Obliviate

Flashback Three | Settled Waters

Hermione felt as though her organs had dropped from her body into the ground below.

She had no words. It was as though the never ending days and countless nights had finally come to a halt. The sun was about to rise in peace for the final time. Anything after then, the flames would dance in wisps and burn the world with grimace. Over and over again, until the world burned to ash and the smoke had laced the earth.

She knew it was coming, but with no warning or no countdown, the clocks stopped ticking for a moment. Hermione needed time to think.

And the countdown had just begun.

"Granger, we need to think rationally about this. Any wrong moves and we put lives at stake," Kingsley said, cutting into Hermione's thoughts and bringing her back to the present.

Hermione stared with a blank expression. "I know."

"Tomorrow morning, Potter and I will travel to the forbidden forest," Kingsley said quietly, looking at Hermione through furrowed brows.

"You cannot be serious. You both take one step into any grounds surrounding Hogwarts and Voldemort will have your head - and I wouldn't like to even imagine what he would do with Harry," Hermione said sharply, her body shaking with emotion.

Kingsley took a deep breath.

"Granger, we need to know what we are walking into," he begun.

"No. I won't allow it. What if you got into trouble? What if he'd put wards up? Or he blocks your magic? That is everything but thinking rationally." Hermione could feel her heart crashing against her rib cage.

"The only thing you'll be walking into would be instant death."

Kingsley watched Hermione closely, calculating his response. Her eyes filled with a range of emotions as she watched back.

"Granger... I'm sorry. But when it comes to war, you have to accept a few casualties as a victory. If you could think of one idea better, please do let me know," he said, hunching himself over the desk and scanning his eyes over the files.

Hermione could feel her brain ticking like clockwork. She could feel the realness of the situation, and all she wanted was to fight back.

"What about Severus?"

Kingsley furrowed his brow slightly. "I'm listening."

"Has anybody talked to him recently? He still has access to the castle."

"It is a possibility," he said, looking down at the floor.

"It's a far better idea than throwing yourself to the wolves," Hermione said, folding her arms and playing with her jacket sleeve.

Kingsley mentally laid out his options. Running his hands back and forth through the air, calculating.

"I will contact Severus now. Granger, I would like you to make sure all is in good order. Time is precious to us all, and I'd us to be prepared if the worst were to happen," he said, straightening his back and walking over to the window.

Hermione closely watched Kingsley. She admired his complete and utter disregard to the seriousness of the situation. This was war, not a petty game on the playground.

Sending Harry and himself to instant sacrifice was cruel, and she'd be damned if she watched them give themselves over.

One half of Hermione wanted to hide. She wanted to find the darkest corner of the earth and stay there forever, where nobody would ever find her.

It would be her own sanctuary. Quiet, unbothered. A place of calm. Where she could watch the world from the inside-out.

The other half burned in a fit of rage, wanting to tear Voldemort and his followers to shreds. She wanted to watch them choke on their own blood for knocking the others down the way she'd watched them over the past months. Cowering from their own shadows.