Days Gone By

Present Day

Hermione placed the few books she had gathered into a leather pouch. She sighed sadly as she took in the empty library. Layers of dust and cobwebs filled the space she once held so very close to her heart. She picked up the pouch and slung it over her shoulder. She took one last look at the room before she made her way out into the 4th floor corridor. She walked down the empty hallways thankful that her route out of the school would still be illuminated by the setting sun. She was still haunted by the night they where lost in the school. In the dark unable to see surrounded by so much death. She exited the school as the sun slipped behind the horizon. She took a deep breath of fresh air before walking down the stairs and onto the grounds.

She placed the pouch onto the waiting carriage. "Sorry Harry. I lost track of time."

Harry took her hand as she climbed onto the carriage. He gave her a smile as she took the seat beside him. He turned the team of horses back down the trail toward Hogsmeade. They sat silently for a few moments as twilight faded into night. Harry slowed the horses once night had set in. The moon had yet to rise and the dark made it near impossible to follow the overgrown trail.

"So how was your day?" Hermione asked.

Harry didn't have to look at his friend to know she was nervous. He placed his hand on hers and she intertwined their fingers. " Well grinding grain isn't the most interesting of jobs, but I do love bread."

"How much wheat did we get out of that field?" she asked the thought of warm bread made her all that more hungry.

"Enough to fill the granary an then some." He gave her a smile.

Silence had settled between them again as the carriage continued is slow journey. They traveled down the trail for another few minutes. Harry sped the team up as they cleared a small hill. In the distance you could see a small stone cottage settled on top of a small hill. Smoke billowed from the stone chimney, and the warm light of a fire could be seen from the few windows you could see. Hermione released his hand as their home came into view. Her fears momentarily forgotten at the sight. She gathered the pouch as the grew closer.

Harry stopped the carriage at the house gate. "Go ahead I'll catch up once I get the boys in the barn."

"Thanks Harry." she said stepping down from the carriage.

"My pleasure. Just save me some dinner I'm famished." He called as he lead the horses toward the barn. He heard her laugh gently as she made her way into the house. Harry stopped the carriage a few meters from the barn.

"Been a long day boys. I don't know about you but some food and rest sound like a good plan." He said as he unhitched the horses from the carriage and lead them into the barn. He removed their harnesses and walked them into their stalls.

"How about a good grooming tomorrow to make up for all the hard work you've been doing lately?" He asked them as he closed the stall door.

He blew the lamp out before he closed the barn up for the night. Moonrise had occurred sometime after he had entered the barn. Silvery beams of light illuminated the world around him. He could see the recently planted fields that surrounded the stone cottage. He took no small amount of pride for the work they had done. Fields planted with vegetables, grains, and herbs. Hopefully this year would be better than the last few. He entered the house and was overwhelmed with the scent of his meal.

The kitchen was small but homely. A cast iron stove set against the far wall across from the door. It had served them well the last few years. The meals, warmth, and burns they had got from it. It had been such a pain to learn how to cook with fire. A few cabinets with a sink lined the walls around the room. In the center of the room was the kitchen table. A small square table made of wood with four chairs with a plain table cloth. The room itself was empty save an bowl of soup, two slices of bread and a small slice of cheese. The soup was setting on the stove which was still warm from the dying fire inside. He quickly washed up before gathering his lavish meal. He took his seat at the table before he dug in. He took the slice of cheese and folded a slice of bread around it. Before dipping it into the warm tomato soup. He took a bite and let the world slide off his shoulders. He tried to eat slowly to savior every bite, he failed. He cleared away his plate once he finished his meal.

He walked thru the only other door in the kitchen that leads into a small cozy living room. A few chairs and a couch set in front of a fire place. The fire had burned to embers and the only light came from a lamp set on a table in the back corner surrounded by bookshelves. Hermione's space where she spent her free time to get away from the world. Harry blew out the lamp and sat down in his favorite chair. For the first time in weeks he felt like he could rest. The wheat fields had been harvested and stored. The vegetable fields where planted and growing. The summer wheat was starting to grow. Things where looking up. He felt so tired that he gave up on making it up the stairs. Within minutes he was sound asleep.

September 15st 1995

Past

Harry sat in a small sterile room with two beds. He held Hermione's hand tightly. She was burning up tossing and turning in the soaked sheets of the hospital bed. "Just hold on Hermione. Please just hold out a little longer once the fever breaks you'll start to feel better." he begged worriedly.

He had never been so afraid of something. In his life as he was of H7B32 commonly know as the super flu. It had started in late July in central America, and spread worldwide within a week. He had kept up with the news until he had been retrieved by the order. Getting news from Grimmauld place was difficult. Hermione had been as worried as he had been. The others had told them that wizards where immune to most common muggle ailments like the flu. They couldn't have been more wrong. Hermione and He had already been infected before they arrived at Hogwarts.

First he had lost his appetite, and then the nausea set in. What little food he was able to eat wouldn't stay down for long. Ache and fever had come next, and it had destroyed him. He struggled with the high fever and aches for days. Sometimes with the help of a potion brought to him by a healer. The potions and the healers stopped coming days ago. His fever had broke the night before, and he found himself in a sealed room with Hermione. She had fallen ill shortly after him. He hoped that her fever would break soon, and that she would be okay as well.

He had tried to leave the room, but the door had refused to open. Thankfully their was a pitcher of water in the room. He would pour a glass and the pitcher would refill itself. He had tried to get Hermione to drink some, but she wasn't cooperating. Hours passed as Hermione struggled with her fever before it finally broke. He filled a glass of water and left it on her bedside table. He crawled back into his bed. His body still ached and welcomed the feeling of clean sheets and surrendered to sleep.

When next he woke Hermione was sitting up in her bed sipping on a glass of water. "Your up?" she asked placing the glass on her bedside table shakily.

"Yeah. Are you feeling better?" He asked as he got out of bed.

"I feel exhausted" she answered as he sat next to her on the bed.

"The door is sealed, and I can't find my wand to break the seal. Did you see anything that could help us while I was asleep?". He asked. His stomach growled loudly. He felt famished his appetite had comeback.

She shook her head and tried to get comfortable in the bed. "Let me change your linens before you go back to bed." She nodded in agreement. Harry helped her up and sat her down in the chair he had occupied the day before. He cleared away the soiled sheets and retrieved fresh ones from a linen closet. He flipped the mattress before making the bed. He helped Hermione who had been slipping in and out of sleep back onto her bed. He watched her sleep for a while thankful that she was on her way to getting better.

He made his way to the door and tried to move or break the seal protecting the door. He placed his hand on the knob and the door flashed blue before he heard a large metal clank. Once the shock had passed he turned the knob and the door opened. Harry took a step out of the room and nearly doubled over at the smell that overcame him. He gathered himself before continuing on. He was at the end of a long corridor with pairs of doors every few meters. He had never been here before was he even still at Hogwarts? He checked the closest door it was locked so he moved to the door across from it. He touched the knob and turned it. The door swung open into a hospital room much like the one he and Hermione shared.

Harry's eyes fell on a prone figure lying on one of the beds. It was a girl younger than him. He could see tracks of dried blood coming from her eyes, nose, and mouth. She was clearly dead so he moved to the other bed. It took him a moment to realize who he was looking at. He sobbed and collapsed to his knees. On the other bed laid the body of Ron Weasley. His face was the color of ash save the dried tracks of crimson blood. He sobbe until he felt lithe arms wrap around him. Pulling him into a warm embrace.

"Where you the only one to survive in your room?" asked a soft gentle voice.

Harry held the hug he couldn't bare to look at the corpse of his friend again. "No Hermione is in the room I came from."

"Then perhaps we should go join her?" she asked

Harry broke the embrace and saw someone else standing in the doorway. Draco Malfoy was braced against the door frame. The blond teen was clearly still ill. He pulled away from the girl only to find out that it was Luna Lovegood. He grew concerned when he noticed the dried blood trails coming from her ears and nose. "Are you okay Luna?"

"No, but I'm getting better." she answered honestly.

Harry stood. "I'm I the only person you've found?" he asked

"Alive, yes." Draco answered as he prepare to stand under his own power again.

"Student's or staff nobody?" he asked unbelieving.

"Those that we have seen are dead." Luna said as she stood. "Please can we go to your room. We have been on our feet for some time."

"Sure." He said. He lead them to the room he and Hermione had shared. Luna and Draco sat heavily on his bed. Draco drifted off to sleep quickly while Luna stared into space. Harry wanted to say something but thought better of it. A few hour passed in silents before Harry drifted off to sleep in the chair beside Hermione's bed.

A/N: For the last few years. I have wanted to write a survival based Harry Potter fan fiction. I've had several idea's on how to go about this. The collapse of magic was one such way. That came to be in the story The Lost World. It was flawed if not interesting look into surviving in the wild. Another idea was a nuclear war. I was largely influenced by a book I read when I was a young boy. It was called Z for Zachariah. However I felt I couldn't rationally explain why the school and grounds would be protected against radiation. The wizarding world doesn't fear the muggle or their technology. Only the loss of secrecy. So this so called nuclear power, and bombs would be beneath them so why ward against it. So I settled on something that was believable that would kill magical and mundane without a care. A simple virus with the power to destroy everything...

Reviews welcome!