When fifth year finished, Harry was delighted to find that Dumbledore had decided that he no longer had to reside with the Dursleys for the first few weeks of the holidays. With Sirius now having a permanent address, which was also being used by The Order as their headquarters, Dumbledore was more than happy for Harry to stay with his godfather. So the first couple of days of the holidays was spent moving Harry's meagre belongings out of his Aunt and Uncle's and into his godfather's house.
Not only was Harry thrilled to be away from his mother's family, but he was also pleased to be spending more time with Ron. With Ron's family so heavily involved with The Order, Ron was at Grimmauld Place most days, and Molly had made it clear Harry was welcome at The Burrow whenever he wanted to visit.
Although not everything was perfect with Harry's summer as there was still the matter of Voldemort and Hermione to contend with. Originally The Order hadn't had much of a chance to fight back against Voldemort and his Death Eaters without looking as though they were instigating the fighting, but all that had changed within the last few months. Following Hermione's poisoning accident in Hogsmeade, the Death Eaters had been putting in regular appearances and the Order finally got their chance to fight back and gain some new supporters. Although rather annoyingly there were still people unwilling to join The Order's side as they felt as though Voldemort was merely retaliating for what had happened to his daughter, and if Hermione hadn't been hurt, he wouldn't be posing a danger to the wizarding world.
Even with some people holding out on them, The Order had carried on their battles with the Death Eaters. That was until a few weeks before the end of term when Hermione had suffered a second accident and Voldemort and his Death Eaters had fallen silent. By the end of the school year, there'd been no sight of sound of them for weeks, and everyone was just waiting for them to resume their attacks.
As the first few weeks of the holidays passed without incident, the tension within The Order began to mount. No-one believed that Voldemort was gone, and the longer he went without action the more fearful they were that he would make his presence felt with a big bang. Plus, no-one knew what the situation with Hermione was as even Dumbledore couldn't find out anything from his acquaintances at the Ministry. Snape should have been the one ideally placed to keep them up to date with what was going on, but he hadn't been around much and when he was, he claimed that Voldemort was keeping a low profile and was refusing to see any of his Death Eaters except for Lucius Malfoy.
The longer there was no word about Hermione, the more Harry and Ron hoped that she wouldn't be waking up. In the last year all of their remaining feelings for Hermione had been obliterated as she'd proven time and time again that her heart truly did lie with the Slytherins. Neither boy could quite believe they'd once been friends with her, and they would both rather never set eyes on her treacherous face again.
It was actually half way through the summer break before something finally happened with the Death Eaters. The day started like any other, with Harry, Ron and Ginny hanging around Grimmauld Place while the adults each did their own thing. The first sign that something was going on occurred late in the afternoon when Arthur failed to return from the Ministry when he was due home. By that point the rest of the family were at Grimmauld Place for dinner, along with a couple more key Order members.
"Where is he?" Molly tutted as she used magic to slow down the cooking of the steak pies she was making as she didn't want to dish up Arthur's meal when he wasn't there to eat it.
"I'm sure he's on his way, Mum," Ginny said reassuringly.
"I hope so," Molly murmured, biting her lower lip with worry. Since they weren't at home, they couldn't check the magical clock she had hanging in the kitchen to see where exactly Arthur was, but she couldn't help but worry given the state of things in the wizarding world.
It was actually another hour before Arthur arrived at Grimmauld Place, although he didn't arrive on his own. Dumbledore was with him, along with a grim faced Kingsley and a worried looking Tonks.
"What's going on?" Molly demanded after checking her husband was safe.
"Something major," Dumbledore replied. "Let's try and get as many of The Order here as we can. It would be better to just do this once."
"Harry, Ron, come and help us rally the troops," Sirius ordered as he got to his feet alongside Remus.
Eager to find out what was happening, the foursome wasted no time in spreading the word to the rest of The Order. Within half an hour several more people had arrived at headquarters and dinner was well and truly forgotten as everyone gathered in the kitchen to find out what was going on.
"Early this morning there was a mass breakout from Azkaban," Dumbledore announced without preamble.
"How is that possible?" Sirius questioned with a frown. "I only escaped because I was in my dog form and the Dementors couldn't sense me. And even then, it took me years to work out I could escape that way. I highly doubt every escaped convict is an animagus."
"This was an organised escape with everything timed to perfection," Dumbledore explained. "At five o'clock this morning there were a series of explosions around Azkaban. The explosions opened up several holes in the walls and they affected the magic keeping the prisoners in their cells. By the time the first responders from the Ministry arrived the only people left were those who died in the explosions."
"And let's guess, none of them were Death Eaters," Remus said.
"Correct," Dumbledore said with a slow nod.
"How long did it take for the first responders to get to Azkaban?" Molly asked. "How big a head start did they have on you?"
"The first responders were there in just under four minutes," Tonks answered. "I was one of them. We couldn't have gotten there any quicker. Plus, it should not have been enough time for all those prisoners to escape. None of them had wands, and even with the magical wards surrounding the place down, their wand-less magic shouldn't have been strong enough for them to get away so fast."
"Meaning they had help," Dumbledore said. "There had to have been enough people outside of Azkaban to spirit those inside away in under four minutes."
"That is fast work," Sirius remarked with a low whistle. "And what about the Dementors? They're supposed to stop people getting that close to the prison."
"The Dementors are off the radar," Kingsley answered solemnly. He may have currently been on loan to Hogwarts as their Defence Professor, but he was still an Auror, and he'd been working the breakout all day with his colleagues.
"What do you mean, off the radar?" Harry asked with a confused frown.
"They should answer to the Ministry's summons, but they're not," Kingsley answered. "There was no sign of them at Azkaban, so we have to assume they've chosen a side and it isn't ours."
"The Dementors are in You-Know-Who's control," Ron stated.
"We have to assume that," Dumbledore said with a nod. "We also have to assume that this is just the beginning. Voldemort had just boosted his number of supporters by a few dozen. And not just any few dozen. He's now got the support of some of the most deadly and dangerous witches and wizards to live in this country."
"Will it be safe to go back to school?" Ginny asked worriedly.
"Hogwarts will be perfectly safe," Dumbledore assured the nervous young witch. "Not that I can guarantee the rest of our world is as safe."
"Can you even guarantee Hogwarts is safe if Hermione returns?" Molly asked.
"She didn't manage to do anything last year, and Kingsley will still be at the school," Dumbledore replied. "Not that we even know if she will be back. I still have no idea if she's awake or still in her coma."
"Doesn't the breakout prove she's awake?" Sirius asked. "Even we can't deny how much Voldemort cares for his daughter. Would he really be staging breakouts if Hermione is still in her coma, unlikely to wake?"
"If that's the case, he might be looking for vengeance," Dumbledore argued. "I won't deny he seems to love his daughter, but I don't for one minute believe he would abandon his desire for power just because she's indisposed. If anything a prolonged coma for Hermione could be the worst thing to happen for the rest of us. If he's losing her, he's going to want everyone else to suffer the same pain he is."
"So you think it would be better if she woke up?" Harry questioned, not believing for one minute that it would be better if Hermione was awake.
"It might keep him in line a bit more," Dumbledore conceded. "Just look at his behaviour last year. He didn't do anything until Hermione was taken ill."
"Yes, but now she's been hurt twice," Remus pointed out. "He was staying quiet to keep her safe, and clearly that failed. I can't see him backing off again, even if she is awake. I think we need to accept that no matter what Hermione's situation is, we're in a battle for our very lives."
Several people nodded along with Remus's statement, and even Dumbledore conceded that he might have a point. Deciding that they had to prepare for the worst, conversation then turned to what would happen if the Ministry failed to track down the escaped Death Eaters. It would certainly mean stricter security, both for the school and for The Order in general, and everyone knew that they had to be extra careful. The world was suddenly a much more dangerous place and there were more people to worry about than just Voldemort and his daughter.
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While The Order were worrying about the mass breakout from Azkaban, the dark side were celebrating. In one highly planned move, Voldemort had suddenly boosted his numbers with some very dangerous supporters. He was also growing his supports in places like the Ministry and with each passing day he was becoming more confident he was getting himself into a position where he could take on the Order and win.
While Voldemort was planning his next move, now he had some more useful Death Eaters around him, Hermione was recovering from her ordeal. Draco had visited her almost every day, and she'd even seen their other friends several times, all of whom were still reeling over the fact Pansy was responsible for what had happened to her.
As she got back to normal, with both her magic and strength returning, Hermione's thoughts turned to Pansy and how to punish the other girl now she'd spoken to her and discovered just how petty her actions had been. Her first instinct was to find a way of physically hurting Pansy, but as she thought about ways to make her suffer, Hermione realised there was another way. Rather than lashing out once and inflicting damage, she could take a different path and inflict a slow, but just as painful, punishment on Pansy and her family. And considering the pathetic reasons why Pansy had tried to kill her, Hermione wanted to cause as much pain and suffering to the other witch as was possible.
Hermione spent a few days mulling over her plans for Pansy before announcing that she knew what she wanted to do to the girl who had tried to kill her. Hermione had made her announcement over dinner, on an evening when they'd been dining with the Malfoys, so there was an air of anticipation as everyone gathered in the front room to hear of Hermione's wicked scheme.
"So what's it to be?" Voldemort asked his daughter. "Torture? A curse like what she put you through? Or even death?"
"Nothing like that," Hermione replied with a chuckle. She knew her father was going to appreciate her plan, but she also knew it wasn't something he would have done as he preferred more direct action. "I am going to make Pansy's life a living hell."
"What?" Draco questioned with a frown. He'd been expecting so much more from Hermione, especially after they'd talked to her, and he had to admit he was sort of disappointed by her announcement.
"What is the one thing Pansy loves more than anything?" Hermione asked.
"Status," Draco replied. "She revelled in being the top girl in Slytherin before you arrived."
"Which was one of the reasons she hated me so much," Hermione reminded her boyfriend. "She thought I'd taken her place as top Slytherin witch. To someone like Pansy, and her parents, status is important to them. But what if it was taken away from them?"
"You mean banish them?" Leah questioned.
"I did think about that, but that's just giving them a chance to start over somewhere new," Hermione answered. "I want them to stay here and not be able to do anything as their entire lives crumble around them."
"You want me to force them to stay?" Voldemort checked with his daughter.
"Yes, I want you to tell them that if they run, you'll find them and they'll be killed," Hermione replied with a wicked smirk. "Of course they might still end up killed in the future, but they don't have to know that."
"And what happens when they stay?" Draco asked. "How is that a punishment?"
"Are you planning on having anything to do with Pansy when we go back to school?" Hermione asked her boyfriend.
"Hell no," Draco snorted. "After what she did to you, it'll take all my self-control not to hex her into oblivion. To be honest, I'm amazed I didn't do that when we spoke to her."
"And I'm sure our other friends will feel the same," Hermione said. "I'm not going to force anyone to freeze Pansy out, but that's what I will be doing."
"And where you and I lead, the others will follow," Draco said with a smirk as he began to realise just how devious Hermione's plan was. "By the time we've been back at school for a week, no-one in Slytherin will talk to her."
"And she's got no friends anywhere else," Hermione continued. "She'll be a pariah by Christmas."
"And that will kill Pansy," Draco laughed.
"What about her parents?" Narcissa asked. "Although I'm sure they'll be distressed by Pansy's situation at Hogwarts."
"I want the same treatment for them," Hermione said. "I want it to be common knowledge that Pansy was responsible for my curse. And of course, as her father I expect Parkinson will be made to feel uncomfortable within the Death Eaters."
"You can guarantee that," Voldemort snarled.
"And her mother?" Leah asked.
"We do the same with her as we do to Pansy. Freeze her out," Hermione replied. "Granted, I don't know Pansy's mother very well, but I guess she's like Pansy and would hate to be pushed out."
"It will be torture for her," Narcissa confirmed. "And it'll be all the harder knowing her daughter is the reason she's been frozen out."
"So what do you think?" Hermione asked, now everyone understood her plan.
"It's not something I ever would have thought of, but it's definitely wicked," Voldemort admitted. "You've judged your enemy and worked out the punishment that will cause her the most suffering. Let's hope your plans works, Hermione."
"Unless anyone breaks and takes pity on her, it'll work," Hermione replied with confidence. "This time next year, Pansy Parkinson will be a broken witch."