Hermione was suffocating. While the purple gooey humanoid had been shielding her from Bellatrix's madness and keeping her safe, the brunette would be very grateful for a chance of fresh air. For the past hour or two (or more, she did not know) the soul killers masquerading as a very creepy Bellatrix Lestrange had been trying to get the purple humanoid off of Hermione but the gooey creature steadfastly held on to the brunette. It was far stronger than Hermione's initial thoughts.
But that meant Hermione had been trapped on the ground with barely any oxygen left, which strained her lungs. She kept on reminding herself to stay calm in order to minimise oxygen usage, but with the adrenaline rush and fear, she might as well asked Ron to go on a diet. Hermione tried to extricate herself from the purple humanoid's firm grip but she was ensconced so well there was no crack for her to slip through. Had there been one, Bellatrix most probably would have found it sooner and Hermione would be dead.
Okay, this is just a bad dream, she told herself. I should just tell myself to wake up and I'll be back with Umbridge.
But try as she might, she could not do it. It was not the first time her dream self was aware of her being in a dream (or nightmare) and that awareness helped her to wake up to reality. This time however, she was still stuck in her nightmare, and she could not feel her conscious self stir even slightly.
"What did you do, Bellatrix?" Hermione tried to not retch from the stale air. "Where am I? What's going on?"
The Death Eater gave a maniacal laughter, painfully similar to the one Hermione remembered in Malfoy Manor right after the word 'Mudblood' was permanently etched to her wrist. The brunette gritted her teeth. It was not the time for past traumas to bubble to the surface.
"Why, Little Muddykins? Are you starting to like this place?"
Hermione growled but that was too soft for Bellatrix to hear. Not that it mattered, for the Death Eater continued.
"We've told you many times that your time is up," sang Bellatrix. She sounded suspiciously close, too close for Hermione's liking. Was the purple humanoid losing? The brunette hoped fervently that it was not the case. "You can't run away from us, Muddykins. Your little friend here is just delaying the inevitable. Why don't you just come out of your hidey-hole and end this now? Or do you prefer to see your useless friend die for you? Hmmm, is that it?"
"You're just trying to frighten me, Lestrange," Hermione yelled out, mustering bravado. In truth, her fears increased by the second. She could feel the purple humanoid, while still protecting her, was slowly losing its strength. "I'm going to wake up anytime now, so why don't you just go away and hide in the shadows?"
"Wake up?" the Death Eater cackled. "How can you wake up if you're not asleep?"
Cold fear flooded through Hermione's veins. Just as what she feared.
Think Granger, think, she urged herself. Use that big head of yours to escape.
But no matter how hard she tried, there was no plan coming to her mind. Hermione was not prepared for such situation. If she was not in a dream, then where was she?
"Hermione, when I release you, run and don't ever look back," the purple humanoid said in a low voice near the brunette's ears and it sounded suspiciously like Mildred groaning in pain. That shook Hermione from her panicking thoughts. "Don't every look back no matter what and if you happen to see the soul killers, avert your eyes and keep on running. If you fall, you'll die. Now GO!"
Hermione had so many questions and her head was so confused but before she could wrap her head around the strange turn of events, the purple humanoid released its grip on Hermione and launched itself at Bellatrix.
"RUN, IDIOT!"
Okay, that was definitely Mildred's voice. Hermione jumped to her feet and started running away, thankful for the gulp of fresh air.
But where should she run to? As far as her eyes could see, everything was pitch black and there were no buildings or trees or even pebbles. It felt like some kind of void. Remembering that the soul killers were spirits of human beings, Hermione considered the possibility of the place being some sort of hell. However, there were no fires and brimstones. The place was not hell, she decided. But close enough.
Mildred's frustrated scream caused Hermione to throw a peek behind her and she immediately regretted it. The long, gigantic black shadow-mass thing that was Bellatrix Lestrange (soul killers, Hermione corrected herself) somehow managed to get past through the purple humanoid and was coming at the brunette with its long strides.
That was a mistake. Hermione's heart sank and she was rooted to the spot. Frozen, Hermione watched as Bellatrix seemed to grow larger and taller. The brunette's eyes were transfixed and as the creature grew taller, Hermione's head was tilted further to the back until she fell backwards.
"I like to play with my meals before I devour them," sang the Death Eater. Hermione shuddered at the disembodied voices.
The brunette stared helplessly as Bellatrix bent down slowly, its black hand reaching out to pick Hermione from the ground. But just as the hand was inches away from touching the brunette, Mildred shouted a battle cry and with a loud 'thump', the gigantic Death Eater tumbled to the ground.
"What did I tell you? Don't look at it, fool," Mildred yelled at Hermione, sounding pissed.
Before Hermione's eyes, Bellatrix shrunk to a size similar to the purple humanoid and both creatures wrestled on the ground.
"Pick your ass off and run, Hermione! Don't look back and for the love of all that is good and holy, think of your reason to live and focus on it," urged Mildred.
Without needing to be told twice, Hermione got to her feet and ran, heart thumping wildly. How did Bellatrix suddenly just grew bigger? And why did it shrink back?
Huffing and puffing, the brunette pondered on her reason to live. Did she have a good reason to live aside from not giving up? And why was she not giving up? Why was she still fighting on, despite the insurmountable odds against her? That was actually a damn good question. But she had a damn good answer in response to that.
Fleur.
Fleur Delacour.
The sun that shone brightly in Hermione's gloomy life, that brought fresh wind and change to her putrid environment. The one who made her smile every single day, whose beauty never failed to stun her. The one whose laughter and soothing voice she longed to hear again, whose arms were her safe refuge. The one she wanted to wake up next to every day, whose dancing eyes intoxicated her every fibre.
Fleur Delacour helped to anchor her, and there was no way in hell Hermione would let that slip away.
Feeling a renewed determination and a sudden burst of hope, Hermione filled her mind with Fleur and quickened her pace.
Hermione had to halt her steps, however, for there was a burst of light in front of her. Shielding her eyes, the brunette took a careful peek and saw a silver door materialising three steps away. Without thinking much about it, with only the thoughts of Fleur in her mind, Hermione confidently approached the door, opened it and stepped into the mystery.
There was only one thought: she was coming home to Fleur.
With a start, Hermione jerked back to the consciousness, only to immediately fall back to the ground due to the immense pain all over her body. She coughed uncontrollably and tried to clean the mucus away from her mouth but to her horror, the liquid she felt sputtering out was blood, not mucus.
I need water, she told herself, clean this with water.
As she looked around her surroundings trying to locate water, her brains then registered the battle that was occurring.
A balding, middle-aged man, someone whom Hermione did not recognise, was throwing spells across the room. As the man's back was obstructing Hermione's view, she lifted her head to see who was his enemy. The brunette squinted her eyes and her blood froze to see Fleur and Ginny dodging the man's green jet spells.
She needed to do something. Fast.
She looked around, desperate to find a stray wand but as luck would have it, there was none. She needed Plan B.
Stifling a painful cry, Hermione pulled off her left shoe and, gritting her teeth, she threw it to the back of the man's head with all her might. The sharp pain in her ribs indicated several broken ones. No wonder breathing was such a torture.
That did get the attention of the man, though. Startled, he whipped his head and that fraction of a second cost him the battle. The next second, two jets of yellow spells shot him squarely at the chest and he was flung to the walls. Hermione watched with grim satisfaction at his unmoving body.
When Fleur's tensed, anxious face came within view, Hermione gave her a wry grin.
"Fleur, I've missed you," croaked the brunette and then she coughed, sputtering more blood.
"Merde! Oh my gods, you must be bleeding internally!" Fleur looked torn between wanting to destroy the place, scream, and envelope Hermione in her arms. Instead, the blonde knelt beside the brunette and, while holding the latter's hand, glanced at Ginny who was kneeling at the other side of Hermione and muttering a spell.
"Nope, don't move her anywhere," the redhead frowned. "Broken ribs and stuff. I never got around to understand this diagnostics thing. All I know is that it's better for us to wait for Healers."
Hermione stifled a laughter. Typical of Ginny to only be good at what she was interested in. The redhead seemed to know what Hermione was thinking, for she admitted, "This spell is useful to know whether I can continue my trainings or wait for the club's mediwitch. See these red dots? They're bad injuries. You shouldn't move at all."
"It's good to see you again, Gin," chuckled Hermione.
Fleur gently cradled Hermione's head in the blonde's lap and kissed the top of the brunette's head.
"I'm sorry I was so careless and got you into this situation, Hermione," Fleur sounded very guilty about it. "It was foolish of me to let you out of my sight. My job was to watch over you and I failed."
"Don't apologise, Fleur," Hermione smiled at the blonde, showing that she was not angry at all. "It's not your fault. I'm just so happy to see you again."
"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt this moment but I'm hearing footsteps," Ginny warned. She pulled a toppled table and positioned it so to cover Hermione from the door's view. "There might be more of those morons."
Fleur gently disentangled herself from Hermione and gave the brunette a quick kiss.
"I'll protect you," she murmured.
Fleur crouched beside Ginny behind the table, wand at the ready. Hermione exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, wishing she would be of more help. She did not know what happened but the injuries must've been sustained when she blanked out and was stuck with Bellatrix.
Talking about the deranged lunatic… Hermione just realised she felt cheerful. Frighteningly cheerful. In fact, she wanted to just laugh and yell in joy for no reason. And where were those blasted voices? Her mind was quiet. Empty. Well, not that empty considering the million things going through her mind. But that felt…fresh. She liked it. Was the nightmare finally over? Or was this the calm before the storm?
The door was knocked open roughly, and Hermione said a quick prayer to protect both Fleur and Ginny. But seeing the tension dissipated from the two witches in question caused the brunette to raise an eye.
"Harry! Ron! Are you both alright?" Ginny jumped quickly to her feet. To hug her husband, Hermione supposed.
"Merlin, 'Mione you look horrible," Ron's worried face came to view.
"Thanks Ron, you always know how to make a girl feel pretty," Hermione deadpanned.
"I knocked out the toad on my way here," Harry said with a grim satisfaction. "She was surprised to see me but that's to be expected."
"You only knocked her out?" Ginny narrowed her eyes, reproachful. "Where is that git? She needs some lessons."
"Is Hermione alright? Where is she?" a huffing Mildred stumbled in, half-supported by Pansy.
"She's just injured, we're going to get some Healers to bring her to St. Mungo's safely," Fleur explained.
"No time for that! We have to get her out of here. Now."
Hermione did not like the wild panic in Mildred's eyes.
"What do you – " Ron's question was cut off by a loud, terrible roar coming from above them.
"Shit. Everybody, circle around Hermione and have your wands at the ready!"
Without needing to be told, the group already did so. The tense atmosphere was back in the room. Hermione's brief cheerfulness faded away, and an unexplainable chill started to envelope her. Fleur, noticing her shivering, murmured a warming charm but that was of no help.
"Mildred, what's going on?" Fleur asked worriedly.
"Don't have time to explain now but soul killers are loose," Mildred murmured. She inhaled slowly, and then released her breath.
"What? How? It's a good thing right? They're not in Hermione's mind anymore?"
"It's bad because they'll eat whoever's in their path, Fleur."
"I saw a couple of Umbridge's henchmen sucked dry," Pansy muttered. "It's disgusting, and I've witnessed many of my families' rituals."
Hermione just remembered something. "Don't look at it," she warned them. "And if you happen to look at it, don't ever fall down."
The group, minus Mildred and Pansy, frowned.
"Why? Is it so ugly?" Ron asked.
Before he received an answer, the ceiling broke above them. Fortunately, due to Harry's and Fleur's lightning reflexes, the group was shielded from falling woods and debris.
"Sweet Merlin's bearded pants."
Hermione agreed with Ron's sentiment.
Similar to Hermione's nightmare, a large, tall, black creature stood in front of them. But where the creature in Hermione's nightmare only had a mouth, this one had yellow eyes. The aura it emitted was repressive, and Hermione fought to not stare at it. She was already lying on the ground, which was fatal. Not seeing it might help, though the brunette doubted it at this point.
"I'm going to try to contain the creature before it starts eating all of us up," Mildred gritted her teeth, closing her eyes. "Does anybody know the wizard who's been controlling the soul killers?"
"I think I do, we broke his neck when we stormed in," Ginny answered.
"No wonder the soul killers are raging mad," Mildred muttered under her breath. "Oh well, one less thing to worry. Alright, I need someone to bring Umbridge here. The rest of you, lend me your strength."
"I got it," Ron volunteered and carefully bolted out of the room.
A shimmering pale blue light surrounded the creature, inching its way to envelope the soul killers. As the light grew brighter, the soul killers roared its terrible, disembodied voices of a thousand people sound. Hermione closed her eyes, struggling with the pain forming in her head. Horrible memories flooded her and without realising it, tears flowed from her eyes.
"Hermione," the brunette barely heard Fleur's voice calling to her, "Hermione, stay with me. I'm here with you, Hermione. I'm here with you."
Disregarding the pain even the slightest movements caused, Hermione curled up and hugged herself. She had never felt so lonely, so exhausted, so despaired, and so miserable. Why did she open that silver door? What was the point? She could not remember why was trying to run away from the soul killers. She never deserved life. Living was for good people.
"Hermione, I'm here," Fleur's voice was coming nearer. The brunette barely registered Fleur hugging her, cradling her head in the blonde's arms.
"I love you, Hermione, I love you," whispered Fleur repeatedly, rocking her body back and forth.
Then, as sudden as her spirit was crushed, it was lifted back again. Hermione wiped her tears and looked into Fleur's eyes, confused.
"Why was I crying?"
In response, the blonde kissed Hermione's forehead and hugged her tightly.
"It's over, Hermione, it's over," Fleur let out a cry of relief. "It's finally over."
"What?" Hermione blinked in confusion.
"Umbridge's dead, Hermione," Mildred answered, sounding exhausted.
Hermione turned her head and saw the witch she disliked from the start who had been giving the world nothing but pain and suffering, lifeless. The lifeless form of Dolores Umbridge was somehow stuck to the wall, her eyes wide in shock, mouth open as if in mid-scream, and she was shriveled up.
"That thing really sucked her dry, mate," Ron ran his hand through his hair, voice shaking. "It was disgusting."
"Can't imagine how many disgusting things you deal with every day, Harry," Ginny hugged her husband tightly.
"It's a pity she can't be thrown to Azkaban again," muttered the Boy-Who-Lived.
Hermione was still dazed from the sudden emotional and mental change. She decided to just cling to Fleur, who equally would not release her grip on the brunette. It did not register to Hermione's mind when Kingsley suddenly barged in, when the Healers arrived, when she was being carried out gently and passed by a hysterical and drenched in blood Lavender who was being restrained by George, and when she was gently laid on the hospital bed.
Hermione was still dazed when Fleur gently coaxed her to drink a potion, and her mind was still full of incomprehension of the day's events as she drifted off to sleep.
The morning sun's rays tickled Hermione's eyes from her slumber. She grunted and turned around, away from the sun. The sharp pain in her ribs told her that it was a foolish thing to do.
"You look cute when you sleep but boy were you restless."
Hermione opened her eyes to Ginny's amused voice.
"Where am I? Why is there pain all over my body?" Hermione carefully adjusted herself on the comfortable bed. She then noticed a mess of blonde hair near her waist.
"She's been watching over you for the past week, never leaving your side except for showering," Ginny explained. The redhead rose from her chair and felt Hermione's forehead gently. "Your fever's gone, which is superb."
"Uh, where am I? What's going on, Gin?"
The redhead frowned, concerned. "Do you remember you were kidnapped, 'Mione?"
Hermione slowly nodded. Her recollections were hazy but she did remember being kidnapped and… Umbridge.
"Did you catch Umbridge?"
Ginny gave her a funny look. "How much do you remember, 'Mione?"
The brunette scrunched her face, thinking hard. "Uh… There was this purple blob thing. And Bellatrix. And silver door. Oh! Right, I do remember. She died, her blood was sucked dry, wasn't it?"
"Yep," the redhead nodded. "That's great, I don't have to explain too many things then. I can just pick up from when the Healers carried you away. But here, drink this potion first. It'll ease your pain."
Hermione took the proffered vial and downed it in one gulp. She grimaced. It was disgusting.
"I sometimes wonder how did Harry cope with his annual hospital stay," the brunette muttered, eliciting laughter from Ginny.
"Don't we all," chuckled the redhead. She sat back on her chair and leaned back. "Well, before I start, how do you feel, 'Mione?"
The brunette considered, checking herself. "I feel…great, actually," she said slowly. "While I feel pain all over, my mind is quiet. Tranquil. Peaceful. I feel like humming a tune. I feel cheerful. My goodness, Gin, I've never felt this good!"
"I am so happy for you, 'Mione," Ginny said earnestly, eyes brimming with tears. "Thinking about how much suffering you went through all these years just make me angry and sad. But now you're free. You deserve to be happy, 'Mione, and I hope happiness stays with you."
"We all deserve happiness, Gin," smiled the brunette. She glanced down at the sleeping mess of hair beside her and caressed the blonde's hair gently so as to not wake her. Fleur Delacour, the reason for Hermione's happiness. "And I'm sorry if I am too abrupt but can you please tell me what happened? I'm dying of curiousity."
"Wow, your thirst for knowledge is back? This is amazing," breathed Ginny in wonder. "Alright. Well, as you know, it was quite a tough battle. For such a small place, it held a lot of rooms and equally as many bad guys. When Fleur and I stormed in, some guy was chanting some ancient stuff and you were screaming your head off. You were puking blood. We stunned him, sent him off flying, and I think we were too angry that he broke his neck. Not a big loss, honestly. Anyway, we were untying you and we were just going to get out of the room when several bad dudes stormed in. That's where you got your injuries and I am so sorry about it, 'Mione. I didn't hear them coming and we were caught off-guard. You crashed the wall but fortunately you didn't break your neck. But I'm still sorry."
"It's not your fault, Gin, you did rescue me," Hermione said gently, refusing for her best friend to take the blame.
"Still, I should've been more careful," the redhead sighed. "Anyway, we were fighting them and when there was only one left, you threw your shoe at him and the rest was history. For our side, at least. So Harry, Ron, and Luna were storming through the front door. We came in from the back. They fought many bad dudes as well and Harry knocked out Umbridge. I wish that man is more evil, cause he'd then smash her to a pulp. But no, he's a good man."
"That's the Harry we all know and love," smiled Hermione fondly.
"That, he is," Ginny agreed. "Since the upper level were quite big, they split up. Harry and Ron later on met up and came to us, which I assume you remember?"
Hermione nodded.
"According to Luna, she heard cries of the Wrackspurts from one of the rooms and went to investigate it. That odd behaviour of hers saved her from stumbling upon the soul killers."
Hermione shivered involuntarily. She did not want to think how things would turn up had Luna came across the soul killers.
"George came by not long after with the cavalry. Believe it or not, Malfoy's actually quite a capable guy. He Apparated us to you even though we had no idea where you were, by only seeing the place in Mildred's mind. He passed out right after that but when he regained consciousness, he, with Gabrielle, went to get George."
"Wait, why were George not with you guys?"
"Oh, we left him at his shop to be on standby just in case there are noticeable activities at the ministry," explained the redhead. "It's a long story but anyway when Malfoy and Gabrielle appeared, George marched down to Kingsley and within moments, got a squad of Aurors and both Malfoy and Gabrielle Apparated them to where you were. If you were guessing, yes, Malfoy passed out again."
"He's changed so much, hasn't he?"
"Yeah, even Ron's barely calling him a 'git' anymore," Ginny chuckled. "So George and the cavalry were rounding up the strays but they came after the soul killers sucked Umbridge dry. According to Mildred, because the contract has been fulfilled due to Umbridge being eaten, the soul killers won't appear again. That's a bloody fantastic news."
"Where is she now?"
"Mildred, you mean? I don't know," Ginny shrugged. "She disappeared after that, leaving no notes. Fleur said to let her be, something about she needing to maintain being hidden or something. I'm glad though. That woman gets under my skin for some reason."
"I know what you mean," Hermione agreed. "I don't like her too but at least she's not the evil guy."
"Oh wait, she did mention that to recover fully, you must start loving life again, whatever that means. But you have plenty of time, so don't fret yourself too much about that. Well, you can't start pondering about it until you've talked to Kingsley though."
"Why? What's happening?" Hermione frowned.
"Harry and the rest minus Fleur and I are busy trying to contain this whole thing at the ministry," Ginny explained. "The guy who kidnapped you apparently holds quite a high post at the ministry and he's Umbridge's ally. Kingsley's ordered a hush-hush investigation on him, and preliminary findings indicate that there's a growing faction who wants to topple down the ministry and install Harry as a figurehead. Taking you out of the picture will ensure his obedience cause let's face it, you're the brains of the Trio, 'Mione. Always was, always will."
"That doesn't mean Harry is an idiotic, mindless creature, Gin."
"He can be sometimes, actually," shrugged Ginny. "You won't believe the idiotic things he did. It's a miracle he's still alive, considering he's an Auror. But anyway, Kingsley wants to talk to you once you're conscious. He didn't specify what it'll be about, but I think we know what he has in mind."
Hermione groaned. Her life would always be tied to the ministry, one way or another.
"It won't be too bad, 'Mione," Ginny said sympathetically. "At least this time you have a certain gorgeous blonde who won't hesitate to tell off the Minister of Magic and kick him out of the house if she feels you're not ready for it."
Hermione did not like the glint in the redhead's eyes. "What did Fleur do, Gin?"
"Kingsley wanted to post Aurors here to notify him once you're awake and they couldn't deal with Fleur's wrath," snickered Ginny. "It was a beautiful sight. Harry did not say a word even though this is his house."
Hermione then just realised that she, indeed, was at Grimmauld Place.
"As soon as the Healers fixed you up, we brought you here with your potions," Ginny explained, seeing the confused look on Hermione's face. "You'll have more privacy here and there's Kreacher to help out. If we bring you to your place, the Healers can't come to check on you."
"I hope I'm not much of a bother, Gin."
"Shush, we're practically sisters," Ginny waved Hermione's apologies away. "On the bright side, Pansy granted me extra holidays to help look after you. She herself needs some time recuperating too."
"Oh, she helped as well?" Hermione was surprised.
"Yep, she did. She gave Mildred her energy to contain the soul killers. She's been sleeping a lot at her home since then and hasn't badger the players. That might sound like a great thing but she hired two extra temporary coaches to make up for her absence. My teammates had been writing me letters full of bitching."
"I can imagine," chuckled Hermione. She then remembered something. "If I'm not mistaken, I saw George restraining a very bloody Lavender. What happened?"
Ginny's face turned to somber. "Well, Neville got hurt when three men tried to escape. He lost a finger."
Hermione was horrified. Sweet, gentle Neville.
"He's taking it well and he's with Harry at the ministry," Ginny continued. "But Lavender was hysterical. She thought Neville was dying. They had been dating since before my wedding, and Lavender has been hoping that he'd pop the question soon. And can you believe my dear brother Ronald had been oblivious to that? He just realised they had been dating! I don't know what Luna sees in him."
"He's not a bad guy, Gin," Hermione chuckled. "He's a great person, but with a horrible temper."
Just then, Fleur shuffled and raised her head, giving Hermione a sleepy smile. She climbed onto the bed and enveloped the brunette in her arms.
"I love you," murmured the blonde.
"I love you too, sleepyhead," chuckled Hermione lovingly. She tilted her head and gave Fleur a peck on the lips. "Thanks for rescuing me."
"I can't live without you," Fleur admitted honestly. "I was so careless and I will never let you out of my sight again. I'm so relieved it's finally over and that horrible woman is dead."
Hermione nestled her head in the crook of Fleur's neck. She inhaled the blonde's familiar scent which she had missed so much.
"How did she die exactly though? I think I was in so much pain, I couldn't see what was happening," Hermione said.
"Is it alright if I tell you that story later on? I just want to feel you in my arms for now," Fleur murmured in the brunette's ear.
Hermione regarded the blonde. "Are you trying to protect me from some kind of horror story?"
"No, Hermione," Fleur shook her head. "You have every right to know the full story but right now I just want to feel you in my arms. I promise you I will tell you everything."
"Alright Fleur," Hermione conceded. "Let's take a nap for a bit. Then a story."
Both lovers soon fell into a deep slumber, not realising Ginny had slipped out of the room quietly. Not that they even noticed her presence.
A/N: Just in case anyone is wondering, the soul killers are inspired by a type of evil demon from the Batak folklore (people from Sumatera island, Indonesia). This demon is known as begu gajjang (begu - demon, gajjang - long). It is said that if you happen to look at the begu gajjang, it will grow taller and bigger and it will eat you up. While I tweak many things to create the soul killers in the story, they're loosely based on the begu gajjang.