A/N I know it isn't much but I thought you guys would like some insight into some other characters. They're short but there's a good few. This will not be the only chapter like this. I know it took a good while to get to this point but I hope it was worth the wait. I hope you all have/had a wonderful day and I am thinking about another double update. I haven't decided when it will be but there will be one. Maybe. I'll let you know when I have it figured out.

Thank you for all the positive feedback and thoughts. They help me develop new ideas and keep me writing chapters and updating. Everyone will get what is coming to them in time and I promise to make it as epic as possible. I'll channel my inner Homer and go all Odyssey on this shit. With a little bit of Mary Shelley or Edgar Allen Poe to make it a bit dark, too, maybe. I'd channel Shakespeare but the tragicomedy just doesn't work here. And he's not funny. He's got some great lines though, and his sonnets are so much better than his plays. Anyway, that's enough literature talk.

Enjoy!

Ginny sprawled on her bed, staring at the ceiling. Since the twins and Tonks had left the Order she had been so incredibly bored. She could hardly stand to be around Harry and her family, spending most of the day hiding in her room. Mealtimes were the most difficult part of the day. She had no choice but to sit and listen to the ravings of her mother and Ron about her traitor brothers. Fred and George had the right idea when they left. Ginny didn't know how much longer she could keep pretending. It had been easier with Fred and George around, she could talk to them and make jokes about the Order. She enjoyed spending time with Tonks, too. The metamorphmagus did hilarious impressions of the more conservative Order members. Now, she didn't have any of that but at least school would be starting soon and she could speak to Neville and Luna.

"Ginny, dear, time to eat!" Molly shouted up the stairs. Everyone else was already at the table waiting for the youngest Weasley.

Ginny groaned, sliding off the bed and yelling a cheery, "Coming, mum!"

Molly waited at the bottom of the stairs, hands on her hips as she watched Ginny descend. The Burrow was still a bit damaged from the attack, the majority of it repaired but the house had always been unstable. They made do with what they had as they always would, reinforcing it however they could. It wasn't perfect but it worked and that was all that mattered. They were used to such accommodations. Ginny halted at the bottom of the stairs, standing in front of Molly. It was hard for Ginny to consider her family as such after how they had behaved toward Hermione and the twins and Tonks. She could feel a rift growing, a chasm widening with her on one side and her family on the other. She had known choosing Hermione would lead to that eventually and she had accepted it. She just had to get through the rest of summer and the school year. Then she could be where she belonged.

Tonks stood in front of the library doors in Hermione's island home, trying to steel herself for her meeting with the Dark Lord. She was not afraid of coming to harm, but the stories she had heard about the wizard were in the back of her mind. She had decided to speak to the man, asking Hermione to set up a meeting and she had. She had not been able to resume Auror work, Mad-Eye had seen to it that she was blacklisted. Tonks knew the Dark Lord could fix that but she was also curious as to what he was like. Taking a deep breath, she pushed open the door, stepping into the room. The wizard looked up as she entered, a soft smile on his face, something Tonks would not have pictured on his serpent-like face. It wasn't as disconcerting as it should have been but she supposed that was a good thing.

"Tonks, is it? Please, sit. You may call me Tom for now." He gestured to the seat across from his, patiently waiting for the witch to sit.

"Right, erm, Tom. You'll have to forgive me, I never thought I would be having this conversation."

"I understand. It can be overwhelming, learning so much in such a short amount of time. You may begin whenever you are ready, I will do my best to answer all of your questions."

"Thank you. The honesty is refreshing. I'm not entirely sure where the beginning is. I was sort of dragged into the war without being told anything."

"I shall give you an overview, then. Perhaps that will help you find a suitable starting point.

Fred and George wandered around Hermione's castle, in awe of how much space there was. They were unaccustomed to having a place to themselves, sharing everything with their siblings. The Weasley family did not have the luxury of personal belongings. Opening their joke shop had helped by bringing in extra money but business had slowed after they left the Order. They suspected Ron was owling his housemates, convincing them not to shop at their store. It was unfortunate, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. Most of the Gryffindors had stopped coming in, with a few exceptions. The twins had decided to take a vacation, brainstorming new product ideas. They had found a room perfect for carrying out research and development of new and improved products.

Draco had taken to poking around, curious about their products but never directly asking about them. The boy was not as horrible as they had thought and Fred and George found they enjoyed his company. He gave them ideas for products they could market to the Slytherin house rather than Gryffindors. It would be good for them, the store could stay open and they would have insight into new products. As much as they had despised the blond's house initially, they were able to see past the stereotype and found the two houses weren't as different as people thought they were. It was the manifestation of their traits that differentiated a Gryffindor from a Slytherin, not the actual traits.

Fred and George came across the library, stepping inside and staring in awe at the enormity of Hermione's collection. The books were all older, having been from Morgana's time but that just made them all the more fascinating. They knew magic was a shadow of its former self, perhaps the key to its revival laid within these four walls. It was not a concern of theirs, but they were curious as to the secrets hidden in pages of text. There could be magic that they might be able to implement in their products, vastly improving them.

Dumbledore paced his office, hands clasped behind his back. He tapped his right index finger against his left wrist, brows furrowed in concentration. There had been no indication of the attack on the Burrow being a distraction for something else, the Death Eaters had been quiet for most of the summer. Hermione and Bellatrix had not accomplished anything, just frustrating the Order. Dumbledore didn't stop to think that being the case, convinced that was not Voldemort's style. He had always been calculating, even during the first war. He didn't think it was a purposeless task but he couldn't think of a purpose behind it. The attack had seemed so random, coming out of nowhere and with only two Death Eaters. Was Voldemort showing off the power of Hermione and Bellatrix? Sending a message to the Order?

Dumbledore sat heavily in his chair, a weary sigh leaving him. He held his head in his hands, staring at the wood of his desk. The surface was dark, the whorls clear and his eyes traced them. Harry needed to get the memory he was searching for from Slughorn and Dumbledore was going to begin to teach him. Destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes would be vital to winning the war, he only hoped Harry and Ron could manage without Hermione. She had been the mastermind behind their survival, her sharp mind piecing together solutions before the boys even knew what was happening. There was no way for him to get her back, she was too far gone. The dark had corrupted her, turning her into someone he could not use.

Luna absently searched through her home, looking for her shoes. She had just gotten them yesterday to wear on the first day of school and they were already missing. Even if she found them now they would go missing again before school started but there wasn't anything else to do. She had met Neville at the Leaky Cauldron a few times over summer but no one else. Hermione was busy bonding with her soulmate and learning new magic. She also had an important task to do. Luna was sad she would not be able to see Hermione at school but she knew it was safer for the witch if she stayed away from Hogwarts now that she had taken the Mark. Luna lifted a stack of her father's magazines, pulling her new shoes out from under the pile. Smiling airily, she set them by the door.

Her shoes would be gone the moment she turned away but Luna didn't mind. She enjoyed searching for such mundane objects. It gave her something to do when she was bored. It was a game of hide and go seek with friends only she could see. Luna stepped outside, bare feet tickled by the long grass. It was a beautiful day outside, the sun was round and bright, warming the lush green grass and deep brown earth. Luna wiggled her toes in the soil, enjoying the dirt between them. Things would not be this way for much longer but she would always have this. She smiled brightly, teeth reflecting the sun as she contemplated where her shoes were.

Neville read through his new Herbology textbook, eager to learn more about his favorite subject. It was the only class he never needed help with but he also found it fascinating. There were so many magical properties of plants that changed depending on what it was paired with and he was sure there were more to be discovered. Wizards and witches tended to stick with what they knew, hardly creating or discovering new things. It was sad, really, how much magic they might never know. He hoped that by siding with Hermione their world might make progress.

He had been to St. Mungo's to see his parents since Hermione had told him the truth. It was odd to see them, knowing that they could be cured. He had to help Hermione win the war so he could have his parents back but also because he believed in a society that was based on the individual's skill rather than their blood. Everything had led up to the upcoming school year, he could feel it. From this moment on, everything would be warfare, regardless of if the Order knew. Neville was ready. His place was set and he would walk the path Hermione created, regardless of danger. He was a Gryffindor because of this, he realized, finally understanding why the hat had placed him in his house.