"So glad you could find us." Voldemort's serpentine voice flowed through Hermione like acid as she kneeled behind a tree dry heaving. Two disapparations in one day had her entire body aching and convulsing; the baby was not pleased.

"I knew this is where you would end up." Severus retorted with equal scathe.

"Am I that translucent?" the Dark Lord laughed manically. Despite the burning in her stomach the wand was burning twice as hotly against Hermione's thigh. She felt something akin to teenage anxiety; as though she held a pack of cigarettes in her jumper and her parents were standing right beside her.

"I just knew you could not resist any longer. Although I am surprised there are not more people here." Hermione looked up at this declaration and was stunned to see only Lucius, Narcissa, Bellatrix, Draco and the Dark Lord standing in a desolate clearing amidst the nearly suffocating trees of the Dark Forest.

"Where are we?" Hermione piped up hoarsely. This place was completely unfamiliar to her and she found that unsettling.

"That's right!" Bellatrix declared suddenly making Hermione jump out of her skin, "she was missing! She has no idea what's here!" her laugher had a maniacal, cackling quality that made Hermione shiver.

Ignoring the still rampant nausea, Hermione stood stiffly and looked around at the empty field. There was nothing particularly special about the land; the grass was becoming dewy, the trees hugged the edges haphazardly… nothing out of the ordinary.

'Something must be under it.' She thought to herself in a way that made a shiver tear up and down her spine.

"What am I standing on?" she asked out loud to no one in particular as her gaze traveled down to the dampening grass beneath her trainers, "what is down there?" her whisper was almost inaudible over the deafening sound of Bellatrix erupting into a barrage of cackles and guffaws. Whatever it was it had to be terrible to make her this happy.

"Connect the dots Granger," Voldemort whispered in her ear, his sudden nearness making her jump, "Think, think, think…" he muttered patronizingly.

"Hermione…" Severus piped up but was silenced by a glare from the Dark Lord.

"Silence! I wish to see this legendary brain in action," Voldemort snarled gleefully, "I want to see if she is still as sharp."

"Somehow I think I don't want to know…" she whispered lowly.

"Whether or not you want to know is irrelevant," He snarled through clenched teeth, eager to get the ball rolling, "think about this," he whispered, leaning in until she could feel his breath tickling her neck, "where to do think we put the bodies of your fallen comrades?"

She fell numb. Her brain began stuttering as though she was unable to process what he had just told her. The world began to spin in slow motion as she stared down at the grass that served as a thin barrier between her and her deceased friends.

"Just imagine it Granger," he began slowly circling her in a very predatory fashion, "I could give you back your friends; all those you lost to your futile cause. Then you would have your husband, your friends, your child… all would be right in the world."

"Things could never be as they were," she whispered brokenly, tears falling from her eyes despite her ardent efforts to stop them, "they would be no more than slaves to you… with a free will unable to be exercised," she bit her lip at the terror consuming her. The visions of Harry obeying Voldemort's every command when he knew it was wrong, when she could clearly see in his eyes he was desperate to fight with every breath in his body. They would all feel that way, no one would be safe from the absolute control and terror Voldemort would inflict upon every living being should he have this golden opportunity, "that is a fate worse than death."

His circling ceased. His eyes flared with fiery rage as he clenched and unclenched his fists. She refused to conform to his image, to accept his plan, and that burned him. She could see his brain working at forming a retort but he was unable to produce anything so instead he turned on his heal and made his way back towards the small group of people.

He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled it out in a fist, the resurrection stone presumably nestled against his palm.

"You have performed well despite the fact that you could not remedy my original problem." Voldemort called back to her. Hermione bit her lip against the onslaught of conflicting emotions and brought the hardest one to muster towards the surface; bravery.

"I gave you the gift of life and a means of executing your plan," she called out as he opened his hand, palm upwards with the sharp stone resting against his skin, "and as such I presume you shall remain faithful to our bargain?" she began walking towards him slowly, her footsteps nearly silent although she was certain he was too caught up in the moment to pay much attention to her.

"Have I a choice?" he called out hurriedly as the stone began its slow journey upwards to hover above his open palm. Flexing his fingers once, the stone turned. Twice, the stone turned. The third time had both Hermione and Severus yanking their wands from their hiding places; Hermione pointed hers towards the Dark Lord and shouted, "Imobulus!" while Severus did the same in quick succession, rendering Draco and Bellatrix immobile. Narcissa, on the other hand, was deteriorating at an alarming rate; her eyes were cloudy and ever moving while her limbs were hanging limply at her sides.

She would not be a threat.

The resurrection stone fell into the Dark Lord's paralyzed palm as a result of no more manipulation. Hermione felt a twinge of hesitation before she tucked her wand back into her pants and approached him, brushing off the feelings; her skills were far too advanced to be worried.

"And now I finally have you where I want you," she whispered venomously as she slowly made her way around his frozen, kneeling form, "I know you can hear me, that you can process everything I am saying to you… that only makes this that much sweeter." She walked forward and fell into a crouching position so their eyes were level and she was able to see the vibrant, if not entirely evil, life that still shone there.

"I have dreamt of this moment for longer than I can tell you… I have imagined the ways in which I would end you but ultimately," she reached into her jean pocket and pulled out the box cutter Severus had chosen, "this was my final decision." She lifted the knife so it was in his line of vision and tapped it with her index finger.

Standing, Hermione walked around him and stood at his back; her thighs nearly touching his shoulders as she reached down and placed her hand on his cold, clammy forehead and pulled his head back against her stomach so she could look down at him and place the knife against the bottom of his left ear. Pushing the little tab on the handle of the blade it slowly inched forward until the lethally sharp tip pressed against his skin.

"Release him." She commanded Severus who promptly but hesitantly released the curse she had placed upon him; giving him free reign of his body once more.

Before he could grab her arms she muttered, "You will die like a common muggle," and shoved the tip of the blade into his flesh. Her stomach turned at the wet sounds his body made as she slowly dragged the knife across his skin, blood pouring from the wound with increasing intensity as she enlarged it.

Hermione held her breath and felt nothing. Which genuinely surprised her; she assumed she would have felt at least a modicum of fear or regret but deep down she felt calm and empty. Even as she watched his life ebbing away slowly, his blood spraying outwards like a fountain; still she felt hollow even as he writhed against her and clawed at her arms with a pitifully feeble fight.

Only when she released him, allowing him to fall to the ground in a near lifeless lump and she looked up at Lucius and Severus did she feel a spark of emotion. They looked fearful of her as though she was a wild animal that would strike at a moment's notice.

And in some ways she was.

Voldemort's blood still dripping from her fingers, Hermione shrugged off her feelings and determinedly made her way over to where Bellatrix stood frozen in mid-motion. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, no doubt leaving a trail of blood in her hand's wake, and sighed as she stared non-chalantly at the witch standing before her.

"In some ways I suppose I have been longing for your death more than his," She whispered, knowing full well the heinous bitch could hear every word she uttered, "I shall live with the mark you bestowed upon me for the rest of my life… I shall live with those memories that still haunt me all these years later."

Dropping the knife to the dewy grass, Hermione pulled her wand from where she had tucked in into her jeans.

"End it Hermione; we've got what we came for." Lucius piped up surprisingly as the voice of reason in the whole matter. Lifting the wand she took a deep breath and exhaled with, "Avada Kedavra." A bolt of electric green light shot from her wand and hit the witch squarely in the chest making her fall to the ground in a lifeless slump.

Then the emotions flooded her.

Her hands suddenly began to shake violently, her gaze tunneling rapidly as she dropped the wand and began to lose sensation throughout her entire body.

"Hermione!" She vaguely registered Severus calling out to her as she tumbled towards the ground. But, truthfully, she welcomed the promising sensation of pain that would be delivered from her fall. She felt in-human, monstrous even. Pain would ground her, bring her back to reality.

But reality slipped away just before she reached her destination against the grass and dirt.

##

"You succeeded where Harry failed." The words whispered in her ear made her anger ignite almost violently. Harry had not failed, in no way had Harry even come close to failing…

"He did not…" she began but was interrupted.

"And how does it feel?" the voice was shifting slowly from the deep baritone of an unnamed man to that of a woman. They sounded vaguely like her parents but also like countless other people she knew.

"Like I am no better than he." she whispered honestly. She knew full well that this would be her one and only chance to speak her piece to its full extent.

"His blood will forever drip from your hands…" the voice was entirely female now. Hermione looked down at her saturated palms and ground her teeth; blood spilled from between her fingers, landing on the white tile beneath her in a savagely beautiful contrast.

"Better him than millions of others whom he would have systematically slaughtered." She whispered.

"Yes… should your mind survive this."

The pure, unadulterated terror that flooded her at such an insinuation made her wake immediately.

Brilliant sunlight shone through the curtains, temporarily blinding her with their intensity.

"Glad to see you're awake." A voice called form the corner making her jump and cover herself with the bed linens.

"What are you doing here?" she snarled as her eyes focused on Draco sitting in the relatively shadowed corner, "how long was I out?" she asked on account of her head pounding and her bones aching like she had slept too long.

"Two days." He shrugged as though it was no big deal.

"And… my baby?" she asked hesitantly.

"The… child," he scoffed, "is fine." Relief flooded her at the knowledge but it was quickly replaced with worry and apprehension towards other facets of her current situation.

"Why have you not killed me?" yanking the sheet from where it was tucked at the bottom of the bed, she wrapped it around herself and stood shakily. On tingling feet she made her way over to the closet and opened the door; hesitant to leave his presence lest he try anything.

"Because despite what you may think of me I could never hurt my father that much," he responded with an air of disgust, "and for some reason it would hurt him deeply." Cringing at the pain slicking through her skull, Hermione grabbed the first pair of trousers, bra, knickers, and shirt she could lay her hands on and slowly pulled them on. It felt good to be working towards normalcy no matter how minute.

"You have your mother back," she began as she stiffly walked out of the closet and towards the bathroom, "surely you and your father would be better off making a life with her and leaving Severus and I to our own devices." As much as it pained her to think that way it was the truth of how she felt. She had expected Lucius to drop her like a bad habit and run off with his family as soon as the deed was done and he was free.

Turning on the bathroom light she closed the door and went about her business. Her hair was a matted mess that took serious brushing to get straightened out but she did it none-the-less.

"You must truly think me a monster," she heard Draco respond from the other side of the door after the better half of five minutes had passed between them in utter silence, "to think that I could allow my mother to live in such a state…" her hand stopped mid-scrub at the t0ne of his voice and meaning of his words. Leaving her toothbrush half hanging out she opened the door and stared at him incredulously.

"You mean…" she muttered half intelligibly.

"She is dead," his voice was so thick with sadness Hermione had half a mind to console him but knew better, "for the better I am certain."

"Who…" she began but stopped herself.

"Severus, if you were wondering who… relieved her." he offered. Hermione shivered and turned around to finish what she was doing; determined to push the issue from her mind.

"Why are you still here?" she called out once she had spit out the foamy toothpaste.

"Someone had to hold down the fort during the daylight hours. Now that you are awake I shall take my leave." She heard the fabric of the chair groan as he stood. Dropping the hairbrush onto the countertop, Hermione darted out of the bathroom before he could go too far.

"Draco wait," She called out as she reached forward and took hold of his upper arm. He stopped and turned his neck to glare down at her maliciously, his fury barely restrained.

"My life…" he muttered through clenched teeth, "my life is ruined. Everything I worked for has been demolished. The man, whom I swore my allegiance to, whose cause I believed so fervently in, is now dead. My mother is now no longer a distant, happy memory; she is a rotting, shell of a corpse that I shall never forget." Tears began streaming down his cheeks from both anger and sadness.

"And for that I am truly, truly sorry Draco. But had I not killed him then millions of people would have died; you could have potentially died. He killed your father did he not? There is no saying whether or not he would have killed you too. And your mother… that was purely Bellatrix; I had no hand in that." She felt as though she was trying to convince herself more than him.

Yanking his arm from her grasp, Draco gave her one final sneer before stepping through the doorway and pulling it shut behind him. Hermione truly wanted his forgiveness but was not betting on it; he had to come to these realizations on his own.

##

Daylight fell slowly. Painfully slowly.

Hermione found herself sitting in a dining room chair that she had pulled from the table and set in front of Severus's door. Her nerves were on edge as she waited for him to open the door and greet her. Would he be angry? Aloof?

Her speculation was halted by a hand grabbing her upper arm and yanking her from the chair so fast she could hardly blink before she was enveloped in a tight embrace.

"My love…" Lucius muttered hoarsely as he held her against his chest almost suffocatingly. Warmth filled her heart at the tenderness of his words but the worry still remained.

"Hi." She whispered.

"You know not how miserable I have been these past days…" his hold loosened just enough so she could look up at him. He looked well rested but hungry.

"Have you not fed?" she asked.

"I have scarcely left your side but to sleep," His arm loosened so allow his hand to cup her cheek tenderly, "to be unknowing of your state was torturous." He slowly leaned down to gently press his lips against hers. Not exactly the passionate kiss she had been hoping for but she would not complain.

"Forgive me Hermione," he whispered as he pulled away, "I am hungry and I fear that if I kiss you too deeply I shall not be able to contain myself." A twinge of heat pierced her but it was faint and fleeting, there was too much going on to worry over that.

They both looked up at the sound of the door opening. Severus stood in the doorway looking ravenous but relieved all the same.

"Hermione…" he whispered breathily. Lucius released her, allowing her to run to the other man and jump into his arms. Everything felt safe and right now that she had them both with her and relatively unharmed.

"What happened while I was out?" she asked as Severus released her but kept her close. Lucius came up behind her and stood flush against her back, placing gentle kisses to her neck while Severus stood against the front of her body and stroked her arms gently.

"Neither of us left your side for longer than absolutely necessary," Severus told her as he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, "Well… Lucius didn't. I had to leave for a little while the day it happened." She knew he was talking about Narcissa so to spare anyone anymore pain she didn't ask for any further details. She knew it had to be hurting Lucius and the last thing any of them needed was any more emotional strain than they were already experiencing.

"And you aren't afraid of me?" she asked timidly, remembering the looks of horror they had given her as she carried out her task of killing Voldemort.

"Never," Lucius whispered against her neck, "I, for one, think you handled the situation with great tact." His laugh against her skin made her body erupt in tingles.

"We could never be afraid of you," Severus replied with more severity than Lucius had, "but at the time, seeing you practically covered in his blood… well it was all rather disconcerting." Hermione sighed and cringed at the image that popped into her head but pushed it away rapidly.

"There is no need to dwell on it any further," Lucius whispered against her neck, his hands gently moving to cradle her belly, "you are safe, our baby is safe, it's over."

"But how can you just forget Narcissa?" She asked, hating how painful it was to consider the fact that he may mourn another woman when he had every logical right to do so.

"I never shall. I suspect I will live with this pain for years to come…" not exactly what she wanted to hear, "but it is my pain to bear, not yours. I love you and our child; eventually the memories will fade as well as the pain they bring."

"All of us will have to live with this," Severus interjected, "but for this baby we shall overcome our grief."

Hermione only hoped the images running through her mind would let her overcome this.