Hermione Granger stared out of the window in her flat, trying to keep from crying. She spent far too much time crying. She cried whenever she thought of Harry, the man she loved, the man who had been missing for six years; the man who was almost certainly dead. She had never really been happy since he had been captured, partly because of her love for him, and partly because she blamed herself. Actually, everyone blamed themselves. They all thought that they should have listened to him more. They all had known that something was up, but they had not pushed hard enough, at least in their opinions.
Hermione had thought it strange when Harry had asked her to find information on the Hogwarts shields and to give him any books containing information on other such powerful shields. They were seventh years and their year had just started. It was unlike Harry to ask about information of this kind. Sure, he did not mind hard work. However, he rarely asked for information that he would not need. She had asked Harry, and he had brushed her off. She had left it at that, not wanting to hurt him. That was when Harry had started to change. He only showed up for classes. He was not doing well in any of them. He rarely did homework. At meals, he would grab something quick, and then rush off to the library. He was always studying. Everyone noticed it. People asked, but most suspected that it had something to do with the war. Hermione and Ron believed that same thing. After all, he had told them the prophecy, and they thought that he was training. She had noticed that he seemed very withdrawn and worried about something. He seemed very focused and hardly had time for them anymore. She and Ron had been hurt, and had started to ignore him. It was during this time that she finally realized the truth. She had feelings for him, feelings that she had at least since fifth year. She had fallen hard for her best friend. She tried to ignore it, but it just would not go away, no matter how hard she tried to get away from it. As the year progressed, Harry grew more and more distant, and Hermione's feelings continued to grow. No one suspected what was about to happen.
Hogwarts had become the safe haven for the ministry. The shields at Hogwarts were the strongest. Meetings could safely take place, and plans could be made. Everyone knew that if Hogwarts fell, the wizarding world would fall much faster. They needed Hogwarts. Voldemort certainly was not stupid. He knew this as well. He knew that if he could get Hogwarts, he had a much better chance of winning the war.
The death eater attack came as a surprise to all but Harry. They attacked during the last week of school. Somehow, the shields had fallen. However, just as quickly, they came up. Something else unexpected happened. A second shield had formed around the death eaters, trapping all but Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Wormtail, and Voldemort. The aurors had quickly rushed in. Voldemort had disappeared with his three remaining death eaters. In the aftermath, Hermione was the first to notice that Harry had disappeared. They searched everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found.
Harry, as Head Boy, had his own room. When it was searched, a stack of books were found, and a note. The note explained everything. Harry had had a vision at the beginning of the year. He had seen that Voldemort had discovered how to break the Hogwarts shield. Even if Harry had told someone, no one could have put up the shield again because of Voldemort's method of removing it. Harry had spent all year researching. He knew that he was the most powerful wizard, even more so than Voldemort and Dumbledore. He had no where near the knowledge they had, but in terms of sheer power, they could not match him. In his research and the information that Hermione gave him, he discovered a few incantations, spells, and potions that when combined would not only restore the shields, but would set up another one that would capture the death eaters. However, the combination needed extreme power. That is why no one had ever used them. No one but Harry had enough power. There was one slight problem. Harry had to be on the outside of the shields in order to make them. That meant that he was vulnerable and that Voldemort could capture him. Voldemort was also not stupid. He would know that Harry was the one who had done it.
Hermione shuddered. She did not even want to think about what had been done to Harry. She was sure he was dead, but she knew his death must have been extremely painful. How could anyone be so brave and selfless? It only made her fall harder for him. He gave up everything to save them all. She thought about him every day. She knew it was selfish to want him to be alive, as that would mean more pain for him, but she could not help it. Everyone told her that it was time to move on, but she could not. She loved him, she knew that now. Even Ron had given up hope. Ron had tried to ask her out, but quickly realized that her heart was Harry's. He had married Luna Lovegood, and they had twin sons named Harry and James. She knew that was Ron's way of remembering his best friend, but for her it was not enough. She wished that they at least had a body. At least then they would know. She wondered if he was truly dead. As her thoughts of her lost love saddened her, far away a young man was comforted by thoughts of his love.