A/N: Ok wow. I haven't updated in the LONGEST TIME!!! I am SO sorry for that. But I kind of forgot about this for a while, because there was a lot going on in my life. But now I am BACK! And both of my fics are up and running again! So I hope you will all continue reading! Love you all!
The stairway was calling to her. She couldn't stop her feet from moving towards it. As her hand touched the marble railing, she felt a sudden wave of calmness wash over her; a comforting feeling of home. She welcomed it with all her might, letting it take her over completely. Feeling much safer, she let her hand glide down the railing gracefully as she started descending the stairs. Hermione's shoes made an echoing clacking sound on the black and white marble, filling the house with the sound. She reached the final stair and looked at what was laid out before her. The marble of the stairs continued on to make the floor as well. There were three sets of doors on both sides of the hallway, all made of mahogany wood, and the door handles were sterling silver. She walked over to the first set of doors and noticed that there were exquisite designs on them both. She pushed the doors open, and walked into what was obviously supposed to be a beautiful ballroom, but it was completely destroyed. Apparently, a party or get together of some sort had taken place by the look of some of the broken objects. There was a punch bowl, or rather the remnants of one, smashed in a corner where there would have been a buffet table, and there were streamers littering the floor, with some sticking to the walls. All of the tables were turned over with legs broken off, or otherwise splintered into a million tiny pieces of wood. Most of the once beautiful crystal chandeliers had crashed to the floor, sending sparkling bits of crystal all along the floor; and the velvet curtains were shredded to pieces. Hermione was stunned. What has happened here? she wondered. Suddenly, the room began to shake violently, as if there was an earthquake. Hermione began to panic, but she couldn't will herself to move. Then, just as suddenly, she heard voices; screams of terror, spells being fired, and a number of other things being shouted. Hermione looked around her nervously, the room still shaking, but there was nothing, not a soul there at all. Nothing. Finally forcing her feet to move, she bolted to the door, stumbling several times along the way. She wrenched it open, and flung herself into the main hallway pulling the doors shut behind her and leaning back against them breathing rather hard. As she tried to calm her racing heart, she opened her eyes slowly. She was completely and utterly shocked to see nothing had been affected in the main hall. Not a single thing had dropped, or been upset. Feeling rather confused, Hermione decided she had done enough exploring in that house. She wanted to get out, get back to the real world. She tried to apparate, but it didn't work. She couldn't get out. She was trapped.