Masked Intentions

by punkmoony

Hermione wanted to help and Draco wanted to escape. Although it won't be as easy as either might have hoped. They must follow in their late Potions Masters footsteps and take the Dark Mark to help the Order and bring down the one at the head of the war, Lord Voldemort.

1. Introduction

Three years had passed since the battle of Hogwarts. Two years, eleven months, and 12 days, to be exact, and the war was still raging on.

For the Order this meant they always had to be on their toes as the attacks had recently begun to fluctuate in frequency and pattern. Weeks would pass without a single sighting of an attack and then just when everything seem settled an entire neighborhood would be burned down.

The members of the Order were in a panic for the next assault and were constantly trying to prepare for whatever might be thrown at them.

Remus Lupin had sent his wife, Nymphadora Tonks and their son Teddy into permanent hiding, employing himself as the secret keeper of the little house the two occupied. Arthur and Molly Weasley worked endlessly setting up wards on the Burrow. After the previous attack they had managed to rebuild the home as best as they could but the state of the already dilapidated residence just looked sadder. Still, the couple were doing what they could to maintain it.

For Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley, they had become more or less nomads. They made sure to stay in touch with the other members but they were constantly uprooting themselves after a few weeks in one place to run damage control in another.

Hermione Granger, on the other hand, had opted to stay behind. Opted being an exaggerated term in the matter. In fact, Harry and Ron had all but forced her to remain with the rest of the Order. She had fought tooth and nail with them, but in the end she agreed as long as she could still be of use where she was. Unfortunately for her, that end of the bargain had yet to be held up.

Her friends had left three months ago and here she was, still sitting on her ass. Her frustration was growing steadily and she felt the urge to write a strongly worded letter to Harry and Ron. But she knew they couldn't do anything about it. And that thought made her even more annoyed.

Hermione had recently taken to pacing her flat's floor, waiting for any news from anyone. And it was during one of her daily walks that a silvery mist in the shape of a phoenix floated into her kitchen and spoke the words she had been anxiously awaiting.

"We request your services Miss Granger."