Thanks to Cinnamon_Kisses for Beta reading this
Harry watched the scenery whiz by as the train he and Hermione were traveling on headed towards Cornwall. Hermione had her nose buried in a Muggle guide to the area. Harry looked out of the window and felt his shoulders relax. Voldemort was dead and had been for over a year; nothing was shadowing his footsteps. He could be a normal eighteen-year-old boy enjoying his first summer holiday, but it still felt strange just being normal. Harry let out another breath, and Hermione looked up from her book.
"You okay, Harry?" she asked.
"Just doing a bit of wool-gathering."
"Find any black sheep?" she asked.
"Just the one," he replied, knowing what she meant by 'black sheep.' Hermione slowly nodded and then closed her book.
"You excited about this holiday?" she said, changing the subject.
"Can't wait, shame Ron has to miss it. I'm sure he would find Muggle Cornwall lots of fun."
"I agree, but I think it's better for him to be at home having a family holiday. Mrs. Weasley was saying it was six years ago the last time she had her whole family at the burrow."
"Do you miss family holidays?" Harry asked.
"Yes and no. It would have been nice to spend this month with my mother and father, but then again, I'm nineteen in a few months time, so it's nice having a 'no parent holiday.' I'm sure we can go on holiday once my dad's leg heals."
"'Til then you're stuck with me for a whole month," Harry said with a grin, and Hermione smiled back.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad."
Harry was wool gathering again. Hermione had nodded off an hour ago and Harry let her; the past twelve months had been difficult for the both of them.
Both he and Hermione had spent nearly three months recovering from the final battle. Ron had spent three weeks there himself, but unlike Hermione, Ron hadn't been there to face Voldemort.
Yes, the battle had been between Harry and Voldemort, but Hermione had been there in the background, feeding Harry with the energy and power that he needed. She had come up with a spell that would 'lend' Harry another witch or wizard's power. Everyone in the Order had agreed that without this power, Harry might not win the battle, but also knew that this wizard or witch would have to be as powerful magically as Harry, which only Hermione happened to be.
Upon hearing this, Harry had refused point blank to allow Hermione to put herself in danger for him, but Hermione wouldn't listen or take no for an answer. Harry remembered the night he faced Voldemort.
The Dark Mark lit up the night sky. Harry looked at it and then turned away, glancing over to the gravestone where he knew Hermione was hidden under his Invisibility Cloak.
Voldemort stood about 200 metres away from Harry, his wand held in his hand.
"So it finally comes down to this, Harry, just the two of us, no one to witness the fall of the Boy-Who-Lived," Voldemort said with a sneer.
Harry stood his ground. "You won't defeat me, Tom," he said, using the name Voldemort hated.
"Shall we find out?" Voldemort said, raising his wand, sending a Cruciatus Curse towards Harry, who threw up his own wand, casting a Shield Charm off which the curse bounced harmlessly. The battle had started.
They threw curse after curse at each other. Harry didn't know how long the battle went on for, but as he dropped to his knees for what seemed the hundredth time, with a Cruciatus Curse still ringing his ears, he felt his energy draining.
"Giving up already, Potter? Am I too much for you?" Voldemort mocked him.
Harry's heart pounded in his chest as he got to his knees, sending a Stunning Spell towards Voldemort, but the Dark Lord swept it aside with a flick of his wand.
"Tiring, are you, Harry? Want to take a little 'tea break?'" Voldemort sneered, pointing his wand down at Harry.
"So this how it ends." Harry tried to get to his feet, but his strength failed him.
"Not if I can help it," Harry said, sending a blue light from his wand. It was a signal to Hermione. Latin words seemed to fill the night.
"Donapotestas." The Invisibility Cloak was lifted from Hermione's shoulders.
She was bathed in a soft golden light. She lifted her hands and directed the light to Harry, and as it enveloped him, he felt his strength return tenfold and his body seemed to hum with power.
He sent a curse towards Voldemort. The spell slammed into the Dark Lord, knocking him to the ground.
Harry turned to Hermione, only to see that she had fallen to her knees, her body still bathed in the golden light, but she seemed to be breathing hard and a trickle of blood fell from her nose. Harry went to take a step towards her, but she shook her head.
"Do it, Harry." Harry nodded and turned back to Voldemort, who had gotten back to his feet, although he seemed to be swaying slightly.
"You won't win, Harry," he said coldly. "I'll kill your mudblood friend first and then kill you."
Voldemort went to raise his wand, but Harry got there first. He raised his own wand and sent a green light towards Voldemort. It hit with the force of a sonic boom, knocking him back down on the ground.
This time he didn't get back to his feet. Harry walked over to where the body was. Voldemort was on his back, eyes open in a sightless stare, his wand lying beside his hand. Picking it up, Harry snapped it two.
He had done it, he had defeated Voldemort.
Suddenly, Harry felt his strength drain away, and he stumbled to the ground, feeling incredibly debilitated. The grass in front of him swam before his eyes, and he was no longer bathed in the golden light.
"Hermione," he gasped before the darkness took him.
Harry came around to feel a warm hand holding his, and his first thoughts were that it was Hermione holding his hand.
"Hermione," he croaked and tried to squeeze her hand in return, only to hear a startled gasp as the hand released his, and then it came all flooding back. The battle, Voldemort's death, and Hermione kneeling in pain. Harry's eyes snapped open and he tried to sit up.
"Hermione?" he said, noticing Ginny sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Ginny, where is Hermione?" he asked, feeling panic thread its way though his veins. Ginny stood up and backed away from the bed.
"I should get Remus, he wanted to see you the minute you came around." Harry tried to sit up.
"No, tell me where Hermione is first," he said, trying to get out of the bed, but his legs didn't want to move. Ginny took another step away from the bed, giving Harry a view of the bed across from his.
"Hermione," he gasped, feeling his blood turn to ice. She lay in the bed as still as death and as pale as snow.
"What happened?" he asked Ginny.
"She's been like that since you were both brought in. We found you both in the graveyard."
"What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing really, the healers are saying the spell she used drained her of her magical powers, so she's just resting, regaining her powers. You were doing the same."
"What?" Harry asked, feeling a little confused.
"Harry, you've been asleep for three weeks."
Harry was pulled from his thoughts to hear the refreshment trolley being pushed by a Muggle train worker rattle by. He saw that it too had woken Hermione, and she blinked at him in a very owlish way.
"How long have I been napping for?" she asked, hiding a yawn behind her hand. She stretched.
"About two hours. The refreshments trolley just went by, did you want anything?"
Hermione shook her head. "Somehow I don't think they have butterbeer or pumpkin pasties."