Second Chances (Fremione)

28.

Standing in front of Hermione was the biggest, strangest looking creature she'd ever been asked to ride. A black, skeletal looking horse with huge wings. She'd never seen a thestral but after the battle of Hogwarts, she'd seen enough death to last a lifetime. She pretended not to be able to see it though, since she couldn't before and she allowed Luna to help her find and mount it.

A sudden wave of adrenaline pumped through her veins as the thestral took off and Hermione felt as though her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Not just from the terrifying feeling of flying through the air, but also from the fear that she would fail the first time she'd really tried to save anyone. She wanted to save Sirius so badly. He was innocent of all the crimes he'd been accused of, and he deserved to taste his freedom. Harry deserved a real family. And she couldn't help but wonder- if she couldn't save Sirius, could she save the person she really wanted to save? She pushed that thought out of her mind. A problem for another time. Today, she was going to save Sirius Black.

Lucius Malfoy was terrifying. Standing in front of him watching him and Harry argue over the prophesy actually made her feel for Draco a little. This is what he had to deal with his entire life. She was sucked back to reality when spells began to fly.

She began running around with everyone else, trying desperately to mimic her moves from the last time until...

"WE'VE GOT HIM! IN AN OFFICE OFF..."

"Silencio!" Hermione shouted, then she grabbed Neville and ducked behind a bookshelf. It worked. The death eater was too preoccupied with Harry and didn't bother trying to curse Hermione. Harry dodged a few curses and threw a few out himself before knocking one of the shelves over on his attackers and knocking them out cold.

As soon as she saw Dumbledore, Hermione knew it was time. She snuck around the bookshelves until she ended up near the veil, directly behind Bellatrix Lestrange. She could see the look on Sirius' face. He was just about to tell her to get herself to safety, but she quickly put her finger to her mouth before shouting "Petrificus Totalus!"

Hermione jumped over Bellatrix's motionless body before grabbing Sirius by the arm and pulling him away.

"Nice work, young lady." Sirius whispered. "I only wish you would have let me handle it. That was a big risk you took there."

Hermione stopped herself from telling him that he wasn't going to be able to handle it on his own and simply answered "Never underestimate the element of surprise."

Sirius needed a moment to catch his breath, luckily, because she didn't really know how she was going to keep him from going out and fighting again. But before to long, the Death Eaters began to disappear and it was just Dumbledore and Voldemort, dueling it out in the shattered glass that filled the ministry. She knew how this part ended. Which meant it was over. They had won. Sirius was still alive, sitting next to her. Panting heavily from his duel with a deranged psychopath, but still breathing and very much alive.

As Dumbledore rushed over to check on Harry after his fight with Voldemort, Hermione rubbed the necklace around her neck, hoping Fred would take it as a sign that their mission had been a success. As she felt it heat up in return, she took it as Fred's unspoken congratulations. And though she knew there were many more battles to be won, many more fates to be changed, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. For today, even if it's today alone, they had won. And for now, that was good enough.