Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the Harry Potter series. They belong to J.K. Rowling.
Summary: Following the death of Dumbledore, everyone was taken to 12 Grimmauld Place for protection. After a series of events, a new girl is welcomed into the Order, but Hermione is far from enjoying her company. The new girl outperforms Hermione in everything that she does, and Hermione can't help but think that something is not right about her. In addition to her suspicions, Hermione also realizes a certain connection between her and the one person who has hurt her the most. Through battles, quarrels, and rendezvous, Hermione must make life changing decisions to once and for all defeat Lord Voldemort. (It's not a very good summary, but it's the best I could think of.)
There is a character in this story that I made up.
Chapter 1: "Please, Be Careful."
As she dashed through the Forbidden Forest along side of her childhood enemy, Hermione couldn't help but wonder how she had gotten into this predicament. The sky above boomed with thunder, and within minutes she was face-to-face with the one person she feared the most. Her stomach churned as the powerful, red eyes of the Dark Lord glared daggers into her soft, amber ones. Draco, who had plenty to say before, stood paralyzed by the sudden encounter of Voldemort.
Hermione's heavy breaths began to quicken when Voldemort swiftly pulled out his wand and pointed it directly at her. She could feel Draco's piercing stares as he witnessed the scene before him. Just as she thought Voldemort would strike her, he turned to Draco. "Crucio!"
Hermione gasped in terror as she watched the blond boy fall to the ground and thrash in pain. A surge of adrenaline overcame her as she spoke out against the vicious wizard. "Stop! Please, stop!" Even as the tears flowed down her cheeks, Voldemort continued to pleasurably watch the agony of the boy writhing on the cold terrain.
A sudden voice came from the darkness, "Listen to the girl. Let him go." To her surprise, Voldemort obeyed the calm and familiar voice. But when the figure emerged from the darkness, she could not believe her eyes.
One Month Earlier
"Hermione." Harry snapped his fingers in front of his distracted friend, who had been staring at the wall for five minutes while Harry was talking.
She looked up at him across the kitchen table, confused. "What?"
"Did you hear a word I just said?" Harry questioned with an annoyed tone.
The truth was, she hadn't heard what a lot of people had been saying for the past few weeks. Hermione tried to deny it, but the truth of the matter was that Dumbledore had been murdered, and no one took it lightly. One thing that she thought about was the toll it had taken on her best friend. Harry had to witness Dumbledore's death, and Hermione thought it strange that he could hide his feelings so well. She knew how much he was hurting. At night she could hear his sobs to their former Headmaster, and more recently, his godfather. Dealing with the death of one of the most important people in his life was hard enough, but losing another one should have been his breaking point. But he continued fighting with the Order of the Phoenix in hopes of destroying the man behind all of the deaths.
"Hermione! You're doing it again." Harry said angrily, pulling her from her thoughts.
"Sorry," she muttered.
He sighed, realizing the aggravation in his voice. "No, I'm sorry. I know that these past couple weeks have been hard on you, too." He paused, looking at her concerned face. "What are you thinking about?"
Hermione froze, not wanting to talk about her worries. "It's nothing."
Although she tried to hide her feelings, Harry knew better. "You can talk to me, Hermione. Come on, what's wrong?"
She debated with herself for a few minutes. Should she confess her concern for him? Despite being tough when it came to fighting and standing up for his friends, he didn't take sympathy and comforting very well. "I'm just worried about my parents."
It wasn't a total lie. She was devastated when she was told that she couldn't return home after everything that happened at Hogwarts. Yes, she felt a lot safer at the house on Grimmauld Place, but she would feel a lot better knowing that her parents were safe from the dangers of whatever creatures were roaming the Muggle world.
"Maybe you should go see them," he whispered as he looked around to make sure no one was around to hear him.
The first thing that they were told when they arrived at the house was that no one was allowed to leave, no exceptions. And Hermione knew that this was one of the exceptions that their guardians were talking about. The brainy teenager was never one to break the rules, but with Voldemort and the Death Eaters on the loose, all she ever did was worry. But if she could make sure that her parents were okay, that would be one less thing she would have to worry about.
She thought for what seemed like hours, contemplating the dangers of leaving the house unnoticed and unprotected. She stared at Harry, making sure that he was serious about letting her leave, and by the genuine look in his eyes, she could tell that he was.
Harry got up and walked around the table. When he reached Hermione, he put his hand out for her to take and said, "Let's go."
She took his hand, and they ran up to the drawing room, where they knew no one would be, and locked the door. Harry talked to Hermione about always being alert, lectured her about making sure she could get her wand, and stressed that she be quick. When Harry was done he pulled her into a hug and said, "Please, be careful."
Hermione tightened the hug around her best friend and replied, "I will." And with that, she disapparated out of the room, leaving Harry with doubts about what he had just done.
Now outside of her house, Hermione took a deep breath as she took long strides toward the door. Her hand froze around the doorknob as she realized that her once bright and cheery house was dark and depressing. The watch around her wrist read nine o'clock, and she found it strange that her parents would be asleep.
A shriek coming from inside the house caused her to throw the door open and race inside, pulling her wand out in the process. The shrieking stopped. The room she was in was pitch black. "Lumos!" she whispered in fear that someone other than her parents was in the house. Her eyes scanned the room, but she saw nothing out of the ordinary. Slowly, she made her way from room to room anticipating finding the source of the screech, but she had no luck.
With only one more room to check, her parents' room, she started to recognize the shriek. It was so distinct that she wondered why she didn't realize it earlier. The shriek belonged to none other than the infamous Bellatrix Lestrange. In fear of facing the black-haired monster, she turned around in hopes of escaping, when she found herself face-to-face with the person she was trying to avoid. "Looking for me, Mudblood?" An evil grin spread across Bellatrix's pale face. "Expelliarmus!" Hermione was thrown against the wall, losing her wand in the process. As she tried to lift her head, out the corner of her eye, she saw a silhouette behind her attacker. The mass of white-blond hair stood out to identify him as Draco Malfoy, Slytherin antagonizer, and nephew of Bellatrix. The grin on his face matched his aunt's as he stepped forward, revealing himself to her.
"Where are my parents?" She managed to choke out before Malfoy's wand was out and positioned right next to Bellatrix's.
"I don't think you're in any position to ask questions, Granger," Malfoy spat. His wand closed in on her, and it was touching her throat. "Where is the Order of the Phoenix?"
No words escaped her mouth as she glared at the person, who lived to insult her, as he now needed her for information. "Answer me!" He shouted, trying to intimidate her, but it didn't work. She remained silent.
That's when his ruthless aunt pushed him aside, taking control. In a conniving tone she said, "He asked you where the Order was." When Hermione still didn't say anything, Bellatrix screamed, "Crucio!"
The pain that overwhelmed the young witch was excruciating. Her head felt like she was about to burst, and she screamed for someone to help her. With her eyes slightly opened, she could see the satisfying look on Bellatrix's face, and, what looked like, fear in Malfoy's eyes. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut, hoping that the pain would soon end.
To her bewilderment, the pain slowly subsided. It was then that she noticed the new voices coming from all around her. Gradually opening her eyes, she recognized her two best friends running toward her, and the older members of the Order of the Phoenix expelling the Death Eaters from the house.