PROLOGUE: EVENTUM VARIETATE NOS ONERARIAM

COLOURED HAPPENINGS TRANSPORT US

7TH YEAR

Hermione could hear her own blood pounding in her ears. The steady beat reminded her that she was still alive, that there was still a chance. She saw a hooded figure dart out from the corner of her eye. A neatly aimed jinx sent him tumbling towards the floor. Despite this small victory, Hermione was not prepared for the barrage of curses that came from a multitude of directions. Instinctively sending out a shield curse, she managed to deflect some of the worse ones, but a few badly aimed Sectumsempra were able to graze past her. She felt their sting as they cut across the sides of her arms.

Another bright jet of light hit her from the side and she sensed her legs give way from beneath her. Her body was lifted from the floor as she was wracked with the most unbearable pain. Again and again she was forced to relieve the atrocities Bellatrix Lestrange inflicted upon her when they had been held captive at Malfoy Manor.

As the pain lifted she was overcome by a wave of nausea. Her stomach heaved as she collapsed to one side. Feeling as if this was the end for her, through the haze of the aftershocks of the curse, she recalled some of her most precious memories. She wanted the last things she saw to be things of beauty and joy.

She, Harry and Ron – the first time they had met, their years at Hogwarts and their years on the run. It was with these memories that Hermione remembered something else. Something she had read that could help.

Tempus omnia vulnera sanet infirmum

She had traced her finger over that phrase a thousand times, yet she had never seen it more clearly than she did now.

Clutching at the thin wooden stick that was her only weapon, she sensed the last vestiges of her strength diminish as she repeated the words over and over again.

Tempus omnia vulnera sanet infirmum

Tempus omnia vulnera sanet infirmum

Her body was enveloped by an intense blue light before it disappeared completely.