Hermione woke to the sickening feeling of the world moving without her. Her tongue tasted of ash and blood and the skin on her face burned. A deep groan raised her head from her chest, her body curled impossibly small behind something heavy and metal.
Her ears picked up nothing but her own ragged breathing and when she managed to push open her eyes she found darkness that seemed unnatural. A weak grunt pushed her body upward against the stone wall behind her, the movement causing the heavy shield that she'd apparently taken refuge behind to fall forward with a deafening clang. The noise made her entire body jolt with pain, a vertigo-inducing effect as she tried to orient herself.
The entire room was laid in ash, like macabre snow. The air was thick with haze but her spacial awareness told her that the space she found herself in now was not the same volume she remembered it to be. A slow breath into her seared lungs pushed her further to her feet. Her stance swayed as she tried to come to terms with the time she'd lost. It was impossible to tell, at least an hour, maybe more.
Her weak cough echoed through the heavy silence before a small light at the far end of the space slowly came to form. With all the strength of the lion whose house she hailed from, she pulled herself straight. A small glance down made her pause, however, the large shield that had protected her from the raging fire seemed to call out to her, as if the room itself had provided it for her.
Another shaky breath lowered her down to take hold of the handle. She pulled, expecting it to be massive in weight, only to find herself stumbling backward into the wall as it came up with ease. It weighed barely more than a textbook and seemed to adjust to her body mass. The silver steel with blue markings shining through the dust. It looked like an old crest of some sort, something she was sure she should have known but simply didn't have the mental capacity to process.
Another shudder rocked her frame as she began to walk through the soot. Her eyes solely focused on the meager light straight ahead. The room seemed to shift around her, turning what should have been a fifty step journey into that of only ten.
Her thoughts turned to Severus then. The time she had lost. Was he still alive? Was the war over? Had anyone survived? Tears washed away the burn in her eyes as more and more of her thoughts turned dark. She felt like a coward. Like she had run away, instead of merely revealing herself. What had she possibly hoped for with what she'd done? How much blood now laid on her hands?
Another shaky breath brought her before the light and her hand found a latch. It didn't remind her of the door that usually led out of the room. It was smaller, older. Her arm pulsed as she turned the handle before a large gust of cold night air infused with flames rushed past her face.
Her eyes went wide as she took in the sights before her. Hundreds of feet in the air, she found herself looking out from the school at an impossible angle. Large plumes of smoke billowed out from various places along the grounds. Distant screams and war cries filling the night air. The war wasn't over.
"Severus..." Hermione's heart pulsed as she tried to look through the chaos down below. Like ants skirmishing for a single grain of sugar, it was nearly impossible to make anyone out clearly. What should she do? What could she do?
A stern look pressed her lips tightly together. She had wanted to fight, to bring an end to all this. A sharp flash flickered in the corner of her eye and she found herself stepping out onto the small ledge for a better look. She knew she had to fight. It was everything she had been training for, everything they had worked towards.
A high pitched scream pierced the air as a body went soaring from one of the levels in the astronomy tower. Their clothes told her that they were not of the light but the following scream of distress told her that help was needed.
A quick decision pressed her further out onto the ledge, the harsh winds threatening her footing. A small bend in the wall gave her the perfect place to stash the shield. Unsure if its shape and design would hinder her flight she made the decision to leave it behind, for now. Though she did tilt it so she could attempt to summon it when she landed. A shield capable of withstanding fiendfyre would certainly come in handy.
Another lung clearing breath raised her arms behind her, the dark fabric of her cloak splitting in two to form large black wings. A two-step run and a jump brought her into the air while a burst of magic raised her high towards the tower.
"I'm gonna show you what a real wolf's like." Greyback snarled down at the small struggling witch held in his grasp. The smell of her fear, as she dangled helplessly over the edge of a wooden walkway warming his blood. Her would-be lover laying unconscious, possibly dead, below.
"Go to hell." Tonks kicked out weakly, her fingers clawing at the man's tree trunk of an arm. Her head felt as though it were in a vice but she would fight to the death before she'd ever let the demon in front of her touch her.
"You first." Greybacks hold tightened, he could feel the small bones in her throat snapping like twigs, just enough to hurt, not enough to kill—not yet.
Just as he was about to lean in for a bite a dark flicker in the corner of his eye turned his frame. Unfortunately for him, he reacted much too late. A heavy metal slammed hard into his shoulder and back; sending him, his attacker and his victim hard into the wood.
Tonks had just enough time to scramble up to her knees before the sight in front of her held her in place. The woman who had appeared out of nowhere had climbed over the stunned man. She was so much smaller than him but still, she pushed back against his clumsy attempts to get her off.
Hermione snarled when the man's clawed fingers dug tightly into her jacket, a few of the buttons snapping from the tightness of his hold. Both of her hands had come to the hand now pressed to her throat before a spurt of an idea brought her fist, lined with her wand, down hard against his cheek. The added magic of her blow sent the beastly man's head snapping hard to the right before the hand that had held her jacket sent her off to the left.
"You..." Greyback spit up a few of the teeth she'd broken. His head still ringing. He rolled himself over, climbing unsteadily to his feet.
Hermione rolled back onto her knees. Her boot skidding slightly against the shield she'd used to take him down. Her eyes flashing red as she watched—without empathy, the blood drip from his mouth.
"Miss me?" Hermione knew the dangers of riling such an unhinged man, yet still, she found herself calm.
"I'm gonna rip out your throat and eat your heart." Greyback huffed as he cracked his neck, bringing himself up to his full height and completely forgetting about his previous target.
"Charming." Hermione smirked feeling the man's rage. He certainly hadn't forgotten her but he had forgotten Tonks. She just hoped the latter was well enough to get away, "Well come on then!"
"Bitch!" Greyback lunged, his sight blinded with blood-lust. He'd never even felt the blade as his body found itself pressed against a cold shield. Straight into his heart, upward and with a sharp turn. The last thing he ever saw was the fire in the eyes of a woman who refused to die.
Hermione grunted heavily as she pushed the man away. His heavy body rolling into it's back. She spared him little more than a glance to assure herself that he was dead before turning her eyes towards Tonks who appeared to be shaken into a state of shock. It was just as she was about to step over Greyback's body to check on her that Lupin came up the stairs. Head bloody, wand raised. She had only a second to raise the shield again, the force of his strike sending her stumbling back a couple steps into the railing overlooking the grounds. A quick glance back told her she had nowhere to go but down.
Another blow to the shield made the metal ring out like a bell, cutting off her plea. Another told her that the man whom she'd once called a friend, wasn't going to stop until she was dead. With that heart-shattering thought in mind, she found herself falling backward over the ledge. The shield pressed tight to her chest as she attempted to fly with it in tow.
oOo
Severus could feel the blood coursing through every muscle in his body. His summons, the war, everything coming to an end. He had tried to sneak back into the castle, to warn Hermione of what was to come, to finally tell her what he had been destined to do all along but it had been impossible before the chaos had broken out.
He had gone to his rooms as soon as he'd been able but she'd not been there. He really hadn't expected her to be yet still he had hoped. As foolish as it was. The reality of the time he had left on earth was ticking down. Like the last grains of sand in an hourglass.
As the wards of the school gates passed over him a chill ran down his spine. His eyes narrowed taking in the darkened street, devoid of an obvious life. The buildings still smoldering from Voldermort's march through town. It was too quiet, the screams of the castle un-reaching.
His feet began to lead him towards the Shrieking Shack, where he had been told to go. The general staying well behind the lines to ensure his victory. His extra senses told him that he was the first to arrive, a foreboding omen for what laid ahead. A slow breath turned his body towards the castle alight in flames. How long had he called those stone walls home? How long had he sought refuge and damnation inside its walls?
It was all over now, everything he'd worked for. He could only pray that his silver tongue would spare him a few more hours of time in this life. Time to properly see to what his final mission was and to say goodbye to the one he'd never meant to carry.
The darkness inside the creaking house was nearly all-encompassing, the weight in the air slowing his steps as he approached the main room. His eyes and ears swept the area, something ticking away like a pebble on a window pane. He was no longer alone. A slow turn on his heel raised his wand before a haunting image came into view just beyond his wand light.
"Severus." Hermione paid no head to the light at the end of his wand. Quickly covering the space between them to wrap her arms tightly around his back, "You're alive."
Severus' brow furrowed tight, his arms twitching to complete the embrace through the fear of who he'd come to meet kept his arms near his sides, "You can't be here..." He kept his voice low, pulling her from his frame, his eyes flashing momentarily with fear.
"Why? Why are you here?" Hermione could feel her chest growing tighter. Her landing on the ground just behind the gates having knocked the air straight out of her. Her chest was still tight from her time in the fire but she was able to push the discomfort aside.
"I was summoned." Severus shifted their stance, pulling her further into the room, farther into a darkened corner, "You really must go."
"What could he possibly want now? He's gotten what he wanted. The castle is crumbling, it's a bloodbath..." Hermione could feel her mind spinning, trying to connect the dots for why Voldemort would have wanted anything more to do with him. He'd played his part, gotten him inside information, killed Dumbledore, the castle's greatest defense.
"What of Draco?"
"I helped him escape. Crabbe set the Room of Requirement on fire...he got out, I saw him." Hermione couldn't stop herself from running her hands over his chest, her own fluttering, "I don't know how much time I lost..when I managed to get out...I..."
"It's alright...are you injured?"
"I don't think so..." She absently wiped a bit of drying blood at the bottom of her chin, "I was on the tower when...let's just say I took a flight...and saw you..."
"You really can't be here..." Severus felt a small shift in the energy around them, as though eyes were watching unseen, hidden in the walls, "He could be here any moment."
"Let him come. I'm not leaving your side." Hermione's jaw went tight, her fingers taking hold of the seam of his coat. It was in that moment that her ears too picked up a new sound, "We're not alone."
"No, we're not." Severus' eyes ran over the decaying walls, trying to pinpoint the source it was then a familiar mental signature began to press against his consciousness.
"He plans to kill you..." Her eyes widened as the sudden reality came to her, "He wants something...something he thinks you have..."
"I don't have anything..."
"That doesn't matter, he thinks you do!" Hermione winced when her own voice rose just a bit too high, "We have to get out of here."
"No...there is one last thing that must be done..." His eyes ran low, unable to look her directly into the eyes; having come to the same conclusion she had, "I need you to do one last thing for me..."
"Anything..." A sharp pulse ran through her frame as the door to the house creaked open, her eyes widening.
"Hide." Severus kept his voice barely that of a whisper, his hand taking her arm tightly before pointing towards the old decaying couch along the back wall.
Despite everything inside of her screaming to stay and fight, to look evil in the eye she did as she'd been told. She pressed herself down impossibly small behind the couch, laying herself flat on the floor. She could feel each vibration of the man coming down the hallway.
oOo
"I'm telling you, I saw him. He summoned Snape. He's going to be at the end of this tunnel."
"I get that mate, I do..." Ron looked back as best he could, "But why did we bring him?"
"Don't you think we should keep quiet?" Draco snarled at the redhead keeping his voice low. He'd had his hashing out with Potter following their escape and had already proven himself against two deatheaters who had come to surprise them on their way towards the whomping willow.
"Both of you just stop." Harry let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his scar. He could feel him growing closer with every step they took through the cramped tunnel. If they were caught, there would be nowhere to run, nowhere hide. The air around them was changing, shifting into that of decayed wood. He lowered himself down as low as possible before coming up to a small light. He pressed himself as close as he could to the small hole. His viewpoint narrowed. He could just make out Snape standing along the right wall, his face pale and his eyes heavily shadowed.
"Please, My Lord. Allow me to collect Potter for you. I can send him to you." Snape's eyes turned down as the man before him turned, his eyes nearly locking on the boy hidden away behind the box.
"No. No Severus, I have something else I need from you." Voldemort turned slowly, his narrow red eyes taking in the room. Something about it was off, something amiss, "I have asked you over and over, yet each time you have failed to deliver on your promise to me."
"My Lord?"
"The wand!" Voldemort spun on his heel raising the elder wand to the man's chin, "You promised me answers, yet at every opportunity, you have failed me!"
Severus' nostrils flared ever just so as he found himself pressing back just a bit further into the wall. He tried to make himself stand tall, as tall as he possibly could while looking into the eyes of death itself, "My Lord, I have done everything for you. I have followed every possible lead..."
"And your results, Severus?"
Severus swallowed thickly, the man's assault on his inner eye nearly enough to make his stomach reproduce his meager lunch, "The wand belongs to you, and only you."
"And yet it does not yield to me."
"You have performed extraordinary magic, My Lord."
"I! Am extraordinary! This wand! Does not yield!"
"It would be more than enough to kill Potter." Severus could feel the final grains of sand falling, "Let me bring him to you. Let me prove to you my-"
"Loyalty?" Voldemort sneered, raising his chin to look directly into his face, the death on his breath ghosting over the pale man's lips, "You have proven that enough to me. No, I don't want you to bring me, Potter..." His eyes turned to look at his shoulder, the moonlight shining off of a single hair caught on the fabric, "Bring me the rogue."
"My Lord?"
"Or have you already?" The tip of Voldemort's wand caught hold of the long curled hair, pulling it away from the man's shoulder, holding it up for him to see, "Where are they?"
Severus could feel his entire plan turning on its end. This was not how he had expected the conversation to turn. At the most he had expected the man to merely kill him, to label him as a traitor and exact his revenge. Not this, not this game of cat and mouse, "I don't know."
Voldemort hummed lowly in the back of his throat, his head nodding ever so slightly. His first curse sent the man in front of him thumping back into the wall, the spray of his blood coating the dirty window. The next brought him down to his knees where he let out the most painful of sounds. The third made the man's eyes roll towards the heavens though he knew the man would never get in.
"Wrong answer."