Apparating took a lot out of any healthy witch or wizard. It required a lot of concentration and a lot of energy. Landing in a snow covered street on the outskirts of Hogsmeade village, Hermione teetered on her feet as dizziness and nausea flooded her system. God she hated Apparating, it had always made her nauseous even on a good day.
Breathing deeply she quickly became aware of a horrible screeching echoing loudly throughout the village. Darting into the nearest alleyway Hermione sprinted down the narrow passage as alarmed voices grew louder as Death Eaters approached her previous location.
With Fleur's wand gripped tightly in her hand she turned in various directions down a labyrinth of alleyways before coming to a swift halt in front of a locked iron gate. Tugging on its iron bars she released a hiss of frustration before turning around to face the approaching Death Eaters.
She could hear one of them ordering for everyone to spread out and search all the alleys for her. Raising her wand and pointing it forward Hermione waited for one of the bastards to emerge from round the corner.
A door opened to her right and a man with a long grayish/white beard stared at her with a hardened gaze.
"In here" he whispered, though his voice was low it carried authority and immediately Hermione complied. Striding past him, she hurried down a narrow staircase before entering a dimly lit basement.
The brunette walked further into the room, hiding the wand up her sleeve incase it was needed she observed the room cautiously. The sound of the door shutting and various locks turning was faint before the grey haired Wizard stalked into the room. Aberforth Dumbledore?
"Have you lost your mind Miss Granger? Do you have any idea how dangerous it is here? And here I was under the impression that you were the smartest witch of your age" Hermione watched as the older wizard released a tired sigh before his eyes darted to the side. Following his line of sight Hermione found herself looking at a moving portrait of a young girl.
"Arianna" whispered Hermione. Albus and Aberforth's younger sister.
A pained expression flittered across the old man's face before he turned his attention back to her.
"You don't look well Miss Granger. Far too thin if you ask me" he stated. The brunette merely ignored his concern and changed the topic.
"How have things been here? Have you heard anything from the Order?" Aberforth released a bitter snort.
"The Death Eaters roam the village without a care and without mercy. You-Know-Who put Snape in charge of Hogwarts and from what I've heard from that Neville boy the Carrow siblings have been having far too much fun torturing youngsters"
Just the mentioning of the word torture made Hermione tense up and force her own memories to fade to the back of her mind. Now was not the time for that.
"The Order is moving into the castle as we speak, Potter and two of his friends are already in there searching for a Horcrux I believe" Hermione nodded in understanding.
"I need to get into the castle. You-Know-Who is planning to attack Hogwarts and everyone needs to be prepared for it" Aberforth nodded slowly before glancing at the portrait of his younger sister with a knowing look. The girl nodded slowly before the portrait opened to reveal a narrow tunnel.
"This tunnel will take you into Hogwarts" stated Aberforth.
"Thank you" whispered Hermione before entering the tunnel.
"Lumos" she stated and the tip of her wand brightened enough for her to see where exactly she was going.
Walking down the dimly lit path Hermione tried to ignore the aches of her body; her muscles were horribly tight along her back and tugged painfully as she walked. Some pains were worse than others she supposed.
Finally reaching the end of the tunnel she pushed what appeared to be the back of a portrait and out it opened like a door, allowing her entrance into an empty room. Various pieces of furniture and items littered the room in a careless manner. Makeshift beds, trunks, books and some pieces of clothing.
Walking further into the room, Hermione paid no attention to the portrait swinging shut behind her of its own accord. Coming to a halt in the middle of the room the intelligent Gryffindor winced as a foreign presence entered her mind.
Pressing her free hand to her temple she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as an unfamiliar voice spoke to her.
I know that many of you want to fight. Some of you may even think that defiance is wise. But this is folly. Give me Harry Potter…do this and none shall be harmed…Give me Harry Potter and I shall leave Hogwarts untouched…you have ten minutes to decide before I begin my attack…
Suddenly the pressure on her mind faded and her eyes opened while her hand dropped down to her side.
"Fuck" she muttered under her breath before she departed from the room. Running down various corridors she had to weave between frightened Hogwarts students as they scattered to various places in the castle. Running did nothing for her aching body but right now she didn't really have much choice in the matter.
Voldemort was preparing to launch his attack on everyone she cared about and she had to find them before any of his minions did.
She turned a corner and found herself being an unfortunate witness to an argument between Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. Even through the noise of panicked school children rushing off into different directions she could still hear the Fleur's voice as clear as day.
A horrible sense of confliction rose up within her as she looked at Fleur. A small part of her wanted to go over to her and wrap her in her arms and never let her go. That was the emotional part of her. The other, much bigger and logical part of her, was frightened to even approach the part-Veela.
She had hurt Fleur; the memories of what her hands had done still haunted her. Without thinking she hid behind the corner as fear gripped at her heart. Pressing her hand against her chest she closed her eyes and tried to quell her racing heart and shove the images that danced in front of her eyes to the back of her mind.
When she reopened them, she was shocked to find a certain Ginny Weasley's face right in front of her own. A pair of arms wrapped themselves around the brunette and once contact was made her entire body froze up and tensed which did nothing for her aches.
But she couldn't help it. The memories of what Bellatrix had done to her; all the pain and revulsion that had been inflicted or induced brought her mind to a halt and sent her into a near full fledged panic attack.
The red headed Weasley instantly retreated from Hermione with a look of confusion and concern on her face. Shaking her head to try and clear her mind Hermione opened her mouth to ease the concerned redhead.
However, before even a syllable could leave her throat the sound of glass shattering followed by a Death Eater flying into the school interrupted her. A hardened gaze that Ginny had never seen on her best friends face formed on Hermione's face.
As school kids dropped to their knees to avoid the deranged follower of Voldemort, Hermione pointed her wand at the black clad minion and shouted.
"Stupefy!" the Death Eater careened through the air and into a wall.
And so the battle for their lives began.