Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Hermione Granger
Flashes of green and red light split through the dense smoke. Curses snapped from her wand in quick succession. Through the chaos and smog, she could scarcely see the black robes moving like shadows around the trees. But as the spells flew toward her, she retaliated in the same direction. She inhaled one breath after the other. The cold air sharp as it bit down her throat.
Her orders echoed through her head like a second heartbeat.
Protect the Chosen One.
She looked to her left, to her right, all around her– they had been surrounded. It felt hopeless only for a moment. Only for a second. She watched as a curse came soaring through the trees and Harry blocked it, knocking the death eater’s wand from his hand. Ron threw his arms around them and forced them down as a curse whipped passed them, barely avoiding their heads. Hermione attacked. And together, they developed a rhythm. Block, duck, attack. Block, duck, attack. The rhythm felt like hope, it felt like life.
But Ginny had disrupted it. A scream tore through the air.
She looked at Harry for a breath of a second, his eyes wide- a silent plea.
And she knew.
She knew that there would be no point in protecting Harry, in keeping him safe, if Ginny wasn’t.
So she broke their pattern, blasting the ground. It exploded at the feet of a row of death eaters. They fell out of line, disoriented enough to leave a small window for Harry to escape.
“Go!” Hermione had shouted.
He hesitated- unsure.
“Go!”
She watched him go. Feet sinking into the snow, throwing hexes behind him as he zipped through the maze of trees.
A few death eaters fled after him. Hermione’s blood chilled.
Please be safe.
She stood back-to-back with Ron, firing curses off at the surrounding Death Eaters. When she shot, he deflected. And in unison, they pushed them back with slicing hexes. Spells hissed around her; she was deflecting too late. They fought like they were missing an organ. The death eaters pressed in, deflecting and retaliating every curse.
And for every one they dropped, another came in its place.
She could see Neville and Remus in the distance, back-to-back. Surrounded.
How could there be so many of them?
Her pulse thrummed in her veins.
She ducked when a red light tore through the air.
Something heavy thudded on the ground behind her.
“Ron?” No answer. She hurled a curse, blocking when it came back at her.
Her chest seized.
Echoes of spells cut through the forest.
“Ron? Answer me!” Please be okay. Please be okay.
She conjured a wall of fire around her.
Its furious flames casting a haze as they licked the sky.
It wouldn’t last. She knew that. The cold already beginning to fizzle it out. But it would have to hold for now. At least for a little.
Ron hadn’t gotten back up.
She was afraid, so afraid to look. Calming herself with a deep breath, she turned around.
No. No.
The scream died somewhere between her throat and her chest. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Her knees buckled, and she followed them into the ground. Gods, no. Ron was lying in half, organs spilling over the snow. Ice and ash filled her lungs. Vision blurred.
She hadn’t been allowed to process what she was seeing. Not really. Because suddenly, impossibly, a tall figure in black robes emerged through the fire. Gold skull mask glinting in the light.
He stalked forward, boots heavy in the snow– wand raised between gloved fingers.
The noise of the world faded away. She focused on her breath. One after the other. Suppressing the tears before they fell.
She didn’t want to die here.
Fire exploded from her wand, hurling straight for him. He blocked it easily.
She almost resigned herself to her fate.
Almost.
She wasn’t going to die here.
She bolted, bracing as she ran through the flames, its aching heat felt like safety for a moment.
She never turned back to see him, but she knew he was on her. The rustle of robes were never far behind her. His strides devouring three of hers at a time. He'd run through the wall of fire after her. The wall of fire that surrounded Ron, if only for a minute longer.
Her thoughts were lost to the sound of her heart raging in her ears.
Just willing herself to go faster, to go a little further.
She weaved through the battle, ducking assailing lights as they soared from wands.
Harry was in the distance with Ginny.
If she could only get to them.
They'd developed the same tactic as her and Ron, shouting direction as they fought and fended back-to-back. She raced for them.
All she had to do was get to them.
All she had to do was get to them and she would stand a chance.
A flash of light engulfed her. She slumped to the ground, numbed by the snow beneath her cheek.
A wand pressed to her temple. She was powerless to it. She couldn't move, she didn't want to move.
Distantly she could hear the snap of spells soaring around her. And she couldn’t remember why she had wanted to find Harry and Ginny. She couldn’t remember why she wanted to run.
Every will and want of her own had floated away when she'd been struck. She wanted only what he wanted.
"We're taking this one."
She knew that voice.
"Come." He said and she did. Her limbs heavy as she hauled herself up.
"Sleep." He said and she did, collapsing into his waiting arms.