For the purpose of this fic, Narcissa died giving birth to Draco. No reason, other than I didn't want her to complicate matters or be hovering in the background.

The delightful Catherine Morgenstern edited this piece. She read through, altered words, re-arranged sentences and gave me endless support. Thanks, dear.

Chapter One

Hermione ducked as a hex flew past her ear. A murky yellow colour that fizzled and left a strip of heat across her cheek. She dropped to the ground, throwing up a hasty shield as she fought to control her rising panic. Around her the air was thick with dust and smoke, and it made every breath an effort not to choke or cough up her burning lungs. Using a pile of rubble to protect her back, she shuffled forward to give herself a moment to think. A moment to breathe.

Hogwarts was a tumbled down wreck with its missing roof and collapsed walls. Students who should have been safe inside, were scattered on the floor in puddles of tar-thick blood. Shouts and screams filled the air, each noise seeping into the next until all that could be heard was one manic sound. Her frantic gaze sought out Harry and Ron, neither of whom she'd seen since Ron and her had managed to destroy the Horcrux. And kissed. Her mouth still tingled from that hasty wet clash of lips. So sweet and innocent and unexpected.

But she couldn't think of that. Not now. Not with Death Eaters throwing vile curses in every direction, illuminating the sky in rainbow colours. It would have been pretty if it weren't so deadly. She quickly reinforced her shield when a black robed, masked figure spotted her crouching form. Her breath stilled and fear circled her heart as a wand was raised and pointed straight at her.

"Stupefy!" She yelled.

The Death Eater fell to the ground with a dull thud that kicked up a cloud of dust. Hermione rushed forward, tearing the wand from his slack grip and throwing it aside. And then instantly regretted the decision. She shook her head and stumbled forward, searching for her friends. Blood, death, and pain were everywhere she looked. She ran, dodging curses and throwing her own, concentrating on power rather than aim.

Then finally she saw an area of calm amongst the chaos. The eye of the storm. In its centre were Harry and Voldemort. Two wizards, silently regarding each other with utter hatred. Hermione stumbled forward, eyes fixed on the sight before her. This was it. The moment of reckoning. A final duel to end to all those long years of fear and worry.

She pushed her way to the front. Heart thudding in the cage of her chest, head spinning with a thousand words she wanted to say to Harry, that she wished she'd told him many times over. She wanted to tell him that she believed in him, that she trusted that he could end this. But most of all she wished she could tell him that she loved him.

The tension saturating the air was a solid thing that pressed against her, holding her quivering body in place. Every bit of her attention was fixed on the sight before her. She was barely even aware that she was standing next to a Death Eater whose velvet black robes were brushing her ankles in a soft caress.

"The time has come for you to die, Harry Potter." Voldemort's sibilant voice stroked the air. Full of arrogance and threat as he altered the grip on his wand and prepared to cast.

Harry merely narrowed his eyes, the green darkening to almost black as he shifted his feet the smallest amount and sought a firmer stance. Holding his wand perfectly still, he aimed for the Dark Lord's chest. Hermione had never been more proud or scared for him in her entire life.

And then suddenly Voldemort broke the stalemate, spitting a curse that filled the night with bright red light. Harry deflected. The deadly spell hit the ground at his feet where it spit up the earth and left a shallow crater in its wake.

Hermione shivered. Her grip on her wand was sweaty and tight with the urge to cast and the need to do something to help. Anything. Instead, she stood frozen in place, breathing in the cold air that was turning her heart into an icy lump. She didn't even blink as Harry and Voldemort threw curse after curse at each other. Each one more deadly than the last. They parried back and forth, searching for an opening, a way to bypass the other's shield and deliver the killing blow. That single curse needed to end it all. For both sides.

A hex got through, splitting the skin of Harry's thigh almost to the bone. Horror constricted her throat, trapping the air in her lungs as her friend stumbled to his knees and his head dropped to his chest. Blood pulsed from the wound to pool on the ground beneath him. A chuckle of delight fell from Voldemort's lips, echoed by the surrounding Death Eaters.

"Oh, Harry, is that really the best that you can do?" the Dark Lord taunted as he stalked towards his kneeling opponent, robes floating around him, feather-light, as he came to a stop only a few feet from Harry.

Tears filled her eyes as Harry struggled to his feet. "Come closer and I'll tell you!" he spat. The years of hatred dripping from his familiar voice made it almost unrecognizable to her.

Hermione's wand dug into her palm as she prepared to cast. It would act only as a distraction, and more than likely cost her life, but it might just give Harry the advantage he needed.

Her lips parted, a curse ready to fall from her tongue, when the most horrendous sound filled the air. A high-pitched rattling shriek that raised the hair on the back of her neck. All movement stopped as every head tipped back to look at the sky. Hermione's heart dropped into her stomach as terror took its place. The air above them was filled with Dementors. Hundreds upon hundreds of them were floating effortlessly in place, the icy wind ruffling the tattered edges of their deep black robes.

Hermione trembled as the atmosphere slowly thickened into one of despair. The Dementors' presence settled onto them like gentle rain.

"Ah, my friends have come to witness your demise, Harry." Voldemort could barely contain his delight, his horrible blood-red eyes flashing with childlike glee.

Harry struggled to his feet, swaying from loss of blood and magical fatigue. His face was pale, his almost gray lips set in a grim line and his bottle-green eyes were glassy with pain. "I'm not dead yet."

"Soon Harry, so very soon." Voldemort's soft whisper stroked the air.

A tear slipped free, trickling down Hermione's cheek to drip onto her chest. She swallowed, wetting her dry mouth and once again prepared to cast. But before she could utter a single sound, a swath of darkness rolled towards them from the horizon. It looked like a huge black wave seeking to engulf them.

Voldemort's serpentine head twisted to the side, confusion written clearly on every feature. Harry mirrored the move, and because they were both looking to the side, neither one of them noticed the Dementors dropping from the sky, soft as snowflakes.

"Harry!" Hermione's shout cut through the silence. A panicked yelp that drew all eyes to the Dementors' stealthy attack. But it was far too late. Harry and Voldemort were surrounded. Black shadows were circling them in a macabre carousel. And then the Dementors...attacked. Not just Harry, but Voldemort too.

She blinked, confusion sliding over her skin as she lost sight of them. The Dementors were spreading like smoke through the clearing. But her puzzlement lasted a mere second before fear took over, clogging her throat tightly. The black wave of darkness was now close enough that she could see what it was. Inferi. An army of reanimated corpses speeding towards them. They hit Harry and Voldemort head on, slipping through the Dementors, that encircled the two wizards like oil.

The scream of rage the Dark Lord let loose was ear splitting as he fired off a flurry of curses. And then a pillar of fire erupted from the centre, bright orange and so fierce that she could feel the heat licking at her skin. The Inferi and Dementors fell back, screeching and rasping as they regrouped, only to attack again, overwhelming the wizards. A Patronus flared from the centre of the chaos. Harry's stag. Almost immediately it faded into a wispy fog before it disappeared altogether. The last thing she saw before she spun away were Voldemort and Harry, side by side on the ground, being torn apart by Inferi. Blood spraying into the air, bones snapping and skin ripping.

Every single witch, wizard, student, Death Eater and Order member, stood in numbed horror. Confusion showed on all of their faces. The silence was absolute. A long, tense second passed. And then a scream cut through the air. High-pitched and full of pain.

It was that sound, that howl as some unnamed person was pulled into death, that snapped everyone out of their stupor. Curses were cast, once again painting the night, as witches and wizards ran from a common enemy.

Hermione stepped back, taking one last desperate look at her friend. He was on the floor, covered by Inferi. Not a speck of him was visible except a tuft of black hair. Bile rose in her throat as she realized they were eating him, ripping pieces of flesh from his body with their gray, decayed teeth. She spun away, pressing an icy hand to her mouth as she ran. Her legs were shaking as though made of noodles. Everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction. Towards the wards that prevented apparation within Hogwarts' grounds.

The breath was sawing in and out of her parched throat as she ran and had to jump over broken furniture, dodging huge piles of rubble that threatened to topple over at any second. Above, the Dementors streaked through the night sky. Circling and spiraling down to ensnare their unsuspecting victims. She ran faster than she ever had in her entire life, zigzagging her way to the wards.

A rattling breath touched her neck. Ice cold and metallic. Instinct made her drop. Her palms slid across the gravel-strewn floor as her knees hit the ground, making pain travel up her thighs and into her hips. She spun, wand half-raised in her burning hand.

A Dementor hovered so closely above her that her breath stirred the folds of its robe. A touch, cold and moist, pressed against the hollow of her cheek and pushed her head up and back. The world around her receded into a distant blur. Empty eye sockets gazed into her own and the rattling sound of air being sucked in through a lipless mouth reached her ears as cold death settled on top of her. Her jumbled thoughts faded to nothing as a feeling of despair crawled slowly up the length of her spine.

Her eyes fluttered closed, soul spilling out of her with her breath. And then a flash of brilliant white. So bright that it made her eyes burn even though they were still closed.

"Hermione?" said a soft, lilting voice.

She opened her eyes to see Luna Lovegood bending over her. Her hair was a blonde cloak upon her shoulders and her face held an oddly serene expression. "What happened?" Hermione winced at the groggy sound of her voice.

"You were attacked by a Dementor." She held out a pale, slim hand, "You have to get up, it isn't safe to stay here."

Hermione took the proffered hand, trying to shake off the weak, disorientated feeling that was weighing down her limbs. The chaotic screeching increased in volume as she came fully back into herself. A tug on her hand had her stumbling forward, shadowing Luna so closely she could feel the heat coming off her skin and the soft slap of her hair as it tapped against her front.

They ran, only stopping to cast when their way was blocked. Luna used her Patronus while Hermione threw Incendios. The combination seemed to work, because it forced the attacking Dementors and Inferi to back off. Not all the way, but just enough so they could slip by.

Hermione's eyes kept darting around, never staying in one spot for more than a second. Everywhere she looked she was greeted with the awful sight of witches and wizards having their souls sucked out or their flesh devoured. She was ice cold, fear formed a heavy lump in her chest.

And then suddenly, a solid...something...knocked into Luna and caused the slight witch to tumble to the ground. They heard the sound of her wand snap with a fatal crack. It happened so fast that for a moment Hermione just stood there, blinking stupidly at the space in front of her. But then she quickly twisted to the side, wand raised and pointed at the Inferius perched on top of the blonde. A wet belch left its decaying flesh, filling the air with the smell of death. Bones cracked as it reared its head back.

An Incendio was on the tip of her tongue, but she didn't dare cast it and risk hitting Luna. She tried a Stupefy spell, but its hands were digging into Luna's waist, fingers breaking through her skin, taking the blonde with it as it flew back. A pained grunt left Luna as Hermione rushed forward, and into the waiting arms of a Dementor.

She spun, diving to the right, yelling "Expecto Patronum!" A silver mist left the tip of her wand, wispy and almost see-through in places. Her Otter didn't form. Not surprising after everything she'd seen. She narrowed her eyes, blanking out Luna's agonized whimpers, focusing instead on her happy memory as hard as possible. She thought of the day she received the letter inviting her to attend Hogwarts. Hermione had never felt so delighted in all her life. The Excitement. The Possibilities. The Knowledge.

Her Patronus solidified, but still didn't fully form. It was, however, enough to scare the Dementor off. As soon as it was gone, Hermione looked back at Luna. Blood. So much blood. The Inferius had its head buried in her stomach. Luna was pushing at it with weak hands, her blue eyes staring at the star-speckled sky.

Hermione did the only thing she could think of, she ran at the Inferius and wrapped her hands around its slimy neck, tearing it off of Luna.

"Incendio!" A blast of white-hot heat shot from her wand, hitting the Inferius on its blood-streaked chest.

Squealing, it scuttled away to hide in the shadow of an upturned table. As she lifted her gaze, her eyes fell onto a stout wooden door banded with steel that led to an old classroom. The door and the walls surrounding it looked intact.

Hermione turned back to face Luna, blinking away tears as her gaze fell on the seeping blood and gore. Looping her arms under Luna's, she dragged her quickly towards the door, stopping when her bum hit the wood. As she reached blindly for the handle, her fingers slipped on the pitted wood, knuckles meeting steel with a painful sting. Finally, her palm closed over the rust-tinged handle. She pushed.

It didn't move.

She muttered a curse and turned, propping Luna up against her knees. "Alohomora!"

Click.

Her breath shuddered out as she pushed the door open and felt the dry air press against her. Another tug and they were both inside. Hermione gently placed Luna on the ground, before she slammed the door shut with a resounding thud. Blessed silence engulfed her as she knelt down next to Luna.

"Now, who do we have here?" said a cold voice. It slid over her skin, sharp enough to cut her flesh in two.

Hermione spun around, eyes darting to the room's darkened corners, heart beating a frantic rhythm. "Who is that?"

No response.

"Show yourself!"

A shadow moved in the darkness, a flash of pale skin and silver-white hair. And then out stepped Lucius Malfoy.

So, that's it, the first chapter. What did you guys think? Like? Hate?