Hermione Granger and the Time of Troubles

"Ah, Mr. Weasley, delighted that you finally decided to join us," Professor Severus Snape said with distaste. Hermione forced herself not to watch Ron as he shook the water out of his hair and simply scowled as an answer. "Take a seat," Snape ordered. "As I was saying," Snape continued on as Ron found the nearest empty chair. "All of you should be aware of what time your shift begins but if you did happen to forget, I have the list right here," Snape tapped the roll of parchment on the edge of the table. "You are required to report to Professor McGonagall or myself at the beginning and end of your patrol, and above all," he leaned forward to emphasize his point, "if any of you spot anything out of the ordinary, come to us." He leaned back with his usual disapproving sneer. "I do not have the time nor patience to come to the rescue."

"Yeah, because Snape is my ideal knight in shining armor," Hannah Abbot whispered sarcastically.

Snape ignored the titters of laughter and continued on. "Professor Dumbledore is spending the day in London, so Professor McGonagall is the acting headmistresses of the day if any serious concerns arise. If there aren't any questions, you are free to go," he barked.

Hermione joined the queue of prefects as they walked out of the Three Broomsticks and into the rainy late morning. Hermione pulled up the hood of her cloak and walked briskly towards the bookstore. She was tempted to linger behind and see if Ron would approach her, but the miserable drizzle and her perpetual fear of rejection made her keep walking. She did need to get some books; she wanted to keep up the research she had started at the beginning of the year. She didn't know why she tortured herself and probably wasted her time reading books detailing Voldemort's first years in power. She had always had an emotional attachment with books, and the topic matter of these books actually made her physically nauseous. She knew it probably wasn't healthy to spend late nights pouring over books that only told of fear, hatred, and death. But she had to; she had to do something. It was a long shot, but she figured that perhaps reading up on the years of Voldemort's reign of terror before Harry had stopped him on that fateful Halloween would help her in some way. But it probably wouldn't, she admitted to herself with a sigh. Hermione knew she had to help in the fight, but she didn't know what. Hermione Granger hated feeling helpless, and right now, she felt as useless as she would be in a Quidditch match.

The welcoming tinkle of the bookstore's bell jolted her out of her wallowing, and she managed to smile a greeting at the shopkeeper. Hermione shook her head slightly as she went straight for the appropriate section of the store. She had to stop thinking so much; with times as troubled as they were, it was no wonder it seemed like her thoughts were always dark and disturbed.

She decided to try to make her visit to Hogsmeade as light-hearted as possible despite her constant worries about Voldemort, Harry, and the knowledge that she and Ron were going to have to be alone together. She perused the bookstore as leisurely as she could, taking time to not only browse the books she needed, but the books that she had always been meaning to take a look at. And as unbelievable as it was, she did forget about her constant sorrows and lost herself in the world of literature for an hour or two.

But only a brief period of time. Hermione had been thumbing through a rather intriguing book on the different ways a witch or wizard could perform wandless magic when the first scream had resounded, shattering the tranquility of the late November morning. She dropped the book and tried to race out of the store, but the burly storekeeper leapt in front of her path, a restraining hand held out to stop her from leaving the safety of the shop.

"Merlin's beard!" he gasped as he cautiously poked his head out of the door. He jerked back inside, slamming the heavy door behind him, panting heavily, eyes goggled with shock. "Graphorns!"

"Graphorns?" Hermione joined the shocked patrons in the incredulous cry.

"Everyone, stay here!" the storeowner commanded unconvincingly, the waver in his voice clearly indicating that he had no idea what to do to defend his clients. Hermione knew that an angry graphorn could easily massacre a full-grown mountain troll, so a flimsy door was not going to keep the creatures out for long.

But Hermione had no intention of staying in the store. She had to find out what exactly was going on, and as a prefect, she had a duty to help protect her fellow students. Lucky for her, she knew the layout of the store very well. She managed to slip through the jumble of panicked customers to the door leading to the 'employee's only' section. She of course had never been in there before, but she had been correct in assuming that there was a back door. Cold drizzle sharply whipped into her face as she emerged in an alleyway, and after glancing about quickly, took off at a run in the direction of the main road.

Pandemonium was ensuing on the chaotic road. It was easy to tell which direction the graphorns were coming from; everyone was sprinting the opposite way. Screams kept sporadically piercing the air which resonated loudly over the pounding of feet and muffled curses. She tried to pause for a moment to get a good look at the creatures, but the stampede surged past her, forcing her along with it. The throng rushed straight out of the village and to the perimeter of the forest, where there was room for the massive amounts of people to spread out. Professor Flitwick was waving his hands widely in the air, shepherding his students over to him.

"Miss Granger, take your house's attendance!" he ordered as Hermione approached. His voice was so unusually full of tension that Hermione knew there was no room for argument despite the fact that Hermione had no desire to sit around and count students as they arrived. Harry and Ron had had too much of a bad influence with her over the years; she had know exactly what was going on, what had went wrong, and what they planned to do to rectify the situation. But above all, she had to know if all of her friends were safe since they had the nagging habit of being wherever the thick of trouble was.

"Hermione, what's going on?"

"What are those things?"

"Is everything going to be okay?"

"Do you know what those things are?"

"Is anyone hurt?"

"Sandra fell when we ran and now she's bleeding, can't you do something about it?"

The barrage of questions continued to assail her ears as Hermione stopped listening to basically the same question being hurled at her by concerned Gryffindors: what the hell was going on. "Okay, please, everyone just step back; I don't know any information but if you let me just take attendance, I can then try to find out more, okay?" Hermione held up a hand to silence them, but the Gryffindors ignored her and continued to cluster around her.

"But, Hermione, come on, you have to know something!"

"Have you seen Dean?"

"You know everything, you have to know what those things are!"

"Please, everyone just calm down!" Hermione said sharply. "I can't do this if you all keep shouting at me!"

"Come on, you lot, back off!" Ron's curt voice had a much stronger effect on the students as he came up from behind her, hand instinctively going to Hermione's elbow. "Come on then!" The students obediently backed up, much to Hermione's relief. She let out a frustrated breath as Ron turned her to face him. "What are we supposed to do?" he asked her in a surprisingly calm voice. It never ceased to amaze her that although Ron was the impulsive hothead, he always could stay calm whenever she really needed him to.

"Flitwick told me to --wait, Seamus, what did you say?" She turned to Seamus as it suddenly sunk in what he had asked her. "Dean isn't here?"

"No," Seamus raked a hand through his sandy hair. "Ginny was with him too." Ron swore loudly and for once, Hermione didn't chide him for it.

"And she's not here either?" Hermione demanded anxiously. Seamus shook his head. "Is anyone else missing?"

Seamus exchanged anxious glances with other Gryffindors, and he didn't even need to answer; Ron did it for him. "Harry," he said in a tight voice, face paler than ever.

"The graphorns are here for Harry," Hermione agreed, heart pounding even faster than ever.

"Graphorns?" Ron asked edgily. "Is that what are those things are?"

"Yes, Graphorns are found in mountainous European regions," Hermione regurgitated automatically. She stopped the recitation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them's description as something struck her for the first time. How could she have missed it before? "Ron, graphorns aren't indigenous to these parts; someone must have transported them here, someone wanted to cause a scene, a diversion..."

"So they could get Harry," Ron finished furiously, yanking out his wand and shooting a careful look over his shoulder to make sure that none of the teachers were watching him. "Well, you always said it was just a matter of time before they came after him." He considered the crowd around him before focusing on Hermione and lowering his voice. "Is there anything I can say to you to get you to stay here?" Hermione, eyes flashing with determination, hadn't even opened her mouth partway before Ron continued to speak. "Right. Didn't think so." He turned to Seamus and Lavender. "You two are honorary prefects, congratulations. Take attendance, and if anyone asks where we are, lie." He grabbed Hermione's hand. "Come on."

He practically dragged her back into Hogsmeade, brow furrowed as he jerked his head around, eyes frantically roving for a sign of his best friend and sister. "Did you see him at all today?"

"No, I haven't," They reached an intersection, and Ron randomly turned to the right, pulling Hermione behind him. He glanced down a side street as they started to run by, and screeched to a stop. "That them?" he asked grimly, grip on her fingers tightening.

"Yes," Hermione replied, backing up at the sight of the massive beasts. The two monsters were roaring furiously, knocking their horns into the walls of the stores in an attempt to decimate the entire town. Although Hermione had never seen a graphorn before, they fit the description in her Care of Magical Creatures book precisely: humongous and burly with a grayish-purple hide, four massive legs that resembled tree trunks, a humped back, and two pointy, long, and deadly-looking horns perched on the top of their gigantic heads. Similar to trolls, they were much bigger in brawn than brains, but they still posed a very large threat. Graphorns were highly aggressive, and not even trolls could manage the beasts. One angry graphorn would be enough to deal with, but whoever had sent the creatures had been clever enough to send two. All of the adults in the village were incapacitated with the predicament, shooting desperate Stunning spells towards them and trying everything in the power to lure the creatures away from the village and the students. However, the hide of graphorns were incredibly thick, so it was going to take a great deal of strength and the combined efforts of several fully-trained wizards and witches to stop them. And the huge amount of effort needed to stop the graphorns would leave the students quite on their own and unprotected. Hermione could see Snape, Sprout, and McGonagall among those fighting, and she wondered if Dumbledore would be along soon. If anyone could stop this, it would be Dumbledore. That was the moment when Hermione remembered what Snape had said at the prefect meeting in the pub, and she groaned. Of course; this had been all part of the set up. Dumbledore being in London the day Hogsmeade was attacked couldn't be a coincidence. This was all part of a carefully orchestrated plan to get Harry, and considering that he was no where to be found, Hermione was starting to fear that the plan had worked.

One graphorn let out a loud roar of rage, and Ron instinctively backed up and pulled Hermione behind him. "Come on, we've got to find Harry." Hermione opened her mouth to respond when yet another loud, shrill scream reverberated in the taut atmosphere of the village, drowning out the roaring of the graphorns. Ron froze at the sound of it, head snapping quickly in the direction of the cry. "Ginny," he said under his breath, dropping Hermione's hand to take off at a run. Hermione trailed behind, unable to compete with Ron's long legs and slick, muddy path she was racing down, the drizzle cutting frigidly into her face, but she still puffed along as best as she could, straining to keep up and following the winding road they took to get to the Shrieking Shack. Ron disappeared around the bend in the path, so Hermione quickened her stride, not wanting to let him out of her sight.

"OOMPH!"

Hermione almost toppled backwards onto the ground after colliding into Ron's back; he had abruptly halted at the point where the road just began to turn. She stumbled and somehow managed to regain her balance. "Ron, what are you doing?" she demanded a tad angrily.

"Stay here," Ron ordered.

"What? Why? Ron!"

Ron didn't answer, but just took off running again. Hermione was about to follow despite Ron's admonishment when she abruptly realized that there was a crumpled figure lying on the path.

"Dean!"

Hermione dropped down to her knees and shook his shoulders. "Dean, can you hear me?" Dean didn't respond; there wasn't a flicker of recognition on his face. She bit her lip worriedly as she scanned him hastily for a sign of what had happened. Her eyes then flickered upwards; now Ron was completely out of sight, and she knew precisely why he kept running. Seamus had told them that Dean and Ginny had been together, and if Dean was lying unconscious on the side of the road, then where the hell was Ginny? Hermione's stomach twisted with a rush of terror. No, she had to be wrong, they wouldn't go after Ginny. But then Hermione remembered Bella Lestrange's cruel smirk as she suggested they torture Ginny in front of Harry to get information out of him. Hermione shook her head to clear it, and forced herself to focus on Dean. She wanted to follow her best friend more than anything, especially since she knew he could possibly be running straight into danger, but she couldn't leave an unconscious student on the ground.

Hermione pulled out her wand. Dean didn't have any cuts, bumps, or bruises on him, indicating that he hadn't been physically attacked in anyway. He must have been cursed in some way, and since he just looked like he was unconscious, she was betting he had been Stunned.

"Enervate!"

She let out a huge rush of relief as Dean groaned quietly and his brow creased as though he had an awful headache. "Dean, are you all right?" she asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Dean grunted as he opened his eyes and tried to sit up. He paused though, gritting his teeth against the pulsating of his temples.

"Take it easy," Hermione told him quietly.

"Ginny," Dean whispered hoarsely, his eyes suddenly widening with a rush of fear. "Where is she?"

"I--I don't know, Dean. She could have gone for help," Hermione suggested, but not really believing it herself. She didn't think it would Dean any good to be worrying about his girlfriend right now.

"Ginny!" Dean called as he attempted to scramble to his feet. Hermione quickly jumped up and steadied him as he swayed. But being a great deal shorter and slighter than Dean, she had trouble keeping him on his feet.

"Easy there, mate," Seamus Finnigan quickly seized Dean by the arms and held him up.

"Seamus?" Hermione's jaw dropped in surprise. "How did you get here?"

"I'm not a Gryffindor for nothing," Seamus said curtly. "Besides, Flitwick's too busy to pay attention to us, he'll never know we left." Dean began to slump in his arms, still obviously very woozy, and Seamus hoisted him back on his feet. "What happened?"

"Someone Stunned me," Dean mumbled, shaking his head from side to side in an attempt to clear it. When he raised his head, Hermione was relieved to see that that his eyes were much less glassy and glazed.

"Did you see who it was?" Hermione asked.

"No, he came from behind," Dean gestured vaguely towards the path leading away from Hogsmeade. He looked down at Hermione almost pleadingly. "Ginny was with me..."

"It's okay, Dean. We'll find her," Hermione reassured him. She bit her lip as she glanced in the direction Dean had indicated. That was the direction Ron had run off in. Whoever had done this to Dean and Ginny had come from that way, so it was very likely that he would head back that way too. And there was a chance that Ginny was with this attacker. And she knew that Ron would do anything to save Ginny, including putting his own life in peril. And she didn't even want to consider where the hell Harry had gone.

Hermione would have thought that after watching her two best friends risk their lives for over five years now that she'd get used to it. But she wasn't--it only got harder and more painful and ten times more frightening.

So, Hermione did the only thing she could think of at the moment.

"Hermione, where are you going?"

"I've got to find Ron; take Dean back to the others," Hermione called as she took off at a full-out sprint down the lane.

"Hermione, don't!" Seamus yelled after her, but Hermione ignored him. She knew it wasn't a very good idea to run off into the woods by herself, but she had to. Ron needed her, she was sure of it. And so did Ginny.

Ginny. Hermione's legs started pumping faster as she thought of her one good girlfriend, her best friend's little sister. Ginny had to be all right, she had screamed when Dean had been Stunned, and ran away from the attacker, or knowing Ginny, had run after the attacker. Ginny Weasley had quite a temper, as most Weasleys did, and Hermione knew that she rather hoped to not be on the receiving end of a tirade or hex performed by Ginny. Someone as feisty and courageous as Ginny wouldn't allow themselves to get kidnapped without going down with a fight...

Hermione cursed under her breath as she was forced to skid to a halt--the path had split off in two different directions. She just stood there for a few moments, her eyes darted frantically along both paths, hunting for an indication that her friends had been there. But the only sign of life she could sense was her own ragged breath. There was no one in sight. The only sounds were her panting, the whistling of the autumn wind, and the soft padding of rain plopping against the tree branches. There was no clue, no indication on where Ron had gone. She had no idea where to go; she had no idea what to do; she had no bloody clue what was going on, and frankly, that terrified her. Losing her head, she raised her voice as loud as she could manage.

"GINNY? RON?" she called, "WHERE ARE YOU?"

No answer.

"HARRY?" she added hopefully. Maybe Harry had run into the sanctity of the forest when the attack had begun.

She stood still for several more seconds, panting heavily, praying that someone would reply to her call. She had yelled so loud that she was sure that the whole forest had heard her. If one of them were around, they should know that she was looking for them. They should know she was worried about them, they should know to answer her even if they weren't speaking for each other...but damn it, they weren't. Hermione bit her lip once again. Where were they?

"RON?" she tried again, "HAR..."

Snap.

She whirled around, facing the left path directly. What was that? Hermione gripped her wand more securely as she peered down the pathway. She had heard the twig snap, someone was walking down there. Someone who was remaining hidden. Hermione tilted her head to the side, eyes narrowed as she tried to discern any suspicious shapes lurking in the shadows the trees produced. She instinctively took a few steps forward down the road, trying to see if she could get a clearer view. Her eyes shot wide open as she spotted some sort of figure hunched behind a fallen tree. What on earth was that?

Of course, this was the moment that the person behind her chose to grab her arm and spin her around.

Hermione let out a short, strangled scream in shock, but she quickly recognized the person who had grabbed her. "Harry!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around him in her immense relief. "Thank goodness you're safe!" Harry stiffly reciprocated and patted her awkwardly on the back, obviously still very aware that they weren't speaking to each other. Hermione pulled away quickly, relief fading and anger rising. She swatted him on the upper arm. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," Harry said quickly, looking as though he didn't mean it at all. "What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you, of course," Hermione replied hastily. "We couldn't find Ginny and Dean either, so Ron and I went looking for you three, and we found Dean unconscious back there, and he told us that someone had Stunned him and run in this direction, and Ron went after him, and we still don't know where Ginny is, and since I stayed behind to help Dean, I don't know where Ron is either," Hermione halted her story abruptly; she was starting to ramble as she always did whenever she was worked up like this, and she had to stop it. All of her effort needed to be on finding her friends, not having a nervous breakdown.

All the color had drained out of Harry's face as he listened to her. "You can't find Ginny?" he repeated unnecessarily. She nodded and pushed some straggly hairs out of her face as she looked down both paths once again, biting her lip. Where were they?

Her eyes found the huddled figure once again. And who the hell is that?

"Harry?" she whispered with wide eyes, tilting her head towards the person hiding behind the fallen tree.

Harry followed her gaze and automatically jumped into what she called saving-people-mode. With one deft hand, he seized her wrist and wrenched her backwards, and his other hand, which had his wand in it, swung upwards and aimed towards the figure. "Hello?" Harry yelled cautiously. "Is someone there?" He never took his eyes or wand off of the shape but when he spoke, it was directed to Hermione. "Go back and get help."

"Harry, there is no way I'm going to leave you," Hermione scoffed.

"Hermione," Harry warned firmly.

"HERMIONE?"

Hermione closed her eyes briefly with irritation, concern, and relief. Ron. She wanted him here of course, and now she knew for certain that he was safe and unhurt. But if there was a Death Eater or a Dark creature lurking in the shadows up ahead, she didn't want Ron getting involved. She couldn't bear it if anything happened to him and although she did want him at her side, she wanted to ensure his safety even more.

Harry let out a slew of swear words that she had never knew he knew. "Come on, then, Ron, join the party!" Harry yelled impatiently at the top of his lungs. "Everyone else is!"

"Harry!?" Ron shouted as he rounded the bend of the fork to the right, racing towards his two best friends but slowing down when he spotted both of them obviously unharmed. His blue eyes roved back and forth between them, panting slightly. "You all right?" he finally asked the two of them. Harry didn't even respond, turning his back on Ron as he focused once again down the left path, eyes narrowed in suspicion. If Ron was hurt by Harry's inattention, he didn't show it; instead, he wheeled on Hermione. "Why the hell did you scream like that?"

"Why did you run off and leave me like that!" Hermione countered.

"And why the hell do you two fight all the time if you claim to be in a relationship!" Harry interjected sharply. He took one final look down the left path before turning back to face Ron, avoiding Hermione's eyes who was standing to his left. "Will you two just get out of here and get some help?"

"And what are you going to do?" Ron demanded.

"I'm going to find Ginny," Harry told him firmly.

"No way you're going alone," Ron argued furiously, stepping forward to emphasize his point. "Those graphorns are here for you!"

"Graphorns?" Harry repeated in disbelief. "Here?"

Hermione stared at her friend with shock. "Where have you been?" she asked with an equal amount of incredulity. She waved her hand down the road towards Hogsmeade and almost swatted Ron's chest in the process. "They're on a rampage!"

Harry closed his eyes and opened his mouth to respond but the next voice that rang out in the stillness of the woods was much deeper, lower, and colder than Harry's.

"Stupefy!"

"Down!" Ron snapped, eyes locked on something behind Hermione and Harry's shoulders. Both of them started to turn, but Ron was too quick. He somehow managed to yank Hermione towards him, dart forward, and tackle Harry before Hermione and Harry even saw who was behind them. Ron had pulled Hermione so hard that she fell flat on her face and she scrambled to her feet as fast as she could, but it wasn't in time.

The shape down the road finally had revealed itself to be a lumbering, tall, darkly-clad wizard. He was still standing behind the fallen tree, but his wand was aimed directly at the tumble of limbs that were Harry and Ron. "I see you brought some friends with you, Potter."

Harry scooted out from underneath Ron and slowly rose to his feet. Hermione gasped when Ron remained inert on the ground; he must have gotten hit with the Stunning spell. "Ron!" She threw herself down onto her knees and shook Ron's shoulders in the distant hope that he had only been knocked out briefly. His face was slack, just as Dean's had been when she had found him earlier. "Ron?" she tried again before going for her wand.

"Hermione, get out of here," Harry said resolutely, interrupting her focus on her unconscious boyfriend. He was squaring off the Death Eater, arm outstretched in the traditional dueling pose Lockhart had taught them four years ago. She shook her head just as determinedly as she also rose to her feet. She couldn't walk away now; it just wasn't conceivable, she would never forgive herself if anything happened to Harry and she knew she could have helped him in some way. She couldn't and wouldn't leave him alone to face Death Eaters. Besides, Hermione thought as the grip of her wand tightened, she was going to prove once and for all that Muggle-borns were perfectly capable of defending themselves against foul, bigoted Death Eaters. Besides, there was no way she was going to leave Ron unconscious; what if he had really been injured somehow?

"No, no, let her stay, she wants to stay," the Death Eater cooed in a softly sinister tone. Harry glared at the wizard with an unusual lack of emotion, and the Death Eater's lip curled up in the semblance of a smile. It wasn't a real smile, though; smiles usually aren't chock full of malice and sadism. "A thousand apologies for not being able to speak to you sooner, but I was a bit preoccupied," He gestured down at his feet, and Hermione frowned as she strained her neck to see what was lying at the Death Eater's feet. For the first time, she realized that he was standing with his legs unusually spread apart, as if he was straddling something. They obviously couldn't see what the wizard was indicating either due to the large tree blocking his view, so the wizard reached down and yanked the object of his fixation up off of the forest soil.

Hermione couldn't help letting out a shocked gasp, and both hands clapped over her mouth at the flash of scarlet hair. Ginny. Her friend must have been Stunned, for that was the only explanation for Ginny's inactivity. Her head was slumped forward, legs flopping uselessly as she dangled in the air, held up only by the meaty fingers clenching her crimson curls. The Death Eater made certain that Harry had a good, long look at his victim before releasing his hold on Ginny and all three of them flinched as Ginny hit the dirt like a sack of Hagrid's magically enhanced pumpkins.

Harry's wand shook as he lowered it away from the wizard. In fact, his whole body was trembling with ill-concealed rage and his breath was coming in very controlled spurts through his angrily gritted teeth. "This was not part of the arrangement," he spat out furiously.

Arrangement?

"Yes, well, Potter, we had to ensure that you would not renege on your portion of the bargain," the Death Eater replied easily.

Bargain?

He slung Ginny upwards again, this time draping her roughly over the tree so he was free to examine Ginny's backside at his leisure. "She is really quite a beautiful girl." Hermione was really glad Ron wasn't awake to see this; she didn't think she would be able to restrain him. Harry actually snarled with fury and jerked as though he intended to tear the wizard apart with his bare hands, but a flick of the Death Eater's wand stopped him in his tracks. That wand tip was now tracing the curvature of Ginny's spine. "No, no, hear me out, Potter," he warned. "It's not a beauty that strikes you over the head and leaves your jaw hanging and wand," Hermione stiffened; she was certain he did not mean his actual wand, "aching for action," Harry clearly understood the Death Eater's sexual innuendo and Hermione wondered if he was about to literally combust with ire. "But this one...her beauty is understated, subtle, but there nevertheless," The wand started to travel lower. "And once you recognize it," The Death Eater's beady eyes locked directly on Harry, "you can't stop thinking about it." The tip of the wand was now passing over the waistband of Ginny's skirt. "And you can't keep your eyes off of her." The wand stopped centimeters away from a region of Ginny's body that Hermione was certain Ron would never ever want any male to consider probing. "Drop the wand," the wizard ordered Harry. His eyes darted over to Hermione. "You too, Mudblood." Hermione instinctively obeyed the order and Ron threw his wand down next to hers. Harry continued to hesitate, chest heaving with rage. The Death Eater glanced down at Ginny again. "Do you really want me to go on, Potter?"

There was a long silence in which Hermione held her breath, wondering if Harry had a plan to get them out of the situation. But all Harry did was very deliberately extend his arm and slowly unclenched his tense fingers from the holly handle. Hermione's heart dropped to the forest floor along with Harry's wand and the wizard chuckled menacingly.

The laughter seemed to set something off inside of Harry and he scowled defiantly at the Death Eater. "You didn't have to do this; I said I was going to come!"

"WHAT?" Hermione exploded.

"Shut up!" Harry barked over his shoulder. Hermione stared at his back, mind busily processing what she was hearing. Random memories from the past couple of weeks popped up into her mind: herself screaming at Harry that he couldn't possibly be thinking to go looking for Voldemort, and Harry yelling right back with an indignant 'why not', Harry receiving a letter over a week ago and curiously choosing not to read it in front of her and Ron, Harry being mysteriously absent from Hogsmeade all day...she had been right, there had been a plan to capture Harry, but the sick, twisted part about it was that Harry was in on it too.

"You knew about this?!" Hermione shrieked.

"No! I--Hermione, don't start with me, this really isn't the time!" Harry whirled around to face them for the first time since the Death Eater had revealed himself. Hermione glared angrily at him, but she knew rationally that she shouldn't get caught up in her fury now. It wasn't nearly important at the moment that Harry had deceived her; right now they needed to have a plan to get out of here.

Think, think, Hermione scolded herself crossly. You did this before, do it again! She had deceived Umbridge--granted, Umbridge was not the cleverest of witches, but most Death Eaters were mindless drones. Crying had worked wonders on her former DADA professor, but she had a feeling that this goon was not going to be very sympathetic to false tears. She had to think of another way--what else did she do well besides fake crying?

Her eyes wandered down once again to Ron's still form to make sure he was still breathing. And that's when it hit her.

"No, Harry," she said loudly and firmly, "No, Harry, I think this is the time considering that you are about to run off and I'll probably never see you again!" Her eyes darted for a spilt second over to the tree; the Death Eater looked rather amused at the potential row brewing in front of him. Good, Hermione thought. He was going to be entertained rather than bored with the argument.

"Hermione, it wasn't like that," Harry countered furiously, "and I really don't have the time to explain it to you, so would you just shut it!?"

"No!" Hermione fought the urge to grab Harry and shake him in order to get him to understand what she was trying to do. But she couldn't; not yet. It was still rather irritating that he wasn't getting it; Ron would have. She bit her lip for a split second as she glanced down at him again. He had to be alright. And goodness, she wished that he was awake; she would have preferred to carry out this plan with Ron. Honestly, if she was going to use a row as a diversion, she should really be fighting with Ron; they already had arguing down to an art form. "You can't handle everything on your own Harry! Someone has to help you!" Harry was starting to look puzzled at her odd emphasis on certain words. "If you will let them," she added meaningfully for good measure. She still didn't think Harry understood, so she added one more final touch: the fake cry she had used on Umbridge.

She bent forward, pretending to be so overcome with tears that she could barely stand upright, so she was free to peek through her fingers. The Death Eater was openly laughing now and the light had finally dawned on Harry. He gaped openly at her, sending the Death Eater into a fresh burst of laughter. "What's the matter, Potter?" the Death Eater crowed. "Never seen a Mudblood cry before?"

Harry ignored the wizard's taunts as he strode over and hauled Hermione to her feet. "What?" he whispered testily in her ear, a glimmer of hope shining in his tight voice.

"Play along," she hissed in return before dramatically yanking herself free of Harry. "Don't touch me!" she ordered. "I can't believe you got us mixed up in this!"

"It's not my fault you always stick your nose in my business!" Harry returned hotly.

"I'm just trying to help!" Hermione defended herself vehemently. "But don't worry. I won't help you again," she added for good measure, "Not anymore!" Harry turned back to her, confused. She met his dead on. "I never want you to touch me again!"

"Hermione," Harry understood what she was asking him to do immediately, and quickly responded by reaching out and taking her arms. "Listen to me..."

"NO!" Hermione ripped herself free from Harry so she could shove him as hard as she could, sticking her foot out to make sure he fell to the ground. Harry winced as he hit the ground, but the impact made him understand why Hermione had done it. He rolled over onto his stomach, pretending to cradle his wrist as if it was injured, but really scooping up his wand in the process. Her eyes darted around for her own wand and spotted it a few feet away from Ron.

"All right, that's enough,!" the Death Eater roared as he vaulted over the fallen trunk, wand aimed at her with sparks shoot out of the end due to his rage.

"Oh, calm yourself, Avery," a cool, dry, and awfully familiar voice rang out from behind. Hermione had been stooping down to retrieve her wand, but her efforts were halted due to the burly arm now wrapping around her neck, the crook of his elbow painfully pressing into her larynx. "You can't really blame a Mudblood for having a temper, now can you?"

No, Hermione closed her eyes in panic, body freezing with tension, her chest burning all over again, not him, anyone but him.

"Well, what do you know, I think she remembers me, Avery," Antonin Dolohov crooned in false excitement. His cold eyes met Harry's as he nuzzled his nose into Hermione's damp hair. "We do have quite a history, don't we, Mudblood?" His voice was causing Hermione's blood to run cold, and she fervently wished that she could silence his voice once again so the chills would stop racing up and down her spine. Dolohov adjusted his grip on her even tighter and she could feel his hot sticky breath on her neck. "You do remember me?" he hissed. "I can understand if you didn't--I was much quieter that night." Hermione didn't rise to his bait and just remained stock still, her eyes squished shut in the irrational hope that somehow this was all a dream and she was going to open her eyes to find herself staring up at the canopy of her comfortable four-poster bed at Hogwarts instead of in the arms of the man who had almost murdered her six months earlier. "But now you appear to be the silent one," Dolohov mocked, chuckling at Hermione's palpable terror.

He straightened up to find Avery had pulled Harry up from the ground and keeping a firm hold on his elbow. Harry was still doubled forward as if Hermione's shove had somehow really injured him. Harry's eyes however were riveted onto Dolohov, daring him to even try hurting his friend. "I don't have time to negotiate with you, Potter," Dolohov said easily. "So just come with us like a good boy and Mudblood gets to stay behind."

Hermione finally opened her eyes in case Harry was trying to communicate nonverbally with her somehow. Harry was obviously stalling, pretending to think over the offer while in reality weighing his options. But there was only one solution to their predicament that Harry could think of. "I said I would come," Harry finally spoke, keeping his voice laced with a perfect mixture of defiance and defeat.

"Good lad," Avery jerked his head over to the still sleeping Ginny. "What about the Weasleys?"

Dolohov sighed, lost in consideration. He still had his thick arm tight around Hermione's chest. "I suppose take them with us."

"WHAT?!" Harry shrieked, voice shrill in panic. "That is NOT part of the deal!"

"Neither was you bringing your friends along," Dolohov countered. He poked the tip of his wand harshly under his arm and into Hermione's jugular vein. "You know that I don't like Mudbloods."

His tone insinuated something that Harry hadn't wanted to consider and he now looked very close to undergoing a nervous breakdown, eyes desperately huge in disbelief and face becoming rapidly paler by the second. "You said she would get left behind," Harry reminded him.

"So I did," Dolohov conceded. "But I did not stipulate the condition she would be left behind in," he maliciously added. The tip of his wand traced down the curve of Hermione's neck, past her shoulder, and stopped directly over her wildly beating heart. "I do have my voice this time."

Hermione had to close her eyes again in another vain attempt to calm her frazzled nerves. But how the devil was she supposed to be calm now when she was seconds away from being killed? She knew as well as anyone that if Dolohov had had his voice that night at the Ministry, she would have ended up six feet under. She hated that it was so blatantly obvious how terrified she was from her labored breathing, trembling limbs, and frightened moans she couldn't stop from sneaking out every time Dolohov's wand touched her. She supposed it was because she had never been in this situation before--not really. Usually it had been Harry's life that had always truly been on the line, and her previous one brush with death had happened so quickly that she hadn't time to be terrified. But this was different, this was drawn-out, and long, and tedious, and absolutely horrible since she knew he was doing this on purpose to make the trauma of the situation even worse. He was making sure that she thought about how she was going to die, about how much it was going to hurt, about how her family and friends were going to feel when they heard about her death. Oh, God, she hadn't told her parents anything about her life at Hogwarts, and Harry was going to blame himself for this, she was sure of it, and Ron. Her eyes went to Ron's sleeping form. They hadn't really made up yet, and now she was going to have to leave him forever and he didn't know how she felt, he didn't know that she was completely in love with him, and there was still so much she wanted to share with Ron and now it was going to end just like this?

"Maybe I should just do it the old-fashioned Muggle way," Dolohov whispered. The hold encircling her throat tightened, cutting off Hermione's oxygen supply. Her arms were finally shocked into moving, and her hands clutched onto to his bicep, trying to claw the thick muscles away from her neck. He squeezed his elbow again and Hermione's feet actually left the ground as her face started to turn purple with exertion. This was it.

And Harry finally made his move.

Dolohov was still too preoccupied with how to kill his victim, so Avery was the one who decided to hurry things along. He tried to pull Harry up to a standing position, but because Harry was crouched away from him, he never saw the wand swing up.

"Stupefy!"

"Hey!" Dolohov roared, attention flying away from Hermione as his cohort flew several yards away from Harry and hit the dirt with a painful, jarring bounce. He started to loosen his grip from Hermione's throat so he could aim his wand at Harry, but Harry's wand had already flicked towards him. He hesitated only for a spilt second before bellowing out another curse.

"Impedimenta!"

Harry was a powerful wizard, so his spell packed quite a punch. It would have been more than effective enough to send a burly wizard like Dolohov sailing far, far away from them. The only problem was Hermione was the one standing in front of the intended target.

The good news was that Hermione's body jerked so hard that she slid right out of Dolohov's grasp. The bad news was that she was blasted over twenty feet away, flipping over and landing once again flat on her stomach. A huge burst of oxygen mercifully flooded through her lungs and she gasped loudly in relief, hand going through her burning throat. She suppressed the urge to whimper and shook her head side to side, trying desperately to get a hold of herself. She had to get up and fight, she had to help Harry and Ron, and Ron, help me, she thought with an irrational, desperate, insatiable need.

That was the moment when the most peculiar feeling overwhelmed her. She shook her head again to stop the fuzzy feeling that was clouding her thoughts and pushed herself up. She didn't know what had just happened, or the strange sensation that she had just experienced, she didn't even what consider what odd thought had just raced through her mind. Whether she had imagined it or not, it had given her the strength to climb to her feet and sprint towards her wand. It appeared that Dolohov had been knocked down by the force of the Impediment Jinx, but had recovered before Harry could fully incapacitate him. He managed to duck away from Harry's next curse and shoot the appropriate reviving spell over to Avery. Harry swore under his breath and ducked as Dolohov turned on him, giving Avery ample time to rise to his feet and join the fray. Harry rolled to the side of the path and took shelter behind a dead tree stump. The two Death Eaters kept attempting to go over and subdue him, but Harry kept shooting curses of his own to keep the goons at bay. They were so focused on Harry that no one noticed Hermione scoop up her wand.

"Stupefy!"

The Stunning spell hit Avery square in the back, and he toppled over, unconscious once again before he hit the dirt. She wanted more than anything to wake Ron up, but Dolohov had whirled around, snarling, nostrils flaring. Harry seized his chance from behind but Dolohov was prepared for this and sent a bright flame hurtling through the air, causing Harry to duck down. Dolohov avoided Hermione's next curse and Hermione knew what he had planned before his wand came to round on her. She was already diving out of the way as he shrieked the words to the spell that she had spent ages researching and made the jabbing thrust movement that had been her downfall six months earlier. Hermione miraculously managed to scramble over the trunk and pull Ginny down to the ground with her before the purple flame made contact with the rotting wood. The tree exploded, shards of bark scattering everywhere. Hermione ducked down on the ground, hands over her head to protect herself as the splinters of wood rained down on her, shaking at her close call.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

There was a brief, tension-riddled, horrendous silence that seemed to last an eternity. Hermione cautiously raised her head, wand tight in hand. Was it over?

"About bloody time," Harry said curtly.

"Excuse me for thinking that the Boy-Who-Lived who could handle two measly Death Eaters on his own," Ron Weasley's voice floated miraculously into Hermione's still ringing ears. Ron--how had he woken up? And were they really fighting after what had just happened?

The two boys then burst out into laughter.

Hermione sighed partially with relief and partially with irritation. Boys. They always made up after a row like this. Now if she could only put things right with both of them...

"Hermione?" Ron called, his voice caked with anxiety.

"Yes?" she returned, popping her head over the now smoldering tree trunk. Harry was conjuring bonds for Avery and Ron was jogging towards her, sweat shining on his face. "What can I do for you?" her tone light as though he was approaching her in the library.

Ron gave her a look that was eerily reminiscent of the one she gave him whenever she thought he was acting silly. "You all right?"

"Never better," she replied while climbing to her feet. Ron didn't look convinced as he looked her up and down, hands on her arms. She knew she had to look quite a sight: her entire front side was covered in dirt, dead leaves, and shards of dead wood, her tights torn in several places, and she could only imagine how many different items had become ensnarled in her damp hair.

But Ron didn't look very well himself, she noticed with mounting concern of her own. His clothes were equally as dirty as hers, clothes ripped, and a nasty gash that crossed from his forehead, over his eyebrow, and almost to his eye socket. If the cut had been any lower...Hermione winced at the thought and stood on her tiptoes so she could examine the wound. "What happened to you?"

"Must have fallen on a rock," Ron explained, flinching as Hermione tried as gently as possible to inspect his injury. "It's fine, don't worry about it," Ron reassured her, taking a hold of her wrist and lowering her arm away from his face. He looked as though he was about to say something, but his eyes caught on a fallen form behind Hermione. "Ginny?"

"Oh God!" Hermione whirled around, not believing that she had actually forgotten about Ginny being Stunned. She knelt down next to her friend as Ron crouched down next to her and Harry hurried over to watch. "Enervate!"

Ginny gasped as her eyes flew open and she shot up into a sitting position. "Where is he?!" she demanded, trying to get to her feet but her initial weakness made that quite impossible. Luckily, all three of the others restrained the girl from jumping to her feet.

"It's alright, Ginny," Hermione soothed. "He's gone."

The panicked look started to dissipate from Ginny's brown eyes. "Honestly?" Her eyes traveled over to Ron, then to Harry, and it was only Harry's firm nod that calmed her. "Thank Merlin," she breathed. "I didn't know what I was going to do, he took my wand..."

"I got it," Harry turned and went to search Avery's pockets for Ginny's wand. Ginny looked surprised at Harry's abrupt offer but didn't comment.

"What about Dean? How is he?" Ginny demanded.

"He's fine, Seamus was there when I left him," Hermione relayed. Ginny nodded with relief and rubbed her forehead with a grimace. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Yeah," Ginny dropped her hand from her face, frowning with concentration. "Dean and I went for a walk, and we heard loads of people screaming, so we were coming back to check." She indicated that she wanted to stand, and Ron helped her to her feet. She leaned against the tree trunk with a sigh. "They came from behind. Dean was hit first, and fell on me, so my legs were trapped under his, and that's when they got me."

"I'm so sorry," Harry apologized earnestly as he approached, holding out her wand to her as if it were a peace offering.

"It's not your fault," Ginny told him. Hermione avoided Harry's eyes; actually, it was, but it wasn't the place to reveal that bit of information. Ginny gave him a smile as she took her wand and stuck it securely in her pocket. Harry ducked his head away before the guilt on his face became obvious.

"Hey," he noted, his eyes now on the two restrained Death Eaters.

"What?" Ron asked when Harry didn't elaborate but simply walked over to the nearest one.

"The Order hasn't been able to get any information out of the Death Eaters they already caught, but these guys," Harry said excitedly, "these blokes may be able to tell us something."

Hermione frowned as she came round the tree. "Harry, you're not thinking of waking him up and interrogating him, are you?"

"Of course not," Harry replied, kneeling down next to the unconscious Avery. "I'm just going to see if there's anything useful in his pockets." He began to pat down Avery's pockets, pulling out random items and closely inspecting them.

"That's a good idea," Hermione agreed. "We should probably check him too," She indicated Dolohov with a tilt of her head, hoping it wasn't obvious that she really didn't want to be the one searching him. Dolohov was still conscious, just restrained in the Full-Body Bind, and she already had plenty of nightmares starring the Death Eater, thank you very much.

"I got it," Ron said instantly. He pushed Hermione slightly away from Dolohov with a smile. "I told you I would get him back for you," Hermione let out a slight laugh; Ron had promised, and as always, he was true to his word. He didn't even have to tell the two girls to stay back as he crouched down next to the incapacitated Death Eater.

Harry let out a low whistle as he scanned a letter that he had pulled from Avery. "What?" Hermione asked.

"This may be of some use," Harry said quietly as he rose, still reading the parchment intently.

"What does it say?" Ron asked, looking up from Dolohov, hand still groping in the Death Eater's front robe pocket.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but his eyes rested on Dolohov, who could hear every single word that they were saying. Even frozen stiff, Dolohov appeared to be scowling at them all, and he still frightened Hermione quite a bit. "Later," Harry finally said, pocketing the letter. "We better get someone up here."

"Right," Ron stood up, and when he leaned forward to brush off his mud-stained jeans, Hermione caught his sudden frown.

"What?" she demanded.

"There's something in here," Ron told her, dropping down to his knees again. "My foot hit it; it's in some pocket that..." He grinned in victory as he found the pocket lining. "Whatever this thing is, it's huge," Ron relayed, hand snaking into the pocket and fingers touching the smooth metal.

Faster than the Snitch, he felt a sharp pulling sensation on his navel, and right before the astonished eyes of his girlfriend, best friend, and sister, Ron Weasley disappeared from sight, victim of one of Lord Voldemort's Portkeys.