Prologue - The Prophecy
June 18th, 1996
Hermione was running, she could faintly make out Harry and Nevillein front of her. Looking up, she could see nothing but the blue glow from the prophecy orbs, stacked in row upon row of shelves as far as she could see above her. The prophecy archival room had no windows, only bricked-up walls and black tiled flooring. It felt eerie in here, not in the intriguing sense, but in the get the hell out of here sense. Hermione realized all too late, that the sound of their shoes slapping as they ran was all that she could hear. She quickly cast a silencing charm on all of their shoes, but she was likely too late. This is why they shouldn’t be going on missions unless ALL of them agreed. Her head wasn’t in the right place, she was making stupid mistakes. Hermione’s blood ran cold as Bellatrix Lestrange’s infamous cackle broke the newfound silence first, then came the sound of glass orbs shattering, one by one, followed closely behind. They were smashing them, centuries-old prophecies destroyed without a second thought. It made Hermione furious, but she couldn’t focus on the lost windows into the future, past and present.
They were getting closer to the exit - a hidden entryway in the bricks. She could hear four, maybe five death eaters closing in on them. It was a stupid idea to believe this wasn’t a trap. Of course, Voldemort would lure Harry out here, he never listens to reason and loves to go charging in like he’s indestructible. Ron should’ve backed her up, his pride always gets the better of him and now they were all going to pay for it. Voldemort wouldn’t miss the opportunity to get the prophecy for himself. If they made it out of here, she was going to kill Harry and Ron and the rest of the fucking Order for putting this idea in the boys’ heads. Luna tripped behind her breaking Hermione’s train of thought, and she turned long enough to see Ron stop to grab her by the arm and haul her back to her feet. When she faced forward again Harry and Neville were gone, out of sight. Hermione stopped, looking through the darkness frantically for the boys. “Expelliarmus!” Bright blue light cut through the darkness and a death eater deftly blocked Harry’s spell. Hermione’s head whipped around at the outbreak, they were at the far end of the hall, in the complete opposite direction to the exit. What on Earth were they doing?! Hermione noticed the death eaters were all wearing their silver masks, but the one advancing on the boys had his hood down and his long blonde hair gave him away as Lucius Malfoy.
Lucius sent a red hex straight back, exploding more prophecies, narrowly missing Harry’s head. “Keep running” Ron urged, catching up to her with Luna. Hermione realized with dread that Harry was trying to distract the death eaters so that they could escape. But that was never part of the contingency plan. Like hell was he going to sacrifice himself for them, they needed Harry. Hermione’s mind scrambled for a solution, a way out of this as she picked up her pace. They were close enough now to see that Harry and Neville were being cornered by three death eaters. Harry and Neville were now on the defense, their spells lighting up the dark hall. Green, blue and red streaks coloured the ceiling in the hall. Hermione ducked narrowly missing a hex in the crossfire and led the three of them down a narrow row of prophecies, creeping closer to the boys. She stopped abruptly causing Luna to crash face first into Ron’s back. She turned and pressed a finger to her lips, motioning for them to be quiet. Footsteps sounded nearby, growing closer, the hall echoed the smallest noise. “Harry…Come out, come out wherever you are” Bellatrix sang. Hermione scrambled to think of a way out of this, apparition wasn’t an option, they could fight but the death-eaters numbers could have tripled now they knew Harry was here. Think Hermione, think. A couple of rows over she could make out Lucius and two other death-eaters closing in on the boys. They were being backed into a corner. Distraction it was.
“Both of you, listen. I need you to try to get as close to them as you can, we can’t be split up. They’re trying to pick us off one at a time, when I give you the sign, I want you to run. And above all, remember the plan. Harry gets out alive.” Hermione whispered. “Hermione, no-“ Ron started to argue back but Hermione was already moving. Slipping into the next aisle over, creating distance between her and the others. A few seconds later Hermione flicked her wand and sent a blue flare skittering across the floor to where Ron and Luna were. Luna pulled Ron towards the aisle Harry and Neville were running out of. A distraction, come on Hermione you can do this. She hated herself, but this was the only idea she could come up with. She braced herself and pushed the shelf as hard as she could, but despite her determination it stood fast. The orbs were weighing down the shelves so much, it would probably take all of them to push one over. Shouts were growing louder, Hermione became desperate as she tried to block her friends’ cries out, and under the cover of the noise and the crack of their spells she whispered “Bombarda”. The shelf shook and trembled as she sprinted as far away as she could, it came crashing down taking the next one with it and the next one and the next. Hundreds of prophecies shattered on the tiled floor, shelf after shelf collapsing like dominos, headed straight for Lucius and the death-eaters.
Ron and Luna had caught up and were shouting defense spell after defense spell with Harry and Neville. Hermione wasn’t far behind, she pushed harder to catch up with the group as they got closer to the hidden entrance. As she rounded the aisle she came face to face with Bellatrix. They locked eyes, Bellatrix was smiling, smug. Her crooked teeth glinting in the dim light of the prophecies, sizing up Hermione as her eyes darkened. Hermione felt her blood run cold once more as a shiver ran down her spine and Bellatrix cooed “What a pity, the filthy little mudblood has lost her friends” Bellatrix laughed. Footsteps were getting closer as Harry shouted “RUN” at the same time as Hermione whipped her head back to Bellatrix and fired “EXPELLIARMUS” – “CRUCIO” That split second had cost her, she knew she hesitated when she heard Harry. The crucio curse crawled rapidly over her skin. Clawing at her as excruciating agony rippled through her and tore the breath from her lungs. Her eyes felt like they were bursting, and tears clouded her vision as she watched Neville drag Harry out through the hidden tunnel. The bricks looked like they were rearranging themselves, closing off the exit. Hermione could hear someone screaming. It might have been her, but she couldn’t tell. The pain seemed to last an eternity, unable to draw a breath, her consciousness seemed to fade in and out. Hermione’s sight faded until she couldn’t see anything.
She felt the curse recede and it took her too long to realize what was happening. Sirius and Remus had appeared, she knew they had been far longer than they had planned. The pair had disarmed Bellatrix as she lay writhing on the floor in ropes. A nasty hex was forming boils all over her arms, neck and across her face. Hermione came around slowly and reached out across the floor to feel for her wand. On shaking arms, she started to lift herself up, attempting to get her feet under her. She took a moment crouching before trying to stand. “Hermione go, we’ve got this from here,” Remus shouted through gritted teeth as he fought off Lucius Malfoy. “Moody is waiting at the gate, quick now. Can you walk?” Sirius asked between spells, keeping the other two death eaters back. Hermione pulled herself up off the floor and stumbled forward, aiming for the exit. Or where she thought it was. Ginny must’ve panicked and told the whole Order about Ron and Harry’s stupid plan; Hermione would usually be annoyed but truthfully she didn’t blame her. She was pretty fucking grateful right now actually.
Gaining speed, her head dizzy, she heard Lucius and the others dueling with Remus and Sirius. Hermione glanced back to see that there were more death-eater appearing. Turning back to the exit, she stopped at the wall and pulled her wand out, just as she was about to open the exit up, someone grabbed her shoulders. Their fingers dug in enough to make Hermione yelp as she was dragged into the aisle behind and into a pocket of darkness once more. Hermione kicked out and scratched as they clamped their hand over her mouth. She bit and bucked until a distorted, oddly familiar voice crooned in her ear “Where are you off to Granger? You don’t want to go down there, I heard that’s where the rest of them are getting in. Can’t let the others have all the fun, can I?” A second later four more death-eaters ran past, from the direction of the hidden exit. She was fucked then, Remus and Lupin thought she had already gone. It’ll be too late before Moody can tell them she never caught up with him. But she sure as hell wasn’t giving up without a fight. Head and heart pounding Hermione swung back her head as hard as she could and connected with what she hoped was the death-eaters nose. Hermione was certain she’d split her head from the impact, but she kept moving. He let go for a split second, but that was all she needed as Hermione spun and shoved his chest until he hit the wall. Using the element of surprise, she reached out and ripped the mask clean off his face. She might as well see who was going to bring her early demise. Only to reveal the face of Draco Malfoy glaring right at her as they locked eyes. His nose was cracked oddly to one side and blood was dribbling down his chin. Too stunned to move, her vision started to swim again, and Hermione watched as he turned his head and spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor. Malfoy moved too quickly and grabbed a fistful of Hermione’s hair, pulling her head back. She wrapped her hand around his wrist and pulled it back to reveal his forearm. But it was bare, he hasn’t got the dark mark yet, it didn’t make sense, her mind started racing again. The Order were certain he had taken it this summer. “Let go of me Malfoy, you bastard what are you doing!” Hermione said through gritted teeth. Yanking her head down he seethed “Wouldn’t you like to know. You dirty mudblood bitch”. Hermione went for her wand, but Malfoy was faster as he slammed her skull with so much force into the tiled floor, knocking her clean out.