Prologue.
Hermione was in a rush, the service at lunch had been a bit slow so now she was going to be later for her meeting at the ministry.
Diagon Alley was more crowded than usual with the anniversary of the end of the war fast approaching.
Witches and wizards lined the streets hustling and bustling in preparation for the celebration.
Hermione tried hard to ignore all the celebrating. Hermione was just as happy as the next person that the war was over, however, night terrors still plagued her almost 3 years later. Every night she was visited by visions of her torture at Bellatrix's hand as well as the bodies that covered Hogwarts after the final battle. Their faces haunted her.
In the years since the war ended her relationship with Ron had crumbled effectively putting a strain on her relationships with the rest of the Weasleys and Harry.
Following the break-up, Hermione took some time odd and fled to Australia in hopes of finding her parents.
After almost 9 months of searching her search proved to be fruitless and she returned to England defeated.
Upon her return, Hermione threw herself into an Arithmancy apprenticeship.
Hermione, as expected, finished her mastery quickly and ended up working at the Ministry of Magic. However, Hermione made sure that she remained unaffiliated as an independent contractor to keep out of the corruption that still worked its way through the ministry.
Hermione brushed past men and women slipping into a small alley that was clear of most of the people busing about. It was a lot easier for Hermione to slip through the back alley that leads to one of the back ways into the Leaky Cauldron where Hermione would floo to the ministry after she picked up paperwork that was left for her at the pub.
Hermione was caught up in her head letting her defenses down a little, she was about 200 feet from the door when the hair on the back of her neck stood at attention.
Hermione froze her hand shooting to her pocket grasping for her wand.
The last few months had been fairly peaceful, so Hermione had relaxed and started carrying her wand in her pocket instead of in her hand which was normal for her.
A large hand closed around her neck pressing pressure points causing her wand to clatter to the ground. Blood rushed to her head causing her to feel dizzy. Hermione reached back to try and loosen the clawed hands from her neck.
"Shh….." a husky voice growled before her vision faded to black.