Prologue

A warm and sunny June day kept the patrons of Diagon Alley in happy spirits, with just a hint of breeze to stop them getting too hot and flustered. The shops and cafés all had a steady pace of customers; some of them taking a lunch break, some of them beginning to stock up for when the children were home from Hogwarts.

It had been two years since Lord Voldemort had been defeated, and it was only now that life was beginning to settle down for Harry Potter. He could finally walk down Diagon Alley with fellow wizards and witches content with a wave from him, rather than a dozen photos in every position imaginable to mankind as well as some very friendly kisses off the girls. Ginny Weasley was not amused about the latter.

On this carefree day, Harry was meeting up with his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, for lunch. With all three of them busy in different departments of the Ministry of Magic, they took every lunch hour together.

"Where've you been?" Hermione demanded indignantly while tapping her watch.

"I had a training session today," Harry said.

"Not good enough," Hermione mocked him with a smile.

"Guess what, mate?" Ron jumped in straight away with a smirk.

"You've finally found somewhere to live," Harry said.

"Not yet," Hermione told him. "But we have finally set a date!"

"Who won in the end?" Harry asked. For months Hermione and Ron had been trying to agree on a date for their wedding.

"I did!" they said in unison eyeing up the other at their audacity to say it was them.

"When is it then?" Harry quickly moved on before another argument broke out about the date.

"Next June," Ron said.

"We should have found somewhere to live by then, and finished our training," Hermione added.

"Sounds like this is it- definitely going to happen?" Harry took a sip of his drink.

"Yes, we've told my mum, so there's no going back on it now," Ron teased a little. It was met with a light slap on the back of his head.

They spent the next forty-five minutes putting the world to rights...starting with the departments they worked in. Harry thought that more time should be spent on learning defensive spells. Ron thought that there should be less paperwork. Hermione thought there should be more books on the shelves.

It was as they gathered their belongings and got up to leave that screams from outside shattered the hum of chatter in the cafe. Everyone paused and glanced to each other for answers that they couldn't give. Without a second thought, Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced outside, the rest of the patrons following them.

As they got outside, people were frantically racing past them; some were throwing spells over their shoulders. Distant cracks and pops could be heard as a few of them Disapparated away.

"Look." Hermione pointed to a spot near Gringotts.

Four figures were moving towards them firing spells in every direction. Some missed...some hit with sickening accuracy. Rogue Death Eaters was the first thought from the trio moving towards these fierce figures, rather than running away, but something was different about what they were wearing; the noticeable one was that the robes were a dark red, almost blood-like.

Aurors began to appear, surrounding the attackers. This didn't seem to faze the attackers as they redirected their spells on to them instead.

"It was only a matter of time," Hermione stated calmly to the other two while taking out her wand. "There'd been rumours."

The three of them spilt up, with no time to discuss the rumours Hermione had heard, and joined the Aurors. There was no denying that whoever these people were, they were terrifyingly powerful, and knowledgable in Dark Arts. Aurors were trying in vain to split them up, corner them on their own, but it seemed they knew that if they were allowed to split up then they would be weaker.

Hermione lost sight of Harry and Ron as she raced around trying to spot any weaknesses in the small group while avoiding stray spells. Some people had stayed behind rather than run away to help fight; it wasn't making a difference. To Hermione's surprise, she saw Lucius and Draco Malfoy fighting against these figures. She would have put money on two of the cloaked attackers being Malfoys.

When it looked like the attackers were losing some energy, Hermione took the moment to throw some of the more powerful hexes she'd been working on at them. One of the middle ones dropped instantly and shook uncontrollably. The remaining three instantly moved around their companion to protect him.

Before anyone could really understand what was happening, the attackers seemed to be drawing some kind of energy from the fallen one. She couldn't understand what this meant, or why they were doing it, but Hermione knew in her gut that everyone needed to be on the ground. Now!

"Get down!" Hermione began to scream as she raced through the crowds.

The attackers threw out some more curses at people getting closer to them. Hermione spotted a flash of ginger hair ahead of her. At breakneck speed, Hermione pushed her way to him while desperately forcing people to get on the floor. Some took in her advice while others were too engrossed in throwing their own curses.

"Granger!" she heard someone call behind her. Trying to keep her eye on Ron, Hermione half turned to see who was calling her. It was Draco with his father falling behind him. "You know something," he said breathlessly to her once he reached her side.

Hermione didn't have time for them; she needed to get to Harry and Ron. She started to silently turn away, but Lucius grabbed her arm. "Don't be a fool! Let us help you," the older Malfoy snarled.

Hermione pulled them both down to the ground, pulling tightly on their sleeves. They reluctantly let her. "Look what they're doing," she instructed as she glanced between people's legs to see the attackers.

"What?" Draco asked.

"Look!" Hermione snapped, pointing through a gap of bodies. "They're drawing energy from him. Magical energy." Lucius seemed to understand first. Hermione nodded her confirmation to him. "Just stay down. Or at least try to Apparate." At this, Hermione got up and began her search for Ron and Harry again while begging for more time. She probably had seconds now.

From the corner of her eye, Hermione saw the attackers turn their backs on the fallen one. At the same time she saw Ron; he was too near to them and too far from her. She'd have to stun him. Hermione raised her wand and so did the attackers. Hermione was suddenly pushed down to the ground with a weight covering her body. No, she hadn't stunned Ron, he wasn't safe. Where was Harry?

She tried to fight off the person keeping her down, but he was too strong for her, using his full weight to keep her pinned down.

Hermione heard it before she felt it. A deep boom that hurt her ears with the pressure. She instinctively turned her head into the person covering her for protection. The force and power of the magic pushed them along the ground, and felt like a thousand bombs were going off around her. She clung onto the stranger, gritting her teeth as the pain seared through her.

It felt like hours before it stopped, but it was just seconds. Windows shattered around them while bricks fell. Piercing screams went through the air. Finally they stopped moving. The sound of things falling and crashing to the ground slowly came to a stop. Hermione loosened her grip on her protector as she began to blink her eyes rapidly as dust fell into them.

Wiping her eyes roughly with her knuckles, Hermione saw Lucius' face inches away from her; unconscious. This was her protector?! Seeing the blood coming from his temple, Hermione rolled him over gently and searched for a wand, hers now missing. Quickly she grabbed the nearest one on the floor and healed his wound before standing, ignoring her own pain, and frantically began to search for Ron.

The attackers were gone, but they most certainly were not forgotten. She'd heard of the magic they'd used, was researching it, but never in her wildest dreams thought anyone was powerful enough to display a hint of it. But the rumours...

Hermione ran to the spot where they'd been- Ron hadn't been far from there. Around her people started to get up. Many didn't. She prayed with all her might Ron and Harry got up.

Hermione gently moved people around the area finding some were still alive, but always with the thought of finding Harry and Ron in her mind. She wasn't sure how long she'd been looking, ten seconds, ten minutes or ten hours, when she found Harry. Knowing before even getting to him that he was dead, Hermione still tried frantically to wake him up, shaking his shoulders with all her strength.

In her desperation, Hermione listened to his chest, giving anything to hear a heartbeat, but it wasn't forthcoming. She froze as she started to lift her head. Nausea rolled through her stomach quickly. A metre or two to the left of Harry lay Ron, his lifeless eyes staring back at her. Something broke inside Hermione at that moment. Like an actual snap in her emotional capacity to understand what her life had suddenly become.

Slowly Hermione struggled to her feet, and as soon as she did, she felt the darkness engulf her. She welcomed it with open arms, not feeling someone else's arms catching her.

"What do we do with her?" Draco asked his father in contempt. "I'm not stepping foot in whatever Muggle village she lives." Draco didn't hate the young woman in his father's arms anymore, but he certainly wasn't friends with her.

"Draco, she warned us what would happen. She saved us. We have no choice but to help her," Lucius informed his son.

"You have already returned the favour by saving her," Draco snapped.

"As much as I would like for it to end there, it won't. She healed my wound." Lucius lifted an eyebrow to indicate the deep scar at his temple, still throbbing. "It was more than just a scratch."

"That could have been done by anyone!" Draco pointed out to him.

"Draco! I'm not going to stand here and argue. She isn't getting any lighter!" And on that note, Lucius began to step through the mass of people lay on the floor, leaving his son to follow in his wake.

XXXXXX

Hermione regained consciousness quickly, the stinging pain on her uncovered arms not allowing her to do otherwise. Squinting, her eyes dry, Hermione lifted her arms to look; they were an angry shade of red from the grazes covering them, small spots of dried blood smeared in areas. Contact with anything increased the pain tenfold.

All at once the memories flooded back to Hermione's now fully awake mind. Her heart shattered all over again. Feeling winded by it, Hermione was trying to take deep breaths as she half-sobbed. "No!" she croaked, the tears coming quickly. Hermione sat up and blindly took in the state of her blouse and trousers. Large rips in the trousers showed more raw grazes on her knees, and further down under the fabric.

Clutching at her blouse, pulling at it, her breathing ragged and painful, Hermione begged for the pain deep in her heart to stop. "Please...please...please..." was all she kept saying. Suddenly she scrambled to get off the bed; she couldn't breathe, she couldn't see. She just had to get to Harry and Ron. They were all alone.

Glancing round Hermione took in her surroundings. Where was she? Her eyes landed on the door as it opened. Lucius Malfoy was still in the same state as herself with the blood on his face now dry. She couldn't have been here that long, surely he would've been clean, or her wounds treated. Without saying a word, Hermione tried to move past him while searching her trouser pockets for her wand; it was gone in the blast.

"Where are you going?" Lucius asked moving into her path. Hermione was starting to gasp for breath, the sobs refusing to stop, and pain seeping through her heart and soul.

"I have to go-...I have to find them- they...I have...I-" Hermione was still clawing at her blouse like it was a lifeline to surviving this. "They're alone- they can't be gone!" She pushed Lucius out of the way, the movement sending a different kind of pain through her sensitive skin, and started to walk down the hallway.

She stopped after a few paces and turned back to him. "You have to take me back...I- I don't have a wand...please," Hermione begged. With a small nod of his head, Lucius took his wand out from the inside pocket of his cloak and moved to her, holding his arm out.

As soon as they were back in Diagon Alley Hermione let go of Lucius quickly. It had been less than an hour ago when he'd taken Hermione to the Manor and already there were medical staff moving from person to person while the able shifted the bodies to an area for relatives to identify them.

"Mr Malfoy," a timid voice spoke to him. It was Daisy, one of the receptionists in the Ministry. "I'm so sorry," she cried.

"What for?" he snapped, his lip curling in annoyance.

"Weren't you with her?" Daisy asked, her features quickly becoming horrified.

"Who?" he said, losing patience with her.

Daisy bit her lip, looking round as she wrung her hands together. "You best come with me."

Lucius reluctantly followed Daisy to where they were putting the bodies. He spotted Hermione a few yards away hugging the Weasley girl.

"Mr Malfoy," Daisy said loudly when he hadn't looked the first time she'd said his name. He looked to where she was pointing.

Blinking hard, Lucius felt like someone had ripped his heart out and handed it to him. There lay his beautiful wife, looking like she was just sleeping, or that's how it would've appeared if she hadn't been covered in dust, with a small trickle of blood coming from her nose.

Lucius' knees buckled causing him to land hard on them. A memory that now seemed so long ago, but was just this morning, floated to the front of his mind. She had been there to meet Draco and him for lunch. That's why Lucius had been in Diagon Alley. How could he have forgotten when Lucius had searched for her at home moments ago?

A guttural roar escaped from deep within Lucius. Daisy moved to pat his shoulder awkwardly as he sobbed by his wife's body, but he roughly pushed her away. All she could do was watch him helplessly, not wanting to leave him alone in this state.

Hearing the cry, Hermione and Ginny looked over. "No one's escaped from this," Ginny sniffed.

"Wait here," Hermione said, her voice strained, before moving to the weeping man. "L- Lucius," she said, feeling like formality was of no use to anyone at the moment. Lucius ignored her, his hands squeezing at his knees, the knuckles turning white. She knelt down in front of his slumped form. Daisy took this as her cue to be able to leave him now. "Lucius!" Hermione said more firmly now.

"Leave me be!" he growled in response, his gaze not meeting hers.

Taking a deep breath Hermione gently took his face in her hands and forced him to look at her. "She was carrying a girl," Lucius said helplessly, his grip now moving from his knees to her wrists. Hermione shifted to look at Narcissa Malfoy's body, a now obvious bump showing through the thin material of the silk dress. She brought her eyes back to him, gone was the coldness in his grey eyes, just pain. "Our daughter."

Lucius pulled Hermione's hands down from his face, holding them tightly to his chest, like Hermione was now his lifeline to surviving.

Hermione gripped onto his jacket, ignoring the pain of his hands on her injuries, ignoring the pain piercing her heart at every second. "I promise you, we will have revenge," she said, her voice full of hate and venom. So much had been lost because of Voldemort, and now more had been taken from them all when they'd barely recovered.

A steely resolve flashed across Lucius face before he pulled Hermione into a fierce embrace, not caring that they were mutual enemies.