Hey all :) kk, firstly I'd like to apologise for how long it took me to upload this chapter. I had writer's block for a while and I've also hardly ever written a fight scene before so I'm not too sure if I've pulled it off – no matter how many times I've edited it :P
Oh, and someone asked whether or not they're still first years so yeah, the answer simply is yes.
R&R – I especially love constructive criticism as I'm pretty sure you've all figured out by now :P but seriously guys – this chapter killed me so anything would be awesome :D
~enjoy :D
Chapter 12
As she lay in bed that night she tossed and turned as her mind was assaulted with twisted memories of the future.
'Granger…sssso glad you could join ussss,' He hissed from his throne as she strode towards him smirking.
'Potter has been captured my Lord,' she whispered, kneeling before Voldemort smiling.
Voldemort's red eyes gleamed wickedly before a grotesque grin stretched its way across his face.
The scene disappeared into smoke only to be replaced with Harry's tortured body lying on the ground twitching as Voldemort circled around him, laughing coldly at his former enemy's demise.
'Harry Potter, sssso weak, ssssso vulnerable without your friendsssss.'
The nightmare quickly morphed into her, a shackle around her neck while Voldemort held the chain, cruelly running his hand through her matted hair. She shivered in delight as he spoke of her rewards.
Her mind abruptly pulled away from the horrors to find itself in the first years' dorm, surrounded by snoring girls.
She clutched her heart fearfully, desperately trying to calm it down before running her hands over her arms, trying to warm herself up. Feeling the food she had eaten come up, she forcefully swallowed it back down, grimacing at the aftertaste.
You're at Hogwarts. You're safe. Tom's still human and that never happened anyway, and never will.
She repeated the mantra over and over in her mind but it little to no good. Just as she contemplated going back to sleep she heard a faint crash in the distant.
Her curiosity peeked she quietly made her way out of the dorm and into the common room. Quickly casting a disillusionment charm over herself she made her way out into the corridors and hesitantly started to make her way to the Entrance Hall. She wasn't even sure whether the sound had come from Hogwarts or not, but where else could it have come from and investigating the sound sounded much more appealing than going back to sleep with the nightmare still fresh in her mind.
As she reached the Entrance Hall she noticed two prefects standing next to the door that led to the grounds. Creeping towards them she just made out what they were saying.
'We should warn Dippet. Whatever made that sound could be dangerous.'
'But it was too far away Bergson. I don't think it's anywhere near Hogwarts.'
'But if it's an animal or something it could come this way.'
The other prefect froze for a moment before nodding his head and she watched them hurry up the steps towards Dippet's office.
She stood there for a few seconds, unsure what she could do to help when she heard it again. A loud rumble echoed dimly in the distant and she realised what it meant. That was the sound of a building crashing down. Racing towards the doors she pulled them open and ran onto the grounds to have her fears confirmed. There in the distant flashes of light struck through the night where she knew Hogsmeade to be. They didn't seem particularly friendly either.
Hesitating for a brief second she ran down the slope towards where she knew the gates that led to Hogsmeade were. She was small, disillusioned and powerful; the perfect weapon to help whoever was in danger.
She cursed under her breath as she reached the gates though. They were closed and warded of course.
'Bloody hell! What am I supposed to do now?' She bit her lips nervously before sudden footsteps reached her ear. Spinning around she found Dumbledore running towards her as absurd as it looked, wand drawn out. His eyes glanced at her for a second and she could read the warning there but decided to ignore it. Dumbledore didn't know everything about her yet and they could use as much help as possible.
Spelling the gates open he ran down the pathway, Hermione on his tail.
'Miss Granger, return to your bed. This is beyond you I assure you.'
Trust me sir, I can help.'
He merely cast her a glance before nodding.
'Sir,' she added, 'how do you see through disillusionment charms?'
He chuckled but didn't reply.
As they reached Hogsmeade Hermione froze for a second as she saw the devastation that had occurred. Buildings had collapsed and wizards in dark cloaks were attacking storekeepers and civilians left, right and center. She could see bodies lying around dead, their blood spilled mercilessly around them.
'Who are they?' She whispered in dread. They reminded her eerily of the Death Eaters of the future.
'Grindelwald's men,' Dumbledore whispered.
She gulped before nodding in determination.
'Shall we begin?' He asked her smiling.
'After you,' she inclined her head grinning.
Chuckling he entered the line of fire and started attacking them with such skill that she stood there admiring him for a few seconds before joining him in the fight.
Running around the fighting wizards and witches, she began to non-verbally stupefy the cloaked men, keeping to the ones at the edges so as to keep anyone from noticing her. Just as she stupefied another she saw from the corner of her eye a man she had previously stunned stand up and begin to attack. Freezing she watched in amazement as he began to attack the closest civilian without a tremble or limp in sight.
'That's not possible,' she whispered to herself, her eyes widening further when she noticed her other victims beginning to rise again and attack the backs of the others. Running back towards them she raised her wand, a deadlier hex on mind when she saw a flash of green hit one of them in the chest. The cloaked man stumbled back and fell to the ground presumably dead but after hexing several others she saw him rise from the ground again as if nothing had happened.
She stumbled back in disbelief, her mind a frenzy as she tried to grasp what she had just witnessed. No one before Harry had survived the killing curse. No one. What that man just did was…impossible in all senses.
Frantically looking around for Dumbledore she saw him tying ropes around a group of cloaked men, his eyes burning spitfire as he waved his wand in an intricate manner over the same group. What seemed to be glass climbed up around them, blocking them from the rest of the world.
Dumbledore's eyes suddenly shot to the right and locked eyes with her, and within those fierce blue eyes she saw an order to stay away from the battle at hand. Not needing any further encouragement she slinked away to an alcove between two buildings and watched on from there.
Her eyes began to burn from all the dust and debris but she couldn't close them. She watched in astonishment as Dumbledore had seemingly found a way to stop them from recovering from his attacks, the glass walls glinting in the darkness, but as the numbers finally began to diminish she heard a rumble from above and her gut twisting painfully she looked up to see rock falling down from atop her as the buildings collapsed from a misplaced curse.
The last thing she saw was the blurred face of someone vaguely familiar from the corners of her eyes before there was nothing.
Sooo...? How was it? R&R :D