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Chapter Text

Death Eaters had them surrounded.

It was a trap. Of course, it was a trap. How had Hermione not realized this? Hadn’t Harry’s ‘visions’ been unreliable? It was to be expected that You-Know-Who would use it against him. Showing him a vision of Sirius being attacked in the Department of Mysteries was the perfect way to draw him out. They had all fallen for it. There were a dozen figures pointing wands at them—wearing Death Eater robes and blocking their exits.

“Give it to me, Potter,” Lucius Malfoy said, using the same characteristic drawl as Draco. He held his hand out like Harry might plop the prophecy in his cold, pale palm.

Hermione’s mind reeled. They needed a plan. She never worked well under this kind of pressure. It wasn’t her strong suit. She tried her best to gather her thoughts and focus. The derisive laughs of the Death Eaters echoed around them. The words all sounded muffled to her ears; she couldn’t make them out. Her heart thumped in her throat like she may choke on it.

“I want to know where Sirius is!” said a high-pitched mocking voice of a female Death Eater. The woman cackled with glee as she watched their dire situation, seeming to gain joy from it. It was disgusting The Death Eaters closed in around them. Was there any chance they could survive this?

Hermione’s fingers stroked at her wand. It at least gave her some comfort to touch the vine wood. This wand would protect her. It always had,

“Don’t do anything,” Harry muttered. Her eyes flicked over at him, “Not yet…” She stood behind him. How could he have known? Then she noticed his gaze darting to Ron. Harry wasn’t speaking to her.

The woman released a chilling scream of laughter that sent shivers down Hermione’s spine. “You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to the other children as though he thinks of fighting us!”

How could Harry maintain a level head during these moments? Hermione couldn’t. Her body froze. Mind stilled. For all her intelligence, nothing could’ve prepared her for this.

Malfoy spoke to the woman again—named her Bellatrix. He whispered, threatening. Harry continued to ask where Sirius was. The Death Eaters found this funny with Bellatrix laughing loudest of them all. The woman was insane.

Hadn’t Harry figured it out? Sirius wasn’t here. This was part of You-Know-Who’s elaborate plan. They played right into the palm of his hand.

“It’s time you learned the difference between life and dreams, Potter,” said Lucius Malfoy with so much haughty arrogance that Hermione’s fist tightened around her wand. “Now give me the prophecy or we start using wands.”

“Go on, then.” Harry aimed his wand. Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and Ginny followed suit. They stood united against a dozen fully grown wizards. Dark wizards who would aim to kill.

“Hand over the prophecy and no one need get hurt,” Malfoy said. There was no way that was true. Utter load of rubbish.

Harry echoed her thoughts aloud. “Yeah, right! I give you this—prophecy, is it? And you’ll just let us skip off home, will you?”

“Accio proph—”

“Protego!” Harry said, ready for Bellatrix’s spell. Hermione admired his quick action. She tried to keep her wand arm from trembling.

The woman stepped forward and lowered her hood. Bellatrix Lestrange’s features were visible now. Her face appeared shallow and skeletal from lost years in Azkaban, but she glowed with excitement. “You need more persuasion? Very well — take the smallest one, let him watch while we torture the little girl,” she ordered the other Death Eaters. “I’ll do it.”

Everyone stepped back to close around Ginny. “You’ll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us”. Hermione listened to Ginny’s rhythmic panting. Harry asked the insane woman more questions about the prophecy. What it was. He spoke You-Know-Who’s name, causing outrage in the group of Death Eaters.

Then he goaded the crowd. “Did you know he’s a half-blood too?” Harry pressed. A moan of terror escaped Hermione as the woman’s eyes darkened with murderous fury. “Voldemort?” Hermione heard Ron’s startled inhale, but Harry didn’t notice, “Yeah, his mother was a witch, but his dad was a Muggle. Or has he been telling you lot he’s pure-blood?”

It was too much for Bellatrix Lestrange, “Stupef—”

“No!”

Malfoy punted away the red light shot from the witch’s wand, sending the spell flying into a shelf of glowing orbs. Several prophecies smashed to the ground behind Hermione. She jumped, but kept her hand steady on her wand. A jumble of ghostly wails reverberated through the room. Silver light reflected off the hoods of the Death Eaters in front of her.

Malfoy told the other Death Eaters to stand down. Bellatrix shouted in outrage while the droning voice of broken prophecies continued to hum. They faded into a distant silence.

“You haven’t told me what’s so special about this prophecy I’m supposed to be handing over,” Harry continued. Hermione wondered why it mattered. She had half a mind to smash the damn thing and be done with it.

“Do not play games with us, Potter,” Lucius hissed, clearly at the end of his patience.

Hermione felt Harry’s foot nudging hers before smashing down on her toes. She gasped, startled. “What?” She whispered.

“Dumbledore never told you the reason you bear that scar was hidden in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries?”

“I… what? What about my scar?”

“What?” Hermione asked, feeling frantic. Did he have a plan? She couldn’t tell. Was she supposed to do something?

“Can this be?” Malfoy said. The Death Eaters cackled under their cloaks. Bellatrix looked put out. Hermione studied Harry, searching for a sign of a plan. With the Death Eaters distracted, he mouthed to her ‘smash shelves—’

Smash shelves. Release the prophecies. Escape amongst the chaos it would cause. Hermione took the lead in spreading the message while Harry goaded their enemies further. Neville maintained a calm expression on his face. Luna had a faint smile playing on her lips.

Harry continued to buy them more time. He discovered the prophecy related to both him and You-Know-Who. Hermione wasn’t focusing too hard on what they were saying. She considered where she would aim her spell. Perhaps over the head of the Death Eater in front of her. The orbs would crash on their skulls and possibly knock them out… if she were lucky. Then she could run past them, down the row. Escape.

Having a plan calmed her. Made the ache in her stomach ease and the slight tremor in her wand hand let—

“NOW!” shouted Harry.

“REDUCTO!” all five of their voices sounded out in unison, releasing curses in five different directions, and exploding against five different shelves. The towers swayed precariously, and hundreds of spheres rained down and shattered on the floor. There was a tumultuous echoing of voices. Nobody could have discerned the words of any prophecy from another. Ghostly, vaporous figures rose in every direction—

“RUN!”

Hermione sprinted forward, covering her head with her arms as more glowing orbs rained off the shelves and crashed around them. She saw Ron and Ginny in front of her and followed them, hoping they knew the way. Someone grabbed her robes—

“Stupefy!” The hand released her.

“This way!” Hermione had no clue who spoke. She cast another Reducto curse over her shoulder at a barrage of Death Eaters coming towards them.

Curses of all colors flew past. One barely missed Hermione before crashing into the wall of prophecies.

“Stupefy!” Ginny and Ron said in unison, throwing a Death Eater backward and into a tower of glowing orbs causing the entire structure to collapse.

“Petrificus Totalus!” Hermione said, pointing her wand over her shoulder. She turned and ran, grabbing Ginny’s arm. She didn’t wait around to see if her spell hit its mark.

A green flash flew past them, missing Ron.

“They’re trying to kill us!” Ginny said, as Ron threw a spell behind him in retaliation.

“Reducto!” Hermione’s chest heaved. Her lungs burned as she tried to suck in air. Where were Harry, Luna, and Neville? Had they lost them?

They came upon the end of a row, an ominous black wood door in their sight. They had two choices: go through the door or fight their way through the Death Eaters.

Ron flipped around and started throwing spells, jinxes, and curses both at the Death Eaters and at the prophecy towers. One glance at Ginny was all it took for Hermione to decide.

Ginny tried giving the door a hard tug, finding it locked. “Alohomora!” There was a sure click. “Through here!” Hermione and Ron scrambled after Ginny, who slammed the door shut. A curse slipped past and hit Ron between the shoulder blades, causing him to lose his footing and fly forward.

“No!” He stumbled as both Hermione and Ginny tried to steady him, but he knocked them both off their feet and they all rose into the air. The room had no gravity; they floated away as soon as their feet left the ground. She grasped for Ron, trying to gain hold of his robes to see his face. Make sure he was even alive. He had an ear-splitting grin covering his face, his eyes were bright.

“Ha ha ha ha! I’m flying, Hermione! Look at me!” He started, laughing hysterically.

“Laughing curse!” Ginny said as she grabbed Ron’s robes to anchor them together.

Hermione ignored him and searched for the entrance in the darkness to lock it with a spell. She couldn’t find it. It was too late. 

“Look at the little marbles!” He chuckled.

“He’s gone nutty!” Ginny looked worried as she gripped Ron’s robes tighter. Her red hair stood up in all directions.

Hermione’s eyes widened in shock, “We are… they are planets!”

“Hermione! I can see Uranus!” He found this particularly funny.

“We have to keep moving.” Hermione tried to kick her legs to control their direction of movement, but without floor or gravity, it was useless.

“I can do—ha ha ha—I can flip! Watch me flip!”

“Ron, shut up!” Ginny scowled.

A light appeared, and suddenly the door was visible. It burst open as four Death Eaters rushed in and jumped after them. They flew quickly towards the group, gaining on them as they floated helplessly in the dark. A curse flew by that missed Hermione by pure luck. They came within a few feet of a large blue planet about two feet in diameter. Ginny attempted to anchor her feet against the planet’s surface, but they had drifted too far.

One of the Death Eaters grabbed Ginny’s foot and squeezed. She squealed and tried to kick him off. “Ginny! Grab onto me and hold Ron!” Hermione said.

Hermione pointed her wand at the planet in front of her. “Reducto!” The planet exploded in the face of the Death Eater, causing him to lose his grip. They flew backwards with rocket force, riding the momentum of the explosion.

“Kill them! Potter isn’t here!”

Ron laughed maniacally as they sailed backward into space. “You blew up Pluto, Hermione!” he howled.

“Reducto!” Hermione said, ignoring Ron and trying her best to keep a grip on his robes with her other hand. If she lost her hold now, he would drift off and they would surely lose him.

She exploded random objects as they flew past them to maintain their speed. Space had to end eventually, right? There was only a limited amount of space that was mapped out. How long would they float like this?

These thoughts continued to run through Hermione’s mind when, without warning, they slammed into a wall. Ginny hissed in pain. Ron made a dramatic ‘oof’ noise. Hermione’s head knocked into Ron’s shoulder as they crashed to solid ground.

“Let’s go again!”

“No, Ron!” Hermione snatched him before he could launch himself back into space. Ginny hopped to her feet with a grimace of pain. “Are you okay?”

“My ankle…” she seethed, propping herself against the wall. She didn’t put any weight on her right foot.

“Ron, stop that! We need to get out of here!” Hermione said. Ginny tried walking but slid down the wall and clutched her ankle, gasping in pain.

“I’ll… I’ll bandage it... I’ll—” Hermione pointed her wand at Ginny’s injured ankle, “Ferula!” Bandages appeared and wrapped themselves around Ginny’s foot. Hermione let out a breath of relief when Ginny stood, appearing steadier.

“It hurts a little less,” Ginny said after a moment. She followed at a slowed pace.

“Ferula! What a funny spell! Fer—fer—ferula! It’s like fur!” Ron was clearly oblivious to what was happening.

“Come on!” Hermione said, tugging him along the wall until they came to a door. She hoped it would lead them back to the entrance. All three of them fell out and Hermione slammed it shut.

“Ron!” Harry called, running towards them. “Ginny! Are you all—?”

“Harry!” said Ron as he lurched forward and grabbed the front of Harry’s robes with a weak giggle, “There you are... ha ha ha—you look funny, Harry... you’re all messed up...” Hermione was relieved to see them. Neville walked behind him, dragging Luna’s unconscious body.

“What happened?” Harry asked as Ginny followed Ron at a limp and pulled him off Harry. Hermione, in a breathy voice, filled Harry in on the planet room, Ginny’s ankle, and Ron’s curse. She eyed Luna with concern.

“She’s alive.” Harry nodded to Luna. Neville adjusted his grip on her. Blood dripped from his nose, clearly broken.

“We have to get out of here,” Harry said, grasping Ron’s arm and pulling it over his shoulder to support him with the prophecy still gripped tightly in his other hand. Ron’s legs seemed to lose the ability to function. Harry started towards one of the twelve doors around them, with Neville and Hermione holding Luna and Ginny on an unsteady ankle. Hermione hoped Harry knew what he was doing. All the doors looked the same.

A door to their left burst open and Bellatrix Lestrange appeared, followed by two other hooded Death Eaters. “There they are!” Hermione acted on instinct. She threw a stunning spell toward the three Death Eaters as they picked up their pace towards the targeted door. Harry flung it open and pushed Ron ahead of him, with Neville and Hermione clutching the unconscious form of Luna behind him. Ginny hobbled in last, red-faced, and strained.

“Colloportus!” Hermione said as soon as she could slam the door shut. It was just in time. The wood shook as three bodies slam into the door on the other side.

“It doesn’t matter!” one of the Death Eaters said, “There are other ways in. We’ve got them! They’re here!” Hermione glanced around the new room. It almost looked like a mad scientist’s lab. There were brains with weird tentacles suspended in a tank of green slime. The tank had an iridescent glow that gave the room an ominous feeling.

Sure enough, there were doors around the edges. As if commanded, everyone split and to charm the doors locked. Eerie footsteps outside the room made Hermione’s heart skip a beat, and sometimes someone would ram into the door, causing the wood to creak and shudder. Hermione tripped over a table in her rush but pushed forward.

“Collo—aaaaargh!” Ginny cried. She wasn’t able to reach her target in time. She flew back and landed in a heap beside Luna’s unconscious body.

The voice of Bellatrix Lestrange resounded through the room as Hermione sprinted to Harry, dodging spells flying past her. Hermione aimed a spell towards Bellatrix Lestrange, then the Death Eater behind her, missing.

“Hey!” said Ron, who chased after Harry, giggling “Hey, Harry, there are brains in here, ha ha ha, isn’t that weird, Harry?”

“Ron stop!” Hermione said, following Harry. She hoped Luna and Ginny would be okay where they left them. It wasn’t them they were after; they were after Harry. They wanted the prophecy still clutched in his hand.

“Honestly, Hermione, they’re brains—look—Accio brain!”

All action in the room stopped. Everyone froze in place and stared in the direction Ron’s wand pointed. Even the Death Eaters paused in their pursuit. Neville’s eyes widened in horror. A brain burst from the tank and remained suspended for a moment while green slime dripped down its cortex. Then, it jolted towards Ron with little tentacles waving around.

“Look at it—ha ha ha” he pointed, disoriented, as he chuckled at the flailing brain.

Hermione was the first to react, squealing in terror, “Ron, don’t!”

“Harry, come and touch it! Bet it’s weird—”

“Ron!”

It was too late, Ron had already caught the brain in his outstretched hand and the tentacles latched themselves to him, wrapping around him like bindings of a rope, constricting his chest, arms, and legs.

“Diffindo!” yelled Harry. It was hopeless. Ron collapsed to the ground. Hermione dropped to catch him, just barely missing a flash of red light that plummeted straight towards her.

“Stupefy!” Neville said, his broken nose hindering his speech. He tried again and again, but each of his spells missed. One of the Death Eaters shot a spell at him and narrowly avoided it by inches. Five Death Eaters closed around Harry, Hermione, and Neville.

Suddenly, Harry took off running to the only open door. The door the Death Eaters had entered through, displaying the prophecy they longed for high above his head. He was drawing them away. It worked too. All the Death Eaters sprinted after him.

“Harry, no! Neville, stay with Ron!” Hermione turned to follow closely behind Harry. The Death Eaters were on their heels. Harry and Hermione rushed into the new area. As they entered, Harry tripped and tumbled down a stone stairway. Hermione clambered after him, helping him to his feet, his legs trembling. Somehow, the prophecy remained intact in his hand.

The new room had a large stone archway that stood atop a dais in the center. The arch had a tattered black curtain billowing in an invisible breeze. An ominous aura leaked from the inky-black depths. Almost foreboding. Death Eaters burst through the other doors, running towards them. Hermione and Harry backed up until the backs of their legs hit the dais. They both climbed on it in their retreat.

“Potter, your race is run,” It was Lucius Malfoy, pulling off his mask, “now hand me the prophecy like a good boy.” Hermione panted, unable to form words. There was a tangy taste of blood on her lips.

“Let the others go and I’ll give it to you,” Harry said. Some Death Eaters found this funny.

Hermione’s heart raced in her chest, her mouth felt dry. She tried to wet her lips, but her tongue was too parched to provide relief.

“You are not in a position to bargain, Potter. We have both of you cornered and outnumbered—”

“They’ve still god be!” a voice said from the stone landing.

“Neville no!” Hermione and Harry yelled together. Neville scrambled down the stairs towards them, his wand held in his trembling hand.

“Neville, go back to Ron and—”

“Stupefy!” a flash of red light flew from the tip. “Stupefy, Stupefy!” he continued, pointing at each Death Eater.

The Death Eaters took a moment to realize they were under attack. Chaos ensued. One of the other unmasked Death Eaters, Dolohov, raised his wand to Neville “Avad—”

“Silencio!” Hermione cried, using the first spell that came to mind. His voice went out, killing the curse that was forming on his lips. A large Death Eater snuck behind Neville and wrapped their arms around him, pinning him in place. Hermione barely had time to register this when Dolohov, furious, turned towards her and slashed his wand through the air. A purple spell flew at her. She tried to dodge, but the spell hit her side and she lost her footing. She stumbled backward.

“Oh...” She couldn’t manage any other words.

“Hermione!” There was a suffocating sensation. Her legs gave out. There was pain. She could feel the tattered curtains brush across her skin before her world went dark.