Disclaimer: I don't own them. Never will. I've just taken them out for a walk and will put them back later. All hail JKR.

Prologue: The End

Hermione ran as though the very Hounds of Hell were at her heels, although what was following her could easily be deemed far worse. She knew that if she stopped, even briefly, she would die. The pain in her side was crippling and she could hardly breathe, but if she could make it to the dungeon she might survive.

Because someone had to. And for all Hermione knew, she may be the only one left alive.

To say that they had been taken by surprise by Voldemort and his Death Eaters would have been a lie. They all knew that as long as they remained at Hogwarts they were painting themselves as targets. The truth was that they simply had nowhere else to go. She and her husband had been working frantically on a potion that might be able to protect them. It was a reflection on how desperate they were that they didn't even care how the potion would complete this goal.

For months, Harry Potter and the other members of the Order of the Phoenix had been trying to find a location in which to hide. No matter where they went it was only a matter of days before Death Eaters discovered them. They knew there had to be a spy amongst them but every effort they had made to detect or deter the spy had failed.

As a last resort, Harry had left the rest of the Order behind. He had been moving around aimlessly for months, letting no one know where he had gone. In the mean time, Hermione and her husband had been working tirelessly to perfect what they had come to call the Latere potion. They had run across the potion during their research for the Order. According to the notes, the potion could send a person to a place where they would be free from all the dangers that plagued them in this world. The notes had been old and not all the ingredients were available anymore, so it had been months worth of experimentation.

But now time was out and Hermione prayed that their latest attempt had succeeded.

Harry had been forced to come out of hiding just two days ago. He had been injured in a duel and nearly dead when he showed up at the gates of Hogwarts. The school was one of the few safe places left in the wizarding world for Albus Dumbledore was still Headmaster. Coming to Hogwarts was a risk for Harry. He knew that it was constantly under surveillance and that he would be insuring a Death Eater attack upon the school when he arrived. In the end, he had only chosen to come because it was almost Christmas and all the students had been sent home.

As soon as he arrived, Dumbledore had started planning for the battle he knew would soon come to the gates of his beloved school. Even as the resident nurse tirelessly worked to heal Harry, Hermione and the others worked to protect the school and, more importantly, finish the potion that could save them.

Despite their preparations, the battle came all too soon. As the Death Eaters gathered outside the doors of Hogwarts the thirteen remaining inhabitants readied themselves for battle. Each of them, from Professors McGonogall and Flitwick to the ever-flighty Trelawney gathered behind Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter to fight what they knew would be the last stand against Voldemort and his followers.

Hermione had also stood with them, knowing it was the end of all things. As Dumbledore flung open the gates that guarded the school, she took one last look at her husband. She filled the look with all the love she had ever felt for him, praying he would understand. He had looked at her, emotions as blank as ever but she knew that he understood.

And then the battle began.

Forty Death Eaters against thirteen warriors of good.

The battle was over in eleven minutes. Surreally, Hermione knew this even as she watched Harry fall to the ground, dead at Voldemort's feet. At twelve minutes, McGonagall and Dumbledore were gone. At thirteen, her husband's body lay still.

She could watch the slaughter no more, and with three Death Eaters at her heels, she fled, towards the dungeons and her last hope.

She could feel the tears pouring down her face, the blood from the wound in her side leaking out her life. Still she ran, occasionally firing a curse or a hex blindly over her shoulder, praying it would hit one of her attackers. She had no time to mourn the death of everyone she loved, no time to curse the evil that had robbed her life of all meaning. She knew she had to survive, get away to warn the few Order members that still lived. And for that she needed the Latere potion.

Somehow she made it to her dungeon lab, freedom now within her grasp. The latest batch of potion had been completed mere minutes before the battle had begun but no one had been willing to use it then. Only now could Hermione even think of using the potion. She simply prayed that this time they had gotten it right.

Her hands slipped on the door handle to her lab, slick with her blood and that of her friends. Crying out in frustration she flung the door open-

Only to curse fate as she saw that the lab was already occupied by a figure in black. Standing between her and freedom was the last person she wanted to see. The arrogant posture, pale countenance and flaxen hair were instantly recognizable.

Malfoy.

To be more precise, Lucius Malfoy. The man whom she had seen kill her husband mere moments before. If he had managed to get here before her it must mean that the wards protecting Hogwarts were gone. Not that it really mattered anymore.

Hermione shrieked, all the anger, sorrow and pain of the last few years ripped from her throat. Of all the cruel twists of fate this was the final straw. She slammed the door behind her and secured it. Then turning back to Malfoy she straightened herself, determined that he would not see her suffer further.

As though it were some great comedy to see the last defender of Hogwarts drenched in blood and battered nearly beyond recognition, Lucius smiled. "Hermione," he purred. "So good of you to join me."

Hermione snarled, rage building within her. She was a powerful witch and she wanted vengeance. If Lucius thought that confronting her would be easy he was in for a nasty shock. "Get away from that cauldron, you arrogant bastard!"

"My dear, must you be so boorish? And here I sought to give you one last chance to live. Was I in error to believe that you were intelligent enough to know when the battle was lost?" His tone was just as silky and mocking as ever. It only served to fuel her resolve.

"You have nothing to offer me, Malfoy, except maybe your pathetic life." she spat. "Now get away from that damn cauldron." She could hear the door behind her rattle alarmingly. Apparently her pursuers had arrived. She prayed that they would not realize that they could simply apparate into the room. She raised her wand and stared into Malfoy's slate-grey eyes. She blocked out the threat behind her as she stepped further into the room and towards him.

Lucius had still made no move towards his own wand. He seemed almost bored by her threat. He merely smiled, an unpleasant, mocking look upon his face. Almost absently he gestured towards the cauldron behind him. "If this is what you want then come and get it. What reason have I to stop you?" He regarded her as one might a dense child.

Hermione could hear the sounds behind her growing ever louder as the other Death Eaters sought to enter the room. Her wards were strong, but it was only a matter of time before they were defeated. She knew she would have only one chance to retrieve the potion. She also knew what game Malfoy was playing. Voldemort had no doubt sent him to take her alive but Malfoy needed only one excuse to kill her. Taking a deep breath, Hermione lowered her wand and stared at her adversary. She could see his slight surprise at her sudden acquiescence. The look was quickly replaced by true surprise as she launched herself at him bodily.

To his core, Malfoy was a pureblood and would never expect anything as crude as a physical attack. Hermione knew this and with all the energy she had left drove her body into his and towards the cauldron containing the Latere potion. Together they fell onto it, soon drenched in the sticky substance. She could feel Malfoy struggling beneath her; hear the door splintering behind her. Suddenly stillness seemed to settle over the room. Hermione could feel the potion tingling on her skin. Glancing down she could see that her skin was glowing, ever brighter. Malfoy flung himself away from her, furiously yelling to the Death Eaters that had entered the room. He pulled his wand now.

"Avada-"

And in a blaze of white light Hermione felt a lurch, almost like the familiar tug of a portkey. Color seemed to swirl around her and the light from her skin became blinding. The shocked look on Malfoy's face was the last thing she saw as she closed her eyes against the now brilliant light.

Only when the world finally stopped spinning and darkened around her did she dare open her eyes. Dizzily, she glanced around. She was still in her lab but there were no Death Eaters, no Malfoy. Numb, she sat on the floor, her mind frantically trying to understand the circumstances in which she now found herself. What had the potion done? Was she safe? These questions and more raced through her mind and threatened to overwhelm her.

So tumultuous were her thoughts that she never heard the door open behind her or see the man enter. Only when booted feet appeared before her did she stir. Eyes still full of the tears she had never truly stopped crying, she raked her eyes upward-

Only to see the face of a dead man.

Then blackness took her.