Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione refuse to go back to Hogwarts for their seventh year to take over the destruction of the horcruxes. In the meantime, Hermione has an encounter with Snape, who claims to know about a seventh one with which she has to help him. But can she trust him after what he did, even if he's telling the truth?
This story is not SS/HG centered.
Warnings: If you haven't read HBP, do not read this. Future chapters may contain not suitable scenes for people under 17. You've been warned.
Rating: M
Prologue
It was said in the magic world that Hermione Granger, an eighteen-year-old witch, was one of the brightest witches of her age. She was able to cast the most difficult spells, and she had become an inspiration for many people: disciplined, clever, ironic and brave.
Rubbish.
She was not happy.
She was not that witch.
She hated being the perfect student whose happiness was based on getting the highest score. And the fact that she wasn't exactly ugly made people think her life was absolutely perfect.
Lies.
If her life had been perfect, her friend Ginny wouldn't have been tortured until she had passed out. She wouldn't have had to watch how a group of Death Eaters raped and murdered a Muggle girl and her mother while she was immobilized and couldn't help, and she wouldn't have had to learn to cope when they released her with orders to tell other people about what happens to those who oppose the Dark Lord. They wanted to be feared, and for that they needed someone who reported to others what would happen to them if they crossed a Death Eater. She wondered how many people would have been made into reporters as she had.
If her life had been perfect, she wouldn't have to leave Hogwarts before finishing in order to face Voldemort and his followers; a cause everyone thought that was worth fighting for but for which only very few people actually did something.
Oh, yes. She felt rage burning inside her. When people met her, or any other member of the Order, they congratulated them for what they were doing, even people from the Ministry! They were all so pleased that someone was actually doing something, but they didn't want to be the ones risking their lives.
Fortunately, she had principles. Her morality told her not to hide in the shadows and let her bravery be found only in her hopes and frustrations.
That's why she had come to help the Order once more. It was a Muggle camping ground this time. Since Dumbledore's death, the Order had suffered many changes. They grew in number, which was a good thing, but that also meant that any operation they had to run would be harder to arrange, and for that reason they had divided the Order into groups. She helped Harry and Ron with the Horcruxes, as nobody else knew about them. Other people had to find and fight the few Death Eaters who were still at large, making sure that Muggles were not harmed. They hadn't been that successful so far. And other people had to protect public figures from the Ministry. Even though most of them were cowards who preferred to hide, the magical world needed to believe good was defeating evil, and the Death Eaters bloodthirsty organisation was under control. Voldemort, under control - what an irony...
The fact she had been called for help couldn't mean anything good. Not only would their friends being face defeat, but they wouldn't be able to escape. It was Voldemort's new tactic: setting a barrier that only could be crossed by those who wore the Dark Mark.
She had been in the camping ground only a few minutes. Muggles dangled in the air by their ankles could be seen everywhere; some were dead and others were barely alive. Above it all, the Dark Mark shone brightly in the sky. It was impossible not to notice it. Hermione's eyes caught lights in the forest that surrounded the zone - blinding lights that were so clearly made with wands.
She began to walk toward the lights and held her wand firmly in her hand; not even Merlin knew what was awaiting her.
