Authors note: Here's the first chapter for you lovely people. I hope you like this better than the prologue, I know it's certainly a bit longer. Enjoy

Hermione opened her eyes, hardly daring to believe that she was still alive. She had been so sure that death would pay her a call and welcome her into its arms. She had been so sure that she would be free from the suffering and pain war had brought her and many others. In a way, those who had died were lucky, for they would not have to continue, day in and day out, their mind torturing them with images of war. She groaned heavily and barely managed to lift her aching body from the ground. Hermione felt like she was trapped within her body. Only, it wasn't her body. No, Hermione realized with a start that she was in her animagous form. Part of her was rather thankful, as she was a firm believer of cats having nine lives. For the myth to be spawned, Hermione thought there had to be come grounding in fact as was the case with practically every myth she had encountered and researched into. However, part of her wished that she had been in her human body. If she had been she would have died, and she would have found that elusive peace. The War was over, she could feel it in her bones, and yet still there would not be peace, not for her.

Hermione turned her head, trying not to move her body too much as it still hurt. She was lying on the soft cool grass, which was so soothing to her battered, bruised and burnt body. She was loath to move and leave it behind. She had to though, and there would be plenty of time for her to do that later. For now though, she had to discover exactly what had happened. Her mind demanded it with a shriek. She looked all around her, feeling terror coarse through her veins. She was surrounded by bodies. There were so many bodies. Some were very badly burnt and all of those who had eyes, were wide open, vacant expressions on their faces, totally devoid of all indicators of life. The dead were staring at her and Hermione felt a shudder roll through her feline body. There were so many bodies. She could see no one alive, no one moving. The wind barely made a noise as it caressed her fur. This was a scene from a nightmare and she knew that nightmares replaying this would plague her to her dying day. Never before had she realised how barren this landscape was. It was a ready made graveyard. The place was ready to welcome the dead and envelop them in the coldness of eternity. Hermione was completely alone, surrounded by the dead and she yowled loudly, letting all the pain, the anger and the fear out in that one constant noise. She didn't know what else to do, she didn't know where else to go. She felt so lost and all she wanted was to have died, to have joined the corpses surrounding her. At least then she would not have been alone. The only living one among a silent and unmoving legion of the dead.

Hermione's burning curiosity chose that moment to flare up and, pushing everything else to the side, she let it take over and dictate her actions. She rose to her feet, allowing her paws to make proper purchase on the ground. It had felt cool and soft before but now felt unbearably cold and hard. She gently padded across the grass, passing the bodies, turning her head from side to side as she catalogued the dead. She had to know who had survived and this seemed to be the only way. To be sure it would visit untold trauma upon her to see the faces of her friends, her loved ones lying there, unseeing and unknowing. There they lie.

The first face she saw was that of Remus Lupin. He had saved her from what would surely have been untold pain or death. She had felt a curse from Dolohov before, in the Department of Mysteries, she remembered the pain and she would never be able to forget thanks to the scar that had stubbornly refused to fade or leave. Remus had sacrificed so much to help save a world filled with prejudice that had condemned him at every turn in his life. His cruse had been barely enough to bear as it was and then with that added as well. Hermione admired his resilience and could not have seen herseChasurviving it all for as long as he had. In tribute to him, she stopped beside his head and used her two front paws to sweep his eyelids shut. Then she moved on walking till she found the next face.

Mad-Eye Moody's body was tangled and he was truly in a terrible pose as rigermortis had obviously taken hold. His back was arched off the ground and one of his hands was frozen in the action of clawing upwards in the air, the other at his heart. Hermione could only presume that he had been under the cruciotus curse and the strain that it had put on his aged body had caused a heart attack, which would have been what had killed him. It would explain how his body was frozen in death. To know only the pain of a thousand blades piercing your skin in the final moments before death. It would be so horrible. Hermione shuddered and moved on.

As she made her progress Hermione felt her heart breaking, slowly but surely. So many of her friends and allies littered the ground around her. She saw Fred and George, gripping tightly onto each other's arm. They had obviously fallen together at the same moment, probably felled by two death eaters before they even had a chance to fight. The next Weasley she saw dead was Percy. It was rather callous of her but she could feel little sadness for him but to the family, her heart went out. Three of their number were dead, perhaps more. Thankfully Bill and Charlie were still abroad, so they at least were safe. Hermione's heart leapt with fearm and she hoped desperately that Ron and Ginny had survived. A little way on Tonks was lying peacefully, her hair the same bland grey as her skin. Hermione knew that if she were in her human body by now she would be sobbing till her eyes ached by now.

Another flash of flaming red Weasley hair and Hermione bound forward, stopping short and yowling again, anguish in the sound as she recognised the Weasley dead before her. She could hardly believe that her Ron was dead. He lay there, his hands outstretched, a glassy look in his eyes. She flung herself upon his chest and dug her claws in, desperately trying to rouse him. She could not believe, Ron could not be dead. Yet he was not responding to her. He would always respond to Hermione, even if it were only an annoyed groan when she attempted to wake him from sleep. She stood up on his chest and began licking his face. Her warm, wet pink tongue brushed his forehead then his cheeks, followed by his freckled nose. She licked his eyelids shut carefully, his wonderful handsome eyes, before finally licking his lips. It was the closest to a kiss as she could give him.

She stopped, took one final look at Ron, before continuing on her way, searching for the telltale red hair of the only Weasley daughter. She searched for what felt like hours but could not find Ginny. She sighed and fell onto her stomach, her relief tangible. If she was not here, she could only be alive. Ginny Weasley was alive and for Hermione that would have to do. She had not seen Harry anywhere and so presumed that he too had survived. There was also no sign of Luna. Perhaps they three were together, mourning their losses. Hermione could only wonder if they thought her dead. She would have been if not for Snape urging her to transform. Snape. Snape! She had not even thought to search for him.

She felt as weary and as tired as though she had been travelling for weeks on end as she rose to her feet to begin her harrowing search anew. She had to find Snape. She just had to. She had to find him alive for alive he would be. She could not and would not let herself believe that he was dead. He could not die, not like all the others had. Hermione's desperate search across the field of the dead gave her evidence for what had already known in her heart. Severus Snape was alive! He was alive and hopefully well. Now all she had to do was find him, Harry, Ginny and Luna. It was only when faced with the daunting prospect of trying to find them that Hermione thought to change back to her human body. She shut her eyes and pooled her magic to allow the transformation from cat to human to take place. She felt nothing.

She opened her eyes and looked around. Much to her irritation and worry she was still on all fours and looking from practically ground level. She tried again and the result was the exact same. After her third attempt she meowed in frustration. It was only then that she noticed a black crow, watching her every movement carefully with intense black eyes. She recognised those eyes.

Professor Snape? She crowed triumphantly in her mind, satisfied that she had found her rescuer.

Don't sound so joyful Miss Granger Came the dry reply in her mind in his smooth voice. Telepathy was the only way that animagi could understand each other in their animal forms. The crow hopped closer till it was standing next to her. She sat down and watched the crown, Snape, carefully, asking a hesitant why. She was unsure if she really wanted to hear the answer she knew he was going to give her.

I believe we are stuck in our animagous forms Miss Granger Hermione lowered her head. She knew she hadn't really wanted to hear his answer. It was what she had feared for remaining in the animagous form led to what Hermione felt was a horrible fate; the loss of humanity as the beast took control