Black as the Skies

Hermione got to her feet as Luna slammed her fists against the castle doors. She knew they weren't getting back inside; Slytherin wouldn't let them. It might've been too slow to stop them getting out of the Great Hall, but now that it had a bargaining chip, it wasn't letting them back in the castle to save him, not unless it was on its terms.

How had they escaped the Great Hall? The only theory Hermione had was that it hadn't adapted to having a human body yet, and needed to concentrate to maintain it. That might've slowed it down enough for them to escape.

Realizing something was amiss, she looked around for her remaining friends. Activating her night vision, she spotted them not far off. They were standing around talking, looking as though they hadn't a care in the world.

Reality hit her almost immediately. Slytherin hadn't been concerned about the others escaping, but Hermione, who had mind blank, and Luna, who had Rose's memories, hadn't been allowed to leave. Slytherin probably wanted revenge on Hermione for whatever twisted definition of friendship it'd shared with Rose, but it also wanted to remain hidden. It'd waited for the castle to be cleared out, for everyone else to be gone, before revealing itself.

Before dealing with that, Hermione turned to Luna. The poor girl had collapsed to her knees.

Hermione walked over to her and knelt down beside her.

"I'm so sorry, Moon," she whispered, putting her arms around her friend. "There's nothing we can do for him."

"We can get back in," Luna said, grabbing onto Hermione's shirt. "Help him escape!"

"We both know Slytherin won't allow that."

Luna leapt to her feet.

"We haven't tried!"

The runes on her arms shifted around, and she slammed her palms into the stone wall of the castle. As Hermione had expected, nothing happened. That didn't stop Luna from trying. She tried again and again, but nothing worked. No matter what she did, she couldn't break back into Hogwarts.

"What are you doing?" Ron called.

Hermione glanced back at them, and saw confusion on their faces. She hadn't noticed them walk back up the steps to the castle.

"We've got to get word to Professor McGonagall," he continued. "Sound the all-clear."

Hermione formed questions in her head. She wanted to get them right, for fear that she'd unearth some hidden mental trigger.

"Can you describe the past ten minutes to me?" Hermione asked. "Starting…" She shook with one of several memories from that night she'd rather forget. "Starting with Rose killing Professor Vector."

"What?" Ron said. "Why?"

Hermione was torn between Luna's attempts to get back inside and getting an answer from her other friends. At that moment, she chose getting them all away from the castle.

"Moon," she said.

Luna ignored her.

"Moon!"

Luna kept slamming her hands into the castle, trying to break through the stone wall.

Hermione grabbed Luna by the shoulders and shook her.

"There's nothing we can do!"

"Then why didn't you do something before?!" Luna shouted. "Why didn't you help him?!"

Hermione opened her mouth, but she was at a loss for words. She'd been so angry at Slytherin, so torn up about Rose, that she hadn't thought about anything else. That anger likely cost Neville his life.

"I'm sorry," Hermione mumbled.

"We should get to Hogsmeade," Harry said. "The professors are waiting for us."

Hermione looked at Luna, who stared unseeing past Hermione. There was no getting Neville back, and they both knew it.

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Right."

They began to trudge through the night to Hogsmeade. Hermione waited a minute for Luna to calm down before she asked her friends anything.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Sally-Anne said, breaking the silence.

"For what?" Hermione asked, not wanting to assume anything.

"I know you cared for Rose, and after everything she did, it can't be easy. If you want to talk about it, I'm happy to listen."

Hermione opened her mouth to remind Sally-Anne that Draco had bled out in her arms less than an hour ago, but stopped when she realized that they'd all seen someone die in the past year. The only exception was Luna, who'd heard Slytherin kill Neville.

Hermione heard Ron grumble something. Ignoring him, she asked the question she'd had all night.

"Who killed Draco?"

Sally-Anne hesitated, then replied, "Rose. She… she disguised herself as Lucius Malfoy and had Dobby bring her to Hogwarts. When Draco wouldn't break the ward, she dropped her disguise and stabbed him with her sword thing. She was gone before the real Lucius Malfoy arrived."

Hermione nodded, half listening to the story, half wondering what was true. She didn't doubt that Rose would've killed Draco, but disguising herself as his father seemed too… subtle for her.

"Are… alright." She had more questions, but she realized they hadn't asked about Slytherin. She hadn't offered much of an answer earlier.

"Doesn't anyone want to know about Slytherin?"

Ron frowned at her in the dark.

"We got them to Hogsmeade, didn't we?" he asked.

"No, the… you don't remember it, do you?"

"Brain, we're tired. We just watched Rose kill half a dozen people, including Voldemort, so we just want to rest."

Hermione stopped herself before she protested, reminding herself that Slytherin had edited itself out of their minds before. It was about what she'd expected. Slytherin had made them believe Rose did everything Slytherin had, which possibly meant Slytherin had killed Draco, but more importantly, it meant only she knew the truth.

"Rose didn't kill Voldemort," Luna said. "She was dead before he arrived."

Hermione glanced at Luna in the dark and smiled a little. If Luna had run from Slytherin, which Hermione was certain she had, the girl hadn't been wasting her time in the Forbidden Forest. It took strong mental defences to fend off Slytherin, defences her other friends didn't have.

"Could you not do this right now?" Ron said.

Luna opened her mouth to protest, but Hermione cut in.

<Slytherin edited itself out of their minds. It knew it couldn't do that with us. That's why it wanted us to stay.>

<We should tell them.>

<They won't believe us.>

<Rose wouldn't kill Toad!>

<No, she wouldn't, but we're the only two that believed in her.>

<Toad did.>

Hermione nodded, hoping the others didn't notice.

<He did. I'm sorry, Moon.>

They walked in silence after that. Hermione hated the idea that once they reached Hogsmeade, her friends would spread a story around that painted Rose as irredeemable. She held on tightly to the truth, knowing it would come out eventually. Rose wasn't evil; not entirely anyway. Knowing her, she would've planned to restore Lavender, Dumbledore, Septima, Snape… anyone she'd killed. Hermione wondered, not for the first time that night, if her part in the events that had transpired had been part of Rose's plan.

<I'm sorry about Rose,> Luna said, startling Hermione out of her thoughts. <She cared a lot about you too.>

As they walked, Hermione put her arm around Luna for a moment.

<We should tell them what happened,> Luna said. <Maybe they can—>

<Fight Slytherin? How? You and I can probably take it, but Rose picked apart the four strongest teachers at the same time. Slytherin has control of the castle, and no one knows how to remove it. We might not be able to. For now, it's best that the two of us don't go back inside until we've got a plan.>

<It could kill them.>

<Not as long as they don't know about it. If we say a word about Slytherin, it will know once they've gone inside the castle.>

<What if they stay out until they've got a plan?>

<You haven't been there all year, so you haven't seen the look on their faces when I tried convincing anyone that Rose wasn't herself.>

She looked at Luna, who waved a hand over her face.

<Right, sorry. Erm… anyway, if we try convincing them that Rose was under duress, especially after the others 'saw' Rose kill Neville, they'll assume it's us trying to deny reality and dismiss it.>

<We can't give up! Toad and Rose wouldn't give up!>

Hermione smiled at her, then remembered she couldn't see. Nonetheless, her message was conveyed.

Luna sniffed the air, then smiled.

<You've got a plan.>

<Rose left us something to go on. I think… well, I hope Rose has been looking into how to kill Slytherin. It's what I'd do if someone was forcing me to hurt people against my will.>

Hermione looked up and saw Hogsmeade looming in the distance.

<We're coming up on Hogsmeade. We'll talk later. I won't do anything without you, Moon. We're in this together.>

When they arrived at Hogsmeade, they found that reinforcements had arrived. Moody, Sirius, Remus, and Tonks stood on guard at the gates. Moody approached them when they reached the gates. His fake eye darted from one of them to the other. He zoomed in on Luna and Hermione, then asked the question Hermione knew they'd have to keep answering.

"Longbottom?" he asked.

Luna trembled, doing her best to hold back tears.

Hermione put a comforting arm around her, almost as much for herself as for Luna.

"Dead," Ron said.

Remus closed his eyes for a moment, before Moody ushered them inside. Remus and Sirius led them to the Hog's Head where the remainder of the staff had gathered. They were in varying states of injury, but Madame Pomfrey was moving between them, checking each one over.

Everyone turned to face them when they arrived. Hermione saw McGonagall counting them, stopping after they'd all filed in. They were led to a table where Sirius and Remus sat down with them.

Hermione noticed the number of eyes staring at Luna. She figured that would keep happening. Most of the people in Hogsmeade hadn't seen her in almost two years.

Realization began to dawn on the staff's faces. McGonagall closed her eyes and shook her head. Sprout visibly sank in her chair. The other professors worked out why Neville wasn't there based on their reactions.

"What happened?" McGonagall asked.

They all looked at one another, then Ron turned back and spoke.

"After Hermione took over the fight against Rose, she…" He glanced at Hermione, who listened intently to find out what had "happened". "Rose was too much for her. Rose was going to kill her, but Neville… he stopped her, and she… she killed him instead. Voldemort showed up not long after that, and Rose pulled the crap she always does. They fired on one another. He used a Killing Curse, she used disintegrate. They killed each other."

Hermione reached over under the table and took Luna's hand. She squeezed it, and Luna returned her grip.

<Don't say anything. They don't know, and we can't tell them. If Slytherin thinks there's a chance they know, it will shut them up by any means necessary.>

No one spoke for a few minutes.

"At least Peta-Lorrum finally did something good," McGonagall said.

"What?" Luna snapped.

"So saving us from Quirrell doesn't count?" Hermione asked, losing her cool as much as Luna. "Or when Pettigrew wrecked the school? Or the troll? Or capturing Pettigrew?"

"Would you just stop?" Ron snapped. "Alavel, Taltria, Lavender, Dumbledore, Vector, Snape, Draco, Neville! Who else did Rose have to kill for you to get it through your oversized head that she's not our friend anymore? She nearly killed you, for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione and Ron glared at one another. Luna squeezed Hermione's hand.

<You were right. They all believe it. I don't think we can convince them otherwise.>

Hermione looked at her friends' faces.

<No, I don't think we can.>

"That's enough, you two," Sally-Anne said quietly. "There's no need for fighting. It's all over." She glanced around. "Where's Mr. Malfoy?"

"He went to the Ministry," McGonagall said, "to request aide to Hogwarts."

Sally-Anne smiled to herself.

"Is the castle secure?" Sprout asked.

"We think so," Ron said. "With Voldemort gone, none of the other Death Eaters should pose much of a threat. If Malfoy can send Aurors, we can sweep the castle and wipe out any remnants."

"There's no 'we', Mr. Weasley," McGonagall said. "Thank you for your assistance in this matter, but allow us to handle it from here. We will secure the castle, and sound the all-clear in the morning. You six get some rest."

In the morning, students were given breakfast at Hogsmeade, then allowed back into Hogwarts to collect their belongings. Hermione and Luna both refused, on the grounds that they already had their belongings.

"I'm starting to understand why you refused to enter the castle before," Hermione said. She glanced at Luna. "Are you really going home?"

Luna sniffed the air and turned back to the forest.

"Daddy's been alone for too long. I think I should go see him."

Hermione nodded.

"Yeah," she said. "Where's your pack?"

"Oh!"

Without another word, Luna ran back into the forest. Hermione glanced at the people milling about the castle, then ran to catch up to her.

"I hope you're getting your pack and not running away again."

Luna shook her head as she navigated the trees.

"I lost my last year with Toad because I ran away. I'm not running anymore."

Hermione struggled to keep up with Luna. Any attempts to slow her down were ignored, forcing Hermione to keep up her own pace.

After five long minutes, Luna stopped at a tree and started digging. While she did, Hermione sat down to get her bearings.

"You know… there are some professors that are scared of this place, and we walk in like it's nothing."

"This is my home," Luna replied. "The beasts inside are my friends. I protect them, and they care for me. They don't trust humans because of people like Voldemort that killed innocent unicorns, or people like Umbridge that hate centaurs because they're not human."

Hermione thought back on the prejudice she'd endured during her first year of Hogwarts. People hated her because she was Muggle-born and clever. She and Rose raised the bar without trying, and people resented them for it. If she could've hidden away, she would've.

"I… I guess I can't argue with that."

After another minute, Luna pulled her pack out of the ground and slung it over her shoulder.

Hermione looked at her friend. She was an odd sight, covered in dirt and runes, with her pack over her shoulder. They were the only two that knew the truth, and if they told anyone, it'd get that person killed.

"Let's go back," Hermione said, "before we both decide to live here."

"Are you sure?" Luna asked, her cheerful demeanor returning. "It's quite nice. It might take a while for them to warm up to you, but once they do, the centaurs will only shoot at you for fun once a moon or so."

Hermione blinked.

"As tempting as that sounds, I've got to go home. Rose left something with Ana for me. I don't know what yet, but I think it's going to explain what happened."

"Slytherin happened," Luna replied, looking serious for possibly the first time Hermione had ever seen. "I don't know exactly what it did to her… that was the memory I got when I ran away. Slytherin kept trying to replace it, so I don't know what happened, but it was threatening us. I don't know what it wanted Rose to do."

Hermione shook her head.

"We know what Rose did, and thanks to you, we know why. I'm sure Ana's got something more for us."

Hermione nodded back the way they'd came, and they started walking. To her relief, Luna walked slower this time.

"Us?" Luna asked.

"Us," Hermione replied, nodding. "We've got to stick together. We're the only two that know the truth. Rose left us something, and we've got to find out what. If we're lucky, it's proof we can use." Hermione laughed. "Knowing her, it'll involve fighting, solving puzzles, and a dungeon crawl. Can you hold your own in a fight?"

"I tore someone's throat out yesterday. I think I'll be alright."

Hermione didn't know how to respond to that, so she nodded neutrally.

"We'll go home, then I'll write to you over the summer. We—"

Luna interrupted her by rapping a hand on Hermione's arm. When Hermione looked down, Luna was waving her hand over her eyes.

"Right. Sorry. Erm… I'll let you know over the network what I'm going to do, and we'll go from there."

Luna beamed and nodded.

Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Sally-Anne sat in their own compartment on the train. Nobody cared where the prefects sat anymore, not then. Breakfast had been one big celebration. Voldemort was dead. The terror was over.

The celebration served as a distraction for most of the school. Draco Malfoy and Neville Longbottom were dead. Rose had disintegrated Neville, so they couldn't even bury his body.

The teachers and Aurors had rounded up the remaining Death Eaters and taken them away. Ron had watched them dragged off, then seen the Aurors packing up.

"They didn't find Rose's body," he said when he figured they were safe from prying ears.

"Not now, Ron," Harry said. "I'm sure there's a reason, but we've got to let it be."

Ron glanced at Sally-Anne, who sat beside him. She stared out the window, not saying a word. She'd hardly spoken all day.

"Right," he said. "What's next year going to be like? No one trying to kill us."

"It'll be different, that's for sure," Harry said. "Just… different."

Ron sat back in his seat. Ginny was slightly more talkative than Sally-Anne. She'd taken to wearing her hair down, covering part of her face. He wasn't sure she was entirely over the chaos of the past year either.

"It'll get better from here," Ron said. "Nowhere to go but up."

He glanced at the compartment across from them, where Hermione and Luna sat. Neither girl spoke, but they'd both insisted on sitting on their own. He knew something was up. Both girls had refused to step foot inside Hogwarts. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling it was due to their issue with what had really happened.

Sure, neither girl had said anything to the contrary, but neither seemed to accept that Rose had killed Neville. A thought, a tiny spark in the back of Ron's mind, told him something was amiss.

There was no foundation to it, of course. Rose had killed countless other people, and nearly killed Ginny. She still had nightmares about it. When he closed his eyes, he could still see Lav's face turn to dust. He'd been so sure of himself, but Rose had been a step ahead of him.

What if she'd been a step ahead of them again? What if that hadn't been Rose he saw fall to Voldemort?

Ron shook his head, an action that went unquestioned by his friends. It didn't matter; Rose was dead. Voldemort was dead. They were safe again.

He'd spent years thinking that if anyone could kill Voldemort, it'd be Rose. In the end, she really had killed him.

Sally-Anne stared out the window, only slightly aware of her surroundings. She could still feel Draco's blood on her hands. His empty eyes still stared at her.

I'm supposed to protect people. Why couldn't I protect him?

That thought had been festering in her head all night. What more could she have done? She needed a stronger shield, one that could stop physical attacks cold. Would it have saved Draco? Wouldn't Rose have waited her out, running down the clock until Sally-Anne wore out from the strain of sustaining the shield? Could she have saved Draco?

Part of her knew there was nothing she could do now. Nothing was going to bring Draco back to life.

She brought you back!

Nothing except Rose, apparently. Unless…

She glanced over at Hermione. She could use Rose's magic, couldn't she? Could she bring Draco back from the dead?

Something inside her told her she was mad, that no one could bring back the dead. But what if someone could? Voldemort had been dead, and he'd come back. She'd argued with Hermione at length a year ago about it. If Hermione were right, maybe… maybe she could see Draco again.

She stopped herself before she got carried away. She'd tried so hard to protect people, but it hadn't saved anyone. Not Alavel. Not Hermione. Not Neville.

Not Draco.

Her friends were all suffering, and there was nothing she could do about it.

It will be alright. The terror's over. We're safe now.

There would be time to heal. Rose was gone; Voldemort was gone. They would be alright. They could relax and focus on healing.

Hermione wanted to stare out the window, but more than that, she wanted to talk to someone that hadn't lost their mind. Today, that someone was Luna.

They would glance at their friends every so often. With Hogwarts's numbers diminished, the train felt particularly empty. Luna and Hermione sitting on their own made Hermione feel even more isolated. In the whole world, they were the only two who knew the truth. Hermione hoped Hogwarts would be safe. She didn't know Slytherin's plan, but Rose would.

"We'll be there soon," Hermione said. "Are you ready to see your dad again?"

Luna stared down, likely out of habit, and started fidgeting.

"I'm nervous too," Hermione admitted. "I'm not sure how I'm going to explain any of this to Mum and Dad."

Luna stopped fidgeting, but didn't say a word. They were both thinking the same thing. They could tell their families; they weren't the ones returning to Hogwarts. If they told them about Slytherin, it would never know.

Hermione had an idea of what she was going to do. She didn't like it, but she couldn't leave without saying goodbye.

In the ensuing silence, Hermione let her mind wander back to the first time she'd been on the Hogwarts Express. It'd felt like another lifetime. One with Rose by her side, a gift she hadn't appreciated at the time. One where Professor Dumbledore watched over Hogwarts and kept it safe. Everything had changed. There was no one left to protect her. No Rose. No Dumbledore. No Septima. It was down to her.

She looked across the compartment and smiled at Luna. At least she'd have an ally.

Luna's ears wiggled, likely a habit she'd picked up in the forest, and she looked up.

"We're here."

Hermione looked out the window and saw that they were pulling into the station.

Their families rushed out to meet them within seconds of them stepping off the train.

Mrs. Weasley reached them first and squeezed the life out of her youngest two, then went for Harry and Sally-Anne when she was done.

Sally-Anne's parents freed Sally-Anne, holding her tightly without saying a word. Along with them, equally as quiet, was Alex. She joined in their family hug for a moment before running off to check on her cousins.

Hermione caught her parents staring too long at Sally-Anne's parents, but dismissed it when they saw her. She allowed herself to fall into their arms, but still forced back tears. She didn't want to worry them any more than she already had.

The best moment of all, better even than Hermione seeing her parents, was seeing Luna and her dad. Tutela rushed out to meet Luna, jumping around her and barking excitedly. Hermione didn't think she'd ever seen a dog act so happy.

Following Tutela was Luna's dad, tears in his eyes. He grabbed Luna and held her close to him. Like Sally-Anne's family, he didn't say a word.

Before she left, Hermione looked back at her friends. She didn't know when she'd see them next, or if she'd see them at all. She didn't know what she was going to do. The future was black, but a glimmer of light shone through it. She still had her friends and family. In a way, she still had Rose. Hermione knew Rose wouldn't let her down. Together, they would pull through. Together, they would win.