Chapter Text
Hermione flew forward. Her movements were awkward as she struggled to slow down and balance herself. But before she could, she heard a loud crunch beneath her boots, trapping her feet in unknown debris. She tumbled fiercely to the ground, unable to catch herself, smacking her head against something solid. A table. Blinding light exploded behind her squeezed eyelids as she slid helplessly to the floor, crying out in pain.
Her hand flew to the side of her temple. She rubbed it tenderly, trying to massage away the throbbing sting. A warm wetness met her skin. She pulled her hand away, eyeing her bloodstained fingertips. A gasp escaped her lips, but it wasn’t the blood from her wound that held her attention.
In a quick and awkward movement, Hermione jumped to her feet, swaying a little bit… still woozy. She backed away in horror, bumping into another table, sending dust into the air.
Her memories came rushing back as she took in her surroundings.
Around her were the remnants of the Great Hall of Hogwarts. Moonlight crept in through the concave roof, crumbling walls, and paneless windows, illuminating just enough for Hermione to make out the silent devastation before her. Dead vines enveloped what walls remained and other various brittle brown plants sprouted through cracks in the stone floor. The long mahogany tables that once sat the entire Hogwarts student body were splintered and warped, covered in debris, dust, and grime.
Her eyes trailed the room before landing at her feet. Bile rose in her throat as she looked down and over at what exactly she had tripped on.
It was a body. A body long since decomposed, worn away by the elements and time.
The crunch beneath her boots had been bones.
There were bodies everywhere, all in the same condition as the one she had tripped on. Sprawled against the floor. Left to rot. All that remained on the bodies were torn rotted clothing, skulls and for some… hair. The air reeked of death long since passed. It was bitter and cold, but the blood pumping through Hermione’s veins kept the frigid air at bay. The breeze was as still as the silence that enveloped Hermione. Her heart thudded in her chest, ringing in her ears. She felt like she was suffocating.
Her breaths became heavy as she began to panic.
This wasn’t right… None of this was right.
She spun around, breathing heavier and heavier. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as her scattered footsteps shifted around in circles. Taking in every dead body. Taking in the dilapidated castle she had just left. Every piece of debris. Every plant that had long since taken root, attempting to reclaim its land and failed. Every shattered piece of stained glass that littered the floor from an explosion long ago.
The room pressed in on her. She clawed at her neck, tears and sobs threatening to escape her throat. Hermione stumbled backwards again in her fit of horror, landing with a thud. This time over a different body. She cried out looking over at the skull mere inches from her face. It was clearly of a man, though the skin and tissue was long gone, a mat of messy dark hair lay atop it. Springing out in every direction. Drooped half off the cheekbones were a pair of round glasses, crack in both lenses. Glasses that looked just like Harry’s.
Hermione let out a hysterical shriek and broke free of her panic, springing to her feet and bolting out of the Great Hall. Her boots pounded against the stone ground. Glass, gravel and bone crunched beneath her feet as jumped over bodies, sprinting for the cracked and jagged door. Tears streamed down her face, her heart thumping rapidly behind her ribcage.
“Reducto!” she shrieked, blasting what was left of the wooden doors from her path.
She hurled herself through the ruined archway and collapsed just beyond it.
Her knees slammed into the stone. Her palms scraped the ground as she fell to her hands, sobbing.
Tears poured freely from her closed eyes, soaking her cheeks and splashing onto the rock beneath her. Her hair fell like a curtain around her face, shielding her as she cried.
Blindly, her fingers reached up. She grabbed for the thin chain around her neck. Her hand found the cool metal cylinder resting against her chest… the pendant. The Mourning Coil.
She held it tightly, her thumb running over the intricate runes etched into its surface, feeling each groove as if they might anchor her.
She gasped through the tears, letting them flow.
Finally she opened her eyes and sat up straight when a glow caught her eye. Hermione looked down at her arms and chest, releasing the Mourning Coil from her grasp. Her red rimmed eyes widened in a new found horror.
With shaking fingers she lifted a single strand of her hair, holding it up in the moonlight.
Her blood ran cold, the icy air slamming into her chest.
It was no longer auburn. No longer that rich, sunlit brown that shimmered with red in the light.
Now it was white… stark white… and it glowed. Ever so slightly.
Something had gone wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong.
Tears filled her eyes again and she dropped the hair. Her shoulders fell in defeat as she stared forward blankly at the desecrated ruins of the Hogwarts grounds.
“Severus…” She whimpered quietly.