This is a non-canon story. Different couples, different situations, etc. I am changing a lot from the book and doing it my own way. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. If you do like it, then please, leave me some reviews because I love reading about what people think of my stories.

Disclaimer – I own nothing except my own ideas. Everything else belongs to Rowling.

Chapter 3

The chaos at the Quidditch match amongst the fans was nothing compared to the chaos that ensued a couple hours after the game. No one knew what was really going on, but they knew that they were being attacked. A lot of people had, luckily, returned to their portkeys and disappeared, but a lot of witches and wizards were still at the stadium, running for their lives.

Hermione wasn't naïve. She knew that they were being attacked by Death Eaters. As she ran with Ron and the other Weasleys into the safety of the forest, she had spotted numerous people wearing Death Eater masks. She didn't think Ron realized yet, since he was the most oblivious one in the group, but Harry was sure to know. She glanced around, looking for Harry in particular but couldn't find a head with long shaggy black hair anywhere.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted as he grabbed his arm to stop him from running. "Where's Harry?!"

"What?" Ron looked around quickly, noting that his family was getting further and further away from where they had stopped. "Blimey, Hermione, I don't see him anywhere."

"We have to find him." Hermione concluded. "Those are Death Eaters attacking and I'm pretty sure they're after Harry."

"What do we do?" Ron wondered.

"We go back!" Hermione rolled her eyes and ran back the way they came, towards the campsite.

Fire and smoke made it hard for them to navigate their way, but determination never failed Hermione as she pushed through, covering her mouth with her t-shirt. She gasped as she spotted a head of white blond hair, standing 30 yards from her. She squinted a bit and smiled to herself as she recognized the warm silver eyes of her best friend.

Draco sighed in relief at the sight of Hermione and quickly pointed in the direction of where he had seen Harry Potter fall. He had watched as the crowds of people trampled over the boy who lived and left him unconscious on the damp muddy ground. The good side of him wanted to go over and help him up, but he felt that his assistance wouldn't go unnoticed by the passing Death Eaters. So he knew that being on the ground was the safest place for Harry at the moment. His mind had wandered to Hermione and he had run around the campsite looking for her. The longer it took to find her, the more his heart slowly dropped to his stomach.

But then he had spotted a head of bushy curly hair and knew it was her. Seeing her running from the forest towards the campsite with that Weasley made an emotion, that he hadn't felt in a while, bubble to the surface. He glared at the red head, but the second his eyes met Hermione's, his entire body relaxed. He noticed her looking around for something and assumed it was Harry, so he subtly pointed in the right direction, hoping she would notice. Of course, his brilliant witch noticed instantly, gave him a wide smile and ran off in Harry's unconscious direction.

Ron quickly followed Hermione, not having seen Draco at all, and looked around him for his best friend. The smoke was making it very difficult for him to see anything at all, so instead, he opted to just follow Hermione because she seemed to know where she was going.

"Harry!" Ron called out.

Hermione spun around on her heel and covered Ron's mouth with her hand.

"Are you crazy!?" she snapped. "You really want the Death Eaters to come here because they hear us looking for Harry?"

Ron grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his mouth.

"I'm sorry!" he mumbled. "I didn't realize."

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione sighed exasperated. "Use your brain sometimes!"

She shook her head and kept running in the direction that Draco had pointed to until she spotted the mass of black hair she was looking for. The first thing she noticed was that he was breathing. The second thing she noticed was that he was conscious and looking up at someone who was swiftly walking towards him.

She looked around and quickly noticed that there was one other Death Eaters around. She knew what she had to do. She needed to make sure that the man approaching Harry knew he wasn't alone.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, making the man turn to look in her direction.

She stood, rooted to her spot as she watched the man shoot sparks from his wand into the air before turning quickly and running off. She felt Ron's body stiffen next to her as she lifted her head to the sky, gasping and covering her mouth with her hand.

Hermione shook her head and returned to her task at hand, running over to Harry and falling to the ground next to him.

"Are you hurt?" she fired quickly. "What happened? I thought you were with us!"

Harry ignored her inquiries and focused on the image of a skull with a snake protruding out of its mouth in the dark sky. Harry allowed Hermione to pull him to his feet, but his eyes never left the sky. The popping of apparition made Harry and Hermione turn into concentration mode, knowing what was about to happen. They quickly ducked, pulling Ron down with them as numerous curses were fired at them.

"Which one of you did it!?" the sound of Bartemius Crouch's voice, the head of Magical Law Enforcement, echoed around them as he stepped forward, pointing his wand at the trio.

"What?!" Hermione gasped incredulously.

"They couldn't have, Barty, they're just kids." Kingsley Shacklebolt said as he lowered his wand, causing everyone else, except Barty, to do the same.

"Stop!" Mr. Weasley's voice sounded as he came running over to the group. "That's my son!"

"Sorry Arthur, but they were here when the spell was casted." Kingsley sighed.

"We didn't do it." Ron rushed out.

"Obviously, it has to have been a Death Eater." Arthur suggested.

"Death Eater?" Harry snapped. "You mean…"

He looked up at the sky, as everyone else looked up with him.

"You mean, that's …" Harry frowned.

"It's the Dark Mark Harry …" Hermione said softly. "His mark …"

"Voldemort!?" Harry breathed out. "Voldemort did this!?"

"No." Mr. Crouch shook his head. "But rogue Death Eaters probably did."

"I'm taking my kids to safety." Mr. Weasley stepped up to the trio. "Come on."

The trio kept quiet as they followed Mr. Weasley back to the portkey. This time, the sensations of the portkey travel did nothing to them since they were all in slight shock still. They walked down the hill towards the Burrow in complete silence, neither willing to discuss what had happened just yet … especially in front of Mr. Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley hugged each of them tightly, as if the world was about to end, ensuring that they were all unhurt before allowing them to retire to their rooms for some well needed rest. Hermione looked over at Harry and knew instantly … just from the pensive look on his face … that things were about to change dramatically in their lives.

"You know that Sirius is going to want to hear about this … about everything." Hermione said softly. "Even the dreams."

Harry merely nodded and disappeared into Ron's room, leaving them both staring after him.

"He'll be fine, Hermione." Ron said gently, patting her shoulder lightly. "Harry can handle anything."

"Yes …" Hermione sighed and walked over to Ginny's room. "But he shouldn't have to."

She walked into Ginny's room, sighed in relief that Ginny was unhurt and asleep before crawling into her cot, trying to allow the much needed sleep to wash over her, but something in the back of her mind was bothering her and refusing to allow her access to her slumber. She stared at the ceiling as her thoughts quickly went to Draco, as it usually did before she went to bed. She wondered if he was alright … if he had gotten attacked as well … if he was eating. September 1st couldn't come fast enough for her.

As if reading her mind, a small raven began pecking against the glass window of the small bedroom. She hopped out of bed and quickly moved over to the window, opening it and allowing the raven to fly in. The regal creature perched itself at the edge of her bed, sticking it's leg out and waiting for her to untie the letter from its feet. Hermione smiled and made quick work of untying the letter before giving the bird she's had grown to love some left over meat pie from her backpack. She stroked its feathers lovingly before ripping the seal and reading the letter.

My Dearest Hermione,

Don't worry about me. I know you are, so stop! I'm fine. In case our friendship has caused you to forget, let me refresh your memory of our reality. My father is still a Death Eater. Therefore, the attack today didn't affect me. However, I was relieved to see that you were unhurt. I'm sorry that your first international Qudditch match resulted in those events. I must admit that my main concern was your safety at the time of the attack. You are my best friend, and the only reason for my humanity and saneness. If anything were to happen to you, I would be eternally lost.

I trust that you are now back at the Burrow and completely safe? How is Harry doing? I dare not ask about Ron because he looked like a frightened puppy. But most importantly … how are you? Remember, if you need me for anything, I'm only an owl away. I will find you if you need me, and I will help you with every resource I have.

Please try to have fun this week and forget about last night's attack. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Kings Cross on the 1st. Until then, be safe, and read your textbooks … like I'm doing.

Your Dearest Friend,

Draco.

Hermione closed the letter quickly as the unnoticed tears fell from her eyes and fell upon the black ink blots of the paper. She could tell that the letter was written in a rush and didn't want to think of what awaited him after his letter was written. She knew how hard things were for him at the moment and she wished she could help him somehow. But all she had was ink and paper.

"So much for sleep …" she muttered as she walked over to Ginny's desk, picked up the quill and dipped it into the pool of blackness.

She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, getting her emotions under control and pressed the quill down to the paper.

"My Dearest Draco…"

A/N

I must apologize for the delay...my computer died and only got fixed this morning.

Now, in case anyone is wondering, this is how it's going to play out. Each school year and summer will have 3-4 chapters each. So, the next chapter will be the beginning of their 4th year.