"Harry!" Hermione screamed into the darkness of the forbidden forest, losing her head and forgetting all caution. She screamed it again and suddenly heard a loud thundering sound in the distance. Regaining her surly composure, she put her wand light out with a hushed, 'knox' and then keeping completely still and quiet. The sound grew louder as a heard of at least 20 centaurs suddenly went past her, only a mere 50 feet away. When the sound of their hooves disappeared, she continued on into the forest. She couldn't see any stars anymore, and the air had grown cool and damp. Suddenly, she met a clearing and relit her wand to see what was around her.

Ten feet, a mere ten feet away from her, laid a dead man. He wore Death Eaters robes, but it startled her nonetheless. She continued on, ignoring the limbs that stretched out at odd angles. As she went through the clearing she spotted more and more motionless bodies, all except one being from the dark side. About half way through the area, a small hill stood in front of her, which she began to climb. As she ascended up the hill, she unexpectedly heard a murmur of voices that were quickly followed by a shadow, a sure sign that a fire had just been made.

She crept to the hump of the hill and peered over noiselessly. There, in a chair seated in front of the newly conjured fire, sat Lord Voldemort. But more importantly, Harry also was next to the fire. He lay tied up at the Dark Lords mercy, and 20 or so Death Eaters kicked dirt into his face at will, as well as preformed random jinxes and curses on the boy when they got bored. Hermione bit back many cries as she saw one of her best friends being humiliated in front of his enemies.

"That's enough!" Lord Voldemort suddenly said sternly, raising his hand to the dark clad group and evoking absolute silence from his followers. He raised himself from the chair, his wand in his hand, and stood above Harry, his dark red merciless eyes burning into his.

"You will not escape this time Harry. You have done enough harm to my followers and I. I am sick of this relentless battle. No Dumbledore. And you have finally learned that Snape is against you. Tut tut, you have been slow on the uptake," Voldemort let out a sickening grin as he spoke, each word enunciated with gross pleasure. "But now, it does not matter. You are as dead as you should have been on your first birthday. You've presented my biggest challenge yet, Harry Potter. I thank-you for strengthening me," He raised his wand and slowly spoke the killing curse, leaving Harry limp and Hermione screaming, before she took off running as she saw her best friends murder play again and again in her mind.

She saw the curse hit him, saw his eyes open without emotion, and saw his arms slack against his bindings, and Hermione had no doubt in her mind that he was now dead.

When she reached the school, she saw it continued to be under attack. Death Eaters ran like insane persons, lighting the 1st and 2nd year's robes on fire and throwing more advanced curses to the older students. At least a hundred of them had showed up this night, but only around twenty five now remained. By the time Hermione reached the castle, the unharmed students and staff were chancing them off the grounds, firing curses and jinxes at them as they ran.

Hermione just walked up the front doors of the school and sat down on one of the steps in front of them. She finally allowed herself to cry, as two solitary tears erupted from her bloodshot, tired eyes. People who had been chasing the Death Eaters off the ground now began to arrive, and one of the first of them was Ron.

"Hermione!" he shouted when he saw her, before sprinting up to see her. When his eyes caught sight of his face, his excitement of her being alive dwindled, and then crashed into the ground. "What? What's wrong? Why did you go into the forest? Why did you leave? Hermione, say something!"

He took her hands into his and knelt down in front of her, looking into her moist eyes. "Please."

"He's gone," she said with a sob, taking her hands from his and placing her hands in them

"Who?" Ron

"H-harry," she said softly and with a sob, trying not to lose her self. "He murdered him." She lifted her head out of her hands, looking into her boyfriends eyes and not seeing any sorrow.

"Hermione… I saw him, chasing the Death Eaters off. You must have seen someone else. He should be back here any moment." And sure enough, suddenly coming into eyesight was her very best (and very alive) friend. There was Harry, walking and talking and alive. She threw herself up from the step and ran to embrace him. "How…" she stuttered, but forgot all words as she buried her head into his shoulder in relief. "I saw you die…" she said, her words almost lost to the wet shoulder of the black haired boy.

A/N- a weird ending to a first chapter, I know, but I really wanted to post this. There is a plot to be developed, and it'll start next chapter. This just sets a nice base. Review if you like, dislike, or interested in the future.