It was the Halloween feast. All spirits were lively and most were enjoying
themselves thoroughly. The Halloween feast also meant the beginning of the
Quidditch season. Of course Harry and Ron were talking of nothing but. It
was their final year at Hogwarts. Hermione had turned down the Head Girl
position so that the duties would not interfere with her rigorous study
schedule and abundance of classes. This time, however, she was a little
lighter on herself than she was in third year. She had learned her lesson
the hard way.
The entertainment consisted of the ghosts of Hogwarts telling stories about their lives, the lives of those students who attended centuries ago, and reenacting their death scenes. The most amusing had to have been Nearly Headless Nick, who's beheading was the result of a simple misunderstanding.
It was towards the end of the feast that all the candles in the Great Hall extinguished. Everyone was confused. Eventually, many of the staff and students had made light with their wands, and looked at each other. At first, they thought it a prank. Even when they heard the cold laughter, they thought it a prank. That was until Draco Malfoy ran into the room. "The Death Eaters are coming! Voldemort is with them!"
The resulting chaos left many of the students ignoring the Headmaster's plea for silence and order. The doors to the Great Hall flew open, and students, staff, and order members were gathered outside. Madam Hooch and Professor Snape had taken to dividing the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, and many of the older students were well trained. Part of their training included using the killing curse and blocking out the emotions so that they were able to focus on their task. Also, emergency plans were part of the training. The younger years were ushered back into the castle, and towards the entrance to Hogsmeade behind the witch statue.
The battle began, curses and hexes flying all over the place. The Headmaster and Harry Potter were taken into the castle for preparation of what was to come. Voldemort had regained a new body, and new spells were protecting him from many curses. This found the staff, order members, and students from years 4 and up protecting the castle perimeter.
Hermione and Ron were separated from one another, and were taking on sometimes 2 or 3 Death Eaters at a time. Luckily, they did not have instructors as capable as Hooch and Snape, although there were many close calls. Peter Pettigrew was sneaking up behind Ron, and Hermione spotted him. She was about to help Ron out with the attackers he was facing at the moment, but was then side swiped with a club. Looking up, she spotted a giant. Some of the recruits that Voldemort was able to get were from a giant tribe that had been attacked by some unknowing Aurors. Now, they were fighting for his side.
Even though the giant had size on his side, he could not compete with Hermione's speed. She threw the killing curse at him and he nearly fell on her. Luckily, she dodged out of the way before he hit the ground.
Looking up once again, she saw that Peter had his wand pointed at Ron, and was about to deliver the killing curse. Ron was able to defend himself by physically fighting him, trying to pull Pettigrew's wand out of his hands. Hermione saw another figure approach the pair, and recognized it as Neville. She was relieved as she saw Neville raise his wand towards them and begin to mutter the killing curse. Nothing prepared her for what she saw. The curse had hit Ron, and it had been intentional. She screamed as she saw the smile appear on both Neville's and Pettigrew's faces. She than lifted her own wand, and pointed it at Peter. She muttered the killing curse, and he fell to the ground. Neville looked towards the direction the curse came from. He spotted Hermione, and raised his own wand. "Expelliarmus!" She heard someone shout, and Neville lost his wand and was thrown to the ground. Without looking back, he made escaped as fast as he could while limping. Draco ran in the same direction, Neville's wand clutched in his fist.
Hermione made her way to her feet again, and focused on the battle at hand. She couldn't believe that Neville was a traitor. But she couldn't focus on that now. If she did, she would lose her life. It was something she couldn't afford. She knew the defense plan; hold off the enemy for as long as possible. She did not even give herself time to mourn for Ron. Time for that later, if there was a later.
Towards the end of the first day, the Death Eater's were closing in on the castle. The battle was bloody. Sometimes, she had to fight with her bare hands against armed enemy, but she was prepared for that long ago. A few hours ago, she had learned that the first, second, and third years had been mostly killed off. Neville, and any other traitors among them had divulged the emergency plans, and the group had been stopped from escaping, and slaughtered.
In the second day of battle, the lack of rest had caught up to her. She had just fended off an attacker when she heard a yell. Looking over, she spotted Lucius Malfoy fighting with Professor Snape. Snape was thrown to the ground, clearly exhausted and wounded. Malfoy lifted his wand towards Snape and was about to utter the killing curse, when Hermione screamed out "Petrificus Totalus!" The curse hit Malfoy, and Hermione ran towards Snape, who had lost his wand in the fight. Snape looked towards Hermione and gave her a nod to indicate that he was all right. He quickly retrieved his wand, and pointed it towards her. She was stilled in shock a moment, but the curse uttered went over her shoulder and hit McNair.
Snape stood from where he was and walked towards Hermione. "Keep your mind on the battle. Stick to the plan. Don't worry about anybody else." He hissed as he again faced the oncoming enemy. Hermione was used to his nasty behaviour, and it came for a reason. She did lose focus, and if it hadn't been for Snape, she would have died. She would thank him later; if there was a later.
Halfway through the second day of battle, she found herself towards the Great Hall, fighting hand to hand with Neville Longbottom. Both had cried the disarming charm at each other almost simultaneously. Now, they were putting their physical training to use. Both were top of their defense class, and both found the other quite a challenge. Neville threw her to the ground, and went for an object in his pockets. Hermione was thrown within reaching distance of where her wand had landed, grabbed it, and quickly stood up. She threw the killing curse towards him, but he threw an object at her before he was hit. The object struck Hermione in the side, and with the shock of the sharp pain, she swayed to the side, and her head struck the corner of one of the tables. She lost consciousness.
It was a while later that her senses came back. The smell of burning flesh was overtaking all of her senses. The sight before her was ghastly. Where once Hogwarts stood, proud and tall, it now lay half in ruins. The Gryffindor tower had collapsed on itself under the first attack. The Astronomy tower was barely standing. The Great Hall was littered with bodies of Death Eaters, Staff, some of the Order's finest, and students. Remembering the pain in her side, she looked down to see that a knife protruded from her side.
She heard a voice, "Granger!"
Looking up, Hermione could see the figure coming closer to her, limping a bit. When it cleared through some of the smoke, she could see the outline of Draco Malfoy. He had been a spy, similar to that of Snape. He had kept an eye on the movements of Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and many others. He had reported the plans of the attack and helped to prepare for the battle that would take place. Draco approached her, almost tripping over the body of Neville Longbottom, traitor. The current date equivalent of one Peter Pettigrew.
Throwing a disgusted look towards the lifeless body, Draco made his way to Hermione. Kneeling down by her side, he took stock of the more serious damage. He grabbed a piece of debris from the floor.
"Bite down, Granger. This is gonna hurt!" Draco said, as he put the debris in front of her mouth for her to take. She did as he asked, and nearly bit right through the piece of wood as he pulled the knife from her side. He examined the injury a little more closely.
"Well, I'll do my best, but I'm no Mediwizard." He said. He pointed his wand at the wound, and muttered a few spells. When he was done, he turned back to her.
"I've managed to heal some of the internal injuries, but I'm afraid you still have a bit of internal bleeding. We'll have enough time to get you to the tent." He said as he reached down to help her up.
"NO!" Someone yelled. Both looked up and found Lucius Malfoy looking at them, absolute fury in his eyes at his son. "I will not allow this. TRAITOR!" He screamed insanely at them. Pointing his wand at Hermione, he began the curse. "AVADA KE-"
Before he could complete the spell, Draco pushed her out of his arms, and out of harms way for the time being. "DAVRA!" The green light sailed into Draco's chest, just as Lucius screamed out again. Draco fell to the ground, and his blank eyes looked back at Hermione. She screamed, and Lucius made his way to her.
"You!" He said as he grabbed her by the neck. "Look what you've made me do! My own son!" He lifted his wand and pointed it at her. "You will pay dearly. You will suffer, mudblood bitch!" The look in his eyes told her that this wasn't his usual demonic and sick self. This look was much worse. "CRUCIO!" He yelled.
The searing pain that went through her body could not be described. She went through this curse before, but with the hatred of its target from the caster, and the power that he must be putting into it, it was much worse than she remembered. She attempted to make herself limp to ward off some of the effects of the curse, but could not get her muscles to relax. They seemed to be straining despite her attempts. Suddenly, a flash of green light shot through the air, and she thought for sure that it was headed straight for her. Just as suddenly as that light appeared, the curse stopped, leaving her with the after effects. She landed back on the ground, landing on her left arm in a very awkward way.
"'Mione!" She heard yelled, and recognized the voice immediately. It was Harry. She hadn't known for hours whether or not he was still alive. Now the proof that he was was standing right before her. She could barely lift her head in acknowledgement, but that was enough for Harry to know that she was still conscious.
"Stay still, Hermione. Just relax!" He said before cold laughter filled the remaining of the Great Hall where they were. He did not see Hermione grab the knife from where Draco had dropped it once it was taken from her side. The doors were slammed home, and Harry looked quickly behind him. He could see the corpses that were littered along the floor, and could also make out those who were in the room with him; Dumbledore, Snape, Flitwick, Charlie, and Hagrid. The laughter came even louder this time, and the new body of one Voldemort appeared before the group. Before anyone could blink, Voldemort raised his wand towards Harry and Hermione. Thinking that he was going to kill him, he reached for his wand. But the next words spoken were an absolute surprise to him. "Accio Hermione Granger!"
Before Harry could grab her, she was quickly brought before Voldemort and used as a shield. He pointed his wand towards Dumbledore. "You failed, Dumbledore. You failed to protect the children. You failed to protect your spies. You failed to protect Harry Potter. Now, you will fail to protect yourself! Avada Kedavra!" The green flash sailed towards the Headmaster, and he fell to the ground, lifeless.
"NO!" Harry screamed. Hermione still couldn't make out the happenings of her surroundings. The after effects of the curse still were coursing through her veins. Voldemort raised his wand towards Harry, and Harry raised his back. But he paused. If he threw the killing curse, than Hermione would be lost also. Voldemort took advantage of this. "Avada Kedavra!" The green flash sped towards Harry, and hit him. This time, the boy who lived, did not.
The entertainment consisted of the ghosts of Hogwarts telling stories about their lives, the lives of those students who attended centuries ago, and reenacting their death scenes. The most amusing had to have been Nearly Headless Nick, who's beheading was the result of a simple misunderstanding.
It was towards the end of the feast that all the candles in the Great Hall extinguished. Everyone was confused. Eventually, many of the staff and students had made light with their wands, and looked at each other. At first, they thought it a prank. Even when they heard the cold laughter, they thought it a prank. That was until Draco Malfoy ran into the room. "The Death Eaters are coming! Voldemort is with them!"
The resulting chaos left many of the students ignoring the Headmaster's plea for silence and order. The doors to the Great Hall flew open, and students, staff, and order members were gathered outside. Madam Hooch and Professor Snape had taken to dividing the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, and many of the older students were well trained. Part of their training included using the killing curse and blocking out the emotions so that they were able to focus on their task. Also, emergency plans were part of the training. The younger years were ushered back into the castle, and towards the entrance to Hogsmeade behind the witch statue.
The battle began, curses and hexes flying all over the place. The Headmaster and Harry Potter were taken into the castle for preparation of what was to come. Voldemort had regained a new body, and new spells were protecting him from many curses. This found the staff, order members, and students from years 4 and up protecting the castle perimeter.
Hermione and Ron were separated from one another, and were taking on sometimes 2 or 3 Death Eaters at a time. Luckily, they did not have instructors as capable as Hooch and Snape, although there were many close calls. Peter Pettigrew was sneaking up behind Ron, and Hermione spotted him. She was about to help Ron out with the attackers he was facing at the moment, but was then side swiped with a club. Looking up, she spotted a giant. Some of the recruits that Voldemort was able to get were from a giant tribe that had been attacked by some unknowing Aurors. Now, they were fighting for his side.
Even though the giant had size on his side, he could not compete with Hermione's speed. She threw the killing curse at him and he nearly fell on her. Luckily, she dodged out of the way before he hit the ground.
Looking up once again, she saw that Peter had his wand pointed at Ron, and was about to deliver the killing curse. Ron was able to defend himself by physically fighting him, trying to pull Pettigrew's wand out of his hands. Hermione saw another figure approach the pair, and recognized it as Neville. She was relieved as she saw Neville raise his wand towards them and begin to mutter the killing curse. Nothing prepared her for what she saw. The curse had hit Ron, and it had been intentional. She screamed as she saw the smile appear on both Neville's and Pettigrew's faces. She than lifted her own wand, and pointed it at Peter. She muttered the killing curse, and he fell to the ground. Neville looked towards the direction the curse came from. He spotted Hermione, and raised his own wand. "Expelliarmus!" She heard someone shout, and Neville lost his wand and was thrown to the ground. Without looking back, he made escaped as fast as he could while limping. Draco ran in the same direction, Neville's wand clutched in his fist.
Hermione made her way to her feet again, and focused on the battle at hand. She couldn't believe that Neville was a traitor. But she couldn't focus on that now. If she did, she would lose her life. It was something she couldn't afford. She knew the defense plan; hold off the enemy for as long as possible. She did not even give herself time to mourn for Ron. Time for that later, if there was a later.
Towards the end of the first day, the Death Eater's were closing in on the castle. The battle was bloody. Sometimes, she had to fight with her bare hands against armed enemy, but she was prepared for that long ago. A few hours ago, she had learned that the first, second, and third years had been mostly killed off. Neville, and any other traitors among them had divulged the emergency plans, and the group had been stopped from escaping, and slaughtered.
In the second day of battle, the lack of rest had caught up to her. She had just fended off an attacker when she heard a yell. Looking over, she spotted Lucius Malfoy fighting with Professor Snape. Snape was thrown to the ground, clearly exhausted and wounded. Malfoy lifted his wand towards Snape and was about to utter the killing curse, when Hermione screamed out "Petrificus Totalus!" The curse hit Malfoy, and Hermione ran towards Snape, who had lost his wand in the fight. Snape looked towards Hermione and gave her a nod to indicate that he was all right. He quickly retrieved his wand, and pointed it towards her. She was stilled in shock a moment, but the curse uttered went over her shoulder and hit McNair.
Snape stood from where he was and walked towards Hermione. "Keep your mind on the battle. Stick to the plan. Don't worry about anybody else." He hissed as he again faced the oncoming enemy. Hermione was used to his nasty behaviour, and it came for a reason. She did lose focus, and if it hadn't been for Snape, she would have died. She would thank him later; if there was a later.
Halfway through the second day of battle, she found herself towards the Great Hall, fighting hand to hand with Neville Longbottom. Both had cried the disarming charm at each other almost simultaneously. Now, they were putting their physical training to use. Both were top of their defense class, and both found the other quite a challenge. Neville threw her to the ground, and went for an object in his pockets. Hermione was thrown within reaching distance of where her wand had landed, grabbed it, and quickly stood up. She threw the killing curse towards him, but he threw an object at her before he was hit. The object struck Hermione in the side, and with the shock of the sharp pain, she swayed to the side, and her head struck the corner of one of the tables. She lost consciousness.
It was a while later that her senses came back. The smell of burning flesh was overtaking all of her senses. The sight before her was ghastly. Where once Hogwarts stood, proud and tall, it now lay half in ruins. The Gryffindor tower had collapsed on itself under the first attack. The Astronomy tower was barely standing. The Great Hall was littered with bodies of Death Eaters, Staff, some of the Order's finest, and students. Remembering the pain in her side, she looked down to see that a knife protruded from her side.
She heard a voice, "Granger!"
Looking up, Hermione could see the figure coming closer to her, limping a bit. When it cleared through some of the smoke, she could see the outline of Draco Malfoy. He had been a spy, similar to that of Snape. He had kept an eye on the movements of Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, and many others. He had reported the plans of the attack and helped to prepare for the battle that would take place. Draco approached her, almost tripping over the body of Neville Longbottom, traitor. The current date equivalent of one Peter Pettigrew.
Throwing a disgusted look towards the lifeless body, Draco made his way to Hermione. Kneeling down by her side, he took stock of the more serious damage. He grabbed a piece of debris from the floor.
"Bite down, Granger. This is gonna hurt!" Draco said, as he put the debris in front of her mouth for her to take. She did as he asked, and nearly bit right through the piece of wood as he pulled the knife from her side. He examined the injury a little more closely.
"Well, I'll do my best, but I'm no Mediwizard." He said. He pointed his wand at the wound, and muttered a few spells. When he was done, he turned back to her.
"I've managed to heal some of the internal injuries, but I'm afraid you still have a bit of internal bleeding. We'll have enough time to get you to the tent." He said as he reached down to help her up.
"NO!" Someone yelled. Both looked up and found Lucius Malfoy looking at them, absolute fury in his eyes at his son. "I will not allow this. TRAITOR!" He screamed insanely at them. Pointing his wand at Hermione, he began the curse. "AVADA KE-"
Before he could complete the spell, Draco pushed her out of his arms, and out of harms way for the time being. "DAVRA!" The green light sailed into Draco's chest, just as Lucius screamed out again. Draco fell to the ground, and his blank eyes looked back at Hermione. She screamed, and Lucius made his way to her.
"You!" He said as he grabbed her by the neck. "Look what you've made me do! My own son!" He lifted his wand and pointed it at her. "You will pay dearly. You will suffer, mudblood bitch!" The look in his eyes told her that this wasn't his usual demonic and sick self. This look was much worse. "CRUCIO!" He yelled.
The searing pain that went through her body could not be described. She went through this curse before, but with the hatred of its target from the caster, and the power that he must be putting into it, it was much worse than she remembered. She attempted to make herself limp to ward off some of the effects of the curse, but could not get her muscles to relax. They seemed to be straining despite her attempts. Suddenly, a flash of green light shot through the air, and she thought for sure that it was headed straight for her. Just as suddenly as that light appeared, the curse stopped, leaving her with the after effects. She landed back on the ground, landing on her left arm in a very awkward way.
"'Mione!" She heard yelled, and recognized the voice immediately. It was Harry. She hadn't known for hours whether or not he was still alive. Now the proof that he was was standing right before her. She could barely lift her head in acknowledgement, but that was enough for Harry to know that she was still conscious.
"Stay still, Hermione. Just relax!" He said before cold laughter filled the remaining of the Great Hall where they were. He did not see Hermione grab the knife from where Draco had dropped it once it was taken from her side. The doors were slammed home, and Harry looked quickly behind him. He could see the corpses that were littered along the floor, and could also make out those who were in the room with him; Dumbledore, Snape, Flitwick, Charlie, and Hagrid. The laughter came even louder this time, and the new body of one Voldemort appeared before the group. Before anyone could blink, Voldemort raised his wand towards Harry and Hermione. Thinking that he was going to kill him, he reached for his wand. But the next words spoken were an absolute surprise to him. "Accio Hermione Granger!"
Before Harry could grab her, she was quickly brought before Voldemort and used as a shield. He pointed his wand towards Dumbledore. "You failed, Dumbledore. You failed to protect the children. You failed to protect your spies. You failed to protect Harry Potter. Now, you will fail to protect yourself! Avada Kedavra!" The green flash sailed towards the Headmaster, and he fell to the ground, lifeless.
"NO!" Harry screamed. Hermione still couldn't make out the happenings of her surroundings. The after effects of the curse still were coursing through her veins. Voldemort raised his wand towards Harry, and Harry raised his back. But he paused. If he threw the killing curse, than Hermione would be lost also. Voldemort took advantage of this. "Avada Kedavra!" The green flash sped towards Harry, and hit him. This time, the boy who lived, did not.