January 4th

A Muggle street in London

A figure stumbled through the streets of muggle London. It wouldn't have been so bad if not for the fact that the figure in question wasn't clutching her stomach in order to hide things from public view. Those that saw her walked around her. They assumed she was drunk.

She was not drunk however, but grievously wounded, or so she thought as she stumbled down the sidewalk ignoring the stares directed towards her. If any of them had bothered to look closer, they would've noticed blood seeping through the fingers clutching her stomach.

Hermione knew she was dead. If I am dead, why is everyone staring at me? She wondered vaguely. Her stomach was on fire. To make matters worse, it was snowing, and Hermione was cold. But mostly her innards hanging out of the long gash in her stomach were bothering her. It wasn't the fact that it hurt like hell, it was the fact that her innards weren't where they were supposed to be.

Seconds after she had been hit, the pain had started to build. She had blindly apparated away from Hogwarts. She was lucky to still be in one piece, or as much in one piece as she could get. She hoped she hadn't left any intestinal organs at Hogwarts. That would just be disgusting.

A young woman fell in beside her. Hermione tried to steer around her, but the girl laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Wait!" the girl commanded. She looked like the sort of person who was used to having her orders followed immediately.

Hermione assumed she was a cop or something of the sort who was going to arrest her for being drunk or something.

"Hermione wait!" the girl cried as Hermione picked up her pace away from the girl.

Hermione froze. How did the girl know her name? She slowly turned around and faced her. The girl was very pale with blonde, spiked hair that was dyed purple at the tips. She was wearing a hot pink tank top, blue camo shorts, and purple camo boots.

"What?" she asked hoarsely while eyeing her strange appearance.

"Come with me Hermione," the girl said quietly, "no one will hurt you, I will get you medical attention, and I shall explain a few things,"

Hermione hesitated. Quite frankly, she didn't trust the girl. There was something off about her, something that bespoke knowledge far beyond her age. It was a bit creepy to be sure.

Almost as if the girl could hear what she was thinking the girl said kindly, "you can trust me,"

Hermione decided she didn't have anything to lose. She had her wand with her in case things went south…again.

January 4th (still)

Hogwarts

Voldemort pounded his head against the wall in frustration. Why am I gifted with bumbling idiots? He asked himself. He had said specifically to the death eaters that no one was to harm the Golden Trio . What did Lucius do? He attacked the mudblood and allowed her to escape.

"My Lord," Severus had somehow managed to sneak up on him.

"What?" he asked wearily.

Severus flinched slightly before speaking again. "No one has been able to find the girl," he said hesitantly.

Voldemort sighed, "Why am I not surprised?" he muttered darkly, "might as well give up. She'll be long gone and judging from the wound she had when she left she probably didn't make it in one piece and tell the others that we have a meeting at midnight tonight," Voldemort finally decided.

Severus bowed and departed.

Voldemort stood there for a long time contemplating the fate of Lucius Malfoy and whether he should be permitted to live after the grave mistake he'd made. Voldemort eventually decided that Lucius was going to have to die. Over the years he had become more of a liability than a threat. Plus Voldemort needed to make an example of someone and he was pissed at Lucius at the moment.

Having decided Lucius' fate, he went to rejoin the death eaters at their hide out. Lucius would die tonight. He decided just before apparating away.

January 4th (The date has not changed)

Secret Hideout

Severus stood in the hallway outside the doors to the Main Hall which was where Lucius would be killed tonight. The Dark Lord had not said outright, but Severus had seen the fury in his eyes and had realized that someone would die before the night was out. Since Lucius had screwed up the most during their raid, he figured he was the poor fool.

As much as Severus detested the man, he really did not want to see him go. Mostly because it was amusing watching him get reamed for yet another failure. In retrospect, Snape had to wonder why the Dark Lord had permitted him to live so long. Failure was not an option in this line of work.

He shoved open the door and strode in. Other death eaters were milling about. The Dark Lord was nowhere to be seen. He had sent out word that all death eater's were to be present and accounted for by midnight.

Snape spotted the two Malfoy's standing in the corner. His lips curled as the two undoubtedly held their last conversation. He had never cared for the Malfoy's. They were blonde idiots. He never did figure out why Potter always seemed to beat Draco in everything. Perhaps it was because of Draco's incompetence.

At that moment a loud crack resounded through the room. Silence reigned as everyone realized their master had arrived. Silently they slid into their formation.

Voldemort's calculating gaze slid over each of them. It lingered on a few of them. "Lucius, kindly step forward," he said softly. It was the voice that all his loyal subjects had come to fear. It generally meant someone was going to die.

Lucius stepped out of line and knelt before the dark lord. Every death eater noticed that he was trembling. A spark of disgust lingered in Voldemort's eyes as they regarded the cowering form of Lucius.

"You have failed me," he hissed, contempt dripping from his voice.

"Master I-" Lucius started to say.

Voldemort interrupted him, "I do not want your excuses Lucius!" he spat.

"I have never failed to serve you master!" Lucius said in a quivering tone, "please, spare me. I'll do better,"

The entire room collectively held their breaths. They all knew that Lucius had made a mistake that was not tolerated by their master.

"If there is one thing I loath more than failure to obey orders, it is begging," Voldemort snarled, "CRUCIO!"

Lucius' screams echoed through the halls. All across the room, money was passed from person to person. This did not escape the Dark Lord's attention. He smirked ruthlessly. He had known that several bets had sprung up as to whether Lucius screamed like a girl or not. He let it pass because it amused him to no ends. "You die now," he whispered, "Avada Kedavra," he said emotionlessly.

Lucius fell limp almost as soon as the spell hit him. Almost as if they realized that entertainment was over, all the death eaters turned and either filed out or apparated away. Voldemort heard a sob as they left.

January 4th (You've figured that out didn't you?)

Large Mansion in New Orleans

It had been a long day for Hermione as she was healed from the spell. It was painful to be sure.

"The first healing is always painful," the girl had remarked as she watched Hermione writhe about earlier. Now she was settled at the foot of Hermione's bed fiddling with something almost nervously.

"Hermione, I-" she paused in the sentence to recollect her thoughts, "I have something to tell you,"

Hermione stared at her apprehensively. The girl appeared very nervous at that point. It made Hermione want to get up and comfort her.

"Your-" she was interrupted this time by the door opening and a tall, beautiful woman entered. She had toffee-colored skin, long, brown hair that was braided and came to just above her waist, and an aura about her that said that she was not afraid to kick ass when needed.

"Have you told her?" she asked the other girl sharply.

"No Zerynthia, I haven't," the she said quietly.

"Putting it off will gain you nothing," the woman said narrowing her eyes.

"Hold your taters Amazon!" she snapped, "I'm going to tell her," she sighed before turning back to Hermione, "That is Zerynthia, we just call her Zery or Amazon, and I am Adara," she told Hermione, "As I was about to say before we were so rudely interrupted by her, Hermione, you're dead," she said dramatically.

Hermione stared at her. "I'm what?!" she suddenly shrieked, causing the windows to burst in a shower of glass.

Hello Folks. It's me again. Yes, I am working on another story. As usual, I would like to know if you think this story is worth reading. Kindly review. CC welcome. Flames not welcome.