Author's Note: Once again I am so sorry for how long it has taken to get a new chapter up. Here is the next chunk of the story. I hope you enjoy it. I know it is still a lot of just Hermione, but we're barreling through.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I am not JKR and am making no profits off of this

Warning: This is a dark story. It is rated M for a reason. There is a more realistic version of a war happening. Please read only if you are of age and/or capable of handling a darker storyline.

November 10th 1999

"Cries for help are frequently inaudible." ~Tom Robbins

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked Anna, not sure if the young girl understood what she could be getting herself into.

"I don't think we have another choice. We've thought it all through. But I don't think you should be the distraction."

It was foolish of Hermione to put herself in the spotlight. Between the two of them she was the one Death Eaters knew. Anna was more invisible because she hadn't participated in the war. But Hermione was hoping that her infamous title would be what kept Anna safe. Plus she was quite sure she was stronger than Anna.

"You are stealthier." Hermione lied.

"But they could kill you." Anna hesitated, she had really hoped Hermione would switch jobs with her.

"Then I'll die and you get double the bread. The worst they've ever given someone for clumsiness is a Crucio or two. That might be bad but I can take it."

Since Halloween they had been discussing the need to gain more weight. If there was another round up and they were this skinny neither had much hope of making through. Anna had been the one to suggest stealing like Leslie used to. It had been a shock to Hermione, innocent Anna suggesting theft and mentioning Leslie in one go.

The plan was simple enough, and Leslie had explained to Hermione where the extra food was kept. If everything went well they would have two loaves of bread before the night was over. Anna had suggested sharing with others, but Hermione had led her down a more selfish path. After all they needed to look out for themselves first.

"What if I get caught?" Anna asked, last minute nervousness taking over.

Hermione wasn't sure what to say. If Anna got caught she would be dead. There was no question. The Death Eaters wouldn't wait around for an explanation from her. But that hardly seemed like a positive pep talk.

"How 'bout you don't get caught." Hermione offered.

Anna smiled slightly as she nodded her head. Everyone else was going about their day normally. Some stayed in bed, but most had been scared by the round up. It seemed to shock people back into following all the proper rules. Hermione and Anna were among the few who hadn't returned to work.

But on Hermione's order they did sit in the sun every day. Hermione insisted that when the sun was high they let the sun soak into as much of their skin as possible. If they could get a good color it would help them in a round up.

The round up had been a wakeup call for her. Less than a year had gone by and she was practically stuck in her bed. She had given in, the thing she had promised herself never to do. She had given up on the hope of finding Harry and Ron, which had left her empty. She had doomed herself to never making it out alive.

But that all changed after the round up. She and Anna spoke a few nights later after the seriousness of it all had sunken into Anna's mind. Hermione was sure there was a way out alive. There had to be a weak point. The Death Eaters didn't view them as a threat which meant there had to be a weak point somewhere. They just needed to find it.

Anna was still hesitant about the escape plan, it wasn't well thought out and if they never found the weak point they would have wasted a lot of time searching. She still thought there was a chance of someone coming to the rescue. But Hermione refused to be a damsel in distress any longer.

If there were still people fighting the Death Eaters they clearly weren't powerful enough to do anything; that or they were too incompetent to figure out where the victims were. Hermione would rather assume no one was coming for her than hope for an imbecile.

They had time to search for a weak point. The random, pointless killings had stopped after the round up. It seemed they wanted to make sure they still had hundreds of trapped muggleborns to play with. But as long as things were calm Hermione knew they could manage. They could pretend it was like the first few months when food was plentiful and people were ignorantly happy.

As long as they could steal food without being caught they would survive.

"Thanks, that's helpful."

"It's all I've got for now." Hermione smiled.

"Okay, you distract them. I casually go into the dining building, and assuming that everyone will run to see the commotion, I'll be alone. Back right door, left hall, third door on the right. In and out as quickly as possible."

"Third door on the left, Anna. And hide the bread under your shirt. It'll look odd but less suspicious than holding two loaves of bread."

"Right, right, the left. I swear I've got it."

Hermione had her doubts. But it was Anna's plan and she would go along with it if the younger girl felt comfortable. Anna was an adult now, of age and capable of making decisions that affected her life. Hermione just had to hope the distraction would be enough to draw the attention of all the Death Eaters.

They hadn't planned what to do if the man from the dining building doesn't rush outside. Typically the buffoon always went running to see what was happening, but Major had been yelling at him about abandoning his post too often.

It was all a gamble that they had been planning for almost two weeks. Hermione would have liked to have more time but she was starting to get too hungry to just stand by and wait. She and Anna needed food, and her renewed determination was just solid enough to push her into a foolish act.

Anna left first, positioning herself conveniently near the dining building while still managing to look as though she was doing something. If people got suspicious of her before Hermione's accident there would be no point to the plan. Anna could feel her heart pounding but she did her best to keep her breathing under control. Hermione had warned her that breathing patterns could give them away. She needed to appear normal, nervousness wouldn't help her.

Hermione had gone to the factory casually walking by Anna with only a small glance. What she needed was inside but getting out into the street would be the difficult part. The factory was mostly empty, she could hear the few women working away upstairs but thankfully the main floor was a ghost town.

Hermione walked carefully over to the large glass bowl the women used during some of the dying processes. Once a week someone would take the bowl to the bath and wash the extra dye out. The whole purpose of the glass was to see the color of the dye before doing big portions, if the glass was stained it would be no good. Luckily for Hermione there was clear dye buildup on the glass bowl.

She took it from its place and walked back into the crowded dirt street. She knew the working women would hate her for what she was about to do, surely the Death Eaters wouldn't replace anything a muggleborn carelessly broke. Yes, Hermione had a feeling she was about to be some people's least favorite person.

She waited until she was near the dining building, if she was right outside the chance of the buffoon running to see the scene would be larger. She needed to give Anna as much of a chance as possible. One foot after the other she walked along the dirt road. Most people overlooked her completely, it wasn't odd to see one of the women taking the bowl to be cleaned. But soon enough all eyes were on her.

Carefully she stepped on her own right foot tumbling forward while holding the bowl out in front of her. If she didn't break it then the plan wouldn't work. In the split seconds before she hit the ground Hermione realized the only way of guaranteeing the glass broke was if she landed on it. All she could think was how much this afternoon was going to hurt.

With the glass bowl tight to her stomach she fell to the ground with a hard thud. She pushed at the bowl in the last few seconds giving it a little more force to hit the ground with. She screamed out as the bowl shattered into not only her palms but her chest and stomach as well.

Just as she had expected many people came running, including the buffoon. She couldn't see Anna anywhere and assumed the young girl had run off for her portion of the heist. Hermione continued to call out, the scene was fake but her pain was real. She wasn't sure what would happen once Major and the other more competent Death Eaters arrived before her.

She sat up letting the crowd see the blood seeping through her shirt and out of her palms. Shards of glass still stuck in place. She could hear the concerned whispers of the other muggleborns but so far all the buffoon had managed to do was laugh.

Her cries had clearly been loud enough because without fail Major and his lackeys had run –in a slow manner –over to the scene. Major looked at her with disgust in his eyes, not that that was much different from every other day.

"What were you doing, Mudblood!"

"The bowl needed to be cleaned before the next dye. I must have tripped, please."

Hermione hated begging to be healed. It was one of the worst feelings to be indebted to a Death Eater. A feeling she had sworn never to feel again. But this was worth it, this was for food. And if Anna could steal two full loaves they could snack for days without worries about anything.

"Idiot!" Major yelled.

The crowd seemed to back away, most likely fearing the backlash of his anger. But still everyone's eyes remained on them. Hermione hadn't actually been expecting to be healed. She had assumed she and Anna would need to treat her wounds before they ate. But a warm surge flowed through her and if her palms were any indication the Major had cleared the glass away and closed her cuts.

Everyone seemed to be silenced. An act of kindness was not a Death Eaters way, certainly not Major's way. Hermione tensed knowing he wasn't going to do something just out of the goodness of his ice cold heart.

The pain that flowed through her when he hit her with the first round of Crucio was ten times worse than the glass. She had to think of Anna's safety just to keep herself from begging to be left alone. Anna wasn't a stealthy girl nor was she quick, she would need time to get in and out of the back room unnoticed.

Muggleborns watched her writhe in pain out of fear of what might happen if they stepped away. Each Death Eater in the circle seemed to take pleasure in her pain. She was Hermione Granger, everyone knew it. They would enjoy doing their worst until it was time to take her life.

By the third round Hermione wasn't sure if she would be able to stand again. Major was clearly making an example out of her. Anyone clumsy enough to break things and beg for their mistake to be fixed would regret it. Hermione knew she did. The promise of food was all that keep her pushing through.

She was able to catch her breath when the spell was released. Major stood over her, his bulky frame even bigger now that she had lost so much weight.

"Hermione Granger, you of all the Mudbloods will learn your place if it's the last thing you do."

Hermione did her best to look up at him but she was fairly worn out from the torture. The buffoon walked back to the dining building and Hermione could only hope Anna had had enough time. One of the few mothers left in the town helped Hermione to her feet and assisted her all the way back to her room.

Anna jumped when she saw how bad off the older girl was. She ran over taking Hermione from the woman's arms and helping her into bed. They were left alone, possibly out of respect for Hermione's injuries.

"Did you?" Hermione tried to ask.

"I got it, three loaves instead of two. I think I was back here before they had finished with you. No one even noticed I was out."

"Good."

Hermione felt tired. She wanted to eat a piece of the bread in celebration for dinner but she could hardly keep her eyes open. Anna helped her get as comfortable as possible to fall asleep. It hadn't been easy but Hermione finally felt like she was fighting back, she finally felt like she wasn't a mindless drone within the town. Maybe there was hope, yet.

A.N.: Well there is the next bit. Hermione still has a journey to take in the camp before she will be ready to move on to the next phase. But I have already been writing chapters with the rest of the trio in them. We're only about six chapters away from the next part of the story.

THANK YOU! annaea3077 I am so glad you feel the story is captivating. I hope you stick with it despite my slow updating process. lizziemarie0529 I hope you continue reading, thank you for the review.