Hermione grabbed at Ron, stopping him from running up the stairs. “Harry,” she panted, and he nodded, both of them turning in the direction where they last saw him. “Harry!” She called out, causing him to turn around.
“Hermione, what-”
“Where are you going?” She demanded.
“I have to go, I only have an hour.”
“Harry-”
“Trust me, please?”
She felt her heart break in two. “No.” She shook her head, sobbing. “I’ll go with you.”
“No. Kill the snake. Kill the snake and then it’s just him.”
Hermione threw herself into Harry’s arms, holding him tightly as though it would be the last time she would see him. She had hope, she never let go of her hope, but she expected disappointment. Expect disappointment and you’ll never be disappointed.
She and Ron watched as Harry exited the school they had once roamed, looking around the broken hallways and crumped flooring, thinking back on when they were 11 years old, walking into the hall for the first time about to be sorted into their houses. She thought about the smell, the smell of blood and pain, and vanishing it with her memories of the smell of fresh pumpkin and warm candles. She thought about the way she could feel her magic exhausting through her veins, and compared it to the feeling of when she felt it thrumming for the first time when she learned how to cast a spell, and when she learned that she was among friends, people she would soon call family.
Ron snapped her out of her thoughts. “Hermione, we have to check on everyone else, come on.”
She walked, her brain was subduing the sound. Everything felt muffled. She could see everyone rushing around her, healing the wounded and tending to the dead, yet she felt like she was walking ever so slow. She walked past the small body of Colin Creevey just as Madam Pomfrey pulled a sheet over his head. Hermione should’ve cried, but she didn’t. She walked past the bodies of Remus and Tonks, their hands inches away from one another. She should’ve cried, but she didn’t. Hermione walked past the body of Lavender Brown, stopping so she could sweep a long curl out of her forehead, and then pulled the sheet over her head. One single tear fell. As she approached the Weasley’s gathering around Fred’s body, she stilled.
“Ron,” she whispered, “I can’t go over there, not yet.”
“I understand.” Ron looked at her with sad eyes, brimming with tears. “When you’re ready, okay?”
“I need air, I’m so sorry.”
“I’ll find you. Go.” He kissed her forehead as she backed out of the hall in silence, squeezing her eyes closed so that she wouldn’t have to see any more of her friends injured, or dead.
She walked and walked until she found herself in the courtyard, holding her wand tightly, glaring at the swarm of Death Eaters coming towards the castle. Something felt off, something felt.. not right. The atmosphere in the air wasn’t correct, and the hairs on the back of Hermione’s neck stood up. They were getting closer, and Hermione could see the grin on the snake-like face of Voldemort, and she felt sick.
“Students and teachers alike, I demand your presence in the courtyard.” Voldemort spoke inside their heads and she resisted the urge to scream. She would not show him weakness, not today.
Neville was at the forefront of the crowd, followed by Ginny, who clocked Hagrid immediately.
“Neville, who is that, that Hagrid is carrying? Who is it?”
Neville didn’t answer, he didn’t have to. Hermione knew. Voldemort won. Voldemort won and Hermione felt her heart snap in two as she saw Hagrid lower Harry’s dead body onto the ground as he was sobbing. Voldemort announced that Harry Potter was dead, their beacon of hope and light in this dark time had been snuffed out like a candle. She heard Ginny’s scream and the collective gasp of people around them. Voldemort had won, and it was all over. She felt a hand grasp her upper bicep, and suddenly, she was apparated away from the school grounds, sobbing as she felt her feet stabilise.
“Granger. Granger. Granger! Look at me, breathe.” A voice spoke, but she couldn’t place it, not just yet. She had to get her bearings, understand where she’d just been taken against her will. She opened her eyes and saw a small run down living room in front of her, and she turned, casting her eyes on the small window. She could see the castle burning from where she was. Her home was on fire, and she felt like she was flaming from the inside out, so she screamed. She screamed, and screamed, and crumpled over once she felt there was nothing left, only to be handed a small glass of water. Hermione was too exhausted to think it was poison, and even if it was - maybe it would be a merciful death. No one would want to survive and live under Voldemort’s reign, no. Death would be more welcomed.
“Granger,” the voice was more tentative now, more reserved and hesitant, as though one loud noise could break her further, and she laughed. She laughed bitterly at the figure in the broken light in front of her. She placed the voice, the cold hand, the cold eyes.
“Malfoy.” She spat. “What am I doing here?”
“I just need you to get some energy back and then we can apparate further and then I promise I will tell you everything.”
“Why on earth would I trust you, Malfoy?” A hollow chuckle broke free from her throat.
“I don’t know, but I need you to.”
“Ginny.” She suddenly gasped. “Ginny is at Hogwarts, Voldemort, he.. he..”
“Ginny is safe, I can assure you that. As are multiple of your friends.”
Hermione laughed harder. “You’re lying to me.”
“I’m withholding some truths, there’s a difference.”
“Oh, do not patronise me, Malfoy.”
“Just drink the water and eat the small bar and we can go somewhere safe, it’s not safe here.” Malfoy looked panicked, his eyes wide and glazed.
She didn’t have the energy to antagonise him further, so she ate, and she drank, and she waited a moment and didn’t feel any adverse effects of what he’d given her, so she supposed it was alright. “Now what?”
“Please may I take your arm?” He asked, almost awkwardly.
“You’re asking my permission now, but you didn’t when you whisked me away from possibly one of the most important battles in this war?”
He laughed, but it was hollow. “You would’ve said yes?”
“Absolutely not.”
“I didn’t think so. Please, will you allow me to take your arm?”
She shrugged, holding out her arm from her side so that he could grasp her bicep once again, and suddenly they were some place warmer, some place brighter. “Where are we?”
“An order safe house.”
“I knew about all of the order safe houses and this was not on the list.”
“Yes, because Moody enlisted it to myself and my mother only. It was where we got to go when our home became.. too much.” Malfoy took off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket, motioning for Hermione to do the same. She did so, but slowly, again, taking in her surroundings and noticing that the furniture was quite cosy, and lord she was in need of a very good nap.
“You need to rest, please rest, and I promise I will tell you everything when you wake up. I swear it, I’ll swear on my magic.”
Hermione’s head whipped around to see Malfoy’s wand glowing red for a moment and then staying dormant. “You swore on your magic?”
“Yes.”
“This cannot be real. I cannot be in a country home with Malfoy who just swore on his magic to.. to.. tell me a secret?” She laughed. “I must be exhausted. I am exhausted, so I am going to lay down on this comfortable sofa and hopefully wake up from this bizarre dream.”
Malfoy chucked lowly before handing her a blanket and a pillow from a place she didn’t see, and resisted the urge to sneer at him in thanks as she took them out of his hands. The second her head hit the insanely soft pillow, she was out like a light.
Malfoy sighed, his head in his hands. He leant back up to look at her soft, snoring form, taking in the cuts on her brow, the blood on her lips. It took everything in him not to wipe the blood from her face with his thumb, and he noticed that one of her fingers was broken. He cast a silent episkey and fixed it, noting how she didn’t stir in her sleep, which he thought was odd. Surely, after a year on the run, she should be in tune to noises around her, or maybe.. just maybe, she felt safe around him. It was a nice thought, that Hermione Granger would feel safe around Draco Malfoy, but he knew he was kidding himself.
Hermione stayed as still as possible as she heard Malfoy move towards her, and she had no idea how she didn’t flinch when he fixed her finger, but she prided herself in pretending she was asleep. She could feel him staring at her, and it took everything in her not to open her eyes and ask him “just what on earth do you think you’re looking at, Malfoy?” but she froze as she felt him take her hand.
“I’m so sorry, Granger. I’m so sorry.”
What was he sorry about? What was he apologising for?
“Obliviate.”
No, no. No. This is not how this is supposed to happen, what-
Hermione opened her eyes and saw she was alone in an unknown location, run down furniture which looked cosy. The fire was burning red, which meant that someone had been there moments before, but she just.. didn’t know who.
“Hello?” She called out to the room, but silence answered her. She was alone. She still had her wand, which she supposed was a good thing. The person that left her there didn’t leave her defenceless.
Hermione gripped her wand and tried apparating to no avail. “Damn it!” She shrieked, stamping her foot. “Hello?” She yelled again in frustration.
A sound caught her attention and the door opener, and someone was shoved inside with a blindfold on, and then the door was closed and locked again. “Hello?” Hermione called hesitantly.
“Her- Hermione?” The blindfolded figure walked into the light and Hermione recognised the red hair of her best friends younger sister.
“Ginny?” Hermione gasped, rushing forward to remove the fabric obstructing her vision. “Who brought you here?”
“I don’t know. All I remember is Harry and.. oh merlin.” Ginny sobbed, crumpling into Hermione’s arms. “Where did you go?”
“I don’t remember. I just remember waking up here.”
“Ron was going spare without you, saying he would find you, that he promised to find you and you were gone.” Ginny gripped Hermione’s arm tightly.
“And Ron.. is he..?”
“Bellatrix. But mum got her back, not her children. Never her children.” Ginny smiled sadly.
They held each other tightly as they sat in front of the dwindling fire, Hermione casting charms to keep it burning, both of them looking at the door to see the next person to walk through, waiting. After a few hours, the door opened again and they both stood, holding each other closely, wands gripped in their hands. Two people they knew as Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott walked through the door, followed by Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood and Pansy Parkinson, and the final person to walk through the door and close it behind them, was Draco Malfoy.
It was silent for a moment, before Hermione and Ginny grasped ahold of Luna and Neville, who were both bloody and war torn, but smiling at the sight of their friends.
“Can we all sit down for a moment?” Malfoy voiced to the room, sighing as he settled on a tattered arm chair.
They all glanced at each other before taking a seat.
“Thank you. Now, as we’re all here, I need to tell you something that may shock some of you, but not all of you.” He looked each and every person in the eyes as they all sat up straight, poised and paying attention.
“Why should we listen to you?” Ginny spat. “All four of you, death eaters. Pansy Parkinson, the first person to shout for someone to grab Harry and hand him over to the dark lord. Theo Nott, son of Nott Sr, who ordered a crucio on me for not going to detention because I wouldn’t crucio a first year. Blaise Zabini, someone who stayed silent in the background as children were ordered to torture other children, and you,” she stared directly at Draco, “you were the one who let in the death eaters, who got my brother killed and my other brother maimed. Tell me, why should I listen to you.”
“You four don’t remember how you got here, because I obliviated your memory of the moment. As soon as I saw that the Dark Lord had won, my friends and I sought you out, and brought you here one by one.”
“Why?” Hermione whispered, playing with her fingers.
Draco’s eyes snapped to hers, staring at her before looking away and continuing. “Voldemort won, Harry is dead. For that, I am so sorry, and I wholeheartedly apologise, but the battle is not over.”
“What do you mean the battle’s not over, Malfoy?” Neville chimed in.
Draco looked at Blaise, who nodded. “The Dark Lord didn’t just want to defeat Harry, he wanted to cleanse the entire wizarding world. He’s been all around the world, speaking to muggle presidents, and he’s got his hands on some pretty nasty muggle weapons, they call them bombos.”
“Bombs. You mean bombs.” Hermione was biting her thumbnail. “Sometimes they’re nuclear.”
“Yes. He is planning on moving all pure blood followers into a remote location before activating it. Hogwarts is already burning.”
“So, why are we here?” Luna asked, glancing at Blaise.
“We all decided to save one person, as a group. Neville, Pansy chose to save you. Luna, Blaise chose to save you. Ginevra, Theo chose to save you, and Granger? I chose to save you.”
The room was silent, only the crackling of the fire could be heard.
“There’s nothing we can do?” Ginny spoke up.
“Nuclear bombs are irreversible. The world is going to end.” Hermione said into thin air as she collapsed back onto the sofa. “There’s nothing we can do. We can’t fix this.”
“We wanted to spend our last moments with each other and you, and whilst you don’t currently understand why, I hope you’ll respect our spaces for these next few weeks. Blaise is a great cook, Pansy can be really entertaining, and I will promise to keep out of all of your ways. I am the last person you want to see right now, but I couldn’t let you burn.” Draco nodded at the room before he exited.
The next few days were tense, the Slytherins stayed together, watching the others closely but never crossing the boundary that may or may not have been set. Luna was the first to break the boundary and cross the room to Blaise. She touched his arm softly, looking at him, before she swept into the kitchen and he followed, leaving Neville and Pansy smirking. “Took them long enough.” Ginny laughed, not noticing the way Theo’s eyes brightened at her speaking.
“They’d been eyeing each other since the moment we were brought to the house.” Pansy laughed harder.
“Luna would’ve just wanted to make it make sense in her head,” Hermione said as she sat down with a book, sitting closer to Pansy than she usually would’ve done, which startled the girl.
“What are you reading?” Pansy asked.
“Hogwarts: A History.” She smiled, nostalgia filling the room as both Pansy and Hermione remembered walking alongside the girl before they were sorted into their respective houses, talking about the enchanted ceiling.
“I love that book,” Draco’s voice cut through the room as he walked into the shared space, wearing an oversized black hoodie and black muggle jeans.
“Really?” Ginny quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you could read.”
There was a pause before Theo started chuckling, which in turn made Pansy laugh louder, and soon the room was booming with laughter, and Hermione glanced at Draco, noticing his small grin as he slid into the seat next to Neville.
A few hours passed, and they felt the ground shake, the walls rattling. “Draco.” Pansy gripped his arm. “What was that?”
Draco patted Pansy’s hand before he got up to look out of the window. “The trees, they’re on fire. We have about.. five hours, tops.”
“Five hours?!” Ginny shrieked.
“Five hours. The wards should hold, the air outside should still be good to breath, it may just be warm. I, for one, am going to stand outside and watch the sky burn.”
Blaise walked towards Luna, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Theo inched closer to Ginny, who’s eyes widened in shock before she slunk against him, and Pansy’s grip on Draco’s arm was replaced by Neville placing his arm around her. Hermione didn’t want to interrupt the melancholy feel that had filtered into the room, so she followed Draco outside.
She found him stood with his back to her, his hands in his pocket and his head tilted back, looking at the sky that was turning orange too early in the day. “Draco,” she called softly.
“Granger.”
She walked up to stand beside him. “Even though the world is ending, it sure is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“I can think of something more beautiful to look at whilst everything burns around us,” He turned to look at her, his hand reaching for her jaw, shaking as he hesitated.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve always watched you, Granger,” his hand met her cheek. “From day 1, since that stupid hat placed you in Gryffindor. I’ve watched the back of your head in class, how you would strive to have the perfect answer every single time. It infuriated me, and I could never understand why, until I saw you chasing Weasley, and how he never noticed. I saw how he made you cry at the Yule Ball and it boiled my blood that he couldn’t understand how beautiful you were in that moment, and every single moment after that.” Draco’s thumb caressed her cheek, and Hermione melted into the touch.
“You watched me, all these years?”
“All these years.”
Hermione smiled, grey eyes boring into brown. “I suppose you could watch me for a few more hours.”
Draco grinned, and Hermione grinned back.
As time went by, Hermione’s feet started to ache, and her back was getting tired. They’d all drunk a couple of bottles of Ogden’s, and they’d set their animosities aside. Draco announced the day would be named ‘Doomsday’, and Hermione countered that with a laugh.
“The button has been pressed.” She grinned at the witches and wizards who didn’t understand the reference.
“He’s going to nuke us up, guys.” Ginny laughed through tears.
“And here it is,” Pansy spoke. “Our final night alive.”
Draco looked into Hermione’s eyes and spoke softly. “As the earth burns to the ground, it’s you that I lie with.”
As the atom bomb locked in, and they felt the ground shake more, Hermione told them they should’ve had a TV, and spent the next ten minutes explaining to Draco what a TV actually was.
Theo decided in his drunken state that he wanted to put a full suit on, and Pansy stated that she wanted to paint her nails.
“Ah, we’re going out in style, babes.” Blaise said to the room, grinning drunkenly.
As they crept up on extinction, Draco pulled Hermione into his chest, as they wept and said “goodnight, love.” their organs started to pack it in.
And there it was, their final night alive, as Voldemort extinguished the world in front of their eyes, Hermione in Draco’s arms, Luna in Blaise’s, Pansy in Neville’s and Ginny’s hand locked in Theo’s, their bodies forever planted in those positions for milleniums evermore.
~ fin