Chapter Text
July 1998
A ginger-haired girl was sitting by the window and anxiously biting her nails when a tall man approached her.
“Granger, we have to go now. Everybody is waiting for you downstairs.”
Hermione shook her head, making swirls of copper curls fly around her.
“Give me a minute Severus,” she said quietly.
Snape took a sharp breath, turned around on his heels, and slowly walked toward the door. When he was about to exit, he looked at her.
“You have five minutes, and if I don’t see you in the hallway by then, I will have to drag you out,” he said as he was shutting the door.
Hermione took a shaky breath and pressed the palms of her hands over her eyes. How could she face her friends when they saw her as a traitor? She never imagined the day of her wedding like this. Without Harry or Ron by her side. Forced to be with the person that she despises the most, except for Voldemort. There wasn’t a single soul that she could tell about what she was feeling without compromising herself and it made her feel like the loneliest person in the world.
Merlin, if she could go back in time, she would have never accepted the proposal.
May 1998- The battle for Hogwarts
“Harry, there must be another way!” Hermione said as her eyes followed the anxiously pacing Potter. ”I just need some time to figure this all out.”
She fidgeted with the collar of her T-shirt, thinking of a solution. The Golden Trio was brainstorming in the Headmaster's office during the hour of the ceasefire. Harry had just found out about being a Horcrux after Snape had given him his memories. That was all that Severus could do before being called by the Dark Lord and joining the Death-Eaters in the Forbidden Forest.
“Can’t you see? We don’t have any time. If I don’t hand myself over to Voldemort, people will die. I can never live, knowing that I could’ve prevented it.” Harry abruptly stopped in the middle of the room. “And bloody hell Ron, stop it! It’s not like you will find anything in there.”
A ginger head appeared from below the Headmaster's desk. In the past twenty minutes, Ron didn't leave a pebble untouched in the office that used to belong to Dumbledore, but he was still hoping to find something that would help them defeat Voldemort.
“If there is something that could help us, it’s in this office and I’m not stopping until I find it.” Contrary to his words, Ron let out a tired sigh and dropped himself onto a nearby chair.
"I doubt that anything of help was left after Snape became the Headmaster." Harry walked over to a wall that wasn't crammed with bookshelves and slid down to the floor. “I have about thirty minutes before they start attacking again. There is only one way out of this.”
A thought struck Hermione like a bolt of lightning. Even if it solved half of their problems, it was at least something.
” You are right Harry. If there is something that can help us, it's not in this room. Snape would have hidden it away from students. But what about the things that he forgot about? Something far away from this room, something obtained many years ago, something that could destroy a Horcrux?"
Harry cocked his head waiting for her to continue.
“It is basilisk venom. I’m sure that if we go down to the chamber of secrets, we can get some from the basilisk that you killed. You used it already and it was successful! We can impale Nagini with it and get rid of another Horcrux."
“You are right Hermione, but your plan has flaws. Even if we could somehow get to Nagini and kill her. What about me? The venom would kill me, so what is the difference? In my second year of Hogwarts, I got stung by a basilisk and then healed with Phoenix tears. As you can see, I'm still a Horcrux. This can only mean one thing- the only way to destroy the Horcrux inside me is to kill me. Why not let Voldemort do it if it will save lives?"
“For Merlin’s sake, stop saying his name.” Ron frowned
“I know that this plan does not solve all of our problems but at least we know what to do with Nagini now. Give me some more time and I can come up with a way to save your life. Please.” Hermione finished and glanced away from Harry, her eyes fell onto Ron, that was now standing at the bottom of the stairs, listening to her.
Harry stood up slowly and looked at his friends. Both Ron and Hermione could see that he was making a decision, a hard one.
After a while, he spoke in a determined tone.
"I will not let innocent people die because of me, Hermione. You and Ron should go down to the chamber and get the venom. I trust you to destroy the last Horcrux without me. I'm going into the Forbidden Forest to fulfill the prophecy and it is my final word."
“No! I will not let you die because of your stupid heroism! Stay and we can come up with something.” Hermione shouted.
Harry didn’t listen and quickly headed towards the door past her. Hermione took a step to the right, blocking his way.
“Harry James Potter! You will stay in this room until we find a way to save everyone’s life! You will not argue, and you will not try to run away! I don’t care what you have to say about it! Heaven’s sake, I will tie you to a chair if I have to!”
“I said that I will not let innocent people die because of me.” Said Potter in an angry voice and tried to move Hermione out of the way, but she didn’t budge.
They both pushed each other silently for a few moments until Hermione felt someone grab her arm and pull with force. She was now standing a few feet away from Harry and facing Ron, who was holding her hand.
“I’m sorry ‘Mione, but he is right. There is nothing that we can do. We have to let him go.” Ron said in a serious voice.
Harry gave him a nod.
“How can you just say that? He is our friend Ron. Why are you both so okay with the fact that Harry is about to die?!”
“Exactly, he is our friend. As much as I hate all this, we must let him go. This is his will, and we have to respect it.”
Ron paused, waiting for Harry to reply.
“Thank you for everything, you were the closest thing to a family that I had.” Harry gave them a weak smile and walked to the door.
Hermione couldn’t watch, knowing that it is the last time that she will ever see him. She pressed her forehead to Ron’s chest and closed her eyes, trying not to cry.
The door creaked open, but Harry stopped. After a moment another pair of footsteps walked into the room as Harry backed down. She turned her head around in confusion.
“We need to talk.” Said Kingsley while closing the door.