Chapter one
The Game

1st May , 2002

When did we fail? Why have we failed? And above all, what have we failed at? Was it another horcrux we didn't know about? Was it Harry's belief that with light magic we could defeat the Dark Lord? Or was the prophecy fulfilled, but not what she had imagined? The questions Hermione has been asking herself every night in her head for four years straight. Four years since she lost the war, her freedom, her family and her life.

"Hey Ginny, I didn't find many. Will that be enough for the pie?" Hermione asked as she entered the damp old house in Seventh District with a half-full cup of blueberries. "Let me see. Yeah, I'm sure that'll do." Ginny took a cup of blueberries and put them on the table beside the bowl. "Hermione, darling!" Molly Weasley smiled at her and hugged her tightly. A hug from Molly was always the most beautiful thing of the day. It was full of hope and joy, and motherly love that Hermione hadn't felt in so long. "Molly, are you here to help Ginny bake?" Hermione smiled in Molly's grip. "Of course, my daughter can't even make tea without my help. She's still my little girl." smiled Mrs. Weasley and kissed Hermione on the forehead.

"Mom, that's not true!" Ginny said. "Of course it isn't."Molly laughed, winked at Hermione, and went to wash the blueberries. "I missed your mother." Hermione sat down on a chair at the small, old dining table she and Ginny had in their cottage and watched Ginny stir the pie dough beside her. "She and Dad would have had their anniversary last week. It was hard for her. George tells me she hasn't left her room all week." Ginny explained with a sad look. Hermione wasn't much of a comforter; after the war, she'd lost all the faith it took to comfort someone. "I know you miss him. You have any right to be sad." Hermione put her hand on Ginny's and squeezed it tightly.

"We're back," came a voice from the doorway. Ginny wiped the tear on her cheek with her other hand and smiled one last grateful smile at Hermione. "Mommy! Look what I caught." came a child's voice. "Show me, sweetheart" Ginny took her son in her arms. "Uncle Ron showed me how to hunt a rabbit without magic."Little James Potter-Weasley was showing his mother the corpse of a rabbit. Ron and Ginny tried to teach little James a life without magic, if the Dark Lord chose to take magic out of his life altogether, as a final revenge on Harry. Ginny looked a little disgusted but still smiling. "Come on, James, we'll skin him outside and your mother will make him for you for dinner. What do you say?" Ron suggested when he came into the room. "Hello, honey."He came to the chair where Hermione was sitting, put his hand on her shoulder, and kissed her hair. "Hi."She smiled back and put her hand on his. "Okay," said the youngest Weasley, writhing out of his mother's embrace and running out with the rabbit in his hand.

When he and Ron left, Ginny slumped in the chair next to Hermione. And she started crying. Hermione immediately embraced her, and Ginny rested her head on Hermione's shoulder. "What if I get picked tomorrow, Hermione?" she stammered. "James needs a mother, he's already lost his father. I can't allow it. Or, -or what if they pick Fred or Ron? Mom would go crazy." she went on in her black thoughts "She could never get over another death in our family." Ginny sobbed on Hermione's shoulder.

'Hermione, I'm scared,' said Ginny, after a moment of crying, lifting her head from Hermione's shoulder and looking into her eyes. And she wasn't the only one who was afraid. Hermione's fear of losing another loved one was eating away at her from within.

"Hermione, you must promise me something." Ginny looked into her eyes with a serious expression. "Promise me if I get picked tomorrow. I'm begging you to take care of James. If I- If I died there, my mom wouldn't even be able to look at him." said Ginny. Hermione had a few thoughts in her head. "Don't worry, Ginny, they won't pick you."Or. "Ginny, you're not going to die. You're strong, you could survive in there." Or "That's not true, your mom loves James" She knew the only thing she could do was grant her wish. "I promise Ginny," she said, looking into her best friend's eyes and gripping her tightly.

Tomorrow, each from the 7 Districts could lose more than one loved person

May 2nd, 2002

Hermione walked into their small bathroom. Using her wand, with which she could do only a few simple spells, she allowed water to flow into an old, peeling tub. When the water was halfway in, she sat in, bent her legs so that her thighs touched her chest, and laid her head on her knees and closed her eyes. Today is the day they lost the war. The day her best friend died. And the day the world learns the names of not twelve Players, but for the first time in four years, fourteen Players. And one of them might be herself.

She went in a group with all the residents of the Seventh District, aged between 16 and 30. Beside her, Ginny walked quietly, head down, a tear on her cheek. As they approached the square, Hermione looked up to see the stage. A tall woman in her forties, with white hair, a beautiful purple knee-length dress, and exaggerated makeup, stood at the centre of the stage, wand in hand. She was from Capitol. Beside her stood two Death Eaters, masked but hooded. One of them had dark, curly hair almost like Harry's, the other had a platinum blond. Hermione didn't have to think for a moment about who was standing in front of her on the stage. Her heart quickened, her head began to spin, her legs seemed about to betray her, and her pulse was faster than it had ever been. She felt Ginny grab her hand, probably must have noticed Hermione's body language, but she couldn't have known the reason Hermione's body had to react like this. No one knew except two people on different sides.

"Citizens of the Seventh Shire. Today is your fateful day . . ." began the woman in the blue dress. "...Two Players will be chosen for your Shire today. To repay the debt for the betrayal they have shown to the Dark Lord..."The unpleasantly false-smiling woman went on with her speech, she'll probably call her a masquerade. Everyone around her listened carefully to the "masquerade," but Hermione could not hear her. There was only one thing she could sense, and that was his eyes. His grey, almost silvery, eyes that looked almost dead. She always loved his eyes, more than anything. She could look into them all night until they were gone from her life again.

"Let me choose your Players."That line brought Hermione back to reality. She watched as the woman, a masquerade, approached a cup similar to the one Professor Dumbledore had used when selecting the champions for the Triwizard Tournament. Then he, too, stepped forward and waved his wand. Hermione felt Ginny's rapid breathing next to her, grabbed her hand quickly and squeezed it tightly. "A man's player, for Seven District is..." She inhaled enthusiastically, and then the paper flew out of the cup into his hands, he read it quickly, and handed it to the woman.

"Ronald Weasley"Hermione froze, her eyes fixed on the Death Eater, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Noooo. No, that's my son." came Molly's voice in the audience. "That's my son-you can't. He's my boy-" Then her voice faded, and there was only loud sobbing. Hermione took a deep breath, looked at her friend beside her, who had just lost her brother and knew what she was going to have to do.

"And the Girl Player, for this District is..." The blond Death Eater repeated his moves. He waved his wand, a piece of paper flew out of his cup, read it, but this time he didn't give it to the masquerade. Instead, he looked in her direction at speed. He made eye contact for a few seconds and passed a piece of paper with his name on it

"... Ginevra Weasley" she cried. Hermione froze. No, that can't happen. She looked beside her, at the mother of the child she had promised to take care of. Giny stared into the eyes of Death Eater, who looked so much like Harry. She swallowed hard, breathing deeply, her hands trembling, tears streaming down her face. Hermione couldn't let that happen, couldn't let her lose her best friend. To lose her sister

"I volunteer." Hermione cried. "I'm going in her place."She stepped out of line and looked the woman straight in the eye. She looked side by side at the Death Eaters. The dark-haired one nodded in agreement, but the other remained standing. "So be it. Please let the players come forward."She challenged them, and Ron and Hermione took the stage. Hermione looked into the crowd and found Ginny's face in it. 'Thank you,' whispered Ginny, looking after her into the audience, at her mother, who was holding her grandchild in her arms. "I present to you, 7 Shire Players,' said the presenter of the charade, raising her hand and Ron's in the air beside her.

"Not Hermione. We're not giving them!"An unpleasant silence, broken by male voices from the audience. "That's right, this is shit." shouted another voice. The woman standing in the center of the Players looked around uncertainly. "Get them!" came the voice of her deathrider. "And drag these two to the train." he gave orders to the other Death Eaters standing nearby. "No, Ginny! no Let me go," Hermione screamed as someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her away. "Hermione! Hermione!" she heard from a distance but Ginny's voice was lost in Hermione's own sobbing and screaming