A/n: The beginning of this chapter may seem odd, and you might think that I uploaded the wrong chapter, but I didn't. Just keep on reading.
"Harry!" screamed Hermione, as she spun on her heel only to see a death eater point his wand at him.
Or maybe it was a her. She couldn't tell the difference. Everyone of these cloaked figures was wearing a damn mask and the cloaks were baggy, so you couldn't tell whether they had breasts or not.
Just as Harry turned to shoot a curse at the death eater, another one showed up at his right, and Hermione watched in horror as the killing curse hit her best friend square in the chest.
"NOOO!" she screamed in agony, stunning both of the death eaters before falling to her knees, her body numb and limp.
Ron lay just feet away from her; Malfoy senior himself had killed her other best friend.
The young witch sobbed uncontrollably as she pulled Harry and Ron closer to her, her head resting on both of their hands as her sobs became more intense.
What had she done to deserve this? She was merely trying to get to the library with the boys to study for their NEWT's. And all of a sudden, a dozen death eaters showed up in the empty library, sending spells and curses at the trio.
She looked up from the two hands as she heard slow footsteps approach her. In front of her were black, shiny polished shoes, and as Hermione's eyes trailed up the body, she was shocked to see that these shoes belonged to Draco Malfoy.
"Draco…" she cried quietly, more tears rolling down her already tear stained cheeks. "Draco, help me get them back to the safe house, I-
"Oh no, I don't think I can do that Granger." Draco interrupted her, holding out his hand to help her up.
The girl slowly took his hand and pulled herself up, before wrapping her arms around his waist. He was the only one she had left now. And she couldn't stand it if she lost him too.
"W-what do you mean? We have to tell someone, they-
He quickly pressed his lips against hers to shut her rambling up. Hermione was genuinely surprised at first, but without hesitating, kissed him back and leaned into the kiss.
Off to her left, she could hear the loud crack of someone apparating into the room, but Draco only deepens the kiss and cradled the back of her head to keep her from looking.
"Now, Draco… Do it now!" hissed an awfully familiar, male voice, and Hermione put a face to it at once.
Lucius Malfoy.
Panic rose in Hermione as Draco pulled away. His hand held on to her chin, still refusing to let her look. And for some odd reason, she couldn't tear her eyes away from Draco's.
"I'm sorry," Draco muttered into her ear, sending chills down her spine. "I love you."
The last thing Hermione saw was a bright green flash, and everything went black.
She waited for the pain to sear through her body as she stood still, her eyes now squeezed shut.
But nothing happened. And that's when she realized that she wasn't dead yet.
No; she could still feel her body, and her mind still worked at a rapid pace. But everything around her was pitch black. Blacker than a broom cupboard.
"hello?" Hermione managed to call out, her voice hoarse and her throat sore.
No answer. Nothing but the silence buzzing in her ears.
She took off running, not being able to see where she was going, her footsteps echoing through the darkness. She kept on going and going. But never did she stumble into a tree, or a piece of furniture, or even a wall.
This is where I was left to rot forever.
A soft sob escaped her once again, and she sank to her knees, slowly rocking back and forth.
And that's when she heard it. The quiet voice of a female. And a friendly, familiar voice at that.
The witch's head snapped up so fast that she had to blink away the fuzziness for a moment. Her vision slowly focused again, and she noticed the soft, glowing outline of a female body. But as she looked around the darkness, she noticed more glowing figures.
As the figures neared her, Hermione slowly pushed herself up off the floor, and she narrowed her eyes at one of them.
Her heart dropped.
Could that be…? No. That couldn't be Fred Weasley. He died during the war… But then again, she figured that she was dead too.
A warm smile spread across Fred's face, and Hermione immediately threw herself into his arms. Warm tears began to roll down her cheeks again. It had been so long since she had last seen Fred… 3 years, to be exact.
Fred slowly pulled away, and Hermione cupped his face in her hands. "Fred, what are you doing here?" she asked with a slight laugh.
"Came to see you, what else?" he grinned brightly, squeezing her again. "But I'm not the only one who came. Turn around and say hello."
Hermione lightly bit her lip before turning around to face 6 other people, forming a circle around her.
One female, one small creature with overly large ears, and the other 4 male.
She carefully approached them all, studying their faces.
A hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped.
There stood Tonks, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Dobby the house elf, Ron, and Harry.
Hermione stated in terror, sadness, fear, and happiness. She couldn't move not speak. Her hand was still covering her mouth, tears silently trickling down her cheeks.
"Well, come on. Don't just stand there!" Tonks laughed, before hurrying over to the young witch and giving her a big hug. One by one, they all took their turns hugging the awe-struck witch.
"What are you all doing here?" she asked once she managed to get her sobs and sniffles under control.
"Dobby came to see Miss Granger! Dobby missed Miss Granger very much!" Dobby chimed and approached her again, throwing his arms around the quivering girls leg.
She had to fight the urge to spontaneously burst into tears again, so she lightly gave the elf a pat on the head.
"I've missed you too, Dobby." Hermione smiled lightly, turning to look back up at the others. "Please. Tell me why you're here. I'm scared…"
Fred smiled at her. "You're a Gryffindor, Hermione! Don't be scared."
A smile crept upon Hermione's face. She'd missed Fred's positive attitude so much. Yes, George had the same. But that was before Fred past. Now all George did was run around his joke shop like a zombie, a frown constantly etched upon his face. He couldn't stand seeing his reflection for too long, because he'd be looking right at his dead twin, and eventually hold hour long conversations with his own reflections. It really destroyed Hermione and everyone else seeing him like that.
And then it dawned upon her.
Molly. Poor Molly. She'd just lost one son during the war, and now she lost another one, and since Harry was as good as a son to her, a third one. And a daughter; Hermione herself was convinced that she's dead.
"We're here to tell you that you're not ready yet." said Sirius, interrupting her train of thoughts.
She cocked an eyebrow at the animagus. What did he mean with 'not ready yet'? Not ready to go back? Not ready to die? Not ready to go on into the afterlife with them? Did they want her to rot in this darkness for a bit longer?
A smile crossed Lupin's face as he noticed the confusion written across her face. "You're going back, Hermione." he explained softly.
Hermione's mouth opened lightly, but she couldn't speak. If she wasn't dead, then why was she here? Why was she here with all the people that she loved and passed on?
"But, I don't understand. I'm dead, I can't-
"Go back? Oh, I believe you can Hermione." Sirius chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This is the land in between, as they call it. You've been given the voice to either go back to the living world, or come with us into the after life."
Hermione quickly opened her mouth to argue, but Tonks clamped her hand over the girls mouth.
"You're going back, Hermione. There's no arguing. We'll force you, if you refuse." she smirked at her.
"No! You can't make me, I want to stay-
"oh yes, that's going to be hard. Seven people against one witch without a wand." chuckled Fred. Well, that sounded oddly familiar.
Hermione frowned in frustration, tears filling her eyes again.
Damn tears.
"Fine." she sighed heavily.
Harry and Ron smiled sadly at their best friend, both hugging her simultaneously.
"Tell mum we said hi, alright?" said Ron, and Hermione nodded lightly. "And give Ginny a big kiss for me." Harry added quickly, but Hermione pulled a face at her friend.
"I may be her friend, but I'm not kissing her, Harry." she laughed lightly, before kissing both of the boys on the cheeks.
Now it was Dobby's turn.
The witch bent down to eye-to-eye level with the elf, smiling at the small creature as he flung his small arms around her neck. "Send Winky Dobby's love, yes?" he chimed, and Hermione nodded, placing a kiss on his forehead.
"I'll do that, Dobby."
The girl got up off her knees, looking up at Sirius. She wasn't very close to him, but he still meant a lot to her, and she meant a lot to him.
"Still the brightest witch of our age." he smiled, ruffling through her hair. "Greet Molly and Arthur for me, will you?" Hermione bobbed her head once, before lightly hugging him. Lupin was next, and he'd asked the same favor as Sirius did.
And then Tonks stepped up, her hair her favorite shade of pink. "Cuddle my Teddy for me and take good care of him." she sighed as she hugged Hermione tightly. "And Kick the Malfoy boy's ass, Hermione. You know he deserves it." Hermione laughed lightly. She'd missed her humor so much.
And last but not least; Fred.
Fred still wore that grin on his face, as Hermione slung her arms around his neck, but not without having to stand on her tiptoes.
"do you want me to tell George anything?" Questioned the girl, looking up into Fred's eyes.
He hesitated for a moment before shaking his head. "No, he already knows that I'm with him wherever he goes. But if you want to, you can tell him I Said to stop sulking all day. I can't stand to see him cry anymore."
Hermione noticed the hint of pain in Fred's voice, and the silly tears rolled down her cheeks again.
She looked at the lot of them, stepping back a few steps.
"When will I see you again?" Hermione asked painfully, her voice trembling again.
"Soon enough." said Lupin.
"But if your ever need us… Just remember, we'll always be here with you." Harry smiled, pointing at her heart, and Sirius smiled brightly at his godson.
"I miss you all." she sighed, before they all transformed into small balls of light, and flew away into the darkness.
Hermione sat up straight as a board in her bed, covered in a cold sweat and her chest heaving heavily up and down as she tried to calm down.
Damn it. Another nightmare.
She pushed the damp strands of hair out of her face as she turned on a light on her nightstand, only to scream in terror once again.
"MALFOY!" screeched Hermione, her voice hoarse and scratchy. "You scared the hell out of me, what are you doing in my room?"
Draco stood in the door frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "You've been screaming your head off for the past 3 hours, Granger. I had to cast a muffliato spell on the dorm so that no one thinks I'm murdering you, or using the cruciatus curse on you." he explained, coldly staring at her.
Hermione blinked at the boy. That explained her hoarse voice. She'd been screaming in her sleep. Her eyes darted around the room as she nervously brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear and bit her lip. "Well," she mumbled. "Why didn't you wake me up?"
The boy hesitated for a moment, before answering her question. "You would've hexed me to Neverland if I were to shake you awake in the middle of the night." Draco shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, you were calling my name. I wanted to see if you were going to say anything else about me."
"That still doesn't give you the right to just watch me sleep." hissed Hermione after a lengthy pause, and began to push him out of her room. Had she really called his name in her dream?
"Just get out, I'd like to have another hour of sleep before having to get ready for class!"
Draco laughed lightly at the witch as he was being shoved out of the room. "We don't have class, Granger. We can sleep as long as we want." he explained, looking down at the rather confused girl.
"...Right. But that doesn't mean that we can sleep until-
"Noon? Yes, it does actually. Because that's exactly what I'll be doing. And you'd better not wake me up, Granger." Draco warned, holding up a finger before disappearing into his room.
Hermione stood in the small living room for a few seconds, staring at the ferret's closed door. Oh how she loathed that greasy git.
With a frustrated groan she shuffled back to her room and slipped under the covers. Crookshanks mewed lightly at her and cuddled up next to her head. Before Hermione knew it, the purring of her pet lulled her to sleep once more.
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