Disclaimer: Everything is the property of
one J.K. Rowling. I make no profit off of
this piece of fantasy fiction.
Mrs. Potter
a story by B3B3 Lik You
This is only a Prologue.
Hermione ducked her head just as a green bolt of light flashed over it. She stiffened, 'Tell me that was not just the Avada Kedavra!'
But she knew it was. Straightening, she beared her wand, ready to shout out about ten different hexes if needed. She shuffled back, trying to see if anyone was sneaking around her perimeter. She collided with someone from behind and screamed. Immediately berating herself for being so foolish, she spun around and shouted, "Stupefy!" at the same time her target yelled, "Avis!"
Hermione wasn't quite aware what happened next, except that her spell missed the bull's eye and small twittering birds came flying out of no where. When they finally moved away from her view, she realized her attacker was really only Ron.
"Ron!" she whispered, furiously, "What do you think you're doing scaring me like that! What with the battle going on!"
"Sorry," he grumbled, looking ashen, "That bolt of red light...you tried to stun me!"
"Well, you caught me off guard! And, anyways, you tried to-to-wait, what spell did you use exactly?" she demanded, an eyebrow arched.
He blushed and mumbled something incoherent. Hermione grinned for the first time all day, "You used avis, didn't you? Merlin's sake, Ron, what did you think you were doing conjuring a flock of birds?"
"You caught me off guard, alright?" he snapped, trying to concentrate on his surroundings. She smirked, but said nothing more.
After a while, however, not even Hermione was amused. They noticed the fighting making its way down the street. For a fleeting moment she looked at Godric's Hollow and shivered. Harry and Voldemort were in there right now. The Death Eaters that were fighting to make their way to their master were having a lot of trouble fending off the members of the Order. Hermione ground her chin, preparing herself for the fight that would fall on her and Ron any second now.
"Hermione," Ron's voice cracked, "I've only just realized something."
"Huh?" Hermione forced herself to look away from the impending battle, "What?"
"I love you," he offered, weakly, "And you don't have to say anything. It's just that I thought you ought to know."
Hermione couldn't speak. She felt as if she had the silencing spell cast on her. The feeling was so surreal-
"You know when I said you don't have to say anything what I really meant was feel free to say something," Ron said, staring at her through squinted eyes. Hermione tried to look at him through the darkness shrouding them and failed.
She opened her mouth and shut it again as they both flew apart. A vicious chantment had just torn straight through the bush they were standing behind and if they hadn't jumped out of the way in time, they would've been massacred.
Hermione quickly jumped back up, pointed her wand at the closest Death Eater, and spat out, "Expelliarmus!"
The wand was swept out of the Death Eater's hand and he spun around to face Hermione. His hood fell off and Hermione couldn't quite contain her horror. He was a Death Eater who she specifically remembered stunning in the Department of Mysteries a few years earlier. He gave her a ghostly smile and started running towards her, whilst calling, "Accio!"
His wand flew back in his hand and Hermione reprimanded herself for not having called it to herself in the first place. She whipped out another bolt of red light. He blocked it, effortlessly, still hurrying towards her. She bit her lip and felt herself running away from him, although it was not what she had been taught to do. He pursued her wildly, screaming, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!"
Hermione felt her fear seize her and tried to steady herself. She snuck around a nearby tree and waited for him to appear. She peaked around and saw that he had indeed followed her and was naught but five feet away. His eyes ravaged his surroundings.
'He's mad,' she realized, noticing that the whites of his eyes were caked with blood.
He howled and then laughed at himself, "Kitty, oh kitty, where are you? I've got something for you."
Hermione shivered, waiting for him to turn his back before she made her move. He turned and she crept out from behind the tree. She raised her wand, ready to perform an unforgivable curse if she had to. Before she could get a word out, however, he flipped around and cried, "Expelliarmus, kitty!"
She knew she had fallen into a trap. She tried to retrieve her wand but he had already spoken, "Silencio!" and so she was. He commanded her wand to him and pocketed it. Hermione panicked and tried to run away, but the Death Eater, who she attached the name 'Nott' to, grabbed her ankle and pulled her to the ground violently. She opened her mouth and attempted to scream. Nothing would come out. A cold sweat broke over her and Nott stood over her, grinning, "Oh, kitty. It's no use. You're all mine now."
He pinned down her wrists and breathed into her ear, his breath foul, "I should kill you, kitty. But you're so pretty that I think I'll-he caught her eyes-play with you for a while."
Hermione went crazy, struggling against him with all her will. Even so, he was far larger and held her down, shrieking with amusement. Finally he got bored of her irate behavior and flicked his wand, saying, "Crucio."
She screamed at the pain that came so fast and without warning. Her leg twisted beneath her and it was all her chest could do from snapping. She felt herself go blind with torture and just when she was thought she was going to die, it all stopped and there was Nott, still laughing. Her body was too weak to move and he hovered over her, kissing her eyelids. She groaned a protest but he kissed her mouth too. Somewhere inbetween feeling tears streak her dirt-ridden cheeks and hearing buttons pop undone, she realized someone was shouting and suddenly there came the dreaded words, "Avada Kedavra!"
A green light shadowed her and Nott and disappeared. She lay limp, wondering whether she was dead or alive. She turned her head and saw her fingers moving and smiled. Still alive. Nott, on the other hand, was another story entirely. His being had gone cold and rigid and Hermione felt herself suffocating under his dead weight. She knew his spells would've worn off and tried screaming for help. All that came out was a groggy moan.
And then everything was okay again because Ron had pushed Nott off her body. He looked at her, concern splattered over the corners of his face, "Oh god. 'Mione, are you-are you okay?"
She couldn't help but smile, "Do I look okay?"
His lips twitched and he helped her sit up. Hermione looked at him and realized he wasn't looking too nifty himself. He had a wound on his brow line and blood was seeping into his line of vision. They stared at each other for what seemed like a long time, although it couldn't have been more than a minute.
"Help me get up?" she suggested. He stood and eased her onto her feet. She almost fell back down again, but managed to stay upright. Giving her head a shake, she reached down to Nott's cadaver and pulled her wand out of his pocket.
Ron stood, gingerly, beside her and questioned, softly, "Did he-? I mean, were you-?"
"No, you got here before he could," she smiled at him and felt herself cringe when she realized she had a gash on her bottom lip. The two of them stood, looking at Nott, and were quiet some more. They both knew that was the first man Ron had ever killed.
"Listen," he said, his eyes searching Nott's for some meaning, "I have to go. I have to find Ginny. I was fighting along with her when I saw Nott follow you over here. I want to make sure she's alright."
Hermione nodded and he added, "You'll be fine alone right?"
She nodded again and he vanished through the trees. Hermione inhaled, harshly, and breathed out. Looking at Nott's corpse one last time, she went off to help finish the battle. Later on, if you asked her to tell you what happened from that point and when she met up with Ginny, she honestly couldn't have told you. She remembered spells and lights and screams buzzing around her. She remembered looking at the blood staining the front of her robes later that night and wondering who's it was. Most of all, she remembered the glazed eyes. Blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes, whatever. They haunted her for years to come. When she'd meet someone, she'd look into their eyes and remember exactly where she had seen that shade of hazel before.
A fragment of her memory held on to her encounter with Ginny, however. It was near the end, when both sides were itching for it all to be over. Godric's Hollow was billowing with anticipation and Hermione's back ached from all the fighting. She'd found Ginny blowing up bits of the fence surrounding the house and hurling it at Death Eaters on the other side.
"Ginny, where's Ron?" Hermione shouted, over the roar of the battle.
Ginny looked at her, pointed at her ears, and then hurled another spiky fence post at the enemy. Hermione frowned and repeated, even louder, "WHERE'S RON?"
"Huh? Chair's lawn?" Ginny scrunched up her face in confusion, blowing up another part of the fence.
"No, WHERE'S RON! WITH AN R!" Hermione bellowed out, feeling her temper come out now that her patience had gone in.
Ginny paused herself and ducked under a ditch near the house. Hermione swiveled around to make sure no one was watching, then followed suit. The two girls curled together and Hermione felt a sense of security lock around them.
"Now, what were you saying?" Ginny said, so quietly that Hermione barely heard her.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione whispered back, furiously, "I can't find him!"
Ginny shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't seen him since we fought together. And that was a while ago."
Hermione's jaw dropped, "What? But he was looking for you!"
"Oh, Hermione, he's probably around somewhere. I'm sure I saw him running about with Hagrid just a second ago," Ginny tutted, "I have a feeling we don't need to worry. Can't you feel it in the air? The war's almost won."
That was the last thing Hermione ever heard her say because, as she ran out from under the ditch, one of her own fence posts carved its way through her heart. The Death Eaters cheered at her blood.