Authors Note: This is important to the stories plot, please read to aviod confusion...
This story is about the events leading up to the first chapter, and as it progresses soon after. It first takes place a year earlier the event in the previous chapter. This chapter marks the official beginning of the fic, so will be Chapter One.
Disclaimer: I do not own any familiar characters in this story, nor do i own any rights of Harry Potter. This is just for entertainment purposes only.
Chapter One
A year earlier…
Hermione smiled as she placed the finishing touches to the new flat she shared with Ron. She placed an ivory curtain over one of the windows overlooking a busy street in London.
The block of flats that they lived in was specifically designed for witches and wizards. Meaning that Ron and Hermione could practise magic without worrying about the magical world being revealed to on-looking muggles.
They spent the previous week moving in their belongings and turning a once empty flat into a haven of life. Hermione appointed herself chief decorator and painted the walls with a calming ivory white. Various pictures of the trio and Ginny were placed around the flat, either hanging on the walls or resting on tables and drawers. All of them were placed in beautiful wooden frames that Hermione found in an oldantique shop. Various potted plants were placed on little hand painted plates to capture the escaped water. Lots of hard work and long hours had gone into the production of making a flattheir home.
"Ron?" Hermione called out
"Yeah?" Ron asked coming out of the bathroom, carrying a spanner. He was fixing the shower the muggle way since Hermione thought it would be a good idea to learn how muggles do things instead of relying on magic all the time.
Hermione laughed lightly as she saw Ron with a puzzled look on his face.
"I was just wondering if you're finished fixing the shower?" She asked with a smile.
Ron chuckled slightly "Yeah, it's almost done" He said as he walked back into the bathroom to do the finishing touches.
After the war, Ron and Hermione realised that it was time to stop putting their feelings aside. They knew they loved each other and with a little prodding from his family and Harry they finally admitted their feelings. She could still remember the conversation she had with Ginny years ago.
Hermione and Ginny had just entered a small coffee shop in Diagon Alley. They sat down on one of the large sofas that were placed near the large window at the front of the shop. Hermione decided that she hadn't been spending enough time with one of her best friends, since both of them had been busy with work. She wanted a girl's day out to relax and spend time with her female best friend.
"So what's the deal with you and Ron?" Ginny asked curiously.
Hermione gave a little laugh "What do you mean?"
Ginny gave Hermione a stern look "Come on Hermione! You know what I mean! You two are destined to be together, you can't deny it!"
Hermione smiled at that memory, Ginny didn't know how right she was. She had been with Ron for a year now and they thought that moving in would be the next big step in their relationship.
Hermione walked into the kitchen area and filled the kettle with water. She then switched the kettle on to let the water boil. She turned the radio on and decided to make a start on the dinner.
Harry and Ginny where coming over for dinner. Hermione smiled at the thought that one day, if all goes well they would all be family. She already felt like a sister to Harry and Ginny. It was strange that after all this time they all had waited to admit their feelings. She guessed that the threat that they may actually die brought them closer to the reality of their feelings.
As Hermione put the spaghetti on to boil and gave the sauce a stir a new bulletin on the radio caught her attention
'Also in the news, a muggle-born witch was found dead in her South Wales home. Local Aurors are investigating the case, Michael Johnson, from the South Wales Headquarters has this to say… ''At the moment, we have reason to believe that this was a direct attack. We are currently interviewing witches and wizards in the surrounding area. We have reason to believe that this may be connected to the incident earlier this month, but further investigation is needed''…More news at seven, this is Katie Lawton on News at five'
Hermione froze as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up on end. This wasn't the first time something like this has happened and Hermione knew it wouldn't be the last. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself.
Ron, who had just finished fixing the shower came into the kitchen area and saw Hermione's worried state.
"Hermione?" Ron asked with worry.
Hermione looked at Ron and smiled lightly "Yes?"
"You alright?" Ron asked whilst placing his hand on her shoulder
Hermione nodded "Yeah, just something I heard on the radio, it shocked me"
Ron looked over to the radio and then back to Hermione. He didn't need to hear for himself what Hermione just heard. From her reaction he could tell instantly that it was another attack on a muggle born. Deep down Ron was as afraid for Hermione as she was for herself but he needn't show her how afraid he is, knowing that it would only make Hermione's fear increase.
"Hermione, you have nothing to worry about! We don't know if those attacks are related. It could be just a coincidence that they were both muggle born. Besides, I won't let anything happen to you" Ron reassured her as he kissed Hermione on the cheek.
Hermione gave a nervous laugh "Yes, I guess you're…right"
"Of course, I won't let them hurt you 'Mione. I promise I won't let them get anywhere near you!" He said in a sincere tone before giving Hermione a light kiss on the lips. Hermione just smiled giving him the reassurance that Ron needed to know that she believed him. Ron smiled back and walked into the bedroom to change his clothes since he didn't want to look grubby for when Harry and Ginny came.
Harry and Ginny were coming for dinner to see the new flat. Harry and Ginny had moved into a flat just a few streets away from Ron and Hermione, which gave them the distance to be close, but not too close for comfort. Mrs Weasley objected to the four moving in with their 'partners' since neither of them were married, but after the convincing on Mr Weasley's behalf about how they were old enough to make their own decisions, Mrs Weasley finally agreed to their living arrangements.
Hermione noticed that the spaghetti was boiling and drained it letting of a huge cloud of steam. After Hermione had drained the pasta she gave the sauce another stir and took it off the heat.
She sighed as she thought about the muggle born witch who had been murdered. She knew that that resurfaced Death Eaters caused death of that witch. After the war was over, all the Death Eaters that hadn't been killed or captured and taken into Azkaban went into hiding. She knew that they wouldn't stay in hiding too long, they just left it a few years for them to rejuvenate their strength and get more recruitment from the sons and daughters of their fellow alliances.
Hermione was snapped out of her thoughts as she heard the doorbell ring. She quickly walked towards the door and opened it with a smile on her face. She was always glad to see Harry and Ginny, and now they were a couple she enjoyed their company even more.
"Hello 'Mione!" Harry greeted, kissing her on the cheek as he stepped inside the flat.
"Hey Hermione" Ginny cheerfully greeted whilst hugging her friend.
Hermione gave a slight giggle; they always greeted each other in that manner. "Hey guys, how are you two anyway?"
"Oh, we're fine, just been busy working, you?" Ginny said with a smile. She worked at St. Mungo's hospital whilst Harry was working as an Auror alongside Ron.
"Yeah I'm not to bad, just sorting out the flat," Hermione said as she went back into the kitchen area to gather up plates and cutlery.
"You want some help?" Ginny asked as she was taking off her pale pink coat and white scarf.
"Hermione looked around the kitchen area "Sure, could you just grab that salad bowl from the bottom cabinet on the right?" Hermione asked.
Ginny just smiled and nodded, and went to retrieve the salad bowl like Hermione asked.
"So where's Ron?" Harry asked looking around the flat.
Hermione looked around "He should be in the bathroom"
Ron, who had changed into some clean clothes came out the bathroom to see Harry and Ginny were already here.
"Hey Harry! Hey Ginny! How are you guys?" Ron asked whilst coming to give his sister a hug.
"We're fine Ron" Ginny smiled as he released her.
Ron walked over to Hermione and gave her a light kiss on the lips. He then got some plates out of the cupboard and helped Ginny set the table for dinner.
"So how are you and Ron finding the new flat?" Harry asked Hermione as she was preparing the side salad.
Hermione gave a light laugh "Its nice, I like it here. It's close to work and near enough to Diagon Alley. We had to fix a few things up though, like the shower. It was broken but Ron fixed it just before you arrived" She said as she brought the salad bowl over to the table.
"I can imagine you made him do it the muggle way?" Harry asked with slight humour in his voice.
Hermione gave him a look that answered his question "Well I think it would be a useful skill to have, besides Ron needs the extra skills around the house, you think I am going to do everything?"
Harry chuckled "No, of course not!"
Hermione let out a small laugh and served out the dinner.
"So how is work going, I noticed your office seems very busy" said Harry with a concerned look.
Hermione sighed "Yes, it seems to always be busy, but I suppose that's what you have to expect working in the research department. They are thinking of expanding the department so its open if other departments need research on certain things" Hermione explained.
Harry looked puzzled "I thought that's what you did already"
Hermione looked at Harry with a slight smile "We did, but it was limited. We are going to make it more open so we could provide more for the other departments, for example if the Auror department needed research into a certain Witch or Wizard we could research into it for you" explained Hermione
Harry nodded "Makes sense"
Hermione giggled and gave Harry two plates filled with the meal she cooked to take over to the table. She then took the other two and brought them over to where Harry, Ginny and Ron were seated.
During the course of the meal they shared several jokes, laughs and generally had a good time. After everyone had finished their meal, Hermione announced that there was pudding. Ginny helped Hermione clean the table and collect the pudding.
All of a sudden there was a tapping sound at the far window of the flat. Ron and Harry looked over to investigate and saw that there were two ministry owls. They had soft brown feathered coats and speckled chests. They have a securely sealed envelope attached to their small shiny beaks.
Harry opened up the window to let the owls fly in, and as soon as the opening was big enough the owls flew inside and planted the envelopes next to Ron and Harry.
Ron looked at Harry in a puzzled look and then picked up his letter to read the front. He suddenly realised who sent them. He recognised the handwriting almost immediately. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the head of the Auror department.
Ron quickly opened the envelope and quickly read the letter that was inside. It was quick and short, but it got the message through. Both he and Harry needed to report to the headquarters since there has been another fatal attack.
"Hermione, we have to go" Ron said abruptly as he headed towards the door.
"What? Why? You're off duty!" Hermione protested.
Ron sighed "Hermione, they want to talk to all the Aurors about something important. I think it's about the recent attacks" Ron stopped as he saw Hermione's reaction. She had turned a deathly pale and her eyes had widened in shock "I can't say anymore, I promise it will be alright" Ron reassured. He gently kissed Hermione on the lips.
"Ginny, can you stay with Hermione whilst I am gone?" Ron asked his younger sister.
"Yeah" Ginny replied whilst pulling away from Harry's embrace.
"Be careful, both of you" Hermione said as she watched them depart towards the door.
"Don't worry, we will" And with that they disapparated out of sight.
Both Hermione and Ginny sighed.
Harry and Ron had both reported to the Auror head quarters at the Ministry. They noticed that all of the qualified Aurors were crowded in the conference room waiting to find out exactly what was going on. It seemed like that it was something serious, although it looked like many of them had a feeling that they knew what was going on.
The room was filled with nervous chatter, some were talking with their partners or teams, others were standing in corners in silence either not knowing what to say, or not wanting to say anything.
Ron and Harry entered the crowded room and stood near the entrance. They looked around and they both could feel the nervous tension that filled the room like thick black smoke.
Harry took a deep breath, as if to relieve himself from the overwhelming tension that was growing. Ron looked at his friend with concern.
"You ok mate?" Said Ron
"Yeah, I'm fine"
Ron was about to say something else when two voices distracted his trail of thought.
"Harry! Ron!"
The two boys looked in the direction the voices came from and saw Remus and Tonks motioning them to come towards them. The two boys walked towards them, moving in and out of the fellow Aurors.
When they got to Remus and Tonks Harry and Ron saw that they had a far from happy expression. Both Harry and Ron knew that from everyone's expressions that the meeting wouldn't be a pleasant one.
Ron was looking around the room again. Seeing all the nervous Aurors made gave him the shivers. He had a gut feeling that this meeting was about the muggle borns that have been murdered over the country. He didn't understand why it was a high alert, they said it was under control. Unless the attacks have become more frequent and it is becoming a more serious case than it was first thought out to be.
He took a deep breath, thinking about Hermione. The fact that she could be in danger because of her heritage was sickening to him. He feared for her safety more due to the fact that she is one of the closest friends to the Death Eaters biggest foe, Harry. He would not dream of ever blaming Harry for the situation that Hermione may be in but he knew it was true. Hermione was a big target in their sick world.
Ron looked at the front of the room and saw a woman who he did not recognise. She had blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and had a different colour Auror robe on, signifying high authority.
"Tonks? Who is that woman up there at the front?" asked Ron with a huge amount of curiosity.
Tonks followed his eye of direction and nodded "Her name is Silvia Browning. She was a deputy head Auror for the Wales Headquarters, but she was relocated to the one here. Her father is in very high authority in the ministry, close friend of the minister"
Ron nodded as he turned to look at her again in curiosity. At that moment she caught Ron looking at her, she gave a small wave. Ron waved shyly back with a sheepish look upon his face.
Just then, Kingsley Shacklebolt entered the room quickly and silently. His expression needn't be clearer. He immediately turned all the nervous whispers to uncomfortable silence. His very presence at this particular time brought immediate attention to him.
Ron and Harry noticed, even from the back of the room that Kingsley had a tired and worried expression. There were clear dark bags hanging below his eyes, due to lack of sleep. This brought fear to both Harry and Ron, for their fears may have been brought to surface.
"Thank you everyone for coming at such short notice, but under these circumstances we really couldn't waste any time as it is" Kingsley began solemnly. He looked down at the table he was standing behind, not wanting to make eye contact with his fellow Aurors.
"As you may be aware, there have been several attacks up and down the country on muggle born witches. At first, we thought that it might have been a spontaneous attack, completely random without any previous planning. We were wrong, we have reasons to believe that…" Kingsley paused to take a deep breath, preparing himself for what he had to say. He looked up at his audience who was anxiously awaiting his next few words.
"We have reasons to believe that remaining Death Eaters, those of which who we were unfortunate enough to catch have recruited more witches and wizards to help them carry out the Dark Lord's meanings. It has come to our attention that they are targeting a particular group of people. They are unfortunately targeting female muggle born witches. Some have been identified to have some connection to the ministry of magic" Kingsley took a pause and saw the reactions on the Auror's faces. Many of them had looks of disbelief, shock and anger.
Kingsley paid attention to two individuals in particular. Harry and Ron were standing at the back near Remus and Tonks. All four expressions looked angered, shocked, hurt more emotions were placed on their faces put together than those in the room. He briefly looked at Ron, he could see that tears were filling his eyes with rapid time. He knew as much as anyone that Hermione would be a great target for the murderous Death Eaters who bring about no mercy.
"These attacks are brutal, and by far all evidence has been shown that the deaths weren't quick and painless. It seems as though the Death Eaters want to inflict as much pain as they possibly can before killing their victims" Kingsley said as he looked around the room. Many Aurors had tears threatening to fall, he knew that many of the people present in the room today knew someone that was in grave danger.
"Now, we can't become too emotionally involved in this. I am aware that many of you here have loved ones, friends, acquaintances that are muggle born. I know this is as hard time for you as it is many of us. I ask you with great respect to try and not become too emotionally involved. If we are going to make any progress what so ever we need personal emotions to stay out of it as much as possible" Kingsley looked around the room, seeing the distressed look upon many faces told him that this task wasn't going to be easy.
"I have to take this opportunity of introducing Silvia Browning. Silvia is a highly skilled Auror and her skills and talents will be put to great use when putting a stop to the attacks. We need to take action, so always be on high alert and always be within calling distance of your partner" Kingsley said with determination. "We ask you to be in tomorrow morning at precisely seven so we can discuss exactly what measures we will be taking to put a stop to all of this" Kingsley ordered as he left the room closely followed by Silvia.
The Aurors didn't speak afterwards, they just silently left the room in dazed expressions. Neither seemed to believe that this was happening. They had only just defeated the Dark Lord a few years back and now there was a new threat that brought the shadow of fear back over the wizarding world.
Only Harry, Ron, Remus and Tonks remained in the once crowded room. Ron looked devastated, whereas Harry looked completely destroyed. He thought that he had defeated the threat of evil years ago. He would never have thought that something like this would come back and haunt him.
Ron seemed to be fighting the tears. He couldn't believe the fears of the darkness and fears were coming alive again. He was afraid for Hermione, he was afraid for himself. He couldn't loose her; he cared so much about her. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, he needed to put a stop to evil once and for all so they could all live a happy and peaceful life.
They left silently, not knowing what to say to each other. Neither minded, Ron didn't want people fussing over him, nor did Harry. They were both old enough to deal with this sort of thing without the worry of others about their feelings.
There was a loud crack as both Harry and Ron disappeared, heading to Hermione and Ginny to be the bearer of bad news yet again.
Please review and let me know what you think:D
cutehelenjames