In movies, after the climactic finish in which the hero defeats the villain (and gets the girl, sometime at the same time) the credits roll. No mention is ever made of things like cleaning up the bloodstains on the flagstones of the Great Hall, or doing something with all the bodies -and parts of bodies- littered around the grounds. In the movies the two faced spy is good enough to die properly, cleanly and thus be remembered fondly at the yearly graveside service. In the movies, the teenaged heroes and heroines all live happily ever after, having skipped all that messy clean up after the carnage of war.
The truth is that the war isn't just over when the villain is defeated. Everything that led up to the villains reign of terror still had to be dealt with. The truth is that even though all manner of things needed to be dealt with, just getting through the rest of that first horrible day is sometimes all a heroine could do.
Hermione wandered across the grounds. Her feet couldn't seem to stop moving. She walked aimlessly, numbly until she found herself in front of the remains of the whomping willow. The trunk of the great tree had been shattered and limbs lay scattered and still smoking all around. The tunnel entrance lay wide open. Anyone could enter.
She hunched down and entered the tunnel. She emerged into the Shrieking Shack stumbled. She reached down to find the offending item and jumped back immediately, badly frightened. She had tripped over Severus Snape's foot. "Lumos," she whispered.
Poor Snape. Everything he'd been through to die with his throat torn out by the beast of a madman. Hesitating, she slowly drew closer. His eyes were closed, his face pale and still. Strange, she thought, he doesn't look like a..a body. He still just looks like himself. Deep lines etched his face. Speckles of blood polka-dotted the maroon shadows under his eyes. Hermione felt giggles coming on abruptly. But his hair looks fantastic! The voice in her head sounded like Rita Skeeter.
She gathered her courage and slid her hand into his slack one. "I'm sorry, Sir," she said.
Severus Snape exhaled. And Hermione Granger, heroine, blazed into action.
With a thought she sent a patronus to Harry. Shrieking shack, Snape, help now! She dropped to her knees and slid behind him holding her hand firmly against the remains of his neck. Seconds passed, and time stretched out so that an eternity seemed to pass between breaths. She smelled the metallic tang of the blood on the floor, on her hands. She smelled the earth. She smelled her own body and her filthy clothes and realized she could no longer remember the last time she'd had enough to eat or had a shower.
Thunder erupted all around her and the door flew off its hinges and struck the opposing wall in a hurricane of dust. Harry and Ron had arrived. They took in the scene of Hermione cradling the body, cradling Snape.
"Bloody hell, Mione, I thought you were in trouble here." Ron exclaimed.
Harry knelt down next to her. "Is he even alive?" His green eyes were troubled. "How can he possibly have…?"
Ridiculous laughter bubbled out of her. "I have no idea, Harry, but he just was breathing a second ago! Slowly, and I don't know how much longer he can do it!" She took some deep gasping breaths attempting to stay calm. "Levitate the both of us and take us to the castle."
The boys obediently brandished them aloft and—much more carefully than she expected—guided them through the tunnel.
"Ron can you hold them by yourself for a sec. I think we're gonna need some back up here."
"Got it," Ron told him, concentrating fiercely.
"Expecto Patronum," Harry incanted, and his silver stag leaped out of his wand. "Find someone to help us save the Professor," he told it. "Okay guys, let's go."
"We need to hurry, Harry!"
"I know Hermione, but we don't want to just pop down there with Snape. We need to make sure we have a person to watch our backs. I think all of the giants went down, but hell if I know for sure. I know the Malfoys disappeared but there could be other Death Eaters still around. And I will be damned if I get killed on the way back to the castle."
"Can you imagine how brassed off my Mum would be?" Ron cracked a smile that faded almost instantly. Hermione could see the moment he realized what he'd just said. Fred.
They emerged into the bright morning sunlight blinking until a shadow fell over them. Help had arrived.
