Last Chances
Hermione stood biting her lip, watching the two of them. She was fighting the impulse to scream and drag Harry back, but she knew he had to do this on his own, if she interfered now he would never forgive her. Slowly the two men in front of her raised their wands. "Are you ready to die Harry?"
"No," Harry replied, "I'm going to try and save you." Hermione personally thought that the skeletal looking man, so different from the boy he had once been, was way beyond redemption. But then Harry had always managed to achieve the impossible. The cloaked figure by the fire obviously thought he was past it too, "don't be stupid Harry, we both know you're no match for my new power's." With that he attacked. Hermione's nails dug into her palms as jets of light flew between the two men, some of them only narrowly avoiding her. She watched in increasing panic as Harry ducked and dived around the fire, red light streaming from the end of his wand. He was screaming something, but she couldn't make out what it was. The fight was clearly not going in his favour, every time he found an opening to attack amongst the barrage of curses he faced, his opponent would flick his wand and deflect Harry's spell easily. Hermione could see he was tiring; his reactions were becoming slower and the spells less frequent. It did not look good.
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Harry paused, panting. He could feel his energy being sapped by one of the curses he hadn't managed to dodge. He looked up into those cold red eyes filled with hatred and remembered the last time he had seen him.
It had been at Halloween the previous year and Harry had been visiting Hagrid during a free period. Hagrid had taken him to see another of his many "pets" in the forest and before Harry could react, he was lying dead at his feet and the cloaked figure was vanishing into the shadows. Two days later he had received a letter from Mrs. Weasley saying that Lupin had been killed by the same person. At the time Harry had been all set to storm out of the Great Hall after him and make him pay for the lives he had taken. But Hermione had become so distressed and begged him not to go that he had decided against taking immediate action. Instead he had watched all of his friends like a hawk and never allowed them to stray far from the castle. Especially Hermione. If something happened to her He would go mad.
Hermione. She was standing mere feet behind him, he could hear her breathing steadily, watching his every move. What if she got hurt? He would never forgive himself, he had to end this now. "EXPELLIARMUS!" But he wasn't quick enough, a sharp twitch of his adversary's wand and his spell came flying back to hit him squarely in the chest.
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Hermione watched Harry soar past her almost in slow motion. He landed near the very edge of the forest and scrambled backwards away from his advancing attacker. With a clatter his wand landed almost at her feet.
If possible the whole situation had gone from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. Harry was now lying sprawled at the base of the tree, completely defenceless, with his aggressor standing in front of him, wand raised. He appeared to be saying something, but Hermione couldn't hear what it was over the crackle of the fire. She knew she should do something; find a way to help Harry; as it was she was almost paralysed with terror.
No, she had to get a grip on herself if she didn't do something right now, Harry was going to die. She knew she might well be killed in any foolish attempt to save him, but she had nearly died for him so many times before. She loved him too much to desert him now - loved him… was that how she felt? Hermione didn't have any time to ponder these newly discovered feelings, for at that moment she noticed Harry's wand lying on the ground beside her.
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Harry's brain was racing as he looked up into those terrifying red eyes. There had to be a way out, a way to stop this madness before it was too late. He tried hard to ignore the tiny part of himself that told him it was already to late: that he was going to die here.
"You are going to die now Harry," it wasn't a question or a choice, the man before him was simply stating the facts. "You're unarmed and cornered, you've nowhere to run. You see Harry I know you too well. I knew you'd come running when you saw my signal fire; I knew that Miss-Know-It-All here would follow you. I knew that you'd fight me in the end, just like I knew that I would defeat you. Convenient all this planning ahead isn't it?"
Harry stared up at him with a strange mixture of emotions. Anger and fear warred with pity and hope. He wasn't dead yet, perhaps he could buy himself some time. "Why?" he whispered.
"I'll tell you why Harry, you had everything I always wanted and I was sick and tired of it. So I'm taking away everything you've ever loved and you can see what it's like to be me for a change and never have anything! First Hagrid, then Lupin and now-" he paused as though for dramatic effect, "it's her turn!"
Harry's insides turned to ice at his words. He threw a terrified glance over the man's shoulder to see Hermione crouched on the grass near the fire. "No," he gasped. "Please, I'll do anything, don't hurt her. Please!"
His pleas were greeted by a harsh laugh. "Too late to beg Potter." With that he raised his wand.
"EXPELLIARMUS!"
For a heartbeat Harry was completely confused until he realised these words had not come from the man in front of him. As his attacker flew past him, Hermione was revealed standing several feet away, Harry's wand clutched tightly in her hand. He barely had time to be relieved before there was a sickening crunch followed by a dull thud.
Harry got up and raced over to the cloaked figure, lying prone at the base of another tree, Hermione hot on his heels. He looked down in horror and revulsion at the remains of the man's smashed skull. When he spoke his voice sounded distant and far away. "Hermione, you killed him… You killed Ron."
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AN: If you're confused by the story so far, don't worry, all will be revealed. Sorry the first two chapters were so short, but it couldn't be helped.
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