A/N: Ok first off...sorry it took so long to update... I was having a bit of a writers block, but now I think I have a good plot, and this is where the story really starts to kick off.

I also have finalized who's gonna die. That's right, *muffled* is gonna die by the end. I don't want to kill them, but the number generator has spoken.

I would also like to say; I have absolutely nothing against Harry, Ron, and Ginny, I think they are great characters, with room for improvement. Them being a little (just a little) er- irrational was what I took out from Harry, Ron, and Molly characters from the books. All of them great, I just made their flaws more... evident. Harry tends to side with Ron most of the time, Molly believed Hermione and Harry were dating- you get the picture.

Don't worry, they'll get much better.

"And Her- Auror Monet will be leading the next mission for apprehending the Lestranges." Harry announced, handing a silvery-blonde Auror a black file. It was Hermione in disguise, and was slightly surprised that no one had suspected anything in the week she had been there. The Ministry has terrible security. The room was full with Aurors circled around a table, ready to get their assignments.

"Her? But she's the newbie!" Someone complained. "Why is she getting the hardest assignment?"

"I'm sorry." Harry snapped. "Did you want it?"

"No, I'm fine." He squeaked.

"That's what I thought. Now, Darwin and Ron, you're looking for the...Carrows. Oh, and Nott will be handling the disappearances and Ok, I think that's it for the Azkaban escapees. Anyone left either has another mission, or is on guard duty. Remember, anyone working on the Azkaban cases has a meeting every two days to discuss progress. Since they are most likely working together, you'll probably need to hand over information a lot. If you need extra people in those cases, that's fine as well."

"Hear that, Monet? If you need any help, I would-" Nott started as he threw an arm around her shoulder.

"Get. Your. Hands. Off. Me." His weedy figure backed off with a small shove from Hermione, who's brown eyes, disguised as blue, were glinting dangerously.

Ron laughed but quickly went quiet by a look from Harry, who was shaking his head at him. "Ok… umm, so I think that's it, anyone not working on the Azkaban cases can go."

Most started piling out, while Hermione, Ron, and a few others stayed. The file was clutched in her hand, containing all the information she needed. Hermione had specifically asked for the case. The Lestranges. To be more exact, Rodulphous and Rabastan Lestrange. It was obviously one of the hardest cases, aside from the Carrows. With Bellatrix gone, Hermione assumed that one of the Lestranges would be the one responsible for the breakout. Her mind considered a theory she had made a while back, the one about an Auror or someone inside the Ministry breaking the Death Eaters out.

Harry addressed the group. "So if everyone looks through their files, you'll find all information about the people you're supposed to capture. Every person they've met, by Ministry surveillance, is recorded in there, including their possible motives. We don't know whether they're planning something together or someone just broke out and others followed. Either way, they'll most likely be out for revenge."

Hermione shifted, eyes flickering. Harry continued, "Your job is to protect the people they may be out for, and collectively find all the escapees. Got it?"

There was murmur of responses, mostly of people questioning his odd plan of capturing the Death Eaters. After a short discussion of what they were going to do, everyone left, except for Hermione and Ron.

"I like your plan, Potter, It's… smart." Was all she said, before turning to walk away, catching Ron's words, "Wait- hold up- she called you smart, mate!"

A few hours later, Hermione, Ron, and Harry were sitting together in the living room, papers sprawled over the coffee table and floor.

"How is everyone?" Hermione whispered quietly, just as she finished her work for the day. Harry had left to go make dinner, so Ron and Hermione were left alone.

"What do you mean?"

"You know," She said, not wanting to use their names. "Ginny, George, Bill, Fleur…."

"Oh them… Yeah they're good."

"How di- How did they react when I left?" She asked, struggling to keep her voice even.

"Disbelief, most of them. Ginny and Mum accepted it first, and everyone followed. Well, except for Luna, Fleur, George, and Neville."

She nodded somberly, but one name rang in her ears. "Neville?"

"Oh yeah, Neville absolutely refused to believe you went to the dark side. Said something 'bout you always helping him in class and being nice to him."

He paused. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Depends what it is?"

"How was it like...on the run?"

"Not answering that."

"I'm just asking…" Ron mumbled as he got up to leave.

She didn't say anything, just gritted her teeth and contained her anger. She pulled out a book and started reading, barely acknowledging it when Ginny entered.

"Ew….PDA much?" She heard Ron's voice from afar.

"We're not in public, so no, Ron." Ginny replied, her voice growing closer. "Hey, Hermione."

Hermione lowered the book a few inches and nodded curtly. "Hello, Ginny."

Harry was behind Ginny, hand on her shoulder. "We're having dinner, feel free to join us."

"No thanks, I'm- going- to go upstairs." With a wave of her wand, all her papers were collected and flew to her hand. Her eye caught a stringy, male figure staring out of the window. Her eyes flew back to the window, but it was gone.

"It's just your mind playing tricks on you." She tried to reassure herself, but it didn't work.

She soundlessly walked upstairs and into the guest room. Laying on the bed, she listened to the voices coming from downstairs, letting it slowly lull her to sleep.

Ginny Pov

Ginny watched as Hermione quietly trekked up the stairs and out of sight. She sighed, not knowing what to think of her anymore. She was no longer the girl who used to be like a big sister to her, nor was she the murderer everyone assumed her to be.

She had seen George, he was a wreck, though he didn't show it. He still believed she was innocent, and kept on claiming that Fred would have been ashamed of them, which made Mum cry. Mum was acting like nothing happened, so was everyone else. The moment she had seen the headline, she had thrown it into the fire.

Ginny wanted to tell George and Luna about Hermione so bad, but she suspected that Hermione's trust in her was spread too thin. She also assumed that Hermione would go ballistic if George or Luna or any of the Weasleys came to Harry's house to see her. She would eventually figure out it was her and then… Ginny shuddered at the thought.

Harry led her to the table and they all sat down, Hermione at the back of her mind. Her pig of a brother immediately started digging in, taking a bite out of the Shepherds pie Harry had made. (A/N: Idk. It was the first thing that came up when I searched "British food" on Google)

"So…" Ginny started the conversation. "What's with Hermione?"

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, taking a bite of his food.

"Do you believe her? What's the next part of the plan? Is she really an Auror?"

Harry sighed. "I don't know what to believe at this point. My plan so far is to just, go along with everything she's saying, in case it is true, and I do believe her to that point."

"And after the Death Eaters are caught?"

"If she's found, I'll try to get her a trial, but it's still likely she could face a year or two in Azkaban. But it's more likely she'll go back into hiding before that happens." He replied softly. "I don't believe she's completely innocent, even when we were on the run we had to steal and hide sometimes. The more I think about it, it can't be possible that she's straight up killed someone, right?"

Ron decided to join in. "And I do trust her with the plans and all that, but could I trust her to save my life? I don't know at this point. You remember, Ginny. I hated her after she went on the run."

"You hated her because you thought she was a murderer." Ginny corrected. "George told you. Told us. God, Neville told us, and he was dating Hannah at the time. I get it, you're not completely convinced she's innocent, but at least give her the benefit of the doubt. I made the mistake of shutting her out once before, and I don't intend to do it again, unless I have solid proof. You two should do the same."

"She hates us, Gin." Ron complained.

"She hates me too. I don't blame her. Her hating you two has nothing to do with you believing her. At this point, I don't think she wants to rebuild friendships. Remember the contract she signed from a few months ago, all she wants is freedom. Don't go chasing after her forgiveness and friendship, if she's innocent and manages to stay out of Azkaban, she'll come to you when she's ready."

"And if she doesn't? The guilt is already crushing me, and we don't even know for sure." Harry said, raking his hands through his hair.

"If she doesn't, we deserve it. And what do you mean by 'not knowing for sure'? If you aren't sure, then why are you letting her stay at your house?"

"Because if I let her go, and the Death Eaters will attack, we'll be completely defenseless. As much as I hate to say it, she knows the most about how to stop them."

Ginny wasn't buying it, Harry and Ron were making no sense. "Do you believe her or not?"

"We told you-" Ron started.

"Do you believe her or not?" They said nothing, so she continued. "Exactly. Don't get her all hopeful, only to realize that you two are willing to throw her in Azkaban. Actually, scratch that, she probably already knows that. Don't do the half-and-half thing. Trust her, and if she turns out to be lying, well then, that's on her." Her idiot brother and boyfriend still looked confused.

Ginny sighed, and in a quiet voice she said, "Look at it this way, if everyone had believed that I intentionally opened the Chamber of Secrets in my first year, I would've been expelled from Hogwarts, or worse. But most, or at least, my family, believed that it wasn't my fault, and it wasn't, I was possessed. Imagine if things had taken a different turn. What if my family had immediately thought it was intentional. If Harry wasn't there to explain it all, I would've been expelled. My wand would have been snapped. It's the same thing with Hermione, give her the benefit of the doubt like you gave me."

Ginny was glad to say that by the time she and her brother had left, she had made the two boys understand a new perspective of what it was probably like for Hermione. It wasn't intended, she had actually hoped for a quiet dinner with her boyfriend. But you can't always get what you want, can you? She went to bed in her flat, silently hoping she and Hermione could one day make amends.

The next few weeks were as boring as ever for Hermione. No one was any closer to finding any of the Death Eaters. They had set up wards at possible victims, but weren't any closer to finding them as a whole. There had been no sightings, it was almost like they had disappeared. That did anything but calm Hermione, she had a huge feeling things would take a wrong turn sooner or later.

Weeks passed, January slipped into February and March. The weather was warmer, and Hermione ended up paying Harry back, not that he asked for it, just because she didn't take charity. Her financial stability was back to normal.

Hermione's panic attacks still happened, but not too frequently, just when someone brought up the past, or when she would be reminded of everything. Sometimes it caught her off guard, and she had to leave before Harry or Ron noticed.

"Oh that would be embarrassing." She thought to herself.

She had noticed Harry and Ron's change of behaviour towards her. They didn't say outright, but she concluded that they believed her. They were more nice to her and tried (I repeat, tried) to include her. Hermione also didn't know why she felt like a thousand weights had been lifted off her chest when she realized this. Part of her still wanted to forget about the Death Eaters and create a new disguise and stay in it forever. But she couldn't. Hermione had the responsibility to avenge every single one of the deaths she had caused. To avenge herself.

It sounded stupid in her head too.

"Nothing." She whispered disbelievingly, flipping through her last book. "Absolutely nothing. I don't believe this. There is no way…"

Hermione was sprawled on her bed, about ten thick books layed around. She had a collection of tracking books from the Ministry and Malfoy Manor (she had owled Malfoy and asked). In the two days she had been studying them, she had tried almost every tracking spell she could find.

It was the beginning of March, a little less than three months since Harry and Ron had made the agreement to work with Hermione. Two months since she had assumed her old position of Auror under an alias.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't find them." She thought, groaning.

It wasn't only her that was having trouble with their case. Every Auror was stumped as to where they may be. There had been countless raids to remote areas and the Muggle Prime Minister had been notified, but few were making progress, even with the addition of more Aurors to the cases.

She was in the kitchen to get lunch when Harry appeared. "Hey, have you seen Ginny? She said she would drop by today."

"No, I've been in the guest room the entire time." She replied as she slathered jelly onto her bread.

She didn't turn up all day, which didn't raise any flags to Hermione, but Harry felt different.

"Maybe she's icing me out? I don't know… after our break up, things were a little different…" Harry muttered as he and Hermione were trying to work on their cases.

"Y'know, one day of Ginny not coming over does not mean she wants to break up, Potter. And if I had known you were going to be rambling about your girlfriend instead of working, I would have stayed upstairs."

"Right, sorry, but what if something is wrong? Maybe I should just go check up on her?" He asked. "It's just- I haven't seen or heard from her since the failed raid two days ago…"

"Don't ask me, how you choose to annoy Ginny by checking up on her constantly is not of my concern. Go ask Weasley or something."

"I seem to recall that you were the one always giving us advice and telling us what to do at Hogwarts." He retorted.

She rolled her eyes, hand clenching the pen in her hand as she attempted to shrug indifferently.

"You have to come to a raid b-"

"-because it would be suspicious if I didn't. Got it, what time?" Hermione replied without glancing up.

"Thirty minutes." Harry said.

"Way to give a heads up, Potter."

"This one will lead somewhere. I'm sure of it."

"I'm drowning in your positivity." Hermione muttered, which went unheard.

It was a day later, and Hermione could tell Harry was trying to push Ginny out of his mind. Hermione couldn't find a plausible reason as to why Harry was so worried that she hadn't come over. Nonetheless, it didn't concern nor interest her, so she stayed out of it.

Two minutes later, she was ready and Flooed to the Ministry, appearing in Harry's office. After waiting forever (28 minutes), in which she busied herself with reading, the other two Aurors were ready to leave. Ron, Darwin, Hermione (Auror Monet), and Harry took a Portkey to the outside of a seemingly abandoned house in the middle of the words.

"Are you sure this place was where they detected magic?" Darwin asked.

"Yes."

Hermione and Ron walked in first as Darwin and Harry covered the back. Someone had definitely lived in the house recently. There was food lying around, either canned or scraps.

"Lumos." Hermione muttered.

"Monet and I will take the kitchen, Darwin and Ron, that room over there." Harry ordered, wand still held out.

"Wait." She hurriedly said. "Homenum Revelio." A warm feeling overtook her as she determined no one was in the room. "There's no one in the house."

"We can still find clues." Harry said confidently.

Hermione moved into the kitchen, wand lit, Harry not far behind. She noticed a lack of dust in certain places, indicating that someone had been there recently.

There was a sharp intake of breath, Hermione flinched. She heard Ron's strangled voice calling them. "Uh- Harry? You mig- you might wanna come here."

Hermione and Harry looked at each other for a moment before quietly walking into the room Ron and Darwin were supposed to be checking.

"What's wro-?" She stopped, staring at the writing on the wall, horror on her face evident.

On the wall opposite of the door, "Give us Granger" was written in crimson. Harry finally noticed what they were all staring at, and inhaled sharply.

"What does it mean? Granger is dead." Darmin asked.

"They might want her body or-or something." Hermione was having a hard time keeping the fear out of her voice. They knew she was alive.

"Darwin," Harry commanded sharply. "The writing's in blood, it's not dry yet. Please get a sample so we can test it, the muggle way. Same for you, Ron,see if you can get fingerprints, hair, anything."

The two of them shuffled around and Ron left the room, Hermione's eye caught something very familiar. The periwinkle powder. With a small look of glee on her face, she conjured a vial and stored all the powder, storing it away in her beaded bag.

"Harry," Ron called, reentering the room. "No fingerprints, must've cleaned it off when they split. I have to admit, these Death Eaters have gotten smarter."

No one said anything. Ron was obviously trying to lighten the mood, and normally it would've been fine. But there was blood on the walls, and everyone's mind's were going to the worst possible scenario.

"There are tons of questions, Hermione! Like whose blood was on the wall? Who is involved? Spies in the Ministry? What are they planning? Why are they after you?" Harry shouted. They were back at his house after a long day. The sun was about to set and, unsurprisingly, Harry and Hermione were fighting.

"I know there are a lot of questions, Potter." She snarled. "But all I'm wondering is why-"

"Maybe you should both calm-" Ron suggested.

"I'm just wondering why they would tell me to come without a-" Her heart sank as she put it together. "Threat."

"A threat? We haven't gotten a-"

"Or hostage. Ginny… Ginny lives alone, right?"

"What does that have to- Yes." Ron said, thoroughly confused.

"What are you going on about?" Harry asked, straightening up.

"You haven't seen Ginny since two days ago, right? She hasn't contacted you or anything? She doesn't have a Harpies game she had to go to?" Hermione interrogated, mind racing.

"No, but I still don't see-" Harry stopped, a look of horror crossing his face. "You don't think…"

"Yes I do, and it took you long enough." snapped Hermione. "I might be wrong. Come on, we have to go."

They all got up and practically ran to the fireplace. Hermione got there first, grabbing a handful of Floo powder and yelled, "Ginny Potter's residence!"

In a burst of green flames, she arrived in an unfamiliar apartment which she assumed to be Ginny's. She looked around in surprise, not expecting the apartment to be a mess. Chairs were overturned, there was a slash in the couch, a lamp lay broken on the floor. If Ginny had gotten kidnapped, she had definitely not gone quietly. Hermione almost smiled at the thought, but then both Harry and Ron appeared out of the fireplace.

"Oh no…" Harry murmured, before yelling. "Ginny? Gin, are you here?"

Ron followed, also yelling Ginny's name. "Ginny!"

After performing the spell to reveal humans, Hermione's heart sunk. "Potter… she's not here."

"But she has to be!" Ron roared, reappearing out of another room.

"She isn't here." She insisted, keeping all emotion out of her voice. "The mess suggests she didn't go without a fight. And we can assume she's still ali-"

"Wait… Hermione, Harry, take a look at this." Ron said sharply.

They walked over to where Ron was. On the door, in the same red blood, "...Or she dies" was written.

"Give us Granger...or she dies." Hermione murmured, heart plummeting. "No…"

"She's alive, all right." Ron said. "For now…"

Harry smacked Ron on the shoulder, and croaked in a strangled voice. "Don't say that."

"Sorry…" Ron apologized, throwing an arm around Harry.

"One thing doesn't make sense-" Hermione started.

"Why Ginny?" Ron finished.

"No. How did they know we'd be going to the old house first and then here?"

"Does it matter?" Harry asked tiredly, looking as if he were about to break down.

"Wait…" She said desperately. "Check the Burrow."

Harry and Ron lept into action, running back into the fireplace and in a split second, they were gone. She followed soon after, trying and failing to hide the worried expression on her face. She went back to Harry's house and practically collapsed on the couch.

Her old friend had been kidnapped, and is probably being tortured, because of her. Sitting in silence, she tried to contemplate that one sentence. Her ex-friend was suffering because of her. She felt terrible. Burying her head in her hands, she waited in silence, unable to cry. As she tried to control her breathing, a million thoughts were running through her head.

A roar of a fire signified they were back. She stood up and read their distraught faces, nodding when she realized Ginny was not there. "And she can't be anywhere else? Maybe she's hanging out with her Quidditch friends? Or-"

Hermione gasped. "Oh- Why didn't I think of it before- of course- that's the whole reason I gave- Yeah we could try that- It's perfect- Although if she was captured- wouldn't be able to- message if they took it-"

"Mind telling us what you're talking about?" Ron asked sarcastically.

"Wha- Oh yes." She pulled out the sapphire necklace she had given everyone.

Ron laughed. "Hermione… you are a genius."

Hermione winced, it hit too close to home. She shrugged indifferently. Closing her hand around the pendant, she thought of Ginny and the message she wanted to send. "Where are you?"

The message came back almost immediately. It read, "I. Don't. Know. Help me. DE r here."

Hermione read the message aloud. "DE… that must mean the Death Eaters."

Harry looked relieved, but still worried. Ron let out a sigh. "Tell her to give us updates every few hours so we know she's not-not-"

"Ok."

Hermione closed her eyes, ready to send another message. "Send us a message every few hours. Ppl involved? Info? W r coming, don't worry, stay strong."

She told Ron and Harry what she had sent, and Ron looked confused. "How did all that fit on one little necklace?"

She rolled her eyes. "There's a hologram function if the message is too long."

"How are you able to do this? Those pendants have gajillion charms on it."

"I did something called listening in school, Weasley." She snapped.

"I know what you're thinking." Hermione said to Harry, a few hours later, after Ron had left.

"What?"

"Don't contact her, unless you absolutely need to."

"But-" He argued.

"The more we talk to her, the more likely she'll get caught. What do you think will happen if she's caught?" Harry went pale before giving a small nod. "Ok, fine."

Skipping dinner, she immediately went upstairs and went to sleep. Sure it was plagued with nightmares, but it saved her from the feeling of guilt growing inside her.

But right before sleep overtook her, she decided that she couldn't stay at Harry's house anymore.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

A/N: Ok lemme say something. (People who, more or less, actually like the fanfic, you're free to leave)

If you do not like my fanfic, then why the hell are you reading it?

Dude, you just read about 50,000 words, why are you here if you don't like it? To hate? Bc I have some words for you then.

Don't hate, it's a waste of your time, as well as mine. I am fine with constructive criticism. But not being straight up rude.

But if you are going to hate.

Please...

Use this amazing thing called ... grammar. *note the sarcasm dripping from each word*

Y'know, that thing that makes it easier for me to understand what you're hating about?

The last two hate comments I got (I deleted the others) It literally took me a few minutes to decipher. (Also you two missed about five commas each)

Like, I get it if it's your second language (If you're bad at english why are you even hating in the first place?) but normally people who use phrases like "self insert masquerading" and "warped beyond a 150 degree angle" are perfectly fine with speaking english.

I eventually got the message of what they were trying to say, but still, it didn't make it any less confusing.

Thank you and have a nice day. Hope you liked the chapter.