With the newly placed engagement ring on her left hand, it was hard to hide her happiness and excitement. The Quibbler and The Daily Prophet both had the story made the front page that the Gryffindor Princess is now engaged to Quidditch player Ronald Weasley. The story soon reached the ears of the Minister and at once requested she come by his office.

When Hermione received the owl, she at once grabbed her belongings. She walked straight to the office of Kingsley Shacklebolt, whom the public voted in to replace the earlier Minister of Magic. She reached the grand oak door and knocked politely.

"Ah, Miss Granger, please come in and have a seat," said Kingsley.

"Thank you, Minister."

"I'm sure you're wondering why I've asked to see you today."

"Yes, I am, sir," she said bashfully.

"I heard you and Mister Ron Weasley are now engaged, and I wanted to congratulate you both myself. But there's also a problem with your engagement."

"What do you mean, sir? What sort of problem?" Hermione asked, quite confused at this point.

"Well, the way things are progressing with your research on how to increase the Wizard population in England again, and you're quite thorough from what I have been told, by researching other magic history books from around the world. The one-piece of research of yours caught my attention, and I find it interesting."

"Which piece are you talking about, sir?" She asked, worried, and hoped he was not talking about the one she had come across in her studies.

"I know what you're thinking, Hermione. It's okay, tell me what you found."

"I was hoping to present it to the Wizengamot in full next month, sir. What I found was a way to bring a witch and a wizard together by magic. It is not using love potions or anything of that nature. It uses the pair's blood and magic to see if they would be compatible to be bound together in such a manner. It is powerful and ancient magic, sir. Something that hasn't been around since the time of Merlin." She explained in detail. Kingsley looked at her in distress as if he were about to give her some awful news.

"I see," he says, still in thought. "I would still like for you to present what you have found to the Wizengamot in two weeks from today. But I also want you to keep an open mind to whatever they say and need from you after the meeting."

"Of course, sir, and thank you," Hermione replied, still unsure of what he has planned for the Wizengamot to ask of her, but she will still do as told by the Minister of Magic. "Have a good rest of the day, sir." She said to him before leaving his office.

Hermione walked back to her office and sat in her chair, pondering what Kingsley had just told her about their engagement. He said there was a problem with it, with her set to marry Ron, but she did not know why. She would have to worry about telling Ron later; she still had to finish the last of her research and complete the rest of her report to present to the Wizengamot in just two days.

A few hours after her meeting with Kingsley, Hermione was on her way home. Questions were bouncing all over in her head, figuring out how she would tell Ron what Kingsley said about their engagement. She was still trying to piece the puzzle Kingsley had put in front of her.

Hermione brought out her set of house keys and unlocked the door. Ron was not home from practice yet. It was still early in the evening, and Ron usually did not get home until 7 pm. They moved in together soon after they became engaged. She was not entirely sure how he would take the news.

The discussion she and Kingsley had weighed down on her, and she just wanted to relax after that, so she decided to go upstairs and take a bath. Hermione walked into her bedroom, sat on her bed, and took off her shoes after a long day at work. Her feet felt some relief and rubbed the bottom of her left foot to relieve more tension and did the same to her other foot.

Next, she started the water in the tub. Not too cold, not too hot, but just in the middle of how she likes it. She added a muscle relief potion to the water. Perfect, she thought, time to finally relax. Suddenly, just as she was about to get in the bath, there was a knock at the door.

"That's weird," Hermione mumbled to herself and looked at the clock. 5:43 pm, it said. "It's much too early for Ron to be home just yet." She redressed herself with her robe and walked down the steps of the stairs to the front door.

"Who is it?" She carefully asked through the door, hiding her wand up a robe sleeve in case she needed it.

"Miss Granger," she heard a voice say, unable to recognize it as it sounded slightly muffled or even disguised by magic. "We are here on behalf of the Minister of Magic. If you would come with us, please."

"Why do I need to see the Minister again? I spoke to him in his office just hours ago," she defended. "Who are you, and what do you want!"

Suddenly she heard it go quiet outside the door and gently put her ear to it so she could try to listen to them better, but there was nothing. No voices or anything as if people were not ever there. It worried her, and she took out her wand. She doubled the wards around the house and sent a Patronus to Kingsley, Harry, and Ron, explaining what had just happened. But soon after she finished sending her Patronus out, she felt a solid hit to the back of her head and fell to the ground.

Hermione was still conscious but only slightly so. She was not able to get a good look at her attacker. But then another shadowy figure ran through her house and used the Petrificus Totalus charm on the person who tried to knock her out.

She felt a couple of slender arms pick her up, and the voice said: "I've got you, Granger. You're safe now."

'Wait, I know that voice,' she groggily thought to herself. She opened her eyes as best as she could and looked up at the person who saved her. 'Malfoy?!' Then she felt them both apparate away.