Everything was a blur after that.
They seemed to run forever until they saw the dark figures with cloaks flowing behind them like plumes of black smoke. He shot a few spells into the forest beyond them without really thinking about it. Harry felt like he was in a trance. He only felt pricks of fear that occasionally ran down his spine, as if his own body was trying to wake him up.
Harry and Hermione slowed down to a walk after the voices died down. They were lost. The dark forest trapped them in a labyrinth of massive trees and dense undergrowth. Everywhere they turned was a monotonous scene of gnarled branches and roots.
'Over there!' a gruff voice in the distance called.
At those words Harry awoke from his trance. They ran like startled deer through the forest, stumbling on the thick roots stretched out in a map-like pattern. Harry looked to the right to see Hermione running beside him. Her breath came out in puffs of steam that dissolved into the frosty air.
Hermione peered upwards and saw glimpses of the clear night through the crowded canopy. The moon shone brilliantly, a perfect orb of light in a blue-black sky. Her senses seemed to be heightened at the impending danger and she was taken aback at a moment of perfect clarity.
Harry saw a bolt of green light zoom past, just barely missing him. He shot a Stunning spell behind him, and hearing the muffled cry, smiled. Hey savoured the small victory momentarily.
They couldn't run anymore. Harry's legs were on fire from overexertion. Hermione's throat burned from the amount of cold air going into her lungs.
'Hermione,' Harry said in between puffs 'I think we need to stop…'
'Over there,' Hermione replied, gesturing to a clump of fig trees with hollow trunks in near a small clearing.
Expending his last burst of energy he followed her.
They stood in the trees, panting, trying to catch their breath. Without warning, Hermione's knees buckled and she collapsed.
Harry caught her, but just barely. She started sobbing into his shirt, the weight of the situation crashing down on her in one fell swoop. He patted her hair tenderly as she let go of the emotions she had kept in all night. Harry felt a stirring in his chest at the feel of her warm body pressed to his, clinging on for life.
Hermione gazed up at him. Harry brushed a tear sliding down her face and caught it on his finger. She looked at his hand, then in his eyes. In a near perfect moment she leant in to him.
They were so close to each other Harry could smell the salt of her tears, the earthen smell of the campsite that clung to both of them and the light floral fragrance that was just her.
'Harry…' she whispered, her cool breath blowing gently in his face.
Harry was utterly rapt up in the moment, committing every single detail to memory.
His lips were quivering slightly.
Her eyes were closed.
He could feel her breath.
The soft sounds of the forest at night were all he could hear.
Then they kissed.
He was tentative, gentle, cautious even.
She pulled away. Her brown eyes pierced his green ones with intense emotion.
'We can't Harry,' more tears spilt down her face. 'It's too much…I'm sorry…'
'Hermione I –' He started to say. She had already walked out of the cave-like tree and was standing on the other side of the clearing.
He went after her, calling out her name. She walked, and then ran, away from him.
Harry decided to let her go. He sat down on to a log and cried out of frustration and pain.
I've ruined everything. He thought to himself.
She's my best friend, and I, I kissed her for Christ's sake!
He sat there for an age, just looking at the forest around him, listening to the natural soundtrack of birds and insects. Harry succumbed to an immense exhaustion that had been plaguing him and fell to sleep resting on a tree.
He woke to the sound of Hermione's screams. She was called his name, followed by frantic sobbing. Harry was panicking, scrambling through the trees, calling back to her.
He finally found her, kneeling down beside something in the centre of a clearing. He moved closer. Herrmione, sensing his presence, rushed to him. Over her shoulder he saw that it was a body she was kneeling at.
'I think it was the Death Eaters Harry…' Hermione said. 'There's a burn on the chest, most likely the Killing Curse…' she trailed off and burst into tears that she had been holding back.
Pushing her somewhat roughly aside, he walked closer to the body.
'Jesus Christ…' Harry said under his breath.
In the middle of the grass lay Ron Weasley, his best friend. He was gone, not just from the group, but from life altogether.
Hermione was crying behind him. The noise began to seem further and further away as he stared at Ron's motionless body. Soon there was no noise at all.
Harry felt something rising in his chest, something he had to let out. He yelled at the top of his lungs. For pain at the physical loss of his friend. For pain at the emotional loss of the other. For pain at the seemingly endless quest he had been sent on. He yelled for all of the emotions that he could not express any other way.
Then there was nothing.