Either Must Die
Rating: PG-13
Ginny Weasley was asleep.
Which meant that Hermione Granger was left free to contemplate a horrible, horrible reality.
"From what it said, it looks like I'm the one who's got to finish off Voldemort…At least, it said that neither of us could live while the other survives."
She shivered, and pulled the covers of the extra bed more tightly around her. That had been a few days ago, and just today, she and Ron had pressed the full text of the prophecy out of him.
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 the power the Dark Lord knows not…
and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…
The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…
He had to fight, that confirmed it, though she had always known it would be him, in the end. Their confrontations, everything they had ever done, the shadow that had loomed over them for years, ever since their first year…
First year… Voldemort had, unknowingly, brought the Trio together, with the troll.
Sixth year… Hermione was afraid Voldemort was going to tear them apart. But… Ron had said it first year…
"You've got to make some sacrifices! I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"
"But - "
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"
Except it was not Snape. It had never been Snape. Always the Dark Lord. Always the shadow and the specter of fear.
But one had to die. Harry said he was not afraid, and so, Hermione tried not to be. She had even let Harry talk her into playing Quidditch with Ron and Ginny, despite how much she hated… was afraid of… flying.
She wanted to be there for him, as she knew she could not be much longer…
In the end, the prophecy proclaimed, it would be one on one. Harry versus Voldemort. Hermione could sense it… her role was ending. Ron's too.
The fight would be Harry's alone.
"Harry - you're a great wizard, you know."
"I'm not as good as you."
"Me! Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh, Harry - be careful!"
Indeed. More important things. And one of those things was that Harry be ready, in the end, to face Voldemort alone. She knew Harry could do it. He had done it, in first year, and in some confused world second year, and fourth year, and briefly June as well.
Could she handle it, in the end, watching him go to the possibility of his death? The possibility that the world would hang on the shoulders of a seventeen year old boy?
I hope he does actually reach seventeen before that day…
She had to. That was, unfortunately, the way this magic stuff worked. Illogical, improbable, but still…
It was Harry.
Hermione smiled in the darkness. She had fixed his glasses that first meeting on the train. She had gotten him through the snares and flames of first year. Second year, she had saved the school by finding that vital piece of information for them.
She was not too proud to admit her role in that.
Third year… third year she had helped Harry save Sirius. She had been the one learning all the extra material, the extra classes. Fourth year, she had stood by him, desperate to help him survive the tournament.
Last year… last year she had trusted him almost to the point of her own death. And it probably would have been her death, if it had not been for Harry.
The power the Dark Lord knew not…
What it could be, Hermione had no idea. She let her mind drift, in the broadest terms, considering what Harry had and had learned each year…
First year, he had learned friendship, something he had never known as a child. Second year, he found his courage, facing the shade of Tom Riddle and the terror of the basilisk on his own. Third year, he learned forgiveness, and his own power.
Fourth year… Harry had learned about betrayal, and had learned confidence in himself, had learned to face down what came at him.
Last year… Harry had gained leadership ability, and then, with Sirius, he had learned an even more heartbreaking lesson of loss than his life had once given him.
The possibility of Harry losing someone close to him barely phased her, in the idea of it happening again. It was a war, after all. People died in wars.
Harry… Harry this year, it appeared, from the prophecy, would need to learn to work on his own, because in the end, it would not be his friends or his leadership that mattered, but his own abilities.
To learn that, Harry would have to be alone.
Hermione realized she would have to abandon Harry to his fate, really. She would have to be distant, not so helpful to him.
Alone. If she did that, though, Harry was not the only one who would be alone. Without Harry, there was no one. She needed him with her, to complete her.
It had been Harry's idea first year to rescue her, not Ron's. Harry's visits to her in the hospital second year had been detailed to her as well.
She smiled at the thought.
Harry needed her, she knew, and he had to not need anyone. His need for people would make him vulnerable, his reliance on them would make him dead.
And more than anything, there was no way Hermione was going to attend that funeral.
She would have to let him do it on his own, and the horrible reality of losing the best and only truly selfless friend she had ever had caused the tears to stream silently down her cheeks.
She was going to miss him this year… but Hermione Granger would miss Harry Potter far more if out of selfishness she let him die.
Their relationship, or Harry.
Voldemort destroyed, or her heart.
Either must die.
It was not a hard choice at all, she realized. She had always been braver than she was smart.
The End