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Hermione: Protect the Younglings

"What in the name of Merlin—!"

Hermione blinked. Her head was spinning and there was a loud ringing in her ears. The last thing she remembered was sitting with Harry and Ron in the Gryffindor Common Room, helping them with their homework.

Now she was standing in a darkened room in front of a group small children, who were dressed in strange robes. She watched, almost in slow motion, as their eyes grew wide in terror. She moved to comfort and reassure them that she meant no harm, when she realized that they weren't looking at her. They were looking at something over her shoulder. Suddenly, she heard the sound of crackly energy behind her.

Spinning around, she fluidly raised her wand and instinctively stepped back into a defensive position.

At least something stuck from those drills Harry puts us through, she thought grimly.

Before her stood a young man, not much older than herself, holding what looked like a blue sword of rippling energy. The hood of his robe was up, throwing his face into deep shadow, but Hermione could still see his cold, hard eyes.

"Master Skywalker?" a nervous voice piped up behind her.

"I do not know who you are or where you have come from," the man — Skywalker — said to her, ignoring the child, "but you will leave them to me."

He raised his sword in front of him. Hermione didn't know where — or even when — she was, but she knew at least one thing for certain.

If she left, these young children were good as dead. She would worry about herself later.

"Go to hell," she said defiantly. Taking a couple of quick sidesteps, she placed herself fully in front of the children.

"Then you join their fate!" Skywalker snarled. Without any further warming, he leapt toward her and brought his saber down in one fluid motion.

With barely a second to react to his attack, Hermione shouted the first spell that she thought.

"Protego!"

A vicious screeching sound filled the small room, as his sword hit her spell. The room lit up and angry blue sparks scattered against her shield. The blue light abruptly disappeared, as Skywalker took a small step back in shock.

"Who are you!" he shouted. "What are you!"

While he was yelling, Hermione cautiously glanced down to see that he now only held the hilt of the sword.

There must be a switch or something that calls the energy, she thought.

Less thinking, more doing! A voice, one that suspiciously sounded like Harry in his DA professor mode, coached inside her mind. If you have the element of surprise, don't ever waste it.

"Depulso!"

Hermione quickly cast the spell, pointing her wand directly at his chest. She watched as the young man flipped head over feet, before crashing into the far wall.

It was a small victory.

Skywalker pushed himself to his feet, blue energy once again rippling into existence. Hermione could hear the children shuffling anxiously behind her. Senses heightened from adrenaline and the ringing finally gone, she could now also hear the sounds of fighting from the other side of the door.

No wonder the children hadn't tried to leave yet.

"Stupefy!" she shouted.

It was her turn to be shocked.

Skywalker swung his sword up, allowing the energy to deflect her spell. It shouldn't have been possible! But then again…

She wasn't exactly in Kansas anymore.

Tightening her grip on her wand, she rapidly cast another spell.

What felt like hours, but was most likely only a few minutes, passed in a haze of spell fire and energy. At one point, Skywalker telekinetically lifted a nearby couch and tossed it at her. She easily dealt with it, using a quick Reducto, but she was soon feeling exhausted and drained.

Hermione knew she had to end this soon, or they would all die. Throwing almost everything she had left into her next move, she sent off a violent chain of spells.

"Bombarda! Stupefy! Depulso! Reducto! Petrificus Totalus!"

Multiple things seemed to happen at the same time.

Once again, Skywalker easily began to block the incoming spell chain. He moved forward while doing so, attempting to set himself up for an easy counterattack, when Hermione noticed one of the children step forward and raise his hand. A cluster of rubble moved and caught Skywalker's feet, distracting him enough that the last spell hit him.

Limbs snapping to his side, Skywalker fell to the ground.

What do I do now? What do I do? she thought in a panic. Catching the eye of the boy who helped her, a new thought flashed into her mind.

What would Harry do?

Probably something reckless.

Moving quickly, she took off her bracelet, a Christmas gift from Ginny, and knelt in front of the children. What she was about to do was dangerous without a specific destination. But she had to try. Hermione pointed her wand at the bracelet, thought of warmth and safety, and cast the spell in a determined voice.

"Portus."

The bracelet briefly glowed bright blue. She held out the bracelet to the children.

"I need all of you to touch this. Don't let go for any reason," she instructed. "It should take you to safety."

"Should?" a little girl whispered.

Hermione winced. "It's our best shot. It's dangerous, but we don't have a better choice."

The children briefly looked at one another, before nodding with determination. They took the bracelet. Just before the last child touched it, the boy who had helped her earlier looked up at her with respect.

"May the Force be with you."

The bracelet once again glowed blue and the children vanished in front of her.

Someone harshly pounded on the door, causing Hermione to jump in surprise. Turning to see Skywalker begin to stir on the ground, she knew it was time to make her own escape.

Without a real destination, she instead thought of Harry.

I really hope this works.

Spinning on the spot, she vanished with a crack of displaced air and was pulled into darkness.

Prompt (May the Fourth be with You — The Golden Snitch): Princess Leia: Write about a strong female character.

Word count (not including title and author's notes): 1014

A/N — Lightly edited (by me) on Dec. 11, 2017, in order to fix SPaG errors.