A/N: This song, by one of my all time favorite bands Metallica, isn't for how Hermione or any other character feels. This is about the way the Alliance think. They are cruel, selfish people by nature, who are taking their grief out on people who do not deserve it. Their way of thinking will be explained in the next chapter.

To the playlist: www DOT playlist DOT com SLASH user SLASH 4374791

To the lyrics: wwwDOTdarklyricsDOTcomSLASH lyricsSLASHmetallicaSLASHmetallicablackalbumDOThtml #11

(click on the title of the song, "My Friend of Misery", it should take you straight down to the lyrics.)

The next chapter will not have a song, so if you are reading this after the original post, please pause the playlist after this song. THANK YOU!!

Alliance. If she wasn't so used to evil people that would have scared her. She wasn't afraid of the Alliance per se. She was afraid for Scorpius. And that was a lot of fear, because if she let up, let him down...it was her life. It meant nothing to her if she went, she'd been through that protecting Harry. Fear shot through her at the thought of Scorpius hurt. She caught her breath after the two seconds of surprise. She yanked the young boy up into her arms, pressing her body up against the wall. She could hear the men in the Entrance Hall, but she couldn't see them. She held her breath, trying to even it out.

She had to find a way out. She had to make sure he was safe. She could Disillusion herself and him, run back to her office, expand the window, conjuer a broom and fly out. She could make it to the Forbidden Forest and save Scorpius. But what about the rest of the students? She had an obligation, and a desire, to save them all. She sighed silently, where was Severus?

A footstep. A very, very close footstep. She drew her wand, shocked she hadn't pulled it before. It'd been a few years since she'd been in something like this. It's been awhile since she'd had so much to protect.

"Give him to me." A whispered order, she looked around, seeing him before he Disillusioned himself. Severus' face was incredibly welcome. She smiled, handing over Scorpius who was looking back and forth between them with quiet curiousity. Severus was wearing head to toe blue, looking exactly like the Alliance. He glanced around, hugging Scorpius close.

"I can take him to your office, get out through the window, hide him out there and come back. Can you handle it until I get back?"

"Of course. You read my mind. What's the situation?"

"All the students and Professors were corraled into the Great Hall, they plan to take the purebloods, torture them until them tell where their parents are."

"We have to get in there. Take him and go."

Severus nodded, turning without another word. Hermione watched him go, thinking.

McGonagall was sitting at the table, eating a piece of sausage, wondering where Hermione was. She needed to talk to her about her House, seeing as she was the Head of Gryffindor, the troublemaker, Alezandra Tarling, was making, well, trouble. It'd all started her first day there. All the teachers had thought they were done with the pranksters like the Weasley twins. Miss Tarling was both of them combined. She would fit with them like three peas in a pod.

She stiffly ate her food, watching as the children filed in, calmly sitting down and eating. All of the students who came in were pale, scared out of their minds, and walking over to the tables. They sat at the wrong ones, just sitting anywhere. They stared at the teachers with questioning glances. She stood, about to ask what was going on, when the doors opened and a horde of blue clad men rushed in, making a large square, following the walls. They outnumbered the teachers, but not the students.

McGonagall, observing this, looked to her teachers. Severus was missing, this struck her as odd, but then Neville stood, a wierd and vicious smile developing on his face. He pointed his wand at her, his lips moving quickly as he cast some spell. She tried to figure it out but it blinded her before she could think.

Flitwick's eyes widened and he nimbly moved out of the way of another spell sent by Neville, the other teachers taking up defenses as the students watched in horror. He watched the Herbology teacher, wondering why he had done this. The tables in the middle of the Hall were gone now, the place open like in the Final Battle. He half expected Voldemort to come in, brandishing his white wand and smirking something evil with those red eyes. The students had come together now, all in the middle of the room, huddled together as if for warmth. It was getting unnaturally cold in here. Maybe these Alliance were real magical people. He had to warn someone, he had to get help. He waved his wand, a Patronus flying quickly out one of the windows. Hopefully, Kingsley would get that. Hopefully, help would come. He turned back to the hectic struggle, losing sight of Neville. There was a bang and he fell to the floor, his back aching.

Severus was well hidden, trying to take out as many as he could without being seen. It wasn't easy, the damned kids seemed to preceive his target and make high pitch sounds of fright right before he shot a spell. He put a silence charm on them but it was too late, the invaders had taken the teachers and the students each were too afraid to do anything. Obviously the Alliance had real wizards and witches on their side, probably coerced by some foolish gimmick.

He moved quickly, trying to get a good position without being seen. He got to the end of the Hall, near the door. Their were children here, but they were too caught up in the action. The thoughts of the man who'd just got to where he'd left told him everything.

There was only one guard down, he crawled over to him, covering him from sight and exchanging clothes. He had to transfigure them, the man was extraordinarily short.

As soon as he had a disguise, he took the Disillusionment off. The children couldn't tell the difference, he had a Templar knight type helmet on, it shielded his face. He almost understood this part of the outfit. They were trying to start a crusade.

He got out, walking by the two men standing there. His silenced feet made no sound. Walking up the part of the Entrance Hall that led to the moving staircases, he saw her. She was holding Scorpius, looking like some sort of painting. Her hair was wild, her eyes searching, her brow furrowed and she patted the boy's head reassuring herself by the jerkiness of it.

He let one foot hit the ground by her, letting her know someone was there, why hadn't she pulled out her wand? He revealed himself, her plan melding with his as he snuck a peek at her mind.

Hermione, pressed flat against the wall, turned her mind away from the charge she had had to abandon at the moment. It wasn't easy, she kept worrying, not exactly sure how to stand here without him. Must be the Vow, it had to be. Severus knew how to hide better than anyone here, Scorpius was a smart boy. He'd understand the situation, he'd be good. But what if someone finds him? Hermione shuddered, her mind brought back to the front as the two men in the Entrance, moved into the Great Hall.

The ghosts were nowhere to be found. She had called a few, but they seemed unable to move, even Peeves was gone. She had an inkling that the invaders had set up charms to hold spirits at bay. There was no way they could have just got here. The Alliance had been let in...but when?

There were shouts, a thud and a few grunts. She got closer to the Hall, looking in.

One of Severus' fifth years was laying across a group of students, each from another House. She wouldn't have imagined this sight a few years ago, when Voldemort was still in power.

A tall man, one she hadn't seen before stood at the place where the teacher's table had been, his arms held in the air as though welcoming the lot crouched in fear on the ground, a pleasant yet grim air about him.

He looked like a dark Dumbledore, his beard was just as long, tucked under his belt like her old Headmaster's. It was grey though, not white, with streaks of black hair that had once been evident in the mix. He wore a royal blue uniform like the other men, and she saw there were at least thirty of these men. Lined around the room watching the children, watching their prey.

The dark Dumbledore, wasn't as tall as the real Dumbledore, he was more like Aberforth in the build, but his kind demeanor said he wasn't like any of the men he could be compared to.

When he spoke the children cringed, pushing into each other to get as small a target as possible.

"My dear students! Please, please, do not be afraid! We are only here to help you! My name is Auberon Vilonar."

His voice was like ice, it stung where he directed his voice, it was like daggers being thrown, like vicious attacks. But he forced some kind of heat into it, as though he was sincerely trying to be welcoming.

"This is not a battle, we are not what Voldemort was."

Some of the old students cringed again, still feeling the effects of the evil madman. But some, by a sick twisted bit of Fate, stood. They smiled and went to stand by the soldiers at the walls. Filling in the holes between the men. Hermione would have protested, but she couldn't give away her position. Then again, the students were probably under an Unforgivable. She could identify some of them, the older students. The man spoke again.

"Yes, thank you. You see, children, these brave ones have demonstrated that we are nothing to fear. We are here for your benefit and your benefit alone. Now, we should get down to business." He stepped down and went to the middle of the Hall, which was cleared of all tables, and looked around the room.

"I would appreciate it if all Purebloods would go to that side of the room, all the others to this side." No one moved, no one acknowledged him. He waited two seconds, then sighed.

"I see. You want to do this the hard way." He turned his back on where Hermione was, gesturing an order to three of the guards. They left there spots, moving toward her.

"Maybe your precious Dark Arts professor who like to join us. Maybe she can show you the effects of denying our cause."

A/N: It's a bit short, a little rushed in my opinion. I don't know...tell me what you think. The next chapter might be a little painful, it was influenced by a movie called Goya's Ghosts. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a bit confusing how it ends, and a little gruesome. But that span of time was both confusing and gruesome, though not by a little. One thing I'd like you to note about the film is how unreasonable the Holy Office is. How miniscule your crime, but how severe your punishment. That's the type of people the Alliance are, that's their way. And does anyone else think Javier Bardem is just amazing? Man, he freaks me out sometimes...but he seems so charming in real life.