Chapter 30: In the Line of Fire – Part Two

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author.

A big hug of thanks goes out to VIVAvivacious for beta-ing this chapter.

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'Avada Kedavra!' Draco yelled, the bright green light shooting from the tip of his wand straight in the direction of his father.

Hermione watched on, disbelief clearly written on her features. Lucius stepped aside at the last moment, allowing the spell to crash straight into the wall, spraying plaster at everyone within reach. She knew that the senior Malfoy would not go to his death so willingly. She grasped Snape's arm as she tucked her wand into her sleeve, reaching down to her boot where there was a knife hidden within a sheath.

'I need you to cover me,' she whispered frantically. 'Draco doesn't have it in him to kill his own father.'

'I can't allow you to do that,' Snape told her firmly. 'Let me...you have done enough for now. My soul is much more used to this than yours. I will kill Lucius.'

'But he was once your friend,' Hermione argued, slightly annoyed that he would take this revenge away from her.

'And he is now my bitter enemy,' Snape said, grasping her hand and dragging her out of the heat of the fighting that had once again flared to life around them. 'When we spoke of my mother's death and my involvement in it, I never was able to tell you that it was Lucius who was responsible for her capture and the suggestion to the Dark Lord for me to be the one to kill her. I need to do this.'

Hermione felt her magic calm itself as he spoke. Yes, he did have every reason to want this revenge more than her. The darkness would have to be satisfied with what she had given it that night. Sighing heavily, she nodded at him, pressing the knife into his hand.

'Use this,' she said softly. 'I could think of no more horrible a way for Lucius to die than by your hand using a Muggle weapon.'

Snape smirked at her, leaning in to kiss her dirty forehead. 'Sadist,' he told her before began to make his way around the room.

Hermione followed a little way behind him, watching both Snape and the smaller battles around them as he moved closer to where Lucius was battling with his son. Even if Draco couldn't kill his father, he was certainly capable of weakening him. She stopped when she saw that Avery was approaching Draco from behind, and with Luna nowhere to be seen, Hermione knew it was up to her.

Moving quickly, she dodged a number of fallen victims and whipped her wand from her sleeve, immediately pointing it at the Death Eater.

'Incendio!' she shouted, the flames spewing forth from her wand to curl around Avery, setting his black robes alight.

'Mudblood bitch!' he roared, his arms flying around wildly as he tried to put out the flames with his hands.

Hermione watched his struggle with glee, the darkness chuckling all the while. It took him a lot longer than she had expected for him to release the clasp of his robes and throw them to the ground. The right side of his face was glowing red from a burn, and both of his hands already appeared to be blistering. Pleased with her handiwork, she then sent a few small slicing hexes at him, cutting his blistered hands and cheek, causing him to cry out in further pain.

'That will teach you to sneak up from behind on someone in a duel,' she said, walking to stand before him as he slumped to the floor, clutching his face as he trembled from the pain he was experiencing.

'Malfoy should never have brought that blood traitor of a son into our midst,' Avery spat as he looked up at her. 'I should have known he was mixing with the likes of you. He came to too many meetings smelling of filth.'

'Those are big words for someone at my mercy,' she said, raising an eyebrow at him.

He spat at her, his saliva tinged with blood. 'Go ahead and kill me,' he snarled. 'I'd rather be dead than live in a world full of Mudbloods, half-bloods, and blood traitors.'

Hermione glared at him before casting a quick spell to bind him in ropes and gag his mouth. 'I spare your life only so you will see the Magical world the way it should be, free from the reign of tyranny...free of your Dark Lord,' she told him before kicking his nose, listening for the sickening crunch it made as it broke.

She spun swiftly on her heel and turned her attention back to Snape after making certain there was no further threat to Draco from behind. She felt panic rise within her when she realised that, once again, her lover was nowhere to be found, and the noise in the hall was so deafeningly loud that calling for him would have been fruitless, not to mention give away his position to his intended victim. Biting her lip until it nearly bled, she dodged a few poorly-aimed spells and made her way around the hall the same way she had seen Snape go a few minutes earlier.

She couldn't see either Malfoy either, and this worried her some. Where on earth had they all disappeared to?

Growling in frustration, she set off at a jog, ducking and stepping to the side of many curses, and she made her way around the corner into the next section of the hall. There was even more fighting occurring there, and she spotted Charlie Weasley waving her over and pointing towards the large set of double doors that obviously led to the Minister's office. She nodded her thanks to him for his assistance and set off at a run in order to reach the doors, her lover, and most probably, Voldemort himself.

Hermione slipped into the room with as much stealth as she was able. What faced her was something she never expected to see. Draco was lying in a corner, blood pooling around him from an open wound in his side; Lucius Malfoy was on his knees with a nasty gash on his right cheek, bleeding a trail down the side of his face; and Snape was standing with his wand pointed directly at Malfoy Senior's forehead. She closed her eyes for just a moment before opening them again...the scene unchanged.

'Kill him, Severus,' she said just loudly enough for her lover to hear.

Snape didn't look at her, but she knew he had heard her the moment she saw him withdraw her knife from his robes and immediately strike Lucius, both hands forcing the blade into Malfoy's chest. Lucius cried out, but the sound became choked as blood began to spew forth from his mouth. Hermione watched as Snape released his hold on the knife, his hands trembling slightly. Malfoy fell backwards then, his blood immediately beginning to pool around him on the marble floor.

Not bothering to wait and see if he was dead or not, Hermione rushed over to the corner of the room where Draco was lying. She whipped her wand out and immediately began casting healing charms over him, cleaning the gaping wound in his side and watching as the skin began to knit itself back together. He would need the attention of a proper Healer, but until then at least she had stopped the bleeding. She checked for his pulse and was relieved to find it. He was unconscious, but she was confident he would survive.

'Is Draco all right?' Snape asked from behind her, his voice a little rough with emotion.

She turned to look over her shoulder at him and nodded. 'He will be fine until he gets to a Healer in St. Mungo's,' she answered. 'What happened?'

'Lucius decided to throw a rather dangerous wood-cutting hex in his direction just before I was able to disarm him,' Snape answered, dropping down beside her to check Draco's pulse himself.

'You did your best,' Hermione said, reaching a hand over to rest on his shoulder. 'I am proud of you for what you did just now. I've never been more glad to see that monster dead.'

Snape closed his eyes tightly as she spoke. 'Speaking of monsters...' he began.

Before he could continue, the two heard a loud screeching sound coming from the Minister's office just beyond the next set of double doors. Hermione felt panic rise in her as she jumped to her feet. With the knowledge that Snape was following close behind her, Hermione ran in the direction of the doors, throwing her arm out in front of her and wandlessly blasting the doors open and off their hinges as she went.

She was surprised to find that only Harry and Dumbledore were in the room with Voldemort standing on the other side of the room, flocked by a number of cloaked and masked Death Eaters. Hermione could see the black blood sliding down the Dark Lord's cheek from what appeared to be a freshly-caused wound. Her veins were singing with magical energy just waiting to be unleashed. She bit her lip in order to maintain control, afraid her dark rage could hit the wrong people if she allowed it control over her.

'Ah, what do we have here?' Voldemort taunted, his voice a higher pitch than usual. 'A traitor and a Mudblood have come to your rescue, Potter. You might even have a fighting chance now.'

Hermione felt her temper flare at these words, but when she moved to step forwards even further, she felt Snape grip her arm and hold her back, his dark eyes staring into hers imploringly. She gritted her teeth to prevent herself from unleashing herself on him, taking a deep, calming breath.

'You know, Tom, taunting your rivals will not win you this battle,' Dumbledore spoke, his voice alarmingly calm.

'Ah, Dumbledore, you old fool,' Voldemort said coolly. 'You place far too much faith in that overgrown school boy to win this battle. Stop playing your silly games and just fight me yourself.'

''As you wish,' he replied with a hard glint in his eye, and a red jet of light flew from the tip of his wand in the direction of Voldemort.

At this point, everyone else in the room had drawn their wands and began casting spells and hexes at one another. Hermione made her way around the outside of the office, her own wand aimed at the Death Eater nearest her. She cast Levicorpus, hanging him upside down immediately, and left him in the air as she bound him with ropes. Both Harry and Snape had also managed to stun, bind and knock the other three Death Eaters unconscious before Dumbledore withdrew from his battle with Voldemort momentarily, casting a shield around all of them.

'Harry, now!' he ordered sharply.

Harry stepped forward, thrusting his wand out in front of him, his brow furrowed in concentration. Hermione and Snape pointed their wands in the same direction, all three preparing to cast the curse that would rid them of the Dark Lord forever.

'Avada Kedavra!' Harry, Hermione, and Snape shouted in unison, even as Riddle opened his mouth to cast another spell of his own.

The three green ribbons of the curse joined together, hitting Riddle square in the chest at the same time, throwing him backwards into the large desk, which pushed against it with enough force to hit the wall behind it. Hermione stared at the scene; Voldemort's red eyes were grey and empty, and his mangled body was sprawled over the desk, limbs splayed in different directions from the impact.

She opened her mouth to speak when she felt a sharp pain in her side and looked down to see the blood seeping through her shirt. She numbly felt the wound with her hands, her fingers tearing at her shirt so that she could see it, but without success. She could barely even hear Snape's voice as he shouted at her. Her knees became weak, and she sank to the ground, looking up to see her lover running towards her through the blurry haze beyond her eyes.

'Hermione?' Snape asked her, his own hands fumbling to lift her shirt from the wound that was now bleeding heavily.

Her eyes closed, almost against her own will, as she felt the darkness taking over. All she could see was blackness despite the blood pounding in her ears, even as she vaguely heard Snape calling out to her. The last thing she heard before the darkness took over fully was the sound of Snape's voice begging her not to leave him.

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A/N – I hope the battle was worth the wait.