A Day in a Life
Hermione Granger
The light was fading fast and from where she was stood, Hermione could see the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest blowing gently in the wind. Leaves rustled, an owl hooted and she could hear a faint whistling and barking as Hagrid and Fang made their way down the path to his hut on the edge of the school grounds.
Stood up on the ledge of the Astronomy tower she looked down past her feet and could just about make out the floor where she would land, eighty feet below her. Tipping her head to one side thoughtfully she raised her arms a little from her side to feel the wind course between her fingers. No one knew she was up here, she was all alone. A million thoughts of the last year swept through her mind; the choices, the pain and the loss. The what-ifs were always the hardest to deal with, everyone always wished they had done something different but some things can never be changed.
She moved closer to the edge of the stone ledge and tipped her head over to the other side. She had had a nightmare of a day but at least she could put it to an end.
'Go on just a few inches further' a voice whispered in her head. 'It's better for you and it's better for him; you won't feel anything'.
'Stop it' she hissed back at the voice 'You've said enough for today!'
'If you'd listened more closely you wouldn't be here' the voice replied angrily. 'All magic has a price … you knew that before you started and now you have to pay'.
Looking down again she pictured the scene five months ago when it was Professor Dumbledore's body that had been lying at the base of the tower; all twisted and mangled and everyone staring. There had been too many deaths, too much pain and today she had made it one more. Closing her eyes tightly shut, she raised her arms up higher and let herself fall forward.
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Chapter One
The Day Begins
'Brrr brrrr brrrr brrrr brrrr' an alarm clock rang through the room. "Finite!" Ginny called from under the bed covers and the magical clock ceased to ring.
"Hermione it's time to get up" she called across the Girls dormitory as she pushed her own curtains back. "Hermione?" Getting no response Ginny padded across the cold stone floor to the four-poster bed in the far corner.
"Hermione!" she called again as she threw back the curtains and prodded the figure in the bed.
"Go away" a voice came from underneath a pillow. Grabbing the pillow and throwing it on the end of the bed Ginny laughed as a mop of curly brown hair disappeared under the covers.
"Ten more minutes" Hermiones' muffled voice called.
"Sure knock yourself out" Ginny replied as she returned to her bed and knelt down to her trunk to get her robes out. "You just be late again and spend an entire lesson with Slughorn criticising your tardiness".
With a rustle of sheets and a lot of grumbling, Hermione tumbled out of bed and went to get her clothes. "It's your brothers' fault".
"Okay I really don't need to hear this" Ginny grinned.
"Not like that!" Hermione yawned as she rummaged through her own trunk. "He hadn't done his essay … again! Three o'clock we finished and I'm shattered".
"Should have just left him to it. If you keep helping him then he's not going to try and do it himself".
"Maybe one day …" Hermione sighed. "Right I'm going to have a quick shower, I'll see you downstairs". Leaving Ginny in the dormitory, Hermione made her way to the girl's bathroom with the distinct feeling that today was going to be one of those days where she should have stayed in bed.
"You cannot be serious Neville! The Wasps are nowhere near as good as the Cannons; they aren't even in the same League! Tell him Harry!" Ron elbowed Harry for backup as they all sat eating breakfast in the Great Hall. Munching on a piece of toast, Hermione rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and turned to talk to Ginny who was sat next to her.
All of a sudden there was a loud whooshing sound as three dozen birds swooped in through the window and flew across the Hall; the morning post had arrived. A smart brown Tawny owl landed in front of Hermione and proudly stuck out its leg. It was carrying a small brown parcel and on closer inspection Hermione could see the label of the Gamble and Hopkirk Apothecary, a small mail order shop that Hermione had found in the back of a magazine. She knew what the contents were but she couldn't open it here at the table. Paying the bird and feeding it a bit of bacon rind, she slipped the package in to the pocket of her school robes. Seeing Ron and Harry look over she nodded her head to let them know it had finally arrived; they had been waiting for days.
Downing her pumpkin juice she said goodbye to Ginny and rose from the table.
"Hang on we'll come with you" Harry called as he grabbed Ron by the arm and flung his school bag over his shoulder. Leading the way out of the Hall, Hermione took a quick glance round the empty Entrance Hall then walked over to a quiet corner by the bottom of the stairs.
Pulling the parcel out of her pocket she carefully unwrapped it and lifted out two small bags. One contained finely chopped Valerian roots and the other small bats eyes. She had to use different shops for all the ingredients she needed in case anyone realised what she was up to.
"Well this is the last of them" she muttered grimly. "Are you sure you still want to do this Harry? It's not too late and there's no guarantee that …"
"I'm not arguing this again Hermione" Harry jumped in. "I need to talk to him and if you don't want to do it then I'll do it myself".
"I'll do it" Hermione sighed, but she still wasn't happy about the prospect.
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Chapter Two
The Potion
After a brief glance around the Entrance Hall to check none of their class mates were around to see them slip out, Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaked out of the front door with no intention of going to Professor Slughorn's class.
Walking briskly across the grass they were met halfway to the Whomping Willow by Crookshanks.
"That cat is ruddy psychic" Ron muttered to the others. "He always knows what we are going to be doing before we do".
"He's just a cat Ron" Hermione frowned, tired of having the same old conversation. But then she could hardly agree that her beloved Crookshanks did have a habit of turning up at the most inopportune moments and when they were on their way to doing something they shouldn't.
Swaying his bushy orange tail proudly in the air as he sashayed his way through the grass in front of them, he broke into a faster trot and went forward to press the bow at the bottom of the Whomping Willow in order to freeze the branches.
"See psychic" Ron persisted. "Knows exactly where we are going". One by one they quickly piled in through the entrance and into the tunnel below, Crookshanks once again in the lead.
As they quietly crept down the tunnel, Hermione tried desperately to quell the nerves in her tummy and thought back over the events that had brought them here.
Slughorn had set a special project to invent a new potion for everyday living and Harry had taken up the challenge as he had needed the extra marks to go towards his NEWTS. One night in the library whilst he had been doing research, he had found a book in the Restricted Section that contained a potion that would change all of their lives forever; Cassieus Mortada, the Draught of Sight, and Harry had been obsessed with it ever since. It allowed the drinker to cross over to the 'other side' and talk to loved ones and friends who have already passed on. The problem being, however, once drunk the potion took you to the very edge of death and the mixture had to be very precise or it would be fatal.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, they climbed the steps up into the Shrieking Shack, Ron stopping briefly to go back and close the door behind them.
Inside the room where Ron's pet rat Scabbers had once been exposed as the traitor Peter Pettigrew, a cauldron sat simmering in the middle of the dusty floor with a rack of empty vials close by. Blue smoke wafted up off the yellow liquid and there was a nasty smell of rotten eggs in the air.
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Chapter Three
The Traitor Returns
As Hermione removed the final ingredients from her pocket she mulled over the desperate conversations she had had with Harry when she was trying to convince him not to do it. But he was determined.
This potion was to allow him to speak to Professor Dumbledore and get his help in finding the final horcruxes in order to destroy Voldemort for good. Half of her flat out wanted nothing to do with the venture but a little voice kept telling her that she had to. She had to help Harry because she knew deep down he was not bright enough himself to be able to do it on his own and he most certainly would die trying. She had to do it for Harry and for Dumbledore and for Ron, so she had relented.
Because of the nature of the potion, it was decided that Ron and Harry would be the ones to take it and Hermione would stay and watch in order to administer the antidote. They would only be gone a minute and a half but according to the book there would be no concept of time on the other side so Harry would be able to get all the information he wanted.
"It's ready" she said shakily as she laid out the last two ground up ingredients ready in little white bowls, evenly split. The antidote could only be mixed after the yellow potion had been taken and there was only enough for two vials of the antidote so she had to get it right.
"Are you sure you both want to do this?" she asked one final time but they both nodded their heads; Ron continuing to insist that he wouldn't let Harry go on his own.
Carefully she filled four vials right to the top and then passed one each to Harry and Ron.
"Sit on the bed and then drink it all" she instructed. "The other two I add the ingredients too to wake you up".
After a quick glance at each other and a nervous "bottoms up!" from Ron, they downed the potion and instantly fell backwards onto the bed, the vials rolling out of their hands and clattering noisily to the floor. Their bodies arched up in pain for a few moments and then they collapsed down on to the dirty mattress neither of them breathing.
Shocked momentarily, Hermione rushed back to the vials and tipped the final ingredients in to them as she started her countdown from ninety. The liquid changed from yellow to black and she jumped back round to check on Ron and Harry.
All of a sudden she heard a squeak from behind her and a dirty hand with black finger nails shot out of thin air, grabbed one of the antidote vials from the rack and threw it hard against the floor.
The glass smashed into lots of little pieces, the black liquid oozing out and dripping down through the wooden floorboards to be swallowed by the earth below.
Hermione stood momentarily aghast with horror, realising there was no only one antidote left. Diving into her pocket she reached for her wand but a laugh erupted and the floating hand was joined by the rest of a body as Severus Snape threw back his invisibility cloak and stood over her, his wand pointing directly at her heart. He was gaunt, white and very dirty with scars over his left cheek and over his arms.
"Times running out Miss Granger!" he smirked showing a set of rotting yellow and black cracked teeth. "Who will you choose now? The love of your pathetic little life or your idiotic, stupid best friend? That book I left out for him worked a treat I see!"
Fear coursing through her, she looked desperately back at Ron and Harry slumped across the bed. She realised then that she had lost count and swinging back around to grab the last vial she saw that it was starting to change colour again.
"No …" she shrieked loudly and rushed over to the bed with it, knowing that she only had one choice even though that annoying little voice in her head kept saying to choose Ron.
Opening Harry's mouth she poured the contents of the vial in and immediately his whole body started to shudder. Seeing his chest starting to raise Hermione stepped back for a moment, tears streaming down her face before she threw herself over Ron screaming his name hysterically.
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Chapter Four
Consequences
"Hmmm not quite what I was hoping for" a voice came from behind her but she ignored it not caring and continuing to sob Ron's name. She had to choose Harry because he was the only one who was fated to be able to stop Voldemort and all the death and destruction that had been afflicted on the magical community of late.
Harry started to stir from beside them and she looked up to see him open his eyes and looked blearily around at her confused.
"Until next time Potter" Snape barked, leaning suddenly over Harry and giving him the shock of his life and making him shrink back instinctively into the mattress unable to do anything else as he was still weak.
But as the enormity of what Hermione had done continued to hit her, Snape turned abruptly, pulled the cloak back over himself and left the room. The door appearing to open and close all by itself.
Harry turned himself over heavily and tried to prop himself up so that he could see Ron, tears coming to his eyes as he realised what was happening. Ron was white, his lips were starting to go a pale shade of blue and his chest was not moving.
"Do something!" he whispered hoarsely to Hermione.
"I can't there's none left. He destroyed it" Hermione answered, her head still on Ron's chest and her fingers gripping his jumper tightly.
Neither of them spoke for the next twenty minutes. Both blaming themselves but knowing they could never tell anyone else exactly how this had happened. They were supposed to have been in class and the potion incredibly dangerous.
"We have to decide what to do" Harry finally spoke up. "We have to take him back to the castle. We have to make sure he gets home".
Hermione never moved. Harry reached over to shake her but she continued to gaze up at Ron. Sitting himself up properly Harry reached over and closed Ron's eyes. This finally seemed to snap Hermione out of her trance and she lifted her head.
"He gave you the book" she whispered to Harry. "This potion … this stupid idea was all planned!! They made us do this!"
"We can't go over this now Hermione, we have to get Ron back. We need to come up with a plan".
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Chapter Five
The Cover Up
It was decided that they would levitate Ron's body back up the tunnel and onto the outer edge of the Forbidden Forrest. They would say they had all gone to revise outside. Harry still had some things in his bag from when they were down in the Shack yesterday. Taking the old flask of pumpkin juice, they topped it up with the remainder of the first part of the potion and screwed the lid back on.
Fifteen minutes later, Crookshanks perched protectively on her lap and on a chequered red blanket underneath a large oak tree, Hermione began to scream.
Hagrid had been the first to arrive, closely followed by Madam Hooch. A hysterical Hermione was escorted up to the hospital wing whilst a shocked Harry stayed to relay their story. They had heard a noise but saw nothing then Ron took a drink then collapsed. The Professor Snape had appeared, laughing, but then vanished again under a visibility cloak and into the forest.
Hermione was kept on her own in the hospital wing, away from Harry, away from everyone. She didn't even see them bring Ron's body in and place it behind a screen in an end room.
As afternoon faded into evening she heard the Weasley family arrive, the sobbing and wailing echoing down the long room but she had refused to talk and after a brief visit from Molly and Arthur Weasley they left and let her be.
As the daylight started to fade through the window by her bed, she got up and started walking; slipping out of the hospital wing without being noticed. The corridors were empty, all the students confined to the safety of their common rooms and she eventually found herself at the top of the astronomy tower, looking down over the edge and sat there all alone no longer crying just sitting until the sun started to set.
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Chapter Six
The Voice
The light was fading fast and from where she was sat, Hermione could see the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest blowing gently in the wind. Leaves rustled, an owl hooted and she could hear a faint whistling and barking as Hagrid and Fang made their way down the path to his hut on the edge of the school grounds.
She got up. Stood up on the ledge of the Astronomy tower she looked down past her feet and could just about make out the floor where she would land, eighty feet below her. Tipping her head to one side thoughtfully she raised her arms a little from her side to feel the wind course between her fingers. No one knew she was up here, she was all alone. A million thoughts of the last year swept through her mind; the choices, the pain and the loss. The what-ifs were always the hardest to deal with, everyone always wished they had done something different but some things can never be changed.
She moved closer to the edge of the stone ledge and tipped her head over to the other side. She had had a nightmare of a day but at least she could put it to an end.
'Go on just a few inches further' a voice whispered in her head. 'It's better for you and it's better for him; you won't feel anything'.
'Stop it' she hissed back at the voice 'You've said enough for today!'
'If you'd listened more closely you wouldn't be here' the voice replied angrily. 'All magic has a price … you knew that before you started and now you have to pay'.
Looking down again she pictured the scene five months ago when it was Professor Dumbledore's body that had been lying at the base of the tower; all twisted and mangled and everyone staring. There had been too many deaths, too much pain and today she had made it one more. All because Harry had needed to cheat the confines of death to talk to Professor Dumbledore. Following a pre-conceived plan that had ultimately lead Ron to his death and now Hermione to hers.
"Go on jump" Voldemort's voice came into her mind once again and she finally knew what had been happening all along. Closing her eyes tightly shut she gave up and as all the pain flowed through her she raised her arms up higher and let herself begin fall forward.
All of a sudden a pair of hands grabbed her waist and pulled her back. Landing heavily back on the floor of the tower she found herself sobbing in Harry's arms and a full moon came out from behind the clouds and bathed them in light.
THE END