A/N - Written for Sorting Hat Drabbles on LiveJournal for week 76

Characters : Tom Riddle/Lord Voldemort & Hermione Granger

Prompt: Fall

Title: The End.

Words: 499

Rating: R

Warnings: Implied violence, character death.

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She was shivering again. It has been so long since her last attack, she had begun to hope that she was free of the incessant tremblings that have wracked her body for days. Her gaze fell on her trembling hands, bound tightly by magical ropes to the arms of a wooden chair. By now, she could see past the scratches, the blood, the dirt under her fingernails and concentrate on the uncontrollable twitching of her fingers. Gritting her teeth, she flexed them, curling them into tight fists in an attempt to control this, to fight this. She just needed to fight this.

"Ah! Miss Granger."

Hermione closed her eyes, the slick voice causing a different shiver to move up her spine; one of fear and disgust. Her breath passed her lips in short, light puffs, while the trembling she had tried to control, shook her so violently, she could think of nothing else. She felt the hard tip of a wand touch lightly under her chin, and obeyed as she followed its gentle nudging, raising her head compliantly. Having done the alternative to experience less than pleasant results, she lifted her lids slowly to meet the eyes of her kidnapper. And like every other time her gaze had fallen on him, she felt chilled to the bone. His snake-like skin pulled back to reveal a feral grin, one that she had come to dread.

"I have been most fortunate to have your services." His crimson red eyes sparked with something new, something that scared her. "But, alas, it seems that you have fulfilled your purpose."

She froze. No! Harry- No! It couldn't be. He was safe. He has to be safe. She couldn't have failed him. He can't be dead!

The Dark Lord's grin widened, as if he could read the panic that had suddenly seized her.

She tried to speak, the words choking out of her painfully. "You don't have him," she said firmly, even as the tears prickled painfully behind her eyes. "You're lying."

He cocked his head to the side slowly, regarding her with a curious fascination. "And why would I lie? Did I lie when I spoke about the death of your other Order friends? Did I lie when I spoke about the fall of the Ministry?"

She was shaking her head incessantly. "No! You don't have Harry."

"No," he said it softly, as if in contemplation. But that was enough. Her heart beat had started racing again, as she felt a glimmer of hope. He's alive! Thank Merlin! That's enough! "But I will." With a movement as fluid as water, he aimed his wand at her chest. "Not even the boy-who-lived would be able to think straight, when he comes here to see the mangled body of the one he failed to rescue."

Her throat became inexplicably dry. This was it, then. Her end.

She never heard the curse, only felt the feeling of falling into darkness, into emptiness. And then, there was nothing.

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