Forcing himself to crane his neck—which, under the curse, felt like his bones were
snapping—and he saw her there, hiding amongst the trees. Hermione, no...
Have to mean it, have to mean it. Hermione repeated her inner mantra as she
approached the expanse in the forest where the Death Eaters and Voldemort had
gathered. Aim your wand and mean it, she said again to herself as she brought her wand up
ahead of her, letting her gaze linger for the briefest of moments on Harry's body before
the grief was consumed by rage.
Have to mean it.
Her gaze locked onto a red stare, and she shouted, "Avada Kedavra!"
Voldemort did not move out of the way of the darting green light, but merely pulled
one of his own Death Eaters in front of him as a shield.
Hermione's eyes widened as her curse, her first Killing Curse, hit Crabbe Sr instead
of Tom Riddle. She gasped in horror over what she had done but had no time to properly
react as her body went rigid and she felt herself being magically pulled forward.
"Well, well, well," Voldemort said as a too-wide grin stretched across his deformed
face. His focus shifted to Sirius, Remus, and Hermione, in turn, as he identified them based
upon their status. "A blood-traitor. A half-breed. A Mudblood."
He gripped Hermione's chin with long, pale fingers, hissing in her face.
She cried out in despair, but it was edged with a snarl of defiance. She could hear
Sirius and Remus behind her, thrashing and wailing on the ground as the Death Eaters
maintained their torturous Cruciatus Curses on them. She could do nothing to help them.
"A perfect trio," Voldemort went on to say, dropping her so that she landed in front
of the wizards writhing on the ground.
She turned her panicked gaze to the side, looking at the path from where she had
come, hoping and praying that their backup was closing in on the clearing, but there was
no one in sight.
"Allow me to show you what a Killing Curse is supposed to look like," Voldemort
hissed, aiming his wand at Hermione.