A/N: So chapter 3 and it is starting to get interesting. I want to thank everyone that left a comment. Please review.

Oh, and I disclaim everything, besides the plot.

Chapter 3: Target

"Harry, you have to leave" screamed Hermione to him.

"NEVER" roared Harry. "I am their target, so you guys have to go"

"DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RUN AND LEAVE MY WHOLE FAMILY" screamed Ron. Ginny nodded sharply.

"YOU ARE ALL LEAVING" said Moody from the garden. They already started fighting and everyone, besides the children were outside. "GO UPSTAIRS AND HIDE"

"What are we going to do" asked Hermione trying to stay calm. "They are outnumbered, they can't win this"

At that moment, the door slam open and before anyone could stop them 3 masked Death Eaters entered the house.

"They are here. Both of t…" screamed the one on the front.

"Petrificus Totalus" said Hermione before he could finish. The unprepared Death Eater got hit with the spell and fell down.

"Crucio" said the other one, pointing his wand at Hermione. She ducked at the last second and the spell hit the clock behind her. Ginny send a stunner to the Death Eater but missed. The last one pointed his wand at Ginny:

"Avada Ke…"

"Reducto" screamed Hermione. The desk in front of the Death Eater exploded loudly. He fell backwards and his head hit the wall, knocking him out. Harry and Ron used this chance perfectly.

"Stupefy!" Both boys shot a red light from their wand and hit the last one right on his chest, throwing him out of the house.

"There is no reason to leave the battle" said Ron. "They will come whatever we do. Their target is here"

"Targets" corrected Ginny, still thinking about the Death Eaters choice of words. Hermione also wondered about this but knew that it could wait.

"You are right. Let's go" said Hermione. All of them prepared for battle but Hermione hold Harry back.

"Be careful Harry. This fight is to protect you. Don't forget that."

"I will. But I want you guys to be careful as well"

Hermione hugged him just for a second then they both followed the others. It was not a pretty sight. Tonks and Professor McGonagall (It seems they had reinforcements from Hogwarts) were lying unconscious. Moody had a big cut on his left arm, but stubbornly kept fighting. The enemy lost more than the order but they still had the advantage in numbers.

As soon as they left the house one of the Death Eaters shot a purple spell at Ron.

"RON" screamed Hermione, but it was too late. The spell hit Ron on the face and he fell, unconscious. Hermione pointed her wand at the Death Eater and send one of the new spells she learned. It was a spell that gave a mild shock of electricity to incapacitate the enemy. She learned her lesson the hard way in Department of Mysteries and she now knew that she couldn't risk to let her enemy stand up again. It was not a lethal spell but still better than a stunner, which can be canceled with a simple enervate.

The blue spell hit its target and he fell screaming to the ground. He was out cold. She didn't think it would affect him this much but she was too angry to care. She turned her wand to the tall masked man that was dueling Ginny and put him down with a stunner. But another Death Eater took advantage of her lack of concentration.

"Depulso"

Hermione felt the spell pushing her and she hit the wall. She had lost her wand and she barely remained conscious. She looked up, forcing herself to look at the Death Eater. It was Dolohov. He had lost his mask before and he was grinning madly.

"Stupefy" he said with a maniacal grin.

Hermione couldn't move. But before the spell hit her, Lupin came between them and stopped the red jet of light.

"We told you to leave" roared Lupin while he started dueling Dolohov. Hermione ignored his statement and quickly recovered her wand.

"Thank you Remus" she said and run to the other side before he could answer. She run past a motionless Ginny and run to Harry, who was attacked by two Death Eaters at the same time. About 10 Death Eaters and Mr. Weasley, Fred and George were lying unconscious. Hermione hoped that they were still alive but she couldn't do anything right now. She petrified the Death Eater that was about to use Cruciatus curse on Harry. The other Death Eater shot a spell that Hermione never saw before. It was pitch black and although it missed her, she felt an unnatural force coming from the obvious dark spell.

"Stupefy" shouted Harry, making good use of this distraction. It hit his target on the face and knocked him out.

"Thanks" said Harry. They gave back to back and readied their wands. 5 Death Eaters were coming right at them from all directions. All of them threw different curses at the duo. They throw themselves to the floor. Only one of them hit their target but disappeared by Hermione's shield.

Suddenly they heard Lupin's painful cry and his 3 enemies came at the two as well. They were forced to the wall and couldn't move.

Hermione looked around. They were cornered by 8 of them. With an obvious panic, she noticed they were the only ones standing. All Order members were defeated. Neither Harry nor Hermione tried to do anything, knowing it was hopeless.

One of them pulled her mask out and grinned at them. Harry felt a sudden flow of rage at seeing herface.

"It is over" said Bellatrix Lestrange with lust in her voice. Harry tried to attack her with obvious hate in his eyes but before he could say a single incantation, a red light hit him on the face and he fell unconscious.

Won't you defend yourself mudblood" asked Lestrange with hate filled eyes "I think I am allowed to enjoy myself a bit"

She pointed her wand at the younger girl.

"Crucio"

Hermione couldn't do anything. As pain flowed through her body, she tried not to scream. It was worse than she ever imagined. With last bit of her power, she forced herself to look at Bellatrix's eyes. "Kill me" she thought. "I don't want to show weakness to your kind. Kill me now."

Then suddenly, loud pops filled the battlefield. Before the Death Eaters knew what was going on they got attacked by Ministry employers. Bellatrix cursed and apparated. 2 other Death Eaters followed her. The others were not that lucky. 20 different spells hit the remaining Death Eaters and all 5 of them fell like puppets without a marionette.

"Harry, Hermione. Are you okay" came a worried voice. Hermione looked up and saw Albus Dumbledore right in front of them. She felt all stress and adrenaline leave her body. Last thing she saw was Dumbledore's face before everything went dark.

XxXxXxXx

Harry was standing in an unknown place. It was dark and only thing he could see was a body convulsing in front of him. He couldn't remember how he came here. He was feeling an overwhelming anger and didn't know why he felt like that.

"What did you just say" said Harry. His voice was different. It sounded dangerous and nearly like hissing. "You say that you cornered the boy and the girl and then let them get away. Is that what happened Bella?"

"My lord" cried the figure in front of him. She looked like she was tortured for hours. "We fought against Dumbledore's Order. Before we could do anything to the kids, the Aurors attacked us. They outnumbered…"

"LIAR! CRUCIO!" hissed Harry. The woman screamed with pain but Harry didn't stop. "I can see the truth in your worthless mind Bella. You cornered them but tried to take you own revenge on the girl"

"But my Lord" complained Bellatrix with a weak voice. "She nearly killed Rodolphus. Maybe he is already…"

"DO YOU THINK I CARE ABOUT THIS" said Harry with hate. "It is his own fault, if your husband is weak enough to lose against a kid. HIS FAULTH. And your targets escape was," feeling the anger starting to overwhelm him again. "YOUR FAULTH."

He made another Cruciatus Curse. Then he heard another voice calling him.

"Harry!"

What was he doing here? He was hurt in the battle. He couldn't torture anyone. He was Harry. Not Voldemort. Harry.

Harry slowly opened his eyes. He was lying on something soft. He noticed that it must be a bed and looked around without moving his head. He noticed that someone took his glasses.

"Harry, are you okay? Can you hear me?" asked a voice filled with fear. It was a girl. Harry flattened and found his glasses. In front of him were a worried Hermione and a taken aback Dumbledore.

"I am fine" said Harry. He noticed many little scars on Hermione's arms and face and suddenly remembered everything about the attack.

"Are YOU okay?" asked Harry, suddenly panicking. Hermione simply nodded. "And the others? How are they?"

"Harry, calm down" said Dumbledore. He sounded tired. "I have to inform the others that you woke up. Try to calm down till I came back. I think Mrs. Granger can tell you what happened."

"Professor" said Hermione suddenly. "You said you would answer some questions after Harry woke up"

"I will answer your questions when I came back. I have to go now" said Dumbledore and left quickly.

"How are the others Hermione? I can remember that we were the last ones standing. What happened?" asked Harry rapidly.

"Ron and Ginny are at home, resting. They are conscious but still a little weak. Fred, George, McGonagall and Mr. Weasley were only stunned. Remus, Tonks and Moody are still here in St. Mungo"

"Why" asked Harry. He now noticed that he was in hospital.

"Remus has some broken bones but he will make full recovery. Moody nearly lost his arm. They are still trying to heal him. As for Tonks, no one really knows what happened to her. She is alive, that is sure but she still didn't wake up. All the others are fine."

Hermione knew what Harry was thinking. She too wondered about the same thing.

"Why didn't they kill anyone" asked Harry thoughtfully.

"I say, you shouldn't complain about this" came a voice from the door. Ron entered the room, holding himself upright with his left arm.

"I don't know how you manage this Harry" said Ron grinning. "We are hurt and you still managed to get all the attention"

"Shut up" said Harry, who knew he was kidding.

"I think he does have a point Harry" said Hermione.

"You are the last one to talk young lady. I heard you were the last one standing and fell after the battle ended" said Ron to her.

"I was tortured" she said getting angry. They both looked shocked at this statement.

"You said you were alright" said Harry, with obvious hurt in his voice.

"I am okay. This is also what I meant to say with Ron having a point. You were only stunned Harry. Your condition doesn't make any sense."

"What about my condition" asked Harry.

"You are sleeping since over a week Harry" said Ron. "Sometimes I believe that Malfoy is right about you and Hospital Wing. You just don't know when to leave once you enter.

"Did you see Voldemort" asked Hermione, ignoring Ron.

"Yes, I saw him torturing Bellatrix. I can't remember the details. He was angry"

"Probably because she wasted time toying with me instead of doing her job" said Hermione.

"WHAT" screamed both boys together.

"After cornering us and you fell unconscious, she tortured me. She looked angry for some reason."

Suddenly Harry remembered something about the conversation he just witnessed.

"Voldemort punished Bellatrix for taking revenge on her on a girl that killed her husband" said Harry slowly. This time it was Hermione's turn to be surprised.

"Husband?" Then she remembered. She did curse a Death Eater after he hexed Ron. But no, It couldn't have kill him.

"Did you do it" asked Harry.

"Well, not really" said Hermione, defending herself. "I did use a spell but he didn't die. No one died. All of them were sent to Azkaban. Professor Dumbledore said that there were some in critical condition but nobody died."

"Eh, it looks like Bellatrix didn't know this" said Ron. But Harry had something else in mind.

"What spell did you use" he asked.

"Some kind of shocking spell, but it is nothing vital. It is just a spell to render the opponent inactive." Said Hermione, she was nearly pleading now.

"Does it seem like we are complaining" asked Ron but Hermione didn't feel better.

"I didn't kill anyone. I AM NOT A MURDERER" she screamed with a sudden anger. Then she started crying.

"Calm down Herm" said Harry in a calming manner. He looked concerned. "We know. He was a Death Eater and you did the right thing."

"It wasn't your fault" said Ron firmly.

"I am sorry" said Hermione. "It is just, I could have become a murderer and this thought makes me crazy."

Hermione lie down at the empty bed next to him and tried to calm down.

"I think this instability is infectious" whispered Ron. As an answer, Harry threw his pillow at him.

XxXxXxXx

Dumbledore didn't visit them that day. Instead, he send a message with Mrs. Weasley telling he was sorry. Hermione wondered if the headmaster was doing it on purpose, just to delay answering her.

Next day the trio came back to Burrow alongside Mrs. Weasley and the twins. It looked like the house repaired itself in their absence and everything was on its place.

Mrs. Weasley quickly prepared dinner and they all started eating quietly.

"You should all pack your things. You know that you have to go to Hogwarts tomorrow" said Mrs. Weasley after a while, surprising the kids. After everything that happened, they lost the track of time.

"Where is Ginny" asked Harry.

"He is still sleeping" answered Mrs. Weasley.

"She still didn't fully recovered?" asked Harry with concern.

"She did, but she is still a little weak" said Molly calmly. "She already packed everything for tomorrow. Hermione, please don't wake her up when you go upstairs. If she knows that you are back then she wouldn't sleep again and I want her to rest as much as possible."

"Of course" said Hermione smiling. She stood up and turned to the stairs, followed by Harry and Ron. But at that moment an owl with a red envelope came through the open window. Before any of them could touch it, the envelope burst into flames. Suddenly, the screams of a woman, whose voice was magically increased filled the room.

"YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO MY HUSBAND AND FOR TORTURES I HAD TO ENDURE TODAY. YOU WILL CURSE THE DAY YOU EVER MET ME, MUDBLOOD!"

Harry, Ron and Molly looked at Hermione with the same shock on their faces. She noticed that she was trembling. Before anyone could say anything she run upstairs and quickly fled to her room.