Chapter 1

Two girls were walking in the park minding their own business as they talked. Unbeknownst to them they were being watched. They had no clue that what was about to happen to them was gonna change everything. The girl on the right was named Jessica Granger. She was 5'8" with straight blonde hair that fell to her mid-back. She also had crystal blue eyes that could look right through you. She was wearing tight black hip hugging jeans, a red tang-top that had the words 'Rebel With A Cause' on it in white and black Sketchers. The girl on the left was Hermione Granger. She was also 5'8" but had chestnut brown hair that fell in waves to her mid-back. She has chocolate colored eyes that had a hint of gold in them. She had on some blue hip huggers and a white cami top. With this ensemble she was wearing white and blue sketchers. They decided to take a short cut through the grove of trees to Hermione's house. They didn't know at the time that this would be a huge mistake. They should have stayed out in the open.

"Well look at what we have here. It's the mudblood and a muggle, how sweet." A sickly voice said from the shadows

"Who's there?" Hermione demanded as she reached for her wand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," A silky voice replied.

"Oh really," Hermione asks as she realized that her wand wasn't in her pocket like it usually was.

Slightly panicking she begins to look for her wand. Her cousin was obviously confused and kept looking around.

"Hermione what's going on?" She asked confused

"I can't find it." She says stricken. Looking up at her cousin she yells, "JESS RUN!"

Her cousin tries to do just that with Hermione right behind her. However they didn't get far before they are surrounded.

"Mione what do we do? Who are these people?" She inquired frightened

"They're deatheaters Jess. They're the people I told you about."

"Aww…. You've talked about us? I'm flattered. To bad its probably gonna be the last thing you do." The sickly voice said evilly

"Bugger off Bellatrix." Hermione hissed

"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix yells pointing her wand at Hermione

Hermione falls to the ground screaming in agony. Jessica looks on in fear. She doesn't know what to do. She knew that she has to stop them somehow but wasn't sure how to. She looks at the cloaked figure in anger and disgust.

"Leave her alone!" She screams a she begins to run toward the women.

"I don't think so," the silky voice says. Pointing his wand he calmly says, "Crucio."

Jessica falls to the ground screaming in intense pain. She couldn't think at all. To her it felt like a thousand knives were stabbing her at once. Hermione lay panting on the ground. She could hear her cousin screaming but was powerless to do anything. She tried sitting up as her body protested in agony. She bit down on her lip to avoid screaming aloud.

"Leave her alone Lucius! She has nothing to do with this!" She screams at them angrily

Lucius released the spell and Jess lay their panting on the ground. She was only five feet away from Hermione. As she looked at her cousin she remembered something. At the end of term Harry had given her a ring and told her to wear it always and that if she needed to get away all she had to do was rub the jewel and say, "Sanctuary." She knew that she couldn't leave her cousin there. She looked to her side and saw her purse open next to her. With relief she spotted her wand lying partly out. Reaching out she grabbed her purse and realized that she only had one try to get this done. Pulling it out, she quickly pointed it at Jessica.

"Accio Jessica!" She called.

Jessica came flying toward her and she heard Lucius yell for the others to stop them. She quickly rubbed her ring and said "Sanctuary." With a pull she and her cousin disappeared from the area just as a bunch on spells hit the spot they were just in. They roughly landed on the floor to someone's house. Briefly looking around she noticed she was in Grimmauld Place. She didn't realize that she had just interrupted an Order meeting. Two identical red heads stood up first upon recognizing the person.

"Hermione!" they yell together

Rushing over to her they lightly lifted her cousin off of her and placed her on the ground.

"Are you okay?" One asked who she assumed was Fred

"What happened?" The other wanted to know.

"Deatheaters attacked us in the park. Jessie!?" She yelled trying to get up and beginning to panic

"Hermione calm down she's right next to you." They say placatingly

"You have to help her," She says desperately

"We will Ms. Granger but first you need to tell us what happened. Madame Pomfrey has been called and is on her way." Albus Dumbledore reassures her

"We were walking in a park and decided to take a shortcut through a grove of trees. We were attacked there. I couldn't find my wand. Usually I would have it in my pocket but it wasn't. It ended up being in my purse. I told Jess to run. I was right behind her but they surrounded us. Bellatrix started taunting us and I told them to leave her out of it. They cast the Cruciatus on me. I heard Jess scream for them to leave me alone. I think she tried to attack her but Lucius cast the spell on her. The curse was taken off of me. As I was sitting up I saw my wand sticking out of my purse. Luckily I remembered the portkey that Harry gave me. After Accioing her to me I activated the portkey and here we are. Now you have got to help her." She says pleading

"We will Hermione. Now who is she?" Sirius asks her

"She's my cousin," She says looking at her sadly

"I'm gonna get Harry," someone who sounded like Remus says

The fireplace burst into life as the Hogwarts mediwitch stepped through. She quickly assessed the situation before walking over to the two girls laying on the ground. Laying her medical bag down she waved her wand over both to find out the diagnosis. Noticing the blonde girl (Jessica) was the most injured she decided she would be first.

"Ms. Granger I am shocked to find out it was you in the attack. When Albus flooed me I thought that I would be seeing young Mr. Potter not you. Can you tell me how long you and this young woman were under the Cruciatus?" She asked politely while handing her a potion to take away the effects of the curse.

"I was under about two or three minutes I think. I'm not entirely positive on that. All I felt was agonizing pain. It could have been only a minute or a few seconds I don't really know. I think she was under for two minutes. But she's a muggle wouldn't it be worse for her. Also when she was younger she had an irregular heart beat. Will she be okay?" She inquired anxiously

"I don't know Hermione. I can't give her potions. You know they have no affect on muggles." She runs her wand over the girl again to notice her heart was beginning to slow down. Looking stricken she immediately began casting spells to try to at least save the girl. She knew that Hermione was watching her every move. The girl groaned slightly as she briefly returned to consciousness.

"Mione?" She asks

"I'm right here Jess. You'll be okay." She says as tears fall down her face.

She crawled over to be right next to her cousin and took her hand. She hoped with all her heart that what she said was actually gonna be the outcome but knew her cousin's chances of survival were very slim.

"It's okay Mione. I know I'm dying. I'll be with my parents and Jordan now. Just know that I love you and Aunt Jane and Uncle Dan. Take care of Kaitlyn for me." She says weakly before her eyes close shut

"No!" She screamed. "You can't die Jess! I need you! Kaitlyn needs you! I love you! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!" She screamed hysterically

No one knew how to react. Hermione was grieving after all she just lost her cousin. It was only natural for her to be distraught. Harry walked into the room to hear Hermione screaming for her cousin to come back. Harry looked at the twins who had grief stricken looks on their faces. Walking over to them he figured they could tell him what happened. After being filled in he walked over to Hermione. Bending down next to her he tried to talk to her.

"Hermione…. sweetie come on. She wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. You'll see her again one day." He says softly

"NO!" She says firmly.

"Hermione she's gone. You can't do anything." He says softly

"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" She yelled at him

"Yes she is. You may not like it but she is." he says simply

"It's all my fault." she says guiltily

"No it's not." he says firmly

"YES IT IS! BECAUSE SHE'S RELATED TO ME AND WAS WITH ME SHE DIED!" She yelled loudly making other cringe

"IT'S NOT YOUR FAULT! IT'S NO ONE'S FAULT BUT VOLDEMORT AND HIS STUPID FOLLOWERS! DON'T BLAME YOURSELF! Is that understood?" He asks softly at the end as he pulled her into his arms

Albus thought that that would be a proper time to remove the body from sight. Casting the levitation charm on the body he began walking for the door. Hermione noticing that her cousin wasn't next to her quickly stood up. Harry followed her and managed to grab her around the waist from behind before she could take a step.

"JESSIE!" She screamed hysterically. "LET ME GO I HAVE TO BE WITH HER! JESSIE!" She screams hysterically. "HARRY LET ME GO! JESSIEEE!" She cries desperately. "JESSSSIE!" She screamed loudly as she struggled in Harry's arms.

Hermione continues to struggle against Harry but he refused to let her go. He pulled her close up against his chest and just held her. He tried to ignore her pleads and screams and her struggles. He knew that what he was doing was for the best even though he felt awful for doing this to her. As soon as the body was removed from her sight she practically collapsed in a tearful fit. All she wanted to do was be with her cousin. The overwhelming grief and guilt swept over her and there was nothing she could do but cry. So that's what she did. Harry had lowered them both down to the floor and let her weep. Soon the day's events and all the crying left her exhausted and she fell asleep in his arms. Lightly he picked her up bridal style and walked over to the couch. Placing her down on the couch and sitting next to her he put her head in his lap and began running his hand through her hair in a soothing manner. He didn't say a word to the others gathered which they weren't entirely sure if it was a good or bad thing yet.

"Um…Harry?" Ron asked from the doorway.

Hermione's screaming had attracted Ron, Ginny, Draco and Lavender to come check out what the commotion was. They walked in while Hermione was crying on the floor. They stood in the doorway unsure of what they can do to help. They knew the best person to help her was already there. Besides Ron knew he wasn't that good when it came to comforting distraught girls. Harry looked up at his friend after being addressed.

"Yes Ron?" he replies in an even voice

"What happened? Is Hermione alright?" he questions uncertainly

"No she's not alright Ron. But hopefully in time she will be. She just witnessed her cousin being tortured which just resulted in her cousin's death."

Ron and the other three teens look at him in surprise. They weren't sure how to respond to that. The one thing they knew for sure was the fact that she was gonna need them now more than ever.

"Merlin that's awful." Ginny says sadly.

"She must feel awful. Where's her family? Are they okay?" Lavender asks worriedly

"Her family? Oh no her family. We have to go get them. They could be in danger. If the Deatheater caught Hermione and her cousin in a park near her house then her family could be in danger. Besides they're muggles. They don't have a chance against magic." Harry says beginning to get panicked as images of what could happen flew through his mind.

"Harry calm down. I'll go get them, with Albus' permission of course." Sirius offers.

"I'll go too." Tonks offers.

"I better go with them." Remus adds

"Alright you three may go, but be safe children." Albus tells them

The three of them began putting on their jackets. With their wands in their pockets, at easy access they headed toward the door. As they opened their door and was about to exit Harry's voice carried over to them.

"Be fast but be careful you guys. I can't lose you."