A/N: So ... this isn't actually a new fic. I'd been meaning to move my stories over from LJ to Tumblr, since I wasn't really fond of LJ, but I'm not exactly fond of Tumblr right now either, so I'll just add them here and AO3. This had been on my LJ for *checks* more than 9 years (gosh, now I feel old). I've been meaning to make this into a longer fic, but hectic life is hectic, and I haven't finished "Prisms of Darkness" yet, so ... Not that it really matters, since this could be a stand-alone as well. Anyhow ... hope you enjoy this though please be warned that this haven't been beta-ed.

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Title: Epiales - Chapter 1
Fandom: Harry Potter
Character/Pairing/Group: Voldemort/Hermione Granger
Rating: R
Warning/s: Adult themes, AU, violence
Summary: AU. Compliant with DH except for the epilogue. One wrong move, and her whole world was turned upside down. How would she go about righting her wrong? Or would she fall deeper into the abyss of never ending nightmares?
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize is owned by J.K. Rowling. Not me.
A/N: Will ... eh ... is it necessary to mention that it will eventually be Tomione? LOL ... not completely beta-ed, so please excuse any grammar errors. Would appreciate it if you point it out to me though XD.
Prompt: 030. Death
First posted on LJ: 20 February 2010

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Chapter 1

She slowly opened her eyes.

The world was distorted, as if she was looking out the window on a particularly rainy day. She remained still, lying on her back. Patiently, she waited for the blurriness of her eyes and the haziness of her mind to go away.

The function of her eyes recovered a bit more quickly and she slowly glanced around, taking in her surroundings despite the fact that her mind was still registering what she was seeing at an impossibly slow rate.

Where am I?

The environment was unfamiliar, to say the least.

She pushed herself to a sitting position—perhaps it was merely unrecognizable because she was lying down.

By this time, she was fairly certain that her mind was finally working normally and she still could not tell where she was.

It greatly resembled the King's Cross, yet, there were differences. She slowly got onto her feet, resting herself against one of the poles. She shook her head, attempting to shake away the dizziness that washed over when she stood up.

She leaned against the support, watching the people slowly walk to and fro across the platform. The movements of the people where agonizingly sluggish, as if they had been injected with tranquilizers of some kind, or as if she was watching a movie in slow motion, and strangely enough, no one seemed to acknowledge her existence.

She scrunched up her face, as if she just smelled something distasteful. Although she was no weakling, that didn't mean that she wouldn't have appreciated some sort of concern.

Suddenly, a flicker of black caught her eye.

It really shouldn't have—most of the people were wearing black around them—but it just did. Her eyesight followed the soft rippling of his robes, reminding her strongly of the billowing clouds right before a thunderstorm.

With each step he took towards her, a thought crept into her mind: perhaps it wasn't really the movement of his robes; his presence alone was enough to raise her attention even if he hadn't budged.

Slowly, almost cautiously, she raised her eyes until they were leveled with his. In contrast to the overwhelming feeling his aura presented to people, his eyes surprisingly calmed her. The darkness in them spoke to her, soothed her, wordlessly promised her a safe haven.

He had to be the handsomest man she had ever seen. Of course, she had been around quite good-looking men throughout her school years, make no mistake about that. However, the first word that came to her mind when she laid her eyes on him was "mesmerizing". Everything from his soft, black waves of hair to his unpredictable dark eyes to the benign smile on his face screamed charisma.

She was, in short, rendered speechless when he stopped directly in front of her.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his voice as gentle as his smile.

His voice caused a tremor in her heart and flip-flops in her stomach and she shook her head, looking down at her shoes to hide the blush that was blossoming on her face.

"I am feeling a bit faint," she replied.

He peered at her face meticulously before a look of understanding dawned on his face.

"I see," he said. "You're not supposed to be here for long, then."

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The same genial smile appeared on his face again and he explained, "If you have these feelings, then you're not supposed to be dead yet."

She stared, trying to register what he had said and wondering if her mind was getting hazy again. Did he meant that she had just ... died?

"You're not dead yet," he said, as if he had just read her mind. He pointed at a man not too far off and told her in a lower voice, "That man over there had been here for six months already. He just recalled a few minutes ago that he had been in a car accident and his body is still in a coma. He's waiting for it's time for him to wake up—" The man suddenly disappeared. The young man standing beside her smiled wryly. "Which is right now." His long, pale finger pointed to another man a little distance away from that man. "He tried to commit suicide and his wife accidentally placed him under a revised Freezing Spell. He's waiting for the Ministry officials to find the reverse spell for it, which should happen any time soon." He gazed at her again. "Do you remember what happened before you woke up?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

All she really remember was rushing past the lake at Hogwarts, hurrying to her next test.

"Hm," he said thoughtfully. "Don't worry about it. You should remember it when it's about time for you to go back."

She nodded, hesitantly biting her lower lip. "Do you remember what happened before you came here?"

He quietly observed her features and answered, "Yes."

"So you're leaving soon?" she asked, her heart beating faster despite of herself.

It was almost as if she didn't want him to leave. She consoled herself, telling herself that it was because she didn't want to be all alone in an unfamiliar area with no one to talk with.

"No."

She frowned out of confusion. "Why?"

He sat down on one of the benches, looking off the other side. "My body got buried already."

"But ... but ... "

"My family didn't know that I was still alive," he said softly, lowering his head and looking at a spot on the floor.

"But there must be some way to help you ... "

She halted in her words when he shook his head. "There's nothing they can do."

She was at a loss for words. This was outrageous! This young man had to suffer simply because someone made a mistake ...

"Enough about me," he looked up again and smiled at her again. "You should get acquainted with the place we're in since who knows how long you're going to be here?"

She returned him an uneasy smile, the news that he had to stay here forever still ringing in her head.

"Come," he stood up and beckoned at her to follow him.

Heaving a sigh, she followed him.

The tour was simple, since there wasn't much to see about a platform out of all places, and the people—or rather, souls—there never spoke to them.

"Is ... When I return to the human world, is there any way I can help you?" she suddenly brought up as they turned around the corner.

She was surprised to find no one in sight any longer. She had been so immersed in their conversation that she did not notice that he had led her away from the crowd. It was much darker in this corner. Perhaps that was the reason why the other souls stayed away from it.

He smiled after a moment of silence. For some reason, it seemed more like a sneer to her. She decided that it must have been because of the lighting. After all, he seemed fairly amiable and kind throughout the entire tour.

And if he tried anything, she could always hex him.

The word "hex" triggered a memory; she tried to grasp it, but it kept running away from her.

With a sigh, he turned away from her and took a few steps forward.

"It will be too much to ask from you," he replied, his voice caressing her and bringing her out of her thoughts.

She shook her initial thoughts away. How could someone with a voice like his have indecent thoughts? Obviously, she had been thinking too much.

"I—No—I mean it," she said, taking a step towards him and placing her hand on his shoulder gently. "I want to help you."

He turned his head slightly, so that he was glimpsing at her from the corner of his eye.

"Do you mean it?"

"Yes," she nodded firmly.

A pain shot through her mind and she momentarily closed her eyes.

Water ... the water rushed in through her nostrils and mouth ... suffocating her ... the Giant Squid was no where in sight ...

"I—thank you," he said.

A bitter smile appeared on his face.

"What's the matter?" she questioned, pushing away her memories for the moment.

"I—never mind."

"Tell me," she demanded stubbornly.

He paused, gazing at her, sadness flickering in his beautiful eyes. "Someone told me a while back that she would help me, but she never did." He turned away again. "I shouldn't keep my hopes up ..."

She frowned again. "I'm not them," she replied stubbornly. "I will help you when I go back. I'm Hermione Granger and I always keep my promises." She hesitated for only a second and she added, "We can even take the Unbreakable Vow if you want."

He looked away from her again. "You're waking up soon if you remember your name."

"I ..."

"I can't force you to swear it," he cut into her words. "It's ... it's really not your concern."

She circled around him and stopped in front of him. "I'm promising you and I'm swearing it: I'm helping you when I go back."

"You'll help me go back again?" he asked, a small smile appearing on his face.

"Yes," she said firmly with a nod of her head. She made a move to pull out her wand, but he stopped her.

"We can't do the Unbreakable Vow with souls," he explained, pulling out his own wand. "We have to link our life energies together."

"Link our life energies?" Hermione asked, not quite understanding the term.

"I'll show you," he offered. He held out his hand and she stared at it. "I'll need your hand for it."

All of a sudden, her heartbeat increased. Why was she feeling nervous and scared now?

"Hermione?"

She glanced at him. Upon seeing the uncertain look on his face, she placed her hand in his with renewed determination. She was going to save him from his horrible fate.

"Are you sure—"

"Yes," Hermione interrupted.

His face suddenly expressionless, he looked down and brought his wand in contact with her hand. A searing pain shot through her as he brought his wand down, cutting a line there. Quickly, he did the same with his. Flows of energy seeped out of their wounds and he started to chant in a language she did not understand. The energy twisted and turned, intertwining in an intricate dance. Slowly, the strings of energy wrapped around their wrists and grew smaller and smaller, until it touched their skins.

Then, it disappeared.

She remembered ... the hex one of the Slytherins sent towards her as she was rushing to the Great Hall to take her Charms N.E.W.T's ... shouts of "filthy Mudbloods" came from afar as the other people attempted to stop the rousing students ...

"You promised, Hermione." His voice was so soft ... for the first time since she had met him, it almost reminded her of a snake ...

"How dare you do that?"

"Is that Hermione Granger?"

"It was because of her and her friends that we get to live in a peaceful world!"

"This is an outrageous act of ingratitude!"

"You have to lead me back home," he whispered, leaning forward until his lips nearly touched her earlobe.

It then occurred to her, despite her fear, that she still didn't know his name yet.

"I—I don't know your name yet," she softly said, trying to ignore how close he was standing to her.

She could almost feel him smile.

"You'll find out soon enough."

The world began to blur again.

"Hermione."

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In the Infirmary of Hogwarts, the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione Granger opened her eyes with a gasp.

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