Song rec: "Shrike" by Hozier.

Chapter 50

"Did I…am I dead?" Hermione thought she asked but didn't feel her mouth move. She was in a dimly lit room, one she vaguely recognized but couldn't place. It smelled acrid, and the air around her was humid and warm. She felt uneasy.

"That has not yet come to pass," the figure answered, its voice sounding like several voices whispering at once. Hermione shivered. "Your fate rests on a cliff's edge, the wind may yet push you over."

"Where are we?" Hermione asked, and the figure shrugged. As she did, black dust fell from the decaying cloak the figure wore.

"I met you where the veil is thin," The figure spoke, and as she did, a slim cat sauntered into the room, seeming to study Hermione. "You are sick, as I once was. Your fate eludes me yet, and I grow tired. I mislike the affects you carry with you," The figures voice was growing quieter, almost sinister. Hermione was frightened.

Hermione patted herself down, not remembering what affects that figure meant.

"Oh...the wand and the stone?" Hermione asked, and the figure flinched.

"Warships launched, masses put to the blade, time turned black and dead as ash," The figure started to turn towards Hermione as she spoke. "Devastation and destruction, power as thick and profound as totality. Woven by my own essence, stolen and wielded in abomination. My children, grown from a rotten womb. I will see them returned to me at the close of this fool's errand. The cloak as well, I will have them all three in my hands again."

Hermione was shaking now and breathing heavily. She didn't want the figure to turn to her and reveal its face, she knew it would be her end. Whatever was under that cloak was not something Hermione could ever understand, a horror she was not fit to comprehend.

A hand was on Hermione's shoulder now, pulling her away.

"Come, love, this way, quickly," The voice caressed Hermione, wrapped around her in a sheet of warmth and light she felt magnetized by. It was Fred Weasley pulling her away from the figure.

"Fred…I..wha-" Hermione was sputtering, totally confused.

"Shh, quickly now," Fred said, pulling her into a brighter room, filled with couches and a smell of cooking in the kitchen. Hermione immediately identified it as the living room of the Burrow. Hermione turned her face but there was no evidence of the dark room with the shrouded figure. She felt relief.

"'Mione," Another voice seemed to groan, and she turned, and there was Ron. Her heart started to beat wildly, and she flung himself at him, hugging him tightly, only to pull back and see she was hugging Sirius Black instead.

"Sit," Sirius rasped, pointing to a worn couch. Hermione felt a bit like Alice after she had fallen through the looking glass.

"Oye, but don't you look lovely," Another voice said, and Hermione turned to see Tonks walking towards her. Hermione started to cry, so overwhelmed she felt. She must be dead indeed and reunited with everyone she had lost. Instead of being sad, she felt safe. She felt relieved. It was ok now. She didn't have to fight anymore. She could rest. The tears came stronger now.

"Hermione don't cry now," A new voice cooed, and it was Lavender Brown, hugging her, petting her hair, comforting her.

"Lavender," Hermione sobbed, so racked with guilt. "I'm sorry,"

"That's alright now, no need to cry," Now Lupin was squeezing her hand.

"Who was that?" Hermione asked the room, looking at everyone.

"We don't rightly know," Lupin answered. "I think it might be death, or some ancient spirit similar."

A cup of tea was being pressed into her hand and she saw it was Colin Creevy giving her the cup, his face smiling and cheery, and her tears started anew.

"She can't drink that lad," A new voice answered, a voice Hermione did not recognize, but when she looked up, she knew them. It was lily and James Potter standing amidst the crowd of Hermione's fallen friends. Lily reached for the cup in Hermione's hand and took it.

"'Mione," Ron said, suddenly on the couch next to her. "You did brilliantly." He was hugging her now. She hugged him back, as hard as she could.

She was no longer in the burrow, she felt herself being sucked out of that room into a new room, where her parents were standing, looking at a news article. It showed Hermione as the main headline, and stated her death.

"Who is Hermione Granger?" Her father asked, his familiar voice both soothing and painful at the same time.

"Dunno, dear," Her mother answered, reaching for the article. "Why d'you think someone would send this to us?"

Hermione tried to scream; her heart pierced with heartbreak. Her parents did not know her, could not react to her death announcement.

"That's enough," A voice said, and it was Narcissa Malfoy grabbing her arm, pulling her away, causing Hermione to startle.

"That's the venom making you hallucinate," Narcissa finished, pulling her hand away from Hermione and stepping back. "I must go, but first I would express my gratitude," Narcissa opened her arms and proceeded to hug Hermione. It was stiff, and awkward, but she felt Narcissa's thankfulness none-the-less. "Thank you for protecting my son." She finished and vanished into thin air.

Hermione was now watching Molly Weasley run up to her, anger painted on her usually warm face.

"You sacrificed my son," Molly screamed as she ran to Hermione, her wand drawn.

"Molly, I'm sorry," Hermione tried to tell her, but was being pulled away again, this time by Cedric Diggory. Cedric was walking quickly, pulling Hermione through a dark copse of trees, and then she was back in the burrow, surrounded by her friends.

Hermione felt like she was experiencing whiplash, being pulled around so much. Death was exhausting her.

"Err," Hermione said, struggling to find her bearings. "Where are we?"

"Dunno, really," Fred answered humorously. "It smells heavenly though."

"Somewhere comforting that your mind conceptualized," Sirius spoke, settling himself in a cushy armchair across. "I am quite pleased to be here." He added with a smirk.

Hermione looked around at everyone and they all looked like they were under a shadow, with pail skin, and dim eyes. Hermione looked down at her own arm, which seemed to glow warmly. Ron was back next to her again, throwing an arm around her.

"You aren't dead, love," Lily Potter said, coming to stand near Hermione. She shuddered. Of course she was. How could she be here if she was alive? She nuzzled her head into Ron's neck, seeking his warmth, but he had none.

"You can see us because you're close to death and you have the stone," Lily answered Hermione's confusion. "You have made sacrifices steeped with love, and that form of magic has unique capabilities."

"Pssh, 'Mione isnn't gonna die," Fred laughed. "She'll pull right through."

The memory came trickling back now, of Hermione trying to get the elder Wand from Voldemort, and succeeding, but being bitten by his serpent in the process. The memory was blurry at best, with pieces missing.

"You did exceptionally well," Cedric nodded his head towards her.

"She is the brightest witch of our generation, after all," Ron said grinning down at her. Tears threatened to come to the surface again.

"Ron, I'm sorry-" but before she could get her apology out, his finger was over her lips, shushing her.

"I love you," He told her, face flushed with amusement. "I don't need an apology. I pushed you to go. You have everything you need now, love," he told her.

Someone cleared their throat, and she turned her attention back towards the crowd.

"I take it you were able to speak with Albus's portrait?" James Potter asked her, and she nodded her head. James beamed at her.

"You know what you need to do," Tonks was standing in front of her now, her face shiny with tears. "Kiss my Teddy for me, tell him mummy loves him." She added, crying in earnest. It triggered Hermione, who started to cry again as well, and she stood to hug Tonks.

Lily placed a hand on Tonks shoulder, and turned to face Hermione. "You will have our strength supporting you now," She said kindly. "Love magic is very powerful. I believe the serpent would have killed you if not for it."

"I think Potter will become corporeal for only a short while, and then return to death. Should be sufficient time to accomplish your mission." The voice that spoke turned Hermione's blood cold and she turned to see Severus Snape leaning on a wall in the corner of the room. Lupin and Sirius exchanged a pointed look, but otherwise no one reacted to him. "Though, we have all connected to each other, Potter hasn't been seen by any of us. Or Albus," Snape added, tone bored. "Do try not to destroy my cottage while you are there," He added, and vanished.

It was starting to set in now. She wasn't dead, she was alive. And she would be returning to the living world without them, these people who were filling her with love and kindness right now, in her darkest hour. She felt exhausted and burnt out already.

She turned to Ron, who was now sitting next to Collin Creevey on the couch she had just vacated, and he beamed at her, his face so full of love and adoration, her heart nearly burst. Then a feeling of guilt crept into her heart, and the picture of her waking up in Draco's arms flashed before her eyes. She had betrayed Ron, her love. It soured her stomach instantly.

"'Mione," Ron said quietly, rising to stand. She looked around and realized everyone had vanished save for him. He swept her into his arms and kissed her softly. It felt good, it made her heart warm, although his lips felt cold. "I'm bloody proud of you. I love you, I love you, I love you," He said. "Never got ta tell ya before, my one regret. But I would die for you over and over again woman. I'm not so good with words, but I want you to be happy and live a long life. I want you to end this war, 'Mione, I want you to make it out alive. Please visit my parents and tell everyone I love them." He kissed her again, and then was gone, so fast Hermione couldn't reply.