War Against Magiterran

Chapter 3: The Abduction

"Hermione, why didn't you ever become a Mage Knight?" asked Ginny. It was near midnight and the two ladies were talking in the courtyard of Godric's Hollow Palace.

Hermione laughed. "Ginny, haven't you ever seen me on a horse or with a sword? I wouldn't last a fort night if I were a Mage Knight."

"That's nonsense! Your magical powers far exceed the level of an average Mage Knight and there's nothing like a little training to fix your problem with..." It was around then that the warning bell rang!

Hermione and Ginny exchanged an alarmed look and ran to the grand hall. A guard ran up to the two of them.

"You majesty. The palace is under attack by orcs! They're coming in through the dungeons!"

Hermione immediately took charge. "Start evacuating all who can not fight out of the castle. Ginny you go down to the dungeons and help hold off the attack. I need to go to my children."

"Hermione, I can't leave you!"

"Go! That's an order!"

Ginny hesitated for a moment before she tore down to the dungeons with the guard. Hermione started running to the west wing. 'My children, I must get to my children,' she thought.

Hermione had just made it to the entrance of the West Wing when she halted, terrified by the sight in front of her. A whole battalion of Orcs was in front of the entrance led by a tall blonde man in black and red robes. "Greetings your majesty," he said. "I am Edward Lingilam. I request that your presence..." the man would've continued if a blue caped Mage Knight hadn't suddenly swooped down in between Hermione and the Orcs.

"Your Majesty," said Sir Cho Chang. "Go and get your children. I will hold this lot back."

Hermione hesitated for a moment before she whispered, "Thank you, Cho," and made her way into the west wing.

* * * * * * * * * *

Orcs were streaming out of the dungeons in hordes but the Gryffindor soldiers were putting up more than a match. After all, they weren't the greatest soldiers in Magiterran for nothing. However, the orcs were slowly overwhelming them when Ginny arrived on the scene.

"Reducto!" Ginny blasted away at least half of the orcs with a good reductor curse. She then drew her sword and started hacking and hewing at the remaining orcs. Metal sounds issued through the dungeons as the orcs put up a fierce fight, but they were no match for a Mage Knight, even a single one.

* * * * * * * * * *

Hermione ran into the nursery and stopped dead. In the nursery was a sinister looking woman with short dark brown hair and cold hazel eyes. She was carrying a green iron staff and was wearing tight revealing black and red robes. Although her appearance was different, the woman reminded Hermione of a certain blonde woman she had once known.

"Icicle?"

The woman smirked. "Oh do I remind you that much of my sister?" she said. "No your majesty, I am not my younger twin sister. I am Flame, and I am here to take the babies if you don't mind."

"What?! How could you?!"

"Oh come now, surely they would be more happier being raised by us rather than a mudblood like yourself."

"How dare you say that!" said Hermione seething with anger. "I'm their mother, I should be the one raising them. Not some vile creature like you!"

"Well then," said Flame. "Perhaps I need to persuade you with other means. Crucio!" The curse went flying towards Hermione. Right when it was about to hit her, however, Hermione disappeared, leaving behind her violet, royal robes and tiara. Flame was confused when a magical force suddenly lifted her up and pinned her to the wall!

Hermione was standing in the other side of the room, wearing the familiar blue and white travel robes she had worn during the War against the Death Eaters. She was emitting the magical force from the familiar oak staff that she was carrying in front of her.

Flame worked a burst of magic and broke the force. She waved her staff and blasted Hermione across the room. Hermione immediately sprang back onto her feet and sent another magical force at Flame, flinging her to the back of the room. Flame got back to her feet and once again blasted Hermione away. This continued for a bit longer with the two women flinging each other around the room.

* * * * * * * * * *

Harry silently cursed Draco for not removing the continental wards that prevented apparating by Mage Knights. These were wards had been set up by the Death Eaters specifically for that purpose and Draco had been somewhat reluctant to remove them for "security reasons".

The horses carrying Harry, Ron, and Neville sped towards the main gates of Godric's Hollow. The guard caught sight of them as Neville called out, "Open the gates! The king has returned!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Hermione had managed to catch Flame in a type of vortex and was spinning her around in the air. She then proceeded to slam her into the wall. Flame groaned in pain. It was then that the babies woke up and started crying at the top of their lungs. Motherly instinct taking over her, Hermione rushed to the crib when a single voice called out, "Crucio!"

Hermione screamed in pain as the Cruciatus curse rippled through her body. Flame stood up and made her way over to her, never taking the curse off.

"I am going to kill you, mudblood," she hissed. It was then that Edward Lingilam burst into the room.

"Flame, just do your job," he said.

"Let me kill her first."

"Just do your job, Flame. You were not supposed to harm her."

Reluctantly, Flame removed the curse from Herrmione. Flame and Lingilam made their way to the crib and they each picked up one of the twins.

"Please, not my babies," begged a weakened Hermione, tears falling down her cheeks. Flame and Lingilam, however, disappeared out the window, carrying the crying babies with them.

* * * * * * * * * *

Having taken care of the orcs in the dungeon, Ginny ran up to the west wing as fast as she could go. She stopped short in front of the entrance when she saw Sir Cho Chang lying on the ground amidst the corpses of more orcs. Ginny cradled Cho in her arms.

"Cho! What happened?"

Cho could barely speak. "L...Lingilam....he.....he was too....powerful.....Orcs were no problem.....but he....didn't stand a chance.....but perhaps now.....I can be....be with Cedric."

"No! Cho don't say that!" yelled Ginny, tears falling down her cheeks. "You're going to be all right. Everything is going to be all right."

Cho managed a very weak smile. "Goo....good bye Ginny. You'll make....a.....g-great....Mage Knight." With that, Cho closed her eyes and her body grew cold.

"Cho? Cho?! CHO?! NOOOOOOOOOO!" Ginny started shaking Cho's body but got no response. It was then that Harry and Ron came dashing down the corridor.

"Oh my God, Cho Chang," said Ron. Both he and Harry were stricken with tremendous grief as they beheld a crying Ginny holding Cho's lifeless body.

"Hermione," muttered Harry. He dashed into the west wing. After searching a little he found Hermione curled up in the nursery. "Hermione! Thank God you're..." it was then that Harry noticed the state of the nursery and of Hermione.

Hermione was silently sobbing as she looked up at Harry. "Harry, they're gone. Th-they're gone."

Harry immediately understood what had happened. "No," he whispered. "No. Tell me it's not true."

"Th-th-they're gone, Harry. They're g-gone."

"No," tears were now falling from Harry's eyes. "No. Please, God. Don't let it be true. No!"

"Our ch-children, Harry. Th-they're gone."

"NO!!!" Harry collapsed next to Hermione and started sobbing. They embraced each other and started crying onto each other's shoulder. As the night grew darker, Harry and Hermione simply clung onto each other as if they're lives depended on it. Outside, time mercilessly ran by.

Chapter 4: The Exchange

Godric's Hollow did not sleep that night. News of the kidnapping of the young prince and princess spread like wildfire through the kingdom and citizens wept publicly. Search parties were organized but as the hours flew by, the lack of any news was highly discomforting.

Although the entire population was depressed about the lost of the twins, nobody was more agonized then Hermione and Harry.

By morning, Hermione seemed as if she had lost the will to live. She remained in bed all day and simply refused to come out. Harry for his part, refused to leave Hermione's side. He was constantly pacing back and forth in the master bedroom, eager for news about his children. Sometimes, Hermione would burst into tears quite suddenly. Harry would immediately tightly embrace her and let her cry on his shoulder while he himself occasionally wiped a tear from his own eyes.

By nightfall, Hermione had calmed down but there was still no news on the whereabouts of the missing twins. While the royal couple lay in bed, Hermione felt the need for comfort and crawled into Harry's arms. Harry gently stroked her back as Hermione let a few tears roll down her cheeks. She finally spoke up.

"Harry, what if when we find Lily and James, they're..." She couldn't bare to say it and she started sobbing again.

"Shhh. Don't say that. They'll be alright." Harry kissed Hermione's tears away but he also had to swipe away the tears in his own eyes.

Hermione stifled a sob. "I just keep thinking. If only I were a little stronger, I could've saved them. It's my fault, Harry. It's all my fault." Hermione started crying again. Harry gently stroked the back of her head.

"Nobody blames you for what happened. You tried your best. You're a strong person, Hermione."

"Not strong enough."

"I should've stayed here. I should've just sent a representative to the conference rather than go myself. I should've stayed where I belong, right here with you, Lily, and James."

"It's not your fault, Harry." Hermione dug her face into Harry's shoulder as Harry gently stroked her hair. "What if we never see them again?"

"Don't say that. We will see them again. I promise."

Hermione looked up into Harry's emerald green eyes. Overwhelmed with love for her husband, she kissed him passionately while she let more tears run down her face.

"I love you so much, Harry."

"I love you too."

* * * * * * * * * *

By morning Hermione was feeling a lot better. As a result, Harry took it upon himself to personally lead the search for his own children and left the palace. Though still horribly depressed, Hermione was moving around again and had returned to her royal duties. She was still hoping for some, even a little news on what had happened to her children.

It was a little past noon when Hermione was sitting near the window of the west wing, searching for any sign of her family. A proud looking eagle owl swooped by and dropped a letter into her lap. Hoping it was a report on the search, Hermione eagerly tore the note open. It was indeed a letter about the twins, but not the one she was hoping for:

If you ever want to see your children again, come to the southern bank of Privet Drive River at midnight, alone. If you do not come, we will kill your children.

Despite the threatening nature of the letter, Hermione couldn't help but feel a little relieved that she would finally be able to see her children again. That hope dashed away all sense of the physical danger from her mind.

'I will see you again, Lily and James,' she thought. 'Mommy is coming to save you.'

* * * * * * * * * *

Harry finally returned to Godric's Hollow about thirty minutes before midnight. He was exhausted and depressed for the simple reason that the search hadn't yielded any results. He was now starting to despair that he would even ever see his children alive again.

Harry dragged himself up to the west wing only to find that Hermione wasn't there. 'Where could she have gone?' he wondered. Starting to get worried, Harry started searching for anything that could give him the whereabouts of his wife. He finally spotted the letter that had been delivered earlier that day. Harry read it, and was horrified.

"No."

* * * * * * * * * *

A part of Hermione was screaming at her for reason, that what she was doing was stupid to say the least. Hermione, however, buried that part down into her subconscious as she made for the banks of Privet Drive River.

'Harry grew up along this river,' she mused. She wondered what Harry would think when he found out what she as doing. 'No doubt he'd be horrified and angry with me,' she thought. 'But if I can get Lily and James back this way, than he'd probably be more overjoyed.'

Hermione was more than adequately prepared to defend herself if the need should arrive. She was wearing her familiar blue and white travel robes, which had always served her well. She didn't want to alarm the captors by showing up armed so she had shrunk her staff and hid it behind her right ear.

Soon, she made it to the banks of the river. She looked up at the gibbous moon to judge the time.

'It should be midnight right about now,' she thought. Yet, there was absolutely no sign of anybody around. 'Why isn't anybody here?' she wondered. 'Could this be just some large hoax?' Hermione decided to wait for a few minutes. She shivered in the night air as she listened to crickets chirp. It was around the time when Hermione was considering giving up when she heard a baby's cry. Motherly instinct taking over, Hermione dashed to the bushes where she could hear the crying coming from. She pulled aside the bushes and gasped. There, wrapped in green cloth, were two babies crying at the top of their lungs: Lily and James.

"Lily! James!" gasped Hermione as tears of joy rolled down her eyes. She quickly picked the two babies up and hugged them close to her. "Oh Lily! Oh James! I was so worried. I thought I'd never see you two again!" Hermione let more tears fall as she gathered the twins in her arms.

Lily and James continued crying. Hermione started cooing them. "It's OK, Mommy's here now. She's going to make sure that the bad people never get you two again."

It was just then that a shadow came up from behind her. Hermione had just enough time to whirl around and see someone yell "Stupefy!"

* * * * * * * * * *

Harry ran his horse, Firebolt as fast as he could. He needed to get to the banks of Privet Drive River as fast as he could or else he would lose his family forever. If he didn't make it in time...Harry refused to think about what would happen if that were so.

Finally, Firebolt bolted into the clearing by the banks of the river. Harry jumped off his horse and ran to the river's edge. He was just able to make out a Durmstrang ship sailing out to the sea.

"No," whispered Harry. He desperately looked around his surroundings but found nobody else there.

"No! Please, God. No!" But Harry knew it was a lost cause. He looked out at the Durmstrang ship sailing away and he felt his heart crumble. Somehow, Harry knew full well that Hermione was on that ship.

"No!" Harry sank to his knees and started weeping. "No. No! NO!" He soon started wailing and cursing at no one in particular.

"WHY?! DAMMIT! WHY?!" he shouted. "Why is everything I ever loved taken from me?! First my parents! Then my children! And now my wife! WHY?! DAMMIT! WHY?!"

Harry abruptly stopped when he heard what sounded like babies crying. He slowly crept to the bushes where the crying was coming from. There, lying in a small heap were Lily and James!

Harry felt a brief leap of joy to find that his children were all right. He pulled them into a hug and openly wept, thankful that he had found his children, yet despaired because of the loss of his wife.

"It's an exchange," he muttered to himself. "They exchanged Lily and James for Hermione. She was the one they were after all along."

The young father simply sat there weeping for a number of hours while he held his children close to him. It was in that position that Ron and Ginny found him early the next morning.

"Come on, mate. You've got to get back home," said Ron. He and Ginny easily figured out what had happened. Harry however had no intention of going back to Godric's Hollow.

"We're going to Hogwarts," he said.

"What?" said Ron and Ginny in unison. Harry looked up at his two friends with a new spark in his eye.

"We're going to Hogwarts," he declared, a certain fire burning in his emerald eyes. "I'm going to figure out a way to save Hermione. That best place to do that is at Hogwarts."