A/N - A new AU fic, because I love AU fics.


Prologue

.

Later they would tell her that she had screamed. That she had collapsed onto her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks; that she had whimpered and sobbed, her body shaking while she sat there limp; that they had to grab a hold of her arm and yank her up, her collapsed form proving difficult to make her move. But Hermione wouldn't remember any of that.

She would remember the moment before and the long moments during, but not what happened after. She would remember the beat before a wand was raised, the second before the curse was hissed, a moment before the green light was sent spiralling brightly across the rubble of the once great Hogwarts castle. She would remember that one moment - as she had waited with baited breath - for the rest of her life.

The light had hit him in the chest with such a force that he had careened backwards. She had never seen someone fall the way he did; slowly, arms limp and eyes blank. She watched in disbelief as he fell backwards almost like he was floating, his body falling onto the ground with a slight bounce before collapsing once more and staying still.

She had stopped breathing, a sob being caught in her throat. And then, she looked for his glasses. The bent frames and cracked lenses had fallen a few feet away from him, and somehow, seeing his face devoid of its most common accessory was what made her stiffen in dead.

No! It can't be! He's alive. He has to be alive.

She remembers the muffled sounds that surrounded her then; screams, jeers, cheers, curses. They were all around her, rising as sudden as a wave, getting louder and stronger with each passing second. Someone pulled at her, because suddenly, she was moving, but her eyes stayed on him; on the green eyes she had known for seven years. How could he be facing her without really looking at her? How is there nothing in his eyes?

Sparks flew, curses were yelled, and her head was shielded by an arm as she ran. Her muscles burned, her throat hurt, and still she ran, feeling the hand around her arm tighten every time she stumbled and tried to stop. But the man holding onto her didn't let her. He yanked at her harder and she felt her body give in to exhaustion with every passing second. She didn't want to run. She wanted to go back and kneel over her best friend's body. She wanted to run her hands over his chest and let out a sob of happiness when she felt the breath still left in him. She wanted to heal him and give him his glasses back as he took it from her with a sheepish grin. She wanted to see those eyes look at her with life behind them.

Hermione didn't remember making it as far as the Forbidden Forrest, but she did remember the blinding pain that coursed through her back suddenly, the violent lurch of her body causing her ankle to twist against a rock with a dull shooting throb. Arms tried to catch her, but still she fell, landing hard on the twigs and leaves littered around the forest. There was more yelling and streaks of light that hazily circled around her.

Just before she succumbed to the darkness that was threatening to overtake her, Hermione felt her chest tighten from a thought she had never thought was possible.

'2nd May 1998... The day Harry died.'