A Terrible Temptation

A/N - Sorry about the cliff-hanger lads and lasses, but I had already finished the next chapter, so not to worry. There will be at least another chapter of battle then LEMONS!!!! woo-hoo and a little wrap-up chapter or two to resolve the many many many many loose threads that are dangling - big sigh! I can\'t remember if this has ben beta\'d or not, because I sent Kate too many chapters yesterday, if it has, thank you Kate, if it hasn\'t oops, sorry everyone.


Chapter 36 – The Final Battle

When at last it came, it was almost a relief. Seven years of suspense were about to be relieved, one way or another. Hermione stood beside the rest of the prefects and waited. Harry was with Dumbledore and the Order, their mission was to protect him until he could get near enough to lock wands with Voldemort. Once that was accomplished, he was to keep the two wands locked until the rest of the Order could dispatch the cruel maniac.

Hermione’s self-appointed task was to make sure no one killed Severus by mistake. She set herself to scanning the ranks of Death Eaters arrayed before her. She searchntilntil a familiar stance met her eyes and she knew.

He was sandwiched in between two men who were large enough to make her guess right off that they must be Crabbe and Goyle senior. His head was moving constantly in a side-to-side manner that she knew well from the classroom. He was scanning for trouble for something amiss and she was grateful for the time she had had with him, studying his movements, the way he stood, the tiny movements which were distinctly his own.

“There are an awful lot of them.” Susan Bones whispered from beside her. Hermione nodded, the ranks of the Death Eaters were swollen with Slytherin students who had rushed to their side when they appeared, even students from the other three houses had gone over to join Voldemort and it had been a blow to the defending students to see friends crossing overfighfight against them.

“We have Dumbledore though.” Hermione reminded her and they all glanced over at where the elderly mage stood, proud and powerful at the front of his smaller army. There was nothing of the doddering eccentric in him now; this was the wizard who had fought and won on other battlefields far grander and more terrible than the front lawns of Hogwarts.

Her words went through the groups of students like a breeze, stiffening spines and strengthening resolves. The older students were in the front ranks with the Order and the few Aurors from the Ministry who had managed to make it in time before the Death Eaters appeared. Either the younger students were in the back ranks to act as medical evacuation units or were inside the castle itself being protected behind the castle’s wards.
There was a long moment as both sides stared at each other taking in the reality of what was happening and then there was chaos.

Nothing in Hermione’s life could have prepared her for it. Hexes flying across the field, Giants erupting from out of the forest and then there was the Dementors. She was screaming “Patronus” again and again, sending her white tiger out to drive them away from her friends, her fellow soldiers, but there were too many to fight them all. She stepped over Terry Boot and his blank-eyed gaze was more disconcerting to her than Ernie Macmillan’s dead glassy stare.

Her voice was soon raw and hoarse and still they came, an unending tide, Charlie Weasley appeared beside her briefly and she saw Hagrid directing a much larger Norbert to flame a group of Death Eaters off to one side.

She saw snatches of things as she waded through bodies, through moaning, screaming, crying children and adults, seeking the one person she was most afraid for. She bound and hexed with wild abandon, Death Eaters fell before her and Dementors fled as her Patronus tore through them with a snarl of rage.

She moved to protect Susan Bones who was hard pressed by two Death Eaters and they were soon back-to back, Susan casting shielding charms while Hermione hexed their opponents, just as they had drilled and practiced for so long. This was nothing like practice though. That had been a circle of smiling friends, tossing off hexes with a care for her safety, these were fully trained Death Eaters trying to kill them. Snarls of rage and the sounds of curses could be heard, though the din of battle was overwhelming.

No one had told her it would be this noisy. It was a odd little thought that drifted through a mind otherwise occupied by the struggle to stay alive, to bring down as many of the enemy as she could while continuing to keep her soul firmly attached to her body. Where in all this was Severus? Was he already dead? She was firing off spells automatically, grateful that years of drilling and practice made them all second nature to her now.

“Hermione!” Susan screamed as the Giant stumbled towards them and Hermione dived to one side, assuming Susan would do the same, watching the club swing in slow motion as Susan stood in frozen terror unmoving.
Hermione’s mind was screaming but her body could do nothing as she rolled under the Giant’s feet and hexed another Death Eater as he lunged for her. The club swung low and Hermione saw the way Susan’s head exploded under the impact like those muggle movies of watermelons when a bullet hits them.

Her mind retreated from the sight and focused on getting away from the Giant, on dodging the hexes that were zinging past her and on not thinking too hard about what had just happened. Another hex and she dodged, threw back a body bind and raced away from the spot where Susan had died. The giant stepped towards her swinging his club and she made a run for it, hoping her speed could take her out of his sight and some other prey would distract him. She tripped over a body – Mundugus Fletcher, she realized in a dreamy sort of way– and then found herself tumbling down a slope.

She looked up and saw where her mad flight had landed her; she looked up and saw that she had landed near a group of Death Eaters and …her mind stalled.

It was him. It was Voldemort. The reality of him was a thousand times worse than Harry’s descriptions. Piercing eyes that raked your very soul washed over her and she was scrabbling back up the slope away from him at top speed. There was a Death Eater in front of her, between her and safety, but she was more afraid of Voldemort.

She heard the hex, rather than saw it.

“Avada…” it began and she moved as fast as she could trying to get away from him. She would be too late she knew it.

Severus looked up in shock as Hermione came tumbling down the hill. She was covered in blood and soot and scorched with a dozen near misses. Her headlong flight from the giant who was now striding away from them had landed her into far more danger.

The plan was for Severus to stay near Voldemort, make sure that if Potter failed there was someone nearby to do something. Hermione’s face paled as she raised her head. She saw Voldemort and he could see her clever rational mind working overtime to keep her from panicking. She did the only thing she could do; she turned tail and ran. But Severus knew she would never be fast enough to outrun the Avada Kedavra. He was between her and safety, she was running straight for him.

He saw Voldemort’s wand rise and he knew in that instant that Voldemort’s death, all the years of spying, his own life, wasn’t worth it if he had to sacrifice her. He darted forward and grabbed Hermione activating the port key in his pocket at the same time. It blew the plan all to hell, but at that moment he couldn’t care less. She was safe.