Turning Points

Turning Points: Chapter Nine

Hermione found Harry in the Gryffindor common room staring into the cackling fire in the hearth, completely oblivious to all the noise around him. Dean and Seamus were playing a game of Exploding Snap not too far from him, but Harry didn't even flinch when there was an explosion. She tapped him on his shoulder and he turned around. Hermione couldn't help but give him a reassuring smile after seeing the forlorn look on his face. His eyes had almost totally lost their normal mischievous sparkle. "Hey Harry," she said.

"Hi Hermione," Harry replied. "Long time, no see. Where've you been lately?"

"Oh, you know... studying for NEWTS, the usual." He just nodded. "Can we go talk?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure." She led him away from the hubbub of the center of the common room and when they reached a secluded corner, full of overly plush chairs and a table for studying, Harry asked, "How've you been, Mione?"

"Good. Busy studying and all. You?"

"Same," he replied. She could tell from the look on his face that he didn't believe her. She knew because it was the look she had ended up giving him a lot right after Sirius' death the previous year.

"Look, Harry, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I've found a way for you to defeat him." At this, Harry's lethargic appearance disappeared and he snapped to attention. "You what?" he asked.

"I know how to kill Voldemort."

"Oh, okay. For a second there I thought you said you knew how to defeat-- wait a minute..." his words trailed off.

"I did. I know how, Harry! Isn't it wonderful?" When he didn't reply, Hermione got worried. She slid out of her chair and knelt on the ground beside Harry, trying to get his attention. "Well? Don't you even want to know how?" she demanded.

"No," he answered. "I don't."

"And why not?"

"Hermione, I appreciate all you've done. Really, I do. Merlin knows nobody else has been able to find an answer to all of this, but I just want to put this Voldemort mess behind me. I don't need these pressures anymore!" he proclaimed.

"You can't just walk away from your destiny, Harry..."

"Yes, I can. You kill Voldemort. You know how to, so go do it. Be my guest. Steal the bloody spotlight from me, I don't want it."

"It has to be you, Harry," she replied, feeling exasperated.

"Me? ME?" he laughed. The occupants of the common room turned their ears toward the commotion in the corner and attempted to listen it. It had been a long time since any of them had seen The-Boy-Who-Lived talking, much less yelling at his best friend. "It's never been me," he continued, in undertones for only Hermione to hear. "It's always been 'The-Boy-Who' this and 'The-Boy-Who' that. Nobody cares about Harry bloody Potter. They just care about The-Boy-Who-Can-End-This-War. Even if I do defeat Voldemort, but die doing it, nobody would mourn me. Sure they'd probably put up statues and do dances at midnight on Halloween or something equally bloody stupid, but who would actually mourn? I have nobody, Hermione. Not one single bloody person. So go find Neville. Let him be the savior of the wizarding world. Dumbledore said it himself... it could have been either of us. Just leave me alone with this saving the world bollocks. I'm over it."

"Harry, listen to me carefully because I'm only saying this once. STOP THIS BLOODY SELF-PITYING BIT AND HEAR ME OUT. You're the one Voldemort chose to defeat him and nobody else is capable of doing it. Okay?"

"Whatever, Mione. Just get on with it so I can get back to moving on with my life," he muttered.

"Harry, please, just get over it already. They're dead. They're not coming back. It's not your fault, either," she lied.

"I said whatever. Just tell me what you want me to do."

Hermione explained that since Harry's blood had been used to bring Voldemort back to his human form, only he, Harry, would be able to bring about the destruction of the Dark Lords human form.

"We already knew that, Hermione," Harry interrupted.

"Yes, but do you know why?"

"I've always assumed it has something to do with the fact that I'm such an extremely lucky person and have been connected to Voldemort in so many ways that this is just the icing on the cake," he said sarcastically.

"That's cute, Harry, very cute," Hermione replied. "But the real reason is that because your blood was used to make him rise again, your blood is the only thing able to take him down. You did give it unwillingly, didn't you?" she asked to confirm.

Harry just gave her a look and said, "Nah, Hermione. Old Voldemort and I sat down for tea one day and when he asked for some of my blood to help him become strong enough to actually succeed in killing me, I said 'Sure ol' buddy, ol' pal. I'd be happy to seal my fate by bleeding into a cup for you.'"

"So," she started, ignoring his last remarks, "Since you're both essentially the same person now, you both can't stay living. It just won't work. As such, there are two possible ways of getting rid of Voldemort and avenging all of the people he has killed." She paused to look Harry over and make sure he was okay with handling all of this. There was a bit of information that was morbid and she didn't want him fainting and falling face-first onto the soft rugs lining the floor. "Okay, your first option is the old fashioned Muggle way of killing--you could slit his throat."

"Wait a minute, you want me to WHAT?" Harry asked.

"Um, yes, it is a little gruesome, but it would be over after one swipe of the blade. Of course, the knife would have to be tempered and soaked with your blood or it just wouldn't work..."

He gave her a dubious look after hearing this option. "If that's the first thing you came up with, I'm not sure I want to hear the second one. If it involves a wooden stake through the heart or something like that, you can definitely count me out," he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

"No, it's nothing like that. This second option is actually much simpler than the first. Easier, too. It's the one I'd pick to use if I were you. You just need to lock wands with him again, but this time, both of you have to have cast a simple Avada Kedavra at one another."

"Simple?" he asked. "Simple Avada Kedavra? You must be barking. That's the killing curse, Mione. It's used by killers," he emphasized.

"If you think you could get the guts to stab him or something, be my guest. That is, you know, if you can even get close enough to him, alive, with the knife still in your possession and with him not knowing," added Hermione.

"That's impossible and you know it."

"Killing curse it is then?"

"I'll have to think about this, Hermione," he replied. After this, Harry got up and walked back to the main section of the common room.

"This has to be done before the next school year starts!" she called after him. Harry just shrugged his shoulders and continued walking.