463Chapter Thirty-Six
May 1998
Ron's eyes widened as he watched Voldemort's wand descend upon Neville to attack but before anything happened, a shield emerged around Neville's body. Ron blinked and turned back to Hermione who was no longer in the entrance to the castle. Assuming that someone else had cast it, as Neville was presently unarmed save for the Sword of Gryffindor, Ron yelled, "Neville run!"
His friend stood and rushed forward, retrieving his fallen wand and nearly colliding into Ron in the process as the two met in the middle. They both turned and dashed toward the Great Hall, Ron covering Neville's back as they moved.
"Did you see?!" Neville yelled with wide eyes. "I killed it! I killed the snake!"
"Bloody right you killed the snake!" Ron yelled in triumph. "It's going to end," he nodded to his fellow Gryffindor. "We're going to end this now, Neville," Ron said with determination before a loud noise caught his attention and he turned to see another crowd fall in behind the Death Eaters.
Horace Slughorn close behind approached the castle with students flanking him. Shock covered Ron's face as he watched the very small handful of what appeared to be Slytherins draw their wands and fall upon the Death Eaters with a striking force.
"What in the name of Merlin... " Ron's eyes widened.
"I really don't know how to feel about this... " Neville said as he stared at the sight in front of them in bewilderment.
Suddenly a burst of green flew overhead and both boys ducked.
"Well, moment of shock is over," Neville proclaimed. "Fight?" He suggested and Ron nodded quickly as the two dove forward picking off two Death Eaters that were immediately trapped between themselves and two Slytherin students behind them. The Slytherins, both girls, looked determined but frightened as the Death Eaters attempted to overpower them. When the boys arrived to help, they looked mildly relieved though a bit annoyed that they needed help to begin with.
"Stupefy!"
"Impedimenta!"
As the boys rushed the attack, the Death Eaters spun, dodging and countering the curses immediately.
"Protego Duo!" One of the Slytherin girls cried and suddenly two shields erupted around Neville and Ron, protecting them both from the curses. Shocked but delighted, the Gryffindors set back on the Death Eaters with vigour, and all four teenagers yelled, "Stupefy!" at once, knocking the Death Eaters to the ground.
"That was bloody brilliant!" Ron grinned.
"You can do a double shield?" Neville looked at the younger of the two girls.
"It's nothing," she shrugged her shoulders with a mild smirk on her face.
"Who the hell are you?" Ron asked, still shocked to see green and silver on the right side of the attack.
"Daphne," the elder girl smiled.
"Astoria," the younger replied.
"And you're really Slytherins?" Neville asked sceptically, both girls laughed in reply but nodded.
"Not that we aren't grateful, but why are two pureblood Slytherins fighting against Voldemort?" Neville asked quickly, his eyes glancing around as the foursome moved through the crowd and further into the Great Hall where more fighting had erupted.
Daphne seemed to defer to her younger sister to answer the question. Astoria merely smiled, though a look of pain briefly crossed her face. "You're not the only ones in danger of losing people you love," she admitted.
Before anyone could say another thing, lights streamed over their heads and they all ducked. Ron looked up as he heard a low growl and spotted Fenrir Greyback eyeing the girls with great interest. Remembering that look from the Forest of Dean and inside Malfoy Manor, Ron took a defensive stand in front of the two girls. Slytherin or not, he was done watching this werewolf stare down women with violent lust in his eyes. This was unfinished business.
"Out of my way ginger," the werewolf growled. "I see some tasty looking snacks."
Neville moved to stand beside Ron, wands extended and instantly the two began to duel Fenrir. Unfortunately, the werewolf was a strong fighter and soon it took every ounce from both of them just to keep him on his toes. Daphne and Astoria attempted to help, but anytime either of them moved, Fenrir moved to attack, once actually getting a good grip on Daphne's robes. Neville moved to help but received a kick to the stomach, sending him back into a pile of rubble. Ron rushed forward and took the same hit, falling backwards and hitting his head on the marble floor.
"Petrificus Totalus!" A nearby Death Eater pointed at the girls and gave a grin and a nod to Greyback before moving off to attack a group of students a good ten feet away.
Fenrir tugged on Daphne's robes eagerly, and pulled her swiftly toward him, another hand reaching out for Astoria's foot. Both girls frozen in fear and unable to move as the werewolf descended upon them.
"Think I'll take the young one first," he grinned down at Astoria who looked like she was trying to scream.
"No!" Ron shouted as he moved forward to help, but before he could cast a single spell against Greyback, the werewolf let out a terrifying scream and his body contorted and thrashed, his limbs growing rigid as he howled out in great pain.
"Crucio!"
Ron's blue eyes widened in surprise and immediately looked for the source of assistance and only came upon a standing Draco Malfoy, hand extended outward toward Greyback and the most furious looking snarl upon his face that Ron had ever seen in the years they'd known one another.
"Malfoy?" Ron gaped.
"Revive them, Weasel!" Draco shouted, nodding his head toward the girls. He looked enraged but in serious pain as he struggled to hold on to whatever grip he magically had on Fenrir.
"Finite!" Ron pointed his wand at Daphne and then Astoria, both of whom immediately rose to their feet, rushing toward Draco.
"Go!" Malfoy screamed at them both.
"But..." Astoria began.
"I said go!" He shouted again, his eyes furious.
The moment that the girls vanished from the scene, Draco collapsed to the ground, blood dripping from his nose, clearly beyond exhausted. Ron stood staring at the blonde in what felt to be a strange admiration that he immediately stamped deep, deep down to never remember again. Ron's attention turned back to the werewolf.
"Petrificus Totalus!" Ron shouted. "Incarcerous!" He added and watched as ropes flew out of his wand, binding the werewolf as an extra measure.
"By all means Weasel," Draco muttered through shallow breaths. "Leave the deranged werewolf alive," he rolled his eyes and moved to stand.
"Draco!" A voice screamed and suddenly Narcissa Malfoy moved to his side, pulling him to his feet and into her arms. "Lucius get him out of here!" She yelled and suddenly Lucius Malfoy appeared at her side, pulling his son up by his arms and literally dragging him away from the scene, not giving a single look to Ron or anyone else in the room as they immediately looked for cover.
"Did..." Neville stood, rubbing his lower back. "Did I see Malfoy use the Cruciatus curse on a werewolf without a wand?"
"Say that five times fast," Ron suggested, his eyes still wide as he tried to process. "If you can do it, I still don't think I'll believe it and I watched the whole damn thing."
"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!"
Ron and Neville turned, both horrified to spot Bellatrix Lestrange facing off against Molly Weasley, Ginny, Hermione and Luna standing behind her. They both moved quickly, each desperate to help take down the evil witch that had caused the ones they loved much suffering.
"No!" Mrs Weasley cried as they ran forward, trying to come to her aid. "Get back! Get back! She is mine!"
Ron's eyes tore away from his mother briefly to look at Hermione who seemed to be alight with a fire as she stared ahead at the woman that had caused her so much suffering. A moment stuck between rapture and horror, Ron turned his gaze back to his mother who seemed determined not to accept aid from anyone though the gathered crowd kept their wands aimed properly, just in case.
"What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" taunted Bellatrix, as mad as her master, capering as Molly's curses danced around her. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"
"You- will- never- touch- our- children- again!" screamed Mrs Weasley.
Molly's curse soared beneath Bellatrix's constricted arm and hit her squarely in the chest, directly over her heart.
Bellatrix's gloating smile froze, her eyes seemed to bulge: For the tiniest space of time she knew what had happened, and then she toppled, and the watching crowd roared, and Voldemort screamed.
It felt like it happened in slow motion. Elated over the death of Bellatrix, and feeling an equal amount of admiration and fear of his own mother, Ron turned to look at her and saw Ginny and Hermione rush to her side as they heard Voldemort scream. Realising quickly what was happening, Ron rushed forward and put his arms protectively around Hermione who stood in front of his mother, wand aimed through his arms at The Dark Lord behind them all.
"Protego!" A shield erupted, protecting them all. Wide eyes all turned to see Harry Potter emerge from beneath an invisibility cloak and the elation that filled Ron's chest nearly burst out of him at the sight of his best friend.
"Harry!"
"Harry!" Hermione let out a cry of relief and she gripped Ron tightly to hold her up. Once they had a few breaths to adjust to the sight of their until-very-recently dead best friend, Ron and Hermione took steps forwards, wands raised.
"I don't want anyone else to help," Harry said loudly, and in the total silence, his voice carried like a trumpet call. "It's got to be like this. It's got to be me."
They each stopped quickly in place, and just in case, Hermione held Ron's arm knowing that if anyone would dare to ignore Harry's wishes, it would be him first which would just trigger the onslaught of a crowd attacking the Dark Lord. Something she didn't exactly see wrong with except for the fact that many well-aimed curses could still somehow backfire or miss and friendly fire was something they'd not yet had to deal with.
The crowd watched as Harry and Voldemort circled one another, bantering back and forth each eyeing the other carefully, irises focused on the others wand. Voldemort seemed to recognise that Harry's wand was no longer the brother to his own original, and the wand in Voldemort's clutches was clearly the Elder Wand, though Hermione knew she had seen it before in the hands of Albus Dumbledore.
"You think you know more magic than I do?" Voldemort said. "Than I, than Lord Voldemort, who has performed magic that Dumbledore himself never dreamed of?"
"Oh he dreamed of it," said Harry, "but he knew more than you, knew enough not to do what you've done."
"You mean he was weak!" screamed Voldemort. "Too weak to dare, too weak to take what might have been his, what will be mine!"
"No, he was cleverer than you," said Harry, "a better wizard, a better man."
"Yeah!" Screamed a few in the crowd, Ron included.
"Dumbledore is dead!" Voldemort hurled the words at Harry as in the marble tomb in the grounds of this castle, "I have seen it, Potter, and he will not return!"
"Yes, Dumbledore is dead," said Harry calmly, "but you didn't have him killed. He chose his own manner of dying, chose it months before he died, arranged the whole thing with the man you thought was your servant."
"What?" Hermione whispered.
"Severus Snape wasn't yours," said Harry. "Snape was Dumbledore's. Dumbledore's from the moment you starting hunting down my mother. And you never realised it, because of the thing you can't understand. You never saw Snape cast a Patronus, did you, Riddle?"
"Oh Merlin," Hermione's amber eyes widened with immediate realisation. "The doe," she whispered in a gasp as she clutched tightly to Ron's arm. "The doe," she repeated. "It all makes sense now." Though there were some serious gaps she seemed to have, Hermione knew well enough how Patronuses worked. Tonks had taught them all last year when hers changed due to her love for Remus Lupin.
"What's he going on about, Mione?" Ron whispered, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene.
"Snape's Patronus was a doe, the same as my mother's, because he loved her for nearly all of his life, from the time when they were children. You should have realised. He asked you to spare her life, didn't he?"
"He desired her, that was all," sneered Voldemort, "but when she had gone, he agreed that there were other women, and of purer blood, worthier of him..."
"Of course he told you that," said Harry, "but he was Dumbledore's spy from the moment you threatened her, and he's been working against you ever since! Dumbledore was already dying when Snape finished him!"
Everyone's eyes widened at the proclamation, murmurs and whispers filled the room and the few Death Eaters left in the room stared at Voldemort in mild horror at the revelation that Severus Snape had been a spy all along. Hermione's eyes cast across the room where she saw the Malfoy family gathered together in a huddle, trying as hard as they might to pretend they were invisible to the rest of the room. Lucius and Narcissa looked shocked, Draco looked grief-stricken and confused.
"You still don't get it, Riddle, do you? Possessing the wand isn't enough! Holding it, using it, doesn't make it really yours. Didn't you listen to Ollivander? The wand chooses the wizard... The Elder Wand recognised a new master before Dumbledore died, someone who never even laid a hand on it. The new master removed the wand from Dumbledore against his will, never realising exactly what he had done, or that the world's most dangerous wand had given him its allegiance... The true master of the Elder Wand was Draco Malfoy."
Gasps once again filled the room and Hermione and Ron's attention turned back to the Malfoy family, all of whom seemed to lose what little colour was left in their faces. Narcissa clung to Draco tightly and Lucius looked gobsmacked as the information fell out of Harry's mouth. Ron took a defensive stance, keeping his attention on Lucius who looked like he wanted to do something but lacked the wand to take action. However, after seeing Draco use impressive wandless magic just minutes earlier, he wasn't taking any chances.
"But what does it matter?" Voldemort said softly. "Even if you are right, Potter, it makes no difference to you and me. You no longer have the phoenix wand: We duel on skill alone... and after I have killed you, I can attend to Draco Malfoy..."
"But you're too late," said Harry. "You've missed your chance. I got there first. I overpowered Draco weeks ago. I took his wand from him."
All eyes in the room fell upon the hawthorn wand in Harry's hands. Hermione briefly glanced to Draco who looked petrified at the threat coming from Voldemort voice, and his eyes locked on the wand in Harry's hand with a desperate longing that the trio knew all too well. They'd all lost their wands over the last few months. It was like having a limb forcibly removed.
"So it all comes down to this, doesn't it?" whispered Harry. "Does the wand in your hand know its last master was Disarmed? Because if it does... I am the true master of the Elder Wand."
A red glow burst suddenly across the enchanted sky above them as an edge of a dazzling sun appeared over the sill of the nearest window. The light hit both of their faces at the same time, so that Voldemort's was suddenly a flaming blur.
"Avada Kedavra!"
"Expelliarmus!"
A loud bang followed by golden flames erupted from the scene, blinding all that dared look upon it with intensity though few looked away. In a blur, Hermione could see a wand flying high above the diminishing flames, dark against the rising sun in the distance, twirling above them all and descending below into the hand of its true master.
Harry Potter.
When everyone blinked the light out of their eyes, their stares fell upon the body of Tom Riddle, Harry standing over it victorious. Cheers erupted in a volume to rival that of the World Quidditch Cup and Hermione rushed forward, Ron at her side as the two quickly enveloped Harry in their arms.
"I knew it!" Hermione cried, kissing Harry's cheeks. "I knew you could do it!"
"Do me a favour, mate?" Ron asked with a grin. "Don't ever die on me again, yeah?"
Harry grinned in response before being immediately tackled to the ground by Ginny Weasley with a loud "Oof!" Ron and Hermione both laughed at the sight and watched as Harry beamed up at the redhead who, despite the increasing crowd around them, crushed her lips against Harry's with desperation. Some of their fellow students whistled, many of the adults gasped and blushed, but Ron laughed, something that surprised Hermione.
"You're okay with that?" She asked him with a bright grin.
"Hell," Ron shook his head laughing. "If anyone deserves a good snog right now, it's Harry."
"That's very mature, Ronald," Hermione smiled up at him.
"Well let's take a step away," he winced. "Just because I'm okay with it doesn't mean I want to look at it," he grimaced and pulled Hermione by the hand as the two made their way out of the crowd that was still descending upon Harry to shake his hand, pat him on the back, and give him their thanks and appreciation - much of which appeared to be physically deterred by a very protective looking Ginny.
"Hermione?" He turned and took both of her hands within his own, running calloused fingers over the soft skin of her knuckles. "Did we really do it? Did we survive?" He asked her with a crooked grin on his face.
"I think it's safe to say," she smiled nodding her head.
"And we aren't in imminent danger? No bloody Horcruxes or Dark Lord's or dragons or snatchers?"
"Pretty sure as of this moment we're in the clear," she beamed with relief.
"No distractions?" Ron grinned.
"I could use a little distraction," she smirked up at him with a flirtatious twinkle in her eyes. "I mean it is technically the future and all and we're perfectly sa-"
But her words were swallowed by him as he pressed his lips against hers triumphantly. With a joy that jumped inside of her chest, Hermione reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, twirling a lock of his hair in her fingers as his threaded through her messy curls with greed. The celebration around them grew blurry in the wake of their embrace. Hermione squealed with delight as she felt one of Ron's hands move from the back of her head to her waist as he tugged her tightly against his body. She grinned against him at the feeling, desperately wanting more.
They could have more.
They were alive.
Ron broke away first and Hermione was quick to complain but before she uttered a single word he hushed her with a finger to her lips. She teasingly narrowed her eyes up at him before he took her face in his hands tenderly. "I love you, Mione," Ron said softly. The cheering crowd could have easily drowned his words had Hermione not tuned the screams out altogether.
Her heart pounded against her chest as bliss painted across her face in response to his sweet and simple words. She beamed up at him, putting both of her hands on the sides of his cheeks to make sure she wouldn't break eye contact with him. "I am so in love with you," she replied with a gentle laugh and nearly giggled as he grinned at her, lifting her small frame into his arms and spinning her.
"What now?" Ron asked as he put her down. "What do we do?" He looked around. "Hunting Horcruxes all year and now it's done. What's the plan?" He asked her with a laugh. They'd spent every day for months and months with a plan. A plan usually involving desperate leaps of faith, deadly enemies, and dangerous weapons. What the hell would they do without a plan?
"The plan," Hermione smiled up at him, relief flooding her eyes. "Is that we live."
"I could live with that," he grinned down at her.
All was well.
THE END
