End Of The World

She ran through the piles of rubble, all that was left of the great castle. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest and her frightened eyes gave her the look of a haunted animal. Her robes were torn and the sharp rocks beneath cut her feet as she ran.

She heard the anguished cries in the distance, and she mentally scolded herself for running away. She blinked back tears. They had told her to run, they had known that she was their only chance.

An evil laugh sounded behind her and she turned frantically. At the sight of the dark shadow, she forced herself to run even faster. She was so busy looking ahead, scanning the horizon for some form of shelter, that she tripped over a tree branch in the ground. She was instantly thrown forward and her body skidded on the lifeless ground. Her chest hurt so much that she was having trouble breathing.

A shadow loomed over her as she began to cough uncontrollably. Specks of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth. Still, she turned, to look into a pair of hard brown eyes. They stared silently at each other.

"Why?" she asked finally.

He twirled his wand in his long fingers absent-mindedly. "You know."

"I don't."

"You're lying."

"I really don't."

He paced around her. "Fine, we'll do it your way. You're not going to be living much longer anyways."

She felt her heart stop.

"You don't know what it felt like not to be known. How it felt to always have people refer to you as Harry Potter's best friend. My family ignored me, nobody knew who I was, and I was as poor as dirt. And you and Harry, my "friends" weren't ever around."

"That's not true!" she protested.

He sneered at her. "Isn't it? All of fifth year, where were you?"

"I - I," she stammered.

"I'll tell you. You were running around with Draco Malfoy, my sworn enemy, and you didn't even have the decency to tell me about it. You and Harry cancelled everything we had planned. What was I supposed to do?"

"But it didn't have to come to this," she said softly. "Why did you go to him?"

"Because he offered me everything I had ever wanted. Fame, power, money, I knew I would throw everything in your faces. I would make you all sorry you had ever ignored me."

"Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you. What about all the times Harry and I were around? Why didn't you say anything then?"

He laughed, an insane smile on his once friendly face. "It was too late then. Waaaaay too late." He laughed again. "I have my power now. There's nothing you can do to stop me."

She jumped up suddenly and sprang on him, trying to knock his wand to the ground. He pushed her off easily, and pointed his wand at her. He bound her arms and legs easily with a spell.

"You can't win, Hermione," he said mockingly. "You're pathetic."

She spat at him, trying to wiggle out of her magical binds. "You're the one who's pathetic. You're no better than a Slytherin."

He chuckled. "Your boyfriend was a Slytherin, my dear Hermione. Did you hear him scream?"

"Scream?" she asked in a small voice. She regretted the words the moment they were out of her mouth.

"Yes, he screamed quite nicely when I tortured him. And even more nicely when he watched his parents die in front of him." He grinned evilly. "You should have heard him. He was crying like a child."

She paled; biting on her lip so hard that it bled.

"And Harry." He laughed again. "Your precious Harry, powerless against little old me. You should have heard him." He put on a high voice, and sank down to his knees. "Please, don't," he mimicked. "You don't want to do this. I'm your friend!" He lifted himself up again, brushing off his robes. "Pathetic."

"No!" she screamed at him. "Harry was braver than you'd ever be! You're taking the coward's way out! You sided with *him*!"

"Oh, you see, but I am alive, and he is dead. The Boy Who Lived is dead. Your hero is gone; you have hope no more. I will rule this world."

"What about Voldemort, your master?" she asked, pleadingly.

He smirked. "I have no master. Voldemort is a fool to have shown me so many of his secrets, to have let me gain as much power as he. He is dead now. I will not let myself be ruled by anyone."

"But who are you going to rule?" she asked softly, trying to reason with him. "You have killed us all."

"All but one. And it does not matter. My dear Hermione, you are next."

"Ron, don't do this, please. You'll regret it."

"Why, that's exactly what Harry said! Your pleas are of no use. You *will* die. But I think I'll have some fun with you first." With a wave of his wand, he freed her from her binds. "Run."

"Ron, don't-"

"Run!"

She stood her ground. "No."

"No? Then I will kill you right now."

In a burst of speed, she threw herself at him, catching him off-guard, and tackled him to the ground. She slapped him in the face and wrenched his wand from his hand. He glared at her.

"You're not going to win."

"You're not Ron," she said, her voice cracking. "The Ron I knew would never have done this. You're a monster. And I won't let you hurt anyone else."

"You're not going to - "

She pointed the wand at him with shaking hands. "I am."

He stared at her a moment, then laughed. "You don't have the guts to - "

He never got a chance to finish. "Avada Kedavra," she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. The flash of green light that erupted from the wand threw her backwards. When she opened her eyes again, Ron's lifeless body appeared before her.

She picked herself up wearily and stared at the ruins of Hogwarts. Such destruction had occurred here.

She had destroyed the last of the evil ones, but she felt no pride.