Sorry it took so long. Explanation on the bottom!

As dinner rolled around, Hermione was beginning to dread it more and more. Glancing at the clock, she saw there was fifteen minutes until dinner. The thought that Dumbledore wasn't going to say Dean or Ginny or Colin or anyone else were okay was making her sick to the stomach but she had been able to keep herself in check until she began to think over everything again. "I'll..." she shot up and raced to the bathroom, feeling terrible.

Harry and Ron watched as Hermione rushed to the bathroom and then sighed. Everyone had been feeling queasy and lightheaded. A few younger students had fainted at the tales being told and Ron insisted they were being stupid but Harry couldn't fault them. It had to be scary to have been in a safe place for a month or a year, waiting for a chance to go to Hogsmeade in another year or the next, only to have the students who had gone attacked.

After a few minutes, she came back looking pale and collapsed in a chair shakily with a hand over her stomach. When the sick feeling hadn't left, she grabbed her hairbrush and busied herself in brushing her hair as it was something to do for the remaining 10 minutes.

"I'll brush your hair for you," Ron said, moving behind her. "I used to brush Ginny's all the time." He looked pained at bringing her up, but he was determined to keep himself from trying to push her to the back of her mind. Eventually the pain would become bearable and he did have friends to help with it. He wasn't alone.

"Thanks," she murmured softly and gave her brush to him, not sure what else to say. Everything lately seemed to be questioned before it was said and so she had no clue what to say anymore.

He dragged the brush through her hair, following with his hand to smooth the strands. "What do you think Dumbledore's gonna say?" he asked.

Harry shrugged.

Seamus, from his seat on the sofa, growled. But he didn't start ranting since Dennis had fallen asleep on his lap.

Neville was no where to be found, probably off with Luna, so the common room was relatively empty save the five of them.

"Probably just say who was found," she said with a shrug. "And try and make us feel like everything will be fine." She could have sworn she heard Seamus mutter under his breath, 'like that can be done' but it was so quiet that she ignored it. "I wouldn't be surprised if Malfoy had helped somehow," she said softly and sighed.

"Slimy git," Ron said.

"He's not really capable of it, though. Is he?" Seamus asked. "Always though the prat was all talk no action."

Harry shook his head. "He's changed." Ever since fifth year, in fact. He'd been making veiled threats to kill Harry since they'd met, likening him to his parents and such. But since his father had found his way to Azkaban he'd been different. Meaner and with less of a conscience if that was possible.

"Yeah. He's changed." She frowned then continued on with a sigh. "I bet, more than anything, that his father was the one that was in charge. Well, second in charge." She doubted that Voldemort would let Lucius completely make a plan without him being in charge.

"He might have known though," Ron said. "I mean, he almost always knows, doesn't he?" Which was true. Malfoy always seemed to know either from being told or some sort of strange intuition, he seemed to know and warn them. Well, in his own stupid way that was probably not even on purpose.

Hermione murmured a soft word of agreement, looking at the clock. "I don't... think I want to go to dinner anymore," she said after a small silence. She wanted to but she was afraid of the news that they could hear.

"We have to," Harry said sadly. "Otherwise they'll never tell us."

Just then, Neville walked into the room. "Dinner's about to start," he said, tossing his book bag into a corner of the common room.

"Yeah, we know," Seamus told him before nudging Dennis awake.

She sighed. "Yeah I guess." Slowly, she stood and murmured a small word of thanks to Ron as she waited for Dennis to awaken fully.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Time already?" he asked.

Seamus nodded and stood, hoisting the other boy up with him. "Let's go."

Harry and Ron stood as well and the six of them made their way out of the room.

Hermione just stared at her feet, fighting with herself to not run back to the common room and just have Harry or Ron tell her what Dumbledore said as she walked along.

They filed into the Great Hall, so many missing from their numbers it was ridiculous. The younger Gryffindors huddled closer to them, sitting near them at the table but not too close. No one ever sat too close to Harry Potter. Colin and Dennis had been the first, he realized, to ever treat him like a human being other than his fellow year students.. A famous one, surely, but touchable. One they liked. One they talked to and didn't look at in fear. He remembered how Colin had been so happy to see Dennis his first day at Hogwarts, how he'd been so proud. He bit his lip and stared at the younger boy. He was holding up well, though he thought a lot of that had to do with Seamus who hadn't pushed him away when he'd latched onto him. Still, he wondered what it was like to lose a sibling like Dennis and Ron and Hermione had. He didn't know how much it hurt.

Hermione sat next to Harry and just waited for everyone else to come into the Great Hall. She quickly grabbed Harry's hand, as a futile attempt to calm herself. She gazed around and sighed, then looked up at the staff table, waiting for Dumbledore to speak.

He laced his fingers with hers and they all sat quietly as Dumbledore stood up and cleared his throat slightly. "I'll be addressing you all after dinner. However, I do feel this is a conversation best had on a full stomach." And that was it. For at least thirty minutes that would be it.

And Harry had no doubt that the Slytherins would draw the meal out as long as they could just out of spite.

Hermione let out a small groan and just stared down at food on the table, feeling sick to her stomach from the thought of what Dumbledore would say and the smell of the food was making it all worse.

"Are you serious?" Seamus exclaimed loudly. "No way. I'm not eating a damn thing." He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.

Neville and Dennis shared a look before following his example.

Harry and Ron looked over at them. "What?" he asked.

"I'm not eating while he's sitting up there with news he won't give to me."

Hermione looked over at Seamus, Dennis and Neville. She would have followed their example but didn't know if she could unlace her fingers from Harry's hand. "This isn't right. He's made us wait enough," she said after a moment.

"I know," Harry said. "I'm not eating either."

"Neither am I," Ron said.

Down the table, several other students declared they wouldn't either. All of the Gryffindors had boycotted dinner and a Hufflepuff hissed at them.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

Dennis stood and sat on the edge of the table. "My brother's missing," he said loudly. "And I want to know why. Now."

"Our friends and relatives are missing and I don't think we should be stuffing ourself full of food while we have no clue if they're starving or hurt or something else. I mean, it's almost like we're bloody celebrating," Hermione said a bit too loudly and very angrily at the Hufflepuff then flushed just slightly, as if a bit unsure if she should have even been that loud.

The Hufflepuff, a sixth year girl with strawberry blonde hair, looked shocked but another girl stood up.

"My cousin's gone," she said. "I've been sick since it happened; don't expect I'll eat now." And she stood up and walked over to one of the many empty spaces at the Gryffindor table, sitting down by a boy who looked to be a good friend.

Hermione looked up and shot a glare at Dumbledore, completely angered with him for probably the first time. She then looked back to see a few other Hufflepuffs nodding, and walking over to the Gryffindor table and sitting down. All of them had lost a relative and all were boycotting dinner also.

One of the professors cleared their throat and everyone looked up to see Snape gazing down at them before turning to Dumbledore. "I never thought I'd say this, but the Gryffindors, headstrong and un-thinking as always, are right. I've told you I think you should tell them what's going on and you're playing games."

"Severus!" Flitwick said, distinctly outraged.

"These children are suffering and deserve to know why," Snape said harshly. "Even I can see that."

Many of the Gryffindors just stared at Snape with wide eyes, totally surprised. If it had been any other matter, some would have changed their minds right away but, even if it was Snape, they were glad they had at least one teacher on their side.

Dumbledore stared at him sharply, but no one was eating now. Even the Slytherins had put down their forks and spoons to stare at their head of house in shock. So he stood and nodded gravely. "Very well. I was, however, only trying to tell you this gently, not play games."

Snape made a sound but was hushed by a glare from McGonnagal.

Hermione's hand quickly squeezed Harry's as she tried to not be afraid of the news that they would hear. Her hand was shaking slightly though as she stared at Dumbledore.

Harry gave her an encouraging squeeze as Dumbledore began to speak.

"As you are all well aware, Voldemort has begun to wage a war against those who oppose him. If you remember, he returned to power three years ago at which time many refused to believe it. It was, I believe, his plan to manipulate the masses under that particular guise. However, two years ago, he was found out by the Minister himself and, has since, been working under the watchful eyes of all of us. He called the Dementers to his side at which time getting back several Death Eaters that had been placed in Azkaban."

She watched silently, and didn't pay attention to a few people who seemed to be a bit scared by the name 'Voldemort.' Knowing all of this already, she was slightly more calm but still listened intently.

"The Minister did what he thought best at the time of the Dementers turning and the Death Eaters subsequent release, and I cannot fault him for that."

Again Snape made a derisive noise in the back of his throat that was echoed by several other teachers.

"Others have been working to oppose Voldemort's forces and keep you safe as well. Unfortunately, not everything can be anticipated, as was witnessed in Hogsmeade." At this point, everyone was waiting for him to just get on with it, but he paused and looked sadly at the many empty spaces in the Great Hall.

For the first time, Harry noticed that Hagrid was absent and had been for several days.

"In light of recent events, I've renewed my efforts to strengthen the resistance, but I must warn you that dark times are ahead."

Hermione watched him silently, not noticing that Hagrid was missing but she just wanted to hear who was saved and who wasn't. Her hand was once again shaking and she tried to stop it but couldn't so she just let it shake.

"The number of missing students after the attack on Hogsmeade is high," he said. "But several were recovered from various places with injuries ranging from mild to severe." He went on to list off those students being treated in St. Mungo's.

A Hufflepuff burst into tears of relief when her cousin's name was called.

A Ravenclaw boy let out a sharp bark of laughter to hear his best friend was also being treated.

One name that stood out the Gryffindors was that of Colin Creevy who was in a coma but alive and expected to recover.

"Several students who were found have been pulled out of Hogwarts," he said before naming them off. Lavender was the only name that any of the Gryffindors recognized. "The death toll wasn't very high." he said. "But it should be noted that Cornelius Fudge, who was in Hogsmeade at the time, was found dead early this morning."

Hermione lowered her head and covered her mouth when Ginny's or Dean's name hadn't been called. She felt sick as she didn't want to think of what could be happening but the thoughts were still running through her head.

Seamus was as pale as anyone had ever seen him and Ron placed a hand on his shoulder, looking slightly green around the edges. He was trying to be strong, Harry could tell. Until later, he'd be the big brother to anyone who needed it, even if he needed it as much. "All right?" he asked throatily.

The sandy-haired boy shook his head, the movement slight and bit his lip so hard blood stained the enamel of his teeth pink.

Dennis who had been looking relatively happy glanced sideways and started asking after Seamus.

Harry was sure he and Hermione would walk out of this with bruised fingers, but he couldn't bring himself to loosen his hold or let go. It was like a nightmare, one he wanted desperately to wake up from.

Hermione just squeezed Harry's hand harder, trying not to cry but failing terribly. Her fingers were numb but she didn't care as she tried to control herself still. Everything thought of how if she just did something other than freeze and then run when she had seen the Death Eaters and maybe had a small chance of saving Ginny ran through her head.

"Excuse me, Professor," Malfoy said, standing up with a dark look on his face. "But if Fudge is dead, who's going to take over duties as Minister of Magic?"

"There was a unanimous decision made overnight that I was informed of this morning," Dumbledore said, taking a deep breath. "Lucius Malfoy is acting as Minister of Magic until further notice." The rest of the Slytherins looked triumphant but a strange look like fear flitted across Malfoy's features before he sat back down with a small nod and resumed his usual aura of 'holier-than-thou'.

Hermione had looked up just long enough to see the fear in Malfoy's face and she just stared with wonder then the news hit her. Lucius Malfoy was Minister of Magic. The faint thought of who would be in charge of catching Voldemort was a follower ran through her mind and she couldn't help but start to cry at the thought of losing Ron or Harry and no one doing anything about it. A few people were staring at her because of her crying so loudly but she didn't care; she just couldn't hold it in. She hadn't cried this hard since she was on the train, and once again, she didn't care that anyone was staring at her.

Harry put his arm around her shoulders and tucked her body against his. "Shhh," he murmured. But he was as scared as she was. Lucius Malfoy couldn't be in charge of anything. Not now. Not with what had happened.

Dumbledore observed them all with sad eyes. "I believe that's enough for tonight. I'll make sure that snacks are sent to your common rooms in case any of you are hungry. I'll keep you informed of any other developments. In the meantime, try not to let fear be a ruling factor in your lives. It is most destructive, fear. And we need unity and bravery to stand strong in the face of all this." And it was over.

Really, Harry thought to himself as Hermione cried into his robes, it was all over.

She continued, clutching at his robes and sobbing into them uncontrollably. Not knowing if she would even be able to walk without falling, she just sat where she was with the tears never seeming to be able to stop.

Everyone had started to file out, except for the remaining seventh year Gryffindors. Dennis had wanted to stay with Seamus, but he'd also wanted to write his family for news about Colin, so Neville told him to go. The other five stayed where the were, Seamus looking like he was about to pass out, anchored only by Ron's hand on his shoulder. Hermione was crying against Harry who was staring at the tabletop morosely and Neville didn't know what to think. He was scared and trying hard to be strong. At any rate, he and Ron were the only two present who weren't completely gone.

"Don't look so scared, little Gryffindors," Pansy Parkinson sneered. They looked up to see her standing, flanked by Blaise Zabini, Crabbe and Goyle.

Malfoy was standing off to the side, looking decidedly disinterested. Like he'd been coerced into letting the others have their fun.

She continued to cry, ignoring Pansy. The sobbing made her lungs and throat burn badly but she still couldn't stop it. She tried many times to push away from Harry but just kept falling back into his robes and weeping.

"God, can you get any more dramatic?" she asked before leaning close to Hermione's trembling form. "Don't be scared, little Mudblood," she whispered into her ear. "I'm sure that we can arrange a quick and painless death for you. You know, if you stop being such a know-it-all. Think you could put your hand down in class for a bit if it earned you a mercy killing?"

Hermione raised her head, feeling angered at Pansy like she was the one who had taken Ginny and everyone else. "F-FUCK OFF!" She yelled suddenly and jumped to her feet, pushing Pansy against a wall with her wand in record time against Pansy's chest, near her heart. "You and every Slytherin deserve to die a slow and painful death! I could so simply do that right now!" The wild look of anger and hatred backed up her boast as she thought over every spell and curse she knew of.

"Stop," Draco said quietly, not even looking at Hermione. "Leave it alone, Pansy. Quit embarrassing yourself. And drop your wand, you jumped-up Mudblood. Though, I'd rather like it if you did kill one of us. Slytherins are supposedly the only ones capable of it, but wouldn't it be poetic if a godly, sainted Gryffindor was the first to kill a student in a century? The stuff books are made of."

Hermione turned around to glare hatefully at Draco and put her wand away, slowly walking over and sitting next to Harry again.

The others were glaring at Malfoy as they filed out of the Great Hall, but it was a really good thing he'd stepped in. None of them had planned on stopping Hermione. Not this time. Possibly not ever again. The world was changing and recent events had made that impossibly clear to them. There was no point in not standing up for themselves. What did House Points matter?

About half a minute after they had all left, Hermione stood. "Well, come on. It does no good to be sulking at a table all day." Her voice was dead and her face showed no emotion, but it was the only way she could get herself to sound and act anywhere near normal.

They all followed her example and stood up as well, making their way to Gryffindor Tower.

She quickly said the password when they got to the common room entrance and ignored the rude comments and questions of the Fat Lady, and then entered. It just felt so empty. Usually on Sunday nights, people were scattered around and finishing up homework or talking about their weekends and what had happened. Now, it was empty as people were either in their rooms and crying or writing their parents back and in the owlery. Everything just felt so empty.

"Maybe you should lie down," Ron told Seamus, who had been leaning heavily against him.

He straightened sharply. "No!" he said loudly. "I'm not going back in there. Not without Dean. I won't set a damn toe inside that room until he's back. I can't."

Hermione winced and looked away. "Then you're going to be sleeping on the couch for a while." It didn't matter; somewhere in each of their minds, they had to have known it and had to have agreed with it, at least slightly.

"Fine! Okay? Fine. I'll sleep in the fuckin' dungeons if I have to but I can't go back in there. Not when the last time I was in there..." He shook his head. "We shouldn't have left them, Neville. Why couldn't they stick with us? What happened?" He sank to the floor near a chair, wrapping his arms around his knees. "It happened so fast. Too fast," he moaned.

"You think you're the only one that feels like shit, Seamus? I saw her but I was too chicken to do anything about it. I saw her get stunned and then taken but all I did was think about myself," she said with anger in her voice. She didn't want herself to feel sad so it was changed into anger, which was just as bad, and in another way, completely worse. Quickly, she regretted saying that as she hadn't told Ron that.

"But she didn't look at you did she?" he demanded. "She wasn't with you nearly the whole time, holding onto your hand like a lifeline, scared and trying to stay calm and wondering out loud if she was going to live or die or see her brothers again. You've still got two of your best friends and mine is gone, so I think I've got a bloody right to get upset. And you know what? It's not like you haven't exercised the exact same right, so back the hell off." He glared at her and then stood up.

"Where are you going?" Neville asked.

"Anywhere but here," he said, storming out of the common room.

She closed her eyes tight and put her face into her palms. She whispered a very quiet, 'sorry' but felt ready to cry.
"Look, we're all just really high strung right now," Ron said softly. "Let's get some rest and wait for everyone to cool down a bit. Then we can discuss things."
She raised her head then shook it. "I'm not going to be able to rest..."
"Me neither," Harry said and Neville nodded sullenly.

"Everything's too horrible," Neville said softly. "I barely slept last night and now... with him running things out there..." he trailed off and shuddered slightly.

Hermione sighed and nodded, trying not to think of anything that was happening but she was failing miserably.

"We'll have to get the DA together as soon as possible," Harry mused. "We can't trust the government anymore, and I don't know what the Order's up to. We have to be prepared."

Okay, there's a tiny bit more in the file but not enough to make a new chapter. So you'll have to wait until Bridgette finally gets back on for more.

Explanation for why it took like eight days or something? I was waiting for her to get on so I could maybe make this chapter longer but she didn't so it's really short.

So… here you go. Don't know when the next time I'll be updating is. But in hopefully a week's span, maybe less, I'm gonna post a Draco/Harry fic, if you guys care.

Uh… so you read? Review!

…damn that microwave…