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Hermione Granger sat outside of their makeshift tent, looking up at the sky. The sky was dark, with a few specks of light-stars-winking out at her. She remembered a time when she thought that even in the darkest of times, light could still be found. Like in the sky- even when it's dark, there are still the stars. But, times were no longer like that. There was no more hope. Because their only hope was gone.
Harry Potter was dead. And with his death, the light lost. The Order of the Phoenix fell. Those who still fought against Voldemort and the Death Eaters parished. Hermione, along with Ginny Weasley and Luna Lovegood were just barely living, heck, they weren't living anymore. No, they were just surviving. All three of them had massive bounties on their heads for their capture, as they were the last of the light. They had been living in the same tent that Hermione, Harry and Ron had lived in while searching for Horcruxes, never staying in one place for too long.
Hermione loved stargazing. She loved it because it brought her back to a time with hope, and love. A time before darkness swamped the whole of the wizarding world. It brought her back to a time of innocent, do-gooder Hermione Granger with bright eyes and buck teeth. A time when Hogwarts was home. Stargazing was often the only thing that offered her an escape from the world- not even reading did that for her anymore.
Hermione heard a creak, and looked back to the tent. Luna was awake, probably ready to relieve Hermione of her watch shift.
"When do you think we'll find them?" questioned Luna in her airy voice. Really, Hermione and the others weren't just hiding, they were searching. Word of a prophecy had reached them. A prophecy of a new hope. A new Chosen One. Someone who could finally bring love back to the world. They didn't know what they looked like, if they were young or old. All they knew was that they were out there. And hopefully they would find them.
"At this rate, I don't know if we ever will. We don't even know where to start," replied the ever doubtful Hermione. She learned long ago that if you hoped for something to happen, you were just setting yourself up for disappointment. And it was better to avoid disappointment, in her book.
"We can't give up hope just yet, we haven't looked everywhere. We need to move away from staying in forests, Hermione. No Chosen One is going to be in the middle of nowhere."
"Hope is already gone, Luna. And It's just not safe to leave. The last time we left the middle of nowhere, we were found. And I don't think I need to remind you that one of us died."
"Hope is always there, Hermione. You just have to look for it." Hermione rolled her eyes at that and got up, saying goodnight to Luna. How could one look for hope, she scoffed when there was so obviously not hope.
Inside the tent, there were two bunk beds. One of them was for Luna, who used to share a bunk with Neville, but Neville had been killed on their last venture out of the forest, and the other for Hermione and Ginny. Hermione always took the bottom bunk, not only because she was afraid of heights, but also because if they were attacked, she'd be able to spring into action as quick as possible.
She snuggled into her pale yellow blankets that she had bought thinking that maybe such a bright and happy color could bring brightness and happiness to her life. It hadn't worked. Hermione never truly fell asleep- she would always sleep while still being aware of what was around her, something that the constant fear of being found did to someone. This meant that Hermione also heard Luna come back in a while later to wake up Ginny for her shift, and then even after that Ginny wake up Luna for her second shift.
At night, Hermione's thoughts kept her company. Sometimes they were about Harry and Ron. About the future that they could have had. Or about their old adventures at Hogwarts. The last remaining member of the Golden Trio never felt so much alone as she did at night. At night all of these thoughts swarmed her. Sometimes the happy thoughts of her, Ron, and Harry all back together again even made her sad. Sometimes, her thoughts were about the supposed new "chosen one," and the prophecy they had heard of. When they asked what the prophecy was, they weren't told it word for word like some might expect. They were just told the basic gist of it- there was a new enemy of the Dark Lord out there. Another hope, another light. The prophecy said that they were hid in plain sight, and didn't even know it themselves that they were the Chosen One. She had her suspicions of course about where the Chosen One was. She thought that he might be at Hogwarts, because how much more of "plain sight" does that get? They would literally be right under Voldemorts nose- or as much of a nose he has.
She hadn't brought her idea up to the others- for fear of being shut down. Hogwarts was the last place any of them wanted to be- including Hermione. Hogwarts was where many of their friends had died- Harry included- and therefore was sort of a nightmarish place for them. Not to mention, Hogwarts was no longer the homely place that welcomed all. No, it was now a "Mudblood Free" school, with the Carrows in charge. Inside, many of the students were either going to be Death Eaters, or already were.
Plus, the only way they could possibly get into the castle and stay there was through one of the tunnels pictured on the Marauder's map, and staying in the Room of Requirement. She didn't even know if those tunnels still existed, and as for the Room of Requirement, it could have been destroyed or could even be in use by the Death Eaters.
Hermione didn't know what to do anymore. She felt as though they would never find the Chosen One. At least, not before the end of the Wizarding World.