Chapter One: The Beginning of the End
She
was in the Forbidden Forest cold, scared--alone. She went off looking
for Harry after he disappeared. She was looking around the clearing
she was standing in when she saw a bright green flash. A very high
pitched laugh rang through the forest. The girl felt the hairs on the
back of her neck stand up. She knew that laugh. She kept walking
towards the noise until she saw a cloaked man through the trees. The
girl couldn't really make out his face because his hood was up. She
immediately hid in the nearest bush. The man was carrying
what looked like the body of a teenage boy but she was too far away
to see who it was. When the man was far away enough not to hear her,
she kept walking in the direction that he came from. As soon as she
turned the corner, she saw Bellatrix Lestrange talking to none other
than Voldemort himself. A soft hissing fell over the forest and the
girl looked around to see what was making the noise. On the ground
right behind her was Nagini. The girl started to run but it was too
late: Nagini had already told her master about the trespasser. "HERMIONE GRANGER!" bellowed Voldemort. Hermione
froze on the spot, which happened to be right behind a big Oak tree. "Don't hide from us, you filthy Mudblood!"
bellowed Bellatrix. "Do you think we won't find you?" "There you
are! Granger, is it?"said Bellatrix."Would you like to tell
us why you have come to spy on us?" Hermione felt the
curse lift and she was now flying through the air towards a rock that
Voldemort had transfigured into a heavy metal chair. As soon as
Hermione was put on the chair, she felt thick ropes surround her
while Bellatrix snatched her wand away. Hermione took this chance to
glance around. She was now in a different clearing than the one she
was in before. This one was much bigger and it looked as though many
of the trees were ripped right out of the ground. "So,
Granger, would you like to tell us why you're here?" asked
Voldemort. Hermione remained silent. She wasn't going to tell them
she went looking for Harry, as that would give away the fact that no
one knew where he was. Suddenly, Voldemort started to laugh. "Oh,
you're trying to protect Potter! There's no use now! Potter is
dead!" yelled Voldemort.
"Petrificus
Totalus!" roared
Voldemort. Hermione felt her body lock and she fell to the ground,
her face landing in a huge puddle of mud.
No,
he can't be dead! Not Harry. He was the Chosen One! "Liar!"
cried Hermione as she felt hot tears streaming down her face.
"Crucio!"
roared
Bellatrix. Hermione screamed in pain as the feeling of hot knives
piercing every in of her body hit her. Hermione knew better than to
insult Voldemort in front of Bellatrix, but it couldn't be true.
Harry couldn't be dead.
Draco Malfoy walked
into the clearing with Harry Potter in his arms. "NO!
HARRY! NO!" cried Hermione. Draco didn't even look up at the
screaming Hermione. "See, Granger, no one can defeat the
Dark Lord, not even The Boy Who Lived!" sneered Draco as he
started laughing. His laugh was really cold and harsh, but Hermione
couldn't help but notice that Draco had a big slash across his face.
Bellatrix stepped towards Hermione and aimed another curse at her but
she stumbled over a branch on the ground and the spell hit the ropes
instead. The ropes fell apart. Hermione dived for her wand, which
Bellatrix had left on the ground. Hermione
turned towards Voldemort and saw his red snake eyes flash with anger.
He raised his wand and with one quick flick, screamed
"Calm
down Bella, let's show Potter to her so she understands our little
situation," said Voldemort as he took out his wand and jabbed
himself in the throat. His voice instantly became louder as he
yelled,"Come here, Malfoy!"
"Stupefy!"
roared
Hermione, and the well aimed spell hit a confused Bellatrix straight
in the chest. Hermione saw Draco running out of the clearing and
tried to hit him with a Full-Body Bind Curse, but missed.
Hermione woke up with a start. This recurring nightmare had been haunting her for eight months now, ever since she fired that curse at Voldemort and he vanished. She never did find out if the curse had hit its target because Voldemort's body was never found. When the Aurors came around all they found was a stunned Bellatrix and a dead Harry Potter. Hermione put her head back on her pillow, took three deep breaths and pushed the image out of her mind. She had to get enough sleep tonight, since tomorrow was her big day.
Hermione woke up after what seemed to be only two minutes of sleep. She rolled over on her side and looked at the alarm clock.
Blimey,
it's already 6:30!
Hermione
got out of bed and glanced at the picture of her parents on the night
table. She opened her bedroom door and walked down the stairs, making
sure to hop the last creaking step. Mrs. Weasley had been kind enough
to let Hermione stay at the Burrow after the Death Eaters got her
parents. It would be a poor way to repay her if she woke her up at
6:30 A.M. Hermione remembered the night her parents were killed well.
She had just came home after a long time away with Harry and Ron searching for Horcruxes, when she saw the Dark Mark floating above her house. She drew out her wand and ran inside. What she saw changed her life forever. Her parents were laying on the floor, spread-eagled and there was a message on the wall, in what looked like blood, that said, "The Dark Lord Prevails."
Hermione made herself a cup of tea and opened the window to let Ron's owl, Pig, in. She took the post off the owl's leg. There weren't any letters because most of her correspondents lived in the Burrow, but there was a fresh copy of the Daily Prophet. Hermione looked at the front page of the paper. Some of the old Death Eaters, like Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy, had been captured in a raid of the rundown Malfoy Manor, but nothing else was worth Hermione's interest.
I
wonder what happened to that little brat, Draco? thought
Hermione.
Hermione
put the paper down, still wrapped in thought and went back upstairs.
She was feeling a little gross and decided to take a shower. Hermione
got her robe from her room and went into the bathroom. She had just
opened the door when she heard someone shout on the other side.
"Ron, it's just me. I thought you were still asleep," said Hermione. She opened the bathroom door wider and let herself into the room.
"Oh, no, I woke up early today because
Pig was screeching at the window, but by the time I got up he was
gone and I was wide awake," answered Ron. He picked up his
things and started to leave the bathroom.
Ron was halfway out the
door before he stopped in his tracks. Glancing at Hermione, he
remembered that today was the first day of her Auror
training.
"Hermione, are you nervous about today?" asked Ron.
"Yes. I don't know if I'll be as good as everyone else," replied Hermione, with a look of worry etched on her face.
"Don't worry, you were top of our year in Hogwarts," said Ron as he slipped his hands around her hips and pulled her in close to him. He planted a soft kiss on her lips and pulled her in even closer. Hermione quickly pulled away blushing slightly.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. We'll just have to see, won't we?" said Hermione in a brisk tone, obviously still worried about her training. She pushed Ron out and closed the door.
After a quick shower, Hermione threw on some clothes and
ran down the stairs. She grabbed her cloak off the hook and seized
some Floo Powder off the fireplace. She was about to throw the Floo
Powder in the fireplace when she heard Mrs. Weasley call her name.
She jogged to the kitchen and stuck her head through the open door.
"Yes, ?" called Hermione.
"Hermione,
dear, how long to you think you'll be gone? I need you to make
dinner tonight," asked .
"I think I should be back by four, but I really have to go now. I'm already late and you know how Moody is with punctuality," replied Hermione.
"All right, good luck dear!" called as Hermione jogged back to the fire place.
"Ministry of Magic!" yelled Hermione. She threw the Floo Powder in the fireplace. In a matter of seconds, Hermione stepped out onto the dark wood floors of the Ministry of Magic. She looked around the Atrium. There was a big portrait of Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Minister of Magic, and there were also many fireplaces along the walls that shone with green flames.
Hermione passed through the Security Desk, after presenting her wand for checking to the wizard behind it , and walked into the first elevator.
It took a while for the elevator to get to Level Two because one of the paper airplanes got jammed in the door. By the time Hermoine finally got to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, she was already twenty minutes late. She ran through the heavy oak doors of the Auror Office and right into Alastor Moody.
"Nice of you to finally show up, Ms. Granger. I was about to send Dawlish to look for you!" said Moody in his usual gruff voice.
"I'm sorry Moody, I got caught up at--"
Hermione's voice trailed off and her heart skipped a beat as she tilted her head out from behind Moody to see who the tall, blond boy standing behind him was. The boy had cold grey eyes and his signature smirk was on his face.
"Draco Malfoy!" cried Hermione. Malfoy took two steps forward and looked Hermione straight in the eyes. He spoke in a soft, almost sexy voice.
"Surprised, Granger?"