Chapter 9
Shadows and a Dark Place
The darkness hung heavy in the library, almost as if it had caused life to be extinguished and time to stop. It was an unnatural blackness, seeming to steal even the tiniest speck of light from existence, throwing the world into a realm that it would not wish to remain in for long. Minutes passed, the low ticking of the clock in the hall counting away the seconds as the night continued, devoid of distinctions and points of reference. The library had never been so dark.
Nor quiet. The crash of the locket against the wall had not only taken the visibility from the room, it had also removed all sound from within the four walls of the Black's library. The gentle creaking of floorboards had ceased, the rustle and movements from the more ferocious books had died down. For a moment it seemed that time and motion had left the area, a dead room, devoid of life.
"What's happening?" Ron's whispered voice came through the darkness, startling Hermione as his voice reached her ears, breaking the eerie silence. "I can't see anything."
Beside her, she could hear Harry's feet scuffle against the floor. "None of us can," Harry replied, his voice little more then a whisper. "Do you have your wand?"
Hermione almost leapt into the air, as she felt something brush against her arm, causing her to let out a little squeal.
"What's the matter?" Ron asked, his voice rising with concern, as it drifted over from his place by the door.
A whisper from Harry curtailed her fears. "Sorry…I didn't mean to startle you. I was trying to find where you were."
Hermione smiled to herself, feeling her anxiety momentarily decrease, as she turned in the direction she assumed the door was in, based on where Ron's voice seemed to be coming from. "It's nothing. Harry just walked into me in the dark." She called over to where Ron was standing, hearing him sighing loudly with relief.
"We really could use some light." Harry's voice could once more be heard breaking through the darkness, a bodiless voice adding to the strange atmosphere in the room. "Do you have your wand, Ron?" He shouted, sounding more anxious with every passing second.
"I'll get mine." Turning slightly, Hermione began to feel in front of her, her arms outstretched to stop her walking into the objects around the room, her location in relation to the table had been forgotten during the row with Harry, and now in the dark she had a basic idea that she was close. Also she knew that there were several books on the floor, and she wanted to make sure she did not go sprawling across the ground.
Her hands brushed against the edge of the table, as her fingers began to trace over the surface, feeling out the shapes of the books that were scattered over it. She knew that her wand was positioned in the centre, where it had been casting a glow over the pages that she had been reading. "Accio!" She spoke softly, feeling the thin wooden object press into her hand.
Before she could say the spell to illuminate her wand, a faint glow seemed to light up the room. She let out a small sigh as she turned ready to thank the quicker of Harry and Ron. Unfortunately, as she faced back away from the table, her eyes were focused upon the source of the light, which was emitting from neither Harry nor Ron's wand.
"What the…?" Hermione started, cut off by her own thoughts, as she watched a thin sliver of light escape from the locket, which seemed to have cracked open following its adventure with the wall. "Harry…?" She stammered, unable to say any more.
Ron gasped from his location, drawing Hermione's attention away from locket to the face of the young wizard. "Crikey, Harry." He took a step forward, now that he was able to walk without risk. "What have you done?" His movements were slow, but he made a steady path closer to the glowing object.
"Ron, stay away!" Harry's voice permeated the air, which was turning a strange colour as the light from the locket changed from a low golden glow to a brighter yellow, moving through the spectrum causing shadows to grow ever more defined.
Bending down, Ron's hand clasped the golden oval, cupping it in his palm, before holding it out in front of him. "You broke the seal. We should be able to open it now." He examined the locket, turning it over in his hand, as he watched the beam of light move about the room like a torch, highlighting then casting back into darkness various parts of the room. "Give me something to pry it open."
"Ron, put it down!" Harry was sounding ever more aggrieved as he watched his friend.
Hermione looked at Ron and felt her stomach twist. "Ron, drop it!"
Ron stood for a moment, looking between Harry and Hermione, when suddenly he let out a loud yelp of pain, before the sound to clanking resounded around the library as the locket once more made contact with the floor.
"What happened?" Hermione cried, her eyes reflecting the fear in her voice.
Ron looked down at his hand. "It got hot." His gaze rose and found hers. "Very hot." He took a step back, shaking away the pain in his hand, suddenly wary of the metal object that lay against the floor, the light from its crack splayed against the wall in an ominous pattern, which seemed to come alive, dancing across the surface.
"I don't like this." Harry's gaze flicked around the room, as if he was searching for something. "Ron, get away from there!"
Suddenly the room was thrown into pitch blackness, the three friends once more unable to see beyond their noses. Their breath echoed around the room, as silence descended as rapidly as the light had vanished. Somewhere from behind them, a low whistling sound began to grow, like the passing of a breeze through the leaves of a tree, growing in strength as the cause drew closer to where the trio were standing.
Coming from all sides of the room, Hermione spun around trying to figure what was making the sound, the cause becoming clear as thuds began to follow the wispy echoes. "It's the books!" She called out, her voice loud in the relative silence of the room.
"Are you sure?" Ron called out, his voice growing ever closer, as he edged his way back from the locket, wanting to put some distance between him and the Horcrux. Hermione could tell from the tilt in his tone that he was hurting where the locket had burnt him.
Hermione held out her wand, instantly the tip illuminating the air before her, not managing to punch its way very far through the mystical blackness that filled the room. She turned just in time to watch as one of the books on the table flipped open its front cover, before furiously flicking through the pages until the back cover slammed shut moments before the book was tossed through the air to land with a large thud.
"What is it?" Harry cried out, his own eyes focused on the scene playing out before him. "It's like someone is looking for something."
"I think it's found it." Suddenly one of the tomes burst into an orange glow of flames, falling to the floor, amidst a pile of already discarded books that lay scattered over the floor, the brightness of the fire, bringing the far side of the library into view. "We've got to put it out."
"I think we have bigger problems."
Harry and Hermione turned their attention from the fire at Ron's words and gazed towards the opposite wall, where the locket lay. There before there eyes was brilliant white light, pulsing with a strange echo, almost like Morse code, as the room grew brighter and brighter, until the three occupants could watch no more, their eyes blinking shut before the whiteness ate into their retinas.
The three stood, their eyes closed against the scene, their wands held instinctively out before them, unable to do anything or speak, waiting as if trapped in some sort of time freeze. Their minds working but their bodies were unable to respond to the orders being sent.
"We have to destroy it!" Harry's voice tore through the room, breaking the hold that the light had upon them.
"We don't know how!" Hermione cried out, as she suddenly turned towards the table, scrabbling for the last book she had been reading.
Harry's voice rose. "We don't have time to look now!"
Before any of them could make another move, a terrifying scream filled the library, coming from everywhere at once, assaulting their ears, as the light battered their eyes. Their hands moved to their ears, trying to block out the sound, before it perforated their eardrums.
The smash that followed was emphasised by the blinding light that filled every corner of the room, looking as if the sun had suddenly risen, not just in the sky but in the library itself. The trio of wizards and witch crouched to the floor, as around them the air became full of flying debris, books and other objects whizzing over their heads.
Hermione cried out as a book slammed into her body, winding her, as she curled into a ball, protecting herself from further injury. Around her she could hear Harry and Ron coming under similar assault. "We have to do something!" She shouted, trying to be heard over the noise.
Then blackness once more descended upon the room. The clatter of books and other objects replaced the scream, before silence dominated again. This time, the air felt electric, as if something new was lurking in the shadows, just out of sight. Waiting and watching, assessing and planning.
Hermione opened her eyes, her hands moving from her ears as she looked about her. A falling book crashed against her arm, catching her by surprise, knocking her wand out of her fingers, the sound of it hitting the floor not giving away its new location. She moaned audibly, her frustration and fear battling it out to control her body, neither helping with the situation. Her hand reached out before her, fingers stretched and ready to receive. "Acc…" She never finished as her gaze was drawn to a floating figure, ghostly in the darkness.
"Voldemort!" Harry's voice tore through her like a curse as he uttered the word.
In the strange glow, Hermione could see her wand, her hand pointing towards it, as it flew into her grasp.
"Kill it!" Ron screamed, as fear and anger come from him.
"Keep him busy. I need a few minutes." Hermione raced around the table, her fingers falling on the book that still lay open, left at the page she had been reading.
"You are kidding?" Ron asked incredulously, as he raised his wand higher, ready to strike and ward off whatever came his way.
Hermione flicked through several pages. "Just keep it busy. I think I may have something."
"Hurry, Hermione!" Harry called as he released a spell at the phantom Voldemort that hovered just before them, floating carefree in the air.
Then without warning, it swooped forward, rushing over their heads, heading for the back of the library, fanning the flames of the fire that were steadily growing over the pile of fallen books. It stopped suddenly, its ghostly shape appearing to dance in the flicking flames of orange glow. Eyes grew intense, evil centre of the being illuminated in its gaze, a soul on show for those before him to see, as it took on a green hue, flicking over with spasms of black.
"Hermione!" Ron's voice was shrill as he watched the shape rush over the library, bursting through the air, the green shape like a comet racing over the night air. Its path was aimed at Ron, focused intensely upon the red headed young wizard, whose eyes were as wide as saucers.
The green glow, its shape almost lost in the speed of its movements, rammed into Ron, and passed straight through his body, before it began to swirl around him, spinning faster and faster, as Ron screamed and attempted to put his wand to use. As he opened his mouth to let out another cry, the spirit of Voldemort muffled the sound as it seeped quickly into him, disappearing inside the young man.
Harry and Hermione, who had stopped her reading as the soul had rushed Ron, stared open mouthed, their wands ready but now unable to do anything through fear of hurting someone they both cared about dearly.
"We've got to do something," Hermione shouted as she found her voice, her eyes never leaving the young man before her.
"I don't know what to do," Harry replied. "Damn it!" He raised his wand, his eyes flashing with anger.
"Harry, no!" Hermione pushed Harry's hand aside, as a bolt flashed out of the end, searing the wall a metre from where Ron was standing, a strange glow spreading over his body.
A scream ripped through the air, chilling and foreboding, a scream of pain. A pain beyond anything that any of them had heard before, and it was the sound of someone familiar. Before their eyes, Ron's body began to twitch and shudder as he rose slowly from the floor, suspended before their eyes. He became still, as another scream filled the room, echoing off the walls and resounding in a sickening symphony to the young witch and wizard's ears.
Almost as one, their wands were raised and were ready to fire when Hermione's voice broke through the screaming, barely heard above the noise. "Petrificus Totalus." The words barely passed her lips before Ron's body froze before her then fell heavily to the ground, a thud bringing the room back into total silence.
Harry rushed over to where Ron was lying, crouching down beside his friend, his hand outstretched just above his body. "Don't touch him!" Hermione's words ceased the motion of his hand.
"Ron?" Harry's voice quivered as he looked at his friend, seeing the red haired Weasley lying prone on the floor, his face frozen into a silent cry of torment. "You stopped it, Hermione." He grinned at her, as he rose from the floor. "Now we have to get it out…"
The room filled with a bright light, causing the two standing Hogwarts students to shield their eyes, turning away from their fallen friend. Swirling around their heads, fast and furious, Voldemort's bodiless soul swooped and rose, as the air around Harry and Hermione chilled dramatically.
"Throw whatever you can at it, Harry." Hermione shouted as she dashed over to the stricken Ron. "Any spell you can think of…use it." She crouched beside the fallen boy, her hand checking rapidly for signs, her fingers seeking and searching as she silently released him from her spell, hearing him gasp in air now that he was free of the intruder. "Are you alright?"
Ron looked up at her, and nodded slightly, a small crooked smile on his face. "I'm fi…Aaaahhhhhhhhhh!" His back arched, his body began to convulse, spasms rushing over his skin, his flesh beneath acting in a strange and unusual manner. His eyes were wide and glowed an eerie green as he started to shake, his mouth opened and closed as if fighting for air. He rose slightly from the ground, his body spinning and shaking as the room filled with an ear splitting laugh.
The apparition flicked around the room, before stopping above Ron's who was slowing growing grey as a white wispy smoke seeped out of his mouth towards the ghostly Dark Lord, his lips opening and closing as if he was trying to speak, his eyelids slowly began to close over his eyes.
"Harry, do something!" Hermione screamed, her wand aiming and shooting several spells at the ghostly shape of Voldemort, but did nothing more than disappear through his body. "He's going to kill Ron!"
Harry, whose wand was working as hard as Hermione's, looked at his friend with a look of hopelessness on his features.
Behind them, the door suddenly burst open, and the familiar faces of Lupin and Tonks burst into the room, their wands ready to face intruders that had drawn their attention with the screaming and crashing that had filled the library. Both stopped suddenly as they came face to face with something they had not expected.
"What the…?" Lupin began, his keen eyes and sharp senses taking in the scene. His wand was already up and beginning to throw spells at the ghostly shape.
Tonks, her eyes blazing almost as brightly as her hair, shot off to the other side of the library, but before she had taken more than a few steps, she was stopped abruptly by her collision with the flying body of Ron, which had been thrust through the air by the apparition of the Dark Lord, whose form seemed to have become more solid. Struggling to free herself from under the prone body, she screeched with horror as she looked into the face of the young wizard, lifeless, grey and frozen into a scream of terror.
"No! Ron!" Hermione screamed, her voice echoing off the walls, resounding through the room, like a chorus of doom.
The three standing wizards were focusing spell after spell at the once more moving shape, which fly over to the other side of the room, its feet sounding on the ground as it gained substance. His laughter filled the room, chilling the air to almost freezing. Harry, Hermione and Lupin spun round, facing their adversary with raised wands, as Tonks attempted to push the dead body of Ron off of her.
Everything stopped, sound, movement, as the protagonists stood staring at each other, watching and waiting, their minds running through every spell they knew. The soft thud near Tonks indicated her success at freedom, and it was just as she was rising from the floor that the huge crashing sound rented through the air, before the wall to their right exploded into chunks, that flew like missiles towards the wizards, catching them by surprise.
Harry and Hermione, wands at the ready, managed to fend off harm, but Lupin and Tonks' proximity to the wall, caused them to be buried under the rubble, as the ceiling above them, no longer held up by the wall, crumpled in upon them.
"Remus! Tonks!" Harry's voice carried through the cavernous area, echoing through the house.
"Harry, do what you can with Voldemort, I'll see if I can…" Hermione's voice was cut off as another huge crashing sound stole her words away. Thrusting her wand upwards, she called out the spell, illuminating the space above her, as a huge crack rushed along the plaster above her head.
Dust and debris floated through the air, beginning to settle, as an unerring sound reverberated around them, the sound of laughter growing, almost as if in stereo, as the ghostly Voldemort moved slowly towards them. But the voice was not right, it sounded as if it was coming from two places, it was then that the four eyes of the two young wizards turned towards the rubble that had once been the library wall. There standing amidst the dust and debris, the street outside behind him, was another Lord Voldemort, this one surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar faces, faint pops coming from behind him as more and more Death Eaters apparated into view.
Before anyone could speak, Harry's wand was raised and pointing at the Dark Lord, the anger in his eyes evident. Before he could release a spell, the air around them flashed with a series of attacks that the two young wizards managed to ward off, as they dash apart to either side of the room, ducking down behind some chunks of masonry that once stood as part of the wall.
"Harry! What are we going to do?" Hermione shouted across to where her friend was crouched.
"Take as many with us as we can." Harry's voice was steady, but dripping with barely concealed anger. "I want Voldemort."
Hermione ducked her head, as a flash of light zapped over her head, missing her by inches. "We need help," she said, sounding as if she had already admitted defeat. As she looked about her, she fell deadly silent, her eyes flicking around the scene, as its familiarity seeped into her conscious. It's my dream. This is just like my dream. Her eyes darted around her, risking a look over the top of her of the masonry that was shielding her.
"Harry…" She began but did not finish, as the wall to their left suddenly erupted into a pile of rubble, thrust inwards towards where Voldemort and his cronies were standing or were standing, as they dashed in various directions to avoid being crushed by the falling debris.
"Move!" Harry's voice reached her, full of urgency as above them the ceiling began to buckle and creak as bits of plaster began to pepper their heads. "Come on!" He dashed towards the new opening in the side of the building that lead out into the hall. "C'mon, Hermione!" He yelled at her as he disappeared through the hole.
As he stepped through, a pulse of magic pounded through the gap, filling the library with a crisscross of spells, as the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort countered whoever was attacking them from inside.
Managing somehow to sidestep the magical missiles Hermione ducked through the hole, a hand grabbing her as she appeared, pulling her off to the left.
There standing inside Twelve Grimmauld Place were the figures of several members of the Order of the Phoenix, their wands all raised and firing spell upon spell at those inside the house. Professor McGonagall managed to give both the Hogwarts' student a less than impressed glare before her attention was once more taken with the task at hand. Grabbing some air, Harry and Hermione prepared to join forces with the Order members as they battled to keep the attackers under control.
The familiar sound of Molly Weasley's voice rang through the air. "Where is Ron?" She looked about her, staring at the hole. "And Remus and…" She was interrupted by a volley of spells at that pummelled passed them.
"Still inside," Harry replied, deciding now was not the time to elaborate on what had happened.
Hermione looked at Mrs Weasley, her eyes sparkling with tears that the other woman mistook for dust and worry. "How did you know to come here?"
"Tonks sent word of an intruder." Mrs Weasley began, before pulling herself and Hermione out of the line of a stray spell. "We thought You-Know…You-Know-Who had found our Headquarters." She stammered out as she watched the action around them. "We've no idea how he found the house." She cried over the growing crashing and banging that came from the library, as she tried to peek in for a sign of her son.
Hermione did not have the nerve to tell her that the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters had probably been drawn when they broke the seal of the Horcrux and had released what had been waiting inside.
Before either could say anything else, Harry dashed off down the hall towards the back of the house, just as the Order began to fiercely attack the hole, while slowly and carefully, they began to edge towards the gaping new entrance into the Black's library. Hermione flicked her eyes between the advancing group and the disappearing back of Harry, deciding in seconds she had no other choice but to follow her friend. She had seen one die already; she did not want anything to happen to the other.
Molly could be heard shouting, "Harry! Hermione!" as the young woman left her standing, before Mrs Weasley's attention was taken by more important matters.
The sounds of battle and screams could be heard filling the night sky, although at times it seemed like the dawn had broken as flashes tore around the house, soaring overhead like a firework display. The air outside seemed to bite at Hermione's skin, feeling colder than normal as she rushed out of the back door, knowing that Harry was planning on facing Lord Voldemort. The house was of a good size, and as she reached the back garden, she looked both left and right, but could not see any trace of the Boy-who-lived.
"Harry!" She cried, as behind her the sound of battle increased.
Looking back and forth, she ran, her eyes flicking around her, her wand at the ready. She had several spells on the tip of her tongue, just waiting for someone to step in front of her, trying to stop her progress. She had to find him before he did something stupid. Harry could not face two Voldemorts on his own, she was not sure he was prepared to face one.
Coming around to the front of the house, Hermione stopped in wonder at the carnage and destruction that lay before her. Already there were bodies strewn around, and not just those of people she did not know. Her gaze flicked over the ground, searching for Harry, her heart pounding loudly in her chest, as she saw one of the Death Eaters turned towards her, his wand raised. His lips moved silently, but he was too slow to finish before Hermione's wand flashed a burst of power at his chest, sending him flying dead towards the ground. Her hand shook as she heard him thud against the floor, her attention moving to the others around her.
Suddenly she saw them, Harry and Voldemort near the other side of the house, standing opposite each other, like two characters from the Wild West meeting at high noon. Harry had apparently chosen the opposite direction to the young witch. Above their heads, the apparition of the Dark Lord floated around, almost like a beacon to their whereabouts. Without warning, their duel started; each one casting spell and counter-spell at the other, attracting attention from those around them.
Hermione's heart sank, as the vision before her resembled the scene she had witnessed in her sleep. It isn't going to end like that. He isn't going to die! Her thoughts yelled at her, as she began moving quickly towards where the two of them fought, several Death Eaters standing in her way, fighting their own battles to stay alive.
"Harry!" Hermione screamed, attracting the attention of several of Lord Voldemort's servants, which at least distracted their attention from the Chosen One and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Around her spells began to fly, but she was ready for them and managed to hold her own, as several members of the Order appeared through the makeshift exit to the house, and began to help her push them back from the duel. Sure that the three could manage to hold the Death Eaters on their own, she rushed on towards the dark haired wizard who had become an important part of her life over the last six years.
She stopped suddenly, as before her eyes Harry froze before being tossed into the air like a rag doll, hitting the ground and bouncing slightly at the force of impact. "Harry! No!" She screamed as she ran towards him, her feet tangling with the bodies of the fallen that lay upon the ground between her and her friend.
Her hands and knees scraped heavily against the floor, tearing at her soft flesh, as she fell to the floor. The burning and stinging sensation flooded over her, as she picked herself up, trickles of blood running down her limps as she ran to where Harry Potter lay. The sickening position in which his body lay told her instantly that he would never open his eyes again.
Throwing herself onto the ground beside him, she pulled his body into her arms, tears trickling down her face, splashing on the skin of the young man who lay dead in her arms. "I'm sorry, Harry. There is so much I never got to tell…"
The sound of laughter ripped her attention from Harry, her eyes gazing up at the Dark Lord as he approached. Her wand was already up but not quick enough as the force of an unseen spell tore through her, snatching her breath and stilling her body. As her life ebbed away, her gaze caught sight of a hooded figure behind him, standing off into the distance.
Professor Stygian...?
The thought died with Hermione, as she slipped into blackness.
* * * * *
"No!"
Hermione sat up in bed, her eyes blinking rapidly as she fought to stop the tears that threatened to fall. Her body shook, as a bead of sweat rolled down her face. The image before her remained strikingly clear as she fought to remove it from her mind. The air felt cold against her skin, as she hugged her arms around herself. Slowly her eyes focused on her surroundings, and it was with a sigh that she found herself in her bed in the girl's dorm of Hogwarts, having woken from a nightmare.