Chapter Text
Her chest heaved, lungs involuntarily filling with smoke emanating from the fires that surrounded her. She was bleeding, the sensation of her blood sticking the material of her shirt to her skin left goosebumps on its exterior. Was she dying? She wasn't sure, but she decided that these were her last moments. What an unfortunate way to go. Isolated in the wide fields that surrounded the school she had spent her adolescent years in. Death eaters, resistance members, dementors-- they would be the last people she'd see as she'd take her last breath. She rolled onto her back, eyes struggling to stay open as she gazed into the pitch black sky.
"Tonks, Remus, Ginny" Her voice strained as she reflected on those she had just lost. She had witnessed their last moments, watching on as the light left their eyes and bodies grew limp. Guilt washed over her like tides in the sea, but she didn't have time to grieve them. She would join them soon enough. Someone would have to grieve her.
Harry. Ron. They were all separated, the golden trio who were rarely ever seen apart in school were now all severed. Each member of their group vulnerable, isolated while they fought off death. She murmured their names, her best friends who she had to mother at times-- were the only people she wanted to be surrounded by now. Hold their hands, face death together and continue being as close as they were on the other side. The other side . She had never been the religious type, never prayed, barely opened a bible. Yet still as her vision began to blur and the faces of the dead projected at the forefront of her mind, she silently prayed that she would reunite with them all on the other side.
It's so cold, she thinks to herself as she grows tired, her eyes finally shutting as her hands loosen their hold on her wounds. A Death Eater, eager to please the Dark Lord had been surveying the area-- finishing off any resistance members they saw sprawled on the grass. She accepted her fate, she would be killed off half-heartedly as if she were a wounded bird being put out of her misery. She laid vulnerable, bleeding out and half dead. It was an accurate enough comparison.
Slipping from consciousness, she awaited the final blow to strike her dead. Make it quick . She hisses internally as her hands begin to tremble slightly. If her eyes weren't already shut, she would've sealed them as tight as she could to avoid looking at the person executing her. They wouldn't get the satisfaction of watching the light fade from her eyes. The death sentence was prolonged, it felt like hours had passed since she heard them striking other members dead. She could feel them stand by her head, their breathing evident as they nudged her with their boot. When they finally opened their mouth to speak the death curse, she was ready to go-- acceptance was a blessing, she had accepted her death.
The words faltered when it was halfway out of their mouth, they dropped with an obnoxious thud beside her. Someone trudged through the grass, their breathing heavy as they seemed to be pulling off a mask. Death Eater . She confirmed, her thoughts become slack in her mind as the blood loss begins to take a toll on her. The stranger stands beside her silently, seeming to observe her carefully-- disregarding the fact they were in the middle of an ongoing war. Their hands are gentle, taking precaution as they examine the severe wounds cascaded over her body. She's suddenly lifted from the ground, her limp body pressing into the hard torso of the stranger as they cradle her into them. Her tired eyes shift, her lack of energy only allowing her to crack them open a slight. Just enough to see the familiar platinum blonde hair before she let herself slip into the darkness
"Hermoine Granger. Potter's mud-blood. She and I attended Hogwarts together"
"Interesting. You know her well then?"
"Well enough"
Her bones ached, her limbs felt numb and she couldn't even lift a finger-- but she was awake. Barely, but she was aware that she was surrounded. The scent of death and decay was thick in the air, she would've gagged and vomited if she could, but her body wouldn't even allow her to do that. She just laid there while the voices spoke freely. "Interrogate" "Prisoner" "Set an example for Harry" Hermoine was slipping in and out of consciousness yet again-- the words all morphed into one as she tried her hardest to focus. She was certain of one thing, there was only one person who had called her a mud-blood before-- Draco Malfoy. He had been the Death Eater that spared her in the field.
She was saved from death but she wasn't afraid of dying. Death seemed like mercy now, she would rather face that than the Dark Lord and his servants. Knowing she was in the hands of evil itself terrified her far more than death ever could, she let herself succumb to the darkness-- silently praying she wouldn't wake up.