The Fall of Hermione

Disclaimer-All characters, locations, etc. that you recognize belong to the Divine Goddess JKR. I am merely playing with them. I am making no money or any other form of profit in writing and publishing this piece of fiction. Any characters, locations, etc. that you do not recognize belong to me, although I am not making any profit from them either.

Author's Notes-This is a my first piece of fan fiction as well as a work in progress which I originally started publishing on another website. However, I have discovered that not only do reviews help me to write faster, thay are also very addictive. So, I have decided to publish this here to feed my need and enable me to complete this story.

I currently have six chapters of this completed and will be spacing out their posting in daily intervals. After that, I will be posting them as fast as I can type them. Once again, reviews feed the muse.

All non-con within is strictly implied and will never be described in graphic detail.

Also, lots of Latin in this chapter. The only piece that the meaning is not explained by the action that follows it is "Condio Mortis," which is "Preserve Corpse."

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The Fall of Hermione

Chapter One

And Then There Was One

On the edge of the Forbidden Forest, nothing stirred. Even the trees seemed strangely stilled in the evening breeze, as if they too knew it was a time for silent mourning.

Beyond the trees, a vast expanse of emptiness stretched on, seemingly endless. There was nothing left; not even a single pebble to hold testament to the fact that Hogwarts once stood there. Instead, a sea of dead earth and an uneven chasm that had once been a lake lay, forever unspeaking of the massacre that had taken place only an hour before.

The wind once again blew through the trees, carrying with it this time the sounds of a fluttering cloak and soft footfalls upon dead leaves. As the breeze stilled, a lone figure emerged from the forest.

Clothed in black, a white porcelain mask obscuring its face, the figure took a few steps out into the open before it collapsed upon the barren earth, its body wracking with sobs. The sound of the person's cries seemed to bring the world to life once more, and the noise of the forest at night flooded across the dirt clearing. At this the figure tensed, ceased it's weeping, and quickly stood.

Bringing one black-gloved hand to its face, the person removed the mask and pulled back the hood of its cloak, revealing the face of a woman underneath. Long, dark brown hair now whipped in the breeze, a few strands clinging to the now chilled tears remaining upon the her face. Heavily lidded eyes, now swollen from crying, took in the landscape once more before she turned and ran back into the forest, her black Death Eater's cloak billowing out behind it.

Once safely back amongst the trees, the woman stopped and wiped furiously at the last of the tears the wind had not removed. She remained there for a while, staring at nothing, until a look of grim determination crossed her face. Placing the mask in the pocket of the cloak, she continued on until she came to a clearing.

In the center, the body of a young woman lay, eyes shining in the moonlight that filtered through the canopy above. As the Death Eater approached, the young woman's eyes turned towards her.

The two regarded each other for a moment. The young woman's eyes danced with amusement as she gazed upon the figure towering above her. The long brown hair in a wind blown disarray, the face tearstained and eyes swollen; the prone woman took sadistic glee in knowing that she had caused the pain that so clearly emanated from the Death Eater.

"I take it that you found Hogwarts exactly as I described it, Mudblood?" the young woman taunted from the ground.

In a husky voice, the Death Eater replied. "You bloody well know I did, you bitch!"

"Tsk, tsk, Miss Granger," The young woman laughed. "Such language from a Gryffindor is so unbecoming," And then her eyes clouded over in absolute fury as she continued. "Especially from one who is fouling my body with her filthy blood!"

The Death Eater smirked and crouched down beside the body of Hermione Granger. "I don't particularly appreciate hearing the word 'mudblood' come from my mouth either, Mrs. Lestrange. But seeing as how I'm the one who put us in this situation, I can hardly complain. In fact, I suppose I shall have to get used to the idea of befouling your body as I plan on using it for a while longer. You see; I have plans. Plans that I cannot accomplish in my own body, but I am quite capable of doing in yours."

The body of Bellatrix Lestrange rose once more and removed her wand from inside her sleeve. "But first, I need to tie up a few loose ends."

Bellatrix let out a cackle from Hermione's mouth as she watched her own body rise and take aim at her with her own wand.

"What do you plan to do, Mudblood? Kill me? Like I once told your late friend, Harry Potter, you have to mean it for them to work."

A maniacal grin spread across her face as Hermione replied from inside Bellatrix' body. "Harry told me all about that, Mrs. Lestrange. Believe me when I say that inside your body does not live a soul filled with righteous anger, but one filled with thoughts of death and pain and revenge. Believe me when I tell you that I do mean to kill you and that I will enjoy it immensely. But before I do, Exterebro Memoria!"

A blinding white light flew from Bellatrix' wand and into Hermione's head where it disappeared for a moment before flying back out and into Bellatrix' head. Hermione staggered back a few steps as it hit her. She felt as if her head were going to explode. Within a few seconds, the pain subsided and she once again approached her body, aiming Bellatrix' wand at it.

Hermione observed the vacant expression now on the face of her own body, indicating that the spell had indeed worked and she was now in possession of all the memories of Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Well, Bellatrix," Hermione spoke, causing the eyes of her body to focus upon her, a look of confusion replacing the empty one upon her face. "I know that you have no idea why, but you should consider yourself fortunate that I do not have the time to make you suffer before you die."

For a split second, the face of Hermione Granger held absolute fear at these words, the soul within having no recollection of why it was to be killed. Then a rush of blinding green light obscured it from view before it extinguished and revealed the relaxed features and unseeing eyes of a corpse.

Hermione froze for what seemed like an eternity, wand pointed at the chest of her lifeless body. She could feel the tears welling up and she quickly stamped them down. She could cry later, right now she had work to do. First, she had to take care of her body.

No, Hermione thought. What was once my body, and if I live through this, what will be my body again. I am Bellatrix Lestrange. I am Bellatrix Lestrange. I AM BELLATRIX LESTRANGE!

The last thought turned into an animalistic scream as she dropped to her knees. Then, her face emotionless, she set to work. Once rigor mortis set in, healing magic would no longer work upon a body. She had learned that long ago it seemed, back when she was Hermione and had been in training as a healer. If a patient had been lost, the mediwitch or wizard had only a short time to heal any wounds and disfigurations so the family could view the body before it was interred.

Lighting the tip of her wand, she began to assess the corpse, stopping almost immediately as she got to the neck. The head lay at an odd angle, and a protruding purplish knot at the base indicated what she already knew; the neck had been broken. Pointing her wand at the bulge, she began.

"Integro ossis!"

There was a slight grinding sound as the neck straightened itself before the bones knitted back together. She regarded the body once more, taking in the various cuts and scrapes, not to mention the severed nerves in the neck. The nerves would be infinitely easier to heal with a potion, but obviously she had none and therefore would have to spend the extra time healing them with her wand. She sighed; time was one thing she didn't have a lot of. The longer she waited, the less likely it was that her plan would work. However, there was nothing for it. She would do what she must.

Positioning her wand over the head of the body, she continued her work.

"Integro Omni Viscera!"

A blue light emitted from the tip of her wand and disappeared into the body. Ever so slowly, she began drawing the wand downwards, stopping when she reached the tips of the toes some minutes later.

Quickly pointing her wand at the torso of the corpse, she spoke once more.

"Anquiro Valetudo!"

A red light enveloped the body, indicating that the corpse was indeed just that, a corpse, but otherwise perfectly whole. Smiling slightly, she rose. Only two more things to accomplish and then she could put her plan into action.

Reaching inside the pocket of her robe, Hermione pulled out a second wand. She gazed at it for a moment, taking in the familiar feel. Vine wood, twelve inches, dragon heartstring, this was Hermione's wand.

She crouched down again and laid the wand on the ground before reaching up and removing the dangling gold earring from her left ear. She studied it a moment before placing it beside the wand. Then, focusing her mind on the image of the earring, she pointed her wand at Hermione's and muttered, "Effingo Crotalia."

The wand began to shrink and become shiny until it was an exact duplicate of the earring lying beside it. She picked up the new earring and placed it in her ear, then stood and used her heel to grind the old one into the ground.

One more thing, she thought, pointing her wand once again at her old body.

"Condio Mortis!" The body glowed pink for a few seconds before the light dimmed and she continued.

"Monile!"

Her old body shortened and thinned until it had become a gold choker with a single ruby dangling from the center, glinting in the moonlight. Picking it up, she placed it around her neck and sighed.

This is it, she thought. I will have my revenge. I will kill Severus Snape!

Her face hardened as she once again donned the white mask of a Death Eater before pulling the hood of her cloak over her head. Then pushing up her left sleeve, she touched her Dark Mark with the tip of her wand and cried the incantation to bring her before The Dark Lord.

"Adeo Dominus!"

There was a loud pop, followed by a slight whooshing sound as air filled the space where Bellatrix Lestrange once stood, before the forest fell once again into it's silent mourning.

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Two Hours Earlier...
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It had been three years since Hermione had set foot in Hogwarts. In that time she had gone on to complete her training as a mediwitch while living at 12 Grimmauld Place with the rest of the Order. Sometime after she had completed her first years training was when it began. Muggleborns and halfbloods were dying almost every day and at least one member of the Order died a month. Lord Voldemort was winning, and it soon became quite obvious that someone was leaking information from the inside. The question was, who?

Now that question seemed to have been answered. Unfortunately, it was too late. Harry Potter was dead. Albus Dumbledore was dead. In fact, there were only three members of the Order left alive. Ginny Weasley, whom the Death Eaters had taken prisoner, deciding that she could be useful as pureblood breeding stock. Hermione Granger, who was being lead through the front doors of Hogwarts by the third surviving member and betrayer of the Order, Severus Snape.

I should have seen that one coming, Hermione thought ruefully before the traitor himself pushed her forward into the Great Hall.

"Don't touch me, you lying bastard!" she yelled, turning and giving him a swift kick to the shin. If she was going to die, she would at least have the pleasure of giving him a small taste of pain first.

She was aiming another kick, this one meant to strike a bit higher, when she heard him speak.

"Crucio!"

She dropped to the floor, screaming and writhing in pain. It seemed to go on forever, every nerve felt as if it were being set on fire. When the curse finally lifted, she lay sobbing, a mixture of sweat and tears running down her face as her body convulsed. She looked upwards, expecting Snape to still be there, waiting for her to recover slightly before casting the curse again, but he was gone and the doors of the Great Hall were now closed.

She stood slowly, her muscles still twitching, and looked around. There were only about fifty people in the hall with her. By the time the final battle had come, not many of the non-pureblooded witches and wizards remained. Those who did survive were now standing before her, looks of absolute terror upon their faces.

As she stood there, pondering what she should do, she casually fingered her wand, which still resided in the pocket of her robe. When the Death Eaters had taken her, she had been crying over the body of Ron Weasley, his wand absentmindedly clutched in her hand. She had been hit with Stupefy from behind, and when she came to some time later, it was to find that they had taken Ron's wand. She also discovered that while she had been unconscious, a few of them had also taken liberties with her body. She was immensely grateful that she did not have those memories to live with.

She had been instructed to put on her robe and do exactly as she was told. It was then that she realized that she still had her wand. The Death Eaters must have thought that Ron's wand had been hers. Knowing that she was hopelessly outnumbered at the time, she had kept the wand hidden and obediently taken the portkey they offered. Within a few seconds, she found herself outside the gates of Hogwarts for the first time since she had graduated.

Now as she surveyed the hall, she wondered how best to help the few people locked inside with her. They needed to escape, but looking at her fellow prisoners, she realized that several of them were too injured to make it very far. Therefore the first thing to do would be to heal them. Once everyone was capable of traveling, they would escape. She began to walk towards an elderly gentleman who was beating himself senseless with one of the golden dinner plates from the house tables. He was obviously suffering from the House-Elf Curse, which caused the afflicted to bludgeon themselves to death, or as near as they could get to it before they knocked themselves unconscious. She had almost reached him when a scream from the left side of the hall stopped her in her tracks.

Turning towards the sound, she nearly screamed herself at the sight that met her eyes. A thick, light green smoke was pouring through the wall, or rather eating through it as she realized the stones were disintegrating within it. Someone had evidently been leaning against the wall when the substance started to come through, for she watched in horror as a pair of legs, jerking spasmodically, dissolved into the vapors.

Panic set in and forgetting any thoughts of healing the injured, she made a mad dash towards the antechamber behind the head table, knocking people aside as she went. She reached the door and threw herself against it, turning the knob and tumbling into the room in her haste.

Behind her she could hear screams of agony as people were eaten alive by the smoke, and she dashed across the room to the fireplace. The fire was extinguished, but the floo powder still remained on the mantle. In their overconfidence, the Death Eaters had evidently thought it safe to leave the floo powder behind, believing there was no way for anyone to start a fire. That, or they just didn't remember to remove it from the room. Either way, she didn't care at the moment why the floo powder remained. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she silently took back every bad thing she had ever said about pureblooded arrogance. This time it was going to save her life.

She pulled out her wand and lit a fire as the last of the screams ceased, leaving only the sound of the crackling flames before her. Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw the smoke beginning to enter the room. She quickly grabbed a handful of floo powder and threw it into the fire before stepping inside and shouting her destination.

"HOGSMEADE!"

A few seconds of whirling later, she toppled to the floor of The Three Broomsticks. Picking herself up quickly, she looked around, wand at the ready. The bar however was deserted. Placing her wand back in her pocket, she sighed in relief.

She had done it. She was alive, and in all likelihood the last remaining muggleborn in all of Britain.

Only because you were too scared to try and save anyone else, a voice chastised inside her head. So much for Gryffindor bravery!

Images of the people who had been held captive in the Great Hall with her flashed through her mind, along with their screams of agony as the smoke had consumed them. Each face seemed to ask why she had not helped them. She sank to her knees as the guilt overwhelmed her and she wept.

Why hadn't she saved anyone? Even if she would have just grabbed a hold of one person in each hand and dragged them with her, she would have saved two people. There would have still been guilt, but at least she would have tried. Rationally she knew there had not been time to save everyone, but she could have sent a few through the floo before her. Instead, she had run like a coward, her only thought to get out of there quickly before she fell victim to the green vapor. It was all her fault that those people were dead, there was no one else to place the blame upon.

The thought came to her suddenly, causing her tears to stop and her body to stand quickly. There was someone else to blame. She may have failed her fellow prisoners in the Great Hall, but she had not been the one responsible for their massacre. Nor had she been the reason that the side of the light had lost the war. It was with blinding clarity that she realized just who was ultimately accountable for the deaths of nearly all the witches and wizards in Great Britain.

"Snape," she hissed, venom dripping from her words. "Snape betrayed us all."

She strode purposefully to the door, yanking it open and stepping outside. Deciding quickly that walking up the road and through the front gates would be too dangerous, she darted across the street, between two houses, and into The Forbidden Forest. Inside her head, one thought played over and over.

I will kill Severus Snape!

So focused on her goal was she, that she failed to notice the hooded figure step out of the alleyway beside The Three Broomsticks and follow her into the woods.

Hermione knew the forest was not very wide at this end and she would emerge from the other side within a few minutes. Then it was merely a matter of locating Snape and sending a well-aimed Avada Kedavra his way. After that it did not matter what became of her, she would have avenged everyone slain when she killed him.

As she entered a clearing, silently hoping that she would at least live long enough to spit on his corpse, she heard something behind her. Before she could turn, a voice broke the stillness of the forest.

"Impedimenta!"

Hermione was immediately frozen in place. Behind her she could hear footsteps approaching. Her heart hammering inside her chest, she could do nothing except wait as the person approached.

"Hello, little Mudblood," a husky female voice spoke from just behind her. "I do believe that you're supposed to be dead."

A few more footsteps and the woman stood before Hermione, her Death Eater's robes swaying gently in the breeze. Even wearing her mask, Hermione knew who she was. There was only one female Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange.

"I must say," Bellatrix continued, removing her mask and placing it in her pocket. "The Dark Lord will be most displeased to learn that you somehow escaped Hogwarts. I also find it more than a little bothersome that I have been delayed in joining the celebration by your refusal to die."

Hermione could feel the Impediment Jinx wearing off. Please keep talking! Just a little more and I can get my wand!

Bellatrix was eyeing her thoughtfully. "Of course, I could always bring you along. Not as my guest of course, but as an addition to the festivities. I'm sure the Malfoy's would love to have you entertain them."

The curse lifted and Hermione grabbed her wand, sending a slicing hex towards Bellatrix before she had time to react.

The spell caught her in the face and Bellatrix cried out, grasping at the gash running from the right side of her forehead, across the bridge of her nose, and to the middle of her left cheek.

"You filthy, Mudblood bitch!" Bellatrix yelled. Raising her wand once more, she sent a curse Hermione did not recognize flying.

"Protego!" Hermione cried. The spell ricocheted off of the magical shield and flew back in the direction it had come.

Bellatrix ducked quickly, and the curse sailed past, striking a tree behind her. Hermione had enough time to see a large, vivid orange gash where the spell had hit the trunk before Bellatrix stood and blocked it from view.

Blood from the gash now covered half of Bellatrix' face as she threw another curse at Hermione. This one hit before Hermione could react and she fell sideways, howling in pain as her left knee twisted sharply. She picked herself up quickly, hobbling a bit from her bad leg.

"On second thoughts, Mudblood," Bellatrix sneered, a murderous rage in her eyes. "I think I'll have you entertain me for a while. I'm sure you've heard how much I love seeing others in pain."

Another curse, and as Hermione deflected this one, she was beginning to speculate about her chances of winning this fight.

Bellatrix was quick and brutal in her duels with a long list of dark magic in her repertoire. Hermione realized as she dodged another curse that the only way to beat Bellatrix was to surprise her, but how?

Even after she had left Hogwarts, Dumbledore, along with the rest of the Order, had insisted that neither, she, Ron, or Harry learn any dark magic. The seduction of it might prove too great for them to handle.

Hermione, in a fit of know-it-all indignation, had used Harry's invisibility cloak to smuggle books of dark magic out of the library at Grimmauld Place. Most of the spells she had read about she knew she would never be able to bring herself to do. The first curse she read about was one that caused a person's lungs to fly out of their nose when they sneezed. Many of the things contained in the books she had read ran along similar veins to that one.

Then she remembered the book she had been reading the night Grimmauld Place had been attacked and destroyed. It was called Dark Arts of the Soul. That book had been very interesting.

As she continued to deflect the curses thrown at her, occasionally casting one herself, Hermione began to go through the book in her head until she came upon the one she wanted.

Quickly taking aim at Bellatrix, Hermione cried out, "Summuto Animae!"

At the same time she heard Bellatrix shout, "Infractio Collum!"

For a split second, Hermione felt Bellatrix curse strike her. Then, she was watching from the other side of the clearing as the curse took affect. There was a quick snap and her body crumpled to the ground.

The curse had worked; Hermione's soul was now inside Bellatrix' body. Which meant…

"It seems that you've read Dark Arts of the Soul, Mudblood," Bellatrix spoke, her voice muffled by the ground.

Hermione walked over to her body and carefully rolled it over onto it's back. Bellatrix studied her a moment before speaking.

"I look like shit."

Hermione quickly healed the gash on her new body's face before casting a cleansing charm to remove the blood.

"Much better," Bellatrix smirked. "Although you don't look half as good in my body as I do, Mudblood."

"I could say the same of you," Hermione retorted, bending over and retrieving her wand from beside her old body.

"What will you do now?" Bellatrix inquired, a look of angered defeat burning in her eyes.

"With you?" Hermione asked, pocketing her wand. "Nothing at the moment." She turned to leave.

"Are you going to Hogwarts?" Bellatrix sneered. "I shouldn't bother if I were you. By now there's nothing left."

Hermione whipped around quickly, a questioning look upon her face.

"Yes," Bellatrix taunted. "I had planned on viewing the remains, or lack of rather, before I left tonight. But then you came along, my little Mudblood, and changed my plans. I can just imagine it though, now that Severus has finished with it, nothing but an earthen wasteland."

Hermione sucked in a breath. "What do you mean?"

Bellatrix forced Hermione's mouth into a malicious grin and Hermione shivered as she watched her face contorted by evil. "Why don't you go and see, Mudblood? Then you can come back and tell me all about it. I'll wait right here for you."

Bellatrix began to cackle and Hermione turned once again and strode towards Hogwarts, donning the white mask as she went.

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A Few Minutes Later…
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Hermione emerged from the forest and beheld the earthen wasteland that Bellatrix had promised. Her guilt at leaving all those people to die welled up inside her once again, and she burst into tears as she fell to the ground.

The breeze picked up around her and she tensed, Bellatrix' words floating through her mind.

I had planned on viewing the remains, or lack of rather, before I left tonight.

What if other Death Eaters want one last look? Hermione thought, standing quickly. She reached up and removed her mask and hood, looking around to be sure that she was alone.

When she was certain that no one was observing her, she turned and darted back into the forest.

Pausing a moment to wipe the tears from her face, she would not give Bellatrix the satisfaction of seeing any of them, Hermione began to think.

How am I going to kill Snape now? He's probably at the Death Eater celebration and I have no idea where that is. Even if I did, I can't just walk in there and expect to get very far, I'd be dead as soon as I set foot in their midst. Maybe I can 'persuade' Bellatrix to tell me a few things. Or maybe…

A look of grim determination spread across her face as Hermione began walking once more, stuffing the mask into her pocket as she went.

Or maybe I can just be Bellatrix, she thought. There were other useful spells in that book besides the Soul Switching Curse.