a/n I own nothing relating to the Harry Potter franchise

It was the summer going into Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts, and things in the Wizarding world were worse than ever before—worse than people ever imagined they could be. Voldemort was gaining followers with every passing day, for when faced with the choice between life and death, people will almost always pick life and refusing to follow Voldemort when confronted by him or one of the Death Eaters meant instant death. In addition, Voldemort had taken to attacking some of the world's most well known muggle landmarks. Two months ago, the Eiffel tower had burst into flames. Weeks later, the Statue of Liberty cracked and crumbled to the ground. It was only three days ago when two planes flew into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City, killing thousands of people. Muggles explained the catastrophes in the only way they knew how—blaming them on an electrical shortage, an earthquake, and terrorism. What they couldn't explain, however, was the storm that appeared before each event, and the odd formation some of the clouds seemed to take. Some would describe it as a skull and a snake. No one in the muggle world could explain what it meant.

Hermione knew what it meant, and it terrified her. While she had always been brave, after all she was a Gryffindor for a reason, Hermione hated seeing the chaos and destruction that was becoming an every day part of life for both wizards and muggles alike around the world. Voldemort's wrath was no longer limited to simply England, but had first spread to the rest of Europe, and then to America as well. The rest of the world was cowering in fear; wizarding communities everywhere dreaded the day when Voldemorts reign of terror would begin destroying their homes and killing their loved ones too. What terrified Hermione most of all was the fact that she felt like there was nothing she could do to stop it. After all, her best friends had left her.

The Sunday of the second week of summer, Hermione had woken up at the Burrow, only to find that Harry and Ron had disappeared during the night. The only thing they left behind was a note.

Dearest Hermione,

We're so sorry we had to leave without saying goodbye, but we knew that would only make our leaving harder. We know you're probably furious with us right now, seeing as we didn't take you with us. We couldn't let you come with us. You mean far too much to both of us for us to risk losing you should Death Eaters discover our location and try to ambush us. What we need you to do, Hermione, is to keep researching the horocruxes. Find every bit of information you can on them, especially the different methods of destroying them. Also stay alert for any signs that Voldemort could have created more than 6 of those damn objects. Hedwig is at the burrow. Send information to us via her; she'll know where to find us. Tell Molly we are sorry we had to leave without saying goodbye, but we knew she would try to stop us.

We love you,

Harry and Ron

P.S. Hermione- Please tell Ginny I love her and I'll see her once I know that we can live in peace again. Best- Harry.

Hermione sighed, thinking back on the memory and the letter. After first reading the letter, Hermione had half the mind to burn it, but she couldn't bring herself to drop it in the fire. After all, who knows when she would hear from her friends again. It had been a month since that letter, and no one had heard from the two boys, nor had any clue about their whereabouts.

Despite the lack of information about Harry and Ron, a lot of information regarding other matters pertaining to the war had emerged in the last few weeks. The most disturbing and confusing of which pertained to the Malfoy family. The past week, Hermione had shown up at an Order meeting only to find the three Malfoys sitting at the kitchen table. Hermione's brow furrowed as she thought of the memory.

Hermione frowned as she entered the headquarters. Normally before a meeting, the kitchen was full of noise, and some Weasley twin pranks were antagonizing the portraits in the hallway. This time, it was completely silent. Wary, Hermione pulled out her wand and entered the kitchen.

She was shocked at what she saw.

The Order was gathered around the kitchen table as usual, but instead of discussing plans for attacks, they all gazed warily at the three blonde figures near the end.

Hermione's mouth dropped open. The order had willing allowed three Death Eaters into their headquarters, into one of their meetings none the less! Hermione searched the room frantically, looking for signs of the Imperius curse or a polyjuice potion, but was unable to find any. That just made her even more nervous.

"Hermione, do close your mouth, the slack-jawed look is unbecoming. Come join us." Professor McGonagall snapped.

Hermione closed her mouth and took a seat, turning to Kingsley, hoping for an expectation.

After five minutes, Kingsley looked around the room, stood up, and sighed.

"Hello friends. I'm sure many of you are wondering what prompted this meeting. I'm sure you're even more confused as to why the Malfoy family has joined us. Well, I'm afraid I have not been completely honest with everyone, and it's time I do so. Voldemort is gaining power every day, and we're calling on all of our resources in order to regroup and strategize. And there is one family that is essential to this planning, for they have classified knowledge of Voldemorts plans, thoughts, and actions."

Kingsley sighed and looked down at his glasses, dreading the outrage that was about to ensue.

"You see, the Malfoys are more than members of Voldemort's inner circle. They are spies for the order."

The last thing Hermione remembered seeing was Draco's smug smirk as he turned to gage her reaction. Then everything went black.

a/n Hello all. I hope you liked the first chapter. I haven't written in about 3 years, so I'm a little rusty. Please review!