"Harry!" The name flies out of her, tearing up through her vocal chords.
"It is done" says the Dark Lord. He pushes the crumpled mass away with his toes, the last of the green light fading from the corpse at his feet.
Hermione lurches forward, clutching at Harry's lifeless body. First Ron, now this… She shudders, forcing the image of staring blue eyes and red hair matted with blood from her mind, and glares up into snake eyes. She is the last, then. This is not how she had pictured it, when she had imagined the war ending. She had always seen the three of them, fighting together, defeating Voldemort in the Final Battle as a single force for the Light. Or perhaps she had thought she would die, possibly protecting Harry or Ron, but she had always thought the Light would win. Now Hogwarts burns around her as she watches the Death Eaters swarm over the walls, pouring into the grounds like viscous black pitch.
They had lost.
The man with the snake face sneers down at her, cocking his head and sniffing the air as if he could smell her fear. "Poor, poor little girl. To see her friends die around her, and nothing she can do. There is nothing that any of them could do. You couldn't save them, little girl. And no one is left to save you". The snake Nagini is twisting around his shoulders, tasting the blood on the air as it extends its head toward Hermione and she shudders, looking the massive snake in its eyes. It flicks out its tongue, and Hermione hears Voldemort's hiss as she closes her eyes, waiting for the fangs to slice through her neck.
Suddenly, there is a flash of silver and ruby as Neville leaps into her vision, brandishing the great sword. He lets out a guttural yell and slices, severing the great snake's head off in a fountain of blood. Voldemort screams, clutching at the writhing body of his familiar, and Hermione seizes her opportunity.
"Go, Neville! Run!" She grabs his hand and they sprint off into the darkness, tripping over the bodies of friends and foe alike as they streak away into the night. They can hear Voldemort's enraged scream as they are swept up in a wave of fleeing bodies, rolling and boiling as they bolt away from the battle. Curses fly over their shoulders as they run, sending bursts of color into the darkness and flashes of heat across their backs. Hermione sends a few of her own over her shoulder, smiling grimly as she hears bodies falling behind her.
Neville's hand is sweaty, and soon Hermione is gasping for air, clutching desperately at her sides as her tired muscles scream for relief. She feels the fall coming before it does, and she loses her footing, Neville's hand sliding out of her grasp as she collapses. She smacks into the hard earth, tasting metal on her tongue, and darkness clouds the edges of her vision. Neville turns, terror etched into his face, and yells something she can't hear over the noises of fighting and burning castle. He is nearly to the forest now, and the crowd of terrified witches and wizards sweeps him away into the trees as he struggles against them, desperately calling her name.
Hermione tastes the earth and blood in her mouth as the world begins to disappear around her. So this is how I die, she thinks. Not how I had thought… Not how I had thought at all. But this is death… Then there is a smudge at the edge of the blackness, and a wand is pressed to her temple.
"Obliviate."