A/N: Hello again. It's only been, you know, about two and a half years. Sorry about that. I hope you all missed me as much as I missed all of you. Starting out my return by just dipping my toes in the water. Hopefully this isn't too terrible. Leave a review if you feel like it by the end of it.

Protector

The sound of his own panting filled Harry's ears as he raced through the Forbidden Forest, leaves whipping against his arms and face. His heart was pounding in his chest but his footfalls felt light and agile. His glasses were slipping down his face a little as he ran, but there was no time to push them up. He needed to keep running.

If he didn't Hermione was going to die.

She didn't have much experience fighting other wizards and witches outside of the one fight they had had at the ministry. Sure, she had shot a few disarming spells here and there, but she had never fought against anyone who truly had the intention of killing her. It was different. There was no way she would be able to handle herself in a fight like that.

Harry was the only one who could protect her.

So he ran and ran. He had just defeated Voldemort, but that was so far in the back of his mind now that it almost felt like it didn't even happen. It hadn't sunk in yet. Right after he had defeated the Dark Lord, Neville had told him that Hermione had disappeared into the forest during a ferocious fight with Bellatrix Lestrange, who had already brought Molly Weasley close to death during an earlier fight.

Harry had dashed straight into the forest without a second though, nothing but the safety of Hermione on his mind. Nothing mattered more than that at that moment. What did it matter that Voldemort was dead if it meant Hermione wasn't going to be there to bask in the glory of their victory with him? What was the point of winning the Battle of Hogwarts if he was never going to hear her laughing at one of his horrible jokes ever again? Why did they go through hell for the past seven years if she was just going to die at the end of all of it? She didn't deserve that. And Harry felt that he and Ron didn't deserve having to deal with the pain of her death after all that.

He ran on, deeper and deeper and deeper into the forest. He could very faintly hear the sounds of the last battle still raging on ferociously on the grounds of Hogwarts. That was a good sign. That meant that Hermione was still alive. If she was alive, that meant that Harry could still save her. All she had to do was hold out until he could get there and he would be able to protect her.

There was nothing else he was really good for, after all.

Harry saw a plume of fire erupt through the leaves in the canopy of the forest quite a ways ahead of him. Ignoring the stitch in his side, he ran even faster.

Hermione stared at the mad-eyed woman over her outstretched wand, ready to react at Bellatrix's first move. They had been duking it out for what felt like an eternity now, but neither had given a single inch as of yet. Hermione didn't feel fatigued at all though. In fact, she felt better than ever. Her adrenaline was coursing through her veins and her blood was pumping, and she was reveling in it. She knew she should have been fearing for her life at that moment, knowing what Bellatrix had done to nearly everyone else who had tried to go toe-to-toe with her, but she just couldn't find that fear anywhere within herself. Her desire to finally bring the woman who had brought so much pain to the lives of those so dear to her overwhelmed every other emotion in her body.

She would defeat Bellatrix Lestrange if it was the last thing she did.

Bellatrix took a step to the right and Hermione saw her eyes narrow. She was getting ready to strike again. Hermione couldn't help the grin that came to her face. She was already able to read every move Bellatrix was about to make. Hermione took a deep breath, her eyes locked on her opponent, her racing heart bringing her a sense of calm.

As long as she was alive she could take Bellatrix down once and for all.

"Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix's twisted shout rang through the trees surrounding them and a flash of sickly green streaked right at Hermione.

Hermione felt magic surge through her body as she flourished her wand and shouted, "Reducto!" A vibrant blue burst of magic blasted out of her wand and crashed into Bellatrix's killing curse in mid-air, and the resulting blast of magical energy as they cancelled each other out threatened to blow Hermione off her feet. She dug her feet deep into the soft forest floor, though, and was glad she did when she saw that Bellatrix was repositioning for another attack, dodging between the trees at the edge of the clearing for cover.

However, Hermione decided it was time to take initiative in this battle. She had been doing nothing but reacting to the older witch's spells the whole fight, and Hermione knew that even though she was completely capable of defending herself from anything Bellatrix could think to throw her way by this point, she would never actually defeat the Death Eater if she kept letting her dictate this battle.

When she saw Bellatrix move between two trees, she pointed her wand right at the tree Bellatrix was now hiding behind and cried out, "Incendio!" The tree was engulfed in a blaze, and Hermione, even in the midst of a life-or-death battle, couldn't help but wince as the forest she had looked out over from her dorm window for the past seven years started to erupt into raging wildfire.

Hermione brandished her wand when Bellatrix stumbled back out into the clearing, hair and robes simmering in several places.

"Very good," Bellatrix shouted over the roaring inferno, her warped smile sending shivers down Hermione's spine. "I didn't expect such ferocity or magical power from you, mudblood."

Hermione's arm tingled at the word 'mudblood,' and she gave it a little shake. Yet another horrible thing Bellatrix needed to pay for.

"But still, it is not enough," Bellatrix said, her rotten teeth completely bared as she laughed in glee. "You see, you don't have what's needed to win a battle like this."

Hermione said nothing in response. There was nothing to say. Bellatrix was too foolish to see that Hermione had her at a major disadvantage, and Hermione certainly wasn't going to point that fact out to her.

"You see, child," Bellatrix said anyway, not caring if Hermione was even paying attention to her ego-fueled monologue. "You lack conviction. You can know all the spells in the world, but none of it is going to help if you don't have any conviction."

Hermione rolled her eyes. That was one of the dumbest things she'd heard come out of another person's mouth in quite a while. She quickly began chanting a spell under her breath, her eyes still locked on Bellatrix so she would be able to react to the slightest movement from the Death Eater.

"I killed that silly boy's parents, I killed Sirius Black, I killed that red-headed bitch, and now I'm going to kill you," Bellatrix continued. "Ha! And then I'm going to go back to the castle and finish what Voldemort started!"

Ah, so Harry won, Hermione thought to herself, relief coursing through her body. She wasn't very concerned with anything else Bellatrix had to say. There was no way Hermione was losing this duel.

"Are you quite finished?" Hermione asked, her arm getting tired from keeping her wand up. "This is getting boring."

Of course, Hermione's adrenaline was still pumping through every fiber of her being at that moment, but seriously, she would rather face the prospect of death than have to listen to Bellatrix go on any longer. The drivel she was spouting was complete nonsense.

"Funny," Bellatrix replied, brandishing her wand again. "I was thinking exactly the same thing."

Hermione's eyes took in Bellatrix's every move, though the fire raging behind the Death Eater made it a little difficult to see her. Smoke was filling Hermione's lungs with each breath, but there was no time to worry about that now. She was too busy thinking about exactly how she was going to end this battle within the next thirty seconds. Bellatrix had to be taken down before this wild battle got even more out of hand.

It was at that instant that Hermione heard the leaves behind her rustle. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Harry stumbling out into the clearing from the behind the trees. What the hell is he doing here? Confusion threatened to overwhelm Hermione, distracting her for a moment.

That moment was all it took, though.

Hermione snapped her head back toward her opponent, her eyes widening as she saw another killing curse screaming through the air at her. Victory danced in Bellatrix's eyes as the thought hit Hermione that she was actually going to die right here. She was so sure she was going to win, too. If only Harry hadn't gone and done something as silly as startle her when she was in the midst of focusing so intensely.

But time seemed to slow down as the curse came closer and closer to hitting her, and she realized that she still had just a millisecond left to react to it. But that was enough. She desperately slashed her wand through the air in front of her and a dozen birds erupted from the tip of it, one of which the killing curse slammed into, sending its lifeless body tumbling out of the air.

Bellatrix didn't let that phase her, though, and black flames roared out of her wand and raced towards Hermione, the heat sucking the remaining moisture out of the air. Hermione quickly twirled her wand in front of her as the counter spell came to her lips, and a torrent of water clashed into the flames and engulfed them, completely smothering them out. A slicing hex followed the flames, and despite the roaring blaze right behind Bellatrix, Hermione swore she could hear it whistling through the air as it bore down on her. She twisted her body just a bit, but wasn't quite fast enough, wincing as it tore through skin and muscle on her left arm.

Bellatrix's warped smile was larger than ever, making her face look like a horrible caricature of a normal smile. Hermione heard Harry groaning behind her, but she had no time to pay attention to him now. If she took her eyes off of Bellatrix again, Hermione knew she would die for sure this time.

Bellatrix reveled in her glee at coming so close to killing her opponent just a millisecond too long, and Hermione took that opportunity to shout the first spell that came to her mind. A nearly invisible pulse of air that was twice as tall as Hermione and just as wide tore through the air at Bellatrix, who gasped and just barely managed to get up a barrier, faltering a little as the spell slammed into it. The fire directly behind Bellatrix was consumed by the spell, as well as the trees behind it, leaving nothing but stumps and splinters in their place.

Hermione took a step to the left and Bellatrix stumbled as the did the same. Her robe had caught on a stick jutting up from the ground. The stick was perfectly stuck into the dirt as if it had been placed there by hand – or by spell – at some point. Hermione couldn't help but feel her ego inflate as Bellatrix walked right into the trap she had laid during the Death Eater's earlier monologue.

Bellatrix cried out in pain as a bolt of pure energy erupted from underneath her and tore through her wand hand. Her wand was instantly vaporized by the bolt, and then her legs collapsed from under her when she saw the mangled remains of her hand.

Hermione walked towards the defeated witch calmly, a slight spring in her step and a pleased smile on her face. That had worked just as expected. She waved her wand in front of her Bellatrix's body immediately stiffened, her eyes full of hatred and loathing as she stared at the witch who had just defeated her.

Hermione walked right up next to Bellatrix, grabbed her by the ear, and smugly said, "Why would you assume I lack any conviction? Because I'm just a poor little mudblood who trembles in fear at the sight of a Death Eater? Get over yourself, you hag."

Hermione felt even better about herself as she backed away from the older woman, whose eyes were full of fury. Nothing in Hermione's life had felt as good as that moment just now. Winning a life-or-death battle was even more exhilarating than acing a test after a long night of studying. What a rush.

She quickly sent out a patronus towards the castle with instructions on how to reach their location so somebody could come take Bellatrix back to Azkaban. She most likely had a dementor's kiss waiting for her this time, though Hermione felt no pity for her. She completely deserved it at this point.

A groan from the tree line reminded Hermione that Harry had entered the clearing at some point. That and the warm blood running down her left arm and dripping off of her fingers. She had come dangerously close to losing her life because of his idiocy. He was gripping his ankle, which had swollen quite a bit. He must have sprained or broken his ankle when he had come stumbling out into the battle.

"What the hell were you thinking, Harry?" Hermione asked him as she gave her wand a little jab at Harry's ankle. He cried out as it snapped back into place. Hermione could have healed his ankle a little more gently, but she was a little too pissed at him to care much at that point. "You almost got me killed!"

Harry's Adam's apple bobbed as he searched for the right words to say. "I, er...uh, sorry about that Hermione. I was just trying to get her so I could save you from Bellatrix."

"To save me from Bellatrix?" Hermione asked incredulously. Adrenaline from the battle was still rushing through her. "I was in complete control of the fight before you came bumbling through and gave her the upper hand. I had to save myself from being killed because of you!"

"I realized that as soon as I tripped," Harry said, standing up and dusting himself off. "I really am sorry, Hermione. For some reason I got it in my head that you wouldn't be able to beat someone as strong in Bellatrix in a fight." Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously, and Harry quickly added, "I see now that I was completely wrong. You were actually quite incredibly just now. Please forgive me."

Not good enough, Hermione thought to herself. She didn't care how good being called incredible by Harry felt; she was still livid. He really thought so little of her capabilities? She drew herself to her full height, her chest swelling with anger. She opened her mouth to give Harry the verbal lashing of his life, and then—

Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped into the clearing at that moment and gave Hermione a quick nod, stopping her in her tracks. She nodded back at him and without a word he strode over to Bellatrix and levitated her petrified form into the air. He hadn't seemed the least bit surprised that Hermione had defeated the notorious Death Eater. He left with Bellatrix just as quickly as he had entered.

Hermione looked back to Harry to find him staring back at her sheepishly, and she could see in his eyes that he really did feel horrible about what had just happened. She sighed as her anger deflated. "Just think a little and take in what's going around you instead of jumping into the fray like a madman next time, okay?" she said, suddenly exhausted. Her adrenaline had finally died down.

"I promise," Harry assured her. They gave each other a small smile to make sure they were cool, then he then grabbed her left wrist and eyed her wound, wincing as he saw the exposed muscle tissue. "Let's get you to Madam Pomfrey, Hermione. I have no idea how to treat a wound like this." He tore a strip off of his robe and wrapped it around the wound tenderly, Hermione wincing each time he accidentally jostled her arm a little.

They began to make their way back towards the castle, and a peaceful silence descended upon them. It was finally over. They had finally won. They didn't have to worry about Voldemort or his Death Eaters ever again. Hermione smiled as her now tired and sore legs cried out in pain with each step. Exhaustion was really pressing in on her now. It had been an incredibly long night and, judging by the position of the sun in the sky, an equally as long morning. It was about midday at this point.

A thought coming to her, she glanced over at Harry and said, "Hey, by the way, even though you totally almost got me killed, thanks for coming out to find me and trying to help me. It still means a lot to me."

Harry waved a dismissive hand at her. "Come on, Hermione. We're always there for each other. There was no way I could just ignore the fact that you were in a dangerous situation. We both know you would have done the same for me...and you would have probably done a lot better job of it than I did." His eyes twinkled as he grinned at her.

She her eyes. "Well of course," she said matter-of-factly. "Unlike you and Ron, I actually have something called tact." She pointed at her head and said, "I actually make use of this thing up here. Comes handy from time to time."

"Yeah, yeah," Harry laughed. "You got me." Then he grew serious. "But seriously," he said, "I don't think I've ever been so afraid in my life thinking about what might happen to you as I ran through this forest. I could barely live with myself after what happened to you in the Ministry when we tried to save Sirius."

Hermione unconsciously brought a hand to her chest. "Small price to pay for something so important," she said. "And you know even if something did happen to me, it wouldn't be your fault." She quickly caught herself and added, "Well, it would have this time. But I digress." She stopped walking and Harry did the same, tuning to look at her. "I knew from the beginning what befriending you would entail, Harry. If I had died in the midst of all of...this, well, it was nothing but my own choices that led me here. As was what happened at the Ministry."

Harry nodded, though Hermione could see in his eyes that he was dismissing what she was saying. He was still putting everything on his shoulders, even after it was all said and done. Would it never end?

"I'm serious, Harry," she pushed. "Ask Ron. I'm sure he'd say the same thing. This war was bigger than just you and Voldemort. You have to realize this."

"I know what you're saying is right, Hermione, but I just can't help it," he replied. "I just don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you. Especially when, despite everything that you said, I still feel like you only got dragged into all of this because of me."

Hermione scoffed. "I didn't get dragged into anything, Harry. I wanted to be here. I actively made the choice to be here. And while it is true that your safety and well-being was one of my primary reasons for choosing to be here, it was far from being the only reason. So stop beating yourself up over it. You've done it enough already. It's over and me, you, and Ron have made it through to the other side with life still running through our veins."

Harry nodded again, though this time he seemed to actually take what she said to heart a little. He smiled at her and said, "This is why you're so special, Hermione. I really don't know what I'd do without you."

Hermione felt her heart flutter, but didn't let her face betray anything. "Oh you would've been fine," she said dismissively. "You're Harry Potter, after all, whether you like it or not."

"I underestimated you once, Hermione," Harry replied seriously, taking a step towards her to place his hands on her shoulders. He was now close enough that Hermione was able to see every ounce of sincerity smoldering in his eyes. "I don't intend to underestimate you again. I honestly would have lost without you."

Hermione felt heat begin to rise into her cheeks. "Well…" she said, unable to think of anything witty to retort with for possibly the first time in her life. Then she simply smiled at him and said, "Same."

Harry began to lean in towards her and for the second time that day Hermione felt adrenaline begin to course through her. What the hell was happening? He was leaning in towards her, and she was able to see a whole host of emotions in his eyes. This was actually happening. She thought it was a bit odd that he chose to do it now, after everything that had happened that day, but she wasn't going to complain. She had been waiting for this day for quite a while now.

"Oi!" a voice suddenly shouted. Harry quickly let go of Hermione's shoulders and whirled around to face Ron, who had just happened upon the two of them. "Hurry up you two. Everyone was getting so impatient waiting back in the castle for you that they sent me to fetch you. Thought you'd gotten lost."

"Appreciate it, Ron," Harry said a bit tersely. "Guess we should hurry it up a little then. Sorry about that."

"Come on, then," Ron said. "I'm starving and there's a feast being prepared. The sooner we get back the better."

So the three of them set off back towards the castle, with Ron in the front and Harry and Hermione side-by-side in the back. She heard a little disappointed sigh from Harry. She glanced over at him and, feeling a wave of courage come over her, reached over and took his hand in hers.

He glanced over at her in surprise, then smiled and gave her hand a little squeeze, which she returned in kind.

"You really are amazing, Hermione, you know that?" he said to her just loud enough for her to hear.

Hermione smiled her pleasant, self-satisfied smile. Not only had she taken down one of the most powerful dark witches of all time, not even twenty minutes later she had mustered up the courage to finally act on her feelings for Harry. Sure, he had almost gotten her killed, but the part of him that made the decision that led to that moment was one of those things that made him who he was. Considering she had made it through alive, she could see the charm in his actions.

A few minutes later the castle came into view, and finally a sense of closure hit Hermione when she saw with her own eyes that it was all finally over. It was done. Hermione let out a small sound of content and couldn't help but feel that things were looking up for her and Harry from here on out. They had each other, after all.

–END–

A/N: I was reading through my stories this past week and realized that I tend to write Hermione as a weaker character. I really wanted to do her justice so I wrote her how I now suppose I should have been writing her all along. Thanks for reading, and feel free to let me know any concerns/problems you had with the story. Especially when it comes to characterization. I know the pacing is a bit weird. I skimped out on a lot of details because I was focusing so hard on characterization. So don't need to flambé me for that one thanks.