Showdown

A/N: In a previous incarnation, reviewers felt that this, which was originally the last chapter, was rushed. So, I took myself to the library, where I got out "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." There, I found another quote using the same rules as applied to "Quidditch Through the Ages" and "Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them," and split the chapter in two. The quote from "Beedle the Bard" worked better with this chapter, as you'll see, which is handy considering that the quote from "Quidditch Through the Ages" was in the second half of the original chapter 9, and is therefore now in chapter 10.

I want to remind everyone quickly that this fic makes no attempt at all to be either HBP- or DH-compliant. Therefore, as you already know, Dumbledore is alive and Hermione's parents went to America (not Australia) without any kind of memory alteration; similarly – as you'll see in this chapter – I've ignored both the Horcrux thing and the Elder Wand thing (may I say that with the complexity of all that, I understand why DH was about a million pages long?).

Chapter 9: Final Showdown

Upon discovering Percy's role in Hermione's abduction, followed quickly by his death at the hands of Voldemort, Harry was furious. The Weasleys were more conflicted, as they were both irate at Percy's betrayal and grief-stricken at the sudden loss of their son and brother.

One positive outcome of Hermione's brief abduction was that Harry and Ron finally and fully accepted that Snape really was on the right side. When Hermione showed them the Portkey Snape had given her, they were shocked that Snape would make such an effort to protect her. Harry even began to question Dumbledore's judgment, both in failing to tell them that he suspected Percy was a traitor and for leaving it to Snape to provide Hermione with a way out in case she was captured.

Harry and Ron were so relieved that Hermione was unscathed that they insisted on thanking Snape personally for protecting her. Thus, the very next time Harry met Snape for his private lessons, Ron tagged along; they apologized humbly for doubting Snape's loyalties and thanked him profusely for saving their friend. Snape managed to accept their apologies and thanks with reasonable good grace, and a tentative truce was formed.

After that, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Snape began meeting weekly. Whenever Harry had a lesson with Snape, Hermione and Ron would sneak down to the dungeons under Harry's invisibility cloak, and they all considered whatever information Snape had brought them. They agreed not to inform Dumbledore of their meetings; if he knew anyway, he didn't comment. Gradually, as they tried to develop a foolproof plan to eliminate the Dark Lord, an odd sort of friendship developed amongst them all. If pressed, Snape would admit to himself, and perhaps even to Hermione, that Harry and Ron had matured into tolerable allies – not that he would ever tell anyone else (including the two young men in question), of course.

Despite their new detente, their meetings were often frustrating, as they always seemed to come back to the problem of Nagini. Even if they managed to find the Dark Lord without too many Death Eaters around, Nagini was always there; that being the case, they just weren't sure how they would get close enough to Voldemort for Harry to kill him – nor had they come up with a way to kill Nagini with the Dark Lord and his Inner Circle present.

And of course, there was the added concern of additional possible attempts to take Hermione. She was never permitted to be alone, except when safely tucked away in Gryffindor Tower or her own room. This severely curtailed the amount of time she could spend in the library researching new ideas. Eventually, they all agreed that she would work in the Room of Requirement, with one of her trusted friends accompanying her. At least the Room would provide her companions with whatever they needed, too. Still, she quickly grew tired of needing an escort everywhere she went.

Hermione also continued to meet with Snape three times weekly to work on her independent study. The more generalized prophylactic potion was far more complex than the one specifically designed for Cruciatus, and Hermione was beginning to doubt that they would succeed with it. Nevertheless, they were still trying, and as frustrating as it was to feel that they were unlikely to prevail, Professor Snape told her that she had already learned more about Potions than most apprentices learned by the time they attained their Mastery. Therefore, they agreed that Hermione would write up the project, regardless of outcome, along with the Cruciatus Prophylactic, and submit it to the Society of Potions Masters for consideration to obtain her Mastery Certification.

In addition to their comfortable working relationship, Hermione found that she and Professor Snape continued to grow closer, though without explicitly acknowledging it, on a personal level. Gradually, they reached an unspoken understanding: the moment Hermione's schooling was complete, or the moment Snape was no longer needed (or able) to spy for the Order – whichever came last – they would explore the attraction that simmered constantly below the surface of every interaction they had with one another. Neither of them knew how they knew this was understood, but they both understood it with complete clarity and confidence.

One evening in May, the four co-conspirators met as usual and discussed – for what seemed the hundredth time – the possibility of breaking into Malfoy Manor. They argued (yet again) about how to protect themselves from Voldemort, Nagini, and whatever Death Eaters might be present. Eventually, Ron threw his hands up, exclaiming sarcastically, "Shame we can't just Imperius Nagini and order him to kill You-Know-Who." A sudden silence descended over the room as everyone looked at Ron, then at each other, then back at Ron. Ron asked, "What?"

Harry turned to Snape and asked cautiously, "Could it be that simple?"

Snape shrugged and mused aloud, "Perhaps ..."

Hermione interjected excitedly, "Remember fourth year? When Crouch Imperiused the spider? Why couldn't we Imperius Nagini?"

Snape said thoughtfully, sounding pleased and impressed, "Mr. Weasley, I believe you have unexpectedly and fortuitously stumbled upon the ideal solution to the Nagini problem." Having said this, he smiled slightly, and Hermione was amused at the shock this seemed to engender in her two friends.

Energized with new hope, Hermione quickly researched to ascertain that nothing would prevent a familiar being Imperiused to kill its master. Once they were reasonably certain it could be done, they planned carefully, and the next time Snape got information that the Dark Lord would be relatively unprotected, they tipped off Gawain Robards, who arranged a raid to distract and capture whatever Death Eaters were there.

At the critical moment, Harry, beneath his Invisibility Cloak, slipped in with the Aurors. The few Death Eaters who were present seemed unwilling to yield without a fight, even though they had clearly been caught unawares and were outnumbered by a margin of at least three to one.

In the ensuing chaos, with various hexes, jinxes, and curses (including even some Unforgivables) flying, no one noticed as Harry let Ron and Hermione in. They had Disillusioned themselves, so they moved slowly in order to avoid rippling the air and drawing attention to their movements. Looking around, Hermione realized that the disadvantage to their invisibility was that they were vulnerable to stray curses from the Aurors, though that was probably outweighed by the fact that they weren't being specifically targeted by the Death Eaters.

Hermione quickly surveyed the room, trying to ascertain who was present as they made their way along the wall toward the corner where Harry had spied Nagini. She knew better than to draw attention to herself, and she knew that Snape didn't want her here. He had argued adamantly that she was still a target and therefore should stay safe at Hogwarts. She had refused, however. She and Ron had outvoted Snape, insisting that the Aurors would be too busy with the Death Eaters to adequately ensure Harry's safety. Snape had tried to argue that he could take care of that, but Hermione and Ron had eventually won through sheer stubbornness – along with Hermione's solemn promise to keep a Shield Charm up at all times and to stay out of the line of fire as much as possible.

Now, as she surveyed the room, she immediately recognized Dolohov despite his robes and mask – she thought she would always recognize him after what he had done to her in the Department of Mysteries. He had just taken a shot that barely missed Tonks, so Hermione quickly cast a binding spell. Tonks glanced her way in surprise, but was forced immediately to turn her attention to another opponent. Hermione thought she spied a glimpse of white blond hair, which suggested this was a Malfoy – probably Lucius, as she found it hard to believe that Draco would be in the Inner Circle at his tender age. Hermione was about to assist her again when Snape's voice hissed in her ear, "Don't you dare. You're supposed to be keeping yourself invisible, and casting spells is not invisible."

A mad-sounding cackle from another direction prevented Hermione from replying, as she whirled to see a maskless Bellatrix LeStrange holding her wand aloft as she yelled encouragement to the rapidly dwindling numbers on their side. "Courage, friends, and do not yield!" she cried, wiping the sweat from her brow. Hermione was about to send a binding spell her way when ropes flew from behind her as Snape made her intervention unnecessary. Bellatrix continued to scream until someone silenced her.

Meanwhile, Harry, who had been working hard on non-verbal casting for weeks, silently cast Imperius on Nagini. Hermione turned in time to see the snake strike Voldemort before he managed to realize what was happening. Time seemed to stand still; he began screaming in agony as the venom worked quickly through his system. Everyone in the room seemed to be staring in shock as his body jerked and convulsed, which turned out to be a good thing as uncontrolled spells began flying from his wand. Ron ducked one curse while Hermione barely sidestepped another. Both spells ricocheted around the room, making both sides duck and weave to avoid them before they dissipated. Another stray spell took down Dolohov, who, bound as he was, couldn't move to avoid it. Dolohov toppled, Voldemort's screams faded, and an eerie silence filled the room as both sides absorbed what had happened.

The silence was broken when Snape pointed his wand at Nagini and whispered, "Sectumsempra." As the whisper echoed through the otherwise silent room, the few Death Eaters who remained standing dropped their wands and surrendered without further resistance.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione immediately surrounded Snape, as they had all agreed they would do as soon as Voldemort was dead. They didn't want the Aurors to confuse him in his Death Eater garb for one of the enemy; after much discussion, they had decided the only way they could be sure he wouldn't be taken away to Azkaban before his true loyalties were revealed was to prevent anyone from getting near him in the heat of the moment.

Ripping off his mask, Snape hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Protecting you," Hermione hissed back. Before he could voice the objection she was sure would be forthcoming, she added, "We don't want an overzealous Auror to take you away."

He snorted, but didn't try to move out of the circle of their protection. Gawain Robards approached, and Hermione heard him talking quietly with Harry. Her attention, however, remained focused on Snape, who was pushing up the sleeve of his robes. He let out a relieved sigh, and a true smile lit his face at what he saw there. He twisted his arm so Hermione could see it for herself. Nothing remained except a faded-looking scar; Hermione was so excited that she forgot herself completely, threw her arms around him, and laughed happily.

Silence descended on the room again, as those present were apparently at least as shocked by Snape's reaction to this unseemly behavior as by anything else that happened that day; the normally dour, sneering, sarcastic Potions Master simply laughed, caught her up in his arms, and twirled her around, in full view of everyone, before leaning over and kissing her full on the mouth.

Thus, after years of anxiety and effort, the Dark Lord was vanquished in a matter of mere minutes, with a relative minimum of fuss or loss of life, and the wizarding world rejoiced the return of happier days.

Quote from Beedle the Bard: "'Courage, friends, and do not yield!' she cried, wiping the sweat from her brow."