Chapter Ten...
This is the point of the story where you all go 'Oh no, what did he do that for?' or 'How is he narrating this thing if he's dead?' Well quite obviously, I wasn't dead so you can go and dry up all those tears. For now.
The last thing I could distinctly remember was the heavy pressure placed on my chest and the feeling that my head was going to explode. After that, everything became blurry and not quite real. The very last sound I heard before flying into something very sturdy was another of Hermione's screams.
Then I blacked out.
"Oliver?" said a very faint voice in my ear.
I groaned louder than I thought I did and tried to move. No way. I couldn't even open my eyes let alone get my limbs to function.
"Oliver?" the voice was panicking now.
I felt a cold hand touch my face. Hermione. I knew I was sweating badly. From the effort of trying to move, the pain I was in and also the fear instilled in me.
"Are you alive?" she asked.
"I think so," I managed to choke out.
"Oh thank the great wizards above..." she cried, her hands shaking and her voice wavering. I felt a few tears fall on my cheeks but they weren't mine. They were hers.
My eyes fluttered open. Everything was a mess and out of proportion. I blinked a few times to try and clear the view but it didn't work. Somewhere amongst my clouded vision I managed to see a slightly distorted looking Hermione. I didn't need to see her properly to be able to tell that she positively petrified.
"It's okay," I mumbled, sounding to me like I was very drunk.
She fell into my arms sobbing tremendously.
"What's going on?" I asked, petting her hair with all the energy I had left. "Where are we? What's happened?"
She sobbed harder. "I don't know... we're in the Great Hall still. You-Know-Who, he's gone. So is Harry. So is Professor Dumbledore. So is Percy!"
"What do you mean 'gone'?" I asked. "You mean gone or... gone?"
"Both!" she cried. "Professor Dumbledore is gone, Harry has gone too and Percy... Percy is... dead."
Suddenly the great weight on my chest returned. Dead? Percy? No, it had to have been a mistake. This wasn't happening. It wasn't real. It was a nightmare and any second now I'd wake up and go back to thinking Hermione was nothing but a nerdy bookworm and that Quidditch was my life and ultimate goal.
But I didn't wake up. What was happening was not some silly mirage and I knew that nothing would ever be the same again.
I quickly realised that one of the reasons for my fogged vision was the fact that the castle was now practically pitch black except for the tiny bit of moonlight that was beaming in through one of the shattered windows.
I closed my eyes and rested my head back on the floor. It landed on something sharp, probably a piece of glass or something.
"Oliver?" Hermione said.
"Hmmm?" I asked, trying not to fall asleep for fear of never waking up.
"Thank you."
"For what?" I asked, though now when I remember it all, it's very obvious what she was thanking me for. So it wasn't the most studious moment for me.
"For everything you've done for me. And for saving my life."
I couldn't believe my ears. She was thanking me? For what I'd done? Didn't she see everything she'd done for me too? Needless to say, I was honoured. "You're welcome," I replied, not really sure of what else I could say. I'd tell her what I wanted to say later, in a different situation. If we ever got out of the current one that was.
There wasn't much noise around us. Though I was unaware of it, most of the other students had either been injured or had fainted from fear. Only a few students were conscious and whispering to others around them. Now when I think about it, I wonder why I never thought about why there was no other noise. I wonder why I didn't question more things. But I think it was all because I was in mega shock. Nothing that had happened was logical so therefore my brain wasn't thinking logically.
"Oliver," Hermione said, lifting her head off me. "If I die will you do something for me?"
"Yeah sure," I replied, not really being bothered to try and make her think optimistically. "What is it?"
"I'd like you to write something."
"Write something?" I asked, thinking perhaps my eyes weren't the only clouded thing.
"Yes, just write something."
"Anything?"
"Yes, anything."
"So writing your name on a piece of parchment would suffice?"
"Oliver!"
I almost laughed at my own joke. But it wasn't that funny.
"Okay," I said, more seriously. "I promise that I will write something. I don't understand why you want this but I can't be bothered trying to figure it out. At least not yet."
"That's fine," she said. I could almost see the hint of a smile. "Oliver..."
"Hmm?"
"... I love you." With that, her head hit my chest again.
Checking to make sure she was breathing and alive, I decided it was time I tried to sit up. Biting my lip so hard that it began to bleed, I groaned and cursed and rolled over until I was in a somewhat comfortable position. The piece of glass or whatever was no longer digging into the back of my skull and I was surprised at how much this reduced the pain. I leant against the back of what I think was an upturned table for support and slightly moved Hermione so she would be a bit more comfortable.
I needed to check my own injuries to make sure I wasn't bleeding to death. Under the moonlight it was hard but my vision was improving and my eyes were adjusting to the light limitations.
I held my arms up and found I had a huge gash across the bottom of my left one. I was already aware that blood was rushing down my forehead from a head injury but I hadn't noticed the pain of it yet. My legs were stiff and I couldn't move them well partly because of the way Hermione was lying on me, but I could feel warm sticky blood seeping through my trousers so I figured they weren't in the best of condition either. The pain in my chest had subsided but as I slowly lifted up my shirt I noticed something very strange. It was a weird shape imprinted on my chest right where the pain had been. As I peered closer to it I realised what it was. The Dark Mark. What was that? What did it mean? Was I now... cursed?
Author's Note: Nobody except Percy is dead yet. Sorry Chris.