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Disclaimer: I don’t own Harry Potter or any of the characters, I just like to play with them
Apocalypse
A tall blond man appeared out of thin air, a second later a woman appeared beside him. Together they followed a well manicured garden path up toward a large manor house.
“The Dark Lord himself honors your house with his presence?” The woman was unable to keep the envy out of her voice.
“Silence, Bella! Wait until we’re indoors!” The blond looked around, just because he didn’t see the enemy didn’t mean they weren’t out there.
Lucius Malfoy was absolutely right, he didn’t see them and they were out there. What’s more, they now knew the exact location of Voldemort.
Two wizards peered out from the ornate gardens at Malfoy Manor, they would have been too far away to catch the interchange between Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange had it not been for a pair of Extendable Ears that Molly Weasley had confiscated from her twin sons.
Sirius, who was tailing Bellatrix Lestrange, smiled grimly at Remus, who was tailing Lucius Malfoy. The ticking of the doomsday clock was nearly deafening, the world they knew was hours away from all out warfare.
“You go,” whispered Sirius. “I’ll keep watch, I’ll send a patronus if anything changes.”
Remus eyed his childhood friend critically, sizing him up. “Sirius, please promise me you’ll wait for backup before doing anything.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll wait, I may be rash but I’m not stupid. I’ll get my chance to repay Bella, all in good time.” He gestured emphatically that Remus should leave.
“Promise me, Sirius. Swear on our friendship, as a Marauder.” Remus felt uneasy about leaving Sirius to his own devices. The last time he saw his friend he was behaving oddly, there had been something fatalistic about Sirius’ demeanor. Wait, no…that wasn’t exactly right. That was the last time he had spoken to Sirius. The last time he saw Sirius was in the library of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. He had seen quite a lot of Sirius and Hermione, too. The two encounters with Sirius, on the same day no less, were rather incongruous. He had been meaning to ask Sirius about that day.
Molly Weasley had asked Remus to call Hermione and Sirius to the Order meeting. They learned from Rita that the pair was somewhere in the house together and that Hermione was in ‘a snit’ over something. Remus expected to walk in on a fight, he was prepared for that. What he was not prepared for was to find Hermione riding Sirius like he was a racehorse. He had walked in at the moment of their completion, much to his embarrassment.
The couple hadn’t heard Remus, who had exited like he was being chased by dementors. Try as he might he couldn’t chase the scene out of his head. If Sirius was avoiding her by staying at the castle then what was the interchange in the library about? Was there love between these two and was Sirius fighting it?
“Did you hear me, Remus? I said I promise I won’t do anything without back up.” Sirius seemed a little annoyed that his solemn oath was all but ignored by his friend.
“I’m sorry, Padfoot. For some reason I was reminded of my last trip to the Black family library.” Sirius found he was rather annoyed by Remus’ tone and the odd smile playing across his features.
“Oh, find something interesting to read?” Sirius’ tone dripped with sarcasm, he sensed that Remus had something to say.
“Not to read, no.” Remus wore a cocky grin worthy of Sirius himself.
“Is there a point? Would you mind terribly making it so you can go tell the Order that Voldemort is here?” Sirius knew Remus was toying with him but the subject matter itself was proving elusive.
Remus flicked his wand and sent off a patronus. “There is no need for me to go in person. My point, dear Padfoot, is that I saw something in the library that I would rather not have.”
“Oh,” said Sirius, comprehension dawning. “Sorry about that. So, was that it? I mean, that’s not the first time you’ve caught me shagging.” Sirius wasn’t feeling as nonchalant as he was trying to portray. Hermione wasn’t sport, the intimacy was real and was something Sirius would have preferred to keep private.
“I just think its interesting that earlier that same day you were avoiding her and then that night shagging her in the library.”
“That was private…” Began Sirius but Remus cut him off.
“Yes, it certainly was. If you conducted your ‘private’ in private instead of a common area then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Remus was pretty sure he knew what was going on. He knew what Sirius thought of himself. The outward image of self-confident arrogance was habit, at one time it had been real. Azkaban had taken a lot out of Sirius and left him convinced of his worthlessness. He knew Sirius would have trouble believing he deserved Hermione or anyone to love for that matter.
“We aren’t having this conversation, Moony.” Sirius knew Remus could see his vulnerability and Sirius was at his limit of feeling vulnerable. Not that he would define it in such simple terms. Sirius preferred his melodrama, where he was noble and self sacrificing. He was loath to admit to feeling undeserving or unworthy.
“Oh, yes we certainly are, Padfoot. So, tell me…why you were hiding from her?”
Sirius sighed heavily, “I’ve not been completely upfront with her.”
“Are you in love with her?” Remus took Sirius’ silence as a yes. “Have you told her?” More silence. “So the question becomes why haven’t you told her?”
“Why?” Asked Sirius, incredulity evident in his tone. “Is that really a question? She didn’t ask to be chained to a wizard twice her age, she has her whole life ahead of her. She should be with someone her own age to explore it with, not an old wizard who is damaged goods.”
“You’re not damaged…” Remus tried to defend Sirius against himself but was cut off.
“Azkaban took everything I had to give.” Sirius really didn’t want to explain himself. Remus knew all this.
“Does she love you?” Remus already knew the answer to this question. When Sirius and Hermione returned it was more than obvious how she felt about him.
“When are you going to tell her, Sirius?” Remus nudged his friend a little.
“I’m a selfish man, Moony. I was about to tell her I loved her but Molly came barging in. I guess that was your doing?”
“There was no way I was going to interrupt you two.”
“Coward!” Sirius laughed lightly at his friend. “Well, she did. Ever since I’ve been second guessing myself.”
“It’s ok to let yourself have this, Sirius.” Remus pushed at the branches of the bush they were hiding in.
“I’m thirty nine, “ blurted Sirius.
“That is a technicality,” replied Remus, an eyebrow cocked in challenge.
“What?” Said Sirius, a bit stupidly.
“Oh, please. What thirty nine year old do you act like? I’ll tell you. None.” Remus bit his words with mock impatience.
“What’s your point?” It irritated Sirius that Remus was using a Molly Weasley type of argument.
“My point? My real point is that you spent twelve years living among dementors. I know what you think of yourself and why wouldn’t you? Your self perception is distorted. You are a good man, Sirius.” Remus forced Sirius to look him in the eye.
“You’ve little to worry about, Remus. I’m not letting her go. I can’t bring myself to do it, believe me I’ve tried.” Sirius shifted uncomfortably on the ground, branches from the bush they were hiding in were poking at him.
“Does she make you happy?” Remus already knew the answer.
“I’ve only had one nightmare in the last two months. Just one nightmare since she came and stayed with me.” Remus stared at him in shock, he had wondered how Hermione would deal with the nightmares. Apparently she made them go away.
“Are you sure that it’s her? Maybe you were finally getting over them.”
“Positive. That’s when I knew I couldn’t ever let her go. When I heard her sweet voice I instantly knew I wasn’t in Azkaban.” Sirius’ voice was soft and quiet. He was a little embarrassed opening himself up this way. Hermione had wrought an incredible change in the once jaded man.
Remus was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Why don’t you go back to headquarters, let them know where I am and speak with that girl of yours.”
Sirius’ face broke out in an incredible smile. “You know, I think I will do just that.”
Remus chuckled as his friend left with a soft pop.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione paced nervously back and forth in front of the fireplace in the drawing room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She was nervous because she knew that when Sirius found out what she was about to do, he would be absolutely furious. She read over the note she was leaving one more time and then sat pensively in the chair, waiting.
Harry and Ron wouldn’t contact her for at least another hour, the boys had to dodge prying eyes of their own. She fervently hoped Sirius didn’t return before she had a chance to get away, he would stop all three of them if he could. He treated all of them as adults but she was fairly certain his patience wouldn’t extend to what they were about to embark on.
The current situation wasn’t helping the tension she felt where he was concerned. A week ago in this house, upstairs in the Black family library she was certain he was seconds away from declaring his love for her. The moment was ruined when Molly Weasley came crashing in.
Hermione was mortified to be caught naked on top of Sirius, only minutes after climaxing. She hopped off him and jumped into her clothes as quickly as possible. Sirius was more relaxed about being caught, he seemed to be humoring Molly who was ranting about proper behavior.
Molly finished her rant by telling them the Order was ready and waiting for Hermione’s presentation. Hermione colored when she thought about the fact that she was late to her first Order meeting. She was certain everyone knew what she’d been up to. She pulled herself together and gave a professional lecture on making a personal golem.
The second half of the meeting involved Dumbledore passing out missions. Sirius would be tailing Bellatrix Lestrange starting directly after the meeting. There would be no time to talk, no time for him to respond to what she had said.
He took a minute to kiss her hard on the lips. He promised her he would be safe, he promised they would talk as soon as he got back. She had been unable to sleep that night, her stomach was in knots for days afterward.
Bellatrix had already killed Sirius once, Hermione was beside herself with fear that it would happen again. It was logical that he tail her, she was probably the most dangerous of all the death eaters and Sirius knew her best. She was crazy, unpredictable and very, very smart. Sirius probably had the most dangerous mission of all.
Well, the most dangerous of the missions the Order had handed out. Hermione and Ron were going with Harry to fulfill the prophecy, they weren’t even sure what lay ahead of them. The Order had taken care of the horcruxes, the only things left were Nagini and Voldemort himself.
The Trio knew that Dumbledore was trying to spare Harry in vain. The only thing that would come of it was more deaths, more pain, more pieces to pick up later. The battlefield was set, Harry knew Voldemort would come looking for him. They were as ready as they could possibly be.
Hermione had filled Harry and Ron in on all she knew. Unbeknownst to Dumbledore the Trio had been conversing with the mirror Sirius had given Harry. Hermione had repaired it and then stolen its mate from Sirius.
The future was hanging by a thread, the next few hours would decide the fate for the wizarding world as well as individual lives. There was no guarantee that any of them would return from the field of battle. The things left unsaid between Hermione and Sirius weighed heavily on her heart.
Hermione heard a noise on the stairs and felt a moment of panic, she ran to see who it was and groaned in frustration. “Rita,” she said, darkly.
A moment later Rita Skeeter wandered into the drawing room, she looked at Hermione and noticed several things. Hermione was agitated, pacing back and forth and kept looking at a letter on a table. Rita read people well and knew something was up with the girl.
“So,” said Rita, some of the snap had returned to her voice. “You and dear Sirius, well I never would have guessed it.”
“Well, you never can tell,” said Hermione absentmindedly, clearly distracted.
“True,” agreed Rita. “Affairs of the heart and all.”
“So, when did you and Sirius fall in love?” Rita was conducting the first part of that interview.
Hermione wasn’t stupid, she looked at Rita and huffily left the room for the kitchen. Rita watched her leave and walked over to the letter. She picked it up and read it, all the color drained out of her face.
Dear Sirius,
I know you aren’t going to understand but I need you to try. According to the prophecy Harry has to face Voldemort, the only way to defeat Voldemort is for Harry to defeat him. I know the Order is trying to protect him from that but it isn’t possible.
Harry, Ron and I have faced many dangers and we always did it together. Ron and I can’t let Harry face this last challenge alone. You wouldn’t have done any less for James or Remus, please understand why I have to do this.
I love you with all my heart,
Hermione
Rita stormed into the kitchen, letter in hand. Hermione was stirring a cup of tea and looking intently into a little mirror.
“Have you lost your mind?” Rita slammed the letter down onto the table.
“No,” said Hermione coolly. “But I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
“So the rumors are true, Harry is the chosen one. What does that have to with you?” Rita genuinely liked Sirius, she might detest this girl but if anything happened to her Sirius would be crushed.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Hermione calmly drank her tea, she wouldn’t be goaded into telling Rita a thing.
“Hermione! Are you there?” Harry’s voice came from the mirror.
“Hold on Harry!” Hermione spoke into the mirror. She raised her wand against Rita, who wasn’t at all ready. “Petrificus Totalis!” Rita Skeeter fell to floor, stiff as a board.
Hermione ran into the drawing room. “Where Harry?”
“Dumbledore’s office, hurry!” Hermione threw floo powder into the fireplace and was swept away in whirling green flames.
Less than a minute later the front open and closed as someone came in. Sirius sprinted into his childhood home calling happily out to his wife. The smile left his face when he found Rita on the kitchen floor. He released the spell and helped Rita to her feet.
“What happened? Where’s Hermione?” Rita cringed at the panic in Sirius’ voice. She picked up the letter and handed it to him.
“Dammit!” Sirius slammed his fist onto the table causing Rita to jump. “Where did she go?”
“She wouldn’t let me hear, she was talking into a mirror to Harry Potter.” Rita was backing away from Sirius, she had never seen him so angry. He more closely resembled the escapee from the wanted posters than she had ever seen him.
“Did she leave out the front?” Sirius’ voice was angry but eerily calm.
“N-no,” stammered Rita. “Floo, I think.”
“Hogwarts,” muttered Sirius darkly. He flicked his wand and sent three patronuses in three different directions. “Stay here,” he ordered to Rita.
“Was I going somewhere?”
Sirius rolled his eyes at her and walked out of the kitchen. Rita followed hot on his heels. Sirius grabbed a handful of floo, Rita’s hand on his arm made him pause. “You aren’t going after her, you could be killed!”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Sirius pulled his arm out of her grasp and threw in the powder, he was gone in a whirl of green flames.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione, Ron and Harry stood along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione was creating ten look alike golems for Harry and one each for herself and Ron. She was trying to hurry, they were well hidden but time was running short. They had already seen death eaters scouting out the school grounds, they had done well not to be spotted.
Harry was squatting with his head in his hands while Ron kept an eye on the wards.
“He’s coming.” Harry stood, still rubbing his scar. “Are you ready, Hermione?”
“Yes, all done.” To the casual observer, in the light of the waning moon, it would appear that there were fifteen people. In truth there were only three, the Harry golems set out in different directions, they were meant to draw fire away from the real Harry who had to live.
Hermione scanned the scene laid out before them, she could see how the lines of battle were set up. They were coming up from the side, to the right was the castle and its defenders, to the left was Voldemort and the death eaters.
Something had happened, the lines began to run at each other, curses were flying from both sides. The Trio kept their eyes sharp, looking for the visage of Voldemort. Neither side had spotted them yet, they moved forward slowly but with purpose.
Ron spotted Voldemort first, the first of the curses came flying toward them. Hermione ducked a Killing Curse. It had come from none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.
“Get away from my wife, Bella.” Hermione’s head whipped around, Sirius was standing tall, his wand drawn down on Bellatrix Lestrange.
Bellatrix grinned maniacally, instead of answering Sirius she pointed her wand at Hermione and shrieked, “Avada Kedavra!”
Apocalypse
A tall blond man appeared out of thin air, a second later a woman appeared beside him. Together they followed a well manicured garden path up toward a large manor house.
“The Dark Lord himself honors your house with his presence?” The woman was unable to keep the envy out of her voice.
“Silence, Bella! Wait until we’re indoors!” The blond looked around, just because he didn’t see the enemy didn’t mean they weren’t out there.
Lucius Malfoy was absolutely right, he didn’t see them and they were out there. What’s more, they now knew the exact location of Voldemort.
Two wizards peered out from the ornate gardens at Malfoy Manor, they would have been too far away to catch the interchange between Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange had it not been for a pair of Extendable Ears that Molly Weasley had confiscated from her twin sons.
Sirius, who was tailing Bellatrix Lestrange, smiled grimly at Remus, who was tailing Lucius Malfoy. The ticking of the doomsday clock was nearly deafening, the world they knew was hours away from all out warfare.
“You go,” whispered Sirius. “I’ll keep watch, I’ll send a patronus if anything changes.”
Remus eyed his childhood friend critically, sizing him up. “Sirius, please promise me you’ll wait for backup before doing anything.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll wait, I may be rash but I’m not stupid. I’ll get my chance to repay Bella, all in good time.” He gestured emphatically that Remus should leave.
“Promise me, Sirius. Swear on our friendship, as a Marauder.” Remus felt uneasy about leaving Sirius to his own devices. The last time he saw his friend he was behaving oddly, there had been something fatalistic about Sirius’ demeanor. Wait, no…that wasn’t exactly right. That was the last time he had spoken to Sirius. The last time he saw Sirius was in the library of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. He had seen quite a lot of Sirius and Hermione, too. The two encounters with Sirius, on the same day no less, were rather incongruous. He had been meaning to ask Sirius about that day.
Molly Weasley had asked Remus to call Hermione and Sirius to the Order meeting. They learned from Rita that the pair was somewhere in the house together and that Hermione was in ‘a snit’ over something. Remus expected to walk in on a fight, he was prepared for that. What he was not prepared for was to find Hermione riding Sirius like he was a racehorse. He had walked in at the moment of their completion, much to his embarrassment.
The couple hadn’t heard Remus, who had exited like he was being chased by dementors. Try as he might he couldn’t chase the scene out of his head. If Sirius was avoiding her by staying at the castle then what was the interchange in the library about? Was there love between these two and was Sirius fighting it?
“Did you hear me, Remus? I said I promise I won’t do anything without back up.” Sirius seemed a little annoyed that his solemn oath was all but ignored by his friend.
“I’m sorry, Padfoot. For some reason I was reminded of my last trip to the Black family library.” Sirius found he was rather annoyed by Remus’ tone and the odd smile playing across his features.
“Oh, find something interesting to read?” Sirius’ tone dripped with sarcasm, he sensed that Remus had something to say.
“Not to read, no.” Remus wore a cocky grin worthy of Sirius himself.
“Is there a point? Would you mind terribly making it so you can go tell the Order that Voldemort is here?” Sirius knew Remus was toying with him but the subject matter itself was proving elusive.
Remus flicked his wand and sent off a patronus. “There is no need for me to go in person. My point, dear Padfoot, is that I saw something in the library that I would rather not have.”
“Oh,” said Sirius, comprehension dawning. “Sorry about that. So, was that it? I mean, that’s not the first time you’ve caught me shagging.” Sirius wasn’t feeling as nonchalant as he was trying to portray. Hermione wasn’t sport, the intimacy was real and was something Sirius would have preferred to keep private.
“I just think its interesting that earlier that same day you were avoiding her and then that night shagging her in the library.”
“That was private…” Began Sirius but Remus cut him off.
“Yes, it certainly was. If you conducted your ‘private’ in private instead of a common area then we wouldn’t be having this conversation.” Remus was pretty sure he knew what was going on. He knew what Sirius thought of himself. The outward image of self-confident arrogance was habit, at one time it had been real. Azkaban had taken a lot out of Sirius and left him convinced of his worthlessness. He knew Sirius would have trouble believing he deserved Hermione or anyone to love for that matter.
“We aren’t having this conversation, Moony.” Sirius knew Remus could see his vulnerability and Sirius was at his limit of feeling vulnerable. Not that he would define it in such simple terms. Sirius preferred his melodrama, where he was noble and self sacrificing. He was loath to admit to feeling undeserving or unworthy.
“Oh, yes we certainly are, Padfoot. So, tell me…why you were hiding from her?”
Sirius sighed heavily, “I’ve not been completely upfront with her.”
“Are you in love with her?” Remus took Sirius’ silence as a yes. “Have you told her?” More silence. “So the question becomes why haven’t you told her?”
“Why?” Asked Sirius, incredulity evident in his tone. “Is that really a question? She didn’t ask to be chained to a wizard twice her age, she has her whole life ahead of her. She should be with someone her own age to explore it with, not an old wizard who is damaged goods.”
“You’re not damaged…” Remus tried to defend Sirius against himself but was cut off.
“Azkaban took everything I had to give.” Sirius really didn’t want to explain himself. Remus knew all this.
“Does she love you?” Remus already knew the answer to this question. When Sirius and Hermione returned it was more than obvious how she felt about him.
“When are you going to tell her, Sirius?” Remus nudged his friend a little.
“I’m a selfish man, Moony. I was about to tell her I loved her but Molly came barging in. I guess that was your doing?”
“There was no way I was going to interrupt you two.”
“Coward!” Sirius laughed lightly at his friend. “Well, she did. Ever since I’ve been second guessing myself.”
“It’s ok to let yourself have this, Sirius.” Remus pushed at the branches of the bush they were hiding in.
“I’m thirty nine, “ blurted Sirius.
“That is a technicality,” replied Remus, an eyebrow cocked in challenge.
“What?” Said Sirius, a bit stupidly.
“Oh, please. What thirty nine year old do you act like? I’ll tell you. None.” Remus bit his words with mock impatience.
“What’s your point?” It irritated Sirius that Remus was using a Molly Weasley type of argument.
“My point? My real point is that you spent twelve years living among dementors. I know what you think of yourself and why wouldn’t you? Your self perception is distorted. You are a good man, Sirius.” Remus forced Sirius to look him in the eye.
“You’ve little to worry about, Remus. I’m not letting her go. I can’t bring myself to do it, believe me I’ve tried.” Sirius shifted uncomfortably on the ground, branches from the bush they were hiding in were poking at him.
“Does she make you happy?” Remus already knew the answer.
“I’ve only had one nightmare in the last two months. Just one nightmare since she came and stayed with me.” Remus stared at him in shock, he had wondered how Hermione would deal with the nightmares. Apparently she made them go away.
“Are you sure that it’s her? Maybe you were finally getting over them.”
“Positive. That’s when I knew I couldn’t ever let her go. When I heard her sweet voice I instantly knew I wasn’t in Azkaban.” Sirius’ voice was soft and quiet. He was a little embarrassed opening himself up this way. Hermione had wrought an incredible change in the once jaded man.
Remus was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “Why don’t you go back to headquarters, let them know where I am and speak with that girl of yours.”
Sirius’ face broke out in an incredible smile. “You know, I think I will do just that.”
Remus chuckled as his friend left with a soft pop.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione paced nervously back and forth in front of the fireplace in the drawing room of number twelve, Grimmauld Place. She was nervous because she knew that when Sirius found out what she was about to do, he would be absolutely furious. She read over the note she was leaving one more time and then sat pensively in the chair, waiting.
Harry and Ron wouldn’t contact her for at least another hour, the boys had to dodge prying eyes of their own. She fervently hoped Sirius didn’t return before she had a chance to get away, he would stop all three of them if he could. He treated all of them as adults but she was fairly certain his patience wouldn’t extend to what they were about to embark on.
The current situation wasn’t helping the tension she felt where he was concerned. A week ago in this house, upstairs in the Black family library she was certain he was seconds away from declaring his love for her. The moment was ruined when Molly Weasley came crashing in.
Hermione was mortified to be caught naked on top of Sirius, only minutes after climaxing. She hopped off him and jumped into her clothes as quickly as possible. Sirius was more relaxed about being caught, he seemed to be humoring Molly who was ranting about proper behavior.
Molly finished her rant by telling them the Order was ready and waiting for Hermione’s presentation. Hermione colored when she thought about the fact that she was late to her first Order meeting. She was certain everyone knew what she’d been up to. She pulled herself together and gave a professional lecture on making a personal golem.
The second half of the meeting involved Dumbledore passing out missions. Sirius would be tailing Bellatrix Lestrange starting directly after the meeting. There would be no time to talk, no time for him to respond to what she had said.
He took a minute to kiss her hard on the lips. He promised her he would be safe, he promised they would talk as soon as he got back. She had been unable to sleep that night, her stomach was in knots for days afterward.
Bellatrix had already killed Sirius once, Hermione was beside herself with fear that it would happen again. It was logical that he tail her, she was probably the most dangerous of all the death eaters and Sirius knew her best. She was crazy, unpredictable and very, very smart. Sirius probably had the most dangerous mission of all.
Well, the most dangerous of the missions the Order had handed out. Hermione and Ron were going with Harry to fulfill the prophecy, they weren’t even sure what lay ahead of them. The Order had taken care of the horcruxes, the only things left were Nagini and Voldemort himself.
The Trio knew that Dumbledore was trying to spare Harry in vain. The only thing that would come of it was more deaths, more pain, more pieces to pick up later. The battlefield was set, Harry knew Voldemort would come looking for him. They were as ready as they could possibly be.
Hermione had filled Harry and Ron in on all she knew. Unbeknownst to Dumbledore the Trio had been conversing with the mirror Sirius had given Harry. Hermione had repaired it and then stolen its mate from Sirius.
The future was hanging by a thread, the next few hours would decide the fate for the wizarding world as well as individual lives. There was no guarantee that any of them would return from the field of battle. The things left unsaid between Hermione and Sirius weighed heavily on her heart.
Hermione heard a noise on the stairs and felt a moment of panic, she ran to see who it was and groaned in frustration. “Rita,” she said, darkly.
A moment later Rita Skeeter wandered into the drawing room, she looked at Hermione and noticed several things. Hermione was agitated, pacing back and forth and kept looking at a letter on a table. Rita read people well and knew something was up with the girl.
“So,” said Rita, some of the snap had returned to her voice. “You and dear Sirius, well I never would have guessed it.”
“Well, you never can tell,” said Hermione absentmindedly, clearly distracted.
“True,” agreed Rita. “Affairs of the heart and all.”
“So, when did you and Sirius fall in love?” Rita was conducting the first part of that interview.
Hermione wasn’t stupid, she looked at Rita and huffily left the room for the kitchen. Rita watched her leave and walked over to the letter. She picked it up and read it, all the color drained out of her face.
Dear Sirius,
I know you aren’t going to understand but I need you to try. According to the prophecy Harry has to face Voldemort, the only way to defeat Voldemort is for Harry to defeat him. I know the Order is trying to protect him from that but it isn’t possible.
Harry, Ron and I have faced many dangers and we always did it together. Ron and I can’t let Harry face this last challenge alone. You wouldn’t have done any less for James or Remus, please understand why I have to do this.
I love you with all my heart,
Hermione
Rita stormed into the kitchen, letter in hand. Hermione was stirring a cup of tea and looking intently into a little mirror.
“Have you lost your mind?” Rita slammed the letter down onto the table.
“No,” said Hermione coolly. “But I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
“So the rumors are true, Harry is the chosen one. What does that have to with you?” Rita genuinely liked Sirius, she might detest this girl but if anything happened to her Sirius would be crushed.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you.” Hermione calmly drank her tea, she wouldn’t be goaded into telling Rita a thing.
“Hermione! Are you there?” Harry’s voice came from the mirror.
“Hold on Harry!” Hermione spoke into the mirror. She raised her wand against Rita, who wasn’t at all ready. “Petrificus Totalis!” Rita Skeeter fell to floor, stiff as a board.
Hermione ran into the drawing room. “Where Harry?”
“Dumbledore’s office, hurry!” Hermione threw floo powder into the fireplace and was swept away in whirling green flames.
Less than a minute later the front open and closed as someone came in. Sirius sprinted into his childhood home calling happily out to his wife. The smile left his face when he found Rita on the kitchen floor. He released the spell and helped Rita to her feet.
“What happened? Where’s Hermione?” Rita cringed at the panic in Sirius’ voice. She picked up the letter and handed it to him.
“Dammit!” Sirius slammed his fist onto the table causing Rita to jump. “Where did she go?”
“She wouldn’t let me hear, she was talking into a mirror to Harry Potter.” Rita was backing away from Sirius, she had never seen him so angry. He more closely resembled the escapee from the wanted posters than she had ever seen him.
“Did she leave out the front?” Sirius’ voice was angry but eerily calm.
“N-no,” stammered Rita. “Floo, I think.”
“Hogwarts,” muttered Sirius darkly. He flicked his wand and sent three patronuses in three different directions. “Stay here,” he ordered to Rita.
“Was I going somewhere?”
Sirius rolled his eyes at her and walked out of the kitchen. Rita followed hot on his heels. Sirius grabbed a handful of floo, Rita’s hand on his arm made him pause. “You aren’t going after her, you could be killed!”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.” Sirius pulled his arm out of her grasp and threw in the powder, he was gone in a whirl of green flames.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Hermione, Ron and Harry stood along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hermione was creating ten look alike golems for Harry and one each for herself and Ron. She was trying to hurry, they were well hidden but time was running short. They had already seen death eaters scouting out the school grounds, they had done well not to be spotted.
Harry was squatting with his head in his hands while Ron kept an eye on the wards.
“He’s coming.” Harry stood, still rubbing his scar. “Are you ready, Hermione?”
“Yes, all done.” To the casual observer, in the light of the waning moon, it would appear that there were fifteen people. In truth there were only three, the Harry golems set out in different directions, they were meant to draw fire away from the real Harry who had to live.
Hermione scanned the scene laid out before them, she could see how the lines of battle were set up. They were coming up from the side, to the right was the castle and its defenders, to the left was Voldemort and the death eaters.
Something had happened, the lines began to run at each other, curses were flying from both sides. The Trio kept their eyes sharp, looking for the visage of Voldemort. Neither side had spotted them yet, they moved forward slowly but with purpose.
Ron spotted Voldemort first, the first of the curses came flying toward them. Hermione ducked a Killing Curse. It had come from none other than Bellatrix Lestrange.
“Get away from my wife, Bella.” Hermione’s head whipped around, Sirius was standing tall, his wand drawn down on Bellatrix Lestrange.
Bellatrix grinned maniacally, instead of answering Sirius she pointed her wand at Hermione and shrieked, “Avada Kedavra!”
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that line broke my heart. Oh Sirius :'(
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