Disclaimer: no copyright infringement intended. No profit being made.
AN: I apologize to those of you who thought this was an update to To Save a Malfoy. Despite the fact that I know (more or less) what is still to happen, I can't seem to find the inspiration to write down what happens precisely. I however haven't given up on the idea that I might finish it one day, but maybe that's just me being stubborn.
In the meantime, a story from a German writer I like a lot and who has graciously given me permission to translate her stories, so that they may be available to a larger audience. I hope you'll be able to enjoy this story as much as I have.
Beauty and the beast
A Story by Mrs Skinner
Translation from German to English by SnapeSeraphin
The fight against Voldemort was in its final stage and the all-deciding battle raged on Hogwarts' grounds. At this point, it was still unclear which side would govern the future happenings in the wizarding world. Bitter and merciless Aurors and Death Eaters fought each other; the air was filled with the loud cries of curses and consequent countercurses. The cries of those that were hit were audible loud and clear on the battlefield. Magically enhanced, and thus incredibly loud, orders were given, instructing both sides to take care of security breaches on their side and to discover their enemies'. The ground was soaked in the blood of those who had fallen and there was hardly anyone fighting who hadn't been hurt in one way or another.
From the background, in the cover of a group of trees, the Dark Lord oversaw the battle with glittering red eyes. For now he was staying back, watching the battle in its entirety. That's how he planned to determine the precise moment where it became imperative for him to take action himself. He didn't want to do this too early; for now it was enough to let his Death Eaters fight for him. That one row of his followers had already fallen, didn't bother him overmuch. It was called necessary sacrifice, collateral damage. He didn't expect any different from them than that they were willing to sacrifice their lives for him.
A seed of discontent started to grow within him, though. At the moment the fight wasn't going the way he wanted it to go. Dismayed, he watched as his Death Eaters lost more and more ground; they limited themselves to deflecting curses aimed at them, instead of doling them out.
"My Lord, we have to do something." Lucius Malfoy, the only one to remain at his side and acting as messenger between Voldemort and his forces, was getting slightly nervous. He too, saw that their side was suffering heavy losses, which seemed to weigh heavier every minute.
"Yes, yes…I know. But the time isn't right yet. Potter is the key, Lucius. At the moment he is still protected by his people, we have to take different measures." Voldemort appeared to be thinking for a moment. His sharp eyes took in the scene before them and came to rest on a young female, who had just taken over the task of covering Harry Potter's back. Tall and proud she stood behind the boy with the scar. Indefatigably she deflected curse after curse, giving Potter the opportunity to take his own decisive action in the battle. The boy was very efficient; almost every single curse that fell from his lips hit its intended target.
"Isn't that the Mudblood, his best friend?" Voldemort gestured with his wand in the direction of the young female. Lucius squinted and after a couple of moments, nodded. "Yes, that's Hermione Granger. She's very good at what she does," he commented, his words inadvertently showing honest admiration of her skills.
"Extraordinary for a Mudblood, certainly. But without a doubt there is something that would move her to cease her defence of Potter," pondered the Dark Lord, watching disdainfully as Hermione Granger, with apparent ease, countered an attack of several masked Death Eaters and, after incapacitating two of them, erected an impressive magical shield around both herself and the still fighting Potter boy, her mouth quirking into an easy grin.
"Tell Rodolphus to leave immediately and bring me her parents. I don't care how he manages it, as long as they're here within the hour, alive."
"I could go and get them," Lucius offered.
"No, you will stay near me. Lestrange will take care of it."
Lucius turned around, scanning the surrounding area and had soon found the person he was looking for, even in the heat of battle. He approached him and told him of Voldemort's orders. Turning back, easily dispatching two attacking Aurors on the way, he returned to his Lord's side.
Not thirty minutes had gone by before Lestrange reappeared. Accompanying him were two people whose hands were magically bound. The man was already bleeding from several wounds and the woman, brutally shoved forward every once in a while by her captor, had a large bruise covering a large part of her face. Softly whimpering and trembling with fear, the couple stood in front of the fear-inducing figure of the Dark Lord.
"Please…we have done nothing to you," begged David Granger as he raised his bound hands. His eyes moved continually, widening in fear as he realised where they must be.
"YOU may not have done anything, but your daughter did all the more," hissed Voldemort and looked at the two Muggles with displeasure.
"Our daughter..? Sir, our daughter is a good girl," pleaded Granger, even as his eyes were trying to make out Hermione in the midst of the surrounding battle.
"She impedes our victory, Granger. And I do not abide by it." A gesture from the Dark Lord and Lestrange pushed the two captives forward, in the direction of the battlefield, taking care to use their bodies as a shield between him and possible hexes coming his way at all times. A couple of rather benign hexes actually hit the couple by accident, making them cry out and stumble. At this, warriors of both side of the conflict became aware of the unusual spectacle. Wands were lowered temporarily and the hiss of uttered curses lessened.
"I presume, Mudblood that you recognise the two Muggles that are in my power?" Voldemort's magically enhanced voice shattered the relative quiet. Hermione was looking around in confusion, a desperate 'no' falling from her lips when she saw what he meant.
"Lower your wand and step back. You will stop helping Potter. If you don't comply with my orders, the both of them will die." Voldemort didn't even consider the possibility of her refusing to honour his wishes. Hermione hesitated, prevaricating between the need to protect Harry during his fight and doing whatever was necessary to keep her parents alive.
Meanwhile, a couple of those among the Death Eaters' ranks took their chance to attack the distracted Aurors and all of a sudden a succession of curses was fired at the ranks of the defenders. A counterattack was of course inevitable and the battle was taken up with renewed vigour. In the middle of it all, there were two scared and wounded Muggles, who had fallen to their knees and had folded their arms around their heads, as if that would help keep them from further harm.
Hermione was looking from Harry to her parents and back with horror. She needed to do something, but only Harry's gasped 'Go on, save them!' galvanised her into action. Determined, she raised her wand and started moving.
It was too late. Afterwards, no-one of the survivors would be able to tell who had uttered the curse that had killed Hermione's parents and Rodolphus Lestrange who was still standing next to them. Before Hermione was even in the vicinity of her parents however, their bodies, surrounded in green light were already falling onto the blood-soaked ground. Lestrange's body fell on top of theirs.
"Noooo!" Hermione threw herself forward, tears streaming down her face. It was too late. The people that had raised and loved her were dead. Irrevocably.
She dropped her wand, not caring what was happening around her. Despite the fact that she made an easy and defenceless target, all curses that were fired in her direction, failed to hit their target; a dark figure in the background made sure that Hermione didn't suffer the same fate as her parents. The girl, meanwhile, pulled the body of the Death Eater off of those of her parents, then sank down next to them, crying and mourning. Tenderly she brushed her mother's hair from her forehead, again and again, she held her father's lifeless hand in hers, shaking her head in disbelief. She just couldn't comprehend what was happening to her at the moment. It was a nightmare from which she couldn't wake.
The battle around her never lost its intensity. She didn't care. She was caught up too deeply in the loss of her parents. She didn't see that Harry Potter fulfilled the prophecy at long last and killed Voldemort. She didn't realise that with the death of the Dark Lord, the battle ended. She didn't care that the remaining Death Eaters were captured and removed from the scene. Even the somewhat clumsy attempts of her friends to comfort her seemed to bounce off of her without being registered.
Days later, after her parents were buried together with all the other victims of the battle and her hurt started to transform into cold anger against herself, the wizarding world, her friends who hadn't prevented her parents death and Dumbledore whose comfort she found more troublesome than anything else, a decision was taking shape inside of her.
After everybody had left the cemetery and nobody had managed to convince her to leave with them, she remained alone in front of the grave which was decorated with numerous flowers.
Numbly, Hermione stared at her parents' final resting place. The wind pulled on her hair and clothes, but she hardly noticed. Her eyes were burning, but she couldn't cry anymore because there were no more tears left. She put her hand into her pocket and decisively pulled out her wand. She took it in both of her hands and without further ado broke it into two pieces. The now useless wood was unceremoniously dropped to the ground.
"I don't need it anymore. Not even magic could help you, could ensure your survival. Magic let you die…I don't want to be a witch anymore. No more magic, EVER AGAIN!"
With those words, she turned around and left the cemetery. Nobody saw her since, or knew where she had gone. Hermione Granger had quietly left the wizarding world forever.
AN: Both the original author and myself would love to hear your thoughts on this story, as well as whether or not you'd like for me to continue the translation. In short: please review!