Author's Note: Hello again everyone! I'm slowly making progress after my computer lost the story. I'm so sad it's taking so much longer to get things posted than I would've liked! Hopefully I can kick a few things into high gear and get things going quickly.

THANK YOU! to those who have reviewed recent chapters. Lizziemarie0529, Libocatgrl88, Daniiibabiii, andherestograce. To answer Triggbc's concern Ginny and harry will comeinto play but the story is from Hermione's perspective so we won't be hearing about them or possibly seeing them until Hermione does .

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or the quotes used at the beginning of chapters. This story contains some dark themes and topics, if that isn't for you please don't read. I am aiming for a less child-like war story.

October 31st 1999

"I am constantly amazed by man's inhumanity to man." ~ Primo Levi

Months had gone by without Leslie and soon Anna never talked about it. It seemed the sudden disappearance had shaken Anna to her core. Hermione had explained, after months of questioning on Anna's part, what had truly happened and Anna had never been the same. Leslie had such little faith in their ability to win she had sold herself over to the devil.

Hermione understood why it affected Anna so deeply. She was a young girl, who had most likely dreamed of happiness with her one true love and babies. But their world was no fairy tale, and love and babies were out of the question. Hermione was sure that Anna spent many days pondering what she would do if she was every given the same option.

Hermione didn't like to admit it but she thought of it often. Would she allow herself to be taken the way Leslie had, or would she remain true to who she believed herself to be? With the way the town was crumbling around them she couldn't believe she would last much longer without being taken in.

People had been dropping right and left. Some because of illness, other malnourishment, and some because the Death Eaters required a bit of fun. It scared Hermione how crowded the town still was even after so many had passed on. It seemed anytime someone died there was someone else to fill their bed. There was no time to mourn the dead, if there was a bed free someone would take it.

Hermione was surprised she and Anna had made it through the summer. Without Leslie's help they hadn't gotten extra food. Sure Leslie helped them through most of the summer, but Hermione's body had barely adjusted to eating so little again.

"508" someone from another bed area called out in the night.

Anna turned but hardly responded with the person who spoke to her.

It was how they addressed each other for the most part. It had been sometime in November when a group of teens were killed because they refused to accept the number on their arms as a label. People had grown stir crazy, and the teens were the first to rebel. But the Death Eaters had seen to it that no one would question their authority again.

Each teen had been killed in the dirt street and anyone who attempted to move them was killed as well. It had been almost two weeks before the Death Eaters finally order some of the men to carry the bodies away. No one had gotten over the smell of dead flesh for days even after the bodies were moved into the trenches.

Hermione could only assume that was what the purpose of the trenches had been all along. The men continued digging, avoiding the areas where bodies were 'buried.' Hermione had been the first to say what they had all been thinking, 'They're making us dig our own graves!' but people hadn't taken well to the honesty, no one had been able to speak with her the way Leslie had, so she remained quiet.

Since the Name Massacre no one had dared use their given name outside of the housing building. But even at night when the Death Eaters weren't there some found it hard to say each other's names. Hermione insisted on calling everyone by their given name as often as she could, or at least the people she knew. But only Anna returned the sentiment that is when she managed to address Hermione at all.

MB4000508, Hermione had quickly learned Anna's number. And during her time in the town she had even come to understand how the numbers were organized. The numbers marked on their arms had been a big discussion shortly after the killings.

MB: mudblood, it was the most logical explanation. Hermione had been the one to figure the next number out. In all of the camp she was the only person whose number started with a one. After a few nights of debating with some of the old men she had realized it was their ranking. She had been a No. 1 desirable. From there they were sorted in alphabetical order. The largest number Hermione had seen so far was MB4000825 and belonged to Adrian Zywiec an old man nearing 110 who had lived in Poland before he learned of his magic nearly a century ago.

Hermione had been devastated when she had met the man. He could have lived to be 150 as a muggleborn wizard, but because of the condition of the town his life was nearing its end. Hermione didn't think it was fair to have survived so much just to die like a caged bird.

"Life is worth living," Anna had started her mantra again, "this war will end, we will be free, everything will be fine."

The other people on the fourth floor had taken to yelling at her every night before falling asleep. Even Hermione had told her to shut up on a few occasions. It was nice she had some small thing left to cling to but the mantra annoyed everyone else.

The nights were starting to get hard. Everything had gotten colder and the thin blankets from the summer were hardly giving anyone any relief. Hermione could hardly believe she'd spent the last winter in the woods. Her body was reacting so poorly to the winter and this time she had a roof over her head.

Less people cried and moaned as they fell asleep now compared to when she had first arrived. Babies would still cry out for their parents but the adults and teens even the small children had all come to realize: this problem wasn't going away.

Crying wasn't helping them one bit. Hermione had at one point been determined to figure a way out, but it seemed that all efforts made by other people led to a very public death. In a few more months she may consider the death worth it, but she still had a hope of finding Harry and Ron alive one day –a hope that would soon run out.

The mornings were just as hard as the nights. There was always one person who informed them what day it was, but the simple morning task always seemed to bring people's moods down.

"It's Halloween." Anna said as she comprehended the date.

A holiday that Hermione had enjoyed thoroughly when she was younger. But it held no meaning while locked away. The joy of Halloween was something the younger generation of children would never understand. There was nothing special about it anymore.

"It's just another day." Hermione corrected her.

Anna looked up at her with sad eyes. Her optimism was quickly failing her. She had been in Mudblood Town for over a year and Hermione thought she might only just be realizing that this could be forever. Everything had changed, they were both losing weight quickly without the extra food from…

That was another thing, they never mentioned Leslie anymore. No one did. For Hermione and Anna it was just too painful to realize the ally they had lost. But for many of the others who knew the truth Leslie was seen as a traitor who sold out for a bit more food.

Most people in town had stopped following the rules they had been given. Not everyone went to work every day and some days no one would. They would hide away in the housing building hoping to wake up from the never ending nightmare. No one went unpunished for the crime, but few had died because of it.

Hermione just found herself apathetic about work. She could hardly bring herself to care about the needlework that never went anywhere. The women had stopped working on clothing for themselves and had been ordered to do patterns that Hermione was sure no one used. It was just busy work, the same as the large trenches the men worked on.

"Are we leaving the room today?" Anna asked.

Hermione knew she was talking to her even though Anna refused to say her name. They mainly spoke to each other ignoring the rest of their fellow prisoners. She could only shrug not being sure what they may do that day.

They could venture to the dining building but she knew there would be little food to eat anyway. Her body was tired, if she had her way she would sleep forever. It was all she seemed to have the energy to do. And many others felt the same way.

"We can't waste away in this room." Anna challenged.

It was true. There were a few others who seemed to have resigned themselves to starving to death in bed rather than face the Death Eaters again. Hermione didn't want that for herself, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to face the Death Eaters yet, either.

"Maybe we can see if there is any food this morning."

"It's hardly morning, but that sounds fine."

She was right. They had slept in well past noon. It was more common of everyone to sleep as late as they could. If they didn't wake till after lunch then that was only one meal to eat (or starve though) and only a few hours of work before they had to be inside for dark.

Hermione pushed herself out of the cot, which took far more energy than it should have. Anna had a good point, she really was going to waste away if she didn't start changing things. She had been so set on fighting everything the Death Eaters were doing but somewhere along the way she had lost faith just like everyone else.

There wasn't much to keep their faith in winning the war going. No escape plans had worked, no news from the outside world. The town was more of a dome bubble that prevented anything from getting in or out. The Death Eaters were sure to know everything that was happening, but for all Hermione knew the Boy-Who-Lived could be dead. It wasn't as if the Death Eaters were sharing information with the muggleborns.

"Come on, let's go." Hermione said taking the lead.

She was surprised when there was a little bit of food in the dining building. But then again, most people just stayed in bed all day or worked through meals. If there was no one coming to take the food it was understandable that there would be some of the slop left.

She and Anna ate quietly, not paying any attention to the Death Eater who hovered over them as they ate. Hermione assumed they would need to go to the factory for a while since they had been seen out.

"All Mudbloods will report to the common road. All Mudbloods, report to the common road."

The announcement was similar to when they called away individuals by number. Hermione wasn't sure what was going on but she knew it couldn't be good. There were some people who could barely leave their bed let alone go stand in the road for a long period of time. She was lucky she had gotten a little food in her or she might not have been able to stay vertical.

And most of the children had been hiding out since the summer began. Only the teens had gone to work in months, and that was only because they were kind enough to ease the workload on the elders.

Anna gave Hermione a look but they both reported to the road as quickly as they could. They were there before most everyone else. Hundreds of people formed a crowd in the street and Hermione was sure that everyone hadn't even bothered to listen to the message.

Mothers held onto their children's hands tightly, scared of what might happen if the kids ran about. Teens remained stoic, too frightened to speak. And the adults in general looked around questioning what could be going on that was so important.

"I haven't seen so many of us since the fire." Anna noted aloud.

The fire had been before Hermione had arrived, and cost many their lives as they struggled to get out of the building through the one exit it provided. But Anna had to be right, because Hermione had never seen so many of the muggleborns. In fact she hadn't even been sure there were that many of them.

Major stood in front of the group of Death Eaters. They looked small in number compared to how many muggleborns were in the street. But they had wands and the muggleborns didn't. The gates allowed them to leave, but muggleborns were trapped. Fighting a losing battle wouldn't help anyone. Everyone knew there was no way out, so they stood in fear.

"Go check the buildings, kill anyone who remains."

Hermione's heart dropped at his words. If she and Anna hadn't already been in the dining building she may have stayed in bed despite the order. Screams could be heard faintly as the Death Eaters searched each floor of all the buildings.

This was it. They were finally rounding them up for the slaughter. Or at the very least killing anyone who disobeyed.

"Mudbloods under ten come forward!" Major yelled.

Mothers fought as their children stepped forward. Cries of pain came from many women's mouths as their little ones were ripped from their arms by Death Eaters. Hermione remained still, not allowing herself to be affected, emotion would not be looked upon kindly.

"Please, please not my baby!" one mother cried out above all the other.

"If any Mudblood has a problem, go with them." Major shouted.

Many mothers ran to their children and held them in their arms. Hermione did her best estimation and guessed that there were near one hundred children, and seventy women had joined them. Their departure barely put a dent in the number of muggleborns crowding the street but without the babies cries things had silenced.

"Mudbloods over seventy, come forward."

Another large chuck of people moved forward and this time no one fought. There was no one to shout of their distress, people watched silently as the elders walked forward. Soon they followed the same path the mothers and children had taken and were out of sight.

There were still around six hundred left standing in the street silently waiting to discover what was going on. School aged children looked around desperately trying to see if their parents remained.

"Mudbloods 20 and under form a line!" Major shouted out.

An older Death Eater surveyed the line, calling out only a few numbers and sending those children off like the others. Hermione had to control her stomach to prevent herself from throwing up the little she had eaten only two hours before. She knew what was happening.

They were getting rid of the weak. The young and old were being shipped off somewhere, and anyone who looked too sickly would follow. They were trimming down the numbers in the town, either to greet new members or just to start the next stage of getting rid of muggleborns.

"Pinch your cheeks, subtly don't draw attention. You need to bring color back to your skin." Hermione warned Anna.

The two of them were hardly the smallest in the group but they were sickly pale. Anna followed her instructions even though she seemed confused about what she was doing.

Major slowly went through every age group. Hermione and Anna had been told to stay behind, which did little to put Hermione at ease.

"A new town has been opened. Those selected are being transferred. The rest of you get inside its past dark!" Major shouted causing a rush of motion between the five hundred people left.

"You got us stuck here!" Anna called out angrily to Hermione.

"Oh please, they aren't transferring anyone. Don't be so naïve, you're alive here. Off wherever they're going they're all dead. Get it into your head! I thought you were finally done with the foolish optimism, they found the weak and the sick and they shipped them off to their deaths. Stop acting like a child."

The night was hardly over. People in each of the buildings went through searching for the people that had been foolish enough to stay behind. There was little that could be done while it was dark out but before they went to sleep they had all the dead gathered on the first floor. The fact that moving the dead around was cavalier was hardly surprising to Hermione after so many months in the town. This town killed people, some physically and others had just died inside.

Author's Note: Well there goes another chapter. I'm hoping the next will be up soon.