Hello guys! How are you all?

Thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed this story. You guys are the best! You have no idea how good it feels to me when you guys appreciate this story!

A shoutout to Hermionethemiddleschooler, Patronus, FacedPerson, QHLuver, jnwking, ElianaXIsabella who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you so much guys! Your reviews really made my day!

To answer all your questions:-

Yes, Hermione and Ginny will be exposing Peter very soon. In the next few chapters, they will also get a little close to the Marauders and Lily, and who knows, they might even tell them some of the truth! And as for Serena...well, you will find out about that soon enough too!

On with the chapter now! (Oh, and I do not own Harry Potter characters)

Previously:-

Suddenly Serena opened her eyes. She looked at everyone standing around her in confusion but when her eyes fell on Hermione, they filled with fear and regret.

"Hermione. T-They were here." She said trying to remember what happened "The death eaters. And they took Ginny with them."

Hermione suddenly went stiff. "What do you mean they took her?" She asked, her voice shaking a little "What were they doing here? What happened?"

Serena tried to remember "We were looking for Lily when Ginny sensed that someone was following us. We thought it was the S-Slytherins but it turned out they were death eaters. There were f-four of them. They came out of nowhere and took us by surprise. We tried to fight them b-but they were too powerful. The last thing I remember is one of them grabbing Ginny and disapparating. They must have hit me with a spell after that." She said touching the wound on her forehead. She looked at Hermione "I-I'm sorry I couldn't stop them from taking her."

Hermione was angry and worried but she knew she couldn't blame Serena "Hey, it's not your fault."

"You need to go to the infirmary first," James said looking at Serena's wound that was still bleeding.

They took Serena to the infirmary where Madam Pomfrey took one look at Serena and started treating her right away.

"I have informed Professor Dumbledore. He should be here soon." James said looking at Hermione but she wasn't paying him much attention. She was worried for Ginny. Why would the death eaters take her? Was it related to what Ginny heard Wormtail talking about them to Avery? There were too many questions to which she didn't have any answers so she decided to distract herself by looking at Serena. She was relieved that Serena was okay and the death eaters hadn't taken her too.

The door of the hospital wing opened as Dumbledore came in. He looked at the scene in front of him and looked at Hermione.

"What happened?," He asked her

Hermione looked at him with dread in her eyes "It was the death eaters. They took Ginny." She looked at Serena and Serena started explaining what happened to Dumbledore. After she was done, Dumbledore asked her to take care of herself and turned to Hermione with a grave look in his eyes as he told her to follow him to his office.

After Dumbledore and Hermione were gone, Madam Pomfrey ushered the marauders and Lily out of the hospital room claiming that Serena needed to rest.

"It doesn't make sense. Why would the death eaters take Ginny if she and Hermione were one of them?" Sirius said as they all went up to the boys' dorm. "What were the death eaters doing there in the first place?" He looked at the others "Do you think that it is a trick? What if Hermione and Ginny want everyone to think that they are not one of the death eaters so they faked it all?"

"I don't think so," Remus said "You saw Hermione. She was actually worried about Ginny. There is no way she could've faked that."

"What if we were wrong about them being death eaters? What if they are not as dangerous as we thought they were?" Lily said. She saw James wasn't speaking anything "James, what is it?"

James looked like he was trying to figure something out "I don't understand. Why were Hermione, Ginny, and Serena looking for you?" He said looking at Lily "Hermione was very relieved when she found you. She said she thought that "they" got you. Who are they?"

Lily's eyes widened "Serena said something like that too. That they-they were looking for me and they thought that they were being followed by the Slytherins. What did they mean by that?"

"Whatever it is, we need to find out," James said looking determined.

"But how?" Lily said "Madam Pomfrey won't let us see Serena right now. And honestly, Serena needs to rest after what she has been through."

"Then we'll ask Hermione," Sirius said.

Hermione was pacing as Dumbledore contacted the order members asking them all to find out the location of the place where the death eaters took Ginny. She just couldn't think straight. She was scared for Ginny, wondering if she was okay or not, or if she was even alive.

No, stop thinking that. She's going to be okay. You are not going to lose her too. Hermione thought.

Dumbledore turned towards her. "The order members are looking for her right now. I will go and ask my contacts if they know anything."

"What am I supposed to do until then, professor?" Hermione looked at him

"I'm afraid there's not much that you can do right now, Miss Granger. I suggest you go back to your common room and I will inform you as soon as I hear something."

Hermione shook her head fiercely "I can't just sit around and do nothing. I am not just going to sit back while Ginny is in danger!"

Dumbledore looked at her calmly "I am not asking you to sit back. But unless we know where she is I am afraid we cannot do much."

Hermione knew he was right but it didn't change the fact that her best friend could be getting tortured right now. She decided to go back to the common room to come up with a plan or anything. When she entered the common room she realized it was empty except for a few first and second years.

Everyone must still be in Hogsmeade enjoying themselves. Hermione thought as she went over to the couch near the fireplace. She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't realize when four people came towards her and one of them tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up to see that it was Lily who had tapped her. As Lily sat beside Hermione, the other three boys took seats near the fireplace too.

"Did they find her yet?" Lily asked in a concerned tone.

Hermione sighed "No, but Professor Dumbledore is doing everything he can."

"She's going to be okay," Remus said trying to comfort her.

"How do you know that? For all we know, she could be getting tortured now, if the death eaters haven't killed her already!" Hermione realized that she had raised her voice and had attracted the attention of a couple of first years. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Hermione, you won't be any use to her if you are not thinking straight. She'll be fine. She's been through so much and she'll get through this too. Hermione repeated in her mind trying to calm herself down.

When the others were sure that Hermione was okay, they looked at each other unsure of what to do. Deciding that someone needed to do it, James decided to pick up his courage and asked Hermione the question that has been bothering him a lot "Hermione this is probably not the best time but there is something we need to ask you." Hermione looked up at him, her eyes filled with exhaustion. "Why were you, Ginny and Serena looking for Lily? You said she was in danger? Danger of what?"

Hermione decided there will be no harm in telling them. That way they would be more careful. "Ginny and I were in the Three Broomsticks when Serena came running up to us saying that we had to find you," She said looking at Lily "Apparently she had heard some Slytherins talking about how they were planning to get the school rid of Muggleborns themselves and you were their first target."

She saw the faces around her fill with horror, anger, and a hint of fear.

"Well let them come and I swear they'll regret it for the rest of their miserable lives!" Sirius growled

James moved closer to Lily "I won't let them touch you Lily, I swear!" Lily was surprised when she saw such fierceness in James' eyes. It scared her a little but at the same time made her feel safe.

Remus was confused. Something didn't make sense "Then what about that patronus? It was from Ginny, right? What did she mean when she said that it was a trap?"

Hermione looked at him as a frown came on her face. She had almost forgotten about Ginny's message. What was Ginny trying to say? What trap? The others looked at Hermione to get the answer but they realized that Hermione was herself trying to figure it out. After a few seconds had passed, they looked at each other with uncertainty but suddenly heard Hermione gasp.

"What is it?" Sirius asked worriedly

"There were no Slytherins looking for Lily," Hermione said as realization dawned on her "That was the trap Ginny was talking about. The death eaters wanted us to separate so that they could get to one of us."

"What? What do you mean?" Remus asked her but Hermione didn't answer as she got up and went in the direction of the portrait as she looked back at the others, "Just please go to Professor Dumbledore and tell him that he needs to come to the Hospital Wing. I may have a lead on Ginny's location."

Finally the marauders and Lily might start to trust Hermione and Ginny again. At least they think that Hermione and Ginny are not death eaters, so that's a small step!

What do you think is going to happen next? Review and let me know!