This story is fan-inspired by the book series Harry Potter written by J.K. Rowling who owns all Harry Potter references and the story. This story is made for entertainment purposes only and the publisher does not gain profit in any shape or form.
Chapter One
Inception of Time
A growl echoed throughout the tunnels of an underground sanctuary while dozens of wizards, witches, werewolves, and all variants of magical beings stood together in preparation for the final battle. These people were hardly soldiers and were more suited to be called survivors, as they were the ones whom barely escaped the sight of death and lived to fight another day. All of them were a rather unorthodox army; without the standard wizard robes, skilled in more ways than one, with tradition and rules thrown out the window, and lastly were inspired of valor to those whom they've lost.
The four years that had passed felt like an eternity since the war began once again when the Dark Wizard, Lord Voldemort came back to life during the most unexpected of days. The day he returned, in 1994, during the end of an ancient task - the Triwizard Tournament, a portkey was activated and instead of a Champion returning to be greeted with a trophy and eternal glory; Voldemort stood with a legion of Death Eaters in his wake.
There was hardly a thought birthed before killing curses were flung with ferocity across the stands and bodies fell like leaves in every second. The Headmasters were the first to fall, followed by as many Gryffindors and known muggleborns as possible. There was no mercy spared to anyone however: students were rounded by Death Eaters who made the choice to either die or join them in "cleansing the world of filth."
Everyone there learned soon enough that if anyone wanted to survive the attack; they would need to get away from Hogwarts, and so the students ran while the professors held the Death Eaters back for as long as they could. Portkeys were activated by visiting families who grabbed ahold of their children and their children's friends as fast as they could before disappearing, leaving countless of students behind to fend for themselves.
Stray spells tumbled over those making a run for it and anyone whom tried to run away from a group were killed quickly. Anyone struck from behind in a group were quickly grabbed by another and carried the rest of the way (away) because everyone knew that it was a life or death situation. Life had quickly become a dangerous game of hide-and-seek where the Death Eater's practically screamed at their victim's "you can run but there's nowhere left to hide."
When the students reached the bridge that led into Hogsmeade, students were forced to run only two at a time to get to the other side, while others took broomsticks where they could safely apparate away or take the Floo Network before the Ministry cut it off out of fear once they heard the news. However as the Death Eaters covered more ground, the students got impatient and many had been pushed over the rails and fell to what would soon be a watery grave.
At last, the students would find their way into Hogsmeade but were not spared in chaos where centaurs and threstrals could be seen running through the streets of Hogsmeade while the forests nearby were destroyed by a growing fire from the reckless fiendfyres that had taken their land and homes in the process - forcing all its inhabitants to flee. Despite the loss, no creature went about attacking the humans, rather simply trying to keep their own kind safe.
If anyone lived to tell the tale without immediate fear of death, textbooks would've had to be rewritten by wizards and witches as the day had proved that beings were more than mindless beings.
Those who didn't make it outside the wards of Hogwarts were either dead or recruited by the mass-murderer, Lord Voldemort. As it were, more than three-quarters of the Hogwarts population had been killed, including nearly all of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons visiting students. The school's honored Champions had been some of the last to die; having chosen to remain behind fighting the enemy rather than fleeing. The Headmasters were all executed and the none of the professors survived the battle as they had given their last breath to save their students from incoming death.
The greatest fear for the country wasn't actually Voldemort coming back to life or even the famed Dumbledore's sudden murder. Instead it was the two bodies whom had returned with Voldemort and his army; Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter , the two Hogwarts champions with one of them being the the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Die-Another-Day.
Since then, the surface has been too dangerous to live in with Death Eaters sending raids three times a day in Great Britain and burning a city every other week to the ground. So, everyone went to the most safest place: underground. Specifically to one place which became known as the Sanctuary for all Resisting Beings. Muggles lived with witches and wizards while "beasts" were accepted and respected. Werewolves were no longer feared and lived satisfactory days among humans and others, spending only a day sedating heavily on those transforming full-moons.
Magical creatures were kept there as well, in a separate area where they grazed happily and were taken care of by those they respected in return. Despite the sudden harmony between everyone, no one could ignore what was happening above and so an attack force was formed inside the Sanctuary, with masters of subjects training those willing to fight for the destruction waiting above them.
School years were taught in months as everyone was trained in every area and became masters in the subjects that came easily to them. No one was limited and everyone was taught from werewolf students to vampire professors. Even students became teachers as rescue parties were sent out above, knowing at least one person wouldn't make it back.
The attacking groups went out for very short periods of time - usually to cover the scavenger squadrons whom collected food and other necessities before returning. Floo Networks were no longer used due to Voldemort's tracking devices, while apparation was limited by wards which turning apparation into a battle move rather than a transportation method.
No one could be left alone because of the danger.. at least, all but one.
There was one witch that far surpassed everyone else within the age as she excelled in nearly every subject and fought with a steady hand and determined but merciless mindset. This witch has, like many others, seen her world fall apart as the people she had loved lose their lives in front of her. For the witch, the people she had lost had been her family and best friends, one including to had been Harry Potter. The witch believed the world needed her to take on Harry's role as a protector: someone he had always been (whether he chose to be one or not).
She became a master in her specialty within a year and since then had been hunting horcruxes after information was gathered in the Sanctuary, that Voldemort's weakness was his strengths. Unfortunately, convincing the Council leaders of the Sanctuary (two of which were good friends) had been a difficult task with the dementors free in the world after Azkaban was destroyed by a vengeful women, (among other things).
Yet, the leaders relented after a strong wording from those two friends and so the witch was allowed on her own outside. She was the best of the best but even then, the risks were very high. The witch would later become one of the most hunted on the Death Eater's lists as she caused mayhem for them everywhere she went. The horcruxes she would find would be brought back to the Sanctuary where they would be protected intensely under many wards and runes for safety as specialists worked day and night to find the best way to destroy the physical aspects of Voldemort's soul.
Even in her return to the safety of the Sanctuary, no one was able to keep the witch there for more than a day.
It wasn't until two years later, did the witch finally return for much longer, though under extreme circumstances. The witch had seen and suffered through horrible things, and was monitored for more than a day to make sure neither her mind nor her heart would fail. The specialist would later discover from the witch that carrying the horcruxes for long periods of time seemed to have an unhealthy affect on the witch in most negative ways however the worst the witch had faced had been a grueling interrogation with the second in command of Voldemort's army.
The only good thing anyone found in that situation was that Voldemort needed to find a new second in command.
Even so, good news had found its way to the Sanctuary however and now an army was forming to return to Hogwarts with hopes to at last bring this destructive war to an end. The cause for this sudden bypass of battle strategy was the discovery of the horcruxes found at non-other than Hogwarts (the Dark Force's Headquarters) and everyone had soon prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring the faceless war to an end.
This change in strategy lead everyone to where they were now.. gathering a formation in the great entrance of the Sanctuary.
"Don't you dare leave me behind, bastard!" A familiar witch's voice screeched as the wrath of an angry presence announced their approach. A tall, surprisingly handsome, muscular man turned around to meet the ever-ready battlemage. The eighteen year-old battlemage stared at her friend with an undying fire ready to unleash on her enemies.
"Hermione, I know you want to go but-"
"But nothing!" Hermione hissed (much like her old cat Crookshanks), marching into Neville's personal space with a shaking fist at the length of his eyes. "I've made it this far and I can still fight! I can rest after the war is over!"
"You're not fully recovered-"
"Who is? Neville, you know me! I know Hogwarts better than anyone having read Hogwarts A History more than anyone alive, probably. Maybe even ghosts considering I went with... you know, past curfew all the time. I know almost all the secret passageways and I even know where the Chamber of Secrets is. We already know that the basilisk venom destroys horcruxes and I have no doubt that its fangs can do the same."
An exasperated sigh followed her statement from her friend however that didn't slow Hermione down.
"Plus I'm one of the best fighters we have Neville," Hermione pressed, smirking slightly when she heard a hushed 'the best' from the crowd.
"Hermione-"
"And..."
"Hermione, you can go!"
"Because really- I... oh."
A snicker erupted from the army causing Neville to raise an eyebrow in amusement before Hermione let out a small embarrassed laugh, pink slowly darkening her cheeks. "You should save all that energy for battle anyways Hermes rather than convincing me." Her friend chuckled.
"Not that ridiculous nickname again, Nel. You know, you can't blame me," Hermione said while rolling her eyes.
"Whatever you say," Neville replied with a smile before both of them turned back to the awaiting army that stood ready for battle before them. Hermione listened attentively as Neville gave one of his famous motivational speeches causes a roar within the crowd that stood silently awaiting the next command. Hermione and any other Hogwarts's student would be returning to Hogwarts for the first time in four years and Hermione knew she would feel closer to her friends again who were lost in the war.
"There's no easy way to say this everyone, so I'm just going to go out and say it. The tables have turned and we'll be heading straight to the place where all the chaos began. Hogwarts. The school where our enemy had gone and changed everything thereafter in the worst of ways. I know this is no easy task to return to the doors where we have lost so much whether directly or indirectly. However this could be the day where we change everything!... we have all lost someone; a friend, brother, sister, parent.. we've lost someone we love and care for and this battle awaiting the world that we're about to meet head on could make all our loved one's deaths naught be in vain."
"A man whom has turned himself into a monster has taken these people from us in the name of purity and superiority. In other words for nonsense because there has never been an age where death and bloodshed has been a solution where magical beings like you and I are on the verge of extinction with our greatest morals and secrets known to the world. This monster has frozen our world in ice as cold as what's left of his soul but we are not this man."
"All of us carry a burning fire within us. Some in our hearts and others like Hermione, in our eyes. We are the Resistance against that monster; we are the solution to this world! We fight so lives may be saved and so a world will not fall in ruin for all eternity! It is true that we have lost people that we love; some of us from the first war to power and more of us to the second.. however we have not lost this war and we never will as long as we stand against a sick man's desires of what he believes this world should be."
"The world is the way it is for a reason, no one should hold the mantle of change but time itself, and so I stand here today to lead all of you to the face of change. We are the change, because if we don't fight back.. who will?"
Neville went quiet for a moment before continuing with a strange look in his eyes.
"When I was a little boy I would wish that the war never came because a Death Eater had tortured my parents into insanity. I had been raised by my grandmother who never saw me for who I was, and many believed I had no magic, my uncle going as far as dropping me out of a window to see if I would use accidental magic -which I did. The world I lived in at that time saw muggles and squibs or anyone different than a witch or a wizard something to sneer at or look upon in disgust..."
He cracked a smile. "But look at us today living among werewolves, centaurs, vampires, and muggles. Horrible things have occurred in the past but today we live beyond greater than we did when we had been younger, perhaps naive. Fighting for us, or at least to me, means bringing a better future than what I had as a child. Some things may never change but everything around us can be great. For that monster, he chose a terrible great, but as we stand here today, despite our differences, we are a wonderful great!"
"I had a dream a time ago that after this war, we will build a new ministry - one free of its burdens and superficiality - and won't separate ourselves again. Wizards and witches five years ago ignored muggles and others different than them because they remembered the past mistakes of the age when muggles hunted and burned anyone with magic or showed potential of such. They were horrible times but history repeats itself and muggleborns and magical beings are hunted far worse than they had been all those centuries ago.. now muggles have helped us out and accepted us in ways we wouldn't have before."
"If we see similar to Death Eaters as we had five years ago then we would be divided and as chaotic which this war has become! For what reason would be the point in fighting them today, if we made the same mistakes as we had five years ago? We are different today because we have embraced change. We believe that the impossible can became possible... and that's what ensures our victory today!"
"History will repeat itself but this time we have decide how it will be repeated! We are not sheep to be herded whose lives are controlled by wolves! We are lions! We are badgers and snakes and ravens! We fight with bravery and with purpose! We fight to protect and take care of those who cannot do so for themselves! We will protect our own and be more than what others see us as! We are not stupid, we are not lesser, we are equal and intelligent! No longer will we separate ourselves or wrongly categorize ourselves!"
"Today we have made the decision to fight against a monster and his desperate desire to control everything we do - everything we are! We have decided that we can be glorious! We all see what enemy stands before us, and it is more a monster than a man! We are the fire! The fight! We are the future!"
"When we've fallen, we get back up! We stand because we will never bow to the face of defeat knowing that the one standing above us is the one that will make the wrong future! If we are not making someone else's life better we are not helping! We are like phoenixes; Holding fire that can burn away the most terrible of enemies and heal a foe with the softest of tears!"
"No one is born a hero just as no one is born a villain. We all make the decision of who we chose to be as a person. So long as we all hold a shred of kindness, possibility stands before us for our own choosing. It doesn't matter what has happened to us, what matters is what we do about it!"
"I wish I could promise that we will all make it out alive from this battle however I will not lie. I, myself may not make it out but despite this I am willing to sacrifice to ensure that the future will be better for the next generations as well as for the current generation. This is my life and I decide how I am going to make use of it. If anyone has anything they want to say before we leave for this battle, this is the time.."
Instead of words following Neville's speech the crowd clapped loudly with some even making wolf-whistles.
As Hermione clapped with everyone else for their sheepish leader, she felt like this may really be the finally battle.
"Let's win this war once and for all!" Neville cheered as his army howled back in excitement.
Hermione even let out her own cheer as she pushed all doubts of losing to Voldemort into the void of her mind.
They needed this war to end; The world couldn't handle another year of this war.
An owl took flight into the green and red flashing sky as spells were misfired whilst clutching a scroll tightly in its talons and an enchanted bag held by its beak. The witch's first mission in getting the basilisk fangs was complete. Initially Hermione thought she would have to hiss a bunch of times at the sink to get it to open but fortunately for her his-name had conveniently kept it open.
As she watched the owl take flight Hermione stayed long enough to see it pass the wards of Hogwarts unharmed before turning back to the heat of the battle with wands ready. "It's the Mudblood!" A voice cried out and suddenly Hermione found herself surrounded by three Death Eaters.
"Nowhere for you to run now, dearie."
"Confundus!" Hermione yelled as a sharp red spell shot out from her wand and knocked one of the Death Eaters off his feet with the stunning spell. "What?" A Death Eater squeaked at the odd display of spell work. The witch had stated a confundus yet cast a stunning spell instead, not even the Death Eaters had that kind of skill.
"Expelliarmus!" A Death Eater shouted as another one charged at the witch only for the incoming spell to be blocked by a shield and a mean right hook delivered to the alternative Death Eater's nose.
A cry of pain broke out as the Death Eater with the ever present broken nose, stumbled to his feet only to fall victim quickly of the same stunning spell.. this time cast silently.
"How is a disgusting mudblood like you so strong?" A growl erupted from behind the man who was suddenly pulled from behind to meet the wrath of a werewolf. "The same way a werewolf or anyone else for that matter does - I trained." As a scream tore out from the Death Eater, Hermione gave a nod of gratitude to her ally just before the Death Eater's throat was slit by silver claws.
Even when the blood sprayed unto the werewolf and witch neither seemed bothered and both took off toward the next opponent soon after.
Five years ago Hermione never would've killed but she learned real fast in war that it was a necessity unless one wanted the Death Eaters to live to continue the scent of death. Ironically however, Hermione's first kill had been none other than the feared Second-in-Command Death Eater.
In fact, the witch used a similar method of murder of her werewolf friend, but rather with a cursed knife that made wounds that couldn't be healed with magic. Quite a nasty sight really, as Hermione had only caught a glimpse of her torturer drowning in her own Black blood.
A hallway split them up and soon enough Hermione found herself in the legendary Great Hall once again. Albeit now had some agricultural differences such as the broken doorway and flipped over tables with the walls painted in blood and the once beautiful enchanted ceiling now covered with an illusion of serpents.
"Bombarda!" Hermione yelled as both her wands turned to point at the snake thrown in the center of the room where the professors once dined with the houses. Said thrown burst into debris as the wall behind it too was destroyed. The Slytherin Crest once adorned on the wall had been reduced to a severed snake head and a ragged banner.
The force of the combined spells had sent a shockwave through the Hall throwing many of the duelers off their feet and to the other side of the room giving Hermione quick advantage over the Death Eaters.
Hermione cast a cascading jinx with her stunning spell taking down multiple Death Eaters at once and allowing more space to divide her allies and foes apart. A green spell suddenly flew over Hermione's shoulder causing her to dive to the side and fall on her side but instead of falling into a disadvantage Hermione quickly apparated beside the Death Eaters and stood up immediately to deliver a rough blow to the side of their temple.
The hit Death Eater stumbled back only to be hit with a trip jinx and hit his already aching head into a stone rending himself immobile. "Stupid Mudblood!"
A variety of spells flung themselves at her but Hermione gracefully evaded them all with the occasional spell popping up to block the thicker ranged spells. "If I'm stupid then you must be brainless," Hermione replied and with a swish of her wand a silent spell caused water to shoot from her wand and flood their feet. Just as one of the Death Eaters appeared to criticize her Hermione whispered one word causing the men's feet to freeze in their place... literally.
"Duro."
Hermione smirked at the Death Eaters before running out the Hall and out to the front entrance of Hogwarts where the heat of the battle took place.
Giants, acromantulas, centaurs, and trolls fought against each with wizards and witches flanking everything else. Werewolves transformed as the full moon took its hold and dark furred beasts clawed mercilessly into Death Eaters and trolls alike. They may have retained their minds but no mercy was left in their hearts. The few veela that were with them also transformed and in their feathered form swooped up with men in their clutches before dropping them down at a height they wouldn't survive the landing of.
A sudden cold swept over Hermione's shoulders causing her to turn to see a horde of Dementors heading their way. "Expecto Patronum!" She yelled watching as her coperal patronus ran up to the Dementors and began to push them back. Her patronus was different than what she had expected it would be but Hermione imagined the war had a part to play it that fact.
Several other patronus followed her own and soon the Dementors were forced to leave finding their way past now impossible.
"Filthy mudblood!" A familiar voice came up behind her causing her to spin around and meet the familiar scarred face of Fenrir Greyback. "How's the leg?" Hermione asked, referring to the severing spell she sent at the Alpha werewolf during her escape from Lestrange Manor.
He bared his fangs at her before quickly transforming in front of her, having more control over his urge to turn on the full moon as the alpha than other werewolves.
Hermione knew that spells would be useless against the Alpha and instead turned the pebbles at their feet into birds which quickly took flight and blinded the alpha's view of Hermione. A ferocious snarl rang through the air as Fenrir leaped away from the birds and ran after the fleeing witch whom to his surprise quickly transformed into her animagi form and gained an increasingly fast pace ahead of Fenrir.
The chase didn't stop however as werewolves had heightened speed and never lost sight of Hermione until they reached what remained of the Forbidden Forest. A chirp caused his ears to twitch as the alpha sought out its opponent only to suddenly find himself thrown to his side as a slender feline form stood in front of him.
Beautiful black tear lines ran down her face to her mouth framed by hazel brown eyes with spots decorating her gold, black, and white fur. Long slim legs supported her light agile body of smooth sleek fur while a tail swished gently in anticipation behind her. Fangs threatened to attack as the cheetah growled at the vicious werewolf.
The werewolf quickly got over his surprise and pounced at the cheetah with winning jaws only to find empty ground and a sudden pain roar across his back. Turning he clamped his jaws down only to taste air as a blur of fur tackled him once again but this time sinking its teeth into his front leg. The werewolf bucked her off before swiping dangerously close to the feline's face causing her to leap back in surprise before darting off once again.
There werewolf was growing frustrated by the time the cheetah this time and was ready for the sneak attack. With a sharp leap he turned around to see the cheetah land where he formerly stood and leaped on her back with claws sunk deep in her back keeping himself close to her. He prepared to tear her throat out with his teeth only to find his vision dancing with black spots as he was slammed into a tree causing his claws to tear from the cheetah's flesh by the force only to soon be followed by a suffocating grip on his throat.
The legendary werewolf buckled and struggled in the cheetah's grasp but the feline held strong and within a minute the werewolf slumped over dead.
Victorious the cheetah sprinted back to the heat of the battle where she found Voldemort fighting among the peril with his pet snake, Nagina, attacking Neville.
Rearing back in determination Hermione set forward in a sprint and all but slammed into the huge snake knocking her away from Neville only for her to rear back angrily to attack Hermione. Fortunately her friend chose to perfect moment to use the Sword of Gryffindor and behead the snake right out of the blue followed by a shout of agony from the most hated enemy.
Hermione quickly changed back and joined the fray with spells and shields going up in every direction.
The entire battlefield was mayhem with Fenrir's pack fighting the Sanctuary's pack while trolls and giants fought of the centaurs with the acromantulas. Screams of pain and death filled the air as spells cut deep and healed all within seconds of intervals.
Hermione's back was aching from where Fenrir had sunk his claws but she used the pain as a leverage to blast as many spells as she could from simple non-combative spells to the most damaging of combat spells she knew.
Enemies all around the witch were dancing uncontrollably causing their spells to hit their own allies and their enlarged teeth preventing them from saying an incantation. Those that could preform non-verbal spells quickly found themselves holding a twig rather than their wand and as they searched for their own wand desperately they'd sometimes hear a despairing crack as their wand was stepped on in the place of the twig in their hand.
The few Death Eaters who knew wandless spells found themselves blinded by a lumos to the face and soon dozens of Death Eaters had fallen to the infamous muggleborns.
A shout drew Hermione's attention over to the side and as she looked over her eyes widened considerably as she caught sight of her familiar light blonde-haired friend protecting a baby threstral under open fire against the a Death Eater. "Luna!" Hermione screamed as a lethal curse hit her friend causing the threstral to rear back before charging the Death Eater and landed a hoof on its wand arm breaking it and forcing him to drop his wand.
The threstal then turned and gently touched Luna with its nose and Hermione saw her friend smile before ceasing movement entirely.
"Expelliarmus!" The Death Eaters wand was quickly thrown her way only to burst into splinters of pieces when Hermione shot a cutting curse at the object.
She quickly ran over to Luna after damaging the Death Eater's eyesight rendering him completely defenseless to the enemies around him and looked at the threstral which looked back at her with sad eyes.
Hermione felt tears in her eyes build up but refused their fall and instead cleaned her friend of blood and softly closed her eyes. As Hermione went to stand a sudden cry sounded through the chaos and everything suddenly went quiet.
The sight Hermione would find would too silence her by the sight.
The monster in front of Neville was ruthless in his attacks but Neville stood strong as he wielded the Sword of Gryffindor with his wand and held off his attacks as best as he could. Unfortunately as Neville fought off all the spells after him he soon grew fatigue and he was unable to evade a bright red spell quick enough and faced the consequence as indescribable raging fire burned his body followed by blazing hot knifes made of lava.
He screamed like he never had before as he tried to move only to find his body trembling terrible and tears making their way down his face. The sword had been dropped in front of him while his wand was in a vice grip in his hand as the pain continued for an eternity.
When it finally stopped Neville looked up in exhaustion and found the monster's dark robes in front of him with a posed elder wand aiming directly at his face. "Say hello to your parents, Longbottom." Voldemort sneered and opened his mouth to hiss the killing curse only to find his wand suddenly gone from his hand and in the grasp of a familiar white-haired wizard.
"Malfoy!" Voldemort hissed with his eyes narrowed as he turned away from Neville to glare at his own Death Eater who appeared to have double-crossed him.
"This is for my mother," Draco said before he snapped the Elder Wand in his hand causing Voldemort to let out a roar of rage and went to strangle his betrayer only for a green flash to hit the former Slytherin in the back causing him to freeze in death and fall over as another familiar white-haired man stood behind him.
"Ah, Luci-" Voldemort was cut short from his speech as a thin trail of blood suddenly slid over his neck before head fell forwards in its severed form. The body of the monster crumbled forward as a black spirit rose from the body only to still when his slayer spoke a final time to him.
"Looking for this?" Neville questioned rhetorically before holding up the last of his horcruxes and put it down. Voldemort roared in anger but was too late to try anything as the legendary sword swung down and destroyed the diadem throwing Voldemort back as his own soul devoured him and what was left of him withered away into nothing.
"No!"
Neville looked back towards the source of the cry and watched as Lucius Malfoy ran up to his son and touched the face of man he had just killed. The last Malfoy looked up at Neville before firing his wand towards Neville only to stun a Death Eater behind Neville that was aiming to kill.
Lucius Malfoy gave Neville the tiniest of nods before running away with speed Neville had never quite seen before from the man.
It was then Neville noticed the silence and his eyes searched everyone before his eyes landed on Hermione and a familiar blonde on the ground. "No," Neville softly whispered before turning back towards the battle in front of him.
"VOLDEMORT IS DEAD!" Neville roared with the sword of Gryffindor high in the air in victory. Everyone from the sanctuary cheered at the news of the death of the monster only for a Death Eater to react from a distance and fire a blasting curse at Neville which was immediately reflected back with a shield.
And so the battle continued, but everyone already knew who had already won.
If only it was that easy, Hermione thought to herself. Nearly all of the country was in ruins and Europe had been as attacked as this country as they were the second hit Voldemort made in his attack. They may have won the war, but the damage had been done.
Hermione found herself fighting with a group of teens not much younger than herself pushing back the last of Voldemort's Death Eaters when a werewolf suddenly jumped at one of the witches and tore his teeth through her shoulder causing a shriek of agony and allowed the Death Eaters to take offense. Neville stood with what was left of the Sanctuary's army fighting off the hoard of giants, trolls, and acromantulas with the centaurs neither fighting with them nor against them.
Most of the werewolves had been killed by each other but fortunately not all were dead.. unfortunately some of Fenrir's were still alive and bloodthirsty. As the werewolf took another witch's life Hermione prepared to take her animagi form only to find a hand grab her shoulder and before she could retaliate she was pulled into an apparation forcefully.
Hermione struggled in the Death Eater's grasp and succeeded in being released however sudden agony ripped through her throat as a Splinch became known from one of her legs. Blood pooled quickly from her leg unto the white and grey rocks near the shore of Black Lake when suddenly she was lifted when a hand grabbed her hair causes her to bite her lip to prevent a scream from ripping through her throat.
"Little mudblood not so tough now?" Antonin Dolohov laughed at the muggleborns witch.
Said witch merely stared back at the Death Eater with unimpressed eyes causing the man to grow irate and bound his hostage with a quick fulgari. He grinned at her with malice before pointed his wand at Hermione and uttered the unforgivable curse: "Crucio!"
Hermione let out a high-pitched scream while Antonin cackled madly, throwing his head back with eyes shut in amusement unaware of his mistake when the screaming suddenly stopped. He opened his eyes and looked back only to find an incoming foot coming towards him too fast for him to evade.
A cry of pain echoed off the lake when the Death Eater's nose broke and with a confused glare the man aimed his wand at Hermione who stared back at her captor evenly. "Why didn't it work, you-you filthy Mudblood!" He all but hollered at the witch angrily.
Hermione would've smiled if she'd been with anyone else. Instead she responded with a cold chill in tone and uttered a single name.
"Bellatrix Lestrange."
Dolohov's eyes widened in understanding and then he laughed. "Ah yes, you're the ugly Mudblood she imprisoned and kept for more than a day! I'm surprised she didn't kill you, although I suppose you beat her to it in the act. Didn't you, little witch?"
Hermione didn't respond, she only felt the tingle of pain from the signature scar the Lestrange witch gave her.
"I can't say I'm too upset about that muddy. Lestrange was losing more of her mind every day. Sooner or later the Dark Lord would've put her down before she went completely insane," the news surprised Hermione, but she didn't show her reaction and instead replied with a scathing comment.
"And here I though your master loved insanity. I wouldn't be surprised with all the inbreeding with the purebloods. And here you call us 'mudbloods' disgusting."
Dolohov snarled at her. "You little wrench! You'll pay for that nasty tongue of yours'!"
"Expulso!" The ground in front of Hermione exploded throwing Hermione back where she landed on the sand closer to the lake. She could feel the wet sand in hair but ignored it in favor of placing her bound wrists in between one of the severed rocks and pulled until she heard the cords snap, releasing her hands. Unfortunately the time she spent freeing her hands didn't give her the defense for the next spell.
"Sectumsempra!"
A cry of pain tore through Hermione's lips as her shoulder was torn open and blood began to run through her clothing. Hermione silently summoned her fallen wands and rolled to the side when another spell flew towards her. It appeared that Dolohov preferred to bleed her to death rather than kill her quickly.
She wondered if there was more a reason behind his intent than her birthright.
"This is all your fault, filthy mudbloods!" He crowed as he flung the same cutting curse at her once again which was blocked with a quick shield. Her leg was shaking with strain from the recent Splinch while her shoulder was rather unfeeling at the moment. It was only when she moved did the pain flare in rage.
"Fumos!" Hermione called out, as a dark smokescreen obscured her sight of the Death Eater but also doing the same for him.
A green spell shot past to her right and Hermione knew that the Death Eater had grown tired of the cat and the mouse game. Hermione quickly kept her left arm up with a shield while her wand arm quickly went to work using episkey to stop the bleeding for as many wounds as she could reach but the witch knew it would only keep her wounds closed for a short amount of time.
"Deprimo!" A blast of wind cut through the smokescreen clearing it away allowing Hermione to quickly see that her time to heal was up and brought her right arm up and began firing offensive spells while keeping her shield up a the same time. "Reducto!" The spell broke her shield but fortunately Hermione had enough common sense to leap to the side. Unfortunately she was unable to defend herself from the sudden weightless feeling as Dolohov levitated her into the air and slowly moved her towards the Black Lake.
Hermione tried to fight the spell but she found herself rendered immobile and a feeling of hopelessness suddenly overwhelmed her when she slowly began to descend towards the water.
As the water touched her clothing Hermione writhed against invisible forces as inch by inch her body sank into the water. She desperately took a huge gulp of air and wished she could have used a bubble-head charm in caution previously. The witch felt a strange combination of hopelessness and stupidity when the water completely enveloped her and she was trapped under the lake.
She writhed and struggled, desperately trying to move her hands which still held tightly unto her wands.
Hermione had never given up before but at that moment as black spots danced in front of her vision Hermione couldn't help but feel like she lost. She supposed it wasn't too bad. Voldemort was dead at last, and he wouldn't be coming back again either but at the same time she knew it wasn't a happy ending. Four people popped into her mind and she smiled wistfully as she saw the familiar faces of her dear friends; Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville.
"Wonder what its like to have a peaceful life," Hermione recalled in her first year when Ron had said that to Harry before the three of them were all friends. The red-head was of course referring to the extra homework, but she couldn't help but wonder what he'd say now if that was his reaction to extra homework.
"You were the one who told me to stand up to people!" Hermione grinned softly, closing her eyes to remember the small boy Neville had once been. The three of them -Harry, Ron, and she- hadn't expected Neville to take action just as they were leaving. They were quite the rule breakers, and that day Neville took a step into the direction of the man whom he would later become.
"I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually." Hermione remembered the day the blonde said that to her after she called the witch 'a genius' when she thought of the runes needed to contain the horcruxes. No one had really thought about Luna's ideas until Hermione drilled it into the others. After that she asked Luna why people brush her ideas off so easily. Luna reminded Hermione a bit of herself back then, before she had come to Hogwarts.
"We could all have been killed – or worse, expelled."
"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules."
"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."
"I knew I could do it all this time," said Harry, "Because I'd already done it... does that make sense?"
"HAVE YOU GONE MAD? ARE YOU A WITCH OR AREN'T YOU!"
Hermione's eyes flashed open as the fire within her ignited like a Phoenix itself and suddenly she broke through the spell holding her down and felt herself squeezing through a narrow tube before it finally spit her out on a bridge. Hermione coughed the water from her lungs and got to her feet as fast as she could (which she admitted was actually rather slow).
Hermione looked over the railings of the familiar bridge and met the eyes of the Death Eater that nearly drowned her. The witch couldn't help but feel like flipping the Death Eater off but resisted in the decision to save her energy. The witch glanced at her hand and saw that it was splinched too. Hermione also noticed that it hurt quite a bit too but she imagined the cold water of the Black Lake was mostly numbing her nerves at the moment.
The witch was grateful for that.
Unfortunately her solitude didn't last long and neither did the feeling when she heard the familiar cracks of apparation as more Death Eaters - included Dolohov - surrounded Hermione from both sides of the bridge and were currently walking towards her.
The muggleborn witch quickly pulled the chain of her necklace to reveal the last time turner in existence (Voldemort's paranoia destroyed all he could find) and removed it to grasp it in her palm. The Time Turner she had was actually referred to as 'The Blood of Time' as it was believed Merlin had taken a vial of his phoenix's blood and stored it away which was later mixed with sand when the time turner's were first being created not knowing what the blood was at the time.
She was trusted to use it only in the most dire of times and Hermione decided she wouldn't die just yet. For Harry, Ron, Luna, and Neville.
Hermione just needed a way to get a safe distance away so she could reverse time to before Dolohov caught her off guard. Ten minutes probably. Maybe five... No, three is just about right. Hermione quickly turned the dials before sheathing one of the wands she held tightly in her non-splinched hand. With her original wand grasped tightly in her hand she raised it threateningly even though the Death Eaters laughed at her.
"You're cornered muddy. No more running," one of the Death Eaters cackled who happened to be the closest to her.
"Who said I was running?" Hermione replied stiffly. "Cut the bravery, mudblood. Time's up!"
No, time has just begun.
"Get her!"
"Bombarda Maximum!"
A strange sight happened in front of Hermione after she cast the incantation of the powerful spell. It had cost her what was left of her energy and she was beginning to feel the numbing chill melt away revealing the aches and stings scattered across her body. Despite this sudden recognition of pain throughout her body the muggleborn witch pushed the pain to the back of her mind as cracks began to form around the bridge in seemingly slow motion.
It wasn't until the first splinter sprang free did the spell show its power as the entire bridge split apart before breaking apart and erupting in what Hermione could only describe as heatless fire which all but exploded outwards impaling many Death Eaters with debris and sending everyone else off the bridge (Hermione included). The witch dully heard a crack before the shockwave of the explosion hit her full force pushing her much further away until she found herself spiraling towards the waters of Black Lake once again.
When the black spots over took Hermione's vision and her limbs refused to respond to her mind's demands the witch soon found her consciousness leaving her just as she made contact with the water.
A/N: I tried to make it nice and long to set a word count for every chapter but also to get as much information as I could to you about this alternate universe. I don't plan on putting too much out there at the moment but should any question arise feel free to leave in one in a review so I understand what's on your mind.
- Gothic Rain
