Chapter 1:

She could barely hear the voices screaming in anguish around her. Screams surrounded her as the stench of death filled her senses. The angry tears welled in her eyes as wails began to fill her ears, "Stupefy!" she screamed, the red bolt flying from the tip of her wand into the chest of a Death Eater. She wantedto break down, right there and then to simply let out all the tears and anguish. But she couldn't; she needed to stay on her toes and not only keep an eyeout for herself, but for her comrades as well. Quickly ducking a cast-away spell, she grabbed the unconscious Death Eater by the arm, muttering a spell andhe disappeared with a loud crack!

Hermione spun on her heels, returning to the battle scene. Harry had defeated Voldemort a mere six years ago, and it had been absolutely lovely. No murders, absolutely nothing but peace for everyone. The most feared and sought after members of Voldemort's cult had fled within hours of his defeat. The Ministry had ignored Harry's pleas to send out search crews to scour England for the fleeing criminals, they simply brushed it off and began celebrating the defeat of The Dark Lord.

They returned six years later their numbers had doubled, their anger and hatred had reached a point of no return, and their desire for blood to be spilled was overwhelming.

"DENNIS!" Hermione screamed, her wand aimed at the Death Eater as she began to yell Stupefy, but it was too late. She saw the young man crumble, the life leave his eyes. The man in the mask laughed coldly. "Mudblood bitch- Expelliarmus." he growled, kicking the body as he stalked towards her. Hermione felt her stomach sink, stumbling backwards quickly as her eyes darted around. "You and the whole lot of 'em will be gone soon enough, nothing but filth," the masked figured snarled.

Harry's eyes darted around like mad, his lips felt numb from the constant shouting of spells. His stomach sink as he saw an Order member fall lifelessly to the ground-running forward he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks- "Expelliarmus!" The purple jolt flew straight into the face of a Death Eater who stumbled back, stunned and without defense. Harry quickly grabbed the masked man's arm, muttered a spell, and he disappeared with a familiar crack!

Ginny. Where was Ginny? His heart began to race at an explainable speed urging him to begin throwing curses and spells as he flew through the field. His eyes finally found the familiar bushy-hair—and—'no, it couldn't be' Harry thought numbly as he grimaced at the sight of the lifeless body of Dennis Creevey. "Avada Kedavra!" His voice rang clear across the field—the green bolt of light flew through the air, slamming against the man who fell in a lifeless slump. They were out numbered, they had to leave. They had to retreat. Quickly helping Hermione stand up and retrieve her wand, he muttered a spell and stuck his wand to his throat, his voice echoing through-out the field. "Pull back dammit! Pull back!" his voice boomed, soon drowned out by numerous cracks of apparation. His eyes desperately scanned the field once more for a sign of Ginny, his stomach lurched as he grabbed Dennis's lifeless body, and disappeared with Hermione into the heart of the Burrow.

When his feet finally made surface and he felt stable again, the sudden realization of how many they lost hit him. They had left hours previously with nearly three hundred men and women who fought valiantly, and now back at the burrow they returned with a mere estimated hundred. Sobs of anguish filled the room, shouts of anger and cries of mortifying truth. Harry shook his head, rubbing his temples as an attempt to clear his thoughts. George mumbled something to him that he didn't catch, watching as Dennis's body was carried off to the side of the home where their dead were being temporarily placed.

Harry shook his head again, clenching his eyes shut for a brief moment before stepping forward bringing himself to his full height. His piercing green eyes surveyed the damage of everyone in the room, before clearing his throat. "All of you!" he stated defiantly—the noises didn't die down—"Everyone! Listen to me!" Harry shouted his voice laced with desperation.

"We can't keep doing this—we—dammit!" he growled, running his hand through his hair, his glasses askew. "We need to...we can't keep fighting, we're out numbered...and I...I don't want to say this—I really don't—but we lost over two hundred tonight and we...need to face the facts." he stated gruffly inhaling a shaky, defeated breath.

"We need to come to terms with them, make a peace treaty."

"You're bloody insane!" George shouted as he walked back over to the group, his body seemed to shake from exhaustion.

"Mate we can't...how the bloody hell would we do that?" Ron demanded his eyes ablaze as he watched Harry.

"It's...it's insane. But it's not impossible...Y'know, er—"he shook his head in frustration.

"It's not unheard of! In history there used to be marriage proposals as peace treaties...and gods I know it sounds bad, trust me I know it does—But we need...I think it would work.'' he admitted dryly.

Ginny frowned worriedly as Harry entered the room. After they had been ordered to retreat, she had apparated back to the Burrow - immediately taking in how few people there were left. How many had died. There'd been so many of them...she was sure they would've won. But they'd been outnumbered, that was obvious. She ran a hand through her bright red hair - feeling as she had the night Fred had been murdered. Numb. Sinking into one of the chairs near the edge of the room, she turned her attention towards the young man in the middle of the room. If anything, he had lost the most. He had risked everything just to protect them. Wearily, she frowned as he spoke. He deserved better than life had given him. As Harry continued speaking, her eyes widened slightly.

"What?" she asked quickly, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke - shock filling her. A peace treaty? With them? Surely there was something else. Anything else that they could do. It felt as if they were just...giving up. As if there was no other option and no one else to continue fighting. If Harry was giving up...what were they supposed to do without him? There was no other option but to give up as well. He was the strongest of them and, without him, they were at a loss.

She fell silent then, watching the man standing in front of her sadly. Since the day she'd met him, he had changed so much. From the little boy asking for help on how to get to the train to...this. A man fighting a dangerous war that shouldn't have been forced so much onto his shoulders. Whatever he chose, wherever he decided to go, though, she knew she would go with him. There was really no other option.

Ginny froze in shock when he finished his statement, turning her brown eyes up towards him. Marriage proposals? With the death eaters? Somehow, she had a bad feeling about this idea.

Hermione felt her stomach sink. Was he out of his mind? "Harry...listen to what you're suggesting. There's no way this could help anything, at all! At the most you could expect foul play and lose another member of our team!" she exclaimed, glancing at Ron and Ginny with a worried expression. He was asking too much, this was simply going over the line.

Harry shot her a small glare, shaking his head vigorously. "No, Hermione you're wrong." he paused, inhaling deeply as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It would...gods, this will sound ruddy awful...it's the only option right now. And to be bloody honest we need time to build up our forces again. If we could get a sham marriage to buy us some time to finally build up our army again to get rid of them and for all...it would be worth it, would it not?" he demanded angrily, his gaze paused on Ginny causing his features to soften a bit before hardening once more.

"You bloody well not be considering my little sister!" Ron piped up angrily as he caught Harry's gaze lingering on Ginny.

"Oy, shut up Ron! I wasn't!" Harry snapped, before inhaling deeply. "We need to come to an agreement—I don't want to lose anymore people, I won't allow it either. The link would need to be between two valued members...and someone on their bloody side who's highly influential." he paused again, his gaze lingering on Hermione.

"You've got to be joking, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny frowned slightly as Harry spoke. What could he possibly be thinking? How would this help them whatsoever? Sure, maybe it'd deter them, but for how long? Something told her that even if they went through with this, after it happened they wouldn't stop the killings and would eventually come after them once again. There was no reason for them to possibly believe that they would keep any of their promises they would make. Ginny knew for a fact that they wouldn't, so why risk another innocent life for nothing? Hermione was right, but it was obvious that Harry was desperate. Who was going to be the one forced into it? Just the very thought made Ginny shudder - the thought of being married to one of those cruel bastards. She wouldn't want anyone fighting for their side, anyone close to her to be forced into it. Not even for this.

Letting out a small sigh, Ginny raised her worried gaze towards Harry again, becoming thoughtful as their gaze met. He wasn't acting like himself, that was for sure. There was something different about his expression. As if they truly had no other hope, no other option than this. That's what scared her the most, the idea that even Harry had almost given up.

Ron's voice broke him from her thoughts, surprising her. Shooting a glare his way, she crossed her arms. He was always so overprotective. Still, even though she was of age now, he acted as if she were a child. Even if she were chosen for the task, it wasn't as if she were completely defenseless. Besides, she was ready for it. If Harry had wanted her to do something this serious, she would do it in a heartbeat. For him. His next statement, however, proved these thoughts to be unneeded. So who was going to be the one forced into this?

As Harry continued on with what he was saying, her eyes widened at the name that slipped from his lips. Hermione? She froze from fear, glancing towards her brunette friend, shock written all over her face. She hadn't expected him to name someone so...close to them. What if something happened to her?

Deciding to break the heavy silence that had fallen over the room, Ginny bit her lip nervously before turning her gaze back towards Harry. "Are you sure that's our only option? There's nothing else we can do?" she asked, the fear leaking into her tone despite all of her efforts to mask it. Something inside of her was just hoping that it was all some sick joke. Some nightmare that they'd all wake up from the next morning. She didn't want to lose anyone else that she cared about to this war. Hermione included.

Harry let his gaze rest on Ginny for a few brief moments. He was being selfish in his decision. He would have never allowed Ginny to be one of the people to possibly be married off in order to desperately buy time to build up their army. He knew she was strong-bloody hell was she strong! But he simply couldn't handle losing her to those bastards...he couldn't deal with the thought of them touching her or even looking at her. Even if things weren't solid at the moment, she was his Ginny and he'd be damned if he lost her.

He broke his gaze quietly, turning towards a pale Hermione. "I've thought about this long and hard, Gin." Harry muttered, his eyes not leaving Hermione's pleading stare as he ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. "It won't be permanent. We just desperately need time to build up an army and get rid of them once and for all...I hate to ask this of you, Hermione...but we really need this." his voice said flatly as he watched her quietly.

Hermione felt sick to her stomach, biting on her bottom lip hard before exhaling slowly. She trusted Harry, and if this is what he felt was best then she would go through with it. "I understand, Harry." she said firmly, giving a quick shake of her head as she crossed her arms, her gaze dropping to the floor in thought. "Who are you proposing this to?"

"Draco Malfoy."

I've only written drabbles before...never have I written something with an actual plot line. So lets see how this goes, shall we?

Thank you to Marmalade for giving me permission to use the idea of Hermione being wed off to create peace.

Future Chapters will be longer. Reviews are appreciated!