Disclaimer: All characters and anything familiar from the HP series obviously belong to J.K. Rowling. Only the plot is mine.
* I made a few changes to the story in the Prologue. I hope it's better than the previous one. Please let me know what you all think!
Prologue
"The dark night is about being fully present in the tender wounded emptiness of our own souls. It's not about turning away from the pain but learning to rest in it. Rather than distracting ourselves from the simple darkness at out core, we sit with it, paying close attention. And opening our hearts to all that is left, which is love." - Mirabai Starr
Running.
Over the past three years, that is what Hermione had been doing to survive. She abandoned all thoughts of comfort, familiarity, and of having a place she can call home.
Ever since the last battle at Hogwarts, five years ago, where Voldemort disappeared, nowhere was safe. The Death Eaters went into hiding shortly after, fearing that their leader was truly gone this time. Despite the disappearence of Voldemort, the Ministry was slowly regaining a sense of leadership and began to pick itself up and restore security throughout England's wizarding community. For a while, it finally seemed that all was well.
No matter how well things seemed to be going, there was always that thought looming in everyone's mind.
Where is Voldemort?
After his wand connected with Harry's, the connection eventually gave out and Voldemort used what little strength he had left to seize Bellatrix and they both disappeared. It all happened within the blink of an eye. Like the sound of several gunshots, the remaining Death Eaters Disapperated and left the survivors of the battle in disbelieving shock.
Despite the devastating losses, Magical England began to pick up its pieces and for almost two years, nearly everyone believed that maybe Voldemort had died. Nearly everyone.
The Order of the Phoenix met four times a week to figure out what happened at the end of the battle. There seemed to be more questions being asked than finding the answers.
What happened between the wands?
Where did Voldemort go?
Did he survive? Did Bellatrix?
It was nearing the second anniversary of the last battle at Hogwarts, when it finally happened.
Despite the strengthened security measures at Azkaban, Rodolphus Lestrange, one of the few captured Death Eaters, escaped. After that, all thoughts, all hope, that Voldemort perished, were dashed.
The Order decided to send some members around the world to find out what happened to Voldemort and Bellatrix.
Hermione decided to take a break from the hopeless situation that had consumed the magical world of Great Britain. She volunteered herself to travel the world in search of anything that would help further the Order's investigation.
Harry and Ron refused to let her go alone, but Hermione insisted on it, stating that Harry needed to stay in magical London to help keep the Order together, while Ron had to stay behind for his family, and to keep Harry grounded. Hermione wanted to clear her mind from the problems that kept following them in London, and she believed that Voldemort was laying low, far away from home, strengthening himself somehow.
Luna left as well, she teamed up with Neville to travel with the same purpose of Hermione. The Order needed more people spread out around the world to find out what was going on with the Dark side. Charlie stayed behind in Romania, to continue his work with the dragons, and also because Kingsley feared that Voldemort might recruit the small community of vampires that lived in Romania.
During that year, the surviving Death Eaters who went into hiding began to make their presence known. They started out by starting riots in Muggle towns, while remaining undetected. After a few months, the Death Eaters turned to murder once again. Pretty soon, there were news that small Muggle towns were being wiped out.
The Muggle Prime Minister was informed that it was wizards who were the reason the massacres, which caused fear and hostility among the governments. The Ministry of Magic was once again taken over and without Dumbledore, there was no stability, no sense of direction.
Rodolphus was leading the Ministry, and reinstated the old policy regarding Muggleborns:
As per Ministry Decree #110, every witch and wizard of Muggle descent must present themselves to the Ministry for questioning and to relinquish their wand. Whoever does not willingly present himself will be persecuted severely.
The Decree was only a pretense to instill fear amongst the magical community, as well as order. No one dared to question why the Muggleborns who went in for questioning, were never seen or heard from again.
The future of the wizarding world seemed bleak, but as dark as things seemed to get, it never wavered the determination of the Order of the Phoenix, and especially of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley.
Please review and let me know what you think of this story :-)