*
*
Author's Note: I am so sorry it took so long to get this chapter to you, but I had the worst case of writer's block ever. I hope you find this ending worthy. It was so hard to get it onto "paper".
Epilogue
Harry gave one last gasp before laying his face on Hermione's sweat-soaked chest. Drops of sweat on Harry's shoulders and back glistened in the morning sun, which had returned that weekend. Hermione reluctantly released him, allowing him to part from her body and come to rest beside her.
Their breathing eased into a slow, comfortable rhythm, while she stroked sweat-matted locks away from his face. They'd elected to play hooky from work, which Hermione fretted about.
"We're going to get fired," she said. Harry leaned up on one elbow and took her hand in his, kissing her fingers.
"Let them fire us. We'll move to the Bahamas and spend the rest of our lives luxuriating on the beach and making love in the middle of the afternoon on the lanai."
Hermione laughed. "That's a beautiful dream, but not very practical. I can't afford to lose my job. I wouldn't be able to pay my mortgage, and then where would I be?"
"You could be here, with me," Harry said, and he looked so serious that Hermione was momentarily struck speechless.
"What?"
"Think about it," Harry said. "I've been thinking about it since I came home and found you waiting for me. I don't want to spend one more night in this bed without you in it beside me." He leaned in and kissed her, softly, slowly, laying a hand on her breast, over her heart. "Beneath me, on top of me," he said, kissing her again.
"Harry, that's an awfully big decision."
"Why? We've lived together before."
"That was different. We were different."
"We're best friends. It's not like we have to get to know each other to see if we can stand living together. I love you. I want to be-"
"Well, look what we have here!"
"Tonks!" Harry shouted. He struggled to cover himself and Hermione, but Tonks only laughed.
"It's okay, Harry, I've seen one of those already," Tonks said jovially. "Remus has one too, you know."
"This is my bedroom!" Harry shouted, finally covered up. Hermione had never seen anyone blush as hard as Harry did now.
"Remus and I have one of these as well," she said, looking around. "Now get up, the both of you. Meet me in the sitting room, I have news. Potter, you'll want to shower….Actually, you both will, considering you look fresh from it. I think if I'd had gotten here five minutes earlier I would have seen-"
"Out!" Harry shouted, throwing a pillow at Tonks with all his might. She waved her wand lazily and the pillow turned to mist. Winking at Hermione, she turned and shut the door.
"You heard her," Hermione said. "We do need to shower."
* * *
"Took you long enough," Tonks said, twenty minutes later.
"I dropped the soap and Harry…never mind," Hermione said, her voice trailing away as her neck and face suddenly felt warm.
"Anyway," Tonks said, her eyes twinkling as she motioned to a few photos and some parchment on the table.
Hermione looked at the photos. They were of five wizards and two witches, all of them glaring rebelliously forward. The dates on the mug shots were three days old, the night Harry came home to her.
Home to me…Hermione thought. Home….
She pulled herself away from the conversation of her moving in, which she and Harry had ignored in the shower, and looked at the photos.
"A breakout?" Harry said, examining a report with the Auror department logo emblazoned on the front. He looked both disbelieving and horrified. "All of them? How?"
"It was an inside job," Tonks said. "We had them set to Floo to Azkaban from the processing department at the Ministry, but they never arrived. Someone changed the destinations, someone with access to the Transport Charms."
"Who do you know from the Department of Magical Transport that would do something like this?" Hermione asked.
"It doesn't have to be anyone from that department. Just someone with Ministry access," Harry said. Tonks nodded gravely in agreement.
"Remus is looking it over, trying to regress the changes in the charm to see the final destination, but he doesn't think anyone will be able to figure out the exact location of the final destination. The person covered their tracks too well, used too solid a Confundus Charm in addition to the route change." She heaved a sigh. "The best we've been able to determine so far is Hogsmeade."
"There are thousands of houses and businesses in Hogsmeade," Harry said, sighing. The place had recently experienced a population explosion as witches and wizards desired to distance themselves further from the Muggle world since the end of the war. It was a true luxury to be able to use magic at any time you desired without fear of a Muggle seeing you. Unfortunately, this had driven up the property value so that only the wealthiest could buy space in the newly expanded borders of the village.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked. Harry and Tonks shared a look.
"We can't say, Hermione," Tonks said. "That's why I haven't gone into greater detail, and that's why I have to snatch Harry away from you for a few hours, maybe even the rest of the day."
Hermione nodded. "I understand. I have to go back to my place anyway. I need new clothes." She was dressed in a pair of Harry's boxers and one of his tee-shirts. Harry had told her she looked sexy, but she wanted to put her own clothes on.
Harry and Tonks stood, and after a slow, soft kiss, Harry stood back.
"Why don't the two of you bring Remus to my house tonight for dinner?" Hermione asked. "I'll cook for you."
"Sounds wonderful," said Tonks. "See you tonight."
They Disapparated. Hermione soon followed, heading to her house in Hogsmeade, which she'd wisely moved into before the village had grown suddenly popular.
* * *
Hermione finished changing just as the Proximity Charm alerted her that company had Apparated nearby. She looked out of the window and found her boss, Angelica Pepper, marching up the road, straight toward her cottage. Sighing, Hermione went to the door and opened it.
"What do you think you're doing?" Angelica demanded, before Hermione could even give her a proper greeting.
"I'm sorry?"
"Word got back to me that you went up to Kettlebottom's room at the Leaky Cauldron, and then deserted him a few minutes later. He hasn't been seen at the Ministry since! What did you do?"
"He tried to force himself on me!" Hermione shouted. She expected Madam Pepper's anger to replaced with sympathy. Instead Angelica threw her hands up in disgust.
"Of course he did! You went to his bedroom for Merlin's sake! I mean, the man has to stay there until his house is finished. You've humiliated him, obviously, as this is bound to get out!" Angelica continued, cutting Hermione's indignant response off. "Now he's going to vote against me, I know it!"
"Vote? That's all you care about is a stupid vote? I thought the man was going to rape me!"
"Do you realize what this will do to us?" Angelica continued, unfazed by Hermione's outburst. She continued as if she couldn't even hear what Hermione had to say. "We'll lose so much business. I'm going to have to struggle to keep my position! Well, this is all your fault-"
"I quit," Hermione said suddenly, before she realized completely what she was doing. Angelica blinked stupidly at her.
"What?"
"I said 'I quit'," Hermione informed her. "I've had it with that job, but more importantly, I've had it with you. Good-day."
Hermione slammed the door on Angelica's stunned, comically open-mouthed expression, and leaned against the door, breathing heavy and shaking.
"Oh, God, I just quit my job! I've got a mortgage and I'm unemployed..." Suddenly Hermione burst out laughing, riding high on the feeling of telling Angelica Pepper off. "And I've never been happier."
Giggling happy, she checked to make sure Angelica had gone. Seeing that she was alone, Hermione grabbed her purse, her wand, and charmed the door locked. Stepping out to the curb, she lifted her wand, summoning a taxi, since the village market was a little too far away to walk, even on a fine day as this. A yellow and red horse-drawn carriage appeared before her, and the driver opened the door, helping her inside before taking off down the dirt lane that led to the cobblestone rode into the village.
* * *
Hogsmeade Village Market offered the freshest in fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, and beverages. Hermione enjoyed strolling through the store, the sky of which was charmed to reflect outside so that it was like there was no roof on the place. The selection of tomatoes gleamed wet from the spray, fat and juicy and a deep shade of red. She chose a couple and bagged them, putting them into the basket that bobbed gently along behind her.
But as much as she enjoyed choosing the fresh ingredients she needed for that nights lasagna dinner, something bothered her about her meeting with Angelica, and about the photo's she'd seen at Harry's apartment, but she couldn't put her finger on it.
Finishing up, Hermione paid for her purchases and went out to the curb to flag another taxi. She wanted the sauce to cook for a few hours in order for the ingredients to blend properly. Climbing into the taxi, Hermione's eye caught sight of the house that had burned in the fire. It stood, a charred scar on the otherwise flawless landscape of Hogsmeade village.
The feeling of unease doubled. The house… As Hermione's taxi slowly moved through the streets, heading for her modest stone cottage, something hit her like the proverbial ton of bricks.
"Driver, take me to Hogwarts, at once," she said urgently. "The faster you get me there, the bigger the tip."
"Yes, ma'am," the driver said, turning the wagon around in the center of the wide street and plowing for Hogwarts, which sat upon a distant hill, a lonely but noble sentry on the highest peak of Hogsmeade village.
* * *
"Hermione," Professor McGonagall said, standing from her desk in the headmaster's office. "What a lovely surprise."
"Headmaster," Hermione said.
"Now, now, what have I told you?"
"Minerva, I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I forget sometimes."
"Is there something the matter, darling?"
Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "I hope not, but I think there is. May I use Professor Dumbledore's Pensieve?"
Judging by the distress on Hermione's face, Professor McGonagall nodded and retrieved the old stone basin and brought it to the desk. Hermione thought back to the appropriate memory and dropped into the Pensieve. The surface shimmered and rippled, but when it settled, she saw herself sitting beside Harry on the couch, looking at the pictures and the forms on the people who'd escaped from the Ministry.
Plunging into the memory, Hermione sat down inside the image of herself and leaned forward, examining closely the documents. The name of one of the escapees jumped out at her. Dread welling up in her stomach, Hermione quickly left the memory and put it back in her head, before taking out another. A few minutes later, she had that memory back in her mind too.
"Thank you Professor, now I need your help," she said urgently.
"Yes, of course," Minerva said. "What can I do?"
"I need you to contact Remus Lupin, or Kingsley Shacklebolt, and tell them I know where the escapees from Harry and Tonks' latest case have gone. Right here in Hogsmeade."
Hermione gave her the address, and then ran for the door.
"Where will you be?"
"I'll be at that address!" Hermione shouted.
* * *
Fifteen minutes later Hermione had Apparated her purchases home and paid the driver off. She now stood in front of the charred remains of the house that she had been sent to extinguish a few nights before.
Part of her was shocked, while some part of her, deeper inside, knew she shouldn't be. She stood in the shadow of the trees, watching the house down the lain. Sure enough, Kevin Kettlebottom Apparated on the road and made his way to the house.
What did you expect? Hermione scolded herself. His mother was a Malfoy, after all.
He'd just about reached the door when he stopped, as if sensing he was being watched. Slowly, he turned to her. She stood her ground, not knowing if she should pretend not to know anything, or if she should Apparate to safety. Professors Flitwick and McGonagall had placed powerful anti-intruder Charms on her house. She'd be safe there until she could Floo to the Ministry.
She was about to do just that when Kevin's wand was out and pointing in her direction. It occurred to her then that he was most likely a powerful Legilimens, and he'd been looking her dead in the eye while she'd plotted what she should do.
Hermione brought her wand up, blocking his spell, and sending a few of her own. She and Kevin performed a long distance duel, which was going well in her favor until she heard several loud cracks around her.
Hermione spun, finding she was surrounded by several of the people whose picture she'd seen at Harry's that morning, and she was surrounded by some kind of sphere that lit up whenever she tried to Apparate out. Kevin approached from the other house at a run. He reached her, his eyes looking sad.
"You just had to come here, didn't you?" he said sadly. "It's a shame. I really did care for you, Hermione."
"Then whatever it is you're planning, don't do it."
Kevin shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "You don't even know what you're going to die for, do you? It's too bad."
"You plan to kill me? Someone you claim to care for?" Hermione asked, trying to appeal to his softer, human side. Assuming he actually had one. Considering what had happened at the Leaky Cauldron, and the fact that he'd helped seven dangerous fugitives escape justice, and that he'd once tried to kill Harry…she doubted there was much of her ideal of humanity inside of him.
"I care for revenge more than anything, or anyone, else." Kevin plucked Hermione's wand from her hand and looked at the others. "Take her inside. We can't do it out here on the street."
Kevin and the three wizards who'd come out to capture her led Hermione down the lane and into the house. She couldn't Disapparate, and they had her wand. She was afraid, genuinely afraid, for the first time in many years. Not since the old days had she felt the kind of fear for her safety that she felt now.
I'll never see Harry, or Ron, or Ginny, or any of my other friends again, Hermione thought to herself. Each step closer to the house meant a step closer to her demise. Her mind raced. She didn't know what to do, or how to get out of this situation. If only someone would come along. She could yell out for help, or tell them to call the Ministry.
Sometimes you don't have your wand, said Harry's voice, something he'd said to her years ago. Sometimes all you've got are your fists and your guts, and your will to live.
Kevin had her wand held loosely at his side. He was walking just to her right. If she snatched it from his hand she may get it, or she may not. If she missed there would be a struggle. All she knew was that she wasn't going to walk meekly to her death.
Hermione sucked in great lungfuls of air and let out a piercing, nerve tickling, hair raising scream that echoed through the quiet streets of Hogsmeade like nails on a chalkboard in a quiet classroom.
Distracted, Kevin spun around, his arms swinging somewhat loosely. She snatched her wand from his hand and, without worrying about proper pointing and prim spell-casting.
"Finite!" The spell lifted as several people came running out of their houses to investigate the source of the noise. Hermione drove an elbow into the groin of the wizard to her left and he doubled over, howling in pain, and she shoved past him, making a dash for the cabin that had burned, hoping to get enough room to properly Disapparate without splinching herself, but something hot hit her in the middle of her back, between her shoulder blades, and suddenly she couldn't feel her body.
Hermione landed face first in the soil, feeling oddly disembodied, pain free but scared. Several people had disappeared into their houses. She prayed that one of them would have the good graces to call the Ministry and tell them what they'd witnessed.
"Bring her into the house," Kevin snarled, sounding like a rabid dog, more than a man. "Someone will have notified the Ministry by now."
"Just kill her!" The wizard Hermione had punched said, his voice wavering with pain.
"We'll need her for leverage against Potter," Kevin said. "Into the house! Now!"
Hermione slowly regained feeling in her body, but the spell had not worn completely off, for she felt very weak. At leat fifteen minutes had passed from the time she'd been hit with the spell until now, and there was no sign of Harry or any Auror's that she could see from her place in the sitting room. The curtains were drawn, shutting out the view of the street outside. She prayed someone had contacted the ministry and hadn't just gone back to their houses pretending nothing was wrong.
Kevin paced, hands behind his back, tapping his wand in his palm, her wand hooked into his belt. Once in awhile he looked over at her, slumped in the chair, but deigned her unworthy to receive a single word of explanation.
"Kevin…" Hermione rasped.
"How did you figure it out?" he asked suddenly. "How did you know I was connected?"
"My boss stopped by my house today. She said that you were staying at the Leaky Cauldron until your house was finished. I didn't realize it was one of the new constructions on the outskirts of town until Angelica said so. The night I put out the fire…I had assumed this was your house until I remembered that it belonged to the Leftwich family. Then I saw that one of the escapee's was named Leftwhich, and I connected it from there."
An alarm went off from a Sneakoscope in the corner.
"It's about time," Kevin said in a harsh voice. "Potter and his Auror's have been here for ten minutes, hiding, waiting to spring some ridiculous trap."
Five wizards and two witches entered the room, all of them hooded. Not that it mattered to Hermione. She'd seen their faces already, from the photo's at Harry's. She watched as they formed a half circle around Kevin, who now had his back to Hermione. One of the witches had a red velvet pillow with a golden chain, which was attached to a silver medallion. Kevin picked it up and examined it before turning toward her.
His face was full of rapture as he said "Do you know what this is, Hermione?"
Hermione examined the medallion. It was half the size of a Galleon, thin, and had an image of a sun with a serpent wrapped about it etched on the side presented to her. She'd never seen anything like it.
"No," she said.
"It's a Wrath Medallion, fashioned by an ancient Dark Witch named Niobe. She lived and practiced in Athens, over a thousand years ago. She made three such Medallions before she was hunted down and executed by Wizards of Light. The other two were destroyed, but this one survived. With this Medallion, I will be unstoppable, and I'll have my revenge against Potter for what he did to my cousin, and my family."
"Forgive me for interrupting your terribly gripping monologue," Hermione said in a scathing tone, "but if the medallion is destructible, and this Niobe woman was killed when she possessed three of them, what makes you think you'll fare any better with the one medallion?"
The smile on Kevin's face faltered, but just for a moment. "Clever girl," he said, holding the medallion up for examination. "One must truly desire vengeance, and give in to pure, total hatred for one's enemies for this to work at its best. Niobe tired when she gave up her hate. I will not do so. I've wanted vengeance for too long. I won't be denied now."
The front door of the house exploded inward, sending dust and chips of wood showering into the sitting room. Without hesitation, Kevin slipped the medallion about his neck. It turned black, so that it looked like polished coal instead of silver. Kevin's hair and eyes also turned black, and his companions bowed down to him.
"Shall we fight the Auror's now, my lord?" one of the witches asked. Kevin shook his head.
"Kill them all, but leave Potter for me."
Hermione watched as Harry rushed through the hole that had once been the front door, followed by Tonks, telling him to follow the plan. Apparently Harry had other ideas. He leveled his wand at Kevin, hurling one silent curse after the other at him, but with no effect. The spells simply bounced off him, as if he were encased in a protective bubble.
Auror after Auror filed into the room, hurling curses at the men and women behind Kevin. The two witches, who'd been standing beside Kevin, fell under the onslaught, but the others fought back.
Kevin brought his wand up, leveled it at Harry, and aimed a spell at him. Harry deftly deflected everything that Kevin through at him, but none of his spells could harm Kevin. Apparently the medallion didn't enhance one's own power, but protected you from everyone else's magic.
The fight was beginning to intensify, and Hermione managed to fall to the floor and crawl toward Harry. She felt so weak….The others with Kevin began to succumb to the onslaught of spells from the Aurors. Soon, only Kevin remained.
She reached Kevin and tried to grab her wand but he saw her and, lowering his wand, completely immune to the spells being thrown at him from the others, grabbed her by the hair and hauled her to her feet. Harry, Tonks, and the other Aurors halted, their wands in various positions, ready to strike.
"Go on, Harry. Curse her," Kevin said, his voice soft but oddly heavy.
"Let her go. This is between us," Harry said. "Just you and me."
Kevin leveled his wand at Hermione, and she saw real fear in Harry's eyes for the first time in many years.
"No!" Harry said, laying his own wand down.
"Harry, don't," Hermione pleaded.
"I'm untouchable," Kevin said in his strange voice, "but you're not."
"No, I'm not," Harry said, glancing at Hermione. She'd never seen him look at her with so much love in his eyes. "I'll give up, just let her go."
Kevin turned his wand on Harry and fired a spell. He dove to the side to avoid it. Summoning the last of her strength, Hermione shoved into Kevin with everything she had. He stumbled to the right, and as he looked at her in rage, shoving her away. Tonks ran forward, toward Kevin, hand outstretched.
Seeing what was coming a tad too late, Kevin tried to raise his wand to attack, but Tonks was faster. Her hand wrapped around the medallion and she ripped it from him. There was a flash of light as the chain broke, and Tonks was thrown back, the medallion clutched in her hand. Both she and Kevin fell to the floor, gasping for breath.
Hermione looked up and saw Harry rushing toward her. "Hermione, are you okay?"
"I think so," she said. "He hit me with a weakness spell. I'll be okay, check on Tonks."
Harry kissed her before rushing to Tonks. The other Auror's had bound Kevin and his accomplices, but Tonks was unconscious, and Hermione worried for her.
*****
A few days later
"A nice, shiny medal," Tonks said. She was sitting up in bed at St. Mungo's, having undergone extensive treatment with potions and bed rest. She held up the Medal of Valor, First Class, and Remus kissed her lightly.
"Not a bad way to enter your new upstairs office," Remus said.
"Harry tells us you've decided to apply for the Auror Academy," Tonks said, looking at Hermione.
"I am. I didn't realize how much I miss the danger until this thing with Kevin," Hermione said. Tonks, Remus, and Harry smiled. "Plus, I miss watching over Harry."
"What was the sentence for Kevin and his cronies?" Tonks asked. "I don't get a lot of news updates in here."
"Life in Azkaban," Harry said. "Not only did he attempt to kill me, but it seems he'd used the Cruciatus Curse on the curator of the museum that held the map that led to Niobe's cave, where they found the components to reform the medallion."
Harry and Hermione spent another twenty minutes talking with Tonks, when it became clear that she wanted some alone time with Remus. They said their good-byes and then, hand in hand, left the ward, heading for the entrance.
"So," Harry said, "I've gotten you to agree to become an Auror, but you haven't given me an answer on whether or not you'll move in with me. I mean, you practically live there anyway."
Hermione's cheeks reddened, and Harry snorted.
"I can't believe you have it in you to blush after some of the things you showed me over the weekend. Dirty, naughty things-"
"Quiet before someone hears you!" Hermione said, punching him playfully on the arm.
"We belong together, Hermione," Harry said earnestly. "There's no reason we should be apart."
"You're right," she said. "But you'll have to move into my place. You're only renting your flat, I'm buying my cottage. I love Hogsmeade, Harry. I don't want to leave it."
"Deal," he said, grinning broadly. "I can't wait to tell Ron and our other friends."
"You know Mrs. Weasley will insist we get married," Hermione said, smiling at the idea of telling Mrs. Weasley and the others.
"So do I," Harry said. Hermione glanced at him.
"We've gone from moving in together to marriage, already?" she asked, laughing.
"In due time," Harry said, wrapping an arm around her, and holding her close as they left the hospital.