This is something I wrote on a whim. The idea just sort of came to me one day, and I've been too busy till now (and I probably wouldn't have considered it if I didn't have writer's block anyway) to write it down. It's probably been done already, and it's definitely not my best piece of writing. I'm probably going to erase it soon, because I really don't know what came over me to post it. -CM



Hermione tossed back and forth uneasily in her bed in the girl's dormitory, her blankets tangled around her. Restlessly, she mumbled in her sleep, annoying Parvati in the bed next to her.

.. She was alone, so very alone, and the sky stretched endlessly overhead, hung low with slate-gray clouds and pouring heavy rain. In a few seconds she was soaked and shivering.

"Somebody help me, please!" she called. "Please, where am I?"

But no one answered, and thunder rumbled over the pounding of the rain. Hermione shivered.

"Hello?"

Abruptly, out of the gray clouds appeared two red pinpricks of light. Hermione, hugging her shoulders to try and keep warm, squinted at them. What was that? ..

Then a faint sound reached her ears. Someone distant, far away, was laughing.. a high-pitched, cold-blooded laugh that sent a chill down her spine. It was drawing nearer and nearer .. getting louder and louder ..

Suddenly, right out of the clouds reached a giant finger of darkness - a tornado! It was reaching right towards her! .. Hermione screamed and tried to run, but the biting winds grabbed her and lifted her off the ground.

She was swept up into the center of the tornado, screaming.

In the center of the whirlwind, there was a deadly, frightening calm. She was lifted into the exact middle, and hovered there, watching through a haze of dark dirt and debris that whirled around her as the tornado sped along - devouring houses and spewing Muggle cars into the air.

Faces began to appear in the tornado, swirling whirls of colors, so that Hermione blinked and they were gone and she didn't know if they had been real or not.

"Stop it!" she screamed, flailing wildly. "Let me off!" Panic overtook her.

"Hermione!" came a voice out of the tornado, and Harry was there, reaching out for her hand. He was in his Quidditch robes, floating as she was in the tornado's calm center, and looked scared.

"Harry?" she breathed, reaching for his hand. "Harry, what's going on?!"

But that same, high-pitched cackling interrupted her words - louder than ever. Harry's fingers, so very close to hers, slipped away.

"No!" she cried desperately. "Harry, hang on! Don't leave me alone! Please!"

"I'm trying!" he shouted, but his voice was faint. He was slowly disappearing, moving farther and farther away.

Then, making her clap her hands to her ears, a giant fork of lightning flashed right in front of her .. oddly green .. and Harry was gone.

"Harry!" Hermione cried brokenly. "Harry!"

"Don't worry Hermione, I'm here," Ron's voice came out of the tornado from her right. She whirled. "Ron!"

"I'm right here, Hermione." Ron's half-grin was bright in the storm.

And then .. green light flashed in front of her eyes. "Oh, God no!" she cried out, dreading what she would see when the green filtered out of her eyes .. and yes, Ron was gone.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione sobbed, stumbling in the whirlwind's center. "How can I go on without either of you?"

A burst of maniacal laughter hurt her ears, and she looked up, to see Voldemort in front of her, his slick black cape whipping around him.

"It hurts, doesn't it, Hermione," he said quietly. "I should know. It happened to me."

"Then why do you do it to others?" Hermione cried, wiping her face of tears.

Voldemort's face darkened. "Because," he said, his voice so low it was technically impossible for her to hear it above the tornado .. but somehow, she did. "Because, Hermione Granger, the world hates me. It hates you too. People make fun of you, don't they? They make fun of your hair, your parentage, your grades, even. And you don't know why, do you?"

Hermione tried hard not to nod. But she did. It was true, much as she hated to admit it.

"Some people, Hermione Granger, are unlucky. Like you and I, in childhood, at least. But some of those unlucky people are gifted also .. they are given the opportunity to strike back at their tormentors. Like me. You have that gift too."

Hermione stared at him, then shook her head slowly, taking a step back. "I can't.."

"Yes you can, Hermione," he said, taking a step towards her. "It's easy to do. Just say yes.."

Hermione clutched at her head. It was pounding. Say yes .. say yes ..

Harry's strong enough to say no, she thought, so am I!

"NO!" she shouted. "NO! I WON'T join you!"

"Then I'm truly sorry to do this," Voldemort said. He raised his wand.

Hermione braced herself ..

But no curse came at her. Instead, he waved his wand, and Harry appeared in midair.

"Harry?!" Hermione said in shock, her mouth falling open. "But - you're dead!"

Voldemort laughed again, a sound most cruel and full of maliciousness.

"Crucio!" He pointed his wand at Harry.

"No!" Hermione cried.

Harry immediately doubled up in pain. He squeezed his eyes shut, his face was screwed up .. he let out a cry of pain that wrenched through to Hermione's heart.

"You monster!" She tried to reach Harry, but he floated just out of her reach. The Cruciatus Curse stopped, and Voldemort's cold, cruel laughter filled her ears. Harry drifted, unconscious.

"Sometimes," he said, raising his wand again, "there are circumstances out of your control, Hermione Granger. But this one is not one of those. It's your fault, Hermione. By not joining me, you have put your friends in danger .. in pain." He waved his hand at Harry. "Do you want to live with his blood on your hands and his cries in your ears?"

Hermione clenched her fists. "Let him go, you evil, slimy, disgusting slug of a man!"

Voldemort waved his wand again, and Ron appeared too in midair.

"Don't you dare!" she screamed. "Don't you dare touch him!"

And with that, she lunged at Voldemort, catching him - she thought - off guard.

He dodged as she flew past.

And, immediately, the tornado stopped. It disappeared from around them. They were left floating in midair. There was nothing to hold them up.

Hermione plummeted. Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she plunged downwards, her eyes open as she stared upwards. Ron and Harry were falling too, everything a haze of rain .. except for Voldemort. He remained standing in midair, his robes untouched by the storm or the rain, looking down at her.

"You have made a choice, Hermione," she could hear him say quietly as she fell helplessly downwards. "You will have to make many more .. and you will regret them. Mark my words."

And he disappeared.

Hermione hit the ground with a sickening thump and lay there, the rain pooling around her, feeling like her ribs were broken. A second later, she saw Harry and then Ron hit the ground too .. they didn't move.

With effort, she pulled herself up and began to crawl through the mud towards them, praying that they were all right. Her tears mixed with the rain on her cheeks as she moved.

Harry was lying spread-eagled on the ground, his face pale and mud-splattered. She couldn't tell whether he was alive. Ron was the same way, his bright red hair dulled with brown mud.

She was alone, alone in the world with their bodies, and rain was pouring down, mercilessly pounding on the ground. Lightning flashed and illuminated red, reflecting red glitters on Harry's wet hair.

"HARRRRRY!"

Hermione sat bolt upright in bed, her face streaked with uncontrollable tears. She was in bed in her dormitory, the blankets tangled around her. Outside, the rain slapped against the windows, and thunder cracked and boomed.

She curled up into a ball, hugging her knees and unable to stop crying. Harry .. Ron .. they had been dead .. she had been responsible .. the storm was killing her and them. "No!" she screamed, feeling the thunder pound into her very bones. She couldn't take it a second longer..!

And then, strong arms enfolded her. She collapsed and went limp, shaking and crying.

"It's all right, Hermione," whispered Harry, stroking her hair. "Everything will be okay."

"Harry.." Hermione muttered, jerking in his arms. "Harry, you're dead."

"I'm not. I'm right here. I'll always be here."

Her throat filled and she couldn't talk anymore; instead, she shook her head and sobbed quietly. Harry pulled her against his chest and stroked her hair comfortingly for a long time.

Finally, Hermione regained control of herself. She looked up at Harry, his black hair even more untidy than usual from sleeping on it, his green eyes bright behind his glasses. As she watched, a flash of lightning illuminated his face.

"Harry.." she said, wrapping her arms around him, "there's a storm coming."

He knew she didn't mean the thunder rumbling outside. "I know."

She didn't say anything, searching his green eyes for emotion.

He sighed and pulled her closer, resting his cheek on her hair. "I know," he said again.

"We'll just have to weather it together."

____________________________________*