Haunted Memories
-Chapter One-
Ghosts of the Past
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters within J.K Rowling's story.
The night was beautiful and still as Hermione stood upon the Astronomy Tower and observed the bright stars which hung pregnant in the midnight sky. The moon lay hidden amongst some clouds, resting upon their soft cotton fur. Suddenly, the wind picked up and whipped her hair around her wildly. Hermione shivered slightly as a draft entered through her robes and embraced her body. She smiled as a shooting star raced across the sky and she lazily tried to brush the elfin knots out of her hair. Closing her eyes, she let the wind whisper softly to her and feel the night's calm fill her with their silence.
Hours later, Hermione sat down in her quarters reading through numerous essays. It was five years since the Final Battle. The small first years which entered into Hogwarts barely even remembered what happen during those years. They were children and children could forget easily. Hermione sighed as a wayward tear started down her cheeks. For the past five years, she had become emotional. Every time she remembered the friends that she had lost and the battles fought, she would feel the tears start forming around her chocolate brown eyes. Wiping away the traitorous tears, she started on a new essay. She was quite happy that her third years were starting to develop in their methods of writing essays. A few actually started to make immense progress. Smiling happily as she graded a essay that could have rivalled her own in third year, Hermione set about her task with a renewed heart.
As the night wore on, she had finished her marking and progressed to planning tomorrow's lessons for her N.E.W.T classes. Ever since Professor McGonagall took over the position as Headmistress at Hogwarts, the Transfiguration professor's position have seen a numerous amount of teachers come and go. It wasn't that the position was hard to fill. No...it was that no one could not stay at Hogwarts long. The new professors always found it too depressing for their own good. Memories were etched within these walls. The Final Battle had ended here. The battle between the good and evil. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had died within these very walls, along with numerous amounts of innocents. Hermione sighed. She realized that she had been staring at the piece of parchment in front of her for at least fifteen minutes. Closing her tired eyes, she opted to go to sleep. But as she stood in her night gown looking out of her windows, she caught sight of a black figure striding towards the school. Rubbing her eyes she looked more closely at the billowing robes. Her chocolate eyes narrowed. Was that a dementor? Both hands on the window sill she struggled for a closer look when suddenly the figure stopped. A hooded face looked up towards Hermione's windows and she felt the breath catch in her throat. Slender pale fingers pulled back the hood and Hermione was face to face with her Potions Master.
Her legs buckled under her as she caught herself before hitting the bedside table behind her. Struggling for breath, she tried feebly to stand. As she looked out the window again, she found herself staring at the empty lawn of the school. Sighing heavily she sat down upon her bed and tried to breathe more evenly. Four years ago, she has been getting nightmares of those who have died. Hermione saw Dumbledore's ashen face staring at her as he floated through the halls of Hogwarts. During class, she would see Luna Lovegood smiling at her with a far out look before vanishing before her very eyes. Sometimes, she would hear the laughter of Ron and Ginny as she passed the Quidditch feild only to find no one there. Tears formed in her already swollen eyes as she remembered everything. She had once thought that she was going mental. Confiding in Harry and Neville never really helped because they were haunted by their own ghosts.
Secretly, she had attempted to kill herself a few years back when she couldn't take seeing her lost friends in her imagination. Luckily she was saved by a young witch in her fifth year. The young witch had also lost friends in the war and together they had helped each other out of their troubled times. But now, Hermione had just seen the image of Snape! It has been a long time since she had seen him in her mind. Sometimes, Hermione would hex him until he was on the ground and bleeding within an inch of his life, other times, she would listen to his pleas as dementors tormented him with the kiss of death. But that was two years ago. Hermione knew that inside, there was something nagging her. Severus Snape was an evil man, but something about the way he acted during the Final Battle had made her wonder as to his true allegiance to the Dark Lord.
After Dumbledore's death, the events leading to the defeat of Voldemort happened so fast no one knew what was happening. For one thing, numerous tips were sent via a mysterious black owl towards the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters. This unnerved some seeing as Headquarters was unplottable therefore, this anonymous person knew where headquarters was. Furthermore, this person had in depth knowledge of what the Death Eaters were planning. The Order acted with caution whenever these tips revealed an attack but each time, the tip was revealed as being true. Then three weeks before the Final Battle, Severus Snape appeared out of nowhere. During an attack against Hogsmead, Snape was amongst the Death Eater ranks but when Harry and Headmistress McGonagall was in danger, he shot curses at the Death Eaters behind them. The Ministry had tried to explain this strange behaviour by saying that Snape had merely missed and hit one of his own.
A week before the Final Battle, Snape appeared before Hogwarts beaten and bloody. He carried in his arms a pair of children. Both nearly beaten to death. Hermione almost hexed the man before he warned of an attack on Hogwarts. This time, with the full force of Death Eaters. Leaving the children gently before the gates of Hogwarts, he apparated away.
True enough, a week later, the Final Battle began. Hermione still remembered facing Bellatrix Lestrange and hearing the ominous cackle during battle. The Lestrange woman had a crazy glare to her eyes. Her face broke into a hideous grin as she cornered Hermione. With her wand three feet away, Hermione had no chance of getting it before Lestrange would kill her. But before the woman advanced to kill her, she decided to share some interesting information.
"Don't think that the traitor Snape will ever come and help you little one. He's dying somewhere in a ditch. Wondering where his mother is, no doubt." A loud laughter came out of her as spit and blood flew out of her mouth. "The Dark Lord knows everything. He will not allow anyone to live if they abandon our cause." Staring wide eyed with a bright glimmer in her eyes, Lestrange finally pointed her wand at the girl. "Say hello to Severus for me, mudblood."
But before the curse could be muttered, a bright green light engulfed Lestrange. The woman fell forward and Hermione crawled out of the way. Behind Lestrange, Neville stood with a glazed look on his face. Tears formed unwillingly as he helped Hermione up.
"Are you okay, Hermione?"
"I'm fine. Thank you Neville."
Nodding, Neville placed Hermione's wand into her hands and they battled side by side. Years later, the little tid bit that Bellatrix had shared with her made her wonder whether or not Snape was really dead and whether or not everything that he did was actually for the Order.