Chapter One
Hermione had woken up with a start, the continuous ticking noise that had started out as an ancient grandfather clock, slowly coming closer and closer to her, was in actuality an owl relentlessly tapping at her at her bedroom window. Sheepishly, she dragged at her feet off the bed and shuffled towards the owl. It was Hedwig, her golden eyes piercing the dark night sky around her. She pulled up her window, letting the snowy owl in. Hedwig held out her leg, and gave Hermione a reprimanding look for taking so long, and keeping her outside. "Sorry girl, and thanks," Hermione yawned as she rubbed her head, and detached the ivory envelope, inscribed one of her best friend's, Harry Potter, familiar and slightly sloppy handwriting.
Dear Hermione,
This is going to be a very short letter, and I apologize in advance for it. I of all people hate when I'm not told what's going on, but for the sake of time, the Order has decided that its not safe for us at the moment, so they have arranged for someone to pick you up tomorrow morning. Dumbledore says not to worry about your parents, they will also receive protection, but you will be taken to a very Snuffly place. Pack all your school things as well. We will explain later.
-Harry
Well that was unexpected, Hermione thought. She looked over at the clock on her night stand, it was 3:43 am. Well I should get on with it, she thought to herself. She looked around her room, it was a horrific sight. She had been so caught up in all the homework she had been assigned, that she neglected to care about the state of her room and how she looked for that matter. As she threw her strayed belongings into her open trunk, she started to worry about the abruptness of Harry's letter. She didn't like that the actual writing of the letter seemed to be very rushed, and his normally hard to read handwriting was especially sloppy, as if he was about to leave somewhere when he was writing it. Her curiosity was buzzing, and she was fit to burst. Stop thinking about it, she scolded herself, you need to get ready. Though the packing did help, she couldn't help but shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, or was already taking place.
She seemed to have dozed off because the next thing she knew, she was sleeping on her bed, her trunk precariously moved to the edge of her bed. Remembering why she had packed her bags, she hastily sat up and looked over at the time, she had slept for no more than 30 minutes. Oddly, she felt like she had been sleeping for hours, her head was aching with sleep, she flopped back down on her bed, trying to remember her dream, or nightmare, she thought to herself. However, no matter how much she worked at raking her brain, nothing came up, all she was left feeling, was a fear, very raw fear. She shivered, and drew her quilt closer around her, enveloping her in warmth that she so desperately craved. A loud crack pulled her out of her thoughts, she jumped, her trunk fell off the bed with a clunk, her old professors Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody were standing at the foot of her bed, Moody, his face so twisted and drilled, his face was unreadable, Lupin's face on the other hand had a warm smile on his face. "Hello Hermione, are you all set to go? We are running on a tight schedule and we need to get to Grimmauld Place as soon as possible," Lupin said, already picking up her trunk on the floor and put out his hand towards Hermione, who was still recovering from the sudden appearance of her former professors. She shook her head, and accepted his outstretched hand, "Would you care to tell me why we are in such a rush?" Lupin chuckled, "Curious as always. All will be explained when we get to Headquarters, I promise. seemingly satisfied, Hermione got up and took Lupin's arm, and as quickly as the pair of men appeared in her room, in an instant they vanished.
The sensation of squeezing through a rubber tube was something that Hermione would never get used to. The trio of wizards arrived at an alleyway, certainly not Grimmauld Place, "I thought we were going to-" "Quiet girl!" Moody's gruff voice came from behind her. do you want the whole bloody city to know where we are going? Constant vigilance!" Mad Eye grunted. He limped towards the street at the end of the dark alleyway, looked around, his magical eye swirling like mad in it's socket, and spending a little more time inspecting the sky, as if surveying it for rain, and gave a nod towards Lupin, who was still carrying her trunk, gave her an encouraging smile, and ushered her towards Moody. It was pitch black, except for the occasional street lamp. The only thing that kept her from losing her escorts was the sound of mad eye's grunting and clanking of his fake leg. "How much farther?" Hermione asked, shivering from both the sensation of being watched, and the unnatural bitter cold that was surrounding them. Bang! A purple stream of light grazed Hermione's shoulder, and illuminated the road they were taking. Staggering backwards, she ran into a solid object, she spun around, only to have a pair of hands reaching for her neck, she gasped. "Hello my sweet," the chilling voice cooed in her ear. She could feel his breath on her hair, as he stuck out his tongue and licked the side of her face, "You taste so sweet," the silky voice continued. As if coming out of a trance, Hermione screamed, a bone chilling scream that seemed to ring in her own ears long after it was silenced by a blow to the chest by her captor. She fell to the ground, the wind knocked clean out of her. She lifted her head and saw the flashes of the battle that was occurring between Moody and Lupin, and about 25 or 30 black cloaked figures. Death Eaters. She was suddenly lifted off her feet, feeling several pairs of hands running up and down the sides of her body, she screamed again, anticipating what was sure to happen. Her arms were painfully being twisted, and she couldn't reach her wand that had flown out of her hand sometime during this confrontation. She felt hard hands groping her breasts, she couldn't stop screaming. Where were Remus and Moody? Wasn't the point of leaving her house this early in the summer was to keep her safe? Pain shot through her side that pulled her out of her thoughts. It spread through her body like it was in her blood, she felt as if she was on fire. Hard lips slammed into her own, she couldn't move, all she could do was scream. She felt another pair of hands grab her face,"So you will never forget me," another kiss, "Don't worry love, we will be back to finish the job," the silky voice laughed into her ear. With that, she was thrown to the hard gravel ground, still shaking with pain and the feeling of that man all over her body. She was sure she was going to be raped, but he said that he was going to be back. She shuddered. She tried to pick herself up, but fell back down. She lifted her head, and saw that only a few Death Eaters remained, but that they seemed to all be leaving. A voice escaped her throat, one that was not her own. A small, weak voice of a child uttered the words, "Please, she sobbed, "please help me."
