The Deathly Hallows | Hermione Granger x Male Reader (Book Seven)

32. The Master Of Death

Harry's POV

As I moved, I reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I could no longer control my own trembling. It was not, after all, so easy to die. Every second I breathed, the smell of the grass, the cool air on my face, was so precious.

My hand reached into my pocket and felt the jagged stone Issac had given me earlier. I took the stone out and inspected it in the palm of my hand. In this desperate time, I wanted guidance and I knew I wasn't fetching them, they were rather fetching me for I was about to join them.

I closed my eyes and turned the stone over in my hand three times. When I opened my eyes and looked around, the figures were neither ghost nor truly flesh. I was surrounded by familiar faces, my father had his untidy and ruffled hair, Sirius had a cheeky grin on his face, Lupin looked less shabby than usual and my mother had the widest smile.

"You've been so brave." my mother spoke.

"You are nearly there," said my father, "we so proud of you."

"Does it hurt?" I asked, the childish question coming out before I could stop it.

"Dying? Not at all," said Sirius, "quicker and easier than falling asleep."

"And he will want it to be quick. He wants it over." said Lupin.

"You'll stay with me?" I asked, almost desperately.

"Until the very end," replied my father.

With their reassurance, I set off, clutching my Invisibility Cloak tightly around me.

At last I arrived where all the Death Eaters and Voldemort were. A fired burned in the middle of the clearing. Some Death Eaters were masked whilst others showed their faces. Narcissa Malfoy sat alone, away from everyone. She must've felt so lost, her sister and husband dead whilst her son's location was unknown.

Every eye was fixed upon Voldemort, who stood with his head bowed, and his white hands folded over the Elder Wand in front of him.

"No sign of him, my Lord." said Dolohov.

Voldemort's expression did not change. The red eyes seemed to burn in the firelight. Slowly he drew the Elder Wand between his long fingers.

"I thought he would come," said Voldemort in his high, clear voice, his eyes on the leaping flames, "I expected him to come."

Nobody spoke. "I was, it seems...mistaken." said Voldemort.

This is when I mustered all the courage I had left. "You weren't." I said as loudly as I could, trying not to sound afraid.

The Resurrection Stone slipped from between my fingers and out of the corner of my eyes I saw my parents, Sirius and Lupin vanish as I stepped forward into the firelight.

Voldemort had frozen where he stood, but his red eyes had found mine as he moved toward me, with nothing but the fire between us.

Then a voice yelled: "HARRY! NO!"

Hagrid was bound and trussed, tied to a tree nearby. His massive body shook the branches overhead as he struggled, desperate.

"Harry Potter." Voldemort said very softly. His voice might have been part of the spitting fire. "The Boy Who Lived. Come to die."

None of the Death Eaters moved. They were waiting. Everything was waiting.

He wasted no time. Voldemort had raised his wand. His head was still tilted to one side. I wanted it to happen now, quickly. It seemed as though Voldemort obeyed my dying wish. I saw the mouth move and a flash of green light, and then everything was gone.