A/N - Alright, second chapter! I wrote this quickly, so please tell me if you like it or not by reviewing please! I'm having fun with this story, and I hope you are too!

A slight edit: Ron was not killed by Death Eaters, but by Voldemort as you will see. As in the first chapter, Seamus still saves Hermione from Hogwarts, but that comes after she was found on the mountain-side.


- CHAPTER TWO -

The Warning

The voice always haunted her dreams, if you would call them that. She called them nightmares, and most people would agree with her. It was terrible enough having to witness the scene first hand unable to do anything, but reliving it every time she slept was too much.

It started as it did that night; dark, cold, and filled with fear. Hermione had just narrowly escaped from several Death Eaters, and luckily with no injury. The masked followers of the Dark Lord were everywhere, and Hermione could hear the screams of panic overcoming the Ministry officials and the Order of the Phoenix in the distance. Only Harry could win the war for them now.

Being careful to not be seen, Hermione climbed over the rocks carefully, as she tried to reach the ledge where she knew Harry and Ron went to. The three of them had seen Voldemort up there, but when Death Eaters came around a line of trees, they got separated. Hermione held off the Death Eaters long enough so Ron and Harry escaped, but she was held back. She luckily lost them after a few moments in the undergrowth at the foot of the mountain.

Reaching up the steep incline, she lost her footing, and her right leg scraped painfully against the malicious rocks. She steadied herself carefully and tried to put pressure on her foot, but the pain was terrible.

Seeing a flash of green light from above, Hermione neglected her torn leg, and began climbing again. Her hands were scratched and bruised, but she was too focused at getting to the top to care. Ron and Harry were there, and she needed to be there to help them.

Getting closer, she could hear Harry yelling—in pain. Her heart hollowed as his yells filled the air, followed by a courageous shout from Ron, and a blast of red light. Harry's pain filled cries stopped, and Hermione moved quicker knowing the situation was dire.

Reaching the edge—oblivious to the devastation that was gripping the Ministry and the Order behind her on the plains below—she pulled her upper body up over the ledge, and her eyes fell on her best friends.

Looking up, she could see Harry on the ground, clutching at his leg as blood covered it entirely. Ron was standing above him, and trying to protect him from the dark figure of Lord Voldemort, who was standing on the opposite side of the ledge. Hermione could never forget those red eyes looking at her friends through the darkness. The storm clouds above them shaded everything in the world murky, though the rain held off.

'Crucio!' Voldemort yelled out, and Ron had no choice but to dive away from the curse. He hit the rock hard, and before he could look up, Voldemort had already disarmed him of his wand.

'Expelliarimus!' Harry tried from his position on the ground, but Lord Voldemort proved too strong. He merely waved off the curse, and instead focused on Ron. With a sinister flick of his wand, Ron was levitated up off the rocks, and slowly over the side of the ledge. Hermione tried to move, to get over the edge and standing, but her leg was too badly injured, and the panic running through her mind caused her to painfully hesitate.

'Say goodbye to your "friend" Potter' Voldemort spoke, a dark sense of pride infecting his speech.

Hermione would never forget the look in Ron's eyes at that moment. He knew what was to come, and he knew Harry and Hermione could not stop it. He looked towards Hermione, and the gaze lasted forever. She could see the hopelessness in his beautiful blue eyes, and the pain of knowing he was going to die. Harry was screaming and trying everything and anything to stop the Dark Lord, but it was too late.

With a sickening nudge of his wand, Voldemort let go of Ron, and the man Hermione loved so dearly fell out of sight over the cliffs edge. There was no scream of terror, no cry for help; only the sound of distant wizards and witches dueling below.

Hermione was motionless. She could not believe Ron was gone, so quickly, so quietly.

'I'm going to kill you!' Harry screamed at Lord Voldemort, as he tried to prop himself up off the rocks. Hermione's eyes moved slowly over and gazed at Harry. She was still in utter disbelief, and looked to find Harry—in immense pain—standing on is broken leg, with his wand still pointed at Lord Voldemort.

'AVADA KEDAVRA!' Harry screamed, as the green light spewed from his wand. Voldemort cast the same spell, and the wands connected like they had many times that day.

Hermione stared at her hand in the bright glow of light from the wand connection, and looked at her own wand. She could not save Ron, but Harry was still alive, in front of her now. She leaned over on her chest, and raised her wand.

'CRUCIO!' she yelled out at Voldemort. His attention was shifted instantly at the new voice, and he was caught unprepared. He fell over, and the connection stopped, and Harry took advantage of the time.

'AVADA KED-' he started, but got no further. A massive black snake came out from behind a rock near his good leg, and snapped its jaws around it. Harry screamed in pain as the snake clamped down on his leg, and he fell to the ground—his wand dropping out of his hand. Hermione was so shocked by the violence of it all, unable to help, she did not see Lord Voldemort get back up, and crackling evilly at Harry's terrible pain, and Hermione's fearful expression.

With another sickly flick of his wand, Hermione was thrown off the ledge, and fell down onto the rocks below.

She could feel the wind around here, and the sound of it as it roared past her ears. It lasted on a second or two, and was silenced by a disgusting set of cracks from her bones breaking on the rocks. She could feel her bones screaming in pain, but her attention was still up above where her mind remained.

In the closing moments, she could still hear Harry screaming in pain, and her eyes let out their first tears of the day. Her eyes stinged as she forced them open again, and glanced upwards at the mountainside.

Out of focus, and through her tears, she saw the last flash of green light from the ledge above reflect around the edges, and she closed her eyes tightly, hiccupping a breath.

Lord Voldemort had won the war.

--

'Hermione?' someone called, as Hermione felt a nudge on her shoulder. 'Hermione, wake up!'

Opening her eyes, she sat straight up and scanned the area quickly. She was in a house, filled with warm yellow light from the sun that shone through the windows. The walls were decked in canary yellow wallpaper with nice little white patterns, and several paintings of scenic spots in England and Scotland were hung about.

Looking down at herself, she quickly checked her leg and found it was alright. She could feel the sweat on her legs and the rest of her body. She was sitting on an old—but comfortable—brown couch, with an equally old scarlet blanket on her.

Feeling a hand being placed on her forearm, she jumped as she remembered back to the nightmare, and the day she was found on the side of the mountain.

'Are you alright Hermione?' the man asked, looking worried at her. Hermione took in a deep breath, and placed a hand on top of his—which was scared in several places.

'I'm alright Neville, thank you. It was . . . just a bad dream' she explained, Neville looking down and nodding. He moved over slowly, and Hermione moved her legs so he could sit at the end of the couch.

'I know what you mean, I have them all the time too. Will you be alright?' he asked kindly.

Hermione smiled at him warmly, and nodded. Neville was such a sweetheart, she was so glad he survived. He deserved so much more than what he had, working in a greenhouse as a plant transplanter. He still loved herbology and such, but like Hermione, gave up magic years ago.

'Did you want some breakfast?' he asked, looking at her with still a hint of worry in his eyes.

'Thank you Neville' she replied, and Neville stood up slowly, and made his way to the kitchen. Hermione stayed on the couch for a few moments, breathing in deeply and reminding herself things were alright. She hated the nightmare, and yet it came every night. It always took a few moments to calm herself in the mornings.

Getting up off the couch, she walked over into Neville's blue tiled kitchen, and sat down at the table. She had fallen asleep in her clothes from the night before, but she did not mind with what happened before reaching Neville's flat.

'So' Neville finally said, after putting Hermione's toast down on a plate for her, 'what happened last night?'. On his budget, Neville could not afford many luxuries, like jam or eggs, but Hermione of course did not mind. She was just lucky to be alive to enjoy the toast.

'I just ran into some Markers, and got a bit scared, but I'm alright' she tried to pass off quietly. She should have remembered Neville was kind, not stupid.

'"Just ran into some Markers!" Hermione, you don't just run into them. What happened?' he asked again, looking at her closely. She put her toast down, and sighed.

'It was nothing Neville, really' she expressed quietly, reaching for the margarine. Neville pulled it away—a bit of pain wiping across his face as it was his bad arm—and looked at her harshly.

'Hermione, don't pull that on me. I've known you longer than anyone else, and I know when you're lying. If you're worried, I promise I won't tell another living soul.'

'No Neville, I'm not-' she started, taking a breath, and exhaling it slowly. 'I'm not worried, it was . . . just strange.'

'What was strange?' he asked, leaning in more. Hermione looked at her toast again, and then glanced at Neville's face, her eyes catching sight of his scar on his right side. She had to remember who she was talking to.

'There was this man, he . . . he was dressed in black, and he attacked the Markers that were going to take me away for being out after curfew.'

'I told you not to go out after-'

'Yes, yes, I know Neville' she insisted, putting her hand up, and leaning back in her chair.

'So what was so strange about a man trying to help you?' he questioned. Hermione looked out the window over the sink on the right, and over at the window in the sitting room on the left, and leaned in over the table.

'He was a wizard' she whispered, seeing his dazed reaction as she expected. She sat back down, and let him understand.

'A . . . wizard? And he attacked the Markers?' he asked, Hermione nodding. He leaned back in his chair, and looked up at the ceiling letting out a breath.

'Well, did he just attack them and go, or did he stick around?'

'He stayed afterwards, and asked if I was alright' Hermione informed.

'Anything else?' Neville asked, leaning onto the table again.

'He asked me for my name.'

'Which one did you give him?'

'Hermione' she answered, Neville letting out an disappointed sigh.

'Hermione, why did you do that? What if he was a Marker trying to deceive you?' he asked strictly.

'He wasn't a Marker Neville!' Hermione replied back, a bit of anger rising in her voice. She started to get the idea that Neville thought she couldn't take care of herself.

'How are you sure?'

'Because he practically killed the two who were trying to get me, and he brought be here safely' Hermione snapped back, getting up from the table, and bringing her plate to the sink. Neville sat quietly, and Hermione put her plate in the sink, and leaned on it.

'I'm sorry Hermione. I don't think you're inept, I just don't want anything to happen to you. You're like a sister to me' Neville commented to her from the table. She turned towards him, and dropped her angry stance in favour of a more relaxed one.

'It's OK Neville, I should have been more careful.' She walked back to the table, patting him on his good shoulder lightly, and sat back down. Neville took a sip of his tea, and placed the cup back on its plate.

'Anything else about this guy?' he asked calmly.

'He said his name was V, and that he was looking for vengeance' she recalled. It was still hazy in her mind, but she did recall a bit of his rambling in all those v-words.

Neville narrowed his eyes in thought, and leaned back in his chain. 'V' he said, still thinking. 'He didn't say exactly who he was seeking vengeance against did he?'

'Not that I recall, though he did mention something about vanquishing vermin and some other stuff with too many v's. It sounded like he might be standing up against the Markers. He sounded crazy enough to try it too' Hermione asserted. Neville stood slowly, and made his way slowly to the sink, and placed his dishes inside.

'Yes, well, it sounds like the Markers will make short work of him. Tell me, do you work today?' he asked.

'No, I have Saturdays off luckily.' Neville came back around the counter, and leaned against it with his cane in his other hand.

'It might be terribly rude to ask, but would you mind if I came and saw your apartment?' he asked, a tinge of red entering his cheeks. Hermione chuckled, and stood from her chair.

'Of course you can! Crookshanks will be happy to see a familiar face!' she boasted, making Neville beam brightly.

Hermione freshened herself up, and Neville cleaned up the dishes and fed his fish before they left. Hermione could have sworn she saw a magical plant in his fish tank, but he gave a gentle push out the door when he noticed her staring at it.

Walking down the street at a leisurely pace, they reached Hermione's apartment building with good time, and she brought him up. There were several kids playing around the area in some of the lawns, and the bright sun shining in the sky gave the day a nice feel to it.

Walking up the stairs proved a bit of a challenge for Neville, but he managed. Getting into her apartment, Hermione put her things away as Neville sat gratefully on her couch. Crookshanks had of course smelled him on the way in, and was happily sitting under his good arm, waiting to be pampered.

Meanwhile in Hermione's room, she was putting her clothes away neatly. She and Neville were planning on going to the park and catching up with each other, and she was excited to talk to someone who knew her as Hermione and not that dreadful "'Mione".

Closing her drawer, and hearing the playful children outside the window, her eyes fell on a picture of her, Ron, and Harry from Platform 9 ¾.

She remembered the day it took place, and she breathed deeply as her mind moved back to happier times with her dear friends still alive. She remembered the days when she sounded like one of those children, and things were so much simpler.

Picking up the frame, she looked at the photo closely, and felt an foreign object on the back. Pulling on it, she found it was a piece of paper; a piece of parchment.

Curious, with a tinge of worry, she opened the parchment—as it was folded—and she read the note.

They know who you are
They know where you live
Get out now and go back to Neville's
Bring your wand and the cat
Go now, they are coming

V

A/N - There we are, chapter 2! Thoughts? Like where it's going? Like that you don't actually see Harry or Ron die? Oh, I'm evil aren't I:) Told you I'd have fun with this story!

Please review!