Solving Riddles

A War Of Her Own

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way.

"Run." This was the last thing Draco Malfoy would ever say. Hermione's eyes began to swell with tears as she saw the life begin to drain from his grey orbs. He gasped as he began to choke on his blood. No, no, no, this could not be happening right now; she should be the one dying not him. He had sacrificed himself for her, and her guilt was tearing away at her. Hermione gazed down at the now lifeless grey eyes that stared emptily at her, loneliness and guilt enveloped her, ripping at her soul, screaming at her. It was all her fault. 

A growl snapped her out of her thoughts and her feelings were quickly replaced by raw hatred. She could feel her magic rushing and ripping at her, demanding to be let out. She relented without a second thought, and felt as her emotions entwined with her magic to take revenge upon Draco's murderer.  She saw the shock in Dolohov's eyes as her magic hit him, "Funem Ardeat," she hissed and watched as the silver ropes attacked him, burning into his skin turning him into ash. His screams remained in the air even after he was nothing more than a pile of dust. A tear streamed down her face, as she turned her attention back to Draco. She hesitantly placed a hand on his cold cheek, watching her tears drip onto his face.

"Please forgive me," she whispered, "I didn't, I didn't want any of this to happen. Oh, God, why'd you save me?" She shook her head, sighing she knew she didn't have much time, "J-just know I-I love you, okay? I love you, Draco."  

She hesitantly got up and walked away in search for Ron. Her eyes roamed over the ruins of Hogwarts and its former students either dead or inured. She finally saw Ron battling with a death eater and to her dismay, he looked as if he was about to lose. Her heart sunk when Ron fell to the ground, she needed to help him. "Forbus," she whispered but it was a second too late, she watched as the green light hit Ron square in the chest and kill him.  Her spell on the death eater took effect a second later, she watched him scream in agony, pulling at his hair and try to put out non-visible flame before simply falling to the ground, dead.

To make matters worse for her, she watched as Voldemort along with his army walk out of the forbidden forest with a triumphant look on his face. She quickly ducked behind a pillar and watched with watery eyes as a death eater dropped a boy's body at his feet, Hermione froze, instantly recognizing the corpse. 

Voldemort let out a low chuckle and kick the body, he raised his hands and shouted: "Harry Potter is dead! The boy who lived is no more!" He threw his head back and began to laugh, to truly laugh. 

Indeed, Hermione Granger's world was over.

XXX

They were dead, they were all dead. Hermione began to sob as she sunk to the floor. She wouldn't wake up and see them tomorrow, they wouldn't be there to cheer her up, they wouldn't be coming back! The war, they'd fought with everything they had, and they'd lost, and Merlin they lost hard.

Hermione snuck into the forbidden forest and began to run the moment she knew nobody could see her. She had no idea where she was going, but it didn't matter all she knew was that she had to get away. The minute the death eater realized that they didn't kill the entire trio, they'd be after her. She'd been running for a while when she tripped on a branch and fell onto the floor.  She was getting onto her feet when she heard a familiar laugh, that made her freeze. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

NO! It can't be, please don't let it be.

She let out a shaky breath and opened her eyes only to find herself staring into the dark orbs of Bellatrix Lestrange. Bellatrix giggled and pointed a finger at her, "And what do we have here?"

Hermione began to back away but the woman grabbed her arm, digging her black nails into her skin. She tapped her fingers on her chin and cocked her head to the side, "A lost kitten? Oh, lucky, lucky me. Where do you think you're going?"

Hermione wanted to say something but her shock kept her mouth shut. "Running away, are we? Tut, tut, tut, I can't let you do that, best to finish it off here don't you think?" She was giggling hysterically, her laugh echoing through the trees.

Hermione was slowly beginning to overcome her shock, her mind began to fog with anger, perhaps not fully directed at her. She didn't realize when she reached into her trouser pocket and pulled out the dagger she'd taken from a death eater, Bellatrix was raising her wand at her with a killing spell at the tip of her tongue, but Hermione was faster. She disarmed her with a non-verbal spell and stabbed Bellatrix in the chest. For the first time, Hermione didn't feel any guilt as she stabbed the witch a second time watching as the spark in her eyes began to fade. She let go of the witch but in her struggle, Bellatrix grabbed Hermione's time turner and accidentally spun the dial. Bellatrix's cold, hard black eyes were the last thing Hermione Granger saw before she went spiralling backwards in time.