Hey all. I'm back! Aren't you lucky?! Anyway, to clarify everything, The chapters are going to be staggered. The odd chaps (1, 3, 5, 7 etc.) are going to be the past month or two before the final war takes place. The even chaps (2, 4, 6, 8, etc) are going to be the night before the final attack. The odd chapters are so you guys know how/why/what happened to lead to this battle. The even chapters will be done in different people's point of view. There'll be Hermione, Harry, Ron, Draco (already done), Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Padma, Marcus (Flint), all that. There'll be people from different sides, so some like Evil!Marcus will be sitting in a dark, dank room with Voldemort pacing, kind of thing. Everyone got it? If not, feel free to leave a review or email me at sillylilly36@yahoo.com with your questions! Ok, boring Author's note over. Forward…MARCH! (Towards the story)
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Hermione sighed and sat down on her couch. Harry and Ron had just flooed back to their respective apartments. Ron had left first.
~Flashback – 20 minutes before~
Ron leaned down and kissed her cheek, turning a bit pink. Even after all these years he still got red near Hermione. Not like crush sort of thing, just because it was…well…him and…her. Hermione grinned and shook her head.
"I'll come back tomorrow, 'Mione," said Ron. "Actually…I'd rather not leave you in the apartment alone for any longer than I have to…" he stood there for a minute thinking. "I'll meet you outside of Harrods alright?"
She nodded. The three of them had helped each other pick out apartments in Muggle London. Hermione had had a small one, but when Tom invited her to live with him, she had sold her own and moved in with him. But I digress. The three of them had also come to know Muggle London very well and were familiar with many shops and tourist attractions as well. Harrods was one of them.
With a last wave to Hermione and a shake of Harry's hand, Ron had flooed away.
Now it was only Harry and Hermione left. Hermione closed her eyes and leaned back into the couch. Harry sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned sideways, resting against him. For a few minutes they just sat there. Though Hermione and Ron were really, really close, Harry and Hermione just…connected. They loved each other as siblings, considering neither of them had any. There was never anything more to their love than simple love of brother/sister or best friends. Hermione felt like she could confide anything in Harry.
Harry nudged Hermione a bit and she moved over again. He moved his arm and clasped her hands inside his.
"Listen, 'Mione," he began.
"You knew he was trouble from the beginning, right?" she interrupted. He glared at her and she shrank under his glance. "Sorry."
He began again, "Hermione…I don't like leaving you here by yourself with the threat of Tom coming back. So I'm going to give you something, but you have to promise me you won't activate it until it's totally, absolutely necessary and no one else is hanging onto you." He moved both his eyes in-between the two of hers, searching for her promise.
"What do you mean, 'hanging on to me'?" she asked.
He sighed, trying to figure out how to explain it. "Only activate it if someone isn't holding onto you, I guess. Like…if I was holding your hand, I don't want you to activate it. You have to be free of other people, ok?"
" I get it. I promise, Harry."
Harry let go of her hand. He started to walk away, but stopped and came back over to her. He picked up her hand and saw a bracelet hanging off her wrist. "Mind if I use this? I won't break it or anything," he asked.
She gave him a weird look, but removed the bracelet and dropped it in his hand. With a smile, Harry walked into her little kitchen. There were some bangs and flashes of light and a few muttered words – spells? – and the choice curse spread out, not much unlike the racket that up until last year could be heard and seen coming under the door of Fred and George Weasley's room.
Hermione rested her head against the back of the couch and soon drifted off into a trance-like sleep.
Harry came out of the kitchen with the bracelet in his hand ten minutes later. It was glowing ever so slightly and he smiled, seeing Hermione asleep. He sat down on the couch next to her and her eyes fluttered open. He sent her an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, did I wake you? I didn't mean to."
"No," she lied, "I just had my eyes closed."
Harry knew that wasn't the truth but let it slide.
"Alright. I need to tell you how to activate it. It's similar to a portkey, but it's not one because it's not authorized."
She sat up and looked at her bracelet. It had stopped glowing, but it had an odd silvery sheen to it. She reached out for it, and instead of giving it to her, Harry clasped it back onto her wrist.
"If something bad happens, I want you to touch the bracelet with your right hand and say, "I hate you!" really loudly, so they don't realize that you're activating this vatakey."
Hermione looked at him quizzically, "Vatakey?"
Harry grinned. "It's what an unauthorized portkey is called."
She nodded. "I see. So I put my right hand on the bracelet (Yes, she's wearing it on her left hand) and said "I hate you!"? Is that right?"
He grinned. "You got it. You're one smart cookie, 'Mione." He looked down at his watch and said, "Wow. It's really late, and I have to be at work early tomorrow." With a pained look on his face, he stood up. "Are you absolutely sure--"
She smiled and stood up too. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm going to be fine."
He leaned forward and hugged her. "Be safe, 'Mione," he whispered into her hair.
"I will," she said, following him with her eyes as he too walked into the fireplace.
She turned to look at the couch. Harry's wand was sticking out from between the cushions. "Harry, wait. Your wand." He patted his pockets. "Funny. I swear I had it." She walked over and gave it to him. He kissed her cheek and flooed away.
It wasn't until she sat back down that she realized he hadn't had his wand with him in the kitchen.
~End Flashback~
A key in the lock awoke Hermione from her reverie. Her heart began to beat faster, and Tom walked through the door as sober as sober can be. He rushed over to her, concern in his eyes. She shrank away from him, scared, because she thought he was going to beat her again.
"Hermione…love…I don't know what happened. I was drunk…I make really stupid mistakes when I'm drunk. I didn't mean anything I said," he told her.
She stood up and took a step back. "You sure seemed like you meant it when you were beating the shit out of me."
Tom stood up but didn't try to follow her. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what I was doing!"
"Yes, you did," she challenged, "And you knew what you were doing the time before, and the time before that. You always know what you're doing when you're drunk," she was starting to get hysterical, but he was scaring her. She couldn't use the vatakey, not now.
His shoulders sagged, making it seem like she was hurting him. "Hermione…I love you. You know that." Inside he was thinking, Right…I love her?! Ha!
Hermione backed into the wall, fear in her eyes. "How dare you say that! You don't love me! Harry loves me. Ron loves me. My parents love me. You don't love me." Her voice was low, but it was trembling. The tears that had formed in her eyes earlier now spilled over, burning her cheeks.
He straightened up, and gave her a sadistic smile. "You're right, mudblood." She stared at him. This was her Tom? The Tom she thought she'd fallen in love with?! "I don't love you. I never have, I never will."
She gaped at him. "Who are you? You're not Tom Jenkins. Who are you," she challenged. "You can't scare me with names."
He strode over to her more quickly than she had time to react with. He grabbed her arms and held her against the wall. He kicked her shins so she fell limp and was only standing against the wall because he was holding her there. He moved his hands so one strong hand was holding her up by her chest. (He had his palm pressed above her breasts) With the other hand, he punched her in the jaw, and let her go. She fell to the ground, holding her jaw. She had felt a crack when his fist made contact.
Tom pulled out his wand and pointed it at her. "I see you didn't fall for my trick this time. Crucio." A white light came out of his wand and hit her, full force. It felt like fire, and she screamed and screamed. He finally took it off. "That's why you never disobey the offspring of Lord Voldemort."
She was so shocked she forgot her pain and looked up at him, towering over her, fear in her eyes.
He smirked. "I guess I can scare you with names," he mocked her. "For lying, crucio." He was as mean and ruthless as his father was, as he stood there, laughing as she screamed and writhed in pain.
Her head filled with the sound of roaring as she started to pass out. With her last burst of energy, she touched her bracelet with her right hand, looked Tom in the eyes and screamed, "I HATE YOU!"
She was whisked away, right into the living room of a very surprised and very concerned Harry.
A/N: Yay! I did it. And 4 and ¼ pages on Word. That's pretty good for me!