Title: Thank God for Voldemort
Summary: "Thank the gods for Voldemort and his evil ways." Hermione shuddered with the sense of déjà vu.—Hungry for revenge a delirious Lucius is after Hermione, with a magical list of people willing to protect her she ends up in some of the least expected houses.
Rated: M—sexual situations, language, and violence
Chapter 1-The List
Hermione hovered nervously in front of Dumbledore's desk. It was awkward for her to be here in July when the empty halls were haunting. The absence of even the ghosts played with her mind and made her see things that were not there. But Dumbledore had summoned her and she was glad to see the old man, alive and well. The ruse he had pulled with Snape making everyone believe he was dead had the Order in an uproar.
"I am sure you are aware of Lucius's release from Azkaban?" Dumbledore regarded the young witch kindly, trying to give her a sense of the urgency of such a revelation.
Two years after the Final Battle, Lucius had managed to wriggle his way out of his entire sentence on a mere technicality, "Yes." Oh she was aware alright. If she could, she would put him back in Azkaban herself.
"I'm afraid he is not a very happy man right now."
Huge understatement, Hermione scoffed. "Good."
Dumbledore gave a small smile, "I wish it were that simple Hermione, but you sent him to jail and you were the one to kill Narcissa. He's convinced you're responsible for Draco's conversion to the Light."
There was a pause. Hermione's eyes widened with realization, "Are you saying he's after me?"
The Headmaster nodded, "He's very intent on revenge. Dead set on torturing you to death."
Bloody fantastic, She thought,"But what do I do? I can't fight him alone. Surely he'll find me no matter where I hide."
"I have already solved that problem. I pulled together an extensive list of people who are very willing to help you. They will hide you in their houses until he can be stopped. Their homes have been guarded with very special signature wards. While you are at the safe houses Lucius can only attack you if you leave the property."
He extended a piece of parchment to her. Taking it in her hands she looked at it. The parchment was a long list of addresses, none of which she recognized except the two Weasley addresses and Harry's new address.
"That is a magical list, the moment you are in trouble it will send you to the nearest house. If none of these houses are nearby you will have to apparate away if possible. The list also alerts anyone one of these people if you are in trouble and they can find you. What ever happens, keep this list on your person at all times."
List is my life line. Check. With one last look at the list, she folded it and placed it in her pants pocket, "Yes sir. What do I do now? Should I go to one of these houses?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Save this list for when you are really in trouble, for now return to your own home and wait."
Wait? Her mind screamed. Waiting for Lucius just seemed to be an invitation with "come and torture me" written all over it but she trusted Dumbledore. She nodded and they said their good-byes. Hermione apparated to her small flat and looked around. It looked dismally unsafe compared to the sound of the warded houses Dumbledore had told her about. She dropped her bag on the counter and went to her bedroom.
Slowly she sat down on the edge of her bed, letting her vision blur. How could Dumbledore just send her back home? Something twisted in her gut at the mere thought of being alone for very long.Her back tingled with fear, Lucius Malfoy was after her.