Ultimatums

Chapter 66

"Lord Voldemort" Hermione replied, sitting on the marble island in the middle of the kitchen. She was twirling her wand around her fingers, watching her manicured nails against the wood instead of the Dark Lord.

He came into the room. Underneath the lamp light his beautifully haunted features looked distorted. Distorted to tear away the charming façade his attractiveness granted him, and instead show the monstrous part within.

"I expected the Potter's" he said, dragging a finger along the stove. "I don't suppose you killed them all for me?" At Hermione's silence he nodded "thought not. It is a shame. To kill a witch so talented."

Hermione smiled, twisting her crimson lips into a grin not too far from Bellatrix's iconic one. "Then don't"

Voldemort moved closer, his head tilted towards her "you give me no choice"

"Would it not be easier," she pretended to propose a question in the spur of the moment "to keep me around? I have a lot to offer"

He moved closer still, breathing down her neck. His words were like honey, smooth and sickly sweet. A sweetness that leaves a bad taste in your mouth afterwards. "Tell me where the Potter's are, and I'll let you live"

She shuddered, the cold air tickling the hair on her neck. "I can't do that"

His face turned cold. Voldemort swept his dark hair from his eyes and raised his wand. "It's been a pleasure"

"The pleasure was all mine, my Lord" Hermione bowed. She flicked her fingers forward, her hand hidden under her chest, and a small wisp moved from under her finger nails.

It danced and swam and wiggled through the air, and it stopped Hermione's breath. While Voldemort started the motion for the most unforgivable curse, the wisp caught the end of his wand like a web. It spread through his wand, a disgusting disease running up the wood and wrapping itself around it.

Voldemort didn't notice at first, and a satisfied smile began to form on his lips. He didn't understand why Hermione shared his expression.

☎️

Rosier was moving at a sprint, dodging everything in his path. "Avery! Avery!"

His beloved turned, hair swirling and framing his face. A relief washer over him, a spark of lust in his eye. Avery ran to meet him.

They were so wrapped up in the desire to be together that they didn't see the violent pink spell. It hit Avery's chest and the impact blasted everyone backwards. Dust and rubble were slept up in the wind and Avery lay coughing in the sandy grass.

Rosier stopped. He couldn't move. Not an inch. That was, until Regulus shoved him forward. The pair knelt beside him.

"A" Rosier whispered, cupping his hands around his chin. Avery was slipping in and out of consciousness.

Regulus put a hand on his shoulder "take him to mine. Evans will brew a potion for him or something. Then come back and we'll find who did this and get them back. Yeah?"

His expression hardened and he blinked his tears away. It only took him a minute before he was back again. This time he looked murderous.

"Where'd it come from?" his voice was barely audible, a quiet rumble.

Regulus pointed left. There Dorcas Meadows, Emmeline Vance and Elphias Doge had been duelling a few moments ago. Now Emmeline and Dorcas were still fighting Lucius Malfoy and Yaxley, but Doge was staring at them with an unmistakeable fear. He'd meant to send the curse of his creation at Dolohov who was duelling his daughter. Instead, the man deflected it and it hit his cousin. Now Doge faced the wrath of three of the most feared Death Eaters on the field. One of them was a ghost.

He ran, burning a path through the crowds for the others to follow. Doge was an old man, not as limber as the young men and so they caught up easily. Rosier hit him with wordless crucio after wordless crucio and he fell to the floor. Watching him writhe in pain didn't do anything for him though. It didn't smooth other the pain Rosier felt. It was like a thorn under his skin. Rosier turned away and left Doge to Dolohov. Antonin and Avery were never close exactly, but that didn't mean he could escape Dolohov's creative wrath.

Regulus followed him. "Evans is one of the best potioneers around. He'll be okay"

Rosier shook his head. He sat down behind the table again, the chaos ensuing behind them. Tears began to build up again, and they fell unforgivably. "No. He passed when we got there. He's gone"

He began to shake, sobs radiating through him. Regulus wrapped an arm around him. They heard Bellatrix cackle coincidentally with victory. She sounded manic as a thump of bodies hit the floor. "Evan. Evan look at me. Look at me Evan"

Regulus took his shoulders firmly. "You'll be okay. I promise you that."

Rosier's tear stricken face looked at him in shock. His eyes were wide and a hand covered his mouth. "Reg, you're glowing"

Black looked down at his arms and it was true. Purple coursed through his veins, sparkling. He smiled slightly, melancholic. Soon pain came along. An unpleasant side effect of dying. "I knew you could do it, Ninita" he whispered to himself before looking up at Rosier again. "You'll be okay" he repeated firmly.

Then he fell backwards, the smile still lingering.

☎️

The spell began to disintegrate the wood, chipping away at it.

"What are you doing?" Voldemort snarled, dropping his wand onto the carpet.

Hermione jumped off of the island, landing neatly infront of him. She smiled and said as if it were obvious "You can't kill me, Tom. I just can't allow it"

Something passed behind Voldemort's eyes at the sound of his own name but it was gone soon enough. "And what will you do then? Kill me? An impossible feat, Ms Black"

Her innocent smile turned to a Cheshire cat's. "Not as impossible as you might think. Though if you're so sure, maybe you can let me give it my best shot" She looked up at him, a daring glint in her eye. "And if I fail, I'll take you to my bastard brother and his family myself. You'll never find them otherwise"

He raised an eyebrow, lowering his head "What makes you so sure?"

She whispered in his ear, the secret she had kept so close finally being told "It's the same place Regulus Black was living after he was presumed dead"

A fury shuddered in Voldemort and he grabbed the front of her dress, pulling her up. The collar began to choke her, but she kept her smile wide. Her eyes began to water as he kept her there, hanging over his head. Hermione kept going though.

"And those horcruxes you have tucked away safe? Dust. You've not got many failsafes anymore to keep you from going that way too, have you? To keep you safe from my nephew?"

Voldemort tightened his grip, Hermione gasping for air. "I'll make one out of you then. Throw you in the ocean, no one will find you then"

Hermione took one last final grin. "I have one more trick up my sleeve, love. It's a joy to watch"

She burst.

Arching her back and letting her arms stretch behind her, Hermione let her power burst through her skin like it had been itching to since she'd first discovered it. It destroyed her, the pure energy destroying the house and the devil within it completely.

Anyone miles around would say it looked like there was a dying star in Godric's Hollow. A beautiful show of colour, and that when they saw that they knew the war was over.