Chapter 46

“I–I was just trying to set the mood! I wasn’t actually planning to fight, pfft!” Anne blurted out, quickly pulling Hermione into her arms and speaking in a rush, half-pleading, half-soothing.

“I’ve still got you. And we’ve got so much time ahead of us! I want to take you traveling, to China, to India, to Egypt. I want to lie on the beach with you under the sun, pitch a tent in the fields and watch the Milky Way. I want to drive with you all the way around Sri Lanka—”

“And most importantly,” she added softly, “I haven’t even told you my secret yet… the real meaning of the tumbler charm. I haven’t even proposed to you. So of course I can’t—”

Anne didn’t finish. Hermione kissed her.

Teeth clashed, tongues intertwined, it was a fierce, breath-stealing kiss, long and desperate.

When they finally pulled apart, both were gasping for air.

Anne lifted a hand and gently wiped away Hermione’s tears.

“Hermione,” she said quietly, “everything I’ve ever said to you, every promise I’ve ever made, I remember it all. Right here.” She pressed a hand against her chest. “And it tells me how lucky I am to have met you.”

“I love you,” Hermione whispered, her voice breaking as she clung to Anne, burying her face in the crook of her neck. “Anne, you mustn’t, you absolutely mustn’t get hurt! If anything happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself. Do you hear me? Swear it! Swear that if you’re in danger, you’ll run! You’ll leave!”

“You said it yourself, that selfishness is a Slytherin trait.” Her tears soaked through Anne’s shoulder. “Then be selfish. Be selfish for me. I don’t want you to die.”

“I swear!” Anne said firmly, holding Hermione tight, forcing her voice to sound as strong and certain as she could make it. “I swear I’ll put my life first. Hermione, I’ll be fine, but after everything’s over, I’ll have to return to the safehouse. The potion I took has… side effects. I won’t lie about that. But Grandfather Orlens will never let anything happen to me. All right?”

Before Hermione could respond, a voice boomed across the castle, cold, inhuman, echoing through stone and night alike.

“People of Hogwarts!” Voldemort’s voice rolled like thunder. “You have ten minutes. Hand over Harry Potter and his two companions, and I will spare everyone else. Refuse, and I shall bathe this castle in blood!”

The voice reverberated through every hall and corridor.

Harry and Ron burst into the room, wands drawn, eyes blazing.

Then Professor McGonagall’s voice rang out, fierce and resolute, the perfect reply.

“GET OUT!”

Laughter erupted across Hogwarts, wild, defiant laughter echoing from every passage and tower.

“Good. Good. GOOD!” Voldemort’s voice hissed in fury.

And then, a thunderous boom! shook the walls.

The castle’s outer shield had begun to fall.

“Anne!” Harry shouted.

“Hermione!” Ron called, his hand gripping his wand, Gryffindor’s sword gleaming faintly beneath his cloak.

“Hermione?” Anne said softly, glancing down at her.

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“Anne, you swore, right?”

“Yes. I swore.”

“Good.” Hermione nodded once, pulling her wand from her sleeve. She stepped to Ron’s side, her expression firm. “We’re going to find the diadem, and destroy it.”

“I believe you,” Anne said. Harry met both their eyes and nodded. “So do I.”

Ron and Hermione ran from the room, disappearing down the corridor.

Anne watched Hermione’s retreating figure until she vanished from sight. Then she slipped her earpiece, ring, and glasses back on, her expression hardening.

Skoll turned to Harry, his tone grave.

“Do you trust me, Harry Potter?”

“Always,” Harry answered, equally serious.

“You know only one of you can live in the end, right?”

“I know.” Harry pulled a small golden Snitch from his pocket, its wings folded tight. “Do you think Dumbledore really hid the Resurrection Stone inside this?”

Anne shook her head. “I can’t say for sure, but it’s very likely. Have you managed to open it?”

“Not yet. I’ve tried everything. But it’s fine.” Harry lifted his head, eyes steady with resolve. “I’m ready. It’s just death, right? Maybe I’ll get to see Mum and Dad again. Sirius, too. That’s enough for me.”

He smiled faintly, then asked, “That speech you gave, was it true? About us being remembered?”

“Of course,” Skoll said. “I don’t lie about things like that. If you die, I’ll see to it personally that they build you a statue here at Hogwarts. What do you think?”

Harry laughed aloud, clapping him on the shoulder. “In gold? You’ve got that kind of money?”

“Solid gold?” Skoll rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I could, uh… legally acquire your Gringotts vault after the war and fund it that way. But you know what would probably happen?”

“Oh, I know,” Harry said, grinning. “Someone would nick it.”

“See? You do know how to live.” Skoll chuckled.

They laughed for a while, then the laughter faded into silence.

“So where do we go now?” Harry asked quietly. “You know Voldemort, he’s terrified of dying. He won’t show himself until he has me. How do we kill him?”

“By getting you to him,” Skoll replied. “And by using this.”
He drew from his robes a small, prism-shaped object, three facets, two different colors.

“This is the last one. The secret weapon.” His voice was low. “It’s devastatingly powerful. My plan is simple: we find someone to take you straight to Voldemort. If I’m right, he’ll kill you himself. Then he’ll drag your body out in front of Hogwarts to prove his victory.”

“Oh, he’ll do it,” Harry said bitterly. “He’d love nothing more than to prove the prophecy wrong, to show that the one left standing was him.”

“Exactly. And that’s when he’ll be at his weakest, when he thinks it’s over. Once he steps inside Hogwarts’ wards, he won’t be able to Apparate away. Under cover of darkness, no one will notice this little thing hovering above him. When it detonates over his head, it’ll be too late for him to react.”

“You want me to hide when that happens?” Harry asked.

“When you see the red signal flare, dig yourself a hole with a spell and get down in it,” Skoll said. “Stay low until it’s done.”

“But, if he kills me, how can I—?”

“I don’t know if you’ll die,” Skoll admitted.

“You said he’ll kill me! How could I not?”

“I don’t know,” Skoll said quietly. “But before you go to him, keep the Snitch in your mouth. It might help.”

“What? Why?” Harry frowned. “You think the Snitch opens when I’m about to die, and then… saves me?”

“I know it sounds illogical,” Skoll said, rubbing his nose. “And maybe it is. But I believe you won’t die. I just don’t yet understand why. Just trust me on this, all right? If you’re still alive when the time comes, dig that hole. Okay?”

“Fine,” Harry said after a moment. “But what if they take my wand?”

“You’ve got two,” Skoll reminded him.

“Oh, right!” Harry fished out another wand from inside his cloak. “I almost forgot my spare.”

“Then maybe it won’t be so bad,” Skoll said. “Just stay sharp. Now, here we are.”

Harry looked up at the familiar stone gargoyles and blinked. “The Headmaster’s office?”

“Exactly.” Skoll stepped forward and muttered, “Pure-blood supremacy.”

The statues slid aside, revealing the spiral staircase.

Facing Harry squarely, Skoll asked one last time, “Harry, do you truly trust me?”

“Yes,” Harry said. “I’d trust you with my life.”

Skoll pulled out the Order of the Phoenix seal and sent a brief coded message. He nodded once at Harry.

“All right. Let’s go.”