Chapter 1: Attack!
The safety alarm at Hogwarts rang suddenly, out of nowhere. Hermione Granger had been sound asleep, having rather pleasant dreams, when she was shaken awake by one of her roommates.
"Hermione, get up, hurry! Something's wrong, quickly, we must get out!" Parvati Patil shouted over the terrified screaming of students, all scrambling to either grab their belongings or get out of the bedchambers leaving everything but the clothes on their backs.
"Ron! Harry!" Hermione gasped as she thought about them. Please let them be okay…oh, please let Ron be okay…she thought. Her heart pounded in her chest as her instincts to flee finally sank in. She jumped out of bed, yanking on the trousers she had left hanging over the back of her bed earlier. She struggled to tug her shirt down over her head as she raced after the hoard of other girls down the stairs to the common room.
There were no lights anywhere; everything was pitch black, and Hermione shrieked as she felt her feet sink into the soft flesh of someone who had fallen in the panic.
"Keep moving, don't stop or we'll be killed! Move, damn you! Go, go! Hexes are coming from everywhere!" someone cried.
Suddenly, there was a loud BOOM, and Hermione felt as if her body was being lifted by a giant invisible hand. Another terrified scream escaped her throat as the force of the explosion hurled her over the last few steps, then slammed her into the wall above the fireplace in the common room.
Her head banged hard against the brick wall, then she plummeted to the floor with a grunt, tasting something salty and warm in her mouth—blood.
She coughed, and tried to crawl away from the rubble all around her, but it was too painful. "Help me…please…" Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she felt herself slipping out of consciousness. She couldn't focus, her vision was blurred, and Hermione blacked out…
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Hermione's eyes flew open suddenly, and for a moment all she could see was black. All she could feel was darkness all around her. Her heart leapt to her throat as she started to panic; she was almost convinced she had gone blind, when her eyes slowly began to focus.
She was surprised to realize that she didn't know where she was, or what she was doing laying on her back and staring up at a strange ceiling. She blinked several times, and then painfully turned her head to see a very handsome young man with red hair sitting near her, holding her hand. When he saw that she had opened her eyes, he burst into a dazzling smile.
"Hermione, you're awake! Blimey, I was starting to get worried."
He let out a shuddering sigh, running his hands over his face. "Christ, you've been out for ages…I didn't know if you'd ever come out of it."
Hermione sat up slowly, her head pounding. The young man helped her carefully, putting a strong arm around her waist to help steady her.
Looking around, she observed several lit candles lining the walls. She also saw two tiny beds, a small table, and a mound of robes on the floor on which she had been laying. Although she saw that they were in a small, darkened room, she recognized nothing. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying hard to force a familiar memory, particularly one with this person sitting beside her.
"Where…where are we?" Hermione whispered.
"In the dungeons, at Hogwarts…I think this is where the house elves stayed before they…got their rights-"
"I'm so sorry…but…who are you?" Hermione interrupted suddenly. The young man blinked, and she noticed that he had gorgeous blue eyes. It made her blush a little.
"Did you just ask 'who am I'?" he said in amazement.
"Yes. I…I…I feel so strange. I can't remember how I got here. I can't remember anything…" she drifted off.
"So you mean to tell me…you don't remember anything? Not your name or where you go to school? You don't remember me or Harry Potter?"
Sadly, Hermione shook her head. She tried hard to think of who she might be, or what this boy was talking about, but her mind drew blank after blank. She remembered nothing about herself or who her friends might be, nothing about how or why she was down here with the good looking boy who had been watching over her as she fought her way back to consciousness. Tears filled her eyes as confusion swept over her. She was afraid. What was she going to do without a memory? What would she do when she didn't even know her own name? She curled her knees up to her chest, and soon sobs racked through her.
"Hey, Hermione…don't cry." The boy scooted closer, and put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly, as if he were afraid to touch her.
"I saw when your head hit the wall…it's a good thing that it didn't kill you. I tell you, you're really lucky…there's nothing to cry about. You'll start to remember more soon. Don't push yourself, just take your time. You'll start remembering."
"I keep trying to think of something familiar, but nothing comes," Hermione said. She wiped at her face. "This is terrifying."
"Don't be afraid. I guess...well…I reckon it'd make you feel better if we begin at the beginning. With proper introductions first. I'm Ron. Ron Weasley."
Hermione's face suddenly brightened. "Are you my boyfriend?"
"Uh…" the boy said, blushing. He ran his large hands over his hair. He looked at her, and then gave her a small smile. "No, I'm not. I'd…Well, what I mean is…er…no, we're not dating. I'm just one of your very good mates."
"Oh," Hermione said, and looked sad again. She had kind of hoped for the red head to have said yes. He was very handsome indeed and, for some strange reason he made her feel safe.
"Your name is Hermione Granger. You're the smartest witch in our year. We go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft-"
"Reparo…Accio Lumos…" Hermione mumbled to herself out of the blue. At the command for light, her wand glowed brightly. She grinned at Ron, and he grinned back at her.
"That's good, you remember your magic. That's brilliant!" Ron exclaimed. He put his hands on her shoulders, looking carefully at her. "Any other spells?"
As luck would have it, Hermione had not forgotten any of her magic. It was quite a relief that it had comeback to her so naturally. She remembered everything about magic quite well, and started to feel a little better. All of her was not lost after all.
"That's my girl, you're on your way. Can you remember anything else? Do you remember me now?" Ron asked her, looking hopeful.
Hermione shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't. But I do feel something when I look at you…I don't remember you, but…I feel…like there's something about you that's…special," Hermione said shyly.
They looked into each other's eyes, and even in the darkness, both of them blushed. Ron shook his head as if to clear it, and began explaining everything to her quickly.
"We're both very good friends with a boy named Harry Potter. He's a great wizard. There's an evil wizard after him, after anyone who gets close to him, after anyone who opposes what he believes in. His name's Lord Voldemort. Our school was attacked by his followers who call themselves Death Eaters. That's why we're stuck in this little room."
"Stuck?"
"Well, there were explosions all around the building. You were on your way downstairs when one of them went off and threw you clear across the room. Luckily, I saw where you landed…got to you just in time, before part of the ceiling collapsed. I grabbed you and was on my way out when more explosions started going off, and more Death Eaters made their way into the building. Harry and Ginny, my sister, made it with us to the Great Hall, but then we got separated. There were Death Eaters everywhere…Harry blasted a hole in the wall and shoved us inside. He and Ginny headed off to another part of the castle. Harry said he had a plan. He said he'd be back for us. Then he closed us in."
"They sound terrible…the Death Eaters, I mean," Hermione said with a shiver. She was suddenly seized by a chill and her head was starting to ache again.
"They are absolutely wicked creatures. But none are so terrible as the one that's after Harry."
"Lord Vollor?" Hermione asked as she shivered.
"Voldemort…are you alright?"
"Just cold…" Hermione said. Her teeth started to chatter.
Ron coughed, scratching his head. "Um… D'you want to move closer…there's not a blanket or anything down here. Or I could give you my shirt…" he offered.
"My head hurts…" Hermione said, as the room began to spin again. She had been sitting, but now swayed slightly. Ron was at her side in a flash, guiding her gently back down on top of the piled up robes. He pulled off his jumper and covered her with it.
"Okay…just lay here. Rest. Harry will come for us. This is a long hallway, there's bound to be water around here somewhere. I'll go have a look, it's been a couple of hours we've been down here." He started to get up when Hermione reached for him, grabbing his sleeve.
"Ron…please don't leave me alone. Please," she said.
Ron paused, surprised, and then looked into her eyes. He smiled slightly, and hesitantly brushed a strand of her long, wavy hair off her forehead. "I would never leave you."
Hermione nodded, smiling slightly as she left her hand on his arm, and sank back into a deep sleep.
