had tried living together. Needless to say, that decision made Hermione's parents very happy! Not that they didn't like Harry, they very much approved of their daughter's relationship with such a wonderful boy. In truth, with them living apart her parents found it easier to believe that their baby girl wasn't having s-e-x…! If that topic were open for discussion, they'd be thrilled to know that she and Harry had probably dated and remained virgins longer than any couple in history. Even Ron and Luna … well, never mind!
Harry was waiting in his apartment ready to go when Hermione showed up exactly when she said she would. She ran into his arms and began bouncing up and down trying to spin him around. "I can't believe it, Harry. This is it. This is really going to be over." She said excitedly. When she realized he was only walking in circles and not bouncing with her she stopped to look at him. "What are you thinking about Harry? What's wrong? Don't tell me you're not as excited as I am."
Harry laughed lightly, "Although I'm not much in to bouncing up and down to show it Hermione, I am excited. It's just that we've waited so long for this that I'm a little scared too, you know? I hope this isn't a trap."
She turned his face to hers and looked directly into his eyes. Her eyes were begging him to trust in her, "It's not Harry. Don't ask me how I know just trust me … please."
"I do, with all my heart." He said as he pulled her into a tight hug.
"So," she asked, "Are you ready to go? Is there anything else you need to take care of before we leave?"
"Nope," he said, "all set. Let's go."
As they collected their belongings and headed for the door she told him, "We'll have to take Muggle transportation. Little Hangleton is a Muggle town and we don't want to draw attention to ourselves when we get there."
"Okay. Let's get started then. Lead the way." Harry replied, sweeping his hand toward the door.
The overnight train ride to Little Hangleton was uneventful. Because the town was so small, they'd had to change to a smaller commuter train to get there. Harry had spent the ride creating false images in his mind should Voldemort decide to make an unscheduled visit. He couldn't afford to drop his guard and they couldn't allow him to find out what they were up to before they were ready.
Hermione's informant told her that Voldemort had only one companion with him. He'd been in town for only a couple of days and he'd not had any visitors as of yet. They both released great sighs of relief when they heard that bit of news. It meant that no Death Eaters would be waiting for them when they arrived.
As tired as his body was from the trip, the moment they departed the train his blood began pumping rapidly through his veins and he knew he'd never be able to rest. He decided to have a walk around the town to determine where best to end this with Voldemort. He hadn't gone far when he remembered the cemetery he'd been portkeyed to during the Tri-Wizard tournament. Harry didn't know how he knew that this was the place Voldemort had brought him, but somehow he was sure of it. What irony to defeat him in the very place he'd risen the second time; the very place he'd stolen Harry's blood to create a new body for himself. Harry's smile was bittersweet as he remembered it was also the place where the spirits of his parents and the others killed by Voldemort's wand had finally been set free. He would feel protected there.
The town was small so it didn't take them long to find the cemetery. Although he hated to think about that night, he could vaguely remember Voldemort saying something about his father's grave. That's where he wanted to go.
"Hermione, help me find the grave of Tom…maybe Thomas…Riddle."
"Tom Riddle? Isn't that Voldemort? Why would he be buried here? He's not dead, well…maybe… kind of but, well, you know. Why would he be here?" Hermione asked him questioningly.
"Not him. His father. I remember him saying something about his father when he brought me here the night of the tournament. That's where we were…where he tied me up. It's where I saw my parents…and they talked to me … helped me." He replied, his voice beginning to fade away.
Hermione walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his back. "I'm sorry Harry." She whispered, placing a kiss on his shoulder.
He squeezed her hands and pulled gently away from her. The emotions were too much and he didn't want to attract the attention of Voldemort just yet. As he moved away from her she heard him call, "I found it. It's here." She joined him as he stood staring at the headstone.
As he stared at the name before him Harry's emotions began to boil to the surface. In that instant he decided he'd had enough. He didn't want to wait any longer. After Hermione told him about Voldemort's whereabouts he'd sat in his apartment devising a plan to draw him out. He'd been lucky so far that Voldemort had left him alone. He wasn't sure how much longer that luck would last so they needed to get ready. He pulled her close and proceeded to fill her in on what he had to do. Just as he thought she didn't much care for it, but it was all he had and they would have to make it work. He saw anger, confusion, and other indefinable emotions playing across her face as she struggled with what he was telling her. He watched helplessly as she turned and walked away from him. She stopped briefly to look back at him one last time before she dropped her head and continued on.
Harry walked the other way. He was determined not to turn around to look at her; he didn't want to know where she was going. It was time to put his plan into action.
He steeled himself for what was to come. It would be difficult but he could do it … he would do it … he had to do it; there was no one else. This was the moment of truth. Do or die…Harry wasn't ready to die.
The wall he had put up in his mind to block Voldemort collapsed and he concentrated hard on capturing his attention. It didn't take long. Harry felt sorrow like nothing he'd ever felt before flow throughout his body. He was broken down, beaten before the battle had even begun. Everything about him signified defeat, and he cried out for release from the pain that was his life. Voldemort smiled; aware that the time had come for him to put a stop to the seemingly endless dance he and Harry Potter had been doing for 19 years…since the day he'd tried to kill him as a baby. He could feel Harry's overwhelming sadness and his serpent-like hiss filled Harry's head, "What did I tell you Potter? She's gone, isn't she? Tired of waiting for you, I presume. I can feel that you are weak, drowning in your emotions. I have told you before that love would make you weak. Love makes all people weak. It was love that killed your parents. And love shall kill you too. You too will be easy to destroy."
Voldemort silently apparated to a spot approximately ten feet to the front of Harry. He thought Harry to be weak; he'd felt his pain and knew of his heartache. Thinking Harry would be vulnerable and unable to resist the pain he'd intended to inflict, Voldemort had come alone. Just as Harry hoped he would.
Voldemort's voice was more venomous then ever when he said, "Harry Potter. I knew our time would come soon. Why did you return here Potter, to this place? Come to meet me where it all began again, did you? Did you think you would be so lucky this time? Your parents cannot be here now to save you." He held his wand firmly in his hand and pointed it at Harry, "This time only one of us will leave here alive … and it shall not be you. You have been a thorn in my side for too long."
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Voldemort shouted.
Prepared for exactly this, Harry apparated a few feet away. Since his battle at the Ministry of Magic during his fifth year, every time Harry prepared to cast a spell he heard Bellatrix's words, "You have to mean it Potter." From that moment he'd begun conditioning himself, preparing for every situation. As a result, the power he needed to perform the most difficult of spells had become second nature. His own wand held tightly in his hand Harry yelled, "STUPEFY!"
"PROTEGO!" Voldemort countered. "You cannot defeat me with such insignificant spells Potter. Better men have tried and have not succeeded. You'll have to do better if you wish to survive."
"I'm tired of playing these games with you." Harry yelled. "I want my life..." He caught himself before the word `back' could escape his lips. He'd never had his life and now he was ready to find out what it meant to live. What it was to truly feel alive.
Harry's performance to draw Voldemort to the graveyard had been superb. He had been misled by Harry's pain from a broken heart and his overwhelming desire to end things…one way or another. Based on the loneliness and pain he'd felt through Harry, he had presumed him to be alone and he had not bothered to look beyond the boy in front of him when he arrived at the graveyard. However, his attention was diverted momentarily when a girl, wand in hand, emerged from behind a headstone engraved with the name, `Tom Riddle'.
As Voldemort's attention was diverted by the appearance of Hermione Harry shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!"
"PROTEGO!" Voldemort countered, and his wand remained firm in his hand.
Harry moved quickly out of the way as his own spell bounced back at him from the shield Voldemort had conjured.
Voldemort was enraged when he was struck with the realization that Harry, this nothing of a boy, had managed to fool him with false emotions. He was an accomplished Legilimens, among the very best in the history of the wizarding world. He had always seen through deceit and manipulation and yet he had not known that Harry was lying. In his arrogance and haste to end his life of seclusion and walk freely to reign as the Dark Lord, he had believed what he saw to be true and without further thought he set out to destroy Harry. He had known that Harry held the power to destroy him and he needed to destroy Harry before he learned what the power was and how to use it.
He watched for a moment as the girl walked toward Harry. For his deception, Harry would have to pay and both he and the girl would suffer greatly in the process; he would kill them slowly. She had almost reached Harry's side when they heard Voldemort shout, "IMPERIO!" His wand pointed straight at Hermione.
The power of the spell forced Hermione back though she was able to remain standing. She'd been through this. She'd been conditioned to fight it but the pain from Voldemort was so much stronger than that of the aurors she'd trained under. She could hear them, "It's the fighting that causes the pain. If you just surrender to it he controls you if you fight it, you'll have to bear the pain." A part of her wanted to give in to the pain…surrender to it. Then, she heard him…just like she did every time she was able to break the curse during training. Fight it Hermione, you can do it. I love you. Don't ever stop fighting. The sound of his voice echoing in her head brought her out from under the spell. Though the pain was intense, she had refused to let Voldemort hear her cry out. She would not give him that satisfaction nor would she allow him to control her. She regained her composure and looked straight into his snake-like eyes, daring him. She showed no sign of fear. Harry couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been more proud.
Voldemort's surprise was short-lived and he hissed, "Stupid Mudblood. How dare you look at me! You think that you are strong and brave. Let us see how well you stand up to the killing curse!"
"AVADA KE - " Voldemort began, in the most unearthly voice either of them had ever heard.
In one swift movement Harry had turned his body to place himself between her and Voldemort and shouted "PROTEGO!" Surprised by the speed of Harry's actions, it took a moment for Voldemort to realize that his own spell was rebounding straight back at him. He apparated a few feet to the right and the spell just missed him. He was standing once again in Harry's line of sight.
"We end this now, Tom." Harry said, his voice, though steady, reflected the years of torment suffered at the hands of the one who stood before him now.
"And so we shall, Potter…and so we shall." Voldemort replied, choosing to ignore Harry's use of his father's name. "Are you prepared to die?"
"Harry." He heard Hermione whisper softly. When he looked at her she had intended to simply reassure him; to remind him she was there for him. What she did instead took them both by surprise. She instinctively reached her hand up to touch his cheek and touched her lips gently to his. His reaction took him more by surprise than her kiss had, rather than pull away to return his attention to Voldemort he felt a tremor of pleasure rip through his body and he intensified the kiss. In that moment there was more love flowing between them then there was water in all the oceans of the world and they were drowning in it. As their kiss deepened a radiant light began to shimmer around them. As the fire inside them burned stronger the light surrounding them became brighter and brighter. Harry could feel the power of their love rising inside him, engulfing him.
It was such a beautiful sight that even in his preferred world of darkness and hate Voldemort could not bring himself to look away. He stood, transfixed upon the sight before him.
When Harry felt he could no longer stand the pressure that was building up inside him he was forced to break the kiss. They stood looking into each other's eyes, neither of them noticing the light that still resonated around them. He barely heard her whisper, "I love you, Harry." Overwhelmed by emotion, his voice filled with love, he whispered back, "I love you, `Mione."
He grasped her right hand in his left and interlaced her fingers with his. He pulled her close and raised her hand placing it firmly against his chest…over his heart. She could feel his heart beating rapidly in cadence with her own.
Harry could still feel the power coursing through his body when he held his wand toward Voldemort and yelled, "AMOR VINCIT OMNIA" … love conquers all. A brilliant white light shot forth from his wand.
At that exact moment Voldemort yelled, "RESPICE FINEM" … look to the end. A powerful, black beam shot from his wand.
The white light met the black beam; light and dark fighting for control, both equal in their intensity and neither willing to surrender to the other. They melded together in a test of wills that rapidly began to tire them both. The power emanating from their wands clashed and it appeared as though the strongest man, not the strongest wizard, would survive.
Entranced by the sight before her, Hermione unknowingly stepped closer to Harry and the hand he held close to his heart moved ever so slightly. The surge of emotion that radiated through him from that small movement was just strong enough to push back Voldemort's curse and dissolve the blackness. Voldemort screamed as the light, pulsating with the combined power of their love, struck him in the place where his malevolent heart resided.
Tom Riddle's eyes opened wide the moment he felt the magnitude of what hit him. Just before the last remaining remnants of his soul were vanquished he realized for the first time what he had been missing in his lifetime of darkness, of hate and resentment; it was at the very core of Harry's being and the thing he had thought made Harry weakest … "it was love; and it was…beautiful."
Unfortunately for some, realization comes too late and Tom Riddle was no exception. He died that day a power- hungry, spiteful, bitter ghost of a man, who for one fleeting moment felt the overwhelming power of love. He would remember that moment for eternity and although a part of him would forever long to feel it again, his soul had been lost forever to the darkness. His eternal torment would be his continued search for something that simply does not exist within the boundaries of his new world: Love … the power he once knew not.
A/N 2: If you saw this previously, I have now removed the excerpt of the next chapter because I had a wonderful new vision for it. Well … I like it anyway. I hope that you will enjoy it as well. I hope to have the final chapter posted in the next couple of days and the first chapter of my next story posted by Sunday…it is already written, I just have to check for revisions.
Thanks for all of your reviews. They really are motivating…
-->