In the silence of the church, it was like the world outside didn't exist.
Hermione and Nerina searched for traces of a secret passage that led to the catacombs.
They looked at wooden statues, stone pillars, and chancel towers, but nothing opened to reveal an entrance.
"Look over here," Nerina said suddenly, pointing to a marble tomb.
Upon closer inspection Hermione saw that there was a drawing etched onto its side. It was an inverted sky with nine stars, and below it was a line that read: Diīs Mānibus.
"To the spirits of the dead..." Hermione whispered, translating the latin inscription. She traced the letters with her hands.
"Let me look upon the place I love again, with paths that mirror its name, let me look upon the road most traveled...the one you stand on today. Show me what I desire, and I'll show you what you require."
Hermione pressed down on the center star and gasped when it moved across the marble.
"Try moving the others," Nerina suggested.
Some stars moved up and down, while others only moved side to side. Hermione bit her lip. It looked like she had to form a shape with them...
She tried several things, but the stars would lock and return to their original points of origin when she moved them the wrong way.
Finally, she arranged the nine stars into what looked like an oddly shaped rectangle.
"What does it represent?" Nerina asked.
"The borders of old London."
"Why nine stars?"
"London wasn't called London then," said Hermione. "Britain was occupied by the Romans. They called it Londinium."
Hermione repeated the riddle: 'Let me look upon the place I love again...'
"—that's London."
'...with paths that mirror its name.'
"There's nine letters in the city's name, and nine principal Roman roads, including the Devil's Highway."
"The Devil's Highway?" Nerina asked.
Hermione nodded. "The road we're standing on, it leads here, to the church—but more importantly, to the vault buried beneath it."
She pressed down on the last star and something clicked into place.
The tomb shook violently and a line of blue fire ran across the top. When the fire cooled, the marble cover levitated, revealing a narrow set of stone steps.
Nerina held her wand aloft, carefully lowering herself down.
Hermione followed after her.
Above them, the marble cover fell with a resounding thud.
Nerina and Hermione clung to the wall for support, hardly daring to breathe as they made their way down the ancient steps.
***
When they reached the bottom, a labyrinth of tunnels stretched as far as the eye could see.
Hermione felt a rushing wind, then the soft whisper of voices...the voices of the souls interred here for centuries.
She and Nerina moved through the deep subterranean passages, looking out for defensive measures—traps, false doors and narrow tunnels that might drop them into deep wells.
But they saw nothing of interest until they were nineteen meters below the surface.
They discovered a large chamber with ancient runes etched into the walls.
"The symbols for eternal life," Hermione said.
Nerina raised an eyebrow. "Voldemort still hopes to become immortal then..."
Hermione frowned. "But Voldemort's horcruxes are gone. Only a small fragment of his soul remains. He can't split it again. He'd die."
Nerina nodded. "His soul is damaged beyond repair, and so, his body is weakening. I never said he was making another horcrux."
Hermione's eyes widened. "But you can't mean..."
Nerina turned to her. "It has never been possible for a wizard to possess another's soul. A wizard can only take residence in a victim's body and use it as a host...but Voldemort wants to change that."
Hermione felt the hairs on her arm stand on end.
"His next ambition is to extend his life by possessing the souls of others. And he knows the power to do so lies within the vault. Death has always been his greatest adversary. And he knew however slim the chances, his horcruxes might be destroyed."
In the distance Hermione saw white pillars, likely made of limestone.
She squinted through the darkness and reached for the wall, hoping it would guide her down the path, but it was no longer smooth. Parts of it were oddly rounded and uneven. Her palms were nicked and stabbed by something jutting from the walls...
Hermione drew her wand. "Lumos maxima!" she shouted.
Nothing happened. Something was suppressing her magic. A barrier of some kind...
Hermione turned to Nerina for help.
The older witch closed her eyes, feeling the opposing energy in the room. She fought against it, focusing all her energy into the spell. She muttered incantations, trying to feel where the invisible barriers were.
Jets of blue light shot from her wand and collided with something that looked like glass. Cracks formed on the rocks around them, and for a moment Hermione feared they would crumble.
But then Nerina's magic smoothed out the lines, and the invisible barrier vanished.
"Lumos maxima!" Nerina shouted.
Her wand lit up, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief.
When she and Nerina reached the center of the chamber, their mouths dropped open.
Rows upon rows of coffins lined the walls for several meters.
The pillars Hermione had seen were not made of limestone. They were made of skulls.
It was a necropolis of sorts, a city for the dead...
Nerina pointed above them, and Hermione gasped.
Like some macabre design, femurs were arranged in crisscrossed patterns on the chamber's ceiling.
"Look over here," Nerina said suddenly, staring at the opposite wall.
Hermione hurried to her side, seeing that several symbols were etched into the stone.
Hermione looked closely at the markings, observing every ridge and slant. "They depict the river Styx," she said. "The Romans believed the river transported spirits from the World of the Living to the World of the Dead."
Nerina saw that one of the carvings contained a shimmering stone in its center. She moved closer to it and raised her wand high.
"Revelio!" she shouted.
A beam of light shone from the stone, stretching across the chamber until it connected with something behind the pillars.
An object glimmered in the darkness. There was a second stone, fixed firmly into one of the coffins behind them.
Nerina and Hermione stepped forward, and when they reached the coffin, Hermione pressed the stone with trembling hands.
She held her breath.
There was a click as it moved inwards.
For several seconds nothing happened, then, without warning, the ground cracked open beneath them.
Hermione and Nerina screamed. Cold, damp air rushed into their faces as they fell faster and faster...
With a crash they landed in a large, circular chamber.
Startled, they grabbed onto each other's cloaks. They tried to stand, but it was impossible to keep their balance. The ground was uneven and every time they lifted their feet they heard loud, crunching sounds.
Nerina illuminated the floor with her wand.
Hermione's blood ran cold.
There was a circle of skulls painted red in the center of the ground, surrounded by an outer ring of shattered bones.
Nerina stepped forward and a second circle of skulls appeared under her wandlight, then another set of shattered femurs. This arrangement repeated itself over and over again, until Hermione and Nerina saw that there were seven rings in total.
Hermione calculated that the remains of more than two thousand people lay before her.
It was like a monstrous beast had attacked a group of unsuspecting souls, picked their flesh clean off their bones, then arranged them with a sadistic fervor.
Nerina pointed up.
Hermione froze.
Hanging on the wall above them was the stone head of an aged witch. She was sleeping but she wore a satisfied smile on her face.
A chill ran down Hermione's spine.
Hermione had expected the rune to lead them to a source of water, not a graveyard.
"Look over there," said Nerina.
There was a lever sticking out of the wall.
Nerina moved towards it but Hermione's feet remained rooted to the ground. She looked up, the door they'd come through had sealed itself. She doubted they'd be able to open it again.
Nerina's hand closed over the lever.
"Wait!" said Hermione. "It might be a trap..."
Nerina's eyes swept around the chamber once more. There were no runes etched into the walls to guide them like before.
"We'll have to take our chances, Ms. Granger."
She pulled on the lever and there was a loud rumbling sound.
Behind them, the head of the stone witch came alive and she gave a high pitched cry.
Water burst from her open mouth and poured into the chamber.
Hermione tried not to panic.
Nerina grabbed the hood of her cloak and dragged her backwards.
They pressed themselves against the wall, trying to see through the torrent of water. It was soon up to their knees, but the skulls didn't rise, it was like they were enchanted to stay on the floor.
"There has to be a way out!" Hermione shouted, as Nerina cast her wandlight in every direction.
They both splashed their way to opposite sides of the chamber, grasping at the walls, hoping to find a door that would lead them to safety.
"Do you see anything?!" Hermione yelled, Gryffindor's sword hanging heavy at her side.
Just then, something slithered past her ankles. She lost her balance and fell, hitting her head against a rock.
Nerina rushed to her side.
Hermione's ears rang, and her vision blurred.
"You're bleeding," Nerina said.
She performed a healing spell to close the wound, but by the time she finished, they were floating towards the top of the chamber.
"Look," said Nerina, pointing at the skulls below them. "They're glowing."
Hermione followed her gaze and observed that the skulls blazed brightly beneath them. She felt her stomach twist with revulsion as she realized they were going to have to swim to the bottom of the chamber.
"Stay close to me," Nerina said.
Hermione watched her disappear underwater.
She took a deep breath and dove in after her.
The water was green and ghostly and when she reached the bottom, Nerina pointed to the skulls.
Strange symbols had appeared on the back of them.
Hermione's eyes grew wide as she read them.
A sacrifice had to be made if they wanted to escape.
Before Hermione could stop her, Nerina reached for Gryffindor's sword and ran her palm under its blade.
A large gash appeared on Nerina's hand. Blood spilled from the wound, floating like a ribbon in the water.
Nerina pressed her palm against the skulls, and they shook violently, rattling against each other. A moment later they floated several inches off the floor, revealing a large, stone door.
Nerina tugged on the handle and the door fell open with a heavy thud.
A narrow passage lay ahead.
Hermione and Nerina looked at each other. They had no idea where it led or how long it went on for, and their lungs were already burning...
Nerina went first, illuminating the way with her wand. Hermione followed after her, and just as they disappeared down the passage, the door closed shut, and the skulls rearranged themselves, looking like they'd never been disturbed.
***
"Hold on! Hold on!" Nerina yelled.
They were swept into a current that emptied into a shallow tunnel.
Hermione coughed up water as Nerina gained her footing.
She reached for Hermione's cloak and helped her stand.
They trudged through the murky water and eventually the water dissipated as the path slanted upwards.
Hermione's pulse quickened when she felt the ground tremble.
She and Nerina doubled their pace, and their mouths dropped open when they saw the enormous cavern that lay ahead of them.
Voldemort stood at its center.
His eyes were closed and he was muttering fervently, his wand clenched tightly in his hand.
The ground beneath him was splitting apart. Green lights streamed through the cracks and vapors rose all around him.
Hermione watched, horrified, as Voldemort forced the earth open, extracting the dark magic buried within.
"I'll go first," Nerina whispered, as they reached the mouth of the tunnel. "Remember what I've told you and stay the course."
Nerina covered her face with her hood, and Hermione felt a spasm of fear as she stepped forward, watching Voldemort from the shadows.
His back was to Nerina, and he continued to open the earth as she circled him. She raised her wand and a jet of silver light shot through the air.
Voldemort froze, startled as his wand jerked upwards.
He turned sharply and saw the edges of Nerina's blue cloak.
"Who's there?!" Voldemort shouted, trying to see through the vapors that filled the cavern.
He moved towards Nerina, and Hermione left the tunnel.
She reached inside her robes and pulled out Harry's invisibility cloak. Although she was soaked to the skin, the cloak had remained dry, light as ever.
She threw it around her shoulders.
At the same moment, Nerina slashed her wand through the air, and Voldemort shrieked.
High, black flames engulfed him.
Hermione's heart hammered in her chest and she ran forward, knowing she had to seal the cavern before it was too late.
Voldemort's skin was smoking and flaking.
He looked like a statue about to crumble.
He brandished his wand and screamed the countercurse, turning the flames purple.
They burned brightly and vanished.
Voldemort marched towards Nerina, the promise of death in his snake-like eyes.
They raised their wands in unison.
Hermione dropped to the floor as curses flew in every direction.
She crawled until she reached the great chasm in the cavern.
Hermione whispered ancient spells and curses, but nothing she did stopped the ground from opening, nothing pushed the magic back the way it came.
She gasped when something burned her waist.
Gryffindor's sword—the rubies above the hilt were glowing brighter and brighter, hot as coals.
And suddenly, words appeared on the blade.
"A weapon we have given thee...passed down from century to century...it's power now, lies with thee..."
And suddenly, Hermione remembered what Nerina had told her at the orphanage.
The rubies carried the blood of the Founders.
And in their blood, resided their magic...
Before Hermione could think twice, she reached for the sword and plunged it through the open earth.
There was a hissing sound, and then the rubies were melting, turning to liquid and mixing with the green substance that bubbled below the surface.
Some strange alchemy was happening. The vapors were changing color, turning from green to blue.
Hermione noticed that the heat around her was cooling, and the cracks in the earth stopped forming.
Voldemort took no notice, and struck Nerina down.
Her wand clattered to the floor, and her hood slipped off her face. She looked at Voldemort, her blue eyes resting on his snake-like face.
There was a large gash in her forehead, and a river of red trickled over her eyes and down her cheek, so that it looked like she was shedding tears of blood.
Voldemort froze, thinking he was looking at Catherine.
Hermione covered her mouth with her hands, fearful of what he might do next.
"Who are you?" Voldemort demanded, his voice low.
Nerina didn't answer.
Voldemort grabbed her roughly and forced her to stand.
Voldemort reached for her face, studying her eyebrows, her nose, her cheekbones, the slope of her forehead...
He stared at her, his eyes wide and incredulous. She was nearly identical to Catherine, but there was something different about her...
"You saw me the night you killed Harry Potter," Nerina said. "I was standing on the hillside. You pretended I was an illusion."
Voldemort stepped back from her.
"You can't pretend now."
Nerina was about to close the distance between them, but Voldemort raised a hand to stop her.
"That's enough," he hissed.
Nerina boldly lifted her palm to his, unafraid.
"You dare—" Voldemort started.
Then he looked down at their hands. They were exactly the same.
Nerina stepped closer to him. "Will you kill me the way you killed my mother?"
The impact of her words hit Voldemort with the force of a tidal wave.
"I carry Catherine's blood, but I carry yours too."
Voldemort's hands shook. The air was charged with his unspent rage.
Hermione could see the cogs turning in Voldemort's head, trying to glue the missing pieces of his past together....
And then Nerina told him everything, and he learned that Catherine had lied to him, kept secrets from him, bested him.
And worst of all—she'd saved a piece of herself to ruin him.
He looked at Nerina coldly. "As far as I'm concerned, I only ever had a son. You are an impostor. An illusion. A lie."
"No," said Nerina. "I am a well kept secret. Guarded for decades by your oldest friend. Or should I say your enemy?"
Voldemort raised his wand to curse her, but a morbid curiosity got the better of him.
He waited for her to speak.
Nerina smiled at him. "Nicholas. Nicholas Edevane."
Voldemort froze, and it was like there was a fracture in his skull.
"He found me at Bellefaire orphanage," Nerina said. "I lived at his side, and when I came of age he told me that one day, I would defeat you."
For a split second there was a trace of fear in Voldemort's eyes, but it soon dissipated.
"If you are my blood, then you cannot kill me," Voldemort said triumphantly. "Salazar made it so. You have wasted your time."
Nerina smiled coldly, looking over his shoulder to the place where Hermione stood hidden under the invisibility cloak.
"I don't think so," she said firmly.
***
Hermione yanked Gryffindor's sword out of the earth. With the rubies gone, the sword's color had dimmed. It was an ordinary weapon now, and her only defense against Voldemort.
There was a sudden thundering sound and the cavern walls began to shake.
For the first time, Voldemort looked around him, aware that something was wrong.
"Edevane told me I would defeat you," Nerina said again. "Only not alone..."
Voldemort spun around and his eyes dragged across the cavern, certain someone was hiding in the shadows.
"POTTER!" he shouted, thinking that Harry had returned from the dead.
Hermione's blood pounded under the invisibility cloak.
"Do not fear Voldemort," a chorus of voices said.
Hermione froze.
The Founders were speaking to her.
"You don't need us anymore. You are strong enough on your own. Reveal yourself to him now."
Hermione inhaled sharply.
She tore the invisibility cloak off her head.
Voldemort stared at her with wide eyes, not placing her at first, but then a fog lifted from his memory. This was the girl he had asked Draco to seduce. He had seen her face in the newspapers, standing beside Harry at the Quidditch World Cup and on many other occasions throughout the years.
Potter was always pictured with the mudblood and a boy with ginger hair—a Weasley, Pettigrew had told him.
That was the company Potter kept. A mudblood and a blood traitor for friends.
Voldemort turned to Nerina. "This is who you have brought to defeat me?"
A sharp cry rent the air as he laughed.
The sound echoed all around the cavern.
"I'm afraid you underestimate her, and me," Nerina said calmly.
Voldemort raised his wand. "I've heard enough."
He cursed Nerina and she flew backwards, slamming into the wall.
"Nerina!" Hermione cried as she slid to the ground.
Voldemort's laughter echoed off the walls as he turned to Hermione. "If you are here in Potter's place, then he is long dead. My path is clear..."
Hermione spotted something behind Voldemort—something lodged inside the cavern walls. Crouched demons with curved spines, clawed feet, and black wings. What had trapped them there, she didn't know, but they looked like they might come alive at any moment.
Hemione screamed as an invisible dagger twisted its way inside her skull.
"You've never killed before," said Voldemort, searching her thoughts as she doubled over. "Only sacrificed your happiness for those weaker than you. Are you prepared to take a life? To blemish your soul? Is that what Potter would have wanted for you? Or perhaps it was never his opinion you cared for, but Draco's?"
She startled at the mention of Draco's name.
"He is dying," Voldemort said, accessing her memories from the muggle prison. "Snape lied to you, I can see it."
"Stop!" Hermione shouted.
But as soon as the words left Voldemort's mouth, she knew it was the truth.
He smiled cruelly at her, twirling his wand. "You should have stayed at Draco's side and said your goodbyes, rather than trap yourself here, only to die at my hand."
Hermione looked into Voldemort's face.
He appeared confident as ever, but there were telltale signs that his body was weakening.
His breath was shallow, and his movements lacked sharpness after his duel with Nerina. Hermione also knew he had used a greater part of his strength to open the vault.
Hermione raised her sword and Voldemort laughed.
"That old thing won't help you. Its magic is gone, and you have no wand. You're no match for me. But you shall prove useful...I will possess your soul with the magic buried in this chamber..."
Hermione's blood ran cold. He was going to try to open the earth again...
"You will help me live forever."
At that moment, the demons trapped in the cavern walls shattered their earthly encasements. Chunks of dirt rained down on Hermione's head as they took flight.
Before she could react, the vapors that lit the chamber extinguished.
Everything went dark.
Voldemort tried to reach for Hermione's cloak, but a howling wind forced them in opposite directions.
Hermione tumbled backwards, her cloak flapping violently around her.
She could no longer see Voldemort.
She was tossed through the air, and when the wind died down, she landed roughly on the cavern floor.
Dirt flew into her eyes as she tried to stand.
She staggered forward, trying to feel for the wall, but some strange creature crawled towards her in the darkness.
Hermione screamed as it flew onto her back.
There was a fist in her hair. Sharp claws in her scalp...
Thinking fast Hermione swung Gryffindor's sword over her head.
There was a high-pitched shriek as the demon's body split in half.
Blood poured over Hermione's neck, and she heard a thud as the winged creature landed on the floor, dead.
Hermione raised her sword in front of her again but a thick, white mist filled the cavern.
She could feel Voldemort moving somewhere nearby, searching for her...
A jet of green light soared towards her and she stumbled backwards, missing his killing curse by inches.
Hermione ran in the opposite direction, but before she could make it to the other side of the cavern, her vision blurred and there was a throbbing pain in her temples...
Her eyes widened.
Voldemort was invading her mind...
The room tilted, and instead of falling onto the cavern floor, she fell into a great pool of water.
Hermione tried to swim but her hands were tied behind her.
She screamed but no sound came out.
The water solidified around her, and her knee knocked against something heavy—glass.
Hermione pounded her feet against it.
Nothing happened.
She hit her head against the glass over and over again until it shattered.
She fell several feet and landed on a cold, stone floor.
It was a distorted version of Hogwarts.
Hermione recognized her dormitory but there was blood on the walls.
The curtains of the four posters were pulled back.
Two corpses lay in them, their flesh rotting.
Lavender and Parvati.
Hermione screamed.
The ground fell away and she landed in a forest filled with trees. Her parents were running through them. Acid rain fell from the sky and burned their skin. They reached their arms out to her, but she couldn't help them.
This isn't real, she told herself.
Go back to the cavern. Go—
Something collided with her and there was a sickening crack, as her head hit the floor.
She heard Voldemort hissing in her ear.
Her eyes watered, and Voldemort struck her a second time.
Don't let go of the sword, she told herself, clutching onto it tightly as her head snapped to the side.
Voldemort raised his wand. He was going to kill her now...
A pile of rocks gave way high above them, and there was a loud shriek as something collided with them....
One of the demons, Hermione thought.
One of the rocks fell beside her. She reached for it and hit Voldemort full in the face.
He fell sideways.
Hermione heard another shriek, and the flapping of wings.
She reached up, and grabbed a pair of clawed feet.
She was yanked high above the ground.
A jet of green light flew over her head and Voldemort screamed, furious that he had missed.
Hermione gasped as the demon tried to shake her off. She held on tightly with her right hand but still held Gryffindor's sword in her left.
The creature flew into a dive, and Hermione tightened her hold on its feet.
The demon gave an outraged cry, digging its talons into her flesh.
Hermione gasped and nearly lost her grip. Then she heard something soar towards them...
Her heart froze in her chest when she remembered Voldemort could fly.
She loosened her grip on the creature and let herself fall through the air, slamming into the ground sooner than she expected.
Hermione stood and raised Gryffindor's sword in front of her.
The white mist was thicker than ever.
She angled the sword over her shoulder, looking to see what it reflected.
Her blood froze when she saw a pair of red eyes rushing towards her.
She imagined Voldemort's wand raised high, his lips about to whisper the killing curse...
Adrenaline pumped through Hermione's veins.
She whipped around and plunged the sword through the white mist.
She heard a sharp cry as the tip of the sword sliced through Voldemort's body.
He staggered and reached for Hermione's wrist, pulling her down with him.
The mist began to float upwards and a strange, silver light illuminated the bottom of the cavern.
Hermione lay there, stunned. She turned her head and saw that Nerina was lying only a few feet away.
Next to her, Voldemort looked at Gryffindor's sword, shocked to see that it was firmly lodged inside his chest.
Hermione backed away from him and crawled towards Nerina.
"Please, wake up, please..." Hermione whispered, shaking her. "We need to leave..."
Nerina's eyes flew open.
She froze when she saw Voldemort.
"He's dying," Hermione whispered.
She helped Nerina stand and together they searched for the tunnel that led them into the cavern but it was gone, buried underneath a mountain of rubble.
Hermione swallowed. "There has to be another way, maybe if we—"
Nerina was walking over to Voldemort. She leaned over him and reached for Gryffindor's sword. Slowly, she pulled it out of his body.
He cried out in agony.
"All these years you chased eternal life," Nerina whispered, leaning over him. "You tore your soul to pieces for it. Only to fail. Only to die a mortal man. Nothing was ever enough for you. Not even my mother."
Voldemort seized her wrist. His hands were clammy, his pulse shallow.
"I have not failed," he whispered, his eyes burning with rage. "It appears that you are my immortality."
Nerina looked down at his face, deformed by years of dark magic, and then Voldemort's hand fell limply to his side.
His eyes lost focus and his mouth went slack.
For several moments Hermione and Nerina stared at him in shock.
Then they heard a rushing sound.
Something fell from the white mist above them.
It was a long, black rope with silver markings.
Hermione was about to touch it when the ground trembled.
"Watch out!" Nerina shouted.
The cavern wall behind them shook.
Hermione spun around.
Rocks and dirt fell away to reveal a large tunnel.
Hermione stared at it, thunderstruck.
"There's runes burned on here," Nerina said, turning her attention back to the rope.
"What do they say?" Hermione asked.
"Both the tunnel and the rope lead to the surface, but we cannot take the same path together." Nerina paused, her brow furrowing. "Each path will try to kill the person that journeys on it..."
Hermione felt a chill run down her spine.
She still sensed the presence of the winged demons in the shadows. She wondered if they were biding their time, preparing to attack her again.
Nerina looked at Voldemort's body. "Take him with you, the Alliance and the Order must see that he is dead."
She backed away from the rope.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked.
"I'll take the tunnel. With the rope, you won't have to carry Voldemort's weight, it will pull you both to the surface. And you can fight whatever comes your way."
"What if the tunnel leads you to a dead end?" Hermione asked.
"I'll take my chances," said Nerina. "But first—"
She bent down and lifted something from the ground, brushing dirt away from it. It was a thin, silver cloth.
Harry's invisibility cloak.
"If I survive, Ms. Granger, I must slip away unnoticed." She looked down at the cloak. "But whether I live or die, you must promise me one thing. You must never tell anyone who I am."
Hermione looked at her in disbelief. "But the Order and the Alliance—they need to know the truth. People everywhere will learn your name."
Nerina looked at her gravely. "There is something far greater than fame, Ms. Granger, and that's freedom."
Hermione was silent.
"Don't you see?" Nerina asked. "The world must never learn who I am. It would give Voldemort's followers a reason to keep fighting in secret, biding their time to start a new war. And eventually, they'd take me prisoner, the perfect figurehead for their cause." She shook her head. "My origin is a secret that will lay buried in this chamber forever."
"But—" Hermione started.
"Don't worry for me, Ms. Granger, Voldemort is dead, and I am free at last."
Hermione swallowed. "You deserve a different kind of freedom."
"Perhaps," said Nerina.
Hermione stood. "You once told me that you were only loyal to yourself. But that isn't true. We'll win this war because of you."
"It's been an honor to fight alongside you, Ms. Granger," Nerina said proudly. She handed Hermione Gryffindor's sword and lifted Voldemort's wand from the ground. "Take it."
Hermione looked up at her, confused.
"Tom Riddle is gone," Nerina said simply. "This wand will show its allegiance to you if you are firm. You will need it, to face the dangers that are to come."
She pressed the wand into Hermione's palm.
"I must go now."
Nerina threw Harry's invisibility cloak around her shoulders and disappeared.
"Good luck, Ms. Granger," she whispered.
A set of footprints appeared in the dirt as she walked away. Hermione stared at them, watching their progress as they made their way down the tunnel.
A moment later the tunnel disappeared, replaced by solid wall again.
Hermione swallowed nervously. She hung Gryffindor's sword at her waist, and lifted Voldemort's corpse.
It took the last of her strength to drag him towards the rope.
With her wand she muttered a spell, and a jet of light wrapped itself around their bodies, tying them together.
As soon as Hermione touched the rope, her feet lifted off the ground.
She and Voldemort soared upwards.
Hermione trembled when she heard the familiar flapping of wings.
"Lumos!" she shouted.
In the wandlight, Hermione could see the faces of the demons. They had tiny black eyes, leathery skin and sharp, pointed teeth.
Hermione used Voldemort's body as a shield against them, but they clawed their way closer to her, eager to tear her to pieces.
"It's safer down here with us in the dark," they said in unison. "Let go of the rope, or our mistress will kill you."
Hermione felt a rush of wind.
"Lumos maxima!" she shouted. A ring of white light erupted from her wand.
She stared into the face of a witch with white eyes, grey skin and tangled, black hair. She wore a withered dress that billowed out behind her.
The woman gave a high-pitched cry and her hair disappeared into her scalp. Wings sprouted from her shoulders, and her long talons dug into Hermione's flesh, making a gash in her stomach.
Hermione looked down, watching blood spill from the wound.
The witch seized Hermione's shoulders and spun her.
Hermione clung to the rope as it twisted violently, dizzy from the momentum and the loss of blood.
When the spinning stopped, Hermione felt a terrible tug, and something cold against her skin.
She looked down again and nearly fainted.
The woman was sewing her skin with a pointed dagger and a chain for thread.
"NO!" Hermione shouted. She tried to kick her away, but the demons were all around her, shrieking. Their eyes ignited with bright blue flames.
Hermione stared at them, and they forced their way inside her head, showing her things that paralyzed her.
A muggle woman playing a violin for a group of Death Eaters, plucking at the strings until her fingers bled...
A couple drowning themselves in a well before they were captured by Voldemort's soldiers.
People lying dead in the streets...
Bodies burning in fields all over Britain...
The worst of the war.
Hermione raised her wand. "Malum arescet!" she shouted.
The spell hit the demons full-force.
Their eyes shrunk into their heads until they were left with two gaping black holes, their sockets empty.
They shrieked as their bodies shriveled and turned to dust.
Hermione turned her wand upon the bird-like woman next. "Corpus ardeat!"
The woman's body was scorched with never ending fire.
She screamed, her mouth opening wider and wider...
Hermione feared her jaw would snap.
Her skin started smoking and her wings disappeared into her shoulders.
She fell through the air, disappearing into the abyss below.
Hermione clung tightly to the rope with the last of her strength. It yanked her and Voldemort upwards at a vicious speed.
BANG!
Hermione looked up.
The blast came from somewhere above her.
Her pulse quickened.
They were nearing the surface...it sounded like the war was still raging...
As the blasts grew louder, Hermione realized there was no trap door above her, only solid earth.
She held her wand high, knowing she'd have to break herself free.
"Bombarda maxima!" she shouted.
The impact of the blast sent her flying.
Her temples pounded as she soared through the air.
She slammed into solid ground and Voldemort's body landed next to hers.
The magical thread that tethered them snapped.
Hermione heard screams, people shouting...there was smoke and dirt everywhere...she couldn't move, all she could do was clutch tightly to Gryffindor's sword.
Voldemort's Albanian forces filled the streets, led by Helen and Mason McKay, the last two surviving Death Eaters.
The Magical Alliance and the Order shot curses at them, but everyone stopped fighting when they saw Voldemort's body.
"Who's that?" someone shouted. "Who's lying in the middle of the street?"
Hermione gasped as a pair of hands seized her back, and turned her over.
She looked into a pair of golden eyes. Sebastián was smiling down at her.
He helped Hermione to her feet, and she swayed on the spot, her eyes sweeping over the crowd, but all she saw was a blur of faces.
"You've done well, Ms. Granger," Sebastián whispered. "You've met the devil and lived."
"IT'S VOLDEMORT!" someone shouted, pointing at the corpse at Hermione's feet. "HE'S DEAD!"
"It's him!" someone echoed. And then more voices, shouting it over and over again, so that all of London might hear, "VOLDEMORT'S DEAD!"
Silence followed.
Then there was movement at the far end of the street.
"WHO DID IT?" Helen McKay screamed, shoving the Albanians out of the way. "WHO MURDERED THE DARK LORD?!"
"It was Hermione Granger," said a voice filled with pride.
Hermione froze.
She knew that voice.
She recognized Neville Longbottom as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd.
Her knees almost buckled. She thought he'd died at Hogwarts.
Everyone watched Hermione in stunned silence. They looked at Voldemort dead at her feet, then at Gryffindor's sword hanging at her waist.
"Hermione Granger," Neville said again, then he raised his voice. "THE GREATEST WITCH OF THE AGE!"
There was silence at first, then a chorus of shouts from the Magical Alliance and the Order.
"HERMIONE GRANGER, THE GREATEST WITCH OF THE AGE!" they chanted in unison.
The chant soon became a roar.
Sebastián supported Hermione's weight on his arm as she faced the crowd.
People embraced each other, their clothes singed and their faces scarred.
Hermione's eyes swept past the throng, to the buildings that lined the street.
She froze when her eyes landed on St. Paul's Cathedral.
"Draco," she whispered, remembering she had begged Snape to take him there.
"SEIZE THEM!" a member of the Order shouted, as Voldemort's followers tried to escape.
Curses flew overhead.
Helen and Mason McKay tried to disapparate, but the Alliance knocked them down.
The Albanians ran. Many were captured, but Hermione knew many more would flee before the Order could reach them.
Hermione staggered as someone knocked into her.
She looked down and saw that Harry's invisibility cloak had been stuffed into her robes, and a small wooden box was wrapped inside it.
Nerina.
Hermione searched the crowd for her, and spotted the outline of her blue hood.
Nerina swept past the Order, and when she reached the other side of the street, she turned to Hermione and raised her hand in farewell.
Hermione raised her hand too, trying to tell her how grateful she was. How she would never forget her...
Nerina tipped her head to her. Then she gathered her cloak and vanished.
Hermione looked down at the box, wondering what was inside. Another blast sounded and she pushed it deeper inside her robes.
She looked up at the sky. Voldemort's obscurement charm was fading...
The sun was rising...
The Arévalos scattered, taking cover in buildings.
Many of Voldemort's Romanian vampires, however, willingly stepped into open courtyards, waiting for the sunlight to hit them.
They preferred to perish than let the Alliance take them prisoner.
Hermione ran to St. Paul's Cathedral.
Muggles crowded every street corner.
They watched in awe as the Dragomir flew over the city.
Hermione looked up, remembering that the Bulgarians had enchanted the ship to fly.
The ship's crew waved down at the muggles. They raised their wands and shot sparks into the sky. Others conjured flowers and threw them over the ship in celebration, letting the muggles catch them with their open hands.
By the time Hermione reached St. Paul's Cathedral, Voldemort's obscurement charm had lifted, and for the first time since the war started, unobstructed sunlight filled the streets of London.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you so much for reading! Hope you take a sec to vote and review :) The last chapter will post very soon.