A/N: I apologize for the unintentionally lengthy delay in posting. Things have been incredibly busy recently, and I'm afraid they won't slow down soon. However, no matter how busy I become, I will not abandon this story.
Also, I'm aware that a great deal of the next part of my story will have to follow the events of Deathly Hallows. Be assured that I have plans to alter the plot; I will not just be rewriting book seven.
As always, my thanks and highest regard go to my beta s and h forever and to those of you who are reading this. Feedback would be most lovely and appreciated.
"She wipes the tears away and she laces up because there's still hell to pay. And it sure feels like hell today. You see these hands? They're bruised and brown. They're yours alone. Hold on, love, we're still going down. Hold on, love, we're still fighting at home. The war at home." (War at Home, by Josh Groban)
A month had passed since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had made their final journey from Hogwarts. It was July, the month of Harry's seventeenth birthday as well as his transition into wizard adulthood, and the Order of the Phoenix was preoccupied with their efforts to protect him after he was forced to leave the Dursley home. Ron and Hermione had stayed at headquarters, assisting with the Order's plan, while Harry remained at Privet Drive, discontented to sit around, feeling useless, while his friends were busy plotting against Voldemort. He had no way of carrying on his search for the Horcruxes while in his Muggle home and was anxious to begin working with Hermione and Ron to find them. The Order had already sent word that they would be moving the Durselys to an undisclosed location while relocating Harry to the Burrow for the remainder of the summer, and he was eager to discover how their scheme would work, sure that there would be Death Eaters surrounding the house that night. It had been quite an ordeal for Harry to convince his relatives that it was in their best interests for them to leave with the Order representatives, but after making it clear that the same wizard that killed his parents was now after him, his aunt and uncle relented.
A week later, members from the Order and the Ministry of Magic arrived at number 4, Privet Drive to escort Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley to safety. Their farewell had been everything that Harry expected; it was restrained and unemotional. After awkward embraces, Harry watched his only living relatives leave their home, knowing he would never see them again. It was a bittersweet moment for him; he reveled in his newfound freedom from the Dursleys but hoped for their safety and happiness, despite the manner in which they had mistreated Harry in his youth. He had a sneaking suspicion that they were somewhat concerned for him as well.
Meanwhile, Hermione herself was traveling to Privet Drive, alongside some of the most prominent members of the Order. They arrived, Disillusioned, in the Dursleys' former backyard, popping into view one after the other. Hermione stepped to the front of the group, rushing over to Harry the second he opened the door, flinging her arms around him. Ron made his way over soon enough, followed by Hagrid and Mad-Eye Moody, who both noticed the look of surprise on Harry's face.
"Ready ter be off, Harry?" Hagrid boomed, clapping him on the back.
"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting to see this many of you!" Harry beamed, looking back up at Hagrid. He mused privately that his journey to adulthood seemed to be coming full circle; Hagrid was coming to escort him to freedom, just as he had when he first told Harry of Hogwarts and the wizarding world.
"About that, Harry, there's been a slight change of plan," Mad-Eye grumbled soberly. "Let's head inside, shall we?"
Harry brought the group of friends into the kitchen, where they gathered around the large, wooden table in the center of the room. Harry was astonished to see just how many people had come to help him. Of course, Ron and Hermione were both there, chatting with each other and the adults around them. Hagrid and Mad-Eye seemed to be having some sort of personal conference while Fleur Delacour and Bill Weasley stood together in a corner. Fred and George were talking with Mr. Weasley, no doubt discussing their latest Wizard Wheezes line, while Tonks and Lupin sat together at the table, looking distracted. Near Harry, Kingsley Shacklebolt stood watching over Mundungus Fletcher, who looked as shifty as ever. Everyone took some time catching up, telling Harry all about Tonks and Lupin's wedding, before Moody interrupted them.
"There will be plenty of time to catch up with young Mr. Potter, but first, we need to make sure he gets out of this place safely!" At the mention of the evening's events, the room went silent, and Harry stood paralyzed as he waited to hear how and why their former plan had changed. "Well, Harry," Moody continued, "since you are not seventeen yet, you still have the Trace. If you or anyone around you attempts to get you out of here using magic, Voldemort will know about it. As a result, he assumes you're cornered, that we'll just wait for the Trace to break. Of course, if we did that, we'd lose the advantage of the protection your mother gave you when she was killed."
"Well then… aren't we cornered?" Harry questioned, not seeing any alternative to the situation in which his age left him.
"No, we're not," Mad-Eye replied bluntly. "We're going to fly out of here. We've brought along brooms, Thestrals, and of course, Hagrid's motorcycle, all of which are methods of transportation that require no spells to function. So – now, don't look at me like that, Harry, we've thought this through!" Moody could see the doubt in Harry's eyes as he sized up their plan. "Anyway, the second you step outside of this house, the charm protecting you here will break, since you will leave, never to return, never to call this place home again. The one thing that's even making this possible is the fake trail we've leaked at the Ministry; they don't think you're leaving for another week. Still, we can't count on that; Voldemort won't just sit around waiting. There have got to be a couple of Death Eaters around here, just in case you leave early. We've taken many precautions against this likelihood, already. Twelve safe houses have been designated in an attempt to throw them off. Now, what's crucial here is that all fourteen of us are going to be flying from Privet Drive in pairs, each pair heading in a different direction. When our respective destinations are reached, we will meet at the Burrow via Portkey. So –"
"Hold on a second," Harry interrupted. "Even with all this confusion about safe houses and whatnot, won't it still be obvious who I am? I mean, they've only been hunting me since I was born!"
"Well, the way in which we've addressed that very problem is precisely what makes this plan so extraordinary. Now, if you'll just let me continue, there will be seven Harry Potters departing from Privet Drive tonight," Moody exclaimed triumphantly, drawing a bottle out of his coat pocket that contained a vile liquid, the image of which was already ingrained in Harry's memories.
His eyes went wide in shock as he realized what was about to happen. "NO WAY! There's no way I'm going to let six of you risk yourselves like that! Pretending to be me? You'll all be instant targets!"
"I told them that you'd be like this Harry. You've got to admit that it's a brilliant plan," Hermione supplied in an attempt to calm him down. "Come on, they're all Order members! They've risked their lives dozens of times! And as for me and Ron, well, we've already had this discussion with you, haven't we, Harry?"
Before Harry could comment, Mad-Eye dominated the conversation once again. "It's our only chance to get you out of here safe, Harry. What are the odds of it failing? Even Voldemort can't split himself into seven! He'll be outnumbered!"
Hermione gasped at the unintentional allusion to Horcruxes, her eyes meeting Harry's. He averted his gaze quickly.
"Fine, I'll do it," conceded Harry, pulling out a handful of his hair and dropping it into the bottle Moody held. The potion fizzed, turned bright gold, and was immediately consumed by Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Fleur, and Mundungus. The rest of the group watched in amazement as the six decoy Potters bubbled to life. Before long, seven identical Harrys stood side by side in the Dursley kitchen, each marveling over his or her changed appearance. After the initial shock wore off, each Harry was paired with a protector. Hermione stood with Kingsley, watching as Ron went with Tonks and the real Harry was joined by Hagrid.
"Now," Moody began again, "in light of Harry's particular skills, it is safe to assume that Voldemort will go after the Harrys on broomsticks. Snape's had plenty of time to fill in all the holes about you that he created while he was busy betraying Dumbledore. He's had time to think this over."
Hermione felt a twinge of pain at his casual mention of Severus' betrayal but kept calm nonetheless.
Moody continued. "Mundungus, Fred, George, and Ron will be traveling with their respective protectors by broom. That should give them enough Potters to go after initially. Hermione and Fleur will be traveling by Thestral, and you, Mr. Potter, will be riding in Hagrid's sidecar. You will all find your Portkeys in the safe houses assigned to you. Is everyone clear?" The nodding of the thirteen heads around Mad-Eye acknowledged their communal understanding.
They stood on the back porch in a line, waiting for the signal to take off. Moody counted off loudly, and as he reached three, the seven Potters and their watchers swiftly rose into the air. Hermione clung to the saddle of her Thestral as Kingsley took the reins, her fear of flying as present as ever, despite knowing that the saddle was charmed so that she couldn't fall. Immediately, a large group of Death Eaters descended on Privet Drive, following each pair of Order members.
Hermione gasped and turned around to see two men, completely dressed in black, flying after them, their identities hidden by the gruesome visages of their masks. She was too stunned to do anything about their pursuit as she strained to overhear the conversation they were attempting to hold in mid-air.
"Did we know there were going to be seven of them?" one shouted to the other. "And why are we following the one on a Thestral? Wouldn't the real Potter be on a broom?"
"Don't you think I would have thought of that?" the other replied. "I'm sure the Order would have already anticipated our assumption and put their other Potters on brooms. Just shut up and do your job. We're following one of them. That's what we've been ordered to do."
Hermione was distracted for a brief moment by the conversation between the two Death Eaters, but her thoughts were refocused on the danger at hand as a sudden gust of wind caught her off guard. She clung tighter to Kingsley, who continued to steer their Thestral, completely unaware of the discomfort caused by her fear of flying. Soon, Hermione had collected herself enough to look back at the Death Eaters trailing them. They had almost caught up to Hermione and Kingsley, despite the strong winds, and she found them much too close for comfort.
"We're gaining on them!" the Death Eater on her right yelled to the other.
"Would you care to point out anything more obvious?" the second replied, causing Hermione to pay closer attention to their dialogue.
"Hm," she began to muse to herself aloud, assured by the noise of the storm drowning out her hushed vocalizations. "That sounds exactly like something Severus would –"
But before she could even finish her sentence, the very Death Eater in question's hood and mask were blown back in the violence of the wind. He looked back at her, wide-eyed, and Hermione starred at him in shock.
"SEVERUS!" she screamed, unable to control her outburst. Fresh tears sprung to her eyes as she silently cursed the way her emotions had betrayed her to him and his counterpart. The other Death Eater turned to look at Snape, while he gazed on at the Harry Potter duplicate he now knew, without a doubt, to be Hermione Granger.
"This can't be the real Potter, Snape. He would have never used your given name," the Death Eater yelled from his broom. "Let's just kill them and start following a different one."
Hermione's eyes darted between the two men behind her, certain that her luck had finally run out. She found it oddly symbolic that the man who had killed Dumbledore and, at the same time, her spirit would be the one to kill her mortal body. His betrayal of her would now be complete. She closed her eyes in resignation, waiting for the flash of green to take both her and Kingsley, who remained focused on the task at hand, unaware of all that was taking place behind him. She heard the unknown Death Eater utter the beginning syllables of the curse that would end her life, only to be stopped as she heard Snape bellow, "OBLIVIATE!" instead. She winced, waiting in anticipation for his spell to hit her, but the blow never came. Hermione opened her eyes in time to watch the second Death Eater fall from his broom, careening through the night sky towards what would be an unfortunate end when he finally hit the ground. Too stunned to do anything, Hermione looked back up to see Severus already staring at her. She wished once more that she could enter his mind as easily as he could slip into hers. Even if she could, she wouldn't have had the chance as Snape turned suddenly and began flying in the opposite direction.
Left chilled and alone, clinging to the Thestral's back as Kingsley rode on, Hermione remained silent in sobering reflection as the pair landed at their designated safe house and found the Portkey that was charmed to transport them to the Burrow. There, under the watchful eye of Mrs. Weasley, she sat and waited for her friends, hoping for their safety and contemplating the ambiguous loyalties of Severus Snape.