Darkness came swiftly that evening, thanks to the heavy clouds that presented a cold crystalline gift to Hogwarts and the nearby village of Hogsmeade. Hermione faced the lake, against the wind, which caused her hair to whip around in all directions. She shouldn't be out here this late, she knew, even if the owl did come. She had NEWTS tomorrow, something that should have been stressing her out in a big way. However, she had barely granted the exams a passing thought these past few months, not with all that had happened. Hermione had lost her "edge" when it came to academics these past few months, her grades slipped slightly. Somehow it just didn't seem as worthwhile without Ron around to beg her for the answers. Harry had stopped bothering with homework ages ago. He was folding into himself gradually, and these days it was hard for Hermione to convince him to even carry on a simple conversation with her that wasn't pertaining to plans of war. She couldn't blame Harry for withdrawing as he had, what with the loss of Sirius, and then Ron. They were both losing their loved ones bit by bit, life by life. Sirius and Ron weren't the only ones that had fallen for the cause. For Harry, and even for her
. As she watched the waves on the lake lap against the bank, Hermione looked back, not for the first time, on who was gone from them all now. Sirius had been the first, falling through the veil at the end of their fifth year. Their sixth year held the start of the war, the first real battles, and they had lost Tonks and Kingsley in the space of two months. This had shaken everyone severely, and the reality of the situation started slowly falling into place. The death of Percy had come scant months later and still gave Hermione nightmares. It was this loss that affected her the most, for she had been there when he died, and it had been an attempt to keep her safe. They had both been taken by Death Eaters and tortured for information. Percy had held his tongue through days of it, and had kept his secrets even as Lucius Malfoy wiped the life from his body, saving his last words for Hermione, encouraging her to hold on, and to tell his mother that he loved her. Poor Mrs. Weasley; she was still reeling from the death of her third son when she had to deal with the death of her youngest son. Ron had died courageously, defending his younger sister from Bellatrix Lestrange and allowing Remus time to step in and save Ginny. No, nothing had been the same since Ron, and now that Harry and Hermione were left with a crippled version of their former trio, the only thing keeping them afloat was the fact that they had to keep their wits about them if they planned to win this war against Voldemort and stay alive. But somehow, they both knew that even though they had each other, they were still really alone.
An owl came gliding across the sky, it's black silhouette clashing against the stone grey of the clouds. It landed softly on Hermione's shoulder, and stuck out its leg to deliver the parchment tied around it. She unwrapped the letter slowly, and scanned over the words written there:
We'll meet tomorrow at noon. We'll move in at sunset. Sorry about your missed exams, but I'm certain Albus will allow you to make them up.
Moony
So it would happen tomorrow, then. Everything they had been working for. Hermione had expected that it would take longer for Remus and Moody's plan to take form, but it would happen tomorrow. And somehow, Hermione knew, they would lose more people tomorrow. It terrified her more than she could ever have imagined, and her heart seemed to freeze, to cease beating. She shivered as she watched the owl take flight, wondering if she would ever be warm again.