The war was over but the wizarding world was broken. Hermione sat on a pile of rubble in the great hall, staring at the dead. Voldemort was gone, but they had lost much... so many. It didn't feel like victory.
Draco Malfoy laid at the foot of the rubble she sat on, blood splattered across his pale cheeks, eyes hollow and unseeing. He had appeared at the steps of the resistance two weeks before the war. Exhausted but still in tact he made a unbreakable vow with Harry pledging himself to the cause, and shortly after cut his white blonde hair ragged and short with a pocket knife he borrowed.
She wasn't going to lie, especially to herself, she never liked Draco and probably never would have had he lived, but seeing him like that...
He died saving Ginny. Ginny who was engaged to Harry and four weeks pregnant. She had made Hermione swear not to tell a soul, if people knew, they wouldn't let her fight and they needed everyone to end this. Now no one will know... She died shortly after Draco, an avada to the back courtesy of Bellatrix Lestrange.
Molly flew into a rage unlike anything Hermione had ever witnessed. She threw Bellatrix around like a rag doll and smiled when Bellatrix was laying limp and broken at her feet. She doesn't know who killed Molly, but an arm and half her face is missing.
Fred and George lay next to Draco, she has no idea how they died either but they have matching grins across their faces. Percy's sitting at their feet staring at them, like if he waits long enough they'll jump up and laugh at him for falling for their trick.
Arthur is staring out a window, she wouldn't blame him if he jumped. Percy and Charlie is all he has left. Charlie might not make it through the night.
Two motionless figures remain untouched in the middle of the hall. One desperately clinging to the other. Hermione hasn't had the courage to go say her final goodbye to them. Remus and Hermione had become close after he and Tonks fell apart, it was only natural since he had hidden in the library. She can't bear to look at him, to see him clinging on to Harry like that. Harry, her best friend. Gone.
Ron is still laying in the third floor corridor, right beside the door where they met fluffy. He had thrown himself onto Hermione, knocking her out but ultimately saving her. When she woke the war was over, and she didn't have the energy to pull Ron's body to the great hall.
She'd only been able to find nine survivors. Percy, Charlie, Arthur, Luna, Dean, Marcus Flint, Tonks, McGonagall and Cormac McLaggen.
Tonks stumbled over and sat next to her. "I can't believe they're all gone."
Hermione nodded, afraid if she spoke it would make it real.
"This is wrong..." Tonks spoke weakly and hugged her tightly as if Hermione were the only thing keeping her on the ground. A moment later and she was stumbling away swaying.
It whispered through an empty passage. Quite but clear.
Time has come and Time has gone;
Yet Hogwarts had stood throughout it all.
Luna stumbled past and Hermione couldn't stand the sight. Luna had broken. The dreamy look her pale face had once donned had vanished and been replaced with that of a hardened solider.
Hermione vomited.
But her walls have crumbled and her soul is gone;
Turn back the clock to return what was forgot.
She wiped her mouth and fell off the rubble. Holding her left arm, nursing what she was sure was at the very least a dislocated shoulder, she dragged her feet toward the voice. Why not? She thought. There's nothing else left, if I die following some creepy voice then they could just add me to the tally.
She came to a fork in the corridor, looking both ways, the left was partially blocked by rumble and quite frankly looked like a bitch to get through, the right was clear.
The stars have aligned, the Fates are forlorn;
and send a child that time has ignored.
Of course. She sighed hearing the voice from the left and continued to drag herself through the castle, finally coming to a stop in front of a tapestry.
It looked brand new, which she had to admit, was a miracle considering that the castle was now nothing more then a glorified ruin. Hogwarts; A History, is just about right. She scoffed. The tapestry was dark with the night sky, stars and a full moon bright in its weaving.
For their souls a trade must be made;
Sacrifice the present to dwell in the past,
to fix the mistakes that have come to pass.
She frowned, studying the tapestrys constellations tracing them with her finger in the air, muttering their names under her breath.
Time has come and time has gone;
yet Hogwarts had stood throughout it all.
But her walls have crumbled, her soul is gone;
turn back the clock to return what was forgot.
The stars have aligned, the Fates are forlorn;
and send a child that Time has ignored.
For their souls a trade must be made;
Sacrifice the present to dwell in the past,
to fix the mistakes that have come to pass.
The stars of yesterday hold the answer she seeks;
to make the Dark Lord fall to his knees.
Her frown deepened turning the poem over in her head. "Turn back the clock... stars have aligned... stars of yesterday..."
Maybe it was a temporary loss of logic or just simply exhaustion, but all her mind could comprehend was the puzzle before her. The consequences of solving said puzzle wasn't even spared a thought. Leaning forward Hermione placed a hand on the night sky and slid her hand across making the stars spin backwards as if she'd turned the nights sky back into yesterdays. The weaved sky spun and spun picking up speed going faster and faster until it hit a dead stop and everything was still.
Her brow furrowed. "Well that was anticlimac-"
With a great gust of wind she was sucked towards the tapestry and into the darkness.
A girl with long chocolate brown curls and green-blue eyes stood in a portrait across the hall. "There goes another reality." She sighed and clicked her tongue. "Gosh, I am going to be mad." With those words the light dimmed and the world came to a stop.
On the battlefield a long figure stood in black dragon hide battle-gear. She walked along collecting wands of the fallen, picking up a interesting looking wand she examined it.
"Hmm, a clean nine inches, Vine wood and.." She pulled the wand up to her ear length-ways and nodded. "Dragon Heart-string." Pocketing the wand she continued walking and throwing intact wands into a bag when the wind stopped, she stilled before throwing her hood back. Her long chocolate brown curls tumbled onto her shoulders, sharp green blue eyes scanned the battlefield. Fire had frozen mid-flicker, smoke hung in the air unmoving.
Her brows furrowed deep. "What in the name of Helga Hufflepuff is going on?" She muttered. Feeling a familiar tingle and tug on her upper arm, she sighed deeply and dropped the bag of wands moments before her upper arm was grabbed and she was yanked from the timeline.
If you haven't read Portia's Rules for Surviving Life as a Flicker, then I suggest clicking the link and having a quick look it's only 362 words and give a little insight into Portia. I hope you enjoyed the revamped version of Going Back to Save Them, and if you didn't well, fair enough.
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