Title- Time in Space
Rating- PG
Summary- She honestly thought that things, in the end, would turn out all right. Hermione struggles after the victory of Lord Voldemort.
There had been hope once. That Harry would defeat the Dark Lord, that Ron would finally grow up one day, that maybe her parents could be safely introduced the wizarding world in all of its greater aspects, instead of just getting an annual peek at the disaster it wrought. Of course, none of those things had happened, so Hermione doesn't allow herself to think of them. They were wishes; nothing more than fantasies really. She has more important things to do now, like keep herself and he small band of rebels alive. Not that there's any real reason for that either; after all, they'll never actually accomplish anything major. A bit of sabotage here, a touch of subversion there. But with a price on their heads enough to leave the goblins salivating, there wasn't a whole lot of open revolution work that could be accomplished.
There are still days when the hope flares up again, uninvited and most definitely unwelcome. It isn't often; usually when she's hiding, crouched in an alley, and someone passes who bears more than a faint resemblance to Harry, Ron, Ginny, Remus, Albus…anyone that had been a support to her once. All of those people are dead now of course, but the ideals they died for would not perish with them. At least, that's what Hermione told herself when yet another of the people under her tenuous command is blown to smithereens. The thought of Harry's puzzled frown or Ron's indignant scowl at the thought of her failure is enough to keep her going, most days.
Yes, there had once been a time when she thought that the good guys were going to win, that there was no other alternative. Now that she knows better, she realizes that this is one piece of knowledge she could have gone without.