Song: You Haven't Seen the Last of Me - Cher

Pairing: N/A

She heard voices in the darkness. None clear enough to hold on to or maybe she just didn't care to try. It hurt. Not the physical pains she had accumulated but her very soul felt raw and shattered. Broken.

"…barely holding on…"

"…the trauma of digging herself out…"

"…found Ms. Browns body…"

"…mass grave."

…mass grave. Waking up in the dark, choking with each breath. Reaching out only to find myself trapped under a pile of debris. Managing to cast a wandless lumos only to come face to face with the sightless eyes of the child I had been talking to earlier. Flashes of the attack. Realization that no one would ever find us in time. At least in time for me, time had already run out for the people around me. A desperate attempt at a patronus and the hollow feeling as my magic flickered and puttered. The determination to survive and the feel of warm flesh under my hands as I began digging my way out.

"You act as if she is already dead. Don't count her out just yet. Granger is…"

"…don't get your hopes up. She was pushed far past the breaking point…"

"…no normal person could…"

"…it's a miracle she even made it out of the pit, the poor girl…"

Cold dark earth and warm salty blood. Flashes of memory. The attack, jumping in front of a young boy with blond hair, unconsciousness with snippets of sounds. The screams of the dying and the jeers of their attackers.

"…find her? Why didn't they…"

"…order secrets? Capturing her would…"

"…the disguise held, they didn't know who they had…"

Lavender's empty eyes as I finally managed to reach the surface. Collapsing next to her, hearing the pops of apparition and knowing the message had worked. They were there and I was done. I could let go. Loose myself in the darkness and the silence.

"…please. Please Mi, I need you to wake up." Harry's voice. Tears. "Please, you can't leave us…"

"…can't be the end…" Ron. Dry throat, tremor to his voice.

"…show them what you're made of, Granger." Draco, trying so hard to be more than what was expected of him. More than the spoilt son of a Death Eater.

I needed the darkness to put myself back together, the silence to hide from the memories. From the feel of ghosts pressing down on me. I'd needed time. But I had hidden in the darkness long enough. There were people who needed me and people I needed to prove wrong. I would survive. Built tough, my daddy had once said. Time to prove him right.

I opened my eyes to meet vivid green, stormy grey and clear blue. My boys, waiting for me to wake up. I was crushed between them on the bed as Poppy yelled fruitlessly for them to let her get to the patient.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised, looking past them and remembering the masked figures striking down a small child. Lavender's sheet covered body hidden on the far side of the room. Oh no. They hadn't seen the last of me.