Prologue;
As the brisk autumn wind howled and moaned it's ancient lament, the young girl standing in the Astronomy tower felt a shiver encompass her frame. The feel of it's invading caresses served to remind the young woman of her humanity, her fragility, and her ever present ability to feel. A small shudder visibly passed through her as her eyes swept across the grounds below her. Today was a day of grieving: Albus Dumbledore had fallen - the greatest wizard of his time was murdered in cold blood. The world as she knew it would never be the same. Below her, she saw the huddled mass of students and teachers alike mourning the loss of their beloved headmaster. Hermione clutched her waist desperately as the image of his silhouette falling from the exact window she was looking out of seemed to unrelentingly plague her thoughts. Her mood in contrast to the rest of the schools population wasn't offset by the mans death, but by the harrowing information she had been saddled with in lieu of his abrupt demise.
The sky was a canvas of bleak grey and charcoal smudges. A low rumble of thunder resonated throughout the school grounds - it was as if even the weather reflected the severity and bleakness of the current situation.
With Albus gone, she was unsure what she was left with. A stubborn and naïve reluctance to accept the events of the day left her battling with her more logical, calculating side. In some ways, she felt as though with his death, the wizarding world would suffer an injury in which it would never recover. He stood for hope, and above all else, the light. With the beacon of the light side gone, she most certainly felt as though this war was already lost. The old coot was the only person alive who had known the full truth about his old student Tom, and the circumstances in which his downfall could be achievable. Her logical side however, was racing at a million miles per hour. This was because, even on the brink of death, he had thought to confide in the one person he thought could carry on his task.
That person just so happened to be Hermione Granger. Frowning deeply, she raised her index finger and thumb to pinch the bridge of her nose - a habit she'd subconsciously picked up from years of seeing her father stressing over figures after a long day at work. The great mans words still rang clearly through her head, and as she inhaled a deep breath of the autumn air, she was once again reminded of the information she had been saddled with.
Of the numerous things the later headmaster had been called; cold, callous and calculating were not among them, - although she know knew said things to be true of the man. Without a doubt, it couldn't be said that he hadn't sacrificed his own life to the task of defeating Tom, however it was when Hermione thought of everything else he had sacrificed during his life that made her think of him in such a way. The man was brilliant, yes - however he was also cold. His usage of people as pawns was something Hermione had always disagreed with, and it was with the information she had been given today that set her opinion in stone: Albus Dumbledore was a cruel, and apathetic man.
Throughout her years beside Harry, she had witnessed first hand the old gits habit to objectify people and exploit their talents to serve his own purposes - all under the false pretense that he'd only ever done so to keep the masses safe - however his methods were questionable at best. Today she had become aware of his using of Severus - something Hermione wasn't at all surprised to hear. She was however, surprised when he'd recounted some of the horrific things he'd be forced to do under the headmasters orders - including destroying any chance of ever leading a life of normalcy, due to his inevitable task of taking the mans life instead of Draco. This angered her, and left her mind and heart alike reeling at the thought that one man could so easily destroy countless lives all for the sake of using them as pawns. In this respect, Hermione mused, Albus was just as bad as Voldemort. And undoubtedly in many ways he was much worse. You-Know-Who was at least honest in his intentions, whereas the bearded professor was forever claiming to do so with the wizarding worlds best interests at heart.
Hermione now knew better. He had spun a web of lies and deceit - irrevocably condemning numerous innocent people to a life of strife and struggle - including herself, Harry and Ron. The thing that left her reeling the most, however, was the mans exploitation of one Bellatrix Lestrange.