The Great Battle

The battle had been raging on for over an hour. Voldemort had made his siege upon the Ministry of Magic with his full force of Death Eaters and Dementors, at least, with the ones that were left. Fudge would later call it Voldemort's last desperate attempt to take power. Over Harry's seventh year, one hundred and ninety-three Death Eaters had been captured or killed. The Dementors' numbers, once at nearing five hundred, had dropped to below seventy-five. No one had ever thought they could be killed, they seemed all too dead already, but thanks to a strengthened version of a Patronus, the killing of such awful creatures was now possible. All that aside, this was Voldemort's last attempt to take power.

The battle had lasted a good few hours and Death Eaters lay lifeless upon the cold, desolate streets of downtown London. But it came not without cost. Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Severus Snape, and Percy Weasley lay among the fallen heroes. Yes, even Percy had seen the light, and paid his life for it. It was now just Harry and Dumbledore facing the Dark Lord himself. Harry himself had not killed one Death Eater or dementor yet himself. No, at the insistence of Dumbledore, Harry stayed back safely and would only kill when he had to kill, or had to be killed.... And so, Harry and Dumbledore stood facing Lord Voldermort.

The evil lord looked to each of his sides frantically, as if an escape would appear. But none did, and so he just looked across at his two opponents. His red eye slits narrowed on Harry with a look of menace and he smiled an evil smile through his hood. Harry just stood there looking right back into his cold, hard, evil eyes. His scar was burning with intensity like no other, but he had grown used to it, as the battle had gone on. Harry stood there, facing his enemy, stone faced as a boiling hatred rose up in him.

This was Voldemort. The Voldemort who had reigned terror into the hearts of so many for more than two decades. The Voldermort who had killed countless innocents to seek his rise to power and immortality. The Voldemort who killed Harry's parents, Cedric, Sirius, Tonks, Snape, Percy, and countless others. Rage filled up inside Harry like never before. Voldemort. The very name struck fear into the hearts of people. Well, no more, Harry would finally put a stop to it.

"Leave the boy, Dumbledore," said Voldemort in his cold high-pitched voice that Harry knew all too well. "You know he is the only one who can vanquish me, so leave him and let him... vanquish," he said with a note of amusement in his voice. Harry looked at Dumbledore through the corner of his eye. Dumbledore hadn't moved, and by the look of absolute fury and determination in his face, he wouldn't. Even if it killed him. His eyes that usually had that amazing twinkled now burned with a fire of hatred. His brow furrowed in anger. No, Dumbledore would not leave Harry's side.

"Draw out your wand Tom, and prepare for this to end," said Dumbledore. Voldermort laughed his high-pitched, evil laugh.

"Very well Dumbledore, if you wish to try and save him." Dumbledore was poised with his wand pointing at Voldemort, ready to strike like a serpent at any moment. But it was Voldermort who went first.

"Crucio!" he shouted. Dumbledore turned and had disappeared in the swish of a cloak. He appeared behind Voldemort.

"Expelliaramus!" he shouted. Voldemort's wand shot up into the air. It appeared it was all over. At least, that was the way it appeared.

"Give it up, Tom. You can do no more," said Dumbledore angrily. Voldemort turned to face Dumbledore and laughed once again.

"Oh, but I can Albus, I can do so much more," he said icily. Voldemort raised his arms and clenched his hands in the air, as if he were trying to grab someone. It looked as if he were just grasping at the air. Then Harry saw Dumbledore inhale violently and his face went white. He had a look of immense pain upon his face. Voldermort motioned his arms upward and Dumbledore shot upwards. Voldemort then thrust Dumbledore toward the nearest building, sending him into it with a violent crash. Dumbledore then plummeted more than seventy-five feet, landing with a loud 'thump!' Harry watched the entire scene in horror, his eyes wide. He turned back to see Voldemort laughing his cold, cruel laugh.

That familiar rage came over Harry. He reached for his wand and began to curse Voldemort into oblivion. The Crutacius curse, Avada Kedavra, the boils curse, Avada Kedavra, constant bleeding, the combustion curse, Avada Kedavra. But with each curse Harry sent, Voldemort just laughed, as if he were being tickled. Harry finally stopped to see Voldemort laughing harder then ever.

"Foolish boy! Angry, are you?" he asked menacingly. "A rush of hatred for your poor friend Dumbledore?" he asked again. Harry didn't respond, he just looked at Voldemort with an angry glare.

"You should know, curses out of anger against me only make me stronger. For it is hate that I live off of, hate that I live for. Foolish child! Crucio!" Harry fell to the ground, every one of his nerves on fire, his bones sizzling, his muscles burning to no end. Faintly, he heard a shout of 'NO!' from a far away voice, and the pain stopped. He turned to see Hermione standing there with her wand out and a look that Harry had never seen. A mix of anger and disgust and just pure hatred shone on her face. Harry then heard a sound as odd as the look on Hermione's face. It was Voldemort...screaming in pain. Harry stood up and went to Hermione, but never turning his back on Voldemort.

"What are you doing here, you shouldn't be here! It's too dangerous! I told you to stay back!" he said angrily. She looked into his eyes, tears glistening in her own.

"Harry, did you really think I would let you come out here and battle him all on your own? I did stay, and then I had this feeling that...that something was wrong, that you were in danger, grave danger, so I Apparated here," she said with a desperate note to her voice.

"You need to go back! You could die, I don't want you here, please!" Harry said back. She had a tear flow down her face, but a look of determination.

"No Harry, you don't understand, I won't leave, I lo--HARRY, WATCH OUT!" It happened quicker than Harry could comprehend. He looked behind him to see Voldemort standing there with a triumphant look on hideously mauled face, his wand pointed at Harry. He couldn't even see the eerie green glow of light at the tip of the wand, as he had seen so often in his dreams. Harry didn't even try to stop it, it was too late, he would die.

Then came Hermione. She jumped right in front of Harry. It happened quicker than lightning. Harry tried to push her out of the way, tried to tell her to move, tried to tell her not to do it, this was his fate, not hers. He could afford losing himself, he couldn't afford losing Hermione. No way, that was his Hermione. She couldn't, she wouldn't, no....

But before Harry could so much as utter a word, the spell hit her, square in the chest. Just as she had intended it to. But she didn't crumple to the ground like so many did before her. The beam struck her chest, and suddenly, amazingly, a golden light shown so brilliantly it knocked Harry back and forced him to shield his eyes. The beam shot back to its source, a wide-eyed Voldemort, who was in absolute shock. His face so full of amazement and fear, Harry had only seen that face once during his fourth year in the graveyard. The beam hit Voldermort square in the chest and he let out a violent wail of pain. A shout so loud and so full of pain, Harry didn't think he'd ever heard one quite like it. Then, at the same time, Voldemort fell down and Hermione fell into Harry's arms. She was still alive. Harry looked into her deep brown eyes, unable to speak for a moment, so she did it for him.

"Y-you were really spectacular, Harry," she said in a whisper. She looked into his green eyes as hers glazed over. Harry smiled a weak smile and felt a lump in the back of his throat. This couldn't be happening! Not to him, not to her, she was supposed to grow old and become a brilliant witch and have brilliant witch children. This couldn't happen. She couldn't die like...like this, it was all too wrong.

"Tha-" He could barely get the words out. "Thanks Hermione," he finally managed with a tear falling from his eyes. Her eyes closed slowly, Harry could feel her growing cold.

"Hey, hey," he whispered softly with a pained smile still on his face. "Don't go. P-please Hermione, don't go. Y-you can't go, please, stay with me," he said desperately. Her gorgeous brown eyes just glazed over even more and her voice was barely audible.

"I'm so tired, Harry, I t-think I'll just take a little nap," she said as her eyes closed. Harry couldn't take it. Tears started pouring down his cheeks.

"N-no, Hermione, not now, not here. I'll take you back to Hogwarts and clean you up. And once you're all healthy again, then you can go to sleep, p-please, don't go," Harry said through tears. Hermione smiled.

"D-don't worry Harry, I'll just take a nap. I'll be back, don't..." but her voice trailed off. Harry shook her. She couldn't be....

"No, Hermione, please, don't go...don't, please, Hermione...I love you." Harry's last words came out at barely above a whisper but he knew she heard them loud and clear. She opened her eyes for a brief moment and spoke.

"I love you too, Harry." And with that, she closed her eyes and was gone. A wave of despair came over Harry. He just sat there, crying, holding the only women he had ever loved in his arms. No, no, this wasn't right. This couldn't happen. Harry had seen too many people he'd loved die, he couldn't bear her dying, especially her dying. This wasn't how it was supposed to end. This wasn't right.

He'd pick Hermione up and Apparate back to the gates of Hogwarts. Harry'd take her to Madame Pomfrey who would scold them for such foolish behavior and promise them she'd be fine, saying it could have been worse. And then...and then...Harry and Hermione would wake up in the morning and joke about it with Ron, and explain how they'd been lucky. And then, if they were even luckier, they'd fall for each other at the farewell ball held for the seventh years. Yes, yes, and they'd get married and have a romantic honeymoon. And have two kids who'd both go to Hogwarts and become brilliant witches just like their mother and father. They'd have kids who would have Harry's eyes and Hermione's hair, but with Harry's jet black color. And they'd grow old, and then...then they'd die. But no, God no, no, they wouldn't die like this.

Harry sat there for what felt like forever and finally looked over to the opposite side of the street, where Voldemort lay near death. Harry wiped his tears and grabbed Hermione's wand. He stood up, but his knees didn't quite agree with him. Slowly, he walked over to that evil wizard. Each footstep echoing in the eerie silence outside the ministry. After an eternity, he reached Voldermort and kicked him. Voldemort's awful red eyes, peered into Harry's deep green ones. Finally, he spoke.

"What do you want?" Voldemort asked in a raspy voice. Harry didn't answer, he just stared into those awful eyes.

"Did that bitch of a girl die?" he asked menacingly. The faintest trace of a smile trailed across his face. "She was nothing, so were all your other chums. I enjoyed killing them. It's a wonderful sensation, you know, maybe you should try it," he said in that awful raspy voice.

"Go on, Harry, I know you want to. Kill me, let all of your hatred out. Be done with it. You don't want her sacrifice to be in vain, do you?" Harry didn't speak for a long while.

"How does it feel to know that my mother finally beat you, Riddle?" Harry asked simply. Whatever smile Voldemort had faded away immediately. A look of extreme disgust had shone on your face. "The common Muggleborn women. The kind that you so detest," said Harry with a sarcastic tone. Harry looked straight into Voldermort's vile, red eyes and spoke the last four words Voldemort would ever hear.

"This is for Hermione," he said, meaning every bit of it. With that he let out a despaired shout. And for the second time that evening, a glorious golden light protruded from the end of Hermione's wand. Every memory of Hermione flashed through Harry's mind as he shouted, as the golden ray of light sped at Voldemort. The first day on the Hogwarts Express, studying with her, being down in the dungeon with the Sorcerer's Stone, her being petrified, laughing with Ron so many late nights in the common room, their adventure with Buckbeak, spending time with her when Ron was angry at him, the Department of Mysteries, everything flashed through his mind. Then, as quickly as it had come, the moment went.

Harry stood there panting for a minute with his eyes shut tight. Finally, he opened them, afraid of what he might see. But Voldemort was gone. He was gone, just like that. After two decades of terror, the Dark Lord had been vanquished in one quick moment by the Boy-Who-Lived. The terror was over; at last, the world was at peace. But the mind of the Boy-Who-Lived was not on the defeat on of the Dark Lord, but upon the death of the Girl-Who-Died. She was gone, the only one who he ever loved, ever. Gone. Harry walked solemnly over to her, knelt down, and put her in his arms once more, never wanting to let go again.

"He's gone," he whispered as if she could hear him, "he's gone. And do you know how I killed him? I thought of you, Hermione. I thought of you, I thought of my love for you, my undying, everlasting love, and he died. I love you, and don't you ever forget it." With that, Harry leaned down and pressed his warm lips against her cold lifeless ones. After a long moment, he pulled away. She was gone and he couldn't bear it. Harry began to break down again. The tears of everything that had happened it the past four hours flowed out and streamed down upon his cheeks. She was gone. But then, as he held her in his arms and cried something amazing happened.

It was impossible, improbable, it couldn't happen. There was no way. This was the kind of thing that happened in movies or in books, in fairly tales and old legends, this wasn't real, it was way too impossible. It was absurd. It was amazing, it was stunning, it was absolutely insane. It couldn't be. I was astonishing, astounding, absolutely remarkable. There was no way. But there was...

It was a miracle.

As Harry peered at Hermione's lifeless face, it became not so lifeless. The color came back into her face. Her eyes began to move behind her eyelids. He could feel her heart beating and her breathing start again. She blinked. She opened her eyes fully and looked up at Harry with her gorgeous, amazing brown eyes. Brown eyes that Harry never thought he would see again, ever. She smiled and looked up at him. He was speechless. The familiar lump at the back of his throat came again. Tears of joy were forming in his eyes and he offered a smile.

"I finished with my nap," she said simply. "Your mum and dad say hi," she added. Harry let out a half sob, half laugh of relief. All he could do was nod. The tears in his eyes were about to fall any minute. Harry leaned down again and kissed her. It was the most electrical feeling Harry ever felt. It felt so right, so wonderful. He could hardly believe it. She opened her mouth to his and they just sat there kissing for the longest time. When they finally broke apart, Harry's tears had subsided and they both beamed at each other.

"So how did you beat him?" she asked lying in his arms. Harry laughed slightly.

"The bad guy always gives away his secret," he said with a smile. She laughed and kissed him once more. The broke apart and stared into each other's eyes in the most beautiful silence Harry had ever felt. They finally spoke after several minutes.

"I love you, Harry," she said softly. Harry could hardly speak. Those tears were coming back.

"I love you, Hermione, don't ever leave me again," he replied barely above a whisper. They kissed again.

FIN

TO BE CONTINUED...