It was Harry who led Hermione to her room that night.
"Thanks Harry" she whispered, falling briefly against his chest before turning to enter the dark room. Behind her Harry lit the lamps for her.
"Don't bother" she yawned, feeling the way over to her bed and pulling back the covers. "I can't see anyway"
"Sorry" Harry mumbled, extinguished the lamps, then left her alone.
Hermione waited until the door clicked shut before rolling over and bursting into tears.
She'd never felt so alone in her life. The darkness was consuming her already, suffocating her, tearing her apart inside and yet… and yet she had to stay strong. Everyone else was staying strong. No, she wouldn't let herself be the weakest link in this game because being the weakest link means you'll be the one left behind to die while the others surge on ahead, reaching for the last drop of hope that always seemed to dance out of reach like a glittering red firefly.
Even with this thought stamped determinedly in her mind, Hermione still couldn't rid herself of her tears and she was left to simply cry herself to sleep.
When she opened her eyes the next morning she was startled to find she couldn't see. She almost panicked before remembering why she couldn't see.
The only thing she had to tell her it was morning was the birds singing and fluttering around outside her window. She yawned miserably and got out of bed to dress herself in yesterdays clothes.
With small, shuffling steps and arms outstretched, Hermione made her way out of the room and towards the general direction of the great hall.
She thought she was almost there when she heard female voices coming from within a room. Tonks' room.
"-And you don't think we'll have to nurse her like a child now?" Ginny's voice sounded cold and hard and it chilled Hermione's blood. "You saw her last night at dinner! She couldn't even feed herself!"
"She'll learn, Ginny! Give her time… what else could we do? We can't throw her out, where would she go?"
"Back to her parents place I guess. I don't mean to sound like a bitch, Tonks, but we've got a war to fight and Hermione is in no position to fight it!"
"She still has a wand! She can still do magic!"
"Yeah, but how close will the enemy be able to get before she manages to hit them? Admit it, Tonks… she's as useful as a vegetable!"
These words struck Hermione like a knife in the chest. She couldn't believe it. Ginny, Ginny who was supposed to be her best friend, wanted to get rid of her because she was blind.
"That's Harsh, Ginny" it was Tonks' turn to sound cold and hard. "I don't care what you think, Hermione is a friend and an ally and we will stick by her until the end."
"The end meaning when one of us get killed? Forget it, Tonks, you should be thinking logically. Hermione is now just a waste of space and I will not stand by to watch my friends fall because of her!"
"HERMIONE IS YOUR FRIEND!"
Ginny then stormed out of the room and off in the direction of her own room. She didn't even see Hermione slumped against the wall next to the door.
A few minutes later Tonks came out and spotted Hermione immediately.
"Wotcher, Hermione" she said in a kind, playful voice. Hermione didn't answer. Instead she continued to stare straight into her never-ending darkness.
"Hermione?" Tonks' hand landed gently on Hermione's shoulder, jerking the blind girl out of her dark reverie. "Oh jeez… Hermione, did you hear that?"
Hermione nodded numbly and Tonks pulled her into a firm hug. "I'm so sorry… that conversation should never have happened"
"It's ok. You didn't do anything wrong… I think I might just go for a walk now… I'll see you later" Hermione pulled away from Tonks and, arms stretched out in front, she made her way ever so slowly down through the entrance hall and out onto the grounds.
Knowing very well that there was a high risk of her not being able to find her way back, Hermione set off purposefully towards the lake, only stopping when she felt water brushing her bare feet. She paused only a moment, listening intently to the nature around her, before diving head first into the blistering cold water.
Silence, almost as suffocating as her darkness, consumed her entirely as she swam deeper and deeper into the cold. Moments later she ran out of breathe and she somersaulted before striking out for the surface.
It took almost ten minutes for her to find the bank and she crawled up onto the shore, shivering and cold but refreshed and exhilarated at the same time.
She lay on her back in the grass for a long time, not seeing or moving, but simply listening.
It didn't take her long to realise that, now her important sense of sight was gone, her other senses had kicked in double time. She could hear things she wouldn't usually listen to, feel things she wouldn't normally touch and, when someone approached her from the castle, she found herself expecting them before she heard their footsteps.
"I've been looking for you"
"Have you really… sir?" Hermione didn't really know how to address her former headmaster… did she still call him sir or professor? Or did she go straight to calling him Albus or Dumbledore?
"Yes… I noticed you seemed frustrated when you left this morning"
"Well what can I say… darkness isn't my favourite thing to wake up to in the morning"
"I know. I'll bet all you really want to do now is read a good book"
"Yeah, but I'll never be able to do that again, will I?" Hermione, still shivering in her heavy wet robes, sat up bitterly.
"Would you like to learn Braille?"
Hermione turned towards where she thought the wizard might be standing.
"Could I?"
"Of course you could! Though you would have to teach yourself… I was never much good at reading raised dots… but I do have a kit somewhere in my office… it was always there if ever a blind child joined the school. You can have it if you want"
"Thank you, sir!" she said breathlessly, scrambling to her feet and setting off towards the castle.
"Ah Hermione?" Dumbledore called after her. "The castle is this way"
For the rest of the day, Hermione stayed locked away in her room, teaching herself Braille which, and she was quite proud to say, she was doing quite well at.
She was already a quarter of the way through a book called 'evil wizards and why they do it' that Dumbledore had lent her when there was a loud rapping on her door.
"Time for Dinner" Luna said. "Do you want to come with me?"
"No… I'd come down in a minute, it'll be fine" Hermione, determined to show Ginny that she was defiantly not a vegetable. Luna left and Hermione packed up her Braille kit before heading down to the great hall with her evil wizard book tucked under one arm.
Almost everyone was seated when Hermione entered.
"Come sit here, Hermione" Harry called from one end of the table. Hermione obliged and followed his voice, finally finding her seat between him and Draco.
"Any news of Ron yet?" Ginny asked, as she had the night before. Hermione felt a sudden urge of hatred towards the other girl.
"No" this time it was Harry, their ringleader, who answered. "But he is still alive"
Dinner started and this time it was Harry who loaded Hermione's plate with food.
"Thanks, Harry"
"No Problem"
Conversations sparked up but, once again, Hermione remained quiet, as did Draco beside her.
It wasn't long before Hermione found herself thinking about the blonde boy beside her. She wasn't really shocked that Harry had let Draco back into the castle, no one was all that shocked… they all knew, somehow or another, that Draco would return to them, even if everyone else in the wizarding world had lost all hope of bringing him back.
"What are you reading?" Malfoy's voice crept into her mind like a ghost and for a split second Hermione thought she had imagined it.
"Oh… just this book Dumbledore lent me" Hermione held it up to show him the cover.
"Wow… your learning Braille… already"
"Wow…" Harry said mockingly from Hermione's other side. "I can't believe you two are having an actual conversation!"
Hermione felt her cheeks go hot and she snatched the book back before returning her full attention to her meal.
A whole week passed without any news of Ron. And, although Harry and Dumbledore were certain that he was still alive, all hope of finding him was dwindling away.
Hermione, on the other hand, was increasingly becoming one with her darkness. Slowly she was beginning to understand how to rely more on her hearing and knowledge of the castle than on thinking, and wishing, that one day her sight may come back.
It was exactly one week and two days after Hermione's loss of sight that the attack came.
Though the attack had been expected for some time, the group living in the castle were quite surprised to find death eaters shooting out of the fireplace on the second floor.
Lupin was first to sound the alarm and the light met the darkness in a full on duel in the middle of the entrance hall.
Hermione, who had been ordered to stay out of the way, was rushing to call for reinforcements when she met a lingering death eater on the second floor.
"Well, well" said a deep, growling voice as a tall man grabbed her from behind. "If it isn't a little blind girl"
"Get off me!" Hermione screeched, fighting desperately against her captor.
His grip loosened slightly and Hermione was able to dig her heel into the top of his foot. He howled in fury and stumbled backwards into an oversized eight-foot high china vase from ancient Egyptian times.
The vase shattered and Hermione ducked her head as bits of china showered down on her.
A particularly large and jagged piece fell in her hand just as the death eater regained his balance and came rushing towards her.
Knowing exactly what to do, Hermione waited until he was almost on top of her before rolling to one side, letting him stumble past, before raising the shard of china and driving it into his back.
The man screamed and fell. Hermione felt warm blood splatter across her face and she scrambled away, shaking in terror at what she had just done.
The man's screams fell to a sobbing cry and then he fell silent all together and Hermione knew he was dead.
It was almost an hour before the shouts and fights below died down. Then it was another ten minutes before someone came looking for her.
"Hermione? Are you up here?" it was Harry. Thank god.
"I'm here" she called into the darkness that was her own. Harry came running up and pulled her to her feet. "Harry I killed him… I killed him!"
""Shh… its ok, Herm. He was a bad person. Its ok… what's that?" Harry's foot had kicked against something hard and wooden and he bent to pick it up.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, curiosity taking her over.
"It's a wooden box…" Harry paused as he fumbled with the latch. Finally it opened and a putrid smell filled the air.
"Jesus Christ!" Harry dropped the box and he and Hermione made a run for it, only stopping when they reached a bathroom over the other side of the castle.
Even though they were far away, the putrid smell didn't seem to leave the air. It fact it seem to be getting thicker, weighing down on them.
Hermione turned one of the taps on and put her face in the water. Not far away she heard Harry vomit violently.
The foul smell continued to haunt the air in the castle for several hours. When it vanished hit vanished with a loud pop.
When Hermione went to bed that night she realised that she had never valued fresh more than that moment in her life.
what was in that box that could cause the downfall of everyone? read on if you dare... oh and review please too...