While I read this once again before starting to re-do it, I asked myself what would get me in the right mood to work on it. I found a brilliant soundtrack:
I shall not walk alone by Blind boys of Alabama, which I found on Lost's soundtrack.
Check it out! It's quite religious, but I thought it fit especially for the beginning.


Chapter 2 – Surprising attack

"Ron!" No response…

"Ron?" She tried to raise her voice without waking Harry, but Ron seemed to sleep too deeply, so that Hermione had to lean over his sleeping body and whispered in his ear this time a tiny bit louder.

"Ron!"

"Just five more minutes, love", he grumbled and Hermione had to smile. Love… The moments when he called her that way were very occasional and even most of them were in her velvet, pink daydreams when she imagined them being a happy and normal couple.

"Ronald, you need to get up now!" She hissed into his ear.

He turned around and looked her in the eyes. "It's alright, I wasn't sleeping anyway", he whispered back, but the way his eyes were overcast and the way he could not really focus let her know that he had been fast asleep.

He pushed back his blanket and stood up. They silently slipped out of his room so that they would not wake up Harry. On tiptoes they tried to get down the stairs to the kitchen. Hermione loved the feeling of knowing a house in every nook and corner, skipping the creaking stairs. It felt right to be here. She imagined herself in a house like this, what would it feel like to have a home. Hermione pushed aside the thought of leaving this safe place.

The kitchen door swung open and they entered Mrs. Weasley's kingdom. In her mind's eye, she saw Ron's mother swirling and spinning through the crammed room, cooking in five pots at the same time, shouting for the twins who had stolen her wand again. Hermione registered the pinch within her heart, when she realized that there was only one twin left. She felt tears fill her eyes and noticed that Ron was staring at her. How long had she been standing here in the door way without moving?

"This one's for you", Hermione pointed at a steaming coffee mug on the counter. She tried to turn towards the window so that Ron would not see her wiping away her tears.
"Hurry up, our port key is going to leave in fifteen minutes!" she edged him on after he had drunken his coffee nearly burning his mouth. She could not stand another second in this house, because eventually she would decide to just stay and forget all about the mission that lay before them.

"'right, let's go then", he took their shared travelling bag and turned towards her. She could see the exact emotions in his eyes that had nearly overwhelmed her a few moments ago. They both did not want to leave the one place they felt protected and safe after all.

They had left the grounds of Hogwarts a week after the battle, because there had been too many people. People besieging them with profuse thanks, asking them for autographs, taking pictures… In the end it was just too much attraction. There would not have been one single moment for privacy. Everyone was trying to offer favours and help. That was when the Weasley's decided to leave. While rebuilding the castle and grounds had kept them away from honest grief Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had realized that the only place they needed to be right now was home.

Ron cast one last glance at the burrow behind them, tried to produce a true smile and turned back to Hermione.
"Would you, please, hurry up?" he teased her and they both left the house.

They walked silently through the garden. Pebbles scrunched under their feet and Hermione took a deep breath of the already warm morning air. When they passed the garden door she felt Ron grab her hand. She could feel her heart speeding up and her thoughts racing. Though he often touched her hand nowadays she had not got used to it yet. He stopped when they reached the rusting thermos which lay in the grass only a few feet away from the post box. In the distant assembly of trees Hermione heard branches cracking and she could not believe that there were actually people out there who would want to take a walk as early as it was.

"So this is the moment?" Ron asked and Hermione wanted to know if he had quoted Harry's saying from when they kissed on purpose or unintentionally. When she looked up to him he winked and squeezed her hand carefully. That was proof enough for her. He remembered the moment just as clearly as she did.
"Yes, that's the moment", she answered and smiled back at him.

"I'm right here with you." And with that Ron stretched a bit, grabbed the port key and closed his eyes.
Suddenly she felt something tugging right behind her navel. Her hand, which touched both the thermos and Ron's fingers, started shaking and then the port key supposedly catapulted them to a country where both of them had never been before.

Hermione felt uneven ground under her shoes and she tried not to be carried off her feet. Ron landed right next to her, still holding onto her hand, trying to keep his balance. They looked around and found themselves in a forest, which was not the place they were supposed to end up. Hermione started to complain. "Oh God, this is almost as bad as flying. I wish we…" but her mumbling was drowned out by unexpected yet extreme noise.

Red and green lights were flashing; explosions filled the air, fragments of broken trees raining over their heads. They ducked down and tried to materialize in their heads what had just happened. Between the trunks Hermione spotted several black figures. Wands stuck out, aiming at them. "RON!" she screamed, then "DOWN!" She could take a peek at their attackers. The masked people that had been assailing them suddenly stood still.

"We will kill you anyway. Just show yourselves, Mudblood and traitor!" A frighteningly calm voice shouted over to them.

Remaining Death Eaters… How could they forget about them? Hermione cursed under her breath. "We need to get out of here." Ron whispered and slowly started to move backwards, pulling her with him. But the Death Eaters recognized the movement and began to throw curses at them again.

Ron grabbed Hermione's hand fiercely and ran. Hermione felt his tight grip and had trouble keeping up with Ron's pace.

"Protego!" she cast over her shoulder.

"Over here!" Ron screamed and trailed her with him, throwing curses over his shoulder.
"Incarcerus! Expelliarmus!"

They ran and stumbled through bushes and underwood. Hermione's heart raced, she felt it pump the blood through her veins rapidly. Several times she tripped. In those moments she was almost willing to give up. They were just too many to fight. All of a sudden, Ron stood still. She looked at him shocked, but he squeezed her hand reassuringly, then they disapparated with a 'pop'.

When they landed Hermione looked around and found herself in a wide field, but not in a different situation. A handful of black hooded attackers sprinted towards them. Ron started running again, dragging her with him. The mowed grass pricked their legs and dried hay was thrown up by their rapidly moving feet. Her lungs longed for fresh air, but all they could do was fleeing. When she felt him prepare to apparate again she panicked. "NO!" she screamed. "It is not safe to apparate! They control you right now!" Tears were streamed down her cheeks.

Ron shortly looked at her in a strange way, then turned around and continued to run, pulling her with him.
"Don't you DARE to give up!" He shouted at her. "They are too strong!" Hermione tried to keep up.
"Stop it, don't dare to give up!" Ron was not willing to let go of her hand.

A bizarre collection of images from their first year flashed Hermione's mind…
The first time on the Hogwarts Express… The troll on Halloween… Ron's shocked expression when Harry nearly fell off his broom…
She saw the end of the field right in front of them. It was completely surrounded by a little river and they were pacing right towards it.

"Oh God!" Hermione started to shake when a bold idea crossed her mind. "RUN!" She passed him and took a glance behind them. The Death Eaters were quite a few yards away from them. She turned again and saw the river a few feet away.
"JUMP" She screamed hysterically and while she saw Ron's clueless yet completely trusting face, she turned again. In fractions of one second she aimed at the ground in front of her, stumbling backwards.

„CONFRINGO! INCENDIO!" then she let herself fall backwards.

Yaaaaay, what a cliff-hanger :-) I always wanted to do one.
So that's it for now. I hope you like the changes and keep reading. I hope/guess the next chapter will be up by tomorrow!

Leave a review and I will spare you :-)