This Subdued Fire

revision time, since I had so many comments about Draco not being all actiony :| This is the last time I\'m bowing down, people.
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The morning passed at a moderate pace, the students becoming ever more excited as the day wore on. A great deal of the girls retired to their own houses to get ready, even though it was now only a little after four. At present, Hermione was helping the DJ get set up in a corner of the as yet undecorated Great Hall. Calliope was not what Hermione had imagined. Although the woman was a pureblooded witch, she had a fascination with all things Muggle, ala Arthur Weasley. She\'d spent a good decade in the Mugglrld rld after finishing up at Hogwarts and had adopted many of the customs, speech and dress.

The witch was tall and on the plump side. She wasn\'t fat, but neither was she wippet thin. Her hair was a strange combination of dark brown and light-blonde stripes, reminiscent of a tiger\'s coat. Her accent was cultured and rather posh, but she dressed in ripped camoflage pants and a white tank, accented with standard issue Doc Maarten\'s.

Calliope had hundreds upon hundreds of records, cassettes and cd\'s. She and Hermione levitated them back into the small booth that Professor Flitwick set up. The ensorcelled turntables and speakers went up. Not more than thirty minutes after the two had begun, they were done.

The Weird Sisters had arrived early (thank goodness), and having been at Hogwarts before, were familiar with the setup. Hermione, in a fit of pique, decided to let Draco and the other Slytherins deal with the notoriously difficult M*stery. It\'d serve them right to have to mollycoddle the boy band. A smirk appeared on Hermione\'s face thinking of how the arrogant Slytherin contingent would react to five spoiled, marginally talented, unnaturally handsome young men with more money than they needed. And that wasn\'t counting their agent, publicist, stylists and other members of the retinue. Plus, the rider that came with M*stery\'s contract wasn\'t very pretty. They specified an enormous amount of food to be supplied in their dressing room. Hermione could only thank Merlin that they were the first act to go on, so they\'d be the first to leave.

Hermione spent the time between five and six running back and forth, checking on things. Professor Flitwick finally shooed her out so that he and his team of students could begin the task of decorating. The clock rang six and no boy band. Six-fifteen...six-thirty...and finally at six-forty-five, they decided to show up. They had three large buses, all a shade of blinding electric blue.

The boys stepped down. They were all in white outfits, reminiscent of that stupid Backstreet Boys video Hermione had seen once. The lead singer, Christian K. (no last name, just an initial), sauntered up to Hermione. The boy was blonde, with light blue eyes and was so attractive he could\'ve given Draco a run for his money. She suspected that he was part veela, as were the Malfoys. Hermione remembered that two male veela were very likely to be hostile to one another, like tom cats.

Christian turned on the charm. He was fairly oozing sex appeal and none of the girls present, Hermione included, were inclined to resist. He made Hermione an elegant leg and kissed her hand, old-world style. The other four arranged themselves in the same manner, charming the pants off of the Slytherin girls. The usually unimpressed and jaded females were nearly swooning at the attentions from the passel of handsome men.

As Hermione had a rather unnatural giggle slip out, she could feel Draco\'s hand tighten a bit on the curve of her waist. The small bit of pain was enough to cut through the mild veela-induced fog. \"Christian, this is Draco.\"

\" \'lo.\"

\" \'lo.\" The two men sized one another up.

Hermione sighed. \"He and the others will be showing you to your dressing rooms and helping you out until the dance begins. I\'ll leave you two to get acquainted.\" Hermione left a peck on Draco\'s cheek and exited the entryway.

Draco turned away and jerked his head rudely, indicating which way they should go.

\"Issat *your* girl, mate?\" Christian asked.

\"Bloody obvious when she kissed me, wasn\'t it?\"

\"Not bad, not bad at all. I like \'em tall and skinny. Nice hair,\" Christian replied speculatively.

\"Back off, veela-boy. She\'s mine,\" Draco growled at the older male.

\" \'Veela-boy\'? Judging by the looks of you, you\'ve got a bit of it there, too. Who was it? Grandmother?\"

\"Great-grandmother. Delphinia Malfoy.\"

\"You\'re Lucius\' kid, aren\'t you?\"

\"Yeah.\"

\"Yeah, your dad\'s a big muckety-muck over there in the Ministry. Read about him in the paper the other day.\"

\"Oh?\" Draco feigned disinterest, when he was really very curious as to what Lucius had been shooting his mouth off about now.

\"Yeah. He was going on about how he was so surprised at you and the skinny bird hooking up. Said he wished that you\'d have brought her around to meet him. Shite like that.\"

\"Ah. Perhaps I\'ve been remiss.\" Draco knew better than to believe his father\'s public prattling. He knew that \"surprised\" meant completely and utterly livid. And he did wish that Draco would show up with Hermione in tow - so he could kill them both.

Christian shrugged. It meant nothing to him, he didn\'t know this bloke\'s father and by the look of the pup, he didn\'t *want* to know the sire. \"So, where are the girls?\"

\"Girls?\" Draco raised an eyebrow but didn\'t stop walking.

\"Yeah, you know, groupies? Band aids?\"

\"This isn\'t a whorehouse, Mr...K. This is a school.\"

\"There\'s got to be some right little ravers around here somewheres. All of them all pent up with their little schoolgirl uniforms...ah. Perfection.\" Christian leered.

Draco laughed internally. \'Pent up\' was not the way to describe the girls that went to Hogwarts. \"The girls here are ladies, and they should be treated accordingly. If I find out that any of them have been trifled with, you will have me to deal with, understood?\" Draco\'s eyes had gone a bit feral.

Christian could feel the violent veela nature rising up in Draco and the pretty boy singer wasn\'t up to handling a fight. He raised his hands in surrender and Draco led them all to the dressing room and shooed the Slytherin girls off. They went without protest, there was now an hour until the start of the dance and all of them had major primping to do.

\"When it is time for you to perform, I\'ll come and get you.\" Draco slammed the door behind him, leaving the five officious young men to their own devices.

(What bloody cheek. Trying to put the moves on *my* girl. I should\'ve ripped his sodding head off.) Draco went stalking down the stairs to Slytherin House to bathe and change.

He finished his toilette at exactly eight o\'clock. Draco adjusted the neck of his dress robes and went to go bring the \"musicians\" to the stage area. As he crossed the common room of his house, many an admiring female gaze was drawn to him. His robes were lamp black, with the finest of diagonal grains running through the weave. There were black buttons running up the front and the mandarin collar terminated in a starched white band. His shirt sleeves peeked just half an inch below the sleeves of his robe and the cuffs were fastened with tiny green-enamelled silver dragons. His hair was slicked back in the traditional manner and he cut quite a swath through the room. Draco carried the Malfoy jewellery with him, intending to give it to Hermione to wear with her dress.

(I only hope she hasn\'t chosen to wear the bloody Gryffindor colors. This would clash horribly,) he thought worriedly. Draco went back to the dressing room and led the singing group onstage, much to the delight of the girls who were screaming their little hearts out. A quick introduction and he went to collect Hermione from her room.

Crossing his fingers, he gave the Gryffindor password and the Fat Lady swung outward, giving him a dirty look. The still occupied scarlet and gold common room nearly went into riot mode when they saw him walk in unannounced. He passed the dirty look the Fat Lady\'d given him onto the little felines she so carefully guarded and swept up the stairs before the klaxon could begin ringing. Draco smoothed his hair and took a deep breath before knocking. A soft, but distinctly amused \"Come in\" was the answer. He opened the door and took his first look at Hermione.

If he had had any doubts about her, they were firmly put to rest.

Hermione\'s hair was pulled into an elegant top knot, a few curls trailing her neck and shoulders. She wore no jewellery, but no matter. It was her choice of garment that drew the eye.

Made of black peau de soie, the material shimmered discreetly as the strapless bodice clung to her upper half. The bottom half flared out into a skirt of magnificent proportions, a perfect bell. From the hem of the skirt a glittering silver and black dragon coiled in repose, its great tail spiralling up the circumference of the dress, the very end of the reptile\'s tail lying across the straight neckline.

Hermionokedoked elegant and serene, every inch the Dragon\'s bride.

\"Well?\" Hermione queried impishly, whirling so that her full skirts flared out. Draco could see her shapely ankles and an unusual flash of gold peeping from the vicinity of her feet.

\"Magnificent,\" he breathed. It was the only word Draco\'s stalled brain could conjure up. His mind began idling again, forthwith, now that the initial impression had worn off. \"Is this for me?\"

\"Who else?\" she replied.

\"No need to be smart...I thought I saw something off when you turned. Let me see your shoes.\"

Hermione smirked and daintily raised her skirts. Her feet were shod in gold-gilded leather, ruby lions embroidered on the toes, the heels were golden lion rampants. As Draco closed the door and drew closer, he could see that in the crease of the top knot there rested a gold lion with a ruby eye. He shook his head.

\"Still a Gryffindor, underneath it all?\"

\"But of course,\" Hermione winked at him.

\"I have something for you...\" Draco began, suddenly feeling a bit outclassed by this extraordinary creature. \"I don\'t know if you want to wear them, but under the circumstances, it seems appropriate.\"

He handed her the box. Hermione looked at him quizzically and flipped the lid and promptly flipped her lid.

\"Draco...they\'re beautiful.\" For the first time in a very very long time, Hermione was stupefied into silence.

\"They\'re the Malfoy family jewels. I thought you might like to wear them.\"

\"Oh my.\" A flush rose on Hermione\'s face. \"They won\'t try to kill me if I put them on will they?\"

\"Ho ho ho. It\'s just jewellery, Hermione. Come on, I\'ve been waiting to see how they\'d look on you.\"

She took the earrings out of the box and slipped them in her ears. Hermione handed Draco the other pieces so that he could clasp them. The emeralds twinkled merrily against the smoothness of her skin. Hermione went over to the mirror and examined herself. The exquisite pieces were a familiar weight against her skin, the platinum warming quickly. It was if the stones were welcoming her, accepting her as their true lady.

To Hermione\'s great astonishment, she felt tears welling up and threatening to run down her carefully made up face. She blinked them back forcefully. A quiet \"thank you\" her only reply. Draco offered her his arm and together they left her room. There was no one left in the common room, the lower years decided to run mad since all the teachers and prefects were occupied with the dance, the upper years were at the aforementioned event.

They swept down the stairs until treacreached the closed double doors to the Great Hall. Draco paused and stepped in front of Hermione. Her eyebrows raised, she silently questioned him.

\"Er...I forgot to give you something upstairs.\"

\"Good grief. What else could it possibly be?\"

\"Catch.\" Draco reached in his pocket and tossed something to her.

Hermione caught it handily. It was a small velvet box. Nonplussed, she opened it to reveal the ring inside. A smile crossed her face as she took the heavy band from its cushion and slid it on, feeling it shrink to fit her finger. She handed the box to Draco, who stuck it back in his pocket.

\"All sorted?\" He asked her.

\"Right as rain.\" Draco tapped on the doors and they swung open in tandem to reveal the Hall.

The sight was nearly as breathtaking as Hermione had been. Apparently the Ravenclaws and their Head-of-House chose \"Some Enchanted Evening\" for the theme. Walking into the room was like walking into a summer night sky. The midnight blue skies of the magicked ceiling below were seemingly spread across the room. The walls gave the illusion that they were curving in softly, giving the occupants the impression that they were suspended in a sphere of night. There were glittering pin pricks of white light sprinkled across the blue field and they were bobbing and weaving lightly around the revelers. Wisps of clouds scuttled over the fat moon hanging above their heads. Hermione had to admit, Ravenclaw did an excellent job of decorations. This year was even better than the last, when they\'d transformed the Hall into a bucolic meadow.

There was a slight lightening of the surroundings as they stepped in. The noise level dropped audibly when the assemblage got a look at Hermione\'s dress. That certainly removed any doubt about her preferences, even after the display in this very Hall. The Slytherins were wide eyed at seeing the famed Malfoy jewels dripping from the Muggle-born witch. The teachers were in awe as well.

Severus stood in a corner and watched the two of them. He had to admit that they made a striking couple. As the Weird Sisters finished their infernal, migraine-inducing set, the DJ put on a slow song. Severus saw Draco pull Hermione into the throng of weaving students. When she rested her hand on his shoulder, Severus could see the large diamond winking on her finger. He gave a small amused sniff. Generations of Malfoys must be rolling in their graves right about now. Served them all right, he thought. Still, he felt rather uneasy about the whole thing. Maybe it was because of foreign emotions...(Don\'t think about that, Severus!)

He pushed them down and forced his eyes to watch the rest of the crowd. Severus could make out Ginny\'s head, her straight hair forced into curls and piled on top of her head. She was resplendent in a soft butter yellow dress. Potter had gone with deep green dress robes that complimented his eyes and Gin\'s dress. The two looked as if they\'d stepped from some fey woodland. Her brother had finally gotten a good pair of robes. He\'d gone with a deep navy blue of lightweight velvet. they had golden buttons marching up the front. Snape could see Weasley partnered with Lavender Brown, an unremarkable Gryffindor who\'d dropped his class tout de suite after the Potions OWL. Lavender was clothed in lavender and Snape rolled his eyes, ignoring the fact that the girl looked rather well in her namesake colour. He slunk back in the corner, a small glass of something stronger clutched in his fist.

A few of the elder Weasleys were there as well. Fred and George were there, dateless and happy to be so. The twins were checking out the talent in the sixth- and seventh-years. Bill was there Fleur Delacour swathed in some ethereal pale blue stuff. The biggest surprise of the evening, aside from Draco and Hermione, was Charlie Weasley with Fred\'s ex-girlfriend, Angelina Johnson on his arm. The two cut quite a figure out there on the dance floor. Charlie chose robes of an olive green colour, the buttons covered in dragon\'s hide leather. Angelina was in cinnamon robes with gold piping running along neck, sleeves and hem.

Draco and Hermione moved to the beat of the song. It was a novel experience. They\'d never danced before. Each found that the other had a good sense of rhythm and timing. It wasn\'t as if they were doing anymore than swaying to the music, but at least they swayed at the same time. The song ended and another, faster one came on. Hermione and Draco wound their way over to the buffet table and sampled the feast laid out before them. They each had a glass of champagne in their hands and were sipping, quietly conversing when through the hall came a strong rippling wind.

The lights came up as the enchantment wore off. The wind carried with it the smell of decay. A strange green glow filtered through the night shrouded windows. Everyone went rushing outside. There at the doors of Hogwarts stood Tom Riddle, flanked by Lucius Malfoy, Blaise and Blythe Zabini and a host of others. The Dark Mark soared in the skies above.

Albus stepped forward, his blue robes swirling about him. \"So you\'ve come and disrupted our party. Tsk. Very cliched of you, Tom.\"

\"How many times have I told you not to call me Tom!\" Voldemort raised his wand hand. \"Never call me Tom! *Avada Kedavra!*\"

The thick bolt of green l cam came sizzling from the end of Tom\'s wand, hurtlingaighaight for Albus. Harry stepped forward and with a wave of his hand veered it off to the side.

\"Don\'t go picking fights you can\'t win, Tom. Besides, I think your quarrel is with me, is it not?\" Harry smirked.

Hermione, in a fit of gallows humour thought, (My God, he\'s been taking lessons from Draco.)

(Who better, love?) Draco replied.

(Who better, indeed.)

(I hate party crashers. It\'s such a tacky thing to do; you\'d think Father would know better.)

(I have nothing to say about that.)

Tom made to start up the stairs to Hogwarts. Harry blasted off *Stupefy!*, the nearly solid red streak hitting Voldemort square in the forehead. And with that, the fight was on. Curses and hexes were being thrown everywhere. Draco had his hands full fighting off the Zabini sisters. Lucius had cornered Hermione. They exchanged feral smiles. This match was to be mano a mano, as it should be.

\"You stole my son from me, you little bitch!\"

\"He was never yours. You can\'t abuse a thing and expect it to love you, Lucius.\"

\"I never wanted his love, I wanted his respect.\"

\"And that, too is something you will never have. He is mine now. And I hope that thought eats at your brain until you\'ve long turned to worm food.\"

\"Please. You think you\'re a match for me?\" Lucius gave Hermione his trademark sneer. \"Mage or not, I can still defeat you. You\'re nothing but a stupid, silly little Muggle. You haven\'t the faintest idea of what it means to be a trueborn witch.\"

\"Really?\" Hermione stuck her Rose branded arm out. \"So what do you make of this?\"

Lucius reeled with hollow rage. \"Why?! Why you out all of wizardkind!?\"

\"I don\'t know.\"

\"I\'ll kill you.\" He raised his wand. \"See you in hell, mudblood.\"

\"You first.\"

\"*Avada Kedavra!*\"

Hermione absorbed the curse and just as it seemed that she was going to fall, her body twisted into a ramrod straight position and the blast came flying back from her body. Lucius ducked, screaming like mad at hearing death rushing towards him. He cowered on the ground. \"*Petrificus Totalus.*\" Hermione intoned quietly.

She went back into the fray. (That Binding Spell should keep Lucius locked up tight for at least eight hours.)

Draco managed to Stun Blythe and had turned his attention to Blaise. They circled each other like predators in a cage.

\"Lucius always was from the weaker end of the gene pool. He obviously passed on his weakness to you. Spoilt little whelp.\"

\"Better than being Voldemort\'s whore.\"

\"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven.\"

\"Why don\'t you find out?\"

Blaise shot off a sun bright jet of purple flame. It slashed through Draco\'s body and he went down. Hermione saw and broke off her skirmish with Pansy by simply Stunning the girl.

\"Oi! Bitch! Pick on someone your own size!\" Hermione yelled across the din of battle.

Blaise seemed to grow in size. \"Back off, little girl. You may have bested Lucius, but you\'ll not defeat me!\"

\"Parlour tricks don\'t interest me!\" Hermione herself grew until she seemed to dwarf the Death Eater. \"*Avada Kedavra!*\"

The curse soared to Blaise. The woman\'s body crumpled ignominiously in death. Hermione went over to see about Draco. He was coming around, that *Incendio* he took wasn\'t a good one.

\"You alright?\"

\"Yeah.\"

Hermione grasped him by the elbow and hauled Draco to his feet.

\"I can get up on my own.\" He wrenched his arm away from her, aggrieved at having to be saved by a woman and a Muggle-born one at that.

Just then, the field became even more crowded as masses of Death Eaters and Aurors Apparated onto the scene. It was like bloody pandemonium out there. Hermione saw Padma Patil fall along with Susan Bones and Ernie MacMillan.

\"No time for foolish pride, look at it Draco!\"

He said nothing, merely turned away and waded back into the fray.

Antonin Dolohov came over, sneering at Hermione. Although he said nothing, his expression communicated itself quite clearly. \'I should\'ve killed you when I had the chance, mudblood.\'

(Oh, fuck. Not this arsehole) Hermione thought peevishly.

Without warning, fine silver fingers of magic came over and enveloped Hermione. They formed fine bands of metal and she went toppling over. She tried to break free but whatever spell that Dolohov used had definitely been fine tuned for magi.

He came over to her prone figure and began a steady stream of the Cruciatus. Hermione fought off the first four or five waves, but as she was completely bound, Dolohov had her at his mercy. He was relentless in his torture. When it got to be too intense, Hermione began screaming. It was like a thousand knives slicing at each nerve ending simultaneously. But her screams were lost in the myriad of other horrid sounds emitted from the battle field.

Draco dispatched hooded figures indiscriminately. He\'d discarded his wand and was working purely from self. Finally getting a lull, his concentration faltered and he took such a mental hit that it sent him reeling. He scanned the melee for Hermione and saw that animal Dolohov torturing her as she lay defenseless and trussed up. He ran over, casting the Killing Curse. Dolohov toppled over in mid-curse.

Draco reached over and pushed Hermione\'s hair back from her sweating brow. She was convulsing and he saw the wildness in her eyes. He managed to break her bonds, watching them sizzle and dissolve as they faded away. The tears running down her face were faintly tinged with pink. Draco wiped them away and performed a healing charm on Hermione. It wasn\'t much, but it was enough. The madness began to fade from her eyes and she sat up.

\"Better?\" He asked gently.

\"Much. Thank you.\"

They embraced briefly before a shout pulled him away from her. She watched him become lost in the fighting bodies. Hermione got up and looked over at Dolohov. Feeling spiteful, she kicked the dead man in the head, breaking his nose.

Peter Pettigrew came stumbling over, his eyes alight with madness. \"*You.*\"

\"Wormtail. Or more appropriately, Scabbers.\"

\"I hated being that little prick\'s pet!\"

\"Whatever.\"

He began firing off curses and Hermione either managed to dodge them or deflect them. It was hard to defend herself against or attack Peter. His was wildly unpredictable in what he conjured. There were Patronuses being handed out like candy, the Dementors were on the loose and all was chaos.

Hermione managed tire Peter out and Ron, seeing an advantage, hurried over. \"I\'ve got this one, Herm.\"

\"You. My \"master.\" Peter\'s silver arm flashed malevolently.

\"Spy,\" Ron replied, smirking well enough to do a Malfoy proud.

\"I\'m going to enjoy this.\" But Peter was sluggish, duelling with a magus is never easy. The rat screamed out the Killing Curse. Lavender pushed him out of the way and took the hit.

\"NO!\" Ron caught the girl\'s lifeless body.

\"Did I kill your little girlfriend? So sorry.\" Peter sneered, examining his nails idly.

Ron got up with a growl and rushed the pudgy man. The redhead\'s wand had been transfigured into a bright dagger with a badger etched into the blade. Peter grasped Ron with his silver hand and tried to throw the younger man off. Ron in his rage was too strong for him and managed to get in one good blow. The youngest son of the Weasley clan drove the dagger deep into Peter\'s throat. The older man gave a blood soaked gurgle that sounded suspiciously like a mousy squeak.

\"And to make sure...*Avada Kedavra*!\" The transfigured wand flashed green as it quivered in Pettigrew\'s neck and the wizard went still.

Ron pulled out his wand cum dagger and wiped all traces of Wormtail off of it and on te gre grass. He closed Lavender\'s eyes and then searched the field for his comrades. Remus and Tonks were giving Barty Crouch and thorough ass kicking. Harry, still new in his talents, was being assisted by Dumbledore. Professors McGonagall, Snape and Hooch were fighting off three Death Eaters each. It seemed that Severus had the worst of it, being a traitor to the cause. Both Goyles and Commodus Lestrange were advancing on Snape.

\"Filthy blood traitor is what you are. You deserve to die,\" Commodus told Snape nastily.

\"Maybe I do, but you won\'t be the one to finish the job. Come on little boy, let\'s see what you\'ade ade of.\" Snape used the tone of quiet menace that set all his students to wibbling like so much gelatin.

Severus took on a fighter\'s stance, bobbing and weaving on his toes, ducking every curse that came his way. He took a nasty blow to the face, blue flame searing across his cheek. Severus staggered from the force and pain. Gregory Goyle took the cue from his father, raising his wand to deliver the Killing Curse.

\"Oh, no you don\'t Gregory Goyle!\" A female voice came screaming out of nowhere. \"*Avada Kedavra!*\"

The mysterious viridian light blazed over Goyle, death rushing in to take him. The elder Goyle and Commodus ran in fright.

\"Are you alright, Professor?\"

Severus\' eyes focused. \"Millicent?\"

The girl gave her Head-of-House a grin. \"Yeah, it\'s me. Are yk?\"k?\"

\"I\'ll do. Thank you.\"

Millicent flashed Snape another grin and ran back off into the thick of the fight, her deep red robes swishing about her ankles. Just then, Severus looked and saw Potter lying on the ground, trying to get his wits about him. Blood was pouring from that wretched scar of his and he looked as if he were about to die. Albus and Tom were continually trying to curse one another but to no avail. Then Severus saw something glint in Voldemort\'s hand. He did the unexpected.

Voldemort rushed Albus, slashing down and across the old man\'s neck. There was no blood to be seen from the sng wng wound on Dumbledore\'s flesh. There were dripping green flames oozing from the cut. They scorched the grass and his robes. Tom stuck his hand into the flames and was amazed to find that they weren\'t hot, but merely warm to the touch. He dropped Albus\' lifeless body in satisfaction, kicking it out of pure spite.

A great grieving roar came from the distance. Hagrid began knocking aside random people, Death Eaters and allies alike. \"He were a great man, was Albus Dumbledore!\"

Hagrid managed to reach Tom Riddle and grabbed the unnatural wizard by his scrawny neck. Hagrid was so blinded by rage that he never noticed the Killing Curse that Voldemort treated him to. Hagrid fell, releasing Tom, who coughed, trying to get his breath back.

Seeing both Dumbledore and Hagrid fall lit a fire in the allies. They renewed the fight, some falling because of grief stricken foolishness, others dispatching their enemies handily. Hermione and Draco saw and began to surreptitiously make their way to where Voldemort stood.

\"*Accio dagger!*\" The blade flew out of Voldemort\'s hand and into Hermione\'s grasp. She shivered in revulsion. It was Merlin\'s blade, the only weapon that could have killed Albus Dumbledore. The knife seemed to sick in her palm, communicating its disgust in the only way it knew how.

The blade was not to be used for such a purpose and it was angry. The Rose Mark on Hermione\'s arm burned with white hot fury. It cried out for vengeance, for justice. One of its chosen was fallen, killed at the hand of this blight, this aberration. She and Draco clasped hands. Their eyes blazed like molten gold and quicksilver.

\"Go and take care of Harry, love.\" Hermione released his hand. Draco left her side without a word.

She stood before Voldemort unflinchingly. \"So you\'ve come to try to finish what your little friend could not.\"

\"Aye.\"

He raised his hand and blasted her with a hex. Hermione stood her ground.

\"Powerful little thing, aren\'t you?\"

By this time, Draco had gotten Harry back on his feet. The three of them stood in a triangle formation, Voldemort at the center. Each of the three began to glimmer in a faint light. The winds rose and howled and ripped at the combatants, who\'d stopped to watch the magic in awe. Auras of green, crimson and sapphire enveloped them. Far into the distance, the golden blade that Ron clutched began to hum in his hand. The dagger went soaring from his hand and into Virginia\'s. Ginny found herself drawn into the circle of power, glowing with an auric shine. Hermione raised Merlin\'s blade into the sky.

Voldemort, held there and frightened beyond all began shooting off curses, hitting them and they staggered but managed to hold their positions. White light began to pour from Hermione and united all who stood within the figure.

\"As above, so below!\" Hermione plunged the blade into the earth at her feet and felt the ground give a mighty heave. From the depths of the castle came hurtling the swords.

Godric Gryffindor\'s ruby hilted weapon slapped itself into Harry\'s palm. Rowena Ravenclaw\'s delicate rapier insinuated its hilt into Hermione\'s palm. The sword that Tom Riddle prized above all others, Salazar Slytherin\'s emerald and platinum blade, sliced through the air to lay itself into Draco\'s grasp. Ginny still had Helga Hufflepuff\'s stiletto in her hand. They began to circle Voldemort closing in on him with silent menace. He raised his hands, throwing up a magical shield.

It was useless.

The four blades sliced through the shield as if it were water. They each buried their weapons to the hilt in Voldemort\'s devastated body. The life force that came rushing out of that twisted form knocked all but three of them to the ground. The trembling earth began to buck and shake as a terrible starbright glow emanated from Hermione. The wind whipped at her, pulling her hair loose so that it streamed around her head. She was throwing off sparks so superhe tha that ground burned and caught fire where she stood.

\"*Terra Liquatus!*\"

The earth split, becoming a pool of molten lava beneath Tom\'s feet. There was a blast of clean scented air, laying flat most who were there. Voldemort\'s body began sinking into the ground. The half-dead wizard sent up an unearthly howl, making all who heard it shiver. The stench of his blood filled the air as he grasped at the weapons sticking out of his body. But soon, all there was left was nothing but the swirling lava.

\"*Terra Firma!*\"

The ground solidified and before the crack became sealed, the four blades were tossed from it to lay at the feet of the combatants. Then the great gash closed itself without a trace. In the spot where Voldemort met his demise, Earth itself sent up a marker. A beautiful cherry tree with soft pink flowers sprouted, fully grown, the scent perfuming the death filled air.

Hermione came back to herself slowly. Looking around, she saw that the dementors were gone, dispatched by the rivers of unadulterated magic that were flowing from the little clearing. The Death Eaters, caught in their awe had either been dispatched or subdued. No one was fighting and all was so silent, one could\'ve heard a pin drop. Then from the vicinity of the castle a shout went up.

The cry was carried from there to where Hermione, Draco, Harry and Ginny stood. They echoed it back to the crowd.

*Victory!*