Silence. [Dramione]

Prologue

Whilst roaming around the hallways during the final battle at Hogwarts, Death Eaters find Hermione, and immediately recognise her as the mudblood witch. Following the Dark Lord's orders, they relentlessly attack her with a mixture of powerful, dark spells. She felt all the curses hit her, awakening in her the sensation of dozens of knives stabbing her, as her skin burned, making her release loud screams and moans of colossal pain.

No longer able to defend herself against such powerful dark magic, she collapses on the cold floor, hitting her head on the tiles, a trail of blood pouring slowly out of her ears. Yet, despite miraculously waking up, Hermione doesn't leave the battle untouched, as those daunting ruthless attacks against her lead to irreversible damage.

---

Hermione wakes up many hours later in the Great Hall, amongst all the other injured and lifeless bodies, laid down peacefully on a sheet, as she was presumed dead as well when she first arrived, carried by a prefect on patrol duty. 

Her eyes painfully fluttered open. She couldn't remember what had happened to her, all she could feel was the overwhelming pain that covered her entire torso. After blinking a few times, her vision became clearer, and she noticed her familiar surroundings. What was she doing there?

Oddly, total silence filled the room, which made Hermione wonder if she was maybe dreaming, or if she was even alive at all. It was impossibly quiet in there. She slowly tried to sit, and her body reminded her of how horribly she felt. Looking around, Hermione noticed in confusion that every one around her had their mouths open, agony in their expressions, and tears pouring out their eyes. People were screaming, crying, and mourning all their losses aloud. So why couldn't she hear it? Then, her devastated self welcomed a sense of numbness, when she horrifyingly understood: she was deaf, completely deaf.

Her chest tightened with pain, intensified with shock in every inch of her already fragile body. She screamed, or at least she thought she did. Her lips and throat were dry, as desperation spread mercilessly through her. People turned to her suddenly. They heard. She really did scream. Her head was throbbing with pain, unable to process what was happening to her.

Hermione eyed Padma Patil in one of the corners next to her, covering an assumedly dead body with a white sheet, and instinctively tried to call her:

"Padma! Please help me!" she said, probably screaming, tears finally running down her cut, bruised face.

Padma ran to her as soon as she heard those desperate yelps, kneeling down next to Hermione.

"Hermione?? Thank God you're alive!" Padma hugged her, and Hermione couldn't help but cry, as she didn't understand what she was mouthing to her. "What's wrong?"

"I'm deaf!" Hermione cried out, looking her friend in the eye "I can't hear anything! The death eaters... They tortured me...I can't hear anything..."

Padma stared at her blankly, watching Hermione cry like she had never seen her do before, her own breathing accelerated, unsure of what to do. She thought to call Professor Trelawney, but she was much busier, walking around the Great Hall, crying her own tears as she made a list of those who had perished. Padma continued to hug Hermione, thinking if there was any way she could magically cure her friend. But surely enough, deafness caused by magic, was deafness uncured by magic.

"Are you saying anything?" Hermione whispered, pain distorting her thin voice.

"No." Padma shook her head, so she would understand. "I really don't know what to say." She whispered to herself, sighing.

A million thoughts raged through Hermione's head. Were Harry and Ron okay? How long had she been unconscious? Was the battle over? How many people were dead because of it? Or injured like her... She couldn't even begin to imagine what was probably still happening, with the chaos that was rapidly engulfing Hogwarts, turning the once noble castle into a merciless battleground.

"Padma," she called, backing away from the tight hug "How many of us are dead?"

"Many." Hermione read her lips, as Padma spoke purposely-slower "Remus Lupin. Tonk. Lavender Brown."

Hermione continued to cry, unsure of what to say or how to react. Padma dreaded the words that were about to fall from her lips.

"Fred Weasley." She spoke with immense pain, turning her eyes to their right, where, a bit farther away, laid his lifeless body.

"No!" Hermione gasped, feeling her head spinning.

Fred Weasley. Remus Lupin. Nymphadora Tonk. Lavender Brown. Fred fucking Weasley.

Did Ron know? She thought she saw George and his all-too-kind mother crying over his twin's still, lifeless body, but it might all have been an illusion produced by an overly tired mind.

It was all too much. Hermione desired sleep. She even desired death at that moment. The seven years of fighting, seven year of losses, of pain, of darkness had taken a toll on her. She just couldn't figure out how anybody would recover from the war, if they did survive it. All her senses were all simultaneously shutting down, and she couldn't handle it anymore.

Her body started to fail her, making her fall on her back, as she lost the ability to breathe properly. Her eyes closed slowly. She could feel Padma's hands immersed in her knotted hair, probably trying to hold on to her and help her stay calm, but how could she? Hermione just didn't have the strength to go on. And like many others, on that miserable, haunting day, she really did think she wasn't going to make it, her soul and body falling into a state of immense nothingness.

-----

a/n: new story! my first HP/Dramione fanfic, so please excuse any trivial mistakes. Nonetheless, hope you enjoy x