In That Moment

Hermione Potter

Rating: PG13
Genres: Angst, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 5
Published: 09/07/2009
Last Updated: 09/07/2009
Status: completed

"The now green-eyed wizard clawed at the floor, his body twitching. He turned to see several figures flooding in and stopping. He squinted his eyes to see Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and the Order. They looked on him, helplessly. Ron looked petrified. Hermione looked as though all life had been sucked out of her. His memories flooded to remember her being hit by Dolohov, the excruciating realization that he could have lost her in that moment chilling his bones."

Chapters

1. In That Moment

1. In That Moment

Disclaimer: I would love to own Order of the Phoenix. It was a lovely book full of H/Hr goodness. But I don't.

A/N: This is just my take on the battle scene at the Ministry of Magic during the battle between the Light vs. Dark. It's completely different from the book as it follows the movie more. I thought that the movie definitely brought insight to the book and gave alternate visions for the reader/viewer. It's incredibly angsty in the beginning but gets much sweeter by the end. Enjoy. :]

In That Moment

by Hermione Potter

As Sirius's body became transparent, the entire chamber seemed to disappear.

Harry let out a ragged gasp as he watched this in horror. In that sweeping moment, all was gone. The only person he had in his life that was family was gone.

Sirius was dead.

A scream erupted from Harry's throat as he felt a pair of arms holding him back. Restraining him from falling into the veil after Sirius. “NO! LET GO OF ME!” He shouted, his voice full of anguish, horror, and utter heartbreak.

“You can't, Harry,” said Remus quietly in his ear. “You must stay. Si-Sirius knows you need to be here no matter what.” There was remorse in his own voice at the loss of his best friend. In that moment, he had lost his oldest friend.

The sound of cackling filled Harry's senses as he tore himself from Remus's grasp, turning his head in every direction. His blazing gaze settled on the eccentric-looking Bellatrix Black whom was smirking with satisfaction as she disappeared through the corridor, her cackling echoing.

He broke into a jog, running so fast that everything blurred around him. He vaguely heard Hermione's voice call to him, “HARRY! HARRY! WAIT!”

The sound of Bellatrix's laugh drowned out any kind of sound as he watched her running away down the glistening tiles of the Ministry. Pants escaped his lips as he watched her trip, laughing to herself. He came up to her, his wand pointed down at her ready to do anything irrational. She had taken Sirius away from him. What was he to do now?

“Going to kill me, Potter? Think you have it so bad?” Bellatrix crooned, almost egging him on.

“SHUT UP!” He shouted, pointing the wand into her throat. “Shut up,” he whispered, his eyes blazing with fury.

She laughed once more, filling his entire body with anguish. Two words and it would be over.

Kill her!

Harry's neck twitched as Voldemort's voice entered his conscience.

She killed Sirius. Your only family left. Now you're alone…Completely alone.

He felt his chest tighten.

KILL HER!

“SHUT UP!” He shouted, suddenly dropping his wand and gripping his head. “Shut up!”

“Knew you couldn't do it, Potter! You're a fool like Sirius!” cackled Bellatrix, getting up and pointing her wand at Harry. “I'll take care of you though.”

A blue burst of light blasted Bellatrix into the wall, causing the stones to crack and shatter on top of her.

Harry turned to see Albus Dumbledore standing, his wand raised at the ready.

“Pro-Professor…”

“Do you dare interfere in this?” Voldemort's raspy voice rang through the hall as he walked out, his black robes billowing after him. “Dumbledore, you have gone senile.” With that, he twisted his wand and shot a spell in Harry's direction. Dumbledore diverted it, crushing one of the fireplaces.

“Step off, old man.” Voldemort hissed.

“I will not, Tom. I will not.”

***

“EXPELLIARMUS!” Neville shouted with his busted lip, stunning Walden McNair. His eyes danced around the chamber, watching his fellow Army members battling off the row of Death Eaters.

“Levicorpus,” Luna said with ease, sending one of them towards the ceiling.

“Ron! Where's Harry?” Ginny cried desperately, trying to stay alert.

“No idea! Hermione, a little help here?” Ron whimpered, seeing as three Death Eaters were surrounding him.

“Stupefy!” shouted Hermione, watching as the three of them fell. “We have to find him,” she whispered, lowering her wand.

“Hold on, Mudblood,” Antonin Dolohov hissed, gripping Hermione's arms in one of his hands and pushing his wand against her throat. “Any of you move, and she dies.”

Everyone fell still, Tonks and Moody looking at one another with shock.

“Let her go!” Ron shouted, taking steps.

“MOVE,” Dolohov shouted. “AND SHE DIES.”

Ron stopped once more.

Hermione's heart was erratically beating in her chest as she felt him dig the tip of his wand into her skin. He had an awful smell about him, a smell of alcohol, tobacco, and gunpowder. She felt herself growing sick in fear as he dug his nails into her skin.

She cried out when he muttered, “CRUCIO!” Her screams echoed against the walls as the others watched helplessly.

“The spell I hit her with before makes her internal organs incredibly sensitive to trauma. Anymore and she may as well die on her own acco-“

Remus chose this moment.

“STUPEFY!”

“PROTEGO!” Dolohov roared, reflecting the spell and watching the werewolf wizard fall to his knees.

“Remus!” Tonks gasped, making a move to take care of him.

It was the perfect moment as Remus's surprise attack had weakened Dolohov's defense. “SUSORIO!” Ron shouted.

Dolohov gasped in agony as he dropped his wand, releasing his grip on Hermione who fell to the ground, panting.

“Wh-What have you done?” He gasped, trying to breathe.

“STUPEFY!” Moody shouted as the Dark wizard fell limp.

“Are you all right?” Ginny knelt beside Hermione, helping her stand.

Hermione trembled slightly, feeling her body become weaker. She couldn't stop now. Harry was somewhere and he needed them. She needed to know that he was okay.

“We have to find Harry.”

***

“You fool!” hissed Voldemort while he shot a series of curses at Dumbledore.

“Give up now!” Dumbledore called over the destruction of the Atrium.

Harry sat against the wall, the scene unfolding in front of him. Voldemort was right there standing in front of him. All he had to do was say the words while he was distracted.

But no matter how many times he lifted his hand, he was frozen on the spot.

He couldn't kill him. No matter how much he had done.

Harry couldn't bring himself to do it.

As Voldemort and Dumbledore fought in front of him using the opposing elements of fire and water, he covered his eyes to shield the heat of Voldemort's fiery basilisk. However, Dumbledore quickly quenched the beast with a large globe of water, entrapping Voldemort inside it.

“Harry, you must get out while you have the chance.”

Voldemort burst from the water, his shoulders trembling with fury. “I will not let you defeat me.” He threatened, raising his arms and tensing his body which caused the glass of the Atrium and sectors to crush. The small shards suspended in the air before directing themselves at Harry, their points gleaming.

Harry pushed himself against the wall as if he could dissolve through.

The elderly wizard casted a shield charm, transfiguring the glass into dust.

In that moment, everything stopped.

Voldemort and Dumbledore stared at one another waiting for the other to make the next move. Harry slowly stood up, making Voldemort's attention turn to him.

In a moment, Harry felt his body constrict as if every single breath was becoming less and less available to him. Falling to his knees, his hands clutched the silver sand, trying to bear through the agony.

In a moment, Voldemort took over his mind, trying to take him hostage.

“Come on, Dumbledore. Kill me now,” Voldemort hissed through Harry's lips, his eyes turning red.

Dumbledore was struck by shock, looking at Harry's transformation.

“Why so glum? Afraid? The only way you're going to kill me is through him. And this is your only chance. So do it,” he coached, twisting in the sand as his eyes stayed focus on Dumbledore. “You can't, can you? Weak. I will have my day. And my day approaches,” he cackled.

Harry's head twisted as his body fell limp. Heavy pants escaped his lips as he stared ahead of him, Voldemort's voice inside his head. “You're weak, Harry Potter. And you'll always be weak until you accept your demise.”

The now green-eyed wizard clawed at the floor, his body twitching. He turned to see several figures flooding in and stopping. He squinted his eyes to see Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Luna, and the Order. They looked on him, helplessly. Ron looked petrified. Hermione looked as though all life had been sucked out of her. His memories flooded to remember her being hit by Dolohov, the excruciating realization that he could have lost her in that moment chilling his bones.

“You will lose, Harry. You will lose.” Voldemort's voice rang.

“No...You'll never understand what it feels. What love and friendship feels,” said Harry, realizing hitting him. “And I feel sorry for you. Because you'll never feel it.”

Voldemort's hold on him began to weaken as a dark light flew from his body, causing his back to arch. Voldemort appeared above him, his eyes deadly. “You will lose despite your hope, Harry Potter. Love and friendship are for the weak. You will lose.”

Harry believed he would continue, but was stunted by the arrival of Ministry personnel, led by Cornelius Fudge whose eyes widened in shock.

Voldemort craned his back at them before disappearing in a twist of sand, leaving silence in the Atrium.

Fudge said only two words. “He's back.”

***

Days had passed since that battle.

Those involved were restlessly made to stay in bed at the Hospital Wing, Madame Pomfrey making it her duty to ensure their healthiness.

Harry had managed to convince her to release him as he did not suffer from many physical injuries. His mind was a different story, but he was not about to tell her that.

“Mate, don't leave me. I don't know if I can survive,” Ron blanched, looking to his right to see Luna knitting a rather long piece of “something.”

“I'll bring you something from the kitchens.”

Ron's scratched face seemed to light up. “Okay. Don't forget the pumpkin pie.”

Harry never made it to the kitchens that afternoon. He was in the Owl Tower, sitting on the ledge and watching as owls flew back and forth. Since the Ministry of Magic had been revoking some of their decisions from Dolores Umbridge, owls correspondence had opened up tremendously. He looked at his legs to see them dangling from the long distance of the ground.

Maybe he could jump.

That would make things easy.

This was only beginning.

“I thought I'd find you here. Hedwig was getting a bit lonely I'd say,” a soft feminine voice interrupted his thoughts.

He turned his head to see Hermione sitting beside him, her own legs dangling dangerously. “Hermione…Ho-“

“It just seemed like the right place to be at the time. It's a bit private now that people are talking inside the castle. No one's bothering to check the Owl Posts,” she explained matter-of-factly.

“How are you doing?” She asked, getting straight to the point.

“Like I've died,” he laughed hollowly, clutching the edge.

“Harry,” scolded Hermione. “Don't say things like that. I thought I lost you already. So sod it.”

At that moment, he gazed at her. He took in how she looked. Her hair was as neat as it could be, considering its bushiness. Her face was pale, covered in cuts and scratches. Her lip had a cut on it that was healing up nicely and a scar above her eyebrow jumped out at him as it was fully healed and fading. “Where did you get that?”

“What?”

“This,” he answered, smoothing his finger across the scar.

“Oh,” she laughed. “I fell off my bike when I was seven. I was just starting to go without training wheels….”

He nodded and soon, a comfortable silence fell upon them.

The sky was cloudy, touches of sunlight coming through as the clouds moved across the sky rapidly. Harry breathed a heavy breath as a rush of fresh air invaded his lungs. It was rare when he was able to sit and just exist. Was this how normal people felt?

“It feels nice, doesn't it?” Hermione said, as if she read his thoughts. She was leaning back on her palms, looking up at the sky. He nodded in agreement.

“I thought I lost you, too.”

She looked at him.

“When Dolohov shot you with that spell and you fainted. I knew you woke up, but the way you looked. Like you were dying…I had no idea what I was going to do,” Harry whispered, his voice trying to keep his emotions in check. He couldn't lose her. It wasn't like that with others, not even Ron or Ginny. It was always Hermione.

“Oh, Harry. You know that I'd fight against all odds to come back. It's impossible to get rid of me,” she smiled, her eyes twinkling.

Harry felt a small smile on his own face, a smile that hadn't shown in weeks, months even.

“When I saw you there…fighting with Voldemort inside your conscience, it took every fiber in me not to run to you. It was unbearable to watch. The way he had that control over you. I thought for a moment he had won,” she whispered, wiping her eyes. “Look at me, I told myself I wouldn't cry again.”

He swiveled his body to her, fully facing her. “I almost let him.”

She looked at him in alarm.

“No—You see, while we were going back and forth, I had lost sight of what I was living for. What I was fighting for. It wasn't until I saw Ron, you, and the others. It wasn't until then that I realized what would give me the advantage against Voldemort,” said Harry.

“Oh, Harry!” She breathed, throwing her arms around him and sobbing against his shoulder. “You have no idea what was going through my mind…Watching you there and I felt so helpless…So useless.”

“No…You helped me,” he spoke, burying his nose into her hair. He could smell jasmine and nectarines, a smell that he would soon become obsessed with.

“I don't know what I would have done if I lost you.” It was muffled by his shirt, but he heard it.

“I don't think you'll have to worry about that,” Harry replied, watching as she pulled back.

In that moment, he thought she looked absolutely beautiful with trails of tears on her flushed cheeks, her large , brown doe eyes that seemed to read every emotion he could conceive, and her wild hair that became even more tangled in the breeze. His eyes settled on her parted lips, soft gasps escaping the set as she tried to calm herself down.

He had no idea how it happened.

His lips pressed against hers in a soft kiss, their lips barely grazing. He could taste the tears on her lips—could feel every emotion she was feeling. A rush of content and an unknown feeling ran through his entire body to his finger tips.

Hermione sat there, completely still as he pulled away, searching her face. She couldn't believe what had happened. Never had she shared a kiss with someone that gave her as much feeling as the one she had with Harry. His lips were unbelievably soft under her own and in a moment, it ended.

“I-I'm sorry…That was a mist-“ started Harry.

“No! Don't say that. Please…Don't say it was a mistake,” Hermione desperately exclaimed, clutching his arm. “I-It was nice,” her voice softened, gazing at him.

“I've wanted to do it for ages. Since…I don't even know.” Harry laughed, breaking the tension.

“Really?” She was taken back.

“I didn't realize anything could happen between us until this year. I thought…I thought you'd go for Ron, you know? It seemed like a plan. But I jus-what happened at the Ministry just confirmed what I was feeling.”

“Harry…Ron and I—we never—I never felt that way with Ron. I thought last year, maybe. But-“

“just thought it was wrong.” They said in unison.

“What does this mean? For us?” Hermione asked, curiously.

“I don't think we should be together right now,” her face fell. “I want to be with you, but Voldemort. He's gotten to you once and I can't let that happen again.”

She looked at him. “You don't need to protect me all the time.”

“I know. But I feel the need to. For my own sake,” Harry took her hand in his, squeezing.

“Harry?”

“Hmm?”

“Kiss me, again? Just once more?”

“I'll kiss you forever,” he chuckled, kissing her softly as a group of owls flew over their heads.

Harry knew that if it was only for a moment, he'd be happy.

In that moment, he could make her happy.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review. ^_^

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