Gather
Summery: Severus loses his position at Hogwarts to a certain insufferable know-it-all. Hermione just wants everything to be as it was. Revenge, pain, and angst ensue.
A/N: I know its an overwritten piece of crap, but please read and review! I'll love you forever if you do ; )
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Chapter 1: Prologue
"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves." - William Shakespeare
A scream ripped through the air, breaking the eerie silence of night. Severus struggled out of bed, fumbling in the darkness for his wand. He had been too tense to sleep, his intuition tingling with thoughts of horror he could not name.
He fought for a moment with his sleeping robe, and then impatiently cast it aside. His hands were trembling, and his throat had gone dry with fear. He burst out of his chambers barefooted, and ran towards the direction of the sound. It led him up past the great hall, and then outside onto the sweeping expanse of lawn. His thin nightshirt did little to shield him from the unseasonably frigid air, but his body felt heated.
A low fog was drifting up from the lake, covering the night in a surreal haze of gray. A solitary figure stood in the distance, near the towering goals of the quidditch pitch. Severus marched towards her, cringing at the feel of the wet grass against the bare soles of his feet.
As he grew closer the figure turned to reveal a head of bushy hair and a puffy tear stained face.
"Granger!" Severus snapped, feeling both relief and annoyance. "What do you think you are doing?"
The young woman did not answer him, and he could tell by the quick rise and fall of her shoulders that she had begun to sob.
"Why were you screaming?" He demanded, now feeling slightly foolish in his nightshirt with his wand clutched tightly at his side.
"You heard that?" She whispered, her voice small and rough from tears.
"There are wards in place you ignorant girl." He fumed, his mind running through the list of punishments that would suitable for such a blatant disregard for the rules and for her own safety.
She made no move to apologize or to explain, she simply hung her head weakly as Severus closed the distance between them.
There was the sound of a slight rustle, so gentle that Severus caught a mere hint of the sound. He pushed past the pitiful figure of Ms. Granger, his eyes quickly searching the darkness for the source.
The sight before him made his breath catch in his throat, and his heart freeze in his chest. A tight pack of death eaters emerged from behind the pitch, holding their wands at the ready. Severus squeezed his own wand against the clammy flesh of his palm and forced himself to breath.
He watched as they glided towards him, feeling powerless and exposed. He had suspected for some time the Dark Lord had become aware of the double life he was leading, and was only waiting for the right moment to bring his world to a closure. It appeared with a frightening clarity that this was the moment, and Severus was not the only one slated to die tonight.
"They are going to kill you all." Severus said in a cool unwavering voice.
It was too late to beg or plead. He was going to leave this mortal world without regrets.
None bothered to acknowledge him, but Severus could sense their deadly intentions and their cruel hatred.
He turned to face the quivering girl who stood behind him, her hands drawn up over her mouth and her shoulder's trembling.
"Run." He mouthed to silently to her.
He not expect she would live to see morning, but he was desperate that she should try.
Hermione blinked rapidly, slowly letting her hands drop back to her sides. She made to move to escape, and Severus could see her eyes begin to glaze over with fear.
"Run damn you!" He ordered in a hoarse whisper, feeling the shadow of darkness approach behind him.
A mournful look sunk into her eyes, and she spun around and began to run for the safety of the castle. It would not be safe for much longer, but perhaps if she lived to warn them...
Severus turned as well, to face his murders. Desperate that Hermione should make it to safety he drew his wand into the air, and whispered the first spell that his racing mind could grasp upon. He aimed his wand at random, but from the scream he could tell he had hit Bellatrix. All the better, he had never liked her anyway.
Severus set forth another spell, hoping this would buy the young woman enough time. A burst of color lit the night sky, and before Severus could see the full effect of his devastation he was thrown to the ground, an intense pain ripping through the flesh of his right leg. He bit his lip to keep from crying out, and dug his fingers into the cold moist earth. He tried to stagger to his feet, but his leg was a useless weight of burning pain. He fell, his back hitting the ground with a dull painful thud.
Another spell broke through the darkness of night, striking him in the stomach and stealing the air from his lungs. He cringed, but wasted no time. He rolled over, and began dragging himself towards the warm shimmering lights of the castle. The sickeningly sweet smell of blood filled the air, and Severus vaguely became aware of the wetness that was soaking the front of his nightshirt. He stopped to slide his hand down to his stomach, and then rapidly drew it away. It was slick with blood, and Severus could fell even more spilling from him, tinging the cold earth red.
"Bastards." He whispered, his voice hollow.
Severus was dying, and they hadn't even the decency to make it quick and painless. Not a word was spoken as the death eaters moved on, their long robes sweeping on the damp ground. He had been judged and this was his sentence, one of them no longer and doomed to die. Severus knew it would not take long for the darkness to come and steal him into the beyond, it even such a poetic idea existed. As he lay his head down on the cold ground and shut his eyes, he hoped at least that Granger had warned the others. His judgement may be over, but theirs was just beginning.