A/N: all right, I promised that I would update soon, and so, here. I got around to thinking, and I now know exactly how the story is going to pan out. I'm not going to tell anyone yet, though. You'll have to read it and find out for yourself.

Disclaimer: I don't own the HP title or logo, I'm just using the handy already-made characters.

Blood of a Broken Soul

Chapter 2: Revelations and Preparations.

It was April 5th, three days before Hermione's and Ron's wedding. The two of them were down at the ministry that afternoon, filing for her name change and thier marriage papers. There was a three-hour wait, so they decided to go out and get an ice cream at a nearby muggle parlor.It was Hermione's idea but Ron readily agreed, well, his stomach did at least.

Before they could leave, however, about three score masked people came rushing into the Ministry and started attacking people randomly. Hermione and Ron, bothready and preparedfrom their experiences with the training for the Last Battle, reacted immediately, successfully stunning most of them in minutes. A few of them got by, however, and Ron got stunned. Then, just as Dumbledore was leaving the elevator and coming into the room, one of the masked men laying on the floor jumped up, and with yell, hit Dumbledore straight in the chest with a painful killing spell that essentially turned your body inside out. Dumbledore staggered back and fell, a surprised look on his face.

Hermione screamed, and started towards him before getting hit with a freezing spell. She could only watch helplessly as the three remaining masked men started towards Dumbledore's fallen body, intent to watch his suffering. All of a sudden, Dumbledore stood up, his robes torn and bloody, but no wound to be seen. All Hermione remembered after that, as she was slipping into unconsciousness, was Dumbledore walking up to the middle one and shaking his hand.

The next morning, Hermione woke up to find herself in her own bed, and began to think it was just a dream. She laid back and was starting to go back to sleep, when the smell of bacon wafted into the room, bringing her awake immediately.

"Ron? Is that you, Honey? Smells delicious." she got up and put on a dressing robe, before walking into the kitchen of the flat she shared with Ron. She walked in and gave him a peck on the cheek, and sat down at the table set for two.

"I hope you like bacon, eggs, and toast, 'Mione Dear"

"Of course I do. When have I not liked your cooking?"

"Ummm… dinner, a week ago."

"That was because you put kiwi into it!"

"How was I supposed to know you were allergic to kiwi? You never told me. Oh well, it doesn't matter. I know now."

"Mhmm… Mmm, this is good. I'm really hungry."

"I wonder why. We didn't do anything stressful yesterday."

Hermione was about to tell him about her 'dream' when you looked at her wrist and saw a large burn across it. Then the entire fight came rushing back to her, Dumbledore being hit, then betraying everyone, how Ron had gotten stunned, and then finally herself. It all came back, and she knew, as certainly as she knew that the sun would rise and set each day, it wasn't a dream.

"Honey, are you okay, Hermione? You suddenly got really pale… Hey, cheer up! We're getting married tomorrow! Aren't you excited? Or did you just get a case of nerves…? It's all right, I promise. Our wedding will be wonderful, just how you've always wanted. Hermione?"

She dropped her fork. "Do you honestly not remember? Or are you just messing with me?"

Ron was extremely puzzled. He had no idea what she was talking about. What should he remember?

"Did we forget to get flowers? No, I made sure that we had them… what did I forget, Love?"

Her voice was getting louder and louder. "How can you sit there and tell me you don't remember yesterday, at the Ministry. We were attacked! We were fighting! Then you got stunned, how can you not remember any of this? I saw Dumbledore being hit with a death spell! Saw him fall back, just to stand up and shake his attacker's hand, and you can sit there and pretend like none of this happened?"

"Hermione, Honey, calm down. It was just a dream, just a dream."

He went over to where she was sitting, to give her a hug, but she stood and pushed him away, angry. She bared her wrist, showing him the burn, trying to prove that it wasn't a dream, but when she looked down, the mark was gone. There was no trace of it, same as there was no trace of those memories in his mind.

Meanwhile, the three masked men knelt in the ornate office, humbled before their Council Elder, Master, and Sire. They had failed in their mission, but the information that they had learned was enough to please the Elder enough not to punish them- too badly. He was in a bad mood to begin with- his experiment had failed once more and his test subject had died. Luckily, though, if what these men, and the one who had reported just before them, said was true, he wouldn't have to conduct the research on his own. He could steal the results from another, more powerful source. Then, he could utterly destroy the one he had been competing against for good.

He dismissed them, to be lead away by the guard that stood waiting outside the door. They trembled and pleaded, but to no avail. They were led away to the torture chamber, to be punished for failing the Master's orders.

The Master allowed himself the luxury of a brief smile, and then he sat down to meditate upon the information he had been given. Unbeknowst to his opponent's experiments, another person had started toying with the same idea the Master had, only, it seemed like the other had been successful in his attempts, whereas the Master had failed time and time again, even after centuries of trying. Maybe everything was finally starting to fall into place…

A/N: I know I promised just to post a chapter today, but here, I have two chapters and a teaser. I hope this makes you happy!