Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter but I do own this little plot.
Author's note: This is for Melissa, my BFFFF.
There were people, strangers running away, past her. Screams of fear and terror sliced through the still darkness, sharp and putting her every nerve on end. Curses were shouted and in the distance she could almost see the red sparks of the curse twinkling as they hit their victim, the threat of death hanging over the area.
And there they were. Heading in her direction. She tried to run, only to find that she couldn't. The masked Death Eaters chanting grew more mechanical and menacing as they advanced on her. One of them pulled out his wand, aimed it at her heart and uttered the Unforgivable without a trace of emotion. She could hear herself scream as the green light shrouded her, surrounded her…
"No!" Her eyelids flickered open sharply and Hermione found herself waking up in a cold sweat.
She sat abruptly, inhaling deeply, trying to calm her racing heart. Merlin what kind of dream had that been? She replayed those scenes in her mind, trying to make sense of it all and sighed. It seemed as if all of her dreams had been filled with chaos, terror and most importantly fear of late but this dream had definitely been the worst. Hermione shuddered slightly as she remembered how that flash of green light had seemed so real. She prayed it would never ever happen to Ron, her or Harry.
She glanced out of the mouth of the alcove and frowned slightly. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brilliantly in the cloudless sky, bathing the mountains in a sheet of thin sunlight. But something didn't feel so right, Hermione thought as she got up. The sunlight was too strong, the mornings in this area was usually freezing like mad. It felt more like afternoon to her. Was it? If it was, how could they have slept in? What if Voldermort had already been here, taken the hoxcrux and….
Harry. The corner of the alcove that he usually slept in was empty. Immediately, she felt a wave of panic wash over her and tried to quell it as quickly as it had come. She was just being silly. There was no way that Voldermort would have been able to get to Harry. After all, Hermione and Ron would have heard the commotion. The dream must have shaken her pretty badly. But still, a feeling of worry set in as she glanced over once more at his empty corner.
I'm sure he just went to check that the Hoxcrux was safe, Hermione told herself firmly, and let us sleep in for a while more. That would be like Harry. She tried to smile at the thought, only it felt forced and made her feel decidedly more worried.
Casting one worried glance out at the sky again, she slid back the sleeve of Harry's sweater to look at her watch. What she saw intensified her suspicion and worry. No, it couldn't be. But yet it was. Her watch read that it was the 12th of November. But today should have been the 11th. Her watch couldn't have been broken, it was working fine yesterday. Which meant that….
They had been asleep for two whole days.
But that was impossible. Harry wouldn't have even been able to sleep for an hour, let alone two days. Neither would she and Ron despite them being extremely exhausted.
She stared out at the mountains, not really seeing, as she wondered. And then it hit her.
"No," She whispered. "It can't be."
Taking a few quick steps towards Harry's pack which lay on the dirt floor as it usually did, she prayed that she would be wrong about this for once. Kneeling down beside it, she undid its flap and checked its contents. There were several essentials missing, things Harry would not have left without like Sirius's hunting knife among others.
She sat back on her heels, her horror and feeling of dread intensifying by the second. The bottle she and Ron had drunk from the last night they had been with Harry was now lying empty on the dirt floor. Slowly, she uncapped the bottle and took a cautious sniff.
The bottle dropped from her hands and onto the dirt floor. No. Please let me be wrong, she pleaded silently as she ran to Ron's side.
"Ron!" She shook him agitatedly, aware that her panic was now influencing her every move. "Ron, wake up!"
The redhead opened one gluey eye wearily. "Hermione?" He sat up, rubbing at his eyes, voice heavy with sleep. "What's going on?"
"Harry's gone!" Hermione burst out, finding herself scarily near tears. "He must have put some sleeping draught into our water last night, we've been sleeping for two days so that he could get rid of Voldermort himself and now he's gone!" The panic and worry she'd been feeling had now begun to spill over into her voice.
"What?" She could see that Ron's brain was trying to register all this at once. "Harry's gone? Why?"
"I don't know." Hermione stood and walked over to the mouth of the alcove. "It's just a hunch….but… but… I think I'm right." She felt ridiculous as the tears burned in her eyes and she roughly used her hand to pass over her eyes. This was no time for tears.
"No bloody way." Ron was awake now as he too stood and moved to stand beside her, scanning the area. "Harry would never do that."
That had been her sentiments exactly. Harry wouldn't have abandoned them. Not in a million years. Inside her, almost unbidden, a small spark of hope ignited. Maybe she had just been making a big fuss about nothing. Maybe Harry was safe, down at the little cave, standing guard over the Hoxcrux, and waiting for Voldermort right now.
"Let's just calm down and think about this." Ron said in a soothing voice. "You didn't see Harry this morning, is that all?" The way he said it was meant to be kind and comforting but Hermione felt that it was more of patronizing. But then again, it had been stupid, she thought sheepishly to herself. She'd just woken up, seen that Harry was gone and immediately assumed that he had left them to fight Voldermort on his own without verifying it.
"No, I didn't." Hermione gratefully found that her voice was growing much steadier and calmer. "Maybe we should just take a quick look around the area in case he's nearby."
"Good idea." Ron began to carefully edge his way down the gentle slope of the hill, avoiding any loose boulders and clinging carefully to the crevices in the rock. Hermione followed suit, and a while later, carefully descended next to Ron, half-sliding and half-stumbling as she did so.
"I'll check the cave." Ron called over his shoulder, sprinting towards the mouth of the cave. "Look around and see if you can find anything."
Hermione nodded in response before she began a short walk towards the end of the plateau. All around her was merely other mountains, pinnacles of some kind (she never was any good at geography) and other than that just flat land. She glanced around, trying to spot any thing that was out of the ordinary, but everything seemed just the way it did when they had come a few days ago.
Finally she reached the crumbling edge of the plateau, standing as near the edge as she dared to. Just like it had looked a few days ago, when she looked down, all she saw were swirls of mist and the faint outline of what must have been a tree growing on the slope of the plateau. Was that dark area beyond the mist the bottom of the chasm? She listened carefully. Was that faint rippling and gurgling she heard? There must have been water down there then.
"Harry!" She called, and then fell silent as she heard her own voice echoing off the smooth walls of the chasm. "Harry!" She called once again and shivered. It wasn't cold at all but the way her voice seemed to be echoing all around the chasm made it seem like such a desolate, foreboding and lonely place. Harry can't be down there, she told herself as she backed away from the edge of the plateau, he can't be. It was more of a plea than anything else, she knew.
Just as she turned around to begin walking to the cave, she saw Ron sprinting once again towards her. He looked worried. Hermione inhaled sharply and began running over to meet him. Please let it not be something bad.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked anxiously, as soon as Ron was within hearing range.
"It's gone." Ron's breathless voice contained worry. "The Hoxcrux is gone."
"No," Hermione breathed, shaking her head in disbelief. "And Harry?" She held her breath, afraid of what the answer would be.
"He's not there either." The anxiety in his voice was now written all over his face. There was a long pause as the two struggled to keep their emotions in check.
"Something must have happened." Hermione heard her voice shake slightly, low and urgent. "We have to go back and get help."
***************
But when they did get back, what they saw gave them a shock.
The streets of Diagon Alley were bustling, wizards and witches alike practically pouring out onto the streets from the shops whose windows had been barred shut some time ago. All around her, Hermione could see smiles, laughs and hugs being shared between friends and family. Some of the shops lining the walkways had even hung up brightly colored banners above their shop's awnings, making the entire scene look more vivid and bright. From one of the shops, an old man was playing a cheerful tune on his harmonica and some were even dancing to the music, trying to keep up with the gaily tune.
It was a stark contrast of the Diagon Alley Hermione and Ron had known a long time ago. Shop windows had been barred shut, their displays dusty. The streets had been eerily silent and only those who dared to step out of the house, hurried down the street, their heads down and avoiding other gazes. Diagon Alley had been somewhat a ghost town and now here it was bustling and full of life and celebration.
"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Ron hissed as he jostled his way through the crowd, close behind Hermione.
"I don't know." Hermione answered, suddenly very aware that she must have looked a sight, a large cut on her cheek that was still healing after a run-in with a Death Eater the other day, her hair tousled and clothes slightly torn. "It seems to be some sort of celebration."
Ron swore almost intelligibly as he struggled through the throngs of people, trying to keep up with Hermione. Just as Hermione looked back to see Ron get swallowed up in another group of revelers, she felt herself being grabbed by the arm.
"Come on ducky! Look alive!" The plump woman who had grabbed her by the arm began to whirl her around in time to the music. "It's over! We must celebrate!" Hermione might have as well been a puppet as she allowed the woman's words to sink in as she got twirled around stiffly.
"What's over?" She had to shout at the woman over the noise.
"Why, don't tell me you don't know?" The woman stopped in the middle of turning Hermione around and appraised her incredulously. "He-Who-Must-Not…I mean, Voldermort is dead!"
Voldermort is dead. How often Hermione had hoped to hear those words, those three simple words that would mean immediate liberation for the entire wizarding world who had been held prisoner by their fear of this powerful dark wizard who had killed so many. And now here they were. It was over at long last. She felt unrestrained relief sweep over her entire being that it was over. That good had triumphed over evil.
Just then, the woman held Hermione out at arm's length and shrieked so that the people around them all turned around. "Upon my soul! You're Hermione Granger! One of the Golden Trio!" Before Hermione could even acknowledge it or say anything for that matter, the woman had pulled Hermione into a big hug.
"Oh bless you, ducky." The woman squeezed Hermione tighter. "You've saved us all."
Hermione felt a rush of warmth at that but it was immediately stamped down by her own modesty. "I didn't do anything." She admitted honestly as the woman finally released her. "It was all Harry."
"Harry Potter!" The woman gushed, "He has saved us all as well! Now, where is he, love? Shouldn't he be here to join in the celebration? He's a right hero, he is." The woman looked at Hermione so expectantly, as if expecting Hermione to produce Harry out of thin air.
But Hermione wasn't listening. Shouldn't he be here to join in the celebration? The woman's words left a loud roaring in her ears and she stumbled slightly at their intensity and the meaning they held. The warm afternoon sunlight was shining down on her but inside, she felt ice-cold dread begin to spread from somewhere in her gut.
Harry wasn't here.
The woman must have noticed that something was wrong, and the smile dropped off her face as a concerned expression appeared instead. "What's wrong, love?"
Ron had appeared at her side by now. "Hermione?" he tried, noticing her pale expression. "What's wrong?"
"It's Harry." She could hardly force out the words, didn't even want to. Maybe if she didn't say it, it wouldn't be real. But deep down she knew that somehow it was the truth and would be even if she didn't say it. Hermione lifted her haunted brown eyes to meet his worried blue ones. "He's gone."
Okay, that was a really long one. Hoping you all liked it…please review and let me know what you thought of it. I promise to try and update ASAP.