I’m up here running behind you,

I’m up here running in repeat.

- We’re at the Top of the World

The Juliana Theory

The mansion was screaming as it crashed down around them, sounding like a chorus of tortured shrieks and wails. The walls shook and rattled as the ground heaved angrily.

Hermione watched as Harry barely dodged a piece of plaster that came falling down from the crumbling ceilings. Bricks were falling like rain, and she just managed to get out of the way as one nearly cracked her on the head. She could hear Ron’s urgent pleas to run faster coming from behind her, but she only had time to take a quick look back at him through the whirlwind of dust and debris. Holes were starting to open up in the ground like gaping mouths, and she had to concentrate to make sure she didn’t accidentally fall into one.

Nice back-up plan, she thought bitterly to herself as she hurtled down the hall. Voldemort must have rigged the mansion so that if anyone took what was in its top floor, the whole house would just fall apart, burying anyone inside in the process.

Still, she couldn’t help but smile as she thought joke’s on you – we already took the Horcrurx. This was the third one they’d found, which meant that Voldemort was running out of time. His defenses were getting more and more complicated and cunning, as the evil wizard grew more and more desperate. With only one more Horcrurx left, she tried not to imagine what would be next.

A huge wooden beam crashing down in front of her brought her back to reality. No time to worry about the next one she scolded herself. We need to get out of here first. She risked a second look back to make sure Ron was still there, and then looked ahead and focused on her goal. Harry.

He was ahead of her and increasing the distance between them, and she ran fiercely to stay close. Even though he didn’t have a broom, he appeared to be falling back on his quidditch skills, ducking and weaving through the mayhem as they made their way to the exit. She knew that he never thought of himself as having grace, but as she watched him now, there was no denying that he did.

She could see a small rectangle of light further on, and knew they were getting closer to the exit. The building seemed to sense this, and bigger and bigger pieces started slamming down around them.

She allowed herself a brief moment to wonder how many times she had put herself in danger for Harry. She knew that it was too many times to count, just like she knew that she’d do it all again in a moment. For him, she’d do just about anything.

The door was getting bigger! They were almost out!

Just before they reached the end, Harry glanced back at her, looking directly into her eyes, a look of concern and relief playing across his own green eyes. She knew that he wanted to keep her safe, for reasons that he probably didn’t fully realize, and would probably again try to talk her out of going with them after the final Horcrurx.

She just smiled at him and thought I’m right here running behind you, Harry Potter, and that’s how it’s going to stay. 

He smiled in return and plunged through the door into the light of day, with his best friend and the one who loved him more than he knew right behind.