Hermione was in a reflective mood as she double checked around the guest room at Malfoy Manor, which she'd come to think of as her room. She was checking that she hadn't left anything behind as today was moving day. With only a few days to go before the beginning of September it was the day, Hermione, Severus and the Malfoys were leaving Wizarding Britain behind.
For weeks the adults had planned the move, and as of yet Hermione and Draco had no idea where they were going. All they knew was that it was outside of Europe and if Dumbledore did manage to find them it would be a complete and utter fluke. Not that they were really worried about Dumbledore spending much time looking for them as Voldemort had made it clear that he was still going to be around Wizarding Britain and he had a few plans to keep Dumbledore and his Order busy.
With the move arranged, everyone had spent the last few days packing and the elves had been transporting their belongings to the new house. Not that you could tell the manor was about to be left as nothing was out of place. Not one piece of furniture had been removed from the manor. Only personal effects and belongings had been packed.
When Hermione had packed, she'd also included everything she had at home in the muggle world. Given what they were doing, Hermione had been worried about her parents and what might happen to them once word leaked out that she'd left the country. Since the Grangers hadn't realised the full story when they'd adopted Hermione, and because they'd raised her and loved her, Voldemort had agreed to keep the muggle couple safe. However to do so, he and Lucius had to relocate them and completely wipe their memories of Hermione.
Hermione knew it had been the right thing to do, both for herself and for her parents, but it didn't mean it still didn't hurt when she'd endured an emotional farewell with the couple who had raised her. Losing her parents was yet another blow to Hermione, just one of what seemed like hundreds over the course of the summer, and it another loss she blamed Dumbledore for. Voldemort may have been the one to obliviate her parents, but he'd done so to keep them safe from Dumbledore. Yet again Hermione had lost people she loved because of the action Dumbledore had taken when she was just a baby.
Blinking away the tears that were threatening to fall at the thought of everyone she'd lost thanks to the Headmaster of Hogwarts, Hermione resolutely completed her check of the room and turned to Crookshanks, who was lying on the bed. Opening his wicker carrying basket, she placed it beside her cat.
"Come on Crooks," she muttered. "It's time to go."
As if understanding what she'd said, which thanks to his half-kneazle nature he likely did, Crookshanks padded into the basket and curled up as Hermione fastened the door. Taking one final look around the bedroom, Hermione picked up Crookshanks basket and making sure her wand was tucked safely into her jacket pocket, she left the bedroom and headed towards the ground floor of the manor.
Halfway down the main staircase of the manor, Hermione paused as the front hallway came into view and she saw that everyone was waiting for her. Taking in the five people gathered in the hallway, Hermione took a moment to reflect on her summer and how her life had changed. She also took a moment to appreciate what every single person in the hallway below had done for her.
First, there was Voldemort – her father. Not only had he welcomed her back with open arms and hadn't judged her for being raised with muggles, but he'd been far more understanding than Hermione had ever thought possible. Not once had he pushed her into anything she wasn't ready to do, and even now, he didn't complain that she very rarely addressed him as father. He'd also answered all her questions about her past, and he hadn't hidden his emotional, human side. He'd shared his pain with her, and proven to Hermione that despite his dark nature, he was capable of love and he loved her with all his heart.
Next there was Severus. Even when Hermione had first gone to him for help, she hadn't anticipated the lengths he would ultimately go to for her. There was no way of knowing that at the beginning of the summer, when she went to him as her only option for help, he would end up changing his whole life for her. Because of her, he'd fully pledged his loyalty to Voldemort, had walked away from the Order and his job as a Professor, and had even ended up being falsely accused of practising the Dark Arts with under-age students. Now Severus was a wanted criminal and was moving away with them, and Hermione knew it was all because of her. She owned him so much more than she could ever express and she would forever be grateful that in her time of need, he was firmly in her corner.
And finally came the Malfoys. Lucius and Narcissa had welcomed her into their home and had treated her as though she was part of the family. Even though she knew it would have been easier to send her off into hiding on her own, she knew that it was never an option for the couple. From the moment she'd set foot in the manor, she'd become an honorary part of the family, and she'd learnt over the summer that there was nothing more important to the Malfoys than family.
Finally Hermione's attention turned to the handsome blond wizard, who'd become a fast friend. She'd been so nervous the morning she'd first conversed with Draco, and to be honest, she hadn't expected that he would want anything to do with her. But he'd surprised her by offering her the hand of friendship, and even though they were still just getting to know each other, Hermione already trusted him with her life. In fact the only other person she'd ever felt as comfortable, and as safe with, was Harry.
As if sensing he was being watched, Draco suddenly looked up and flashed Hermione a reassuring grin. "Are you ready for the adventure?" he called up to her.
Smiling back at the blond she once again began her descent down the stairs. "I am. So do we finally find out where we're going?"
"It's a surprise," Voldemort replied with a chuckle as his daughter joined them in the hallway.
"Now that everyone's here, it's time to move," Lucius said, picking up a vase which was standing on a table behind him. "Everybody hold on," he ordered.
Exchanging one final nervous look with Draco, Hermione reached out to grab the vase, which was obviously a port key. No sooner did everyone have a firm grip on the vase than the magic began and in a whirl of light, the small group left Malfoy Manor to head to their new lives in a new country, far from Wizarding Britain and more importantly, far from Albus Dumbledore.
Settling back into Hogwarts without Hermione was proving to be a struggle for Harry. Especially as everyone had read the stories in The Daily Prophet, and the vast majority of people were believing the lies. It didn't seem to matter to people that they'd known Hermione for years, they were still all too willing to believe the worst. Of course it was made easier to believe the worst when Ron and Ginny were more than happy to act as though the stories in the papers were telling the truth.
Aside from telling the real story a couple of people he could trust, like Neville Longbottom, Harry stayed quiet on the subject. He'd spent the last half of the summer making plans, and he'd already decided the way forward was not to make waves. He was aware that until he was seventeen his under-age trace would make escaping the Order impossible, so he'd accepted that they were going to be part of his life for the next two years. However, he also knew that escaping was going to be easier if they stopped watching him like a hawk and thought he was accepting things the way they now were.
So for the time being, Harry's plan was to slowly start to make it look as though he was accepting the Order. In truth he would never trust them again, nor would he ever forgive them for what they'd done to Hermione. But if he ever wanted to be free, he needed to have them thinking that Hermione was in the past. Harry knew it wasn't going to be easy, and he knew that he was going to have to stop mentioning Hermione. He wanted the Order to think that he'd moved past her and forgotten all about the witch who had been his best friend for the last four years.
However, in private Harry had no intention of every forgetting Hermione. He'd known before they'd gone back to school that Dumbledore had expelled both her and Draco Malfoy. Harry even felt sorry for the blond Slytherin, as he was yet another unwitting pawn in Dumbledore's plans. But his anger at Dumbledore increased severely when word started to spread from the Slytherins that Draco and his family had left the country. Even before Dumbledore had confirmed that Hermione seemed to be with them, Harry knew his best friend was gone. Not only had Dumbledore thrown her out of school, but he'd caused her to flee the country. All Harry could do now was hope that she was safe and that the Malfoys had a way of preventing Dumbledore using the fact she was under-age to find her and continue his persecution of her.
In the hopes that he could at least find out if his friend was safe, Harry had spent the first few days back at Hogwarts writing a letter to Hermione. Now he was at school he had Hedwig back and was free to send letters to whoever he wanted to. Although he was guessing that Dumbledore wasn't too bothered about him communicating with Hermione since it wasn't like he could spill any more secrets to her. If the Order were planning on doing more to her and her father, they weren't saying anything around Harry.
In the letter to Hermione, not only did Harry enquire about his friend's safety, but he also confided in her his plans to run away once he was seventeen. Even if he didn't get a response from Hermione, he was going to keep writing to her. Harry was determined that wherever Hermione was, she was going to know that he still loved and supported her. He was going to do everything in his power to make sure that Hermione knew that he hadn't abandoned her. He may have been stuck with the Order, but it was only for another two years. The second he turned seventeen he would be free, he just had to work out a plan of escape. But he had plenty of time for that, right now he had to focus on getting through the next two years without Hermione by his side.
"This isn't the end, Hermione," he whispered as he attached his letter for her to Hedwig's ankle. "Now, I don't know where Hermione is," he said to his beautiful snowy white owl. "But you can find her, Hedwig, I know you can. I need her to get this letter. I need her to know that she's not alone."
Giving Hedwig one final stroke, Harry walked over to the window and sent his owl soaring into the sky. He silently watched as Hedwig flew away from Hogwarts, carrying with him his hopes for the future. A future that would see him hopefully reunited with Hermione and away from the tainted Order of the Phoenix and their wicked leader.
To be continued...
A/N – I want to thank you all for reading and supporting Step into Darkness. I'm going to take a small break from publishing on a Monday and Friday for the next couple of weeks, and when I return I will be posting the Goddess sequel. The second part of the Darkness Trilogy, is called Delve into Darkness and it will be published after the Goddess sequel. However, as I'm not yet finished that Goddess sequel, I can't say how long it will be before the second part of this is posted. However, I will post a note on this part, so no-one should miss the start of part two. But for now, thank you again for reading.
