Hermione didn't move until she had lost feeling in her feet. Even then it took all her willpower to drag herself back into the tent. She snatched her wand up from where she had carelessly discarded it on her bed and made a beeline for the chair upon which Ron had thrown the locket. There it lay, looking harmless. As if there wasn't a piece of soul attached to it. She growled, angry that this stupid trinket had torn away the only people she had left. She picked it up and she could swear it was laughing at her, inside her head. She quickly wrapped it in a sweater that was strewn across the chair and shoved it under her mattress. Wearing it hadn't done any of them good and she couldn't handle the negativity it brought.
She rubbed her eyes and sighed, crying always exhausted her. Not that any of them had been sleeping well lately. There were the guard shifts, shifts of wearing the locket and even without those two it was hard not to sleep with one eye open. So, instead of going to sleep, Hermione rummaged through her drawstring bag and found the large, leather bound book she was looking for. Pulling on the large sweater left on Ron's bunk she felt her shoulders slump in defeat.
She pushed open the tent flaps once again and positioned herself on the hard ground. With a wave of her wand she conjured up her small portable fire that would hopefully warm the chill in her bones. Her wand safely tucked under her leg, she cracked open the book and began to read. Basilisk venom and it's poisonous attributes.
She was so engrossed by her distraction that she almost missed the soft thud that came from behind a nearby tree. Almost.
Draco Malfoy had learned to stop sauntering and start cowering. His father had been degraded mercilessly by the Dark Lord and he had been pushed forward as an offering. He'd been proud. Proud to bear the same mark as his father and his aunt. His mother had been horrified. She'd seen what it had done to her husband and then witnessed her son being thrown down the same path.
Draco had been confident in his ability to please the Dark Lord until reality had struck. They wanted him to kill, to slaughter and maim. He'd failed to kill his old head master. He'd faltered at a task so simple. He didn't care for the old, senile fool. Draco had always found him rather pretentious and that stupid twinkle in his eye drove him nuts. But to kill him? That was different. He still dreamed about the man's pleading eyes.
His father had been outraged and the Dark Lord had punished them both. Snapping his father's wand was the most degrading thing he could have done to a pureblood like him. Magicless. Powerless.
Draco however was still young and could yet be molded into a useful weapon. His master had tasked his dear aunt Bellatrix to discipline the boy. And she did, with gusto. The heavy scar lines on his back proved that he had learned his lesson. From then on, he treaded carefully. He became a shell. Cold and callous. He joined the raids with the rest of the death eaters and killed three men with just a flick of his wand. From breathing to lifeless, just like that.
He could hear their screams ricocheting through his head constantly.
He lifted his head as his aunt listed her wand, "Crucio!" she cackled. The young muggle boy writhed on the floor and screamed as Bella danced around him with glee. His parents lay dead beside him. Draco closed his eyes as blood started to drip from the boy's nose.
StopHe wanted to scream. He wanted her to stop. He'd been taught to despise muggles and mudbloods but the pain on that boy's face made Draco forget who he was. He recognized the pain on the small blonde's face and his stomach churned.
Then the boy stopped screaming.
Hermione drew her wand as fast as she could and aimed it towards the general direction of the noise. She doused the flamed she'd conjured just in case and stood up silently. She the sun was on the brink of rising and provided enough light for her to see her surroundings. She shrank closer to the edge of her protective wards and drew in a sharp intake of breath when two snatchers stumbled out from the dreary woods. Between them they dragged a slumped body.
"Luna," she whispered, no more than a breath.
"Think this one will be worth anything?" One of the snatchers smirked at his companion before whipping out his wand and lifting her chin with it, "pretty 'nough, isn't she?" he bared his nasty teeth. Luna's head drooped back onto her chest, unconscious.
"Let's just see if Malfoy wants to keep this one like he did that old wand maker." The other one snarled before the three of them apparated before her eyes.
Where did they take her? Where were the Malfoys hiding? Hermione rubbed her face in shock, her dreamy eyed friend would surely be tortured if anyone found out she was friends with Harry. As much as she wished she could find her friend again, she couldn't risk the horcrux and all their hard work. She ran back to her tent before letting out a soft growl. She felt useless.
Ron and Harry wouldn't find her here. She had to keep moving. Clearly it wasn't safe here anymore. She needed to find a way to destroy the horcrux and find her friends. Hermione scrambled to pack up her tent and fit everything in her enlarged bag. She shrunk the tent and when the clearing was free of her things she waited. Against her better judgement she sat on the ground for an extra hour before shaking herself out of the hopeful mindset she'd adopted only a moment ago. They weren't coming back. They couldn't.
She took down the wards and paused. With a shaky breath, she drew her wand and focused on the forest where she used to go camping with her parents. She inhaled and felt the crushing sensation of apparation break her resolve for a moment before she landed and exhaled. She felt tears leak out of her brown eyes once again as she looked around her, memories flooded her brain. This was the first place she's thought of. Luna swam through her mind with Harry and Ron close behind.
How could she just leave her friends like that? She thought to herself as she drew up the wards around her once again. They meant the world to her. But she was no use to them dead.
With a final sweep of her wand she decided, she needed to end this.
_
A short first chapter but with some essential bases to get this story moving! Hopefully the next few chapters will start getting longer. Let me know if you have questions, concerns or suggestions and enjoy this up and coming mess.
