Pretty to pretend

**hey hey hey guys! look i updated and with in a week of my last one this time. know why? reviews! they make my heart warm! yay. you guys rock. things get a little cleared here. but not much.***** love love love

Everything was happening in slow motion. Hermione couldn’t believe what was happening, that it had all come down to this.

“We’re not ready yet.” She whispered under her breath backing up slightly when the Minister of magic swept his alien eyes to her face. Had he been under the Impero the entire time? Or was this new? Was this even really him at all. She had never heard of characteristics coming out of the person from their puppeteer before.

Red eyes were staring in to hers very deeply, almost dismissing the black haired boy beside her. He cracked a smile as he took a step forward reaching out a hand that was slowly losing its girth and thinning down as well as paling before her eyes. His teeth were small and pointy, poking through his rapidly thinning lips. He had caught them, it seemed and enjoying this new victory.

“No,” she whispered under breath stepping back further and grabbing Harry’s hand with her empty one, wand still raised toward the fast appearing Dark Lord, who seemed to melting out of his façade.

“We have you at last children, did you really think you could just come back and I would let you go? This place is mine. It belongs to me, and now so do you.” His smile was half sad, half relieved, but neither of the two at all. His nose was nothing more than slits on his withering face. “What a victory I have now. Everything that I have wanted I now have. Oh no, no, children do not look up on me with such dread, for I am a merciful lord I will allow the school to continue, but it will be as it should be, purebloods will be gods and the Mudbloods will be our slaves! Snape will be my headmaster but it will be I that make the decisions.” He looked at Harry, he was him self again now, red eyes glowing in the dim of the great hall. “and you Harry Potter, I shall dance in your blood as it rains from the sky.”

Hermione crouched just as Harry started yelling and flinging curses at Lord Voldemort.

Not hearing anything that was said she cast a quick look at their surroundings and starting throwing hexes of her own as the fighting resurrected. The shouting had grown to a loud roar as she heard the first crack, the first sign that they could escape.

The Oder of the Phoenix had just arrived and with them their salvation. She cast her protronus and sent it after the dark lord, it sailed around him and distracted him for the second that they needed, she reached around and grabbed Ron’s hand, “We have to apperate, now!” she yelled at them, still clutching Harry and now Ron, who wisely grabbed Neville’s hand, “let me navigate!” they didn’t argue and the loud crack broke the air and they were pulled in to the suffocating darkness, pressed tight against their faces. Hermione had never done side along apperation let alone with three people but being her own self she had mastered the skill early and on her own and would master this as well, even on her first try. Or at least she attempted to convince her self of that.

They were suddenly pushed through the fabric of space in to the air to take huge lung filling gasps of life giving oxygen. They had but a moment to notice their surrounding before they were running, taking huge lunging leaps as far from the castle as possible. As far from their point of apperation as they could. The air behind them split as they were soon followed, Hermione slowed down to check their distance. Harry stopped with her to grab her hand and to pull her along. “Come on Hermione, we have to get out of here. What the hell are you waiting for?”

“No Harry, I need you to go, I need you and Ron to leave this place. Take Neville if he wants to go, but I’ll stay, I’ll keep them from following you. I’ll stay and fight them off, you have to leave.” she was running along beside him now, they had a good distance between them and the approaching death eaters.

Harry stopped in his tracks, grabbing Hermione very hard by her biceps, staring in to her wide almost black eyes in the darkness of the Forbidden Forest, shaking her for a second, trying to beat sense in to her, fingers sliding along her slick with sweat bare skin. She had discarded the jacket long ago.

“No Hermione don’t do this, they will kill you, don’t you understand. I wont leave with out you.” It felt like he was cutting off circulation in her arms and she needed them, he pulled her body closer. Which brought her face closer to his, his breath coming in ragged puffs against her lips as she shook her head. She pushed his body away, using force that he didn’t know she had, sending that surprised look once more across his face this night, his fingers slipping off of her.

“Leave now, now!” She shoved him harder and farther away form her self. “Their coming, you have to fucking leave. Harry its you that they will kill. I can get my self out of this.” She was yelling now pushing him away, staring in to his face as if to remember every feature on his surprised and angry face. Ron was running back to them now.

“No god damn it Hermione I wont leave you, ill fight them.” He reached to grab her again and she danced back just out of his reach, shaking her head and turning to Ron and back to Harry.

“You’ll die!! Now go, with out me. I love you Harry please. Go. Find the horucrux, find them all. Destroy them Harry. It’s you, you have to find them, you’re the boy that lived, only you can end this.”

“Hermione! What the hell, you are not staying-” Hermione cut Ron off with her hand out towards him.

“Their coming. God damn it go! Both of you! I love you Ron, I’m sorry. Please just go.” she was backing up, tears threatening to break free at any moment, watching their torment. A red light fizzed by her shoulder, just barely missing her, severing the strap of her spaghetti strap shirt, causing that side to slip down and reveal her strapless bra and a fair amount of breast. Hermione glanced behind them, the enemy had gained on them during their melodramatic minute of torture.

“Hermione… I love you.” Ron watched as Harry ran to her and grabbed her, pulling her around to face him, kissing her square on the lips, crushing his mouth to her for a fraction of a second.

Hermione pushed him away, shock written over her face. “Harry, no.” she whispered shaking her head and stepping back, her hand on her lips.

He didn’t seem to hear her as he smiled one last time. “Ill come back for you! I wont let them have you! Your mine.” he went to reach out to touch her face but Ron grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back with a dark look across his face. “Come one mate. Let her do this.” His voice was gruff and low.

Hermione turned, wiping her hand across her eyes and she prepared her self for battle. She shouted over her shoulder “Don’t come back! just go!” She was surprised when she noticed Neville standing beside her.

“Are you ready Hermione?” He looked sideways at her to catch a glimpse of her face slowly shutting down, the other part of her taking over. The loud crack behind them let them know that Harry and Ron were now out of harms way. Hermione let out a breath she did not know she had been holding.

“As I’ll ever be.” She whispered, watching the approaching death eaters.


***whoa! was that as intense as it was for me writing it? let me know. the next chapter should clear things up alittle bit better in other areas of confusion in this story. thanx for reading. i love you ***