"But I just thought... How can the devil be pulling you towards someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you?" ~ Taylor Swift, I Knew You Were Trouble.

~x~

Hermione opens her eyes. As soon as she does it she regrets doing so. Unconciousness is much better than what she is seeing, right now. Chaos. Complete and utter chaos. Everything has gone wrong.

"You were supposed to kill him." A flash of Harry bellowing at her, his green eyes burning with rage, right before a Death Eater went to cast a deadly spell their way. He tackled her to the ground, saving them both from a flash of green.

The school is in shattered ruins. Hogwarts - her home for six wonderful and terrifying and exhilarating years - is now mere rubble. A shadow of the castle that it once was. Bodies are everywhere, ranging from terrifying masked men to children in tattered shirts and robes. A thick fog of dark clouds hover in the sky. Everything feels so dreamlike. God, this is all her fault.

"You should join me, love. You'd make a brilliant queen." Another flash. This time, she is laid in Tom's arms and he is stroking her hair from her eyes. Their limbs are tangled so much so that she feels as though they are one. God, she loves him. Loves him so much her heart feels as though it is going to burst. She shakes her head and leans over to place a soft kiss to his lips.

She continues to walk away, staring blankly ahead. It hasn't hit her yet. She knows that this is all down to her but it still hasn't sunk in. She can see the bodies of Ron and Harry laid side-by-side. See Mrs Weasley crying as she begs for them to awaken. Feels the older woman's arms wrap tightly around her. But she doesn't hear a word that the only Weasley left says to her.

That first fight pulls her in, burning bright. She was frozen with terror as she watched Tom torture that man. The vivid red his eyes shone as he called out crucio. The laughter, the manic cheers from his comrades. The panic that flooded through her as her hand itched towards her wand. Her subconcious had told her to end his life right then... But love stopped her.

And look where that has got her. Look where she is now. Her best friend is dead, her boyfriend is dead... And Voldemort is now in control of the magical world.