A/N: Slightly dark, not a lot of happy things happen, sorry if you don't like that kind of thing.

August 14, 1987

"We can't do it without you Lucius."

"You were always the leader when the Dark Lord was gone."

"It will give those idiots at the Ministry something to look forward to."

"Gentlemen, and lady," he nodded at a hunched witch, "please, calm down."

It was at least midnight, or a while past, and former Deatheaters were gathered in Lucius Malfoy's study, conversing on the best way to have fun that night.

"We grow tired of waiting Lucius," growled a fairly young man. He had brown hair and the bristle of a mustache.

"Well you will have to wait a bit longer, Avery," Lucius growled back. "We cannot act so impulsively."

"Even you must want to cause a little chaos," said Alecto Carrow, the hunched witch.

Lucius smiled to himself. He certainly was tired of keeping up the facade of being the perfect, pure-blood, family man. Even if that was how he saw himself.

"Yes, I do," said Lucius slowly, "but it is rather risky."

"That's the fun, isn't it?" asked Macnair, a muscular wizard.

Ah, that was the thrill of being a Deatheater. There was always the risk of being caught, but if you weren't, you had completed what you set out to accomplish. You had escaped the clutches of that bumbling Ministry and done something that caused you extreme pleasure. Lucius did miss those days.

He looked around him at the group assembled. There were the Carrows, Crabbe, Goyle, Nott, Avery, Macnair, and Jugson. All of them had been involved in the First War and some names were more renown than others. Lucius could feel the excitement pumping through his veins as he made his decision.

"It's too late to do it tonight, but if you can all meet me tomorrow, we won't have a problem," Lucius conceded. Talking broke out, but Lucius quickly shushed them.

"Be quiet, you fools! She lives here and has ears everywhere. Do not be so foolish as to wake her."

A few became silent very quickly, but others looked confused. Who was Lucius talking about? Certainly it couldn't be that serious.

The talking, instead of fading, seemed to become louder. Lucius was ready to pull out his hair in frustration.

Idiots! Do they know nothing! I should hex them all here and now.

"But they're such good little followers, it would be quite a waste."

Lucius' head swiveled behind him. At his desk,a woman calmly sat in his chair. It was her.The woman's brown eyes peered out from her cloak,calmly surveying everyone in the room, as she tapped her fingers against the desk. No one else had seemed to notice her.

"Quite an assembly you've got here Lucius. I don't think I could've done better myself. Except for the fact that I wasn't invited."

Lucius shifted for a moment, but stood his ground. "For good reason. This is something that I want to head. You must realize that I'm in charge here."

"Clearly," said the woman, glancing at the former Deatheaters, who were still talking, but some of them seemed to have noticed her.

"You can lead it if you want Lucius. I'm not trying to steal anything from you."

Lucius grinded his teeth. "I hardly believe that."

"But it's the truth." The rest of the Deatheaters had become silent and were watching the exchange.

"Is she with us?" asked Nott, his eyes narrowing at the stranger.

"Yes and no," the woman answered for herself. "You can trust me, for tonight. Or I suppose tomorrow since that's when you'll be committing your crimes. Which would be what by the way?"

Everyone turned to look at Lucius expectantly. Lucius saw that her eyes were dancing.

Damn her for putting me on the spot like this.

"Tomorrow," he said, stalling for time. In truth, he still hadn't thought of something for all of them to do himself. "Come back here tomorrow and you will be informed. And I heard that Macnair." The executioner had muttered something rather vindictive of their "leader".

"Now get out, all of you."

With some very bitter muttering, the Deatheaters left, leaving only Lucius and his female companion in the study.

"So," she said, standing up from her chair, "what do you have planned, exactly?"

"None of your business," he snarled, rounding on her. She seemed to just brush it off.

"That's why I'm here." She missed the glare that Lucius was sending her or simply ignored it.

"I don't need your help," Lucius spat.

"Yes, I'm sure that's what you want to believe," said the woman. "Anyway, if the rest of your little gang wants to have a good time, I'm sure they'll enjoy my plan."

She smiled as Lucius' anger became more apparent on his face. His face became redder with every passing second and his mouth was working furiously. He seemed torn between the fact that she had a plan and the fact that she was undermining his authority.

In the end, he seemed to give up on the latter and said, "I'll listen to your plan, but there's no guarantee that we'll use it."

"Oh, you will, trust me. You'll like it and you'll have fun. As long as you're not caught, we won't have a problem."

Lucius bit his tongue to keep himself from becoming angry again. He was dominant here, not her, and he would keep his composure.

"Fine, I'm listening."

The woman grinned woflishly. "We'll have to split up..."

Hermione Granger, age seven, and her parents, were in their bedroom reading. The Grangers were different from most families in this way because reading together was an almost daily ritual in their house. Every now and then, someone would point out something interesting they had read, the others would comment, and they'd go back to reading. The Grangers enjoyed this hour they were together, but none of them knew it would be their last.

Hermione was finishing up her book when there were three sharp cracks and three people materialized in the room. Hermione's mother had instantly swept her up in her arms and her father stepped in front of the two. They backed up against the wall. Hermione peered out from between her mother's arms at the three intruders.

How did they get in? she thought. They just appeared out of nowhere. It was two men and a woman, judging by their figures. They were hidden under cloaks.

"Who are you?" asked her father, still trying to shield them. "How did you get in?" The woman laughed. Hermione's mother drew her closer.

"A question that I cannot answer. It is irrelevant who we are," said the woman, brandishing what looked like a very knobbly stick. Before Hermione could blink, a red light blasted from one of the men's twigs and knocked her father down.

She screamed and reached for her father, but her mother restrained her, pulling her back. Hermione continued to scream, reaching for her father. She needed to know her father was alive and get rid of the sinking feeling in her body. She didn't notice the various items shaking in the room, such as the bed, the dresser, a few small statues, and a vase as her screams increased in volume.

The man that had attacked Mr. Granger and the woman placed their hands against their ears, but a taller, more muscular man, took out his stick and pointed it at Hermione. Her screams were silenced. She continued to open her mouth to scream, but nothing came out.

Mrs. Granger looked at her daughter incredulously. She then turned to the intruders angrily. "What have you done to my daughter?"

"She was causing problems, she needed to be silenced." said the man who had made Hermione mute. Hermione could see the woman eyeing her strangely.

"Reverse what you did to her," said Mrs. Granger in a deadly voice. Hermione knew her mother was scared out of her wits, but appreciated how she appeared calm."Fix her."

The second man, slightly thicker looking than themuscular man, seemed to find this highly amusing. He took out his own stick. "I think I prefer your daughter that way. Crucio!"

Pain shot through Hermione's entire body and she tried to scream, but no sound was emitted. Even if she had been able to, Hermione was certain it would've been uncomparable to her mother's.

Her mother's scream was the last thing she heard before everything went dark.

"Don't touch the girl," said the witch as soon as the Muggle stopped screaming. "She has magic, there's no telling what she could do."

Macnair gave a disgusted look as he touched the Muggle woman with his wand. "This one's dead for sure. You were a bit heavy-handed with the Cruciatus, Avery."

Avery shrugged. "She's a Muggle, she's no use to us."

"What about the man? And the girl?"

"Both unconscious. Kill them?" Avery looked excitedly from one companion to another.

"Do whatever you want with the man," said the witch dismissively. "We don't need him. But the girl-"

"Wait a minute," said Macnair, turning towards her. "Who made you in charge? We don't even know who you are."

"It's not important. Did you see what that girl did? A Mudblood for sure, but she's powerful. Imagine the things she could do." The woman couldn't believe her incredible luck in finding this girl.

"She's still a Mudblood, and a child at that," said Macnair. "She's of no use to us."

"But she can be."

At that moment, David Granger became conscious. He saw two men above him and one woman off to the side and remembered what had happened.

Have to protect Hermione and Gertrude. This was the only thought going through his mind.

The msucular man and the woman were still arguing. He looked at his wife, who was lying behind him, turning his head very slowly and at an awkward angle. Her eyes were open wide in pain and terror. David had to fight back a shudder as he realized that his wife was dead.

Please don't let Hermione be dead, he thought, fighting back the tears that threatened to flow. He didn't need the murderers to know he was still alive. Please, she's just a child, she doesn't deserve this.

He turned his head back around to the other side, very slowly, moving his hand at the same speed as his head, hoping his attackers didn't notice. David Granger knew he was dead when a tough boot stepped on his hand and the leering face of a man was pushed into his own.

"Aww, Daddy's crying. It's so sad," said the man in a mocking, baby voice. He was the one that had knocked him down. "It's okay Daddy," said the man, still using his mocking voice. "You'll be joining her." The man took out his stick (even though David suspected it was a bit more than that) and pointed it at David's face.

David did the only thing he could think of at that moment. He rolled out of the man's firing range and picked up Hermione, before stumbling to his feet. He knocked down his attacker, who had been staring dumbstruck at David. It had been the last thing he had expected.

The man fell over and onto the bed while the second man and the woman advanced upon David.

"Put the girl down. I promise to you that we won't hurt her," said the woman. There was a bit of conviction in her voice, but David wasn't going to give them to her. He had to get Hermione out of there.

"No," he said backing up, "I won't." He gripped the stick that he snatched from the first man when he had knocked him down. The man and the woman saw his movement.

"Don't be stupid Muggle," said the woman. "It's not like you can use that wand."

A wand? What do they think they are, magicians? And what the hell is a Muggle?Hermione was beginning to stir beneath his arm. He was glad, his arm was becoming tired.

I'm going to have to move fast if I want Hermione to make it out of here alive.

Hermione seemed to have already taken in the situation, but had said nothing. She was glaring at her mother's killers venomously. David drew out the wand and pointed it at the other two. This appeared to be very funny to the woman. It would have been to David too if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Do you really believe you can use that? It'd be better suited in your daughter's hands than yours." But David wasn't listening. He had taken that moment to whisper in Hermione's ear.

"Leave the house as soon as they attack me. Don't, and I mean this, don't look back, ever. Keep running until you're-" He was cut off as a red light went flashing by him. This time it missed.

"Are you listening at all Muggle?" said the woman angrily.

"Enough talking," growled the first man. "Get my wand back."

Three things happened after this statement. David lunged at the thick man, Hermione ran out the door, the woman ran after her, and the second man attempted to pry David off of his companion.

Hermione could hear the woman screaming after her and firing bright flashes of green and red light as she continued to run, but she had to ignore it. She had to ignore the fact that her parents were dead and this woman would most likely catch her. She had to ignore the fact that she had no idea where she was going and that she could be killed. She had to ignore that she couldn't scream for help because she was now mute. All Hermione had to do was run and run.

"I want as many Aurors there as possible!" shouted Rufus Scrimgeour. "I don't care who the hell they are, as long as they get there!" He was giving orders to the entire Auror office, charming his voice so that everyone could hear his instructions.

"Scrimgeour!"

Rufus turned to see a black man with an earring in his ear hurrying towards him through the mass of people.

"What is it Shacklebolt?" asked Scrimgeour, meeting him halfway.

Kingsley Shacklebolt put a hand in his ear. "Turn it down a bit?"

"Quietus. Now what is it?"

"A report just came in. Two Muggles were found dead in their house. Magical traces were found."

Scrimgeour bit his lip. "Anything else?"

"A Muggle says they saw bright flashes, red and green coming from the house and two people running from it. An adult and a child, by the looks of them."

"You and two other Aurors get over there. Contact St. Mungo's and the Obliviator Squad. Send the bodies to St. Mungo's and let the Obliviator Squad handle the Muggles that saw what happened. You look for the murderers."

Shacklebolt nodded and left. Barely a second later, a square-jawed, gray-haired witch, was at his side.

"Reports?" she asked.

"A Muggle family has been killed and their child is missing. The hospital situation is still being handled."

The witch cursed. "Is the child male or female?"

"There was no specification."

The witch furrowed her eyebrows, and Rufus knew that when Amelia Bones had that look, she was thinking. He could almost see the wheels turning in her head.

"I'm sending Hit Wizards to that hospital, Scrimgeour. I want you there as well. These may be possible Deatheaters and I won't let them escape again."

"Yes ma'am." There was nothing else to say when Amelia Bones became like this. She was his superior after all.

When Bones left, Scrimgeour handed out some more orders, telling some Aurors to stay, come with him, or go home. It was really only a handful of Deatheaters, but Rufus had found that they caused the most damage.

He took five Aurors with him, afraid of what he would find in the Muggle hospital.

A/N: And I'm afraid you'll have to wait to find out what's happened to sweet little Hermione. Not sure when I'll have the next update because this thought occurred to me and it seemed like a great idea, but now I have to alter a few things. Please review. I worked very, very hard on this chapter and I love it when you all review. I'll even take constructive criticism if you have some for me.