Disclaimer: This doesn't matter! I own nothing, I'm getting paid for nothing! Is it nice to rub it in?
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Six years ago, more or less
A younger, unscarred Hermione sat alone on the steps of the school. She wasn't reading, and she wasn't talking. She was just sitting, and taking in the fresh air. It was just getting warmer, and the grounds were absolutely breathtaking.
Stumbling out the door, supporting someone; dragging them over the ground. The air was full of flames, and of screams as she was carried along in the crush of panicked children. Someone was screaming right in her ear; a wordless scream that wouldn't stop.
She sighed, and looked around her. She could hear the soft murmur of voices as someone crossed through the hall behind her. She was done with her lessons for the day, and she could just relax until Harry and Ron came back.
The grounds were full of people, and more arrived with every second. Wizards and witches ran to meet the stream of children, trying to stem the panic. They grabbed children and vanished, to appear again and grab another. Hermione didn't know if they were from the Ministry or not. Everyone looked the same through the smoke. Someone took the first-year from her, shouting something in her ear. Hermione couldn't hear what they said. It was too loud. It was too much.
Soon she'd be done with this year. She'd be going on to—well, to something. She brushed away the anxiety with an effort that was almost habitual. There was no rush, she told herself constantly. And today, it worked. It was hard to worry about anything on a day like today.
People pushed past her, driving her away from the safety of the forest. She struggled against them, desperate to join the rest of the school in the safety of the trees. It was funny that it had always been called 'the Forbidden Forest', when now it felt like the only safe place left.
She had plenty of time to decide what she wanted to do. Maybe she'd even become a teacher. Smiling at the thought, Hermione twisted to look up at the school behind and above her. Her home.
There was a great explosion, and the force of it knocked Hermione off her feet. She looked up, and the astronomy tower was gone. It was just… gone. There was a column of green smoke where it should have been, and that was all. There was another explosion, and the front door of the school shattered. Great doors that had lasted through the centuries, and they ripped apart like as though they were made of paper. Hermione lay on the ground, unable to tear her eyes away as more and more of the school vanished in the noise and insanity. Hagrid's house was on fire…
Squinting into the light of the sun, Hermione shielded her eyes and looked down at two figures walking towards her. Getting to her feet, she waved to them, calling out as they waved back.
"Hermione! Hermione!" Someone was touching her arm, then hitting her hard in the shoulder. She looked up, tears blurring her vision.
"Harry…" He was little more than a shadowy shape, his glasses bizarrely reflecting the orange light of the fires.
"Get to the Forest. It'll be safe there," His voice was hoarse, and he was almost screaming so that she could hear him. "Make sure everyone's okay."
"Come with me!" she yelled into his face, gripping his arms tightly. Why did it feel like he was already vanishing?
"I can't. This is it, Hermione. It's the end of the story," No, no, it isn't. Don't say that, Harry. "I need to beat him, now."
Hermione shook her head violently, fighting off the horrible feeling that she'd never see him again.
"It's alright," He said, pulling her to her feet, and ducking as something shot through the air over their heads. "I'll see you after, I promise."
And then he was gone, leaving her to stare into the melee that rushed to fill the gap he left behind. She stared as if she hadn't noticed the madness before, taking in the sounds, the smell
Afraid, horribly afraid, but resolute, Hermione drew her wand.
She ran lightly to meet them across the serene yard, filled with a sense of rightness. Everything was going to be fine after all, wasn't it? Talking to them, being around them, she knew that it would. There would be a happy ending, she was sure. The future was before them, and there was nothing they couldn't do.