Hermione sighed. Everything was going wrong. So many lost. The Light Side was losing and the Dark Side was slowly gaining more and more followers. And then... then they had lost Harry. Their last hope had gone. But even in the shadow of this event there was a light. There were no more Horcruxes.

The 26 year year old stopped. Her black robes swirled around her in the wind. Slowly her hand went to wand and in the process showed the red sash that marked her as an assassin.

Over the 8 years the war had made new personalities show and Hermione had realised that she wasn't only good at strategy but at killing as well. She wasn't particularly proud of the fact that she was skilled in that area but she was necessary to help win the war. After the Battle of Hogwarts Hermione had been approached by an organisation called 'The Phoenix's Sword'. She had not even known such an organisation existed. She had believed until then that The Order had been the only resistance. The Phoenix's Sword was mainly an organisation of assassins but it organised a lot of missions for the Order. The organisation asked her if she would join the assassins and Hermione had accepted wanting to play a bigger role in the war. And now here she was, after 7 years of making her way up, Hermione was now 2nd in command. She had killed several Death Eaters including Peter Pettigrew and Lucius Malfoy.

A bang sounded and Hermione pointed her wand in the direction of the sound.

"Hermione, it's me." Came Tonk's voice. After the death of Remus, Tonks had lost the life and energy she used to have. Her hair no longer changed colour, it stayed a mourning black. Her eyes stayed a dull brown and they looked as though they were going to cry.

"What are you doing Tonks? I could have killed or in the very least stunned you." Hermione asked shocked.

"I have a message. It's from your group. We couldn't risk the Dark getting their hands on it and Ginny is in no state to deliver messages." replied Tonks.

Ginny, like Hermione, Ron and Harry had become an animagus. Her Kestrel shape had allowed The Order and The Sword to send messages to others quickly. But after Harry's death Ginny had become careless and the Dark side had become suspicious of the Kestrel. And now the Order had to take more risks to deliver the messages.

Hermione took the parchment Tonks had handed her. The moment the letter left her hand Tonks disappeared into the shadows and back to Order HQ.

After a quick look at the blank paper, Hermione decided it would be best to go back to her quarters.

She passed Diagon Alley and arrived at Lascaux Alley. It was a small street, with few shops open. Mostly it was just the back of the apartments that resided in Diagon Alley. Hermione glanced around making sure no one saw her. She slipped behind a dustbin to her right.

"Locortimitus" she whispered and quickly took the stairs that had opened beneath her.

She arrived in a big hall like room. On one side people were working on missions and data for the assassins. On the other side a group of around 100 were working out new moves and testing out new spells.

She passed by the group training and saw her black skinned friend.

"Hi Poison." said Hermione.

Everyone in The Phoenix's Sword had a nickname. Only a few knew the real name of someone else. Hermione knew a few because she was 2nd in command but only the leader of the organisation knew everyone's name. It was for protection. Hermione even knew some who changed their appearance every week or so. Hermione's name was Dagger because she often used one to kill her victims, just like Poison who preferred the more subtle approach of poison. No one had more than 3 friends in the organisation, again for safety. The less you were attached the less you got hurt.

Hermione's first friend had been Cut-throat. He also used daggers and had been assigned to help her finish her training with the weapon. Hermione had already started using the dagger at Hogwarts. The Trio and their friends had decided that the last year would be spent preparing in any way possible for the war. They had all become animagi and learnt how to use a muggle weapon in the chance that they lost their wands. The Trio had also learnt how to use the killing curse as they knew they would need it even though it was an Unforgivable.

Cut-Throat was 3 years older than Hermione and had helped her a lot. His green eyes often reminded her of Harry and he had helped her get through the loss of her best friend. For a while they had dated but they decided that it was better just being friends. Since then they had become very good friends and Hermione knew she could always count on him.

Poison hadn't been in the organisation for long. She had come over from Africa and had immediately joined the Light Side. She had started in The Order, but had been quickly transferred to The Sword. This was her 2nd year and she had already killed 1 high placed Death Eater, Bellatrix Black as well as a few lower placed ones. She and Hermione had quickly become friends and they often did some big missions together.

Hermione wasn't sure where she was with SwordDancer. He couldn't really be called a friend. He was the leader of The Phoenix's Sword and Hermione had only seen him a few times. However they were closer than just 1st and 2nd in command. Hermione had often let her feelings out on him and they would have a quick fight which would let them unleash the anger that they had bottled up. It helped them both and after they would sit and have a quick drink talking about the others in the organisation.

Hermione started when she realised Poison was talking to her.

"He's already killed 6 members. They say he's really good at disappearing without leaving a trace."

"I'm sorry who are you talking about Poison?"

"Draco Malfoy, the son of Lucius Malfoy. They say he's looking for someone. You killed his father didn't you? Maybe he wants revenge."

"I went to school with him. He wasn't that good at fighting. Are you sure it's him?"

"Yes I'm sure. No one wants him. And everyone's wondering who will get him"

"Who do they think?"

"Dagger, they think it'll be you." replied Poison.

"Oh that's just great!" Hermione said in a sarcastic voice. "Well I have to go. I have a mission." she continued showing the paper. " And we'll see if it's me."

Hermione made her way through the doors and headed towards her rooms. She sat on her bed and opened the paper. Taking out a pot of ink she dipped her finger in and pressed it against the paper. As the fingerprint faded into the parchment writing appeared. As Hermione read her mission she groaned. It seemed that once again the members of The Sword were right. The paper read:

Mission: Capture.

Target: Draco Malfoy.