Updated as of October 24, 2018, 10:30 pm ET: correcting a serious time line error that I made...cleaned up the language...fixed a few typos...and I changed the rating to cover the violence that happened to the Order/Gryffindors at the beginning of the story!

Hermione knew it was getting late...that she should have gone to the market earlier in the day but she didn't have much money and she knew that at the very end of market day, she could often get meat and vegetables cheaply. Better yet, some shopkeepers would even dump what was left of their produce rather than pack it all up again, especially as at that time of the day, it was pretty prodded and battered.

There was another reason why she was out so late...she didn't want to be recognized. The Dark Lord had won the war and all her friends were dead. Even her parents were dead. They had been found before she could get them away to Australia. Apparently they had been given to Bellatrix as a "present". Damn that bitch to hell! She just hoped that they died right away, although she knew better...she knew they suffered but at least they were out of their misery. God, she hoped so! Hermione made a point of remembering how most of her side died...as long as she still remembered them, they were not forgotten.

The Weasley's were all dead...well except for Percy, who probably wished he was dead. He was currently the Dark Lord's "favorite". He had shared that duty with Harry Potter, who had survived but had lost the war. The Dark Lord got a little too enthusiastic one night shagging Harry, and Harry was found dead the next morning...in several pieces...all of which were fed to Nagini. As revenge for killing Bellatrix, Molly Weasley was roasted on a spit and then fed to Greyback...death was a blessing to her. It would have been to all the Weasley's.

The Dark Lord himself raped and tortured Ginny repeatedly before tiring of her and handing her over to his Death Eaters for "fun and games". It took her a month to die. Bill, Fleur and their daughter were given to Walden Macnair as a "present" for services well done. Bill and Victoire were long dead...Fleur was still alive...barely. After some fun time with the Death Eaters, the twins and Ron were castrated and sent to the brothels in Knockturn Alley...they lasted almost a year. And because Charlie was so "strong and fit", he was sent to the "specialists" brothel, again in Knockturn Alley. Two of his clients got a little rambunctious with the former dragon-tamer trying to see if he was flame proof...he wasn't. As for poor Arthur, he was walled up alive in a broom closet...it would have taken days for him to die of thirst...not that anyone was able to know for sure...

And they weren't the only ones. Luna and Neville had been caught. Neville was fed...feet first...to Nagini and Luna was sentenced to be a Death Eater prostitute...she lasted almost a year. The Patil twins were given as a present to Antonin Dolohov for his excellence in supporting the Dark Lord. Dolohov tortured his little pets into insanity and then Avada'd them as they had become "boring". Minerva was burned at the stake...just outside the Ministry for Magic, and when the Dark Lord learned of Snape's treachery, well he had been hung, drawn, and quartered. Pieces of him hung for months outside the Ministry but no one dared take them down.

Oh and those Malfoy's? When the Dark Lord found that Narcissa had lied to him, he didn't kill her...instead he stripped all three Malfoy's of their magic and then sent them to the brothel reserved strictly for Death Eaters. Lovely Luscious Lucius was very popular...he could do tricks that no other prostitute could do...Draco and his mother became quite popular with the perverts that liked "tag-team" action. Dolohov himself requested their services on a weekly basis...he quite enjoyed shagging the wife and son of his former Death Eater comrade...in front of said Death Eater...he loved make them beg to be hard shagged. Hermione had heard one of the Death Eaters talking about the fate of the Malfoys and she shuddered!

And as for all the Gryffindor's, Hufflepuff's, and Ravenclaws who supported the light side, she refused to reflect on their fate. All she had learned was that the wizarding brothels had been unusually well-stocked that year! The rest of the professors had been rounded up and burned at the stake along side Minerva. And now Hogwarts was a single-house school...all Slytherins. It had been renamed the "Voldemort Academy for the Education of Pureblood Wizards and Witches" and all the teachers were either Death Eaters or their relatives...all vetted personally by the Dark Lord himself.

And so now she was all alone...all the rest of her side were now dead...and other than herself, there wasn't a Gryffindor left in Britain...all were dead or had fled overseas. She was all alone on Christmas Eve! It was so hard to be alone at Christmas thinking of all her former friends and family...and that was why she was out so late...well after dark, that is, hoping not to be recognized as she was "Public Enemy #1" AND she needed food. She hadn't had bread or potatoes or porridge, much less meat or sugar, in over a month. So she sneaked out of her cabin which was buried deep in the woods, to be among the Muggles in a small, local market town. She also was hoping perhaps to hear some Christmas carols and perhaps see a nativity play...IF, it was safe enough to do so! When it came right down to it, she was craving human comfort...peaceful, normal people doing normal, everyday things...was it so much to ask?

Hermione was dressed in all black...heavy black woolen trousers, with long black thermal underwear underneath, with a sheathed knife strapped to her leg that was tucked into regulation police boots, a black turtle neck, a heavy, belted, man's jumper that hung down to her knees, a wool scarf and fingerless gloves, a toque, and a long, black, man's anorak that covered any trace that she was female and hung down somewhere around her knees...shabby black so she blended into the shadows and didn't look too tempting a morsel to any of the inhabitants of that little market town. And for that very reason, she didn't wash regularly...if she smelled "off" and looked "grimy or grungy", hopefully any man hanging around the market that late at night would get one whiff of her and move on...or so she hoped.

Nearly all the stall keepers were gone and Hermione quickly stowed away all the abandoned produce into her backpack and into the sack she carried with her. The butcher was closing down his shop for Christmas when he caught sight of Hermione...she looked so young and hopeless that he couldn't resist the urge to give her something for Christmas. He wrapped up his last raw chicken in a piece of plastic and gave it to her, along with a loaf of stale bread, a scrap of butter, a piece of cheese, and two potatoes! Hermione couldn't believe it...she was ecstatic and thanked the butcher over and over again. She couldn't remember what cheese and butter tasted like...it had been so long since she last had any...and a whole chicken just for her? Hermione quickly stowed away her bounty and then decided to make haste while her luck held. As much as she wanted to be around other people, she was pushing her luck...she had her Christmas dinner and she should leave while she still could.

She was quickly exiting the market when she ran into some local stragglers who decided to have a little fun with her. They knocked her over into the snow and two of them were holding her down while a third was trying to pull her pants down. Raped for Christmas Eve and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Yes, she still had her wand but if she used it, every Death Eater in wizarding Britain would know she was still alive and where she was...it was much better to just pretend to be a Muggle and let it happen. The irony of it all...safer to be raped than to defend herself. Still, that didn't mean that she couldn't struggle. Screaming was out though as she didn't know who she might attract if she screamed.

All of a sudden a huge mountain loomed overhead...a huge mountain of a man. "What do you think you are doing?" he said while picking up two of them and throwing them in a snow drift. He lifted up the man who had been trying to rape her and slammed him into a wall...that thug slid down the wall, landing unconscious on the street. The mountain said to her, "Run, now. Get out of here!" She covered herself again, grabbed her bags and started to scram.

And then she heard a loud oomph. Those scumbag would-be rapists had friends...friends who had come to their rescue when they had been pulled off of her. One of them had a brick in his hand and he had the mountain of a man at his feet, doing his best to bash his brains out. That man saved her life...she couldn't just walk away and leave her rescuer to die. So, she did what she had resolved she wouldn't do when she herself had faced being raped. She screamed...loudly...and the butcher came running. He yelled to the thugs to get out of there or he was calling for help. The cowardly thugs ran.

Hermione ran over to the mountain...he was unconscious and his forehead was bleeding. She stood up and thanked the butcher for coming to their aid. She said that the mountain was her older brother whom she hadn't seen for a while and she would get him home safe, if he would help lift him up so he could lean on her. The butcher was sure she couldn't manage to drag the mountain anywhere but Hermione was stronger than she looked...that, and she was determined. She tied her bags around his neck and putting one arm around his waist, she and the butcher hoisted the mountain to his feet and she slowly made her way out of the market, half-dragging him along with her, waving goodbye to the kind butcher!

Once she was out of sight, she muttered a weightlessness charm over her rescuer and then he was manageable, if a bit awkward. Although it had taken Hermione only about an hour to get into town, dragging the mountain along with her made the return trip take twice that long. Finally she made it back to her little cabin, deep in the woods. Once she got him inside, she hung up her dripping clothing on the back of the cabin door. She took a moment to rest before she got a good look at the him. She was worried because he hadn't woken up yet. She discovered that his clothes were soaking wet...right down to his skin, Averting her eyes, she stripped him naked and wrapped him up in her best wool blanket and tucked him into her bed.

Then she lit a small fire in the fireplace with her fire starter, and put a kettle on the hook over the fire, filling the kettle with a bucket full of water for washing. She then drew some other buckets near to the flames so that water would warm too...so she could then bathe and be clean for Christmas Day. She also needed to bathe the sticky blood off of her guest so she could see who had saved her life and whom she was hosting overnight.

While she was waiting for the fire to respond, she quickly sorted through her treasure trove...all the abandoned food she had gotten from the market, plus the chicken and other goodies she had received from that very kind butcher. Soup, she thought. She would simmer the chicken and vegetables for broth and then serve that for supper, pouring the broth, the vegetables, and the chicken over her dry, stale bread. With a sprinkling of cheese on top, it would be a feast for a king. She just hoped she had enough food to feed that rather large man. Baked apples! They would help feed him...she could put a few on top of the dutch oven and let them cook while the soup was simmering. She might even have a tiny bit of sugar left to put on them. Why not...it was Christmas!

Finally, the water was warm enough to bathe her guest. Before she touched him, she took off all her clothing except for her panties because she had learned the hard way that if she got blood on it, she would never get the blood stains out (especially since she couldn't do much laundry in the freezing depths of winter)! Then she put on the faded man's t-shirt that she usually wore to bed. And then picking up the small pail with the hot water in and grabbing some rags, she headed back to her bed and her guest! Sitting down beside her unknown guest, she noticed that he was still unconscious. Reaching down, she dipped her rag into the hot water and slowly and carefully, she rinsed all the blood from his hair…which proved to be prolific, long, and dirty blond...and as she washed the blood off of his face, she found herself looking into the now open, bright blue eyes of one Thorfinn Rowle...the one person who was kind to her, took care of her, and defended her against bullies when she was at Hogwarts...BUT now was a Death Eater who was dedicated to capturing her for torture and execution. Shit! She wondered how long she had to live.

Thorfinn had one hell of a headache. The last thing he remembered was that he had left a pub and walking through the empty market found some thugs trying to rape some kid. He remembered pulling them off of her and then something hurt his head...the next thing he knew he was...where was he? Looking around, he didn't recognize where he was. He did know he was in some sort of bed with a woman partly bending over him wiping the blood off of his face and hair. On the far wall, was a small fireplace...the sole light for wherever it was that he was. There was a kettle on the hearth and four or five pails surrounding it. There was a chest by the bed, presumably for clothing, a cupboard, a table with two benches, a water pump, some hooks on the walls, some books on a shelf, and two dilapidated armchairs on either side of the fire place...and that was that. It didn't look like whoever lived there was magical...so who was he with, why was he there, and where was he? One more question...why did the woman seem so shocked to see him? So many questions and not a bloody answer in sight. He spoke, "Where am I and what happened to me...and who are you? You look familiar...do I know you?"

Hermione took her time replying. "I was in the market last night and some thugs attacked me. You were coming out of the pub when you saw what was happening and you pulled them off of me and told me to run. The thugs had some friends who came running their assistance, and one of them knocked you out with a brick, at least I think it was a brick. I started to scream and the kind butcher who gave me a chicken threatened to call the authorities so they vamoosed. You weren't conscious so I told the butcher that you were my older brother whom I hadn't seen for a long time and that I would see that you got home safely. He helped me pick you up and I dragged you all the way back here. Where you are, is in my cabin. I won't be telling you where, for obvious reasons. You are Thorfinn Rowle and I am Hermione Granger...and you are going to kill me." She looked disheartened. "Just one thing...do it quick...snap my neck and say you found me like that. I saved you from the thugs so please, don't take me back to be tortured to death. I will do anything you want...anything...if you kill me and don't take me back to the Dark Lord."

Damnation...Hermione Bloody Granger! What was he going to do now? One thing for sure...he was in a mess. How could he kill the one witch he had his eye on at Hogwarts...the one whom he would have married if his family hadn't insisted he become a Death Eater? And to marry her now...would be signing both their death warrants. If he handed her over, it would mean her death and it would destroy him. And since she saved his life, he now owed her a life debt! Ah...that's it. Thorfinn stated firmly, "I am NOT killing you, Hermione Granger...not now...not ever. I need to say something and I need your word that you won't say a word, no matter what I say, until I tell you it is OK, nod once for yes!"

Hermione nodded once.

Thorfinn continued, "I don't know how much you know about magical law or tradition...but when you save someone's life as you did mine, you create something called a 'life debt'. Nod if you are with me so far." Hermione nodded and he continued. "Because you saved my life, I now have a burden placed on me that you must acknowledge and state what it is that you want to satisfy the debt. Now we both know that if I take you back, they will kill you...and if I don't and when I go back, they find out that I let you go, I will be killed...tortured first...possibly fed to Greyback. Neither of us wants that. But if you acknowledge the life debt that has been created and tell me that you want me to marry you by blood oath, then I am bound to do so and I will not be able to take any action that would harm you as it would harm me too...the blood oath would see to that. So nod if you are with me and nod a second time if you will do as I have outlined." Again Hermione nodded but this time, it was twice. "Now you can speak and for both our sakes, I hope you do it right."

Hermione sat up straight and said, "I Hermione Jean Granger having saved your life earlier this evening declare that a life debt has been created and to satisfy this debt, I require you to marry me by a permanent, marriage contract, via blood oath. Do you accept the life debt?"

Holding on to her hand Thorfinn replied, "I Thorfinn Rowle do honor the life debt and I will wed you by blood oath, for time and all eternity. Do you have a knife, Hermione?" Hermione nodded and went to fetch it. Thorfinn went first. Slashing his palm, he declared, "I Thorfinn Rowle declare that I am married to Hermione Jean Granger, by blood oath, to have and to hold above all others and all things, for time and all eternity." Hermione took the knife and slashed her palm, pressing it against Thorfinn's bleeding hand, stating, "I Hermione Jean Granger declare that I am married to Thorfinn Rowle, by blood oath, to have and to hold above all others and all things, for time and all eternity."

And as their blood mingled, they jointly said, "So mote it be!" Something magical happened just then...something unexpected...as their blood mingled together, it started to flow through their respective bodies, surging like a river as each other's magic joined and merged with the other. As their magics combined and swirled around them, Hermione's appearance started to change...she regained her lost weight and her hair was no longer a tangled rat's nest. The dark circles under her eyes and the sallow appearance of her face was replaced by a peaches and cream complexion. She no longer looked haggard.

She wasn't the only one to change though...as her magic flowed through him, he started to look younger again and more innocent...and then when it reached his left arm, her magic circled around his dark mark and flowed over and under it...and then the dark mark disappeared for good! Thorfinn couldn't believe his eyes. He whispered the spell that would heal their hands and then he put his arms around Hermione and saying, "Oh, my little love, you have saved me...saved us both. I am no longer a Death Eater and as far as the Dark Lord knows, I am dead. Oh, my precious little one...my beloved! No longer a Death Eater AND now married to my angel...what a wonderful Christmas present!" And then he pulled her into his lap and covered her with kisses. Kisses that Hermione eagerly returned. That night, Hermione slept well...in the arms of her much loved husband!

The next morning, Thorfinn said to Hermione that it was much too dangerous for them to remain where they were. Sooner or later, the Dark Lord would realize he was missing and even if he couldn't locate him via the dark mark, he would send out a search party. Thorfinn mentioned that his family had a family home overseas and there they should be safe to settle down and raise a family. Hermione wasn't particularly tied to her little cabin under the trees...and she thought that it would be nice to live somewhere that they could have food and warmth AND not have to worry about the resident Dark Lord. It took Hermione all of 30 seconds to pack up the few possessions she owned as well as her uneaten food, shrink them, and put the trunk in her pocket. Kissing Thorfinn passionately, she said, "Let's go!" And off they went to live happily ever after in a land where there was no Dark Lord, just a place where they could rear their children in peace and harmony.

The End!