A/N: This is just a little one-time I wrote. It was actually, originally, a dream I had. I thought it was fairly interesting, so I wrote it down. Of course, the actual dream didn't flow as well as this, and I was Hermione, but the general idea is the same. Hope you like it!! R&R!!!!!!
D/C: Yada, Yada, I do not own Harry Potter of any references there of. They belong to the fabulous J.K.Rowling. I am making NO money (I wish I was) from this use; please don't sue! I'm pretty sure I own my dream/plot line, but you never know. The sandman might have already copyrighted it, so I'm not making any money off it either!
Past, Present, Undetermined Future?
By Amanda H (aka Niffler)
"Hermione, I don't know how to say this, but I've been in love with you for years now and I never knew how to tell you!"
Hermione gasped and threw herself at Harry, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"I love you too Harry!" She exclaimed. She lifted her chin so they were face to face. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek and see the sparkle in his vibrant green eyes. It looked so real. He bent his head to kiss her. Just as their lips met . . .
A scream pierced into Hermione's dream, cutting it to ribbons. She sat straight up in bed and instinctively grabbed her wand from under her pillow. She desperately tried to steady her gasping breath and listened for any sounds. Someone else was breathing hard.
"No. . .No! Please!" They gasped. Hermione bit her lip and thrust open her bed curtain. She took in the scene quickly, for she didn't have much time. Lavender was sprawled, spread-eagle on the ground, the other beds were empty, and Parvati was crouched in a corner, a Death Eater advancing menacingly on her. Hermione gasped and pointed her wand at the Death Eater
"Expellimillucus!" She cried. The person instantly flopped backwards and their wand flew into Hermione's hand. She automatically thrust it into her pocket and jumped over to Parvati.
"Parvati! Parvati!" She cried, crouching beside the girl. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was hanging open. She had fainted. Hermione shook her head.
"Just hang on Parvati. I'll get help." She told the unconscious girl, standing and walking to the door. She kept her wand pointed in front of her, the dangers ahead unknown. The soft light of early dawn flooded the room and hallway. She could hear shouts and screams coming from each room and flattened herself to the wall. A Death Eater rounded the corner, but entered the first room, not noticing her. She let out a silent breath and crept noiselessly to the staircase.
Cautiously, she peered down into the Common Room. A few bodies lay sprawled on the ground and a single Death Eater stood by the fire, reading some sort of map. As quietly as she could, careful to avoid the squeaking step, Hermione crept down the stairs. She got as close to the Death Eater as she could. Then, she straightened and pointed her wand right at him.
"Stupify!" She cried. He looked up, surprised (she assumed since he wore a mask) and then flopped to the ground. She started off again, heading for the boys' dorm. Suddenly she sensed someone else in the room. She could hear their breathing. She whirled around; wand outstretched, but could see no one.
"Pst! Hermione!" Someone whispered frantically. She scanned the room, but no one was there.
"Hermione, here!" They called. Suddenly, one of the bodies began to sit up.
"Is the coast clear?" They asked. It was Neville. Hermione nodded, speechless.
"You're . . . you're dead!" She gasped.
"No, they're just stunning everyone. I lay down when they started firing and just pretended. Where are you going?" He asked nervously, getting shakily to his feet and edging closer to her.
"To find Harry and Ron." She replied. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" She asked.
"No. But I saw Harry and Ron run out the portrait hole when," he paused, "when the Death Eaters first came in. They're not here." He explained.
"Oh." Everything was silent now. Hermione could not hear any screams or cries from the dormitories. "Neville, it's not safe here. The Death Eaters will be back any minute. Come with me and we'll find out what's going on." She instructed, taking his wrist and heading for the portrait hole.
"It will only be worse out there. They aren't killing anyone, maybe we should just stay." Neville reasoned. Footsteps sounded on the staircase.
"No! Come on!" Hermione insisted, pulling him through the hole. It swung into place just as the Death Eaters came into view. Hermione leaned against the wall and sighed. Neville wrung his hands nervously.
"What now?" He asked.
"Now, we find a teacher and Harry." She replied, glancing down the hall. To both sides no one was in sight. A suit of armour had been knocked over and was scattered across the hall and screams echoed faintly from the left, but no one was in sight.
"You go that way Neville." She instructed, pointing to the right. "And I'll go that way." She turned to leave.
"Aren't we going to stick together?" He squeaked.
"We've got a better chance if we split up. That way if one of us is caught, the other can still make it." She explained. He nodded reluctantly edging cautiously down the corridor. Hermione walked hurriedly forward then took a sharp right. She didn't know where she was going or what she was doing, but she knew she had to find Harry. He was in danger.
She scuttled down the corridors, wand outstretched. On her way she stepped over several stunned Death Eaters and a few students, but didn't stop to revive any of them.
"Someone will come for them." She reasoned. "I just hope it's the right someone." Suddenly, she heard approaching footsteps. Quickly she ducked beside a suit of armour. The footsteps were running. They came faster and closer. She held her breath, pressing herself up against the wall. They were almost upon her now. They were at her position, and passed. She turned to head to see whom it was and instantly noticed the flaming red hair. Ginny.
"Ginny!" She called. The figure stopped and whirled around.
"Hermione!" She cried, sprinting back to her. "Hermione! I thought you were captured too!" She cried, hugging her. She sighed in relief and hugged her back.
"Ginny, have you got any idea what's going on?" She asked. The other girl closed her eyes and rubbed her face, then looked back at Hermione.
"I just talked to McGonagal. The Death Eaters have attacked the school. They walked in through the Forbidden Forest and are trying to take over. Right now, almost all of them are in the school so Dumbledore is trying to get the remaining students outside and then to Hogsmeade. I'm on my way out. Come on!" She instructed, grabbing Hermione's arm. Hermione shook her head and pulled away.
"No Ginny. I've got to find Harry. Have you seen him?"
"No. But how do you think you're going to find him in this huge castle?" She asked.
"I don't know, but I have to. He's in trouble. He needs my help." She explained. Ginny shook her head.
"Herm, this place is swarming with Death Eaters. I heard you-know-who himself is here! We've got to get out! Come on!" She argued.
"Go Ginny. If Voldemort is here then that's where Harry will be. I'll find him, just go!" She cried, turning to run in the other direction. Ginny shook her head.
"Good luck Hermione!" She cried to her after her retreating form. She turned to run in the opposite direction. "God help her." She murmured.
Hermione sped around the corner and down the corridors. She could hear voices ahead of her now. She stopped running and fought to control her breath. When she was finally breathing normally, she crept up to the corner and leaned against the wall, listening.
" . . .rounding up all the students in the dungeons."
"Good. Try to keep the houses separate; he'll like it that way. That way Slytherins can be rewarded. Have they got Potter yet?"
"No. Still looking, but we're close."
"How many estimated to have escaped?"
"Less than ¼. Most were sleeping so it was easy."
"Good. Potter won't run. He'll stay to fight the Dark Lord. Where is he now?"
"North Tower."
The voices began to move, drawing nearer. Hermione pressed herself to the wall, holding her breath. The two Death Eaters passed by her, still conversing in hushed tones and continued down the hall. They turned a corner, but Hermione waited another minute before she dared to move. Cautiously she peered around the corner. Seeing nothing she turned it and headed for the North Tower, where she was sure to find Harry.
Silently she crept down the halls. Nothing stirred. She felt like an outsider, creeping along. Suddenly a low scrape echoed in the stone hall. She shivered and glanced around, but she saw nothing and continued. A few seconds later she heard it again. It sounded as though the walls around her were groaning. She quickened her pace, but the sound was becoming louder the farther along she got.
Suddenly a pillar a few feet in front of her shifted and toppled over in her path, spraying bits of rock and mortar around her. She gasped, inhaling bits of stone and turned to run the other way, but the pillar had collided with another pillar. This one also toppled over, hitting the wall. The groaning grew louder and louder until it was deafening. Hermione winced and covered her ears, bending into a blind run, but another column toppled in her path.
She opened her eyes to find herself trapped. The ceiling moaned and began to buckle. Hermione screamed, but the sound only echoed off the falling rocks, drowning it out. She crouched down, covering her head as the rocks fell around her. Her wand was knocked out of her hand and thrown to the side. She tried to reach for it, but a rock hit her hand and she heard a snap as her wrist broke. She pulled it back painfully and waited as the world seemed to collapse around her.
Suddenly, a rather large rock broke loose and fell from the ceiling, hitting her head. White light flashed before her eyes and then the world went black.
A throbbing pain. The first thing Hermione was aware of was a throbbing pain. She slowly opened her eyes, but the world began to spin and she closed them quickly. She lifted her hands to rub her eyes, but was instantly reminded of her shattered wrist. Using only her right hand, she rubbed her eyes and face, then slowly opened them again. It was dark, though there was still some light. It was merely a faint blueish glow. She glanced around and discovered she was in a confined space, completely surround by rock. It was barely high enough to sit up in. Hermione had to hunch her back and there was only a bit of room in front of her.
The throbbing was beginning to die down now and Hermione looked around for the light source. It was a wand. Specifically, it was the wand she had taken from the Death Eater in her dorm. It lay on the ground to her right, but it was broken in half. The exposed core, a unicorn hair, glowed blue giving off faint traces of light.
Hermione then began a search for her own wand. It was nowhere in sight, so she attempted to dig in the direction she thought it had fallen. This was extremely difficult with no tools, and even harder with only one hand so she soon gave it up, slumping backwards against the rocks, resigned to her fate.
"I wonder how long I've been here." She wondered aloud. The sound of her own voice was comforting.
"I'm pretty hungry, so I must have been a few hours. What if I starve down here?" She wondered, rubbing her stomach. "Well that will take a while at least. I can eat my hair, my nails, my robes." She listed, grimacing at the thought.
"I guess I'll wait a while on that." She sighed. "I wonder what happened to Harry. And Ron, and Ginny and everybody. Are they still battling some where above my head? I hope not. I hope everyone is fine." She closed her eyes. A dizzying wave of sleepiness rolled over her and she snapped them open again.
"I must have a concussion. That would mean, don't sleep. Right. I promise not to sleep." She agreed, opening her eyes as wide as possible. That lasted for a few seconds, then Hermione relaxed herself to merely trying to remain awake. She drummed her fingers on the rocks.
"Great. If I don't starve, then I've got a concussion. If that doesn't kill me I'll probably suffocate." She frowned. Her brow furrowed as she wondered aloud.
"Oh, Harry. Where are you? I'm going to die down here and I've been stupid enough never to tell you how I feel. Stupid, stupid Hermione!" She yelled, banging her head lightly against the rocks. Something rumbled overhead and the walls shook a bit. She stopped immediately and instead pressed her forehead against the stone and sighed.
"I love you." She whispered. "I love you Harry Potter!" She yelled. "Can you hear me?!" She screamed. "I LOVE YOU!!" Again the walls shook and rumbled. She curled into a ball, becoming nearly hysterical.
"I have to have a fear of closed spaces don't I?" She asked, rocking back and forth. "I couldn't have a fear of wide, open spaces! No! Closed ones! And that's where I'm going to die. Fitting I suppose." She sighed nervously. Another wave of sleepiness rolled over her. She yawned.
"I'm not going to die without telling Harry how I feel." She yawned. "I love him. I can't let him go." She searched, distraught, for a writing utensil. Finally she was rewarded with a bit of charred wood.
"Charcoal. This will be fine." She sighed, picking up the bit off wood and turning to the smoothest rock wall. On it, with the greatest care, she picked out the words,
I Love You, Harry PotterOnce finished, she sighed and fell back against the stone. She gazed at her words as they blurred before her. She blinked several times, but sleep overcame her. She drifted off with the last image in her mind of her words on the rock.
Hermione blinked hard. The world was fuzzy and it took her a moment to re-orient herself. When she opened her eyes again she wasn't in the rock alcove, nor was she in a hospital. She was in a place she'd never seen before.
Everything was grey, though it might have just been the light. She was standing in a large hallway at the top of a grand, curving staircase. A wooden railing surrounded the edge of the hall and down the stairs. There was a strip of carpet down the middle of the hall, as the style had been in medieval castles, and old tapestries hung on the walls. The air was filled with a dusty fog as though no one had lived here for years. Faint traces of dawn light filtered through the gauzy drapes on the windows. There were several doors leading off the hallway, though none were open. She glanced apprehensively at her surroundings. Nothing moved. Nothing at all.
Hermione turned in a circle, gazing in wonder at the strange grey surroundings. It was as though everything was in black and white. Suddenly she jumped at least a foot into the air. Standing directly in front of her was a little girl. She stood out vividly from the hall, since she was the only thing in colour Hermione could see.
The small girl looked to be about 8 or 9 years old. She had mid-back length dirty blonde hair and cinnamon brown eyes. She wore a white dress, white stockings and no shoes. But what surprised Hermione the most was not her actual looks, but whom she looked like. She gasped.
"You're . . . You're me!" She gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Yes." The little girl replied. Her voice echoed in the corridor, though Hermione's had sounded so small and weak. Her eyes were intense as they gazed at her. They looked to be the only living part of the girl, standing out sharply from her pale skin.
"Yes. I am Hermione Granger. I am you at 8 years old." The little girl informed. Other than her mouth, she had not moved. One hand clutched the banister while the other was at her side.
"But . . . But I'm Hermione! And I'm 16 years old! This isn't possible!" She gasped, kneeling down in front of the little girl. The steal gaze of the child followed hers down to the floor. "This can't be happening! This can't be real!" She cried covering her face with her hands. The girl blinked.
"But it is real. However," The girl paused, cocking her head to the side, considering. "This isn't reality Hermione." Hermione looked back at her.
"What?" She asked.
"This is not reality as you know it. This is the future." She explained.
"The future?" Hermione mused. "But that still doesn't make sense. You wouldn't be in the future, my older self would!" Hermione exclaimed. She ran a hand through her hair, then covered her eyes. The little girl removed her hand from the banister and placed it gently on Hermione's shoulder drawing her gaze back to her eyes. The coldness of the hand shot through Hermione's robes and froze her skin.
"Not if you were dead." She replied. Hermione stared in shock. The girl said nothing and finally she found her voice.
"Dead?" She squeaked.
"I am merely an image of your past, a memory. I am your guide. Follow me." She commanded, extending her other hand. Hermione took it and stood up. The girl's hand slid off her shoulder, but she remained holding her other hand tightly, afraid to let go.
"Where are we?" Hermione asked, looking around again.
"Godric's Hollow." The girl replied as they began walking down the hallway. "Harry rebuilt it after he graduated Hogwarts. He and Ron lived here together for 3 years after graduation." The girl gently pushed open one of the doors. Inside was a bedroom. It contained a large Queen-sized bed, a dresser, a desk and a large bay window. It was empty now. A thick layer of dust coated the floor and furniture.
The shadow girl touched two fingers to her forehead and then, as though drawing something out, she extended them out to the room. Suddenly ghost-like images appeared. Hermione could see through them, but they were there, standing out in colour against the grey backdrop.
It was Ron. He paced the room, reciting a speech off a piece of paper. Pig fluttered about the room, bouncing off the bed and the walls. He was distracting Ron so badly that finally he threw down the paper and jumped after Pig, missing and landing on the bed. Hermione laughed as he stumbled to get up and leapt after the small owl again.
"This was Ron's room." The girl explained gently. "He and Harry lived here after graduation." As quickly as the ghost had appeared, it vanished. Hermione gasped and tried to leap forward, but the girl's hand was still holding her hers, keeping her back.
"After 3 years, Ron was married and moved out with his wife. I don't think you knew her. Camilla Treble was her name. She attended Beauxbaxtons." She explained. Hermione bowed her head. "Come with me." The girl instructed. Hermione allowed herself to be led out of the room. They passed a few more doors until they reach one with drawings stuck to the door. There were faeries and dragons and unicorns.
"Those are very good." Hermione commented. The girl merely nodded and pushed open the door.
It was another bedroom, though different from the first. It also had a Queen-size bed, though the grey coverlet pattern was a floral print. There was a desk with some drawing utensils organized neatly on top of it and more drawings tacked up around the room. Again, the spirit girl placed two fingers on her forehead and pulled out an image.
This time Ginny appeared, sitting at the desk. She was scribbling furiously on some paper, smiling slightly, her tongue sticking out the side of her mouth. Hermione smiled.
"Ginny moved in here for the year directly following her graduation. This was here room. She had a lot of fun with the boys for that year, but then she too was married, to Draco Malfoy, and moved out." Hermione sighed as the image disappeared, replaced with the monotonous grey of the house. The spirit girl gently closed the door again.
"And Harry? Where's Harry?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Harry." The girl nodded. "Come with me." She turned and led Hermione back to where they had begun. They descended the long curving staircase ending in a grand foyer. Hermione paused to look around, but the girl pulled her away and she was led down yet another dull grey hall. This one was narrower and lined with picture frames, full of photos.
As she passed, Hermione tried to look at them. A few were muggle snapshots, but most were wizard pictures. There were pictures of the Weasleys, their friends from Hogwarts, many redheaded children (presumably Ron's) and a few reddish-pink haired children (Ginny and Draco's). But not one single picture of her.
"Did they forget all about me?" She wondered, afraid to voice her fears.
"No." The girl replied. "They did not forget you. Harry remembered you very well." She said, almost sighingly. Hermione was puzzled, but followed silently.
They soon reached the end of the corridor, which led to a den. There was a black and white fire crackling in the fireplace. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with dusty volumes. A desk sat in one corner and a couch in another, though it was pushed to the side, as though company was never expected.
There was an armchair facing the fireplace. It's back was to her and she couldn't see who was in it, but she could see their arm on the armrest.
"Harry." She whispered. "Is that Harry?" She asked the girl. She nodded.
"That is Harry Potter, the boy who lived." She affirmed. Hermione dropped the girl's hand and raced around to the front of the chair.
"Harry!" She cried. It was Harry, but he made no move to acknowledge her. He stared sullenly and pensively into the fire. A frown was etched onto his face and wrinkles had formed around it, as though it was a permanent expression.
"Harry!" She tried again, moving her hand to shake his arm. She touched him and shook him, but he made no response. The girl had appeared by her side again.
"He is unaware of you, Hermione." She explained. Hermione nodded solemnly.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked.
"I want you to see what Harry Potter has become." She said, motioning to the inert figure in the chair. "He lives here, alone. He has ever since Ginny and Ron moved out. He works for the Ministry of Magic, aurorer district, even though he defeated Voldemort long ago. It's mostly just paper work now. He does little for pleasure; his only visitors are the ever-devoted Ron and Ginny, and their families. Even the laughter of children cannot brighten his sullen home. No, it is not a home, it is a house." She paused. Hermione gazed at Harry with emotional eyes, brimming with tears. The girl looked up at her, then back to Harry and continued. Even she regarded him pityingly.
"He refuses to clean or even touch the rooms where Ginny and Ron once lived. Any room relating to the past is left undisturbed, only regarded from the doorway; a window in time. He is a 29 year-old-man living alone in an enormous mansion. He is a 29 year-old man living in the past." She murmured.
Hermione watched Harry as he sighed and shifted his weight in the chair. Something changed on his face, though only minuscule, and he leaned over to pick an object up off the floor. It was a well-worn wooden picture frame. He held it close to him and just looked at it, his unwavering gaze now shifted from the fire to the frame. Hermione's brow creased in curiosity and she walked around to the back of the chair to see the picture. The girl waited where she was, watching her with interest, the faintest smile on her lips.
Hermione stood on her tiptoes to look over the back of the chair. She was incredibly startled by what she saw. In the frame was a picture of her. It was one they had taken that summer at Ron's house by the lake. Harry had insisted that he take a picture of Hermione by herself. She had laughed at the time, but none the less obliged. Now, she waved back from the picture, her wind-blown hair streaking her face and her bright red cheeks glowing.
Harry sighed angrily and threw the picture at the floor. There was no glass in it to break; Hermione suspected it had been broken too many times before to be replaced. She moved back to the spirit girl as Harry squinted his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead. Then, almost grudgingly, he stood and walked over to the picture, carefully picking it up and taking it back to the chair, placing it gently on the ground.
"Me?" Hermione whispered. "He's brooding over me?" She asked in wonderment.
"Yes." The girl replied. "He was in love with you Hermione. He never got over you." She paused. "And he always blamed himself for your death. If he had only been there with you, if he had only found you sooner, if only he had prevented the Death Eaters from attacking at all." She quoted. A tear slipped from Hermione's eye.
"But it wasn't his fault." She whispered.
"Of course not." The ghostly girl replied, almost laughingly. "You gave up Hermione. You." She explained. Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she bit her lip.
"He never saw the message you left for him on the wall, but I showed it to him. Not directly, but I imprinted it in his dreams. He sees your message every night, but can do nothing more than hope that it is from you because you are not here to tell him. You died that day in the rocks. You gave up."
"But I don't want to give up!" She exclaimed loudly, turning to face the girl. "Take me back! I don't want to give up!" She cried, more tears flowing down her cheeks.
"You have already given up." The girl replied.
"No! No!" She screamed hysterically. "I refuse to give up! I refuse!" The girl smiled. The expression looked odd on her saddened face. Misplaced and foreign.
"Yes." She nodded. "I will take you back." Hermione froze.
"You will?"
"Yes." She replied, taking Hermione's hand again. "I will take you back to your Harry." She replied. Hermione allowed herself to be led in a daze out of the room, down the corridor and back up the stairs. When they were again standing at the top the girl spoke.
"This is where it ends, Hermione. I am your past, but this is not your future. Be careful. Even Angels are not immortal." She whispered. Suddenly, there was a flash of blinding light. Hermione shielded her eyes as the world spun. Suddenly, she hit something.
When she opened her eyes again she was sitting in the dimly lit rock cove. She sighed aloud.
"I'm alive." She whispered. "And I promise to stay alive." She grabbed the broken wand from under the rock and pointed the ripped unicorn hair at the rocks using her one good hand.
"Incinuendo!" She commanded. The core hissed and sparked and burned her hand. She dropped it and the reaction stopped. Brushing off her cindered hand, she picking it up and tried again.
It took her a few tries, but finally Hermione made a steady beam of burning heat and light bombard the rock formation. Suddenly, she heard voices on the other side.
"Hello!?" She screamed. "I'm here! I'm here!" There was a loud creaking and grating sound. Hermione dropped the broken wand as the rock face in front of her rolled away. Kneeling on the other side was Harry. As he saw her, the fear and anxiety vanished from his eyes.
"Hermione!" He gasped, grabbing her as she tried to crawl out. "Thank God you're safe, I though I'd lost you. I never would have forgiven myself!" He cried, holding her tightly. She wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you Harry!" She breathed. He pulled back and looked her in the eyes as though to make sure she was really there. After a brief moment, he pulled her back into a tight hug.
"Thank God Hermione!" He breathed. She smiled.
"Literally, thank God." She whispered.
"I love you." She thought she heard him whisper. It was so soft, so tiny that she almost thought she imagined it, but pulled back anyway.
"What did you say?" She asked.
"Oh, nothing!" He replied, going bright red.
"No, you said something." She murmured, wrapping him in her arms again.
"And I love you too." She whispered into his ear.