Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, I'm just having fun with her characters! I've rated my story M for language, torture scenes and possible future lemons.

Also this is my first fan fiction so please be kind, but don't be afraid to leave reviews to help point me in the right direction. I originally wanted to write the whole thing out before posting, but I wanted to see what others thought of it. I don't have a Beta either. Thank you and I hope you enjoy!

Life for Hermione had always seemed simple, if not interesting. Of course it was simple back before she never even knew what magic was, back when all she knew was a noncomplex life with her muggle parents. She was the perfect daughter, always behaving well and doing what was asked of her. Most kids would get disgruntled at the thought of chores, but Hermione happily did what was asked of her. She still threw herself into school at that time, being top of her class. Only once had she ever got a grade lesser than an A, and she was quite disappointed with that B. Academics had always been something she excelled at, but she always felt as if there was something more.

When she got her letter from Hogwarts, that was when her life got more interesting, but in a sense it was still uncomplicated. She still excelled in her classes and threw herself into her course work. Sure she had her adventures, which being friends with Harry Potter guaranteed her, but she liked it that way. Her life had always been so mundane, that her explorations of the magical world and the exploits they had thrilled her.

She was of course top of her class, which she worked hard for. Academics had always been something she happily threw herself into, but it become even more engrossing when she was learning charms, transfiguration, and potions. Before, all she was doing was basic courses and now she was even more enthralled than she had ever been before. She quite enjoyed her life at Hogwarts and where her life seemed to be going.

Though the adventures with Harry did sometimes seem to leave her at her wits end, or petrified for that matter, she also liked the sense of thrill it all gave her. Though she liked her life simple, it seemed to give her more purpose for it to be interesting. But all that seemed to take a darker turn when Harry appeared from the last Triwizard task, with Cedric dead body in his hands, and his insistence that Lord Voldemort was back.

Not that she didn't believe him because she whole heartedly did, but a small part of her wished it wasn't true, because this meant the dark times were to return, and she didn't want that. She was enjoying her schooling and being a witch, and she wanted to enjoy it without the fear of danger that now presented itself. She wanted things to continue just as they had before Lord Voldemort became a predicament in her life. Though her life was still somewhat simple, she had just stared her new way of life, and she wanted it to stay happy, and care free.

She wanted to keep her best friends happy, and her school life enthralling. But of course that meant that Malfoy would still be there. He always seemed to be a thorn in her behind. Constantly bullying Harry, Ron and herself, but he seemed to love to pick on Hermione. Calling her a filthy mudblood at every chance he got, earning him a nice punch in the mouth that Hermione thoroughly believed he deserved. But even she would take his incessant bullying if it had meant her life could remain the way it was.

But that didn't happen. The next year came, and along came Delores Umbridge, an utter nightmare. Everything was just getting worse and worse with the more power she gained. This lead to the making of Dumbledore's Army, which she took pride in as a way to rebel against the horrendous curriculum that Umbridge had forced upon her students. It also served as a way to learn to protect herself, because she couldn't deny the fact that Voldemort was back. Hermione had thrown herself into it, studying spells constantly in her free time, which lead her to where she was now.

The library had always been an escape for Hermione and she loved the wide selection of books it had to offer. They had just finished a proper Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Harry, and she found she had enough time to sit and read up on the new spell they were working on before dinner. She had invited harry and Ron to join her, but they never shared the love of books that she had, so they opted not to come.

She was sitting there enthralled in her book when she heard an explosion that shook the castle to its core. Fear filled her heart and she jumped to her feet, along with the few other students that were also in the library. They looked around in complete confusion, and worry etched into the face of a young first year. At first she was in shock and stood stock still, but then the explosions kept coming and people started screaming. Hermione took off at a dead run for the Gryffindor common room, praying her best friends were ok.

People were running down the hallways and others were crying. She cringed as she saw a student being pulled out of the ruble of a collapsed wall. The blood stained the hand of the students helping, leaving her desperately hoping that the kid was alive. As she kept running she passed two third years supporting the weight of a first year, whose head bobbed in a way that indicated that he passed out, or at least Hermione hoped that was all that was wrong with him. Two girls sobbed against a wall, before a boy in the same year as them ran to the hysterical girls and ushered them to an exit.

Lucky she noticed that mostly everyone was trying to exit the school, in attempt to escape the horror and confusion that surrounded them. She noticed some sixth year prefects directing everyone to safety the best they could, but there were so many students, scattered in so many directions.

Her heart stopped when she saw the body of a young Hufflepuff crumpled against the wall, her cold eyes opened in terror, but they were unblinking. Hermione wanted to retch; she had never witnessed death before. Tears jerked at her eyes, she may not have known the girl, but no one deserved to die like this, and to be so terrified. Another Hufflepuff crumbled at her side, sobs raking her body and she desperately tried to rouse her friend, shaking her and begging her to wake up. This continued till a boy came to her and tried to pull her to her feet, the girl fought him, smacking at him, her remorse taking over. Hermione tore her eyes away and she ran forward, unsuccessfully trying to banish it from her memory.

She was finally getting closer to her destination, when there a blast, imploding the wall of the hallway, efficiently blocking her path. Cursing under her breath, she was force to turn around and take a different way. A prefect stopped and grabbed hold of her, telling her she was going the wrong way, but she wrenched herself out of his grip and continued her mission.

She kept running until she saw Harry. She came to screeching halt in front of him, confusion written on her face. She had never been so happy to see her friend, and she almost collapsed into his arms and cried, but now was not the time to release the emotions that were attacking her.

"What the hell is happening?" She asked, panic riddling her voice.

"I don't know, but my scar is utterly raging with pain, this has to be Voldemort Hermione, we need to get out of here! The Death Eaters are storming the castle, I barely escaped one myself before McGonagall appeared and told me to run. I lost track of Ron in the frenzy." He responded, fear evident in his eyes. This shook Hermione even more, her friend had always been confident and brave, but the fear in his eyes seemed to make the situation even more real.

"We have to find him," She called over the screams "we can't just stand here, we have to split up." Hermione prompted, watching as the school she loved and people she cared for seemed to crumble. Another explosion went off to her left, causing her to duck and making her ears ring. She grabbed Harry by the arm and they ran further down the corridor, only to run into a figure in a dark cloak.

He cackled as he watched them step back with trepidation.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The prized boy we were sent here to get just stumbles upon me. Oh imagine the reward I will get when I bring you to the Dark Lord!" He laughed again, it bounced off the crumbing walls sounding insanely menacing. His dark hair was greasy and stuck out in many directions. The teeth in his mouth were so yellowed and discolored that she wouldn't be surprised if they fell out at any moment.

Hermione took another step back, her eyes fearfully flickering for any help. But running students was the only thing she saw, she desperately ached for another, more experience witch or wizard to aid them.

His hand shot out, wand extending and Hermione threw up a shield quicker than she knew possible. The stupefy spell ricocheting off and shooting behind the chuckling man.

A white bolt came from the right, hitting the surprised Death Eater in the side sending him flying. Madam Hooch ran towards Harry and Hermione, her wand still drawn. Hermione thanked the heavens for her answered prayer.

"Get out of her, Now!" She called as she turned to the man, who was starting to rise from the ruble. They didn't think twice before running, trying not to trip over the cascading walls.

"Hurry, we can get out this way!" Harry called, turning them towards an exit. Other students were ushering out as well, and she ached to join them, but knew they couldn't, not yet.

"What about Ron?" Hermione countered, slightly panicked. "We can't leave him behind!"

"Shit," Harry cursed, his eyes wandering the corridor, "I'll go look by the great hall, and can you check the bathrooms?" He asked, his eyes filling with uncertainty. All Hermione did was nod, before taking off. She had never run so hard before, her feet pounding against the ground like the beat of a drum.

"Ron!" She hollered as loud as she could over the ruckus. A few student looked her way, but continued their escape, paying her no mind. With no response she kept on running, turning the corridor, and slamming straight into someone's chest, landing right on her ass.

"Well, hello Miss Granger." The voice sent chills down her spine, her eyes shot up and met with the cold gray eyes of Lucius Malfoy. He looked just as evil and reproachful as she remembered. And she was well aware that he was a Death Eater. Fear ebbed at her heart, blood pounding in her ears, making it hard for her to focus. She tried scrambling away from him, but she didn't get far, as her back ran into someone else. She peered up at a woman with messy black hair and crazed eyes, who laughed in a way that made Hermione think that she should belong in a mental asylum. She had seen her before, in the paper, this was Bellatrix Lestrange. The crazed Death Eater had escaped Azkaban, and she was known for dreadful, horrible things. Horror shook Hermione to her core, as she knew she was now trapped.

"It's a pleasure seeing you here, isn't it?" Lucius inquired, not letting her answer his rhetorical question before continuing. "Now where is that Potter friend of yours? We were hoping to have a nice meeting with him." Lucius's cold eyes bore into hers, but she simply shook her head, trying to get to her feet. She would never give her friend to them, she would fight to the end if need be.

"What a shame." He remarked, as she gained her footing, anger finally filling her.

"You'll never find him! And you won't get away with this! You won't!" She shrieked, positioning herself defiantly in front of him. Another explosion went off next to them, causing a momentary distraction that Hermione used to her advantage. She bolted, trying to get as far as possible. Terror ran threw her veins like an icy river, colliding and combating the hot tresses of her anger. They combined and joined together in a deadly tornado, and Hermione felt her feet press her forward at a faster rate.

This couldn't be happening. Her simple life, her school, her friends, everything she loved was all caving around her. All she could hope was that Harry and Ron were ok. She just prayed that her best friends wouldn't end up like that poor Hufflepuff girl, never to escape these walls.

"Stupefy!" Was all she heard before she felt the spell smack her in the back of her head, before her faltering world turned black around her.