A/N I know you have been all sitting on the edge of your seats, wanting to see how it all turns out. I hope it is to your satisfaction. I would like to hear from you, to let me know what you think. Enjoy, and remember, read responsibly! Don't read and not leave a review! Us Authors depend on them!
On the tenth day of Christmas JKR gave to me, ten dark Dementors, nine Death Eaters, eight terrific teachers, seven hidden Horcruxes, six greedy goblins, five golden snitches, four brilliant Founders, three great characters, two funny twins, and a Harmonian ship that was meant to be! (I wish!)
Chapter 26
The Destruction of One
Harry squeezed Hermione's hands. "Let me help you," he said gently.
Hermione looked up at him and smiled. "Would you? There's just so much to do…" she trailed off as she reached over and began to pick up books.
Harry followed her actions and stood up to put the books on the shelf. He sighed in relief as he worked, he could save her, and he knew he could, as long as he could get all of these books back in place…
***** ***** ***** *****
Ron was standing on the edge of panic, and he didn't like it. It was past the stage of getting reinforcements, and the very thought that Harry might fail entered his mind more than once.
`I could die here…' he thought for one shaky minute.
"So tell me…Ron is it? Ron Weasley?"
"How did you-" Ron asked surprised.
Tom shrugged noncommittally. "Memories. I must admit that this sacrifice was an excellent choice. A wealth of knowledge."
"SHE IS NOT A SACRIFICE!" Ron shouted.
Tom gave a knowing smile. "Tell me, Ron, why is she so protective of this fellow…Harry is it? Boyfriend? Lover?"
"None of your business," Ron muttered.
"Well now I am intrigued," Tom said. "I must dig deeper."
Ron really didn't like the sound of that at all.
***** ***** ***** *****
Harry was getting tired. How long had he been doing this for anyway? He looked over at Hermione stacking books haphazardly on the shelf and frowned.
`That's not like her…'
He sighed as he heard another pile of books crash to the ground. He was getting frustrated and felt like he wasn't getting anywhere. It was almost like someone didn't want them to finish…
Harry's eyes went wide in sudden realization.
`I'm wasting my time here…'
He glanced over to where Hermione was putting the books on the shelf and noticed that they were all in disarray.
`That's not the Hermione I know…' he thought.
"Hermione? I'm just going to start the pile around the corner here," he said.
"Okay, Harry," she said and gave him a small smile. "I knew that no one but you could help me."
"Uh…sure," he hadn't heard that from Hermione before. "I'll…I'll call you if I need you."
Harry slipped around the corner, and for a few seconds stacked books on the shelf. Once he felt that it was safe, he quietly crept down the aisle towards the ballroom he had been in earlier. As he got closer, he could hear voices.
"Who is he?" A voice hissed.
"No one, just a friend from school," a sobbing voice replied.
"I will find out eventually, you do realize that."
"No…" the voice sobbed again. "I won't let you."
That was the Hermione Harry knew, a fighter. He stuck his head around the corner in time to see Voldemort backhand Hermione across the face.
Harry felt himself flare in rage as he moved into view. Voldemort looked up from where he was standing over a beaten and tattered Hermione. She looked up as she heard Harry approaching, the fear suddenly evident in her eyes.
"Harry!" She cried.
Voldemort's eyes flashed as he grasped on to that fear and followed it. He slowly smiled as the information he wanted became available.
"Harry Potter," he said as he watched Harry approach. "You must be that whelp that belongs to those two Aurors, Lily and James Potter." He paused for a moment, seemingly searching for something. "You are my downfall? Well, we can't have that."
"I've done it before, and I'll do it again," growled Harry as he stalked towards the two of them.
Voldemort raised his hand and pointed it at Harry. "I still have use for you boy, Petrificus Totalus!"
Harry dove to the side behind a table. The spell hit an ice sculpture and it became petrified at the same Harry heard Hermione gasp in pain.
`Any spell that hits anything in this room can harm her,' he realized frantically.
He looked over the tabletop searching for his nemesis.
"You obviously haven't learned the finer points of being a spirit," a voice sneered from behind him. He whirled to find Voldemort standing above him, his long finger pointed at Harry like a wand.
"I wonder, are you worth preserving, or are you not as valuable as your friend here seems to think?" He seemed to ponder the question for a moment, and suddenly Harry began to feel tired again. His eyes widened in realization and he scrambled away so he could stand up.
`He's draining me…'
He slammed down his mental barrier and watched in triumph as Voldemort's eyes widened in surprise.
"You think it's that easy?" He growled as he raised his hand at Harry again.
Without warning, a blur of brown hair flew at Voldemort.
"NO!" she screamed, "You can't have him! Take me instead!"
"Foolish girl!" Voldemort sneered as he pushed her away with his arm. His eyes widened as he looked at where she had touched him. Smoke was slowly rising, and part of Voldemort's robe and arm were crumbling.
Harry smiled, remembering a similar scene.
"It's tough when someone is willing to sacrifice herself for you. You've never had that happen did you? No one cared enough," Harry taunted.
Voldemort snarled and pointed his hand a Hermione. "Crucio!" he growled.
Hermione collapsed on the floor, writhing and screaming in pain. Harry felt like his heart was being ripped out of his chest. He felt every burn, every twitch, and every agonizing finger of pain as she convulsed on the floor, and yet, he couldn't move. He was frozen, remembering his own torture. It was killing him to watch her suffer.
"Run, Harry!" he heard her scream and it snapped him out of his trance.
***** ***** ***** *****
At Hermione's ragged intake of breath, Ron turned to look at her. Her body was convulsing and he was amazed that Harry still had a firm hold on her head. He spun around and looked at Tom, who was smiling contentedly.
"Stop it!" Ron growled. "Stop it or I'll-"
"You'll what? There's nothing you can do. Your friends will die, and soon, you will join them."
Ron watched in fear as he saw the beginning of magic crackling from Tom's fingertips. Behind him he heard Hermione gasp and he turned to see her collapse as she took her last ragged breath.
"No!" Ron cried as he felt his chest constrict at the thought of the loss of one of his best friends to this monster. The pain that was now centered around his heart was unbearable and he felt a lump forming in his throat. He turned his tear filled eyes to see Tom smirking at him, and all hopes of survival flew out the window.
***** ***** ***** *****
Harry turned to look at Voldemort, who seemed to be taking great pleasure in destroying the already beaten and battered body at his feet, his lips curled in a maniacal grin. He could see where the crumbling arm was beginning to reappear, and he knew that he was using Hermione's spirit to heal himself. Hermione was no longer responding; she no longer cried out as her body convulsed. As Harry stood there, he realized everything around him was beginning to fade. She was dying…
Harry had never felt such anger before. It seemed to crackle through his body, making his hair stand on end. Without really thinking about what he was doing, he pointed his hand at Voldemort.
"Everto Animus!" Harry shouted, and the spell struck Voldemort in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He crashed into one of the tables as the white glow of the spell surrounded him and began to dissolve his spirit. An inhuman scream came from his contorted face as the piece of the soul that once belonged to Tom Riddle convulsed a few times, and was ripped apart.
Harry collapsed on the floor and pulled Hermione's cold, limp body into his arms.
"Please," he begged as the tears began to flow down his face. "Please, no!"
***** ***** ***** *****
Ron was trying to think quickly, his eyes darting around the room as he tried to find a way to warm the others. He was past thinking about survival. He knew with Hermione's last gasp that he would die here with his friends. His eyes fell upon Hermione's Hogwarts badge on her robe and he got an idea. He turned, and in the pretense of checking on her, he quickly unclipped it and gave the top badge a quarter turn to the left.
"Lupin's quarters," he murmured and tapped it twice.
The temptation to hold on to the badge was huge, but he knew the trio was in this until the end, and he had sworn to be there for them, so he let the badge fall from his fingers to land on the edge of the bed where it sat inconspicuously.
"What good is a souvenir going to do for you when you are dead?" Tom said, laughing at the pain evident in Ron's eyes as he turned around, blocking the disappearance of the badge.
Ron smiled grimly at him. "You may win here today, but you will still lose in the end Tom. We will never give in to your ways."
"Ah, but you will serve me, foolish boy. In spirit."
Tom began to move towards him as Ron stumbled back against the bed. Suddenly, Tom stopped with a puzzled look on his face. Ron watched him in confusion, wondering what was going on. Tom slowly raised his hand in front of his face. To Ron's amazement, it looked like Tom's hand was dissolving right before his eyes.
"No…" he heard Tom growl in disbelief.
`Well, that's as good a sign as any,' Ron thought and turned to point his wand at Hermione. He carefully focused on the largest gem in the tiara.
"Everto!" he yelled. The spell flew straight and true, shattering the jewels and sending the tiara spinning across the room to clatter to the floor.
"NO!" Tom's face twisted in fury as he began to lunge at Ron, only to explode in a flurry of sparks.
Ron knelt down beside Harry, clasping his arm and throwing a protective arm across Hermione's body.
"Come on Harry," he muttered, looking for any signs of movement, and wondering how his friend was going to deal with the death of the woman he cared about the most.
***** ***** ***** *****
Harry didn't know how long he had sat there, holding Hermione as closely as he could, rocking her. Fear held him in place. Fear that if he moved, Hermione would disappear forever.
"Harry…" Hermione whispered brokenly.
"Shh. Don't talk. You need to gain your strength back," Harry murmured as he gently stroked away the tears that were sliding silently down her cheek.
"So very tired…" she whispered.
"No, Hermione, please," Harry cried frantically. I need you. I can't…I can't live without you. I can't do this without you. Don't leave me."
Hermione gave a miniscule shake of her head. "You don't need me," she whispered.
Harry took a deep shuddering breath. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry for making you think I doubted you. I only wanted to protect you. I just get so scared, afraid that you'll leave me…just…just like everyone else, only…losing you would kill me," he finished in a whisper, and suddenly he knew, he knew the reason for his fear, the reason his heart felt like it was going to burst; she meant everything to him, and he had never felt so scared in his life.
"I think I love you, Hermione," he whispered as a lone tear rolled down his cheek. "I think I have for some time now."
As Harry accepted those words, he felt a tingle start in the center of his chest and begin to radiate out, filling him with power, and he knew what he had to do.
"I love you," he whispered again, and bent down to capture Hermione's lips with his.
He closed his eyes and focused all of his power, sending it towards Hermione, willing to give all of his energy to her if it meant she would live. He savored her, as though it was their last kiss, memorizing every part of the woman he loved, tasting her with his lips and touching her with his hands. A warm glow enveloped them, and Harry felt Hermione slowly but weakly respond to his kiss. Harry was beginning to feel drained, as he poured more and more of his energy into Hermione.
Suddenly he felt her hand slowly move up to center itself on his chest as Hermione broke away from him. Harry opened his heavy eyes to see a pair of chocolate pain-filled eyes looking into his own. She gently touched the side of his face as she gave him a small smile.
"Goodbye, Harry," she whispered.
Harry frantically tried to grab hold of her as he was pulled away.
"NOOO!!" He screamed, and fought against leaving her.
As he felt the link sever, he curled himself into a ball, trying to block out the concept of a life without Hermione. The ache of that loss was too painful.
Ron watched as Harry convulsed and screamed "Nooo!" before collapsing towards him. He caught his friend as he heard Hermione take a large gasp of air, her back arching with the effort. Ron watched in disbelief at the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. His eyes bounced back and forth between his two friends as he wondered at the sheer power that it would have taken…
"Hermione…" he heard Harry cry as he tried to stifle a sob and struggled to sit up.
"It's okay mate. You brought her back. She's alive," Ron said, his voice cracking in awe as his emotions took over.
Harry visibly relaxed; slumping against Ron and a small smile graced his lips before turning serious again.
"Voldemort?" He asked.
"Gone," Ron replied. "The Tiara's destroyed."
Harry sighed and let the welcoming nothingness take over his consciousness as everything faded to black.
"Hang on, mate, help is coming," Ron said.
Ron could hear noise in their common room, and seconds later Lupin and Tonks arrived, wands drawn, to see Hermione unconscious on the bed, and Harry lying lifeless in Ron's arms.
"You don't know how glad I am to see you," Ron sighed with relief.
-->