"Harry? Harry!" Hermione called his name over and over again, but there was no reply. She was starting to panic and it's now been over an hour since she last saw him. Over an hour since he gave her some excuse about going to help Ginny. She had a bad feeling about it and her suspicions were only getting worse as time moved forward.
No, he wouldn't just give himself up after all we've done. Telling herself that was the only way to feel better.
A flash of red light in front of her and hit a boy she didn't recognize. She was abruptly pulled from her thoughts and felt the need to help her schoolmates. She glanced in the direction the light had came from and saw Bellatrix standing across the corridor with a satisfied grin plastered on her face. Before she could pull her wand up, Bellatrix was quick with another spell.
"Avada Kedavra!"
This one was directed at Hermione and she managed to dodge the curse by a couple of centimeters. She fell to the ground and focused on the coldness of the marble floor while she gathered her bearings. She didn't want to admit it, but she thought about giving up. She couldn't hide the tears that were rolling down her face as she struggled to breathe.
"Hermione! Hermione," she heard someone calling her name. "Over here!"
She frantically picked her head up to assess her surrounding. Ron was calling out to her over the chaos. Hermione felt a flutter in her chest as she saw his familiar face. After ensuring that Bellatrix's attention was elsewhere for the moment, she pushed herself of the ground. With a newfound will to fight, she reminded herself of why she's needed.
Ron. The others.
The moment of relief was only that. Just a moment, short lived. The second she turned her head to see if Bellatrix was paying them any attention, she was deflecting curse after curse. Most of them were darks spells she didn't recognize or know the counter curse for. Instead, she relied on protection and deflection. Hermione tried not to panic as she felt Bellatrix taking the upper hand. Normally, Hermione's wand skills would have been superior but she was feeling the exhaustion.
Ron seemed to notice this and tried to help Hermione by sending hexes towards Bellatrix. It was no secret that Ron wasn't as gifted, but his efforts were proving to be a great distraction. Enough to give Hermione some openings to fire back. Hermione managed to hit her with a mild stinging hex, but it wasn't enough to stop Bellatrix's retaliation. Hermione registered the words before the spell hit her with full force.
"Crucio!"
The pain was more than she could handle. She could feel each of her muscles spasming and her brain rattling around in her skull. It took all of her willpower not to rip her skin off. Hermione didn't have much of a choice when she laid down on the ground and a scream of pure agony ripped its way out of her body.
Although her vision was blurry from the pain and tears, she saw Ron rushing to her side. Through gritted teeth, she tried to tell him No, keep fighting, but the words weren't coming out. He dropped down beside her and tried his best to break the curse. Bellatrix's hold was tight. Each step she took closer, the pain intensified.
"Hermione," he placed a hand on her head. "It's going to be okay"
She could hear the concern in his voice. Unable to respond while her body seized, she laid limp as the curse wreaked havoc on her body. Her eyes were filled with tears and she could taste the metallic tang in her mouth from biting her tongue. Suddenly, she felt the claws of the curse start to recede. From what she could see, it seemed as though Ron had charged Bellatrix and was trying to disarm her.
Without having to give it much thought, Hermione knew this was bad. She knew Ron wouldn't be able to take Bellatrix down. Even though the effects of the curse were starting to wear off, she couldn't move. It felt like her limbs had been filled with lead and each movement only reminded her of the pain she had just experienced.
Another cry escaped from her lips when she tried to push herself off the ground but she didn't give up. As Ron was getting backed against the wall, her movements only became more frantic. It was like a fawn trying to walk for the first time. Her movements were clumsy and she getting falling back down.
If only I could find my wand, she was thinking to herself. Even if she did get up, what help would she be if she didn't have her wand. Panic continued to consumer her as she watched the events unfold. It was only a matter of time before the inevitable.
Driven by the need to save her friend, she stumbled the few feet to where he wand had ended up. Sadly for her, Bellatrix was several steps ahead. Hermione was stunned before she had a spell in mind or lifted her wand. She was stuck. She couldn't move, couldn't talk. She was frozen in place as she watched the witch point her wand at Ron for a final time.
Ron seemed to know what was happening because instead of trying to dodge the curse, he simply looked over at Hermione. Her heart sank in her chest and they stared at one another. No words needed to be exchanged. Ron nodded his head in her direction and offered a weak smile. She squeezed her eyes closed in response and prayed that he understood.
As her eyes opened once more, she was sure her heart was going to explode because all she could hear was the thundering in her chest. She didn't even hear the words come out of Bellatrix's wand. Just saw the flash of green light.
The curse hit Ron square in the chest. His body slumped against the wall. If she didn't know any better, it looked as though he was just asleep. Despite the blood and cuts, his face could almost be described as peaceful.
She felt a moment of comfort knowing he was done fighting. Although, that was only a moment. In its place, she became consumed with the need for revenge. Finally finding her footing, Hermione went on the attack like she had never done before.
She was mostly use to protecting herself and using simply spells to disarm or stop her opponents. This time, she was throwing every spell she knew could draw blood.
Bellatrix must have noticed the change in Hermione because the smug grin was wiped away. With each spell Hermione cast, Bellatrix took a step back. Ron may not have been talented with a wand, but Hermione's was. And it was showing.
Hermione duelled patiently. Bellatrix continued to grow frustrated that she was getting bested by the "nasty mudblood" and Hermione knew this would cause her to make a mistake eventually.
When that mistake was made, Hermione wasted no time. It was a simple falter when Bellatrix steadied herself and that was all Hermione needed.
"Sectumsempra," she screamed with as much force she could muster.
The spell had its intended effect. Deep lacerations appeared on the witch's chest and blood soaked the ground around her. With everyone too busy fighting their own battles, no one threw Bellatrix a second glance as she bled out on the floor.
Hermione started running towards Ron's body and almost collided with Ginny. Ginny felt nothing but relief running into her friend. As a weight was lifted on her shoulders, it was clear to Hermione that she hadn't seen her brother's body yet.
Not knowing how to break the news, Hermione started to sob. All of the emotions she had been holding back were now coming out as she grieved the loss of Ron. Maybe Harry too, for all she knew.
Ginny didn't take long to realize what happened. The moment she did, the air was pierced with a blood curdling scream. That was now the second dead brother she'd seen today. It wasn't that Hermione didn't sympathize with her friend's pain, but she was too consumed in her own to notice.
With Ron gone and Harry missing, Hermione could feel nothing but hopelessness.
The end is near, she kept telling herself. It has to be.
Whatever that end may be, Hermione honestly didn't care. She just wanted it to stop.
Whilst the two cried over Ron, a crowd had started amassing outside the doors. Hermione suddenly realized that everyone had gone quiet and then she lifted her head to see what was happening. That brown hair and those round glasses were unmistakably Harry. Her heart fluttered at the sight of her friend, but shattered when she processed what was happening.
It was Harry. He was here. Except he was draped lifelessly over Hagrid's arms. His limbs swung side to side with each of Hagrid's steps. Hagrid placed Harry down on the ground, taking care to watch his head.
Voldemort appeared as the death eaters parted to let him through. His steps were slow and he took his time in examining the crowd. He looked ill, it was undeniable. Hermione knew it was because Voldemort has just lost one of his final horcruxes. She couldn't feel happy about that knowing what is had cost.
She blamed herself partly. When Harry had told them what he discovered from Snape's memories, he promised that he wasn't going to sacrifice himself.
I should have stayed with him.
"Harry Potter is dead," Voldemort eventually called out. Her started circling Harry's body and pushed him with his foot for good measure.
"You see? He's dead. The boy who lived is dead. Nothing but a boy who relied on others to sacrifice themselves for him."
Hermione knew the words coming out of his mouth weren't true. Harry was so much more than that. The death eaters on the other hand, were eating up the speech. Some praising Voldemort's actions, others continued to mock Harry. A select few had slipped into the outskirts of the crowd and remained quiet. Amongst those few, Hermione saw the blonde hair of Malfoy and his mother.
On the other side of the opening, cries and screams poured out as people began to accept their defeat. Voldemort only let them go on for a moment before he silenced the crowd. The air felt thick as he held up his arms and continued to speak.
"You all have two choices. Surrender and pledge your allegiance to me." There was a pause as a devilish smirk crept across the snake-like features. "Or die. The choice seems simple enough to me, but I'm sure some of you will make a foolish decision."
Voldemort lowered his arms and people began to whisper to each other. No one made any movement to join Voldemort. In his mind, that meant everyone had made their decision. He clucked his tongue a few times while shaking his head in disapproval. Without wasting anymore time, Voldemort made a gesture to his followers and gave them permission to kill whoever was left.
That was the intention anyway. The death eaters didn't move when they were commanded. Everyone was distracted by the chaos unfolding in front of Hagrid. Harry had disappeared and his voice echoed from across the courtyard.
"Did you think it would be that easy, Tom?"
If Voldemort had looked ill before, he was on the brink of death now. He grabbed onto a nearby arm to support himself as he whirled around to face Harry.
"Harry Potter," he cooed.
Voldemort immediately aimed his wand at Harry, not wanting to give him a chance to escape. Harry jumped and hid from the curses as he was without a wand. As others tried to intervene, they were stopped by deatheaters.
It must have been an unspoken rule amongst them that no one could interfere with Voldemort killing Harry.
Everything was slowly descending back into chaos as Voldemort blew up pillar after pillar and the death eaters started fighting the remaining members of the other side. Ginny and Hermione stayed together and fought death eaters they didn't recognize.
No one could have predicted what came next, especially Voldemort himself. None other than Draco Malfoy had darted into the opening.
"Potter," he frantically called out.
Harry glanced over as Draco threw him his wand and then Draco disappeared into the mass of black robes.
Harry went on the offensive now that he too had a wand. Everyone was engrossed in their own fights trying to stay alive. After what seemed like hours, there was a scream. The scream was so violent that the walls of the castle shook and the ground began to vibrate.
Voldemort dropped to his knees and clutched his head. Opposite of him, Neville limped out holding the sword of Godric Gryffindor that was covered in blood. Neville side stepped to reveal the severed head and corpse of Nagini.
The final horcrux had been destroyed. Harry took Voldemort's weakness as his shot to take him out. Harry threw spell after spell, but Voldemort only became more deadly and fearful with the loss of the snake.
Harry ducked behind the remains of a stone pillar as Voldemort blew up the spot he stood seconds before.
""There are no more horcruxes. It's just me and you now, Tom," Harry called out from his hiding spot. "Neither can live while the other survives, isn't that how it goes? Unfortunately for you, only one of us is going to be leaving for good."
Harry peeked around the pillar and unsuccessfully tried to disarm Voldemort. Voldemort was panting as he seethed with rage. His chest rattled as he laughed in response to Harry's threat.
"You think you will triumph? The same boy who has only survived because Dumbledore was pulling the strings? Surely you don't think you can beat me."
Voldemort exploded the remaining structure surrounding Harry.
"Or are you referring to Dumbledore's favorite solution again? Is it love?"
It was clear that Voldemort was taunting Harry and trying to get a reaction out of him. Voldemort needed him to be out in the open to kill him.
"Who's going to sacrifice themselves this time now that dear mother and father are dead?"
Harry fell right into the trap. He jumped out and tried once again to disarm Voldemort.
"Don't you dare talk about my parents," he commanded.
Just as the first rays of light spilled over the top of the castle, Voldemort and Harry cast their spells in unison. Harry attempted to disarm Voldemort, and Voldemort was attempting to kill Harry. The two spells collided with a bang that was big enough to stop the fighting around them. For a minute, everyone just stared as the rays of light battled each other.
It took what felt like an eternity for Harry to overpower Voldemort's curse. He wasn't sure how he did it, but his wand, the one gifted by Draco, had just defeated the Elder Wand. The deflected killing curse rebounded and hit Voldemort.
His white body fell to the ground.
The crowd was quiet for a moment, waiting anxiously to see if he'd get back up. When it appeared that it was truly over, people started cheering and hugging. Death eaters were fleeing to prevent capture.
Draco stood only a few feet away from Hermione. The two made eye contact for the briefest second before he was pulled off by his mother. As Hermione stared at the place she had been standing, she was aggressively pulled into an embrace by Harry.
"Hermione," he was shaking her now. "It's over!"
Hermione didn't want him to notice his friend's lifeless body. She wished they could live in this moment for a little longer to prevent Harry from feeling the pain she and Ginny had experienced. When Harry saw Ginny holding her dead brother's hand, his eyes began to fill with tears. Hermione couldn't make out what he was saying, but he started cursing and blaming himself as well.
It was quite the devastating scene, was all Hermione could think about. The Golden Trio was breaking apart. At least it was over.
It's all over.