Shorts or sorts

Obliviate (JUN2K16)

In a towering apartment building invisible to Muggles, a Ministry Official thrashed in her bed. Her body covered in cold sweat, her face contorted in fear. She was yet having one of her episodes of horror. Nightmares.

Her eyes saw Sirius vanish through the archway. Dumbledore's body lying on the ground. Fred's last laughter etched on his lifeless face. No matter how many times she lived through this kind of night, her mind still couldn't comprehend that it was all just a dream. A nightmare, but still, just a dream.

Hermione Granger bolted upright, the beginning of a scream trapped in her throat, the sheets clutched tightly in her fists. The memory of her best friend's body laying limply in Hagrid's arms burned in her mind, like she had just saw it yesterday,and not 2 years ago.

Seconds  passed as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of her surroundings. Only when she realised she was in her bedroom and nothing threatened to jump out at her, the tension left her shoulders.

"Not again." She groaned.

Hermione peeled away the covers sticking to her sweaty body. She let the cold air slap her awake and got to her shaking feet.

Her mind was clouded with images of horror and worries. Hermione needed a clear mind if she wanted to survive another day of hunting the wanted tomorrow.

Maybe a little trip would help, she thought to herself.

"Accio cloak." Hermione summoned a black fabric that blended effortlessly with the night. It was no Invisibility Cloak, but it'd do.

Her heart thumped in her chest. The sound rang in her ears. The clock on her wall showed 11 a.m. If she wanted to make it home in time for work, now was the perfect time to leave. Before she could change her mind, she turned on the spot and disappeared with a crack.

The scent of fresh humid air immediately invaded her senses as her body stopped being squeezed by space and time and her feet found the ground. She could feel the cold night air blowing by, ruffling her hair. The tips of her fingers brushed against the tops of tall grass and flowers.

For a moment, Hermione stood alone in an empty field of waist-high yellowing grass and floating pollens. Then she marched forward though mud and wild weed, right through an old dead tree that concealed the Memorial.

It was like emerging into another world. The moonlight made the blades of tall grass look blue, dandelions floated around in bunches, swaying in the wind. Hermione moved to brush one and it exploded at her touch. In the center of it all, a tree ten times larger than the Whomping Willow stood. Its bark twisting and turning up, branches stretching around and about, its leaves a different shade of green and yellow.

Hermione entered the tree through an opening in the bark. Although it was quite dark outside, warmth welcomed her in.

The floors, covered in flowers of every color, the petals scripted with spells and names. The ceiling, enchanted to look like the starry sky. The walls, filled with live portraits of every single soul who perished during the second war. Rows and rows of them circling the inside of the bark in levels.

Colin Creevy snored peacefully in his frame, his camera in hand. Crabbe had crumbs littering his robes. She found Tonks and Lupin in one frame with Fred in another. They looked so real and acted so normally that Hermione found it still hard to believe they were gone.

Her heart ached, she wished she could've used her Time Turner and stopped them all from going. But the consequences would've been severe.

"I'm glad you're all okay." she said with a smile, her eyes glistening.