Author's Note: An idea I've been playing around with for a little while. I hope you guys like it! The whole story is going to have lyrics from Daughtry's new album, Baptized. Just letting you guys know!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of Daughtry's music!

And if the weight of the world is on you now

But you know you can turn it all around again

Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired?

If you ain't finding love but you're still not giving up

Can you witness?

If you're down and up but you still wanna live it up

Can you witness?

And if the weight of the world is on you now

But you know you can turn it all around again

Can I get a witness?

Yeah

Can I get a witness?

Yeah

~Witness~ Daughtry

Hermione Granger sat in Kingsley Shacklebolt's office, looking at him with an incredulous expression on his face. He stared back at her, patiently waiting for her answer. Hermione opened and closed her mouth a few times like a fish, no sound coming out. She took another moment to collect her thoughts before speaking.

"You're asking me to give up my entire life, do you realize that?" It wasn't a rude question, just a straightforward one.

Kingsley nodded. "Hermione, you really are the only one who can do this. We wouldn't ask you unless there was no other way."

Hermione shut her eyes and twisted the engagement ring on her finger. She took a deep breath. "I don't know, Kingsley. I don't know if I can do that to Ron."

"Hermione," She looked up at him. "we both know how this is going to go down. You're either going to do this willingly or we'll be forcing you."

Hermione glared at him.

"We both know that your life isn't going the way you planned it would. You're not sure marrying Ron is what you really want but because of everyone's expectations your willing to settle. I'm offering you a way out of that, Hermione." Kingsley told her.

"I know, I just don't know if I can live with myself…"

"Could you live with yourself if you married him? I think that's the real question here."

Hermione stared down at the ring on her finger. "No." She answered quietly.

"Then do what we're asking of you, Hermione. This way, everyone wins."

"And if I don't?"

"Then we'll break your wand and banish you from the Wizarding World."
Hermione gasped. She didn't believe it.

"We're that desperate, Hermione. So are you going to do it willingly or not?"

"I am." She answered after a moment of silence.

"Great, I'll send the owl to them right away. You can wait in the lounge until they arrive." He dismissed her.

Hermione rose from her seat and silently slipped out the door.

An hour later Hermione once again sat in Kingsley's office, this time with four Slytherins. Blaise Zabini, Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy, and Astoria Greengrass were also there.

"I assume the four of you have heard about our plan." Kingsley addressed them.

They nodded. Blaise Zabini leaned forward and asked, "Are you sure this is going to work?"

Kingsley ran a large hand down his tired face. "No, we don't. But as of right now this is the best plan we have. Our world is in shambles, if you five can succeed I think this will be a step in the right direction."

"Only a step?" Draco Malfoy didn't looked happy when he heard that. "You told us this was going to fix everything."

"Well, we can never really be sure can we?" Kingsley asked him calmly.

"I guess not." Hermione said softly biting her lip and looking out the window. The four Slytherins looked at her curiously and noticed she was close to tears.

"Well, if anyone can do this we can." Astoria Greengrass announced with a determined look on her face. "We owe the wizarding world this, don't we guys?" She looked at her companions sharply.

"Yeah, we do." Theodore Nott voiced his agreement. Draco and Blaise only nodded and stared at the floor.

Hermione turned back to the Minister. "So what do we do first?"

"First, you have to break off your engagement with Ron." Hermione shut her eyes and sat back in her chair, Kingsley gave her a sympathetic look. "Once that happens we give the press a few weeks to get over it. Then, we move on to the second phase."

"What's phase two?" Blaise asked curiously.

"That's where Astoria comes in. Somehow, she and Hermione have to become friends. I don't care how you two make it work, but you have to get it done. We'll assess where we stand once that's done." Kingsley informed them.

"So far it sounds pretty easy." Astoria commented, glancing briefly at Hermione. She didn't give an indication that she'd heard what they were talking about.

Finally, Hermione opened her eyes and leaned forward. "It won't work. They'll never believe that I just randomly chose to leave Ron. Not after everything that's happened."

Kinsley's eyes laced together in confusion and he sighed. "We didn't think about that. Somehow, we have to give you a good reason to leave him."

"I know." Draco spoke up. "We have to frame him doing something that Hermione would never be able to forgive."

"Like what?" Blaise asked, clearly not following Draco's thought process.

"We catch him cheating." Draco stood up. "There's a bar that I've gone to a few times on my travels. Isn't Ron going on some big European tour with the Cannons?" Draco directed his question at Hermione.

"Yes, he leaves tonight." Hermione told him.

"And he's sure to pass that bar on the tour, it's very popular among Quidditch players. All we have to do is make sure he has enough to drink that he does something incredibly stupid and with that small brain of his it'll be incredibly easy to set up. All we have to do is get someone to tip Rita Skeeter off. It'll be on the front page for weeks." Draco explained.

Hermione chuckled softly. "Draco's right. It's almost a perfect plan really."

"What's wrong with it?" Draco snapped.

"Who's going to tip Rita Skeeter off? It has to be someone believable, someone close to Ron." Hermione stood up to face him.

"What about the Boy Who Lived himself?" Blaise suggested. "Rita would go to the end of the world and back on a tip from him."

"No, Harry would rather handle things quietly, he hates the press and everyone knows it. No, it has to be better than that." Hermione told them.

"Then it has to be someone who's close to him but would really want Ron to get caught. Someone that's clearly after Hermione's attention." Astoria said.

"Oliver Wood." Theodore Nott spoke up. "For the last four months the press has been convinced he has his eyes on Hermione and he even informed Rita Skeeter that he's going to get her, one way or another."

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked him.

"I read the Daily Prophet just like everyone else." Theodore told her.

"Oh." She said quietly.

"But who's going to tip Oliver Wood off?" Draco asked them, bringing them back to the subject at hand.

"Hermione should." Astoria eye's shone with excitement. "She could arrange a lunch with him, make sure the press sees them together, and all she has to do is plant a seed of doubt in Oliver's mind. He'll be dying to inform Rita and sweep in to pick up of the pieces of Hermione's shattered heart! It's perfect!"

Hermione nodded in agreement. "I'll write to him tonight and ask him to lunch tomorrow. The sooner the better."

Kingsley was smiling at the five of them. "Perfect. I'll see you when you've completed phase two."