Warning: This is a M rated story for a reason. The war outlook is much darker than the real HP books and mature and taboo topics will be addressed in later chapters. Please be warned.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Anything you recognize is owned by JK who I am not.

"She realized with surprise that although the process of evolution had taken millions of years, these people had needed only a few days to revert to a state of cattle, dirty and unhappy, captive and nameless."

~Vasily Grossman

June 30th, 2000

Hermione shifted uncomfortably in her place. Anna wasn't being much help not that Hermione could blame her. Anna still thought Hermione should be in bed, or wait in the building. But Hermione was ready to walk outside. She had been hidden away so long that rumors of her disappearance had made it back to her.

The midsummer heat was beating down on the town but she still insisted on being outside. Anna was supporting most of her weight but she had managed to get control of her limbs. Her right leg ached if she put all her weight on it but she insisted that she could hobble just fine. Anna wasn't willing to take any risks.

It had been almost six months since the attack. Anna had kept her locked away inside for five months claiming that her body needed more time to recoup. It was true, they weren't exactly in the position of having medical means to heal her. Staying still and praying for the best was all they had been able to do. But other than lingering pain she was as good as new.

"It's been an hour, time to go inside." Anna fussed.

"I am soaking in sunlight. You can't put a time limit on me trying not to look like a vampire."

Anna didn't find the joke humorous. Vampire was one of the other rumors about Hermione going around. Some had thought she was pregnant, others had the nerve to say she had run off with one of the guards. People had nothing to do in town other than let their imaginations run wild.

She gave Hermione a troubled look but the brunette couldn't be bothered to apologize for the tasteless joke. Hermione ran her hand through her hair, which was finally starting to grow back to a normal length. It was cut uneven but most of it fell to her jaw line which she had to admit was more convenient than her long frizz had been.

Anna was less concerned with her hair and more worried over how skinny Hermione had gotten. She had survived off of mush for just over three months before she had the strength to swallow again. After that Anna had snuck her as much bread as she could find and even, on occasion, a piece of meat or two from the dining building –but that was a rare treat.

Hermione didn't like admitting how skinny she was. She felt like one of those models who looked like a skeleton but without the beauty a model had. Mostly she just ignored looking down at her body, which was easier than she would have thought it to be.

The new clothes Anna and some of the women in the factory had made her hung off her body. It was a simple dress, like most of the women in town. It was more of a grey sack that they tied a piece of fabric around to pretend it was a belt. Still it hung on her like she was a ragdoll which was discouraging for her progress. She liked to think about how well she was doing but constantly being reminded of how little there was to her wasn't helping.

"You're pushing yourself, its hot today you should be inside."

"I'd rather be hot than stuck in that stuffy room any longer. Besides I haven't been able to keep up with what's going on. You have done too good of a job shielding me from town."

"Well this place is a depressing mess. That's no sort of place to think about while you're healing."

Hermione smiled. Anna would make a good Healer one day if they could get out of this alive. Though she would be better suited to small children or the elderly. Her helpfulness in most situations would probably hinder most adults recovery. Hermione would never have left the bed if Anna had anything to say about it.

Even Andrew had agreed weeks before that Hermione needed to be out more. Hiding out to heal had done all it could, but now Hermione had to get back to surviving the Death Eaters. They wouldn't take to her hiding out forever very well.

"What's going on over there?" Hermione asked gesturing with her head towards the crowd.

A large group of the muggleborns that were left had crowded near the entrance of town. Hermione assumed there were over one hundred of them pushing to be closer to the iron gate that trapped them all like mice.

Anna shrugged her shoulders walking close by Hermione in case she needed more support as they moved closer to the crowd. People were waving their arms like mad screaming out pleas of anguish. Hermione didn't know what was going on but it seemed people in town had snapped.

Anna had warned her that more and more people were trying to get out of town… not in the way Hermione had imagined though. She had thought Anna's words meant people were attempting to escape but the sight before her was the opposite.

It seemed that people still believed the transfers would take them somewhere better. A train, much like the Hogwarts Express, was pulled up on the other side of the iron bars. People weren't crying out in rebellion, they were begging for a chance to leave. Everyone wanted the train to take them far away, but Hermione doubted that they realized the train would take them to their death.

Major was on the other side of the gate speaking with one of the Death Eaters who didn't work in the town. They were going over a list and speaking loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Baines, the list is nonnegotiable. Besides you have orders to keep her-"

"It's tragic that she starved herself, I'm sure our Lord will be displeased. But it can't be helped."

Major had a nasty smirk on his face. The two men seemed to understand each other. They took out their wands and moved things on the list around. From their conversation Hermione assumed they were doing something Voldemort wouldn't be happy with. Maybe his followers weren't such loyal minions after all.

"Magic is might." The stranger said.

"Magic is might." Major responded before the man disappeared.

The iron gates let him enter easily but he looked at the crowd with disgust. They were far too close for his comfort. With a flick of his wand the entire crowd fell back, being pushed by an invisible wall. Hermione and Anna had been far enough back that the crowd didn't affect them but she watched as some people fell over each other trying to move quickly enough.

"All Mudbloods report to the common street. All Mudbloods report to the common street."

The announcement was loud and rang through town. No one would be foolish enough to disobey considering the consequences of disobeying at the last round up. Even the sick or weak found ways to slowly get themselves outside. Major still sent his men searching the buildings but this time there were no death screams as they marched through the floors.

"When your number is called, step forward. MB400132, MB300042…"

This list went on and on. This was different from the last round up. Then it had been about getting rid of the weak or sick, but this seemed to be a random execution. Hermione watched as people hurried to the front looking excited about travelling to a new home. Some of them had been there for almost two years and were thrilled to be chosen to go to a different town.

Hermione could see the hopes in their eyes. A new town might have more space, or better food. The jobs there might have more purpose than keeping people off the street during the day. And maybe there the Death Eaters wouldn't kill so often.

But those hopes were misplaced. Hermione knew it and she could see on Anna's face that she knew it too. Gone was the young optimistic girl who had seen the good in even the Death Eaters, she was replaced by a young woman who knew too many hardships.

"MB4000508."

Hermione's heart dropped. She didn't think she would have been as affected if the number had been her own. But the girl next to her had suddenly lost the power to stand. Anna was swaying back and forth as if she hadn't heard correctly. She looked like a child who needed her mother.

Perhaps they all needed their mothers. They were like lost children running scared through life. The Death Eaters were everything they had been taught to avoid, every mother warned her child to stay on the path, but the Death Eaters were set on pulling them down. No mother could have prepared her child for such evil. But a mother's comfort may have helped them survive.

Hermione was reminded of Molly. She was such a strong woman who held her family up through so much. She didn't know if the Weasleys' would be able to survive without their mother there to support them. She was a light within the dark, but a strong enough warrior to protect them.

"Anna." Hermione whispered but Anna wouldn't look at her.

She had finally found her footing. With slow steps she walked forward making her way to what she knew was a death sentence. She wanted to say goodbye, wanted to thank Hermione for everything but she couldn't say the words. If she even looked at Hermione she might cry.

They had become each other's family. Hermione had been sure that she would introduce Anna to Harry and Ron and they would love her. She had planned on Anna being her sister forever. She wasn't ready to be alone in town. Even though she was healed she certainly wasn't ready to deal with it alone. Anna had been her rock, and she wasn't sure she knew how to float without her.

Anna barely made it to the front line. She was shaking in her shoes and looked like she might faint any moment. Nothing about this was fair. Hermione had finally started to let go of some of the guilt over causing the war to continue. She finally had a friend she cared and trusted about just as much as Harry and Ron. She was almost better, soon she could start looking for weak points. Harry was alive somewhere –she knew it, and yet this was happening.

Any good thing in her life had to be destroyed by something ten times worse. She would rather have lost her leg than deal with Mudblood Town without Anna. She would give her arm to keep Anna alive. But she wasn't strong enough to play the hero yet. And with Anna being shipped away she would have no one to help her heal if the Death Eaters all but killed her again. She couldn't let Anna be alone, but she couldn't think of any way to stop what was happening.

"MB1000001."

And suddenly she didn't have to stop it.

Her number rang out with an echo through the town. She had been the last person called and everyone in town stopped and stared at her. Some were clearly mad that she was being given a shot somewhere new. She was barely healthy enough to get around by herself but she got to leave.

Some people shouted and protested, begging to take her place. Most just stared at her with detest as she made her way to the front. Anna was looking at her like the world had already been ended. Everything had been ripped out from under their feet. Hermione had been so busy worrying over Anna's fate she hadn't stopped to think of her own.

It made sense, she was the one the two men had been talking about. She wasn't supposed to die yet, but obviously she had caused too many problems for them to let her live. They would rather face the wrath of Voldemort than keep her breathing any longer. She made her way to Anna's side, reaching her hand out wards her. She had never had such a tight grip on someone before.

Anna wouldn't be alone, but they would be dead together. Was that enough, could she accept that they both had been given a death sentence? At least she wouldn't be left alone to grieve Anna. This way they would die together, hand in hand. She would protect the girl she thought of as a sister. They would have each other –until the very end.

Author's Note: Another chapter come and gone. I have finished Part One but I am trying to only post a chapter as I get a chapter written and Part Two is giving me more problems than I thought.