He stood at the gates while she caught up, and then said, "Your left arm."

She held it out to him, and he wrapped his fingers around his signature. They walked through the gates, and she felt a burst of heat through her arm. And then it was over.

They walked to the top of a hill, his hand still on her arm, and then he Apparated them.

The gates of Hogsmeade popped into view first. A chilling cold crawled through her throat, clawing across her ribs and seizing her muscles.

Dementors.

She looked up, and found thousands.

She could just make out the moon past them, but they occluded the light, casting the grounds in darkness.

Draco held her elbow, gripping painfully as one Dementor swept down, dropping like a weight over her.

"Stay still," Draco demanded.

The Dementor swallowed the air around her, sucking at her essence. It turned to Draco, reaching a bony hand out for him.

He stared up into its hood, immovable.

With one last tug at her soul, the Dementor wafted away, joining its companions. Draco guided her forward, and she guessed the Dementors had cleared them.

A dozen of them hovered as they walked through the gates and turned onto the Hogwarts grounds.

The Forbidden Forest had grown outwards, creeping towards the castle as if the magic holding it back had died when they lost. The grass was dry and some places were still burning. It wasn't until they passed the fires that Hermione recognized the smell.

Burning bodies.

The corpses were unrecognizable, and she thanked Merlin for that. She shook the image loose from her head, the smell sticking to her like smoke.

Death Eaters in pairs of two walked broad circles around the forest edge, some of them nodding to Draco. He kept his eyes straight forward, hand wrapped around her arm.

As they walked the grounds, closer and closer to the castle, she felt her pulse spinning, pushing back any happy memories she had of the different landmarks.

A pair of two hooded robes stood at the entry steps. She turned her eyes down.

The sound of lips puckering. Kissing noises, and it took a moment to realize they were directed at her.

"Nice legs, Mudblood."

She didn't look up. So, that's all she was now. A pair of legs.

The doors to the Entrance Hall peeled open, and Draco pulled her inside behind him.

They marched into the Great Hall, and she was thankful that it looked nothing like it did in her happiest memories.

It seemed like Voldemort had torn apart every piece of the castle that would interest him, and redeposited it here.

The remains of the basilisk swept in a broad circle around the walls, serving as seating for the Death Eaters in attendance. Nagini hissed at her ankles as they passed, and Hermione tried not to let her mind linger on how to kill her.

Lord Voldemort himself sat in a throne of bones, carefully collected and magicked into structure. He twirled the Elder Wand between his fingers, red eyes glittering at her and Draco's approach like rubies.