This next chapter has some pretty gory details in the beginning. Not for the squeamish!

Hermione was startled awake by loud explosions coming from outside. Jumping out of bed, she rushed to the window. Outside on the grounds, stood hordes of Death Eaters, giants, vampires and werewolves and tonight was a full moon. She fell onto the floor from a loud shattering explosion coming from the astronomy tower. When Hermione stood and looked to where the tower once was, all that could be seen was dust and rubble. She turned and looked at her clock, praying it was early morning. It wasn't. The clock read 12:27am. Hermione felt the air in her lungs rush out. God no, it meant that Ginny was in the astronomy tower with the rest of her 6th year class doing a project. There was no way anyone survived. Her only female best friend and sister was gone. She had to find Ron and Harry, racing down the stairs in her pj's.

She met up with both boys and they raced down the steps, heading outside. Most of the DA were behind them and even some others. What shocked everyone was when Pansy, Blaise, Draco and a group of Slytherins showed up and asked what they could do to help. The battle was in full swing and Hermione turned just in time to see Remus Lupin racing towards a group of werewolves. They had several things that they were tossing back and forth between them. Remus hit into the group and immediately started to rip into their flesh. Hermione ran over to help him and was shooting off some powerful spells. She had managed to bring down 2 werewolves, when she slid on the grass; looking down she saw part of an arm. The werewolves had been tossing around body parts. Looking all around her now, there were pieces everywhere. There were several different house robes, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. This meant that it was more than one person and they were students.

She focused on the attackers and with a new determination she started stunning them and tying them with silver cords. Remus was wrestling with a fairly large werewolf and he looked to be losing. Hermione ran over to try and help him. The other wolf ripped a large part of Remus' back out and left him lying on the ground with his spine exposed. Before Hermione could aim her wand the werewolf jumped on her and sank it's teeth into her hip. She felt fire rip through her side and gasped for a breath. She had all kinds of pictures going through her head. This was it, she was going to be killed. She aimed her wand one last time and said the killing curse. The wolf dropped dead in front of her and she dropped to the ground beside it. She dragged herself to where Remus was lying, trying to take a breath. He was still alive, but just barely; he had changed back into his human form, which meant he was dying. He had witnessed what had happened and tears were rolling down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione. If there was anyway I could protect you from all of this I would. I think I fell in love with you 2 years ago! You are perfect, but I always thought, what would you want with an old werewolf like me? Isn't fate a bitch?" He chuckled and then started a coughing fit, sputtering up blood. He looked into the moon and asked, "Isn't it beautiful? You know this is the first time I've seen it through human eyes since I was 5!" With that Remus' eyes remained open, lifelessly staring at the moon. Hermione felt her cheeks wet and hot. Did he really love her? She had a crush on him since her 3rd year and it had only grown over the years. It was too late now, and she was still needed. Heaving herself up, she limped across the quidditch pitch. The pain was still there, but it was lessening. She knew that werewolves healed fast, except with silver. Behind the stands she spotted Ron and ran to him as fast as she could go.

Ron was dueling several Death Eaters and had been hit by a couple of spells, but he was still going strong. He saw Hermione and yelled to her about Ginny and Harry's whereabouts.

"I don't know where Harry is, but Ginny was supposed to be in the astronomy tower." Ron's blue eyes lost their life and he became a drone, firing off spells. Hermione tried to help him out, but as more Death Eaters came to join the fun, it was soon too much for the two teenagers. Ron told Hermione to run, but she refused to move. She could see a strange light emitting from Ron. He told her he was gathering all of his magic, but she needed to get away otherwise she could be hurt too. She ran into some trees and hid behind them. Peeking out she saw Ron glowing and some of the Death Eaters starting to run away. Suddenly Ron exploded and he took out all of the Death Eaters around him. Hermione couldn't move. He had known what he was doing, she could tell by the look in his eyes. He did this to save her! She wanted to grieve, but if she started now, she didn't know if she could stop.

She sat on the forest floor and hugged her knees and wept profusely. She didn't know how long she had been like that, but everything around her seemed quiet; too quiet. She slowly crept from behind the tree and saw the sun starting to peek over the horizon. The sky was the most beautiful shades of red, blue and purple. She stood and started to walk towards the castle. The grounds were also red and little streams of blood were flowing everywhere. From some areas there were groans, but she needed to find Harry. She could see some of her fellow classmates and teachers, even some Order members. She found one of the twins and Charlie. A few times she had to stop to get sick. Off in the distance, down by the lake, she saw a familiar figure. Running to Harry, she saw he was slumped against a tree and sighed with relief. This was short lived when she saw his eyes were glazed over and unblinking. Falling in front of the boy she had come to think of as her brother, she wept. Looking into the morning sky she screamed. She laid beside Harry and wondered if he had found out about Ginny and Ron before he was killed and if all three of them were out there watching over her. She heard a noise from behind one of the trees and she quickly pointed her wand in that direction. She got up and went to investigate and tripped over a figure on the ground. She saw it was Dobby. He was bloody and battered. She bent down trying to help him. She couldn't make out what he was trying to whisper to her, so she leaned closer.

"You can save us! Make none of this happen, help the good, kill the evil!"

"Dobby I can't defeat Voldemort, it is Harry's prophesy, not mine!"

"Yes, not yours, but there is others evil, just as bad! Lots of bad people. They act nice, but are evil. Find them and destroy. Watch out for good ones, they help you!" Dobby lifted his hand and muttered something in elfish and Hermione felt herself falling backwards.