Of Butterflies in a Hurricane

*

Harry lay on his bed in Grimmauld Place staring at the ceiling. Since Ron's death, he found it hard to do anything. He was listless and lethargic, barely managing to keep himself awake. He knew he shouldn't be doing it, but it was difficult to get his body to cooperate.

What with Draco's still unknown fate and Ron's absence, Harry was hard pressed to believe that life would ever get better. He knew he shouldn't be moping around the dreary, old house, but he just couldn't help it. He felt so hopeless with two of his most important people gone from his life.

He still had Hermione, it was true, but she was really no help to cheer him when she, herself, was too depressed to try. She had been keeping to herself mostly. It had gotten marginally better since Harry had confided in her his real reason for setting off so quickly, but it hadn't returned to normal. Harry knew it might never. Ron had been too much of a figure in their lives for that.

Harry pushed himself up on his bed with difficulty. Despite the desire to never move from that spot, there was a far stronger one burning deep inside his chest. He had finally accepted that Ron's death had not been his fault, though it had taken a long time and many comforting words from Hermione. He knew now whose fault it was, whose fault everything was; Voldemort.

Voldemort was responsible for all the deaths, the disappearances, the worry, all of it. If it hadn't been for him, Draco would be safe, Ron would still be alive, and Harry wouldn't be sitting in a house that he hated, waiting for the hammer to drop.

Harry slid off his bed, standing wobbly on his legs that felt like they hadn't been used in days. He stumbled to the door and opened it, going out onto the landing beyond.

He grasped the banister tightly as he walked down the stairs. He hated feeling like this; out of control. He needed to control something, and, right now, it was his legs. He forced himself to walk into the kitchen where he found Hermione sitting at the table.

She was staring quite intently at the burn mark on it and barely looked up when Harry entered. Harry tripped only once on his way to the table but his legs finally seemed to have gotten their strength back. He went over to the cupboard and rummaged inside it a minute, coming back with some crackers to eat. His stomach was growling quite angrily at him and had been for the past few days.

He plopped down at the table with Hermione, crunching the crackers thoughtfully. He knew what had to be done now. It was no use crying anymore. Ron wasn't going to come back, but there was still the possibility of saving Draco. There was only one way to do that, Harry knew. He had to kill Voldemort. But first, he needed to destroy the last Horcrux; the snake, Nagini.

"Hermione," he said suddenly. She looked up at him as though coming out of a daze. "I can't stay here." She just looked at him for a moment, not saying anything. "I can't sit and do nothing. The only way to end any of this is to go on. I have to."

Hermione stirred as if she just realized what he was saying. "Are you saying you want to go alone?"

Harry sighed. "Hermione, Ron's already died. It's not safe. I have to kill Voldemort."

"Of course you do," she said, "but you can't think I'd let you go alone!"

"But, Hermione!" he exclaimed. "You might die! Do you have any idea what that would do? I'd have lost both of my best friends! I don't think I could stand it."

Hermione gave him a sad look. "Harry, I said I'd go with you and I will. It doesn't matter what's happened in the past. I still trust you and I know you'll be fine."

"How can you be so confident?" Harry asked hopelessly.

"There's a quote, Harry, that I heard a long time ago when I was younger. 'We are all in the gutters, but some of us are looking at the stars.' I'm looking at the stars, Harry. And you should be too."

Harry stared at her, knowing she would never let him go alone. It was inevitable that she would come along, and, hopefully, she wouldn't die in the process. He knew he had led them to their doom on first telling them of his plans. He should never have done it. He should have left in the middle of the night without a word to anyone.

Unfortunately, it hadn't worked out that way and he was obliged to accept that fact that Hermione would stick with him until the end.

"Well," he said hesitantly, "alright, you can come."

"Good," she said resolutely, not that she had expected anything different.

They were silent for a moment, save for Harry's crunching on the crackers. He almost felt better knowing he wouldn't be going alone. A part of him feared for Hermione's safety but the other part was scared to death of facing Voldemort alone. Yes, he had done it before, but not with the intention of killing him.

"I think..." he said tentatively after a few moments of silence. "Next, I have to kill Nagini. She's the last Horcrux."

"How are you going to kill her? I bet Voldemort's put spells on her to protect her. And how are you going to find her?"

Harry was silent. He had been thinking of this for a few days now. He knew it would be difficult to find Nagini without attracting Voldemort as well, but he thought it might be impossible. He thought there might only be one way of finding the snake.

"I think the only way is to draw her out," he said slowly.

Hermione gave him a questioning look and then she understood. "No, you can't be serious, Harry!"

"Hermione," he sighed, "I know it seems suicidal but it's the only way to get her. She only sticks close to him. I can't get one without the other."

"But, Harry," Hermione said, shaking her head in disbelief, "what if you can't kill her? Then you'll be stuck with Voldemort! What if he tries to kill you, Harry?!"

"That’s a risk I'm just going to have to take," Harry said seriously. He knew this was the only way to even have a chance at killing the snake. He just had to hope he could escape Voldemort long enough to do it.

"Harry, I really don't know if this is the best idea," Hermione said uneasily.

"Well, do you have a better one?" he asked.

"No," she sighed, "but I just don't want you to sacrifice yourself before it's necessary."

"Hermione, it's necessary," he said. "I've been going around for the past two months trying to destroy him and we're so close. I can't just wait anymore. I need to finish this."

"I know you do," she said in a resigned voice. "I just-- Harry, you're an amazing wizard. I probably don't tell you often enough, but you are. I know you can do it. I guess I'm just being selfish."

"You are not selfish!" Harry exclaimed, surprised that she would even think such a thing.

"Yes, I am," she said sadly. "I want you to stay safe, to not put yourself in danger. But by doing that, I'm preventing the world from ever being safe."

"Hermione, if people didn't do that, no one would be alive! You're just trying to protect me. It's not selfish."

Hermione shrugged. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Harry, and by putting yourself in such a position, it's like you're offering yourself up to Voldemort on a platter."

"It's not like that," Harry said. "I'm not just going to walk out and say, 'Hey, Voldemort, here I am, come kill me now.' No, Hermione, I'm going to lure him out, find the snake and kill it, hopefully before he notices."

She didn't say anything for a moment, sitting in contemplative silence. "Well," she said finally, "fine. I'll be there to help you, I promise."

"Thanks, Hermione," he said, feeling much better now that she supported his plan. "And we're going to do this on my terms."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I don't want to fight him in some graveyard somewhere. I want to fight where I choose."

"Whatever you want, Harry," she said resolutely, sitting back in the chair and closing her eyes while Harry munched on his crackers beside her.

***

Harry and Hermione appeared in a pop in the lush green forest. The heavy mist crept around their ankles as they moved swiftly through the trees. They weren't bothering to wear the Invisibility Cloak as they trampled through the underbrush.

They pushed their way through the trees, pulling the brambles away from their clothes as they stumbled through. When they reached the edge of the forest, Harry held out a hand to halt Hermione.

They stopped and listened carefully. At first, all that could be heard was the slow drip of water from the broad leaves of the trees. Harry looked up into the foliage and wondered if they were truly alone.

All of a sudden, the snake on his wrist gave a particularly loud hiss and Harry glared at it. "~~Stop!~~" he hissed in Parseltongue. The snake didn't stop but did quiet slightly. It was now circling around the silver band at an alarming rate. It made Harry slightly sick to watch it.

He pulled his gaze away from the tiny snake and a flash of movement caught his eye. He turned his head sharply to the left and stared into the plants.

"What is it?" Hermione whispered, moving closer to Harry.

He nodded with his head in the direction he had seen the movement and leaned in closer. "There's someone on the watch," he whispered. He could feel her tense beside him.

Together, they moved forward slowly, coming into the open. Harry knew he was safe from being attacked by Death Eaters for the most part. He knew Voldemort had ordered him to be saved for himself. He was more worried for Hermione whom they wouldn't hesitate to kill. He, therefore, kept her close as they moved further into the open, coming close to the house Harry had been attacked at only a few months before.

Harry heard another rustle of movement behind him and pulled Hermione closer. "Are you ready?" he whispered in her ear.

She nodded slowly and Harry saw her hand clench around her wand tightly. The moved confidently forward, coming to the back door of the house. Instead of going in, they climbed up on the back steps and stood there, waiting.

Quickly and quietly, Hermione slipped her wand behind her and performed an extremely complicated and personalized Locking Charm on the door. They were not going to give Voldemort the chance of surprising them that way.

Hermione also set an Unbreakable Charm on the door just for good measure in case he decided not to bother with the lock and, instead, simply blasted the door down. They stood tensely on the steps, waiting.

A minute went by and then two. The snake on Harry's wrist was growing more and more agitated as the time passed and Harry knew it couldn't be a good sign. He and Hermione waited with growing apprehension. Surely, it couldn't be good that it was taking this long.

"Why, Potter," a drawling, cold voice came out of the shadows of the trees and Harry felt his heart jump into his throat. Beside him, Hermione slipped away behind his back, unnoticed. Voldemort emerged from the trees, looking menacing in swirling black robes that trailed to the floor. He moved forward swiftly and silently, further increasing Harry's fear. "I never thought it might be so easy to kill you, out here in the open like. I admit, even I thought you were smarter than that."

To Harry, it seemed like Voldemort was almost disappointed that it might be so easy. At the moment, though, he really didn't care. He was keeping one eye on Voldemort, the other was searching the ground for the snake. If he hadn't brought it-- if she hadn't come... Harry was doomed.

"What are you looking for, Potter?" Voldemort sneered, coming ever closer to Harry on the step.

Harry swallowed his heart and tried to concentrate on his plan. He felt fear facing Voldemort, but he also knew he could do it. He had done it before.

"Actually, I'm looking for Nagini," Harry said, deciding it might just be best to tell him flat out. Voldemort would never expect it.

Voldemort actually looked taken aback for half a second before sneering in reply. "Why so interested, Potter? Were you desiring to become a snake's meal once I had finished with you?"

"No," Harry said casually, strikingly aware of how close Voldemort had come, "it's just... she's your favorite pet. Surely, your most loyal follower hasn't abandoned you?"

Harry knew he had to do it to get the information he wanted. He could see the provoking quality of his statement and hoped to Merlin he lived to finish this.

"She has not abandoned me," Voldemort spat, his temper getting the best of him for once. "She has been killed by a man doomed to die."

"She's dead?" Harry repeated, completely forgetting his predicament. If the snake was already dead, then there were no Horcruxes left.

"Yes, Potter, just as you are about to be," Voldemort replied, his eyes flashing scarlet.

Voldemort whipped out his wand and raised it above his head before Harry had any time to react. But, instead of being hit with a spell, Harry watched as Voldemort's feet were pulled out from underneath him. Harry quickly jumped off the steps and moved around to the side, keeping his wand on Voldemort the entire time.

Voldemort pushed himself to his feet, looking furious. He glared around at Harry and Harry knew he was in for it now.

"Double-teaming?" Voldemort hissed. "How unbecoming of a Gryffindor." In a flash, he had pointed his wand where Hermione had been hidden in the trees and she was immediately bound with invisible ropes. She struggled uselessly against them but could not get out. "And here I thought you were all about fair-play."

Harry's head spun in all directions as a multitude of cracks surrounded him, the small clearing around the house suddenly filling with at least five Death Eaters.

"Uh oh," was all he could say before the curses started flying.


~~**~~

A/N: hi!