Chapter 1
Darkness consumed every last bit of her vision. Her mind was working incessantly, desperately trying to grasp any lucid indication as to where she was. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't salvage one single memory that could help decipher what had occurred in the time frame that she was out. Her mind was still in shock, trying to recover from the abuse it had received.
Hermione Granger fought to drive the darkness down, her eyes fluttering open to finally take in her surroundings. In front of her line of vision looked like a stone wall, the sharp edges that protruded from it mere inches from her face. Her eyes focused on what looked like water dripping from the cracks in the stones, feeling it pool around her hand. Hermione let out a soft grunt, the action causing her breath to send dust flying all around her face. She coughed, slightly lifting her head to see that the floor she was lying on was made up of what looked like dirt, and from the way her body was shivering violently among the points of contact, the logical part of her brain rationalized that she was somewhere underground.
Noticing how stiff her neck was from that simple movement, Hermione experimentally stirred her fingers one by one, lifting them to help regain feeling in her right hand. Seeing as she could move her hand, Hermione became confident that she could at least move to sit herself against the wall and made the mistake of bending her right arm to lift herself up off of the floor. It was like every single one of her nerves were being tortured a hundred times over and over again, screaming to be released of the ceaseless pain. The pain traveled up her arm to the center of her body, spreading to all of her muscles. Hermione clenched her teeth, her throat holding back the scream that was begging to be let out. She dropped back down to the floor, her whole body now reciprocating the pain from her arm.
"Come on Hermione. Get up," she fiercely thought, forcing her body to lift itself up off of the floor, successfully sitting herself against the wall.
Looking down at herself she noticed that she was still in her night dress, her long legs smeared with blood and dirt. Hermione didn't understand why she was dressed like this in such a horrible place. She racked her brain for any memory that could convey information as to how she got here, but nothing came to the surface. Closing her eyes, she leaned her head back against the wall, focusing on taking deep breaths.
BANG.
Hermione bolted up in her bed, her senses on high alert. Shouts could be heard and the sound of spells hitting the walls caused the whole house to shake. She felt a hand cling to her arm, Ginny having scooted over in their bed to confirm with Hermione the same grim assumption that was running through her own head. Voldemort was raiding Grimmauld Place.
Wasting no time, Hermione reached over Ginny and grabbed both of their wands from the nightstand.
"Ginny, listen to me," Hermione said, gaining the red head's immediate attention.
"I want you to stay close to me. We have to find Harry and Ron but we'll have to fight our way through. If under any circumstance you feel like you'll lose, I want you to run. Run to the safety point and I'll meet you there with the boys. Do you understand?" Hermione desperately searched Ginny's eyes for any agreement, but all she saw was defiance.
"I'm not leaving you, Hermione. You seem to forget that I'm not a little girl anymore. I will fight alongside you, and I'm not running. Not without you," she said, grabbing Hermione's hands into her own.
"It's you and me, remember?" Ginny said, half smiling.
Hermione smiled back at her best friend, but her answer was disrupted by a scream of one of the Order members.
"Let's go," she said urgently, both girls throwing back the covers and running across the room.
Just as Hermione was about to throw open the bedroom door, she stopped short.
"Hermione, what's wr – "
"Sh," Hermione said quietly, cutting off Ginny's question. She leaned her ear against the door and could hear ragged breaths on the other side. Curious, Ginny did the same, her eyes widening at the revelation. Hermione grabbed Ginny's arm, backing them slowly from the door.
"Get your wand ready," Hermione whispered, not taking her eyes off the door. In her peripheral, she saw Ginny get into a fighting stance.
BOOOOM!
The door that they were just leaning on blasted into a million pieces, spraying the two girls with dust and woodchips. Using the cloud of dust as a cover, Hermione and Ginny bolted through, throwing curses at the three Death Eaters that entered.
"Bombardia!" Hermione yelled, blasting the three men over the stair railing. Sickening crunches could be heard as they met the bottom, their yells ceasing.
Cautiously peeking over the railing, Hermione saw that all three of them lay still, their necks broken.
"Come on, they're dead. We need to find Harry and Ron," she said, grabbing the red head's hand and bolting down the stairs. She spared a glance at the three men lying dead on the floor before running for the door.
Just then, two forms lunged for them and out of instinct, Hermione screamed, throwing a sloppy 'Expelliarmus' spell at them.
"BLIMEY! What did you do that for?!" she heard a male voice yell. She knew that voice with everything she had.
"Ron? Ron!" she yelled, throwing herself into his arms. "Thank Merlin you're safe."
Ron let go of her enough to look into her face. "We've been looking all over for you two! Where have you been?"
"We were upstairs in our bedroom. Three Death Eaters tried attacking but I took care of it," she said, dropping her eyes.
"Well we're glad you're all safe," Harry said, letting go of Ginny enough to give Hermione a tight hug. "But we have to leave. Stay close. Molly and Arthur will meet us at the safety point."
With that, the four Gryffindors ran out of Grimmauld Place, apparating to the safety point that the Order had set up for the children in case anything happened at base. Soon enough, they were enveloped in tall trees from every direction.
Hermione looked wildly around the forest, the trees seeming oddly more quiet than usual.
"Guys… something's wrong," Hermione said. Her sharp, golden eyes ran over every aspect of the forest, watching for any movement. The other three tensed as well. Everyone knew to trust Hermione's gut instinct. She was always precise on the danger that awaited them.
Just then, Voldemort himself appeared before them, his half corporeal form floating ominously about six inches from the ground, his red snake-like eyes narrowing in malicious pleasure.
"It'ssss time to die," he hissed before raising his wand.
Hermione wasn't having it. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" she screamed, watching as the curse hit Voldemort's impenetrable shield. The curse collided violently with the shield, fighting its way to get to its target. Voldemort himself was thrown back, but the curse dissipated with a single flick of his wrist. He stared at Hermione in shock. No one had ever been even close to hitting him with a spell, let alone knock him backwards.
"AVADA KEDAVRA! AVADA KEDAVRA!" she screamed, throwing killing curse after killing curse at Voldemort, all of which never truly hit him but slowly peeled away his impenetrable shield. If only she could peel it away enough for the curse to actually hit him…
"The shield! Aim for the shield! It's disintegrating!" she yelled to the other three.
Ron, Ginny, and Harry soon joined Hermione, the four of them throwing killing curse after killing curse at Voldemort. Voldemort, knowing his shield was disintegrating snapped out of his reverie and sent a flash of green light towards Ginny.
Hermione dived to jump in front of Ginny. She would have made it; her lifeless body would be on the ground if an invisible force hadn't thrown her out of the way in time for the killing curse to not hit her, but its original intended target.
"NO!" she screamed, her eyes meeting Ginny's at the exact time the curse hit her best friend. She sobbed at the sight of Ginny's lifeless body lying on the ground.
"GINNY!" Ron screamed. He whirled towards Voldemort in anger. "THAT WAS MY LITTLE SISTER YOU FUCKING PRICK!"
Ron threw a Sectumsempra curse at Voldemort, the curse again being pushed aside by a flick of his wrist. What he hadn't realized was that Hermione had silently sent the same curse towards him, this time the spell hitting its target.
Voldemort yelled in pain, his red eyes whipping around to find Hermione, instead coming face to face with a jet of green light. Voldemort disappeared, materializing a foot away from the place where he was just standing. His wide red eyes found Hermione just in time to witness her place a kiss on the red-haired girl's forehead and dart into the trees after Ron and Harry, Ron doubling back to take her hand into his.
"I want them alive. All of them, especially the girl," Voldemort hissed, his order echoing threateningly in the heads of every single one of his Death Eaters who bore the Dark Mark.
Hermione ran with speed she never knew she possessed. Ron and Harry were right next to her and she could hear the shouts of Death Eaters following in their wake. Black mist soon surrounded them, hands clawing at her arms.
"NO!" Hermione screamed, thrashing and clawing at the Death Eaters who held her hostage. She looked to find Harry being lifted away by the Death Eaters, his spells hitting their targets and dropping him to the ground once more. Ron attempted to pull Hermione out of the misty grasp but was thrown back by a spell. She looked to Ron desperately, his eyes meeting hers with such love and determination. Her resolve was set, she wasn't going down without a fight. The mist picked her up again, her wand getting thrown and lost somewhere in the trees.
"Shit!" she thought. Anger boiling up, she wandlessly sent a hexing curse towards her captor, hearing him scream in pain and let go of the arm he was supporting. Only problem with that was that Hermione was at least fifty feet in the air and she screamed as she plummeted towards the earth.
She hit the ground, HARD, hearing a deafening crunch of bone as her arm twisted at an odd angle.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled, hearing the breaking of bone.
"I'm fine!" she yelled, grinding her teeth at the pain. "Go! Run! I'm right behind you!"
Hermione bolted up as if she hadn't just fell fifty feet from the air and broken her arm and started sprinting through the thick brush, Ron right beside her.
"Hermione, look out! NO!"
She was almost to the full cover of the trees when a dark mist encircled her, her vision turning to black.
"AH! AUUUUGHUH!" Hermione screamed, thrashing against her chains. "What have you done with Ron and Harry!"
"They're not important. Let's focus on you my little Gryffindor," Voldemort drawled, moving to place his hand on her cheek.
Anger boiling up within her very soul Hermione summoned the magic from her core, her form lighting a soft red before wandlessly sending a Sectumsempra curse straight at Voldemort. The curse made multiple lacerations on his scaly-grey skin, the Dark Lord flinching in pain. Her form glowed a soft green, Voldemort anticipating what she was doing stepped out of the way just in time for the curse to hit an unsuspecting Death Eater who was standing behind him. Over and over again, Hermione threw the killing curse at anything she could find.
"That's enough!" Voldemort screeched, but Hermione threw a Confringo spell at him, making him fly through the stone walls, his form not moving. All of a sudden she felt pain, the Crucio curse piercing her skin and nerves with agony beyond imagination. She endured the torture, fighting against it and looking at her attacker with burning, determined caramel eyes.
All of a sudden she heard the screams of Ron and Harry, not too far from where she was. "Harry, Ron!" she yelled through the agony of the Cruciatus curse. Their screams filled her entire being, working their way into her very soul. The screams became more pronounced, more desperate.
"HARRY! RON! NOOOOOOOOO!
HARRY!
ROOOON!"
Hermione opened her eyes, her last scream for her best friends still echoing throughout her mind. She burst into tears, her silent sobs wracking her entire being. Her body screamed with pain, her arm still twisted at an odd angle.
"No," she cried brokenly. She took deep breaths, attempting to block out the pain with her mind. She needed to focus.
The pain took its time to subside, and Hermione finally took in the rest of her surroundings. Taking a deep breath, she stared in front of her, examining the rustic metal bars that caged her in this tight, filthy space. Even though it was dark, Hermione could still make out the indent of a door. She looked more closely at the bars through her water-rimmed eyes, noticing that they were poorly maintained and wondered if she would be able to at least kick it enough to make the weak spots falter, giving her room to slide through.
Flinching at the thought of the pain she would endure by just moving Hermione looked to her left, noticing something on the other side of the bars. Her teary eyes scrunched up as she braced herself to move towards the object. It looked like hair, tousled and dark, and was illuminated from the moonlight that shined through the little window above. Dragging herself to where the object lay, Hermione held on to the metal bars for support and froze.
Dark tousled hair, glasses askew, and glassy green eyes staring at the ceiling, Harry Potter lay as cold as the ground she woke up on. As she looked closer, she noticed that his ribcage was peeking out, rats happily feasting on the plentiful flesh in front of them. His wand laid beside him, broken, the phoenix feather limp with his own blood. The sound of his scream echoed throughout Hermione's mind and her mouth created a strangled sound, her eyes horrified at the gruesome scene that was her best friend.
"No, Hermione sobbed, her voice breaking as more tears flowed down her face. "No. No Harry, Harry please no!"
She reached through the bars, grabbing for his hand all while begging for this not to be true. Before her hand could reach Harry's, Hermione noticed something staining her fingers. Bringing her hand back through the bars, she examined what looked like a red, sticky substance that lined her palm and the bottoms of her fingers.
"What the hell is this?" she whispered to herself. The redness was wet, almost as if she had just at that moment touched it.
Eyebrows furrowed, Hermione looked behind at the spot where she had woken up, a large puddle of blood pooling around the outline of where her body had laid. Hermione knew that blood wasn't hers. The injuries she sustained were mostly from dark spells.
"No…" Hermione said, whipping her head back to Harry's corpse to look for any traces of blood that may have trickled into her cell. From what she could see, all of Harry's blood was surrounding his own body, his life force completely seeped into the dirt around him.
She knew the blood had to be coming from somewhere. She looked back to the pool, noticing how the trickle lines led from the pointed crevices of the stone wall. Slowly following the trail of blood up the wall, Hermione's heart stopped at the sight before her.
Ron Weasley was lying on the ceiling, as if a spell had glued him flat. His body looked like it had been ripped open, the blood clotting every piece of his clothing making it hard to decipher cloth from skin. His face was formed into a mocking smile, the one you would see on an evil clown in a horror movie. A few of his teeth were missing, and his eyes looked white as if there was a clear, transparent film covering them.
Before Hermione had time to react Ron's head slowly detached from his body, falling from the ceiling and landing in front of Hermione. The cut looked like a spell had hit him almost cleanly through the neck. The only thing that was keeping it attached was a flab of skin, looking as if it had been a part of Ron's neck at some point. Hermione let out a broken shriek, the sound bouncing off the walls of her cell. She didn't care if anyone had heard her. She could only sob at the sight of the man she loved and her best friend mutilated by the one… thing that aspired to rule over the Wizarding World.
Hermione crawled over to Ron's detached head, gently caressing his once beautiful red hair that was now matted with sweat, grime and blood.
"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm so sorry Ron, I should've been there. I should've protected you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Hermione's sobs got more desperate and sincere with every apology she gave to her love, praying that he would somehow forgive her for failing to protect him. Him and Harry.
Just then shouts could be heard from above, breaking into the sound of Hermione's cries. Hermione's head whipped up, her senses on high alert. She could hear the sound of footsteps running, the bang of a door being violently swung open…
They were coming for her. Hermione turned back to Ron's head. She needed to get out of here.
"I love you, I love you so much. I'm sorry!" Hermione sobbed. She stroked Ron's hair one last time and gave Harry's broken body one last loving, apologetic look before throwing herself across the cell towards the bars that separated her from her freedom. She knew from her inspection earlier that the bars were weak. Despite the darkness, her hands flew over the rustic metal, searching for any key weak spot.
Pushing against the metal she heard it groan, and Hermione wasted no time in attempting to kick it through. The metal groaned even more, but it didn't give way.
"Come on!" Hermione whispered desperately as the sound of footsteps could be heard flying down a flight of stairs.
Switching to a sitting position, Hermione placed her two arms behind her and lifted her weight as she kicked the metal at a harsher strength. The sounds of shouts and orders could almost clearly be heard and Hermione's head whipped towards it, kicking the metal at a more desperate pace.
"Come on! Come ON!" she yelled, finally hearing the deafening creak of metal as it gave way under her harsh kicks.
"Yes, thank you!" she yelled, working her way through the small space that the broken metal provided. As she was halfway through, the Death Eaters rounded the corner to the hallway in which she was being held and saw Hermione hanging half way through the bars.
"GET HER!" a cold voice commanded.
Hermione crawled the rest of the way out of the cell, running off in the opposite direction the Death Eaters were coming from. She knew that voice. There was only one… thing that could ever pierce the atmosphere in such a cold and suffocating manner. HE was here. And he was coming for her.
Hermione ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain shooting throughout her whole body. A flash of red light collided brutally with the wall that was mere inches from her head. The explosion caused her to yelp as the deafening boom caused a severe pain to erupt in her left ear. Stumbling, Hermione looked behind her to find the Death Eaters gaining on her with every passing second.
"Oh, Mudblood. The game has just started and you're already breaking the rules! Tsk, tsk. You'll have to be punished for that!" Hermione could hear Bellatrix's high-pitched, sadistic cackle as another red light came zooming towards her. Turning a sharp corner, Hermione missed the spell by a hair.
"Come on Hermione! Keep going, you have to keep going!" Hermione thought to herself. "There has to be a way out of here. There HAS to be. Merlin wouldn't be so cruel to me."
Hermione's prayers were answered as she came across what looked like a sealed off storage room. Pulling on the handle, she found it wouldn't budge. Hearing Bellatrix and the others coming closer, she pulled desperately at the handle. This could be her last chance at escape. If she missed it and ran down the hall some more, she could face a dead end… and the end of her life.
Making one last desperate pull, the door screeched open and Hermione wasted no time in slipping through and shutting it tight behind her. Blindly grabbing what she could find with her hands she began piling up crates, chairs and anything solid that could block whatever was on the other side from coming in.
Hearing her captors on the other side halt upon not spotting their escapee, Hermione knew she had about ten seconds before one of them thought to check this room. Whirling around, Hermione's eyes flew over every aspect and corner of the stale, dusty space. She had been right – this was a storage room. Boxes of knickknacks and other items were piled against the walls, a slight sliver of light coming from underneath the door the only thing illuminating them.
Straining her eyes, Hermione spotted what looked like a small fireplace, cobwebs and dust almost entirely covering its entrance. Hermione hurried over to it, quickly wiping what seemed like ten pounds of cobwebs that were obstructing her view. Spiders scurried everywhere, agitated that their home had been destroyed. Hermione ignored them, feeling the back of the fireplace for any type of notch or lever that would open to some type of a door.
"There has to be something here. Voldemort and his followers would need some form of escape if shit hit the fan while they were down here. Come on, there has to be something," Hermione thought.
Hermione's breath hitched in her throat as her hand came upon contact with a little stubby lever sticking out of the fireplace's chimney. Reaching her arm further up, she pulled the lever down, almost jumping with joy at the sight of the ominous stone sliding sideways, gaining her entrance to a black unknown.
BANG.
Hermione's head whipped to the side, watching in horror as the door she had boarded up with crates and chairs was slowly giving way to the severe force it was being subjected to. Reaching up again to grab the knob, Hermione yanked as hard as she could, breaking the knob off of its tiny hinges and bolting through the entrance before it shut favorably behind her. Hermione turned just in time to see wood splinters and dust filling the entire room from the force of the spell used to completely annihilate the door. Some of the dust made its way through the entranceway, engulfing her lungs in the suffocating cloud.
Hermione coughed violently, sighing with relief at the lever she held in her hand.
"They'll never get in here. I've got this," she thought. Spotting a loose stone in the walls of the cramped passage, Hermione worked to remove it, placing the broken lever into the space the stone provided and shoved the stone back in.
Sighing with relief, Hermione began crawling her way through the dark and damp passage. She didn't know where she was, it was dark, and she had no wand.
"Get a grip, Hermione. You've survived this long," Hermione thought. She flinched as the crawling put weight on her bad arm.
Feeling her way around corners, she followed her sense of touch until she finally saw a sliver of light just ahead of her.
"Hun – gry."
Hermione froze at the voice. No, it wasn't a voice. It couldn't be. No one would be in here. She waited a few more seconds before slowly continuing towards what looked like a circular gate, all while listening intently for the voice again.
Hermione was almost to the gate when a loud screeching sound pierced her ears, echoing off of the walls of the small route. The sound resembled that of the zombies she used to watch on television whenever she was home on holidays. Using the light from the exit ahead, Hermione slowly turned her head and watched in horror as what appeared to be a girl her age staring menacingly at her from the other end of the passageway.
The girl had pale, almost scaly skin, her dark hair a matted damp nest and her eyes a blue film, the pupils glowing slightly.
"No..." Hermione whispered. "It can't be…"
"An Inferius," Hermione thought.
Just then, the Inferius screeched a loud piercing scream, bolting for her.
"SHIT!" Hermione yelled, crawling for her life towards the circular gate that would separate her from the nightmare that was gaining on her. Pushing the gate out of her way and jumping out, Hermione forcefully pushed the gate back on its hinges, pushing it more inwards just in time as the Inferius slammed against it, reaching for her through the spaces.
Instinctively backing up, Hermione felt that the ground behind her was coming to an end and turned to see a small waterway running down a long cave-like passage. Turning her head to see the Inferius still reaching for her but not getting to her anytime soon, Hermione began edging her way along the little concrete path that lined the waterway, watching her feet and all the while keeping an eye on the still screeching creature.
"How did that thing get to where I was?" Hermione wondered, her brain kicking into logic mode. A place where she was… there would most likely only be two entrances. The one she came from, and the one she exited from.
"The one I exited from…" Hermione whispered to herself. Hands braced against the wall, she looked sideways at the circular gates that spaciously lined the walls. There, not twenty feet from her was a gate that was wide open.
Suddenly, silence filled the air and Hermione whipped her head around. The gate she had exited from was Inferius-free.
"No… it wouldn't…" Hermione said.
Without another word, Hermione bolted as fast as she could towards the open gateway just in time to hear the scratching of the Inferius's nails on the other side of the wall clawing against the cold, hard stone. She wasn't going to make it. The gate was too far away and the Inferius was fast. Hermione summoned her magic once more, placing her palm upward and watching as the gate slammed closed. The creature roared with frustration, clawing more adamantly at Hermione as it tried to push its way through the gate's metal spaces.
Hermione edged her way around the roaring creature, sweat making her hair stick to her forehead and the sides of her cheeks. She allowed herself a few seconds to compose herself as she leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. The adrenaline was beginning to leave her system, making her feel like curling up in a ball and going right to sleep.
That thought quickly left her mind though as the Inferius began making an odd noise. Hermione's eyes flew open and watched as the Inferius made a desperate sound, almost like a call….
"You have GOT to be fucking kidding me," Hermione cursed.
As if on cue, dozens of Inferi began crawling out of the water, their malicious eyes only on her. Hermione jumped back as some started to emerge from the water she was standing by, grabbing at her ankles. She turned around to bolt down the waterway when what seemed like a dozen of them crawled out of the water, blocking her path. She turned around to go back the way she came but found that they were closing in on her at that angle as well. Hermione couldn't believe it, she was cornered.
Backing up against the wall, she placed both her hands against the wet, cold stone and glanced wildly around at the Inferi that were getting closer with every second. Her breaths became uneven, her heart beating what felt like a million miles per minute. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for her inevitable death.
Just then, her whole body began to feel warm and pleasant, every ion of her existence consumed in what felt like complete and utter bliss.
"This must be what death feels like," Hermione thought. She leaned her head back, preparing herself for what came in the afterlife. She wasn't scared in the slightest, no. She knew that Harry and Ron would be waiting for her, arms wide open. Ginny would smile at her, take her hand and lead her to an eternal peace, where all four of them could be together.
Suddenly in the distance, loud shrieks pierced the idyllic atmosphere that surrounded Hermione. Her eyes flew open to find that the Inferi were being thrown back, a bright golden light burning their flesh wherever it touched.
Hermione looked to her left and saw that a clear escape path was now accessible, taking off without any other incentive. She flew down the side of the waterway all while dodging the painful grasps of the countless monsters that continued to emerge. Hermione was horrified at the number of them. Voldemort had to have killed all of these people in order to create this many of them.
"No. These aren't people. Not anymore. It's just their physical bodies," Hermione thought to herself. She prayed to Merlin that neither Harry's nor Ron's bodies would come floating out of the depths of these waters.
"AUGH!" Hermione screeched as an Inferi burst out of the water and dug its nails into her calf, successfully breaking skin. She fought to drag her leg back but the Inferi just dug its nails deeper. She turned around and kicked it in the face, watching as it was thrown back into the water from the blunt force. Still sprinting down the cave, Hermione saw a rusting ladder-type contraction up above. If she gained enough momentum, she could jump and grab on to the last ring… but if she missed… she was Inferi food.
Looking back at the horrible monsters gaining on her, Hermione took a deep breath and ran faster, jumping at the end of the waterway and grabbing onto the rusting ladder. Using all of the strength she could muster, Hermione pulled herself up enough to get her feet up on the last ring. Looking down, she noticed that the Inferi were attempting to climb up the stone wall, almost succeeding with the amount of them piling on top of each other. Turning back, she began to climb the ladder.
"Please don't break. Please don't break. Please, please, PLEASE don't break," Hermione prayed as she slowly made her way up the long, groaning ladder.
SNAP.
The ring that Hermione's foot was on gave way under her weight and caused Hermione to fall halfway down the ladder. She screamed, frantically grabbing for the ladder once more, her hand finding the ring just in time before she fell into the pile of Inferi that were still attempting to get to her.
Sighing in momentary relief, she placed her forehead against the cold metal, thanking Merlin for not allowing her to fall. Taking one more deep breath, Hermione climbed the ladder once more, cautious of the now vacant space the broken ring had left.
Finally reaching the top, Hermione pulled herself up on the ledge and looked down to see the Inferi still trying to claw their way up to her.
"It's okay now, Hermione. You're okay now," she said out loud this time, reassuring herself that she was alive. She flinched as she attempted to stand. The wound in her calf was deep and very, very painful.
Not up for any more surprises, Hermione managed to stand up and take in her surroundings. It looked like a small stone hallway, another ladder sitting ominously at the end of it. At the top of the ladder sat a metal covering, daylight streaming into the dark space through the cracks.
Not thinking twice, Hermione climbed up the short way to the metal covering, testing it as she slowly moved it aside. She had to be careful. If this led to the outdoors, Voldemort would most likely have a welcoming party of his followers waiting outside just for her. Moving the metal covering around stealthily and peeping through the opening it provided, Hermione saw that the opening was completely covered by shrubbery. It opened up to a garden, a beautiful one at that too. But still… someone could be hiding behind those hedges.
Hermione's paranoia paid off as just as she was about to completely push aside the metal covering, a rustling from one of the hedges caused her to freeze. Out stepped Bellatrix Lestrange, her black beady eyes searching every aspect of the garden, her ears listening intently for any sounds of movement. Hermione placed her hand on the grass, preparing to lift herself out and make a run for it if she needed to.
A flashback gave Hermione the image of Bellatrix holding the Crucio curse on her while her best friends were being killed. Fury erupting inside of her, Hermione's form began glowing a soft golden light, the feeling of bliss taking over once more. Like an electrical current, the light zoomed across the ground towards the dark witch, throwing her half way across the garden. Hermione took this as her opportunity and sprinted off, Bellatrix calling out to her comrades at the foot of the garden.
Hermione ran through the abundance of flowers, never looking back at the Death Eaters who were chasing after her. Breaking through the trees of the forest she sprinted harder, the feeling of freedom crashing down on her. Just as she was about to bask in her luck, a hard body tackled her to the ground. Instinctively, Hermione fought to throw it off of herself, a large grunt being heard as the aim of her punch met its mark.
Hermione whipped her head around, her burning hazel eyes meeting fierce black ones. Fenrir Greyback stared at her malevolently, his pupils dilating to the point where his eyes looked fully black. He crouched on the ground, the bones in his hands moving and twisting, creating a crunching sound that Hermione strained not to flinch at. She knew Fenrir was the only werewolf in the world that was able to turn at will, and she knew all too well his preference for biting children. Fenrir's sharp teeth grew and he let out a snarl capable of making any child die of fright, and that snarl… was directed at her.
Still kneeling on the ground Hermione slowly backed up, attempting to put space between her and the monster in front of her. Her hand came upon what felt like a sharp rock and Hermione suddenly had an idea. She remembered Remus's story about how he had become a werewolf. Fenrir had bitten him in revenge against his father who had insulted the werewolf breed. That was his weakness.
His pride.
Hermione's eyes glowed with just as much malice as the werewolf's, her eyes never leaving his. She knew that she wasn't going to make it out alive if she did nothing but run. She would either have to kill or be killed. A lone tear escaped before addressing the monster in front of her.
"Look at you, you disgusting filthy mutt. You will never amount to what you aspire to be, not if I can help it. You deserve nothing less than death," Hermione taunted, quoting Remus's father's words.
Fenrir roared, his eyes burning with fury before coiling up and lunging for her. Hermione took this as her chance. Just as Fenrir was about to sink his teeth into her neck, she darted to the side and plunged the sharp rock into Fenrir's flesh. He yelped and rolled to Hermione's right, the impact of his lunge making him collide with a tree. Hermione sprinted off into the forest, the sharp rock, now stained with Fenrir's blood, still clutched tightly in her hand.
She could hear the sounds of his labored breathing behind her. The wound she gave him was not enough to slow him down, but it was enough to distract him. She was changing the game play, and they were now playing by her rules.
Hermione suddenly stopped, coming upon a small assemblage of what looked like boulders. She darted in the cover the cold, hard stone provided and climbed in between a crevice that gave her perfect access to anyone who burst out of the trees. It didn't take long for Fenrir to burst through the thick brush, his black eyes searching wildly for Hermione. She could see the long gash on his chest that her rock had made, and she noticed his labored and uneven breathing. Her wound had actually slowed him down. She could use it to her advantage.
Hermione crouched down between the rocks even more, her eyes almost glowing in the darkness of the small cave-like structure the boulders created. Anyone who could see her now would describe her as a lioness about to catch her prey.
"Come on, just a little more," Hermione thought. Two more steps and Fenrir was hers.
One step. His head swiveled to the right towards the boulders.
Two steps. His head swiveled to the left, and now at Hermione's complete mercy.
Now was her chance. She crouched down, gaining momentum as she sprung out from between the crevice, jumping on Fenrir's back and wasting no time in slashing his throat with the sharp edge of her rock. To make sure she finished him off Hermione plunged the rock right where his spinal cord lay, using all of her strength to drag it down the middle of his back, successfully hearing him scream in pain as the rock split skin and bone with every inch it advanced. The bone crunching was the only indicator she was hitting her target.
"There she is!" she heard someone yell. Hermione's tear-filled eyes flew towards Bellatrix who had emerged from the trees along with Mulciber, Avery, and Lucius Malfoy. Bellatrix's eyes widened at the sight of Hermione's rock lodged deep within Fenrir's spine. Hermione pulled the rock out violently and dashed off again into the trees.
"AFTER HER!" a cold voice commanded. Voldemort was here? Hermione was a little confused. Voldemort almost never joined his Death Eaters on a man hunt.
Mulciber and Avery darted after her, their speed almost matching hers. Avery came up on her left, shooting a jet of red light her way which Hermione twisted to miss.
"Please stop, I don't want to hurt you," Hermione prayed. However, Avery's relentless spells caused Hermione to shut her eyes at what she had to do.
Making a sharp left turn she attacked Avery, plunging the sharp rock right where his carotid artery would be. Avery screamed, his voice eventually drowned out by the blood spilling from his mouth. Hermione's tears streamed down her face.
"I'm sorry, I prayed. I really did," she thought.
Suddenly, a stinging pain erupted across her side and Hermione screamed as a spell slashed deep into her tissue. Whirling around, she encountered the smirking face of Mulciber.
"Tonight, you feel what pain really is, Mudblood," he said, his yellow teeth glinting in the moonlight.
Hermione imperceptibly glanced to her left, spotting a patch of thick vines that would serve as perfect cover. Her eyes snapped back to Mulciber. Just as he was about to throw a spell at her, she rushed towards the thick brush, successfully submerging herself into its dark cover.
"Get back here, bitch!" Mulciber yelled as she heard his footsteps running behind her. He was gaining with every passing second, and Hermione knew that she would surely not survive at the mercy of this nasty Death Eater.
She stopped, her labored breathing the only sound she made. Blindly breaking off a thick branch, Hermione watched as Mulciber's form creeped through the underbrush, not aware of the crying girl not two feet away from him. Hermione jumped on his back, wrapping the vine around his neck and pulled with all her might. Mulciber let out a strangled cry.
"Mulciber!" she heard one of the Death Eaters call.
She was almost finished when a jet of light threw her off of Mulciber, making her strike violently with a tree trunk. Hermione looked up at Mulciber's gasping face and darted again towards him, grabbing his head into a headlock.
The Death Eater who threw her off of him growled and stepped forward, but Hermione wasn't having that.
"Stop! One more step and he'll end up like his little friend back there," Hermione threatened.
Voldemort stepped through the vines, his eyes gleaming with interest and amusement at the girl in front him.
"Do it. Kill him. You don't have the guts to –"
Hermione never let him finish. She grabbed Mulciber's neck and violently snapped it, letting his lifeless body fall to the ground at her feet. Voldemort looked shocked, staring from Mulciber to Hermione. Once again, Hermione took off. This time, she had every single Death Eater chasing after her. A jet of green light missed her head by a hair, colliding instead with an array of plants.
"NO! I want her ALIVE!"
She could hear Voldemort's order ringing throughout the entire forest. She looked above her head to see a dark mist racing in and out of the branches, cold red eyes searching every aspect of the thick brush. Hermione ran harder, faster. Her legs carrying her at a speed she never knew she possessed. All the while jets of red and orange light all made their way towards her, never hitting their target.
Once again Hermione was tackled to the ground, this time her eyes finding black curly hair and a sadistic smile staring down at her.
"You're dead, Mudblood," Bellatrix fumed as her hands went around Hermione's neck. Hermione grasped at the hands cutting off her oxygen, blindly grabbing the chain around Bella's neck in an attempt to push her away, ripping it off. Knowing her weak abilities in wandless magic, Hermione coughed as she watched with sheer hope as a successful Confringo spell blasted Bella about twenty feet into the air.
Gasping for air, Hermione glanced down at the chain in her hands and almost gasped with disbelief.
"The time turner? What the hell was Bellatrix Lestrange doing with this?" she thought. Hearing the shouts of the Death Eaters close by, she placed the chain around her neck and allowed it to fall between her breasts. She needed to get out of here, but she didn't know how. There were Death Eaters everywhere and Voldemort himself was flying like a little fairy over the forest searching for her.
"She's right there! Over there!"
Hermione looked up and saw that Death Eaters were coming at her in all directions. She bolted up to her feet and panicked. She was going to get caught. There was no doubt about it. There was only one option, and she didn't know whether or not she'd survive it doing it wandlessly.
A camping ground area she used to go to when she was little popped into her mind. Her dad would take her onto the natural park bridge where she could look out at the entire landscape. Hermione thought hard about that bridge and wandlessly apparated away. Half way through the violent spinning and bending of time and space did she remember that the bridge had collapsed after an earthquake about seven years ago. Hermione appeared where the bridge should have been but instead met air as she plummeted towards the ground.
Hermione screamed, watching as a muggle car sped right where she was supposed to land. Gravity pulled her down at an alarmingly fast rate, Hermione squeezing her eyes as her body came into violent contact with the windshield of the car. The muggle driver swerved sharply to the left throwing Hermione's broken, almost lifeless body off of the windshield and onto the gravel of the road.
Almost distantly Hermione could hear the screeching of tires, the crash of metal meeting tree. Her eyes fluttered partially open to see the muggle car twisted and bent into an almost unrecognizable shape. Blood smeared the windshield where she had landed, glass littering the areas around where she lay. The muggle woman inside wasn't moving.
"I'm so sorry," she thought. Her mistakes now had cost the lives of four people. That muggle woman would still be alive if she hadn't apparated to that stupid bridge that didn't exist.
Out of the corner of her eye, a soft golden glow emanated from the pendant that lay next to her breasts. Her time turner had broken with her impact with the windshield, the sand circling around her broken body, creating a whirlwind of hot air that pressed hard against her chest. She felt like she couldn't breathe, gasping as the hot piercing air soon turned into pain that spread through every nerve she possessed. She glanced at her fingers which were fading in and out, a tear escaping her eye as the pain overcame her and she disappeared completely.