Broken Fate

Chapter Thirty-Two ~ Love Conquers All

"It's no use, Ron! It's not going to open," Neville said as Ron tried for the third time to get the door open.

Ron slammed his fists on the door in frustration. "My girlfriend, my sister, and my best friend are in there! I'm not waiting out here while Voldemort tortures and kills them!"

Will looked up, pale-faced. Gabrielle was also in there, as he had realized when she hadn't answered her name being whispered. "Even if we got the door open, we can't help them that way, Ron. We have to try to find another way to help. Right now we have to get Jamie out of here." He smoothed Jamie's matted hair away from her face so he could get a good look at her. Outwardly, there were no signs of her torture, save for blood that was trickling from her nose. She was unconscious, and Will could only hope that her mind was still intact from the torment she had suffered. "If we can get out of here, we can try to get Blaise and the others. Maybe they've been able to take out the giants. We have to regroup."

Ron gave the door a final kick, fear and anger mingled on his face. He abruptly turned and nodded. "Fine. Let's move, fast."

"Here, help me with Jamie." Will put an arm around her and lifted her front half off of the floor.

Neville bent down. "I can carry her so your wand is free. You know spells that I've never even heard of."

Will nodded and helped hoist Jamie across Neville's shoulders. Ron jerked his head impatiently, and they set off at a quick pace down the corridor. They had just started when the temperature seemed to drop twenty degrees. An icy chill swept across Will, and he stiffened.

"Dementors," Ron whispered.

An instant later the dementors came gliding out of side passages, filing into the long main hall. The corridor was thick with them, so condensed that Will couldn't count them. These were probably all of the dementors left in Azkaban; the rest had all gone out attacking cities. He had never known that this many existed. Fear and hopelessness gripped Will's heart, but he knew that was only because of their presence.

Will was uncertain whether the Patronus Charm would be able to hold the dementors back enough so that they could make it all the way down the hall, but it was the only chance they had. "The Patronus Charm, all together, on three!" Will hissed. "It might only hold them off for a minute--we're going to have to run through them as soon as we set the charm off."

Neville held Jamie in place on his shoulders with his left hand, and gripped his wand with his right. Ron tensed, holding his wand and glaring at the dementors.

The dementors began to glide closer, no doubt sensing the fresh life. Will assumed they'd been told to let the 'prey' in, but to prevent them from leaving. "One...two..."

But on 'two,' a huge crashing sound blasted through the corridor. More crashes followed, and Will was showered with dust and bits of rock. He suffered a shallow cut across his neck, and a gash on the back of his head. The very prison seemed to shake. Will's head whipped around, and he saw dusty sunlight pouring through a hole directly in back of the prison. Just outside, he could make out a huge giant's foot moving away, causing the ground to tremble as it did.

The dementors grew closer, and Will shouted, "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" A falcon-shaped Patronus erupted from his wand and charged at the dementors, but Will didn't stop to see how it handled them. He whirled around. "Come on!" he urged Ron and Neville.

They didn't need incentive. All three of them moved toward the new opening in the wall. The giant must have actually kicked the hole, and considering how strong and old Azkaban was, that just showed how powerful the giants were. Ron peered cautiously out of the hole. "Move out! Just stay pressed against the wall. I only see one giant, and it has its back turned." He stepped over piles of rubble and through the hole, then reached back to help Neville through. Will followed last, but even as he stepped out, he knew that the dementors were probably going to follow.

"Wait," Neville grunted. Holding Jamie steady with one hand, he used the other to grip his wand tightly. He pointed it at the hole in Azkaban and whispered something under his breath. Strands of plants burst from his wand and covered the entrance. "We can take it down and get back in if we need to, but it should hold the dementors back for a few minutes. They can't get through solid material, so they'll have to find another exit," Neville said anxiously.

"Good thinking," Will said.

"We have to put Jamie somewhere," Ron said. "We have to help Hermione and Harry and Ginny!"

"And Gabrielle," Neville grunted. His face was red and he was starting to wear out under Jamie's weight.

Will hesitated. The giant Ron had seen was looming in front of them, but the giant's attention was focused on the numerous brooms above him. He was swinging monstrous fists at the students on brooms. Even as Will watched, half of the Coalition members simultaneously dragged their wands in a swish-and-flick motion, which Will recognized as accompanying Levitation. Sure enough, the giant lifted up off of the ground, and the other half of the students used another spell to shove the giant far out over the ocean. The first half of the students dropped the Levitation Charm, and the giant crashed into the sea. A tremendous splash of water followed, shooting far into the air, and a wave washed up onto the island, reaching all the way to Will's toes before it retreated. Will watched as the giant thrashed in the water, to no avail. It was only moments before it sank completely beneath the surface.

Will turned to Ron and Neville. "We can't just set Jamie down somewhere; the dementors could get her."

"Well, what do you suggest?" Ron snapped. "We don't have time to waste, Will!"

"I know," Will said grimly.

Someone must have caught sight of them, because moments later, brooms were alighting all around them. "We managed the giants. Took us ages to find a spell that would work on them--who would have thought 'wingardium leviosa' would work? We finally came up with something after trying to figure out how the giants could have been moved to the island in the first place. They can't swim. They sink like rocks," Filip, a seventh-year Slytherin, panted. "What's going on? Where are--"

"Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Gabrielle are trapped in a room with Voldemort and about thirty Death Eaters," Neville said quickly.

"We have to get Jamie away from here--preferably to a hospital," Will said. "I just--"

"I'll take her," Hannah Abbott offered. "I can take her on my broom back to St. Thomas and use the Knight Bus to get her to St. Mungo's."

Will hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right." He and Neville moved over to Hannah, and they hoisted Jamie across Hannah's broom. Will put a Holding Charm on her to keep her in place, and Hannah immediately turned and zoomed out over the ocean.

That settled, Will turned back to the group. "We need a plan to help Harry and the others."

"We can get back in there--" Ron pointed at the vine-covered hole in the prison wall "--but there are dozens of dementors waiting on the other side, if they haven't already moved to find another way out of the prison."

"We can set up a group of us to hold off the dementors with Patronus Charms," Terry Boot said. "We practiced them a lot in DA last year."

Parvati Patil nodded. "We should have two groups, because I've heard doing constant Patronus Charms can take a lot out of someone."

Terry nodded. "Two or three people per group should do."

"We need to get down the hall, back to the room where Voldemort is. Then we have to find a way in," Ron said impatiently.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, and it was Seamus Finnigan who spoke. "There might be a way--thanks to your brothers, Ron."

"What do you mean?"

Seamus dug into his pocket and came out with a handful of bubblegum. "Your brothers made this. Blast-Binding Bubblegum."

"Yes, but what's that got to do with anything? It just--"

"It can blast a hole in things," Seamus said.

"No, it can't," Ron said. "It just explodes and shoots gum everywhere if you try to curse it off of something."

"That's how it was, but Fred and George added something extra," Seamus said. "It's their new line of Blast-Binding Bubblegum. They haven't started selling it yet--I got this on our last Hogsmeade trip. I agreed to test it for them. You chew it, stick it to something, and say 'Weasleys rule,' and it explodes whatever it's stuck to. I doubt it would be able to get through Azkaban walls, but it might be enough to blast the door."

Ron stared at him for a long moment, then grabbed a piece of gum out of Seamus's hand and swiveled around. "Fine, then let's move!"

~*~

"Find the others. They can't get out of this room."

Voldemort's instructions to his Death Eaters caused Hermione to freeze, one hand resting on Gabrielle's shoulder. They were moving slowly around the room, away from Voldemort and the Death Eaters who had moved to surround him, being careful not to accidentally yank the invisibility cloak off of themselves. Hermione was beyond being terrified; her adrenaline was pumping and every sense was sharpened.

"Should I throw more fire?" Gabrielle asked in the barest whisper.

"No," Hermione replied, her lips barely moving. "Not yet." It would give their position away. Her mind raced as she tried to piece together a plan. Harry and Ginny were on their knees in front of Voldemort. She had no idea what he was going to do to them, only that it was sure to be horrid, and it would end in death. Voldemort was the main problem. The Death Eaters would be no easy task, but if there was a way to take Voldemort out of the mix... "Can you make Voldemort stop?" Hermione murmured. "Long enough to--" To what? Harry and Ginny were without wands and were still surrounded by at least half of the Death Eaters, while the other Death Eaters were beginning a systematic sweep of the room. "Never mind. Hold off on using your abilities." Curses were now flying across the room from the Death Eaters, and Hermione pushed on Gabrielle's shoulder. "Get down!" she hissed.

Hermione and Gabrielle crouched low to the ground, and at least two curses flew over their heads. Gabrielle grabbed Hermione's left hand tightly and squeezed hard. She didn't have to say she was scared; Hermione could feel it. She carefully stuck her wand at the fold of the invisibility cloak, just inside so it wouldn't appear mid-air. She needed a curse that wouldn't show a visible light that would give away their position, like the Stunning Spell. She drew upon all the knowledge of the last six years of schooling and began throwing curses at the Death Eaters one at a time. She blinded the first, caused the teeth of the second to grow until they ripped through his mask and continued toward his neck, and set boils growing on the face of the third. The more variety of curses she could throw, the harder it would be for the Death Eaters to quickly perform counter-curses. She also struck random Death Eaters, so that they couldn't guess where she was.

She had managed to successfully jinx five Death Eaters--something she was slightly surprised about--when a long, terrible scream came unmistakably from Ginny, and Hermione's heart froze in her chest.

~*~

"If you're going to kill us, then do it," Ginny glared defiantly at Voldemort, then pressed both hands over her forehead and looked down, wincing.

At this proximity, Harry's scar seared with pain, though it wasn't nearly as strong as it had been when he faced Voldemort in the past. That was due to the Occlumency lessons, no doubt, and he was grateful for it, since it made it easier to concentrate.

Voldemort stared at Ginny for a long moment, and then pointed his wand at her. Before Harry could even move, he said, "Crucio!"

Ginny fell forward, going completely rigid. A piercing scream ripped out of her mouth, and Harry immediately threw himself sideways, on top of Ginny, before anyone could stop him. Had he been any further from her, the Death Eaters would certainly have grabbed him. As it was, he felt their hands close on his robe as his body got in the way of Voldemort's wand, and thus, the curse. Horrible pain seared through Harry's body, burning his bones, running through his veins. He vaguely heard himself scream, and then the pain abruptly faded as the Death Eaters hauled him back onto his knees. He glanced up to see that Voldemort had lifted his wand and was staring at Harry with a look of contempt on his face. Ginny was breathing hard beside him, but she managed to straighten her body.

"You see, Harry? You are weak. Your feelings for her cloud your sense of self-preservation. How can one be expected to live and survive if one does not look out for oneself? Love is a delusion, Harry."

"No, it's not," Ginny breathed. She looked up and met Voldemort's eyes, "Love...saved Harry, when he was a baby," she gasped. "You tried to get rid of me because I love him. You told me I was a liability, and I stood in your way."

"Well, things change, don't they?" Voldemort said, his hissing voice almost a whisper. "Take, for instance, my curse. I must say I hadn't expected it to be broken. I suspected what happened, but now, I realize I was right." He fingered his wand, staring at Ginny almost as if she were a bug that needed to be squashed. "Dumbledore must have used Harry's connection to me to break the curse, therefore connecting you two. I knew you were coming, Harry, because I sensed it through Ginny's mind."

What was Voldemort waiting for? He had tried to use the Killing Curse on Harry when he first entered the room, why was he taking his time now? Well, he was in complete control now, for one. Harry and Ginny were at his mercy; he could take his time if he wanted to. Besides, he had lost Jamie. He probably thought that Harry or Ginny could give him information about the future.

Harry couldn't see what was happening with Hermione and Gabrielle at all. The circle of Death Eaters around Voldemort made it impossible to see anything. Let them be all right...let them not be--

Several things abruptly happened at once. The first was that there was a flash of fire in midair, directly in front of Voldemort, and a scarlet phoenix appeared. Harry's heart leaped. Fawkes. Dumbledore knows we're here.

Before Voldemort could react to Fawkes's appearance at all, the phoenix was upon Voldemort's face, clawing at his eyes, much as Harry had seen him claw at the basilisk's eyes at the end of his second year.

At the same moment, there was a loud explosion, and Harry swiveled his head in the direction of the doorway. To his shock, the door had been blasted completely off of its hinges, and Ron, Will, Neville, and the other members of the Coalition were pouring into the room, immediately firing curses at the Death Eaters.

The Death Eaters turned to counterattack. Fawkes flew away from Voldemort, up into the air, letting out a long, musical note that gave Harry sudden hope. Blood poured down Voldemort's face, and he screamed in fury.

Ginny launched herself forward, directly onto Voldemort. He barely managed to keep his balance, and he instinctively reached out to shove her away. His hands met Ginny's face at the same moment Ginny grabbed his hand, presumably going for his wand. Voldemort shouted--a shout of pain, Harry realized, startled--and Ginny let out another scream. She let go of Voldemort and fell backward, grabbing her forehead. Harry caught a brief glimpse of Voldemort, and saw that where Ginny had touched his hand was burnt and blistered. And in an instant, he understood.

Harry grabbed Ginny and yanked her to her feet. "Move!" He spotted a wand from a fallen Death Eater and grabbed it.

"STOP THEM! STOP THEM!" Voldemort screamed.

Several Death Eaters turned from their battle with the Coalition and pointed their wands at Harry and Ginny. Harry held up his borrowed wand. "Protego Prolongus!" He swung Ginny behind him just as several jets of red light flew their way. Behind those Death Eaters, the Coalition was battling fiercely with the others. He saw several fallen students, and several fallen Death Eaters. How many of his friends would die today?

Even while this thought flew through the back of his mind, he was focused on Voldemort. He was injured; there had to be a way to end this. There had to be something, anything, he could do to destroy him once and for all--but what? Even if he knew how to use the Killing Curse, would that actually kill him? The curse had rebounded upon Voldemort once before, and it had simply left him without a body.

Voldemort lifted his wand to his eyes and muttered something, and to Harry's horror, the blood all over his face disappeared, and whole eyes glared around the room. They landed on Harry and Ginny, and Voldemort strode forward purposefully, his wand at ready.

~*~

There has to be away for Harry to defeat Voldemort! There has to be; the prophecy said so! Hermione thought desperately. She and Gabrielle had been circling around the room toward Harry and Ginny, who stood apart from where the Death Eaters and the Coalition were battling. She saw Ron and Will in the midst of the battle, and was grateful to see that right now, at least, they were still standing.

Voldemort had recovered from his injury, and was now heading for Harry and Ginny. "Gabrielle, now would be the time to use your abilities," Hermione whispered as they continued to hurry around the room. "When we're close enough, if you could get Voldemort to just stop..." It might give Harry and Ginny enough time to do something. But what? What would stop Voldemort permanently? What would defeat him?

She remembered what she had told Harry about love being what Harry had that Voldemort didn't. She still didn't know how that was going to help him. If Voldemort hit Harry with the killing curse, he would die. His mother's sacrifice had protected him once, but that wouldn't--

Hermione froze, startling Gabrielle, who realized almost too late that Hermione had stopped. She came to halt. "What?" she whispered.

Ginny. What if Voldemort had put Ginny under a sleeping spell to keep her away from Harry...? Ginny loved Harry as much as his mother had, if in a completely different way. And Hermione knew that given the chance, Ginny would sacrifice herself to save Harry. That would explain why Voldemort tried to kill Harry almost as soon as they came in the room--to catch him off guard before Ginny had the chance to purposefully do anything.

Hermione prodded Gabrielle onward, her mind racing frantically. They were almost to Harry and Ginny now. Would a sacrifice of love save Harry a second time? It was likely...but that might just put Voldemort in the same state he had been in after his first fall. Love...could there possibly be a way of protecting Harry without someone actually giving their life for him? There needed to be a spell for this! But Hermione didn't know of any spells that had to do with love...there was a love potion, but...

Hermione came to a halt a second time, having the presence of mind this time to grab Gabrielle's shoulder and bring her to a stop. They were level with Harry and Ginny now, and Voldemort was only several meters away from them, his wand in hand and a murderous glint in his red eyes.

"Love conquers all," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide. Diligo victum totus. The three words had been written alone, on the last page of Hermione Weasley's journal. Jamie had said that her Aunt Hermione had told them they were never to forget those words. It had always bothered Hermione that the phrase was written in Latin, because she was used to Latin phrases being spells...

What if it was a spell? What if the Hermione of the future had discovered a spell that had to do with love? Most of the things Hermione Weasley had written in her journal had related to things that needed to be known for her traveling to the past.

That's ridiculous, Hermione chided herself. It probably doesn't mean anything...and even if it did happen to be a spell, you have no idea what it's for, and you can't just wave your wand and expect a spell to work. It's something that has to be learned.

"Gabrielle. Get ready to stop Voldemort. Just step on my foot when you're ready, and I'll plug my ears."

Hermione heard Voldemort speak. "Your games are over, Harry Potter."

"Really?" Harry sounded steady, but Hermione knew him well enough to hear the strain in his voice. "You don't seem to be doing so well."

"You--"

Gabrielle stepped on Hermione's foot, and Hermione immediately plugged her ears. She watched as Voldemort froze, then went slack. He stood in place, his arms hanging at his sides. Unfortunately, so did Harry and Ginny. Hermione pointed her wand at Voldemort, one ear pressed against her shoulder. "Stupe--" She was cut off when Gabrielle fell backward into her. Hermione instinctively reached out to grab her, unblocking her ears, but Gabrielle wasn't talking.

"Gabrielle?" Hermione murmured.

"I..." Gabrielle breathed. "Too strong," she muttered. "I could not hold him."

Hermione looked up. Voldemort was moving again, as were Harry and Ginny. All three looked disoriented, but Voldemort and Harry instantly raised their wands.

Hermione again aimed her wand at Voldemort and opened her mouth to Disarm him. To her surprise, she instead heard herself yelling, "Diligo Victum Totus!"

At the same moment, Harry shouted, "EXPELLIARMUS!" and Voldemort cried, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

To Hermione's complete and everlasting shock, a blast of silvery-blue light, stronger than any she had ever seen, shot out of her wand.

"NO!" Ginny threw herself in front of Harry. Hermione stared in horror as a jet of green light flew from Voldemort's wand just as the blue light from her wand struck him. It enveloped Voldemort, and abruptly, the green jet from the Killing Curse turned silver-blue. It struck Ginny straight in the chest, but even then, it didn't fade. It ran in a stream from Hermione's wand to Voldemort to Ginny. Both seemed frozen in place, and Hermione didn't move, afraid of what might happen if she did. She didn't even know what was going on in the first place. So she held perfectly still, supporting Gabrielle with one arm, and holding her wand steady with the other. The blue stream continued to come out of her wand. She turned her gaze on Harry, willing him to do something--anything.

~*~

Harry stared at the image in front of him. A jet of blue light was connecting Ginny, Voldemort, and trailing off to the side...to nowhere. No. To Hermione or Gabrielle...under the invisibility cloak. It has to be. What was going on? What was this blue light, and what was it doing to Ginny? Was she dead, and the light was somehow holding her standing? He couldn't believe she had jumped in front of him. What had she been thinking?

He reached forward and grabbed her, but froze abruptly when he felt something strike him in his chest. He stared down, and saw that the stream that went between Voldemort and Ginny was now going through Ginny and into his own body. It felt very, very odd. His whole body tingled, and the hairs on his neck and arms were standing straight up. It was at once very cool and soothing, and a feeling of complete peace washed over Harry. The type of sensation was similar to the one he experienced when he heard phoenix song, but much more powerful and beautiful.

Voldemort, however, didn't look at all happy. Rather, he looked horrified. He moved his wand and spoke something, but nothing changed. He tried to step aside, but the light moved with him and continued to shine through them all. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Death Eaters and Coalition members that were still standing had all frozen, and were staring at the scene in front of them.

Harry waved his wand and tried to curse Voldemort, but nothing happened. What was he supposed to do? Just stand here and wait? He wasn't even sure Ginny was alive! "Ginny? Ginny!" Harry said frantically. "Ginny! Don't be dead, please don't be dead! I love you, you can't be dead."

The light intensified, growing and growing until Harry was squinting at its brightness. A moment later, he heard a long, strangled scream coming from Voldemort. Eyes narrowed against the brightness, he stared at Voldemort. The light was overwhelming him, and it seemed to be hurting him. His hands were clenched, and his face was turned upward, agony written across it. Pain, the worst that Harry had ever felt, exploded in his forehead, and he became aware that he was screaming, and so was Ginny. The blue light poured from Voldemort's mouth and eyes, and when it seemed so bright that Harry had to close his eyes, the scream ended, and the light faded.

The entire room was silent. Harry opened his eyes, his wand held tightly in one hand, and peered at the scene in front of him. Somehow, he had ended up sitting on the floor, and Ginny was leaning against him. His heart sank in relief when he felt her breathing.

Across from him, Voldemort was lying spread-eagled on the ground. The Death Eaters and the Coalition were still standing stock-still, gaping at them.

Before Harry had a chance to move, there was a commotion at the door, and Dumbledore entered, followed by numerous members of the Order, including Lupin, Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Charlie Weasley. Many others followed. The Death Eaters immediately took action, but they had already been thinned out a bit by the Coalition, and it wasn't long before Dumbledore had them rounded up.

"Ginny?" Harry whispered.

"Harry," Ginny said quietly. "I'm not sure what..."

"I'm not sure what happened, either."

Dumbledore strode over to them, relief on his face. It was Voldemort he stopped in front of, though. He stared at him for a moment, then slowly leaned down and pressed his fingers on Voldemort's throat. "He's dead," he pronounced.

Harry stared at Dumbledore in numb disbelief. "Dead." How could that be? What had he done? Nothing! How had he defeated Voldemort? This didn't make any sense!

Dumbledore straightened and looked at Harry and Ginny, and Harry could have sworn he saw tears in the headmaster's eyes. "Well done." There was more meaning behind those words than Harry had ever heard from Dumbledore.

"But Professor," Ginny said dazedly, "we didn't do anything."

"Oh, I think you did more than you know."

"Harry?" Hermione's weak voice drew Harry's attention to his right. He saw Hermione and Gabrielle appear as Hermione pulled the invisibility cloak off of them. Her wand was clutched in her hand, and she looked just as dazed as Ginny had sounded. She and Gabrielle were both kneeling on the floor and shaking.

"Ginny! Hermione!" Ron ran up and squeezed Ginny's shoulder, and then stepped up to Hermione. He carefully helped Gabrielle to her feet, and then pulled Hermione up and into a tight hug. Harry noticed that his right arm hung limp by his side, and wondered what had happened to it.

"Jamie?" Ginny asked, her voice a bit stronger.

"On her way to St. Mungo's, if she's not there already," Ron said.

"Let's get you back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said gently. "We'll have a long talk there."

~*~

There had been a shield on Azkaban that prevented Portkeying in or out, unless it was lowered from inside the prison. Dumbledore had lowered it and sent all of the students back to his office, and from there, they assisted each other to the hospital wing. The hospital wing had never been so busy. Sixth and seventh-year students were crammed into beds, and Madam Pomfrey was moving frantically all around. Fawkes the phoenix might have been able to heal some of the students, except that he had been killed by one of the Death Eaters, and had been found in a pile of ash. He was brought back to the school as a fuzzy little ball of a bird.

Hermione was one of those that was fine, and was told to wait outside the hospital wing. Ron had been asked to remain inside, since he had been hit with a curse in one arm and Madam Pomfrey needed to fix it. Gabrielle had been asked to stay in the hospital wing because she was extremely weak and seemed to be in shock. Hermione sat outside the door with a group of other intact students.

No one spoke. Hermione wondered if they felt the same after-effects that she felt--turmoil, shock, and the desire to sob her eyes out. She had been horrified to learn that three students had actually died--Justin Finch-Fletchley, Filip Stefan, and Lavender Brown. She couldn't believe it. They had been just fine a matter of hours ago, and she had been part of dragging them off to Azkaban.

"Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall's gentle voice brought her attention upward.

For a moment, Hermione wasn't able to talk. She was sure she would cry if she opened her mouth, but she finally managed, "Yes?"

"I'm to bring you to Professor Dumbledore's office. He has some questions for you."

Hermione nodded and stood to her feet. She followed McGonagall through the halls and up to Dumbledore's office. The headmaster wasn't there when she arrived, but Professor McGonagall waited with her in silence until he arrived.

"Please stay, Minerva," he said, conjuring several chairs and sitting behind his desk. Hermione sat and faced the headmaster. "Hermione," he began. "I've been in the hospital wing speaking with your fellow classmates about what happened. I've heard different parts of the story, and now I would like to hear yours. What happened today?"

Hermione wasn't sure who he had spoke to or what he had heard, so she started from the beginning. It took a while, and her voice caught in several places, but she finally made it to the end. She told about the curse she had sent Voldemort's way, and how she wasn't sure at all what it was, or what it had done. She told how she had read it in her future self's journal.

Dumbledore listened closely. "Where is this journal now?"

"It's in my trunk in my dormitory," Hermione said quietly.

"Minerva?"

"Of course." Professor McGonagall stood and left the office.

While she was gone, Dumbledore offered Hermione a cup of tea, which she sipped with shaking hands. Several tears slipped down her cheeks and dripped onto her robes, but she managed to keep from fully breaking down. Professor McGonagall returned shortly with Hermione Weasley's journal in hand, and Dumbledore took it and flipped to the last page. "Diligo Victum Totus." He paused for a moment, then looked at Hermione. "Miss Granger, do you think you could perform the spell again?" He stood up and moved around beside her.

"I...don't know."

"Would you mind trying? Just point your wand at my wall." Dumbledore waved to one of the very small empty spaces on his wall.

Hermione drew a deep breath and pulled out her wand, trying to remember exactly what she had done before. "Diligo Victum Totus!"

Nothing happened.

Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully. "I know it's difficult, but try to relive exactly what you were feeling when you cast the spell the first time."

Hermione closed her eyes. It wasn't hard to remember...the fear and anger as Voldemort prepared to curse Harry...he was going to kill him, and kill Ginny... "Diligo Victum Totus!" she cried.

A flash of light behind her eyelids brought her eyes open, and she saw the same silver-blue jet coming from her wand. It hit Dumbledore's wall in a continuous stream. Hermione gazed at it for a long moment, and then lowered her wand. The light moved with her wand and hit the floor.

"Hmm..." Dumbledore stared at the light. "Hermione, what are you feeling right now?"

"I didn't want Harry and Ginny to die," Hermione said. "I was so afraid they would...I didn't think I could do anything, and I couldn't stand it if I lost them. I love both of them so much." Tears streamed down her face, and a sob escaped. It was as if a dam had broken, and she couldn't stop crying. When she did finally manage to stop, she saw that the blue light was gone from her wand, and Professor Dumbledore was resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, Hermione," he said quietly. "I think I have some idea of what happened, but I need some more time to go over this. We'll need to hold onto the journal for a short while. There are some things that need to be checked."

Hermione nodded shakily and wiped her cheeks with her hands. "You'll tell me when you know what happened?"

"Of course."

"May I go?"

"Yes."

Hermione left Dumbledore and McGonagall in the office and made her way down the moving staircase. When she exited, she was surprised to find Will waiting in the corridor, Molly beside him. Will took one look at her and wrapped his arms around her. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

"No. No, but I will be." Hermione knelt down and managed a smile for Molly. "Hello, sweetheart. I hope you had fun with Colin and Luna." She straightened. "Ron?" she asked Will.

"Still in the hospital wing. He's on the 'not so urgent' list, so he won't get taken care of right away. Harry and Ginny were cleared, though. They left the school. I think they're walking around the lake."

~*~

"It doesn't seem real," Ginny said quietly. She held Harry's hand tightly as they made the familiar tread around the lake. "I think part of me doesn't really believe that Voldemort could be gone for good."

"I know." Harry kicked a rock and watched it bounce into the lake. He couldn't believe that everything seemed so normal. The younger students were playing and laughing and running around outside in the sunshine. He could almost believe that the last few hours had been a dream, but he knew otherwise. "What if he's not? Not gone for good, I mean...everyone thought he was the last time, but he wasn't."

"Not everyone. Dumbledore always thought he would come back, but when he was talking to us a while ago, he seemed to think this time was different," Ginny replied.

Harry drew a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. There were so many things that had happened...so much to process. He couldn't believe that three more students--Lavender among them--were actually dead. There was still no news of Jamie; Dumbledore had only said that Hannah had arrived safely at St. Mungo's with Jamie in tow. He still had friends in the hospital wing that were in bad shape, and there was still the possibility that another could die before the day was over, if Madam Pomfrey couldn't cure them. Neville had been hit by something particularly nasty; he was one of the first Madam Pomfrey attended.

Death. Was that the price of victory? It would have been foolish to believe that Voldemort could be destroyed without sacrifices, but it was one thing to know people would probably die, and another to see it happen to people he knew.

"I just wish I knew how Voldemort was defeated," Harry said, raising his voice in frustration. "I don't understand it."

"Neither do I, but hopefully it'll be figured out soon."

They walked around the lake twice before either of them were inclined to go back inside. When they joined the throng of students waiting outside of the hospital wing, Harry was startled to see Mrs. Weasley emerging from the hospital wing. She turned and saw Harry and Ginny, and in an instant, she had her arms wrapped around both of them. "You two!" she gasped, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Ginevra Molly Weasley! What were you thinking? Do you have any idea--" She broke off and squeezed them tighter. "Don't either of you ever do anything like that again, do you hear?" It seemed all she was capable of saying.

"Where's Dad?" Ginny asked.

"He was here, but he left for St. Mungo's to see how Jamie's doing. He should be back shortly."

"What about the dementors that were attacking the public?" Ginny asked.

"They're under control. It took the combined efforts of the Order, the Magical Law Enforcement, and numerous witches and wizards who came to the aid of the cities under attack. But let's not talk about that right now. You two need food."

Harry shook his head. "I'm not hungry.

"Neither am I," Ginny said.

Mrs. Weasley opened her mouth, but then hugged them again. "All right."

~*~

The remainder of the day was one of the strangest of Harry's life. Word had spread through the school about what had happened, and rumors abounded. Madam Pomfrey worked her way through the students, and many were cured and released, while five--Neville among them--remained in the hospital wing for further care. She assured Harry that it appeared all would make it through, to Harry's great relief. At least no one else would die.

Mr. Weasley returned from St. Mungo's with more good news. Jamie was awake, and the Healers had informed him that she had not been tortured to the breaking point of her mind, only her body. Her mind was fully intact. "She's a bit subdued, and she wants to leave the hospital, but other than that, she's fine," Mr. Weasley told them.

Despite the good news, it was a very difficult night. One of the hardest things was walking into the Gryffindor common room and finding Parvati Patil curled up on one of the chairs and sobbing uncontrollably. Hermione sat on the arm of the chair, her arms wrapped around her. Parvati wasn't the only student affected by the deaths of their Hogwarts classmates. It was even harder when Harry heard that the dead students parents had arrived at the school. They were going to want answers, and what answers could take the grief from mourning parents?

It was the next morning that Harry finally got some answers to his questions about Voldemort's demise. Dumbledore called him to his office, along with Ginny and Hermione.

Once they were seated in his office, Professor Dumbledore sat at his desk and held up a brown, leather-bound book. "We found some very interesting things in Hermione Weasley's journal," he said. "It didn't take us long at all to find the spell embedded in the final page." He flipped it open and showed it to them.

Ginny squinted. "Diligo victum totus? What...that's 'love conquers all,' isn't it?"

Harry vaguely remembered hearing something about that several months ago. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"This is the spell that Hermione used that set everything in motion," Dumbledore said. He filled Harry and Ginny in on Hermione's part in the end battle, then said, "Hermione, the spell that is on this page is similar to the Memory Transfer Spell, but for one small difference. When a memory is transferred into someone, it remains quite clear in their mind."

Hermione nodded. "I know; I've experienced it."

"In this case, the spell--I assume set by your future self--was such that anyone who read the words directly from this journal would have the memory of a spell. The difference is, it was buried in your subconscious. You had inadvertently learned a spell, but you didn't know that you learned it."

"But Will's read this, and I'm pretty sure Jamie and Shay have, too," Hermione said.

"And had they been in your position, they might have done exactly the same as you did. My belief is that when you saw Harry and Ginny in their predicament, it triggered the memory of the spell, and without truly knowing what or how, you used it," Dumbledore said.

"But what is it?" Harry asked.

"We will need to do much more research on it, but from what I can tell, it is based in love."

"Love," Harry repeated dumbly.

"Why do you sound so surprised? Love is something that has been studied by many witches and wizards for years, and continues to be studied today. It seems that sometime in the future, there was finally a spell created that uses love as a basis."

"I wonder why Jamie, Shay, and Will were never actually taught this spell," Ginny murmured.

"Several of your teachers stayed up most of the night performing experiments with the spell, and we found that it does operate on strong feelings of love, but it is more subconscious than anything. When focusing on using it intentionally, the spell did not work. We were able to make it work twice, and both times, the person casting the spell imagined a great danger being presented to a loved one. It is not a difficult spell to use; it simply has to be used under the right conditions. That could very well be why Jamie, Shay, and William were not consciously taught the spell-because it cannot consciously be used. Or it could have been fairly new, or in its trial stages. As I said, it will require further study," Dumbledore said. "From what we've observed thus far, we believe it creates a protective shield around a person. Had Hermione struck either of you with the spell, it may have protected you from curses, purely out of her love for the two of you." He smiled kindly at Hermione. "Similar to the way your mother's love protected you as a baby, Harry."

"Only in the form of a spell, instead of someone actually dying," Ginny said.

"Yes. And as it was, Hermione did not strike either of you with it, but Voldemort."

Hermione blanched. "So you're saying it should have created a shield around Voldemort?"

"Yes and no. You see, whatever protection is offered is based purely in love, and love is something that Voldemort does not understand. By a series of very miraculously timed events, the Killing Curse that Voldemort was throwing at Harry and Ginny was overcome by your spell. 'Love conquers all,' even death," Dumbledore said gravely. "And so it is my belief that when Hermione's spell overwhelmed Voldemort's and struck Ginny, she was opened to the love that caused Hermione to cast the spell in the first place. However, Ginny had just performed an amazing act of selfless love. She had stepped in front of Harry to take the Killing Curse meant for him. In return, from what Harry has told me, he physically touched her, which brought Hermione's spell into him, as well. And then...he told Ginny he loved her," Dumbledore said significantly.

Harry, Ginny, and Hermione exchanged glances. "And?" Harry said.

"I believe that if everything had not happened exactly as it did, Voldemort would still be alive. However, Voldemort was already being touched by a spell that was based in love. Then, through his own folly, the Killing Curse he was sending reached Ginny, but it had been overcome with Hermione's spell, and it linked Voldemort to Ginny. Voldemort and Ginny already shared a link, and thanks to the spell performed earlier today, she and Harry share a connection. When Harry grabbed Ginny, it brought him into the physical link that was being maintained through Hermione's spell. And if there's one thing I have told you, it's that connections go both ways. With all of you linked to the spell, Voldemort was opened to the love you share. His body and mind could not survive with so much of the force he hates pouring into him. Feeling Ginny's sacrifice of love was bad enough, but it was ultimately Harry's love, which washed back into Voldemort through Hermione's spell, that destroyed him."

"But Professor, I don't understand. Why was my connection to Voldemort so important? I could suddenly feel him in my mind, and I knew he was happy...I knew where Jamie was," Ginny said.

"That is due to the spell used to wake you, Ginny. You see, by bringing your mind together with Harry's, your connections to Voldemort were merged. In other words, everything that Harry was used to feeling through his link to Voldemort would have been felt by you. While you don't visibly have a scar on your forehead, you now share in Harry's," Dumbledore said. "It seems, then, that you also shared in Harry's fate in the destruction of Tom Riddle. And since you had not had Occlumency lessons, you were not able to block Voldemort out of your mind. But you cannot feel him any longer, can you?"

"No," Ginny said slowly. "It...hurt. When he died. I...felt it."

Harry nodded in agreement. "It was horrible."

"And you're sure about...how Voldemort died?" Ginny asked.

"That is what we have been able to surmise," Dumbledore replied. "We may learn slight differences in our theory later, but that is what is most likely."

"Voldemort...was killed by love," Hermione whispered.

"Yes, indeed, Miss Granger. It was the only way he could have been killed, for it was the only thing he could not abide."