Time seemed to slow as Hermione glanced around, her brown locks flicking in the wind as she looked left then right. Poisonous green and cobalt blue lit up the broken landscape as spells ricocheted off the crumbling walls of the castle, colliding with rock and rubble and sending showers of debris into the air.
She saw bodies of friends and foes alike falling all around. Familiar faces contorted in pain and fear, or bitter resignation as their end whizzed towards them in a brilliant shower of sparks. Surveying the battlefield, she could see without pause that they were losing. A mere spattering of stragglers was all that remained of the Order, and their hunched shoulders and slowing arms told her everything she needed to know.
They would lose this fight, soon. And with it they would lose the war.
But even as she thought this, something deep within her made itself known. It burned like an ember in the pit of her stomach, hot and fierce and furious. Soon it was expanding, filling her up until she felt her heart swell with it and her spirit soar.
Her nostrils flared and her eyes opened infinitesimally wider as she breathed in deep, filling her lungs with cool night air. It was a realisation, and she let it swallow her whole and buoy her up all at once. She was going to die. They were all going to die, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
But let it not be for nothing, she thought, and her eyes turned hard as they saw the bloody battlefield before her in a brand new light. Having accepted her fate, everything seemed to change. Fear fell away in great sheets, like cliffs into the sea, and she was left feeling weightless. No longer burdened by a cumbersome obligation to life, she was completely free.
Closing her eyes, she focused on the magic she knew was sunk deep within her, and called it to the surface. A first, it seeped out, icy tendrils lacing up through her spine, but it soon began to grow until it was a terrific tidal wave of sheer power that crashed against her every nerve. She felt drowned in it, but she didn't attempt to call it back even as it extended beyond her and rolled out in every direction.
Snapping her eyes open, she saw that she had attracted the attention of the enemy, and more and more wands were being turned her way. She rejoiced under their panicked glares as not even the memory of fear could bring it to reignite in her now, and she brandished her own wand before her.
A cataclysmic rainbow of colour cascaded all around as she forced spell after spell to burst forth in an endless stream of destruction. In that moment, she felt untouchable. Without fear, she was an unstoppable force. She stood for more than just herself. Like an idea that only grows with the death of one, she felt beyond life. Beyond death.
Raising her wand, she rained down emerald green, and laughed at her victory.
Yes, she thought, let them take me. But let them know, too, whose life it is they took.
Hermione Granger, the girl made of more than metal. A force to be reckoned with. She was titanium.
Written for: the 'War of Angels Competition'. Prompts: Setting: the Battle of Hogwarts, 500 words minimum, Titanium by David Guetta ft. Sia (song)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.
CC cover image (entitled '2014-02-24 (055/365)') courtesy of Taema Dreidon on Flickr.
A/N: I wrote this for a sudden death round, as quickly as possible, so the quality might be lacking somewhat. I wasn't very happy with how it came out, I think she might be too OOC. Regardless, here it is. You know what to do. GG x