"Absolutely not! I refuse to give my blessing." Mrs. Weasley pushed herself up, but instead of walking away from the table, she splayed her palms on the wooden surface and leaned over to glare at Kingsley. "Do you hear me? I refuse!"

"I am sorry to hear that, Molly. Fortunately, they do not need your blessing. They are of age and have offered to help." The Auror remained calm in the face of the maternal wrath aimed at him.

"Are those the words of condolence you will tell me when you return with the dead bodies of my children? They were of age and naively offered their help?!" There was a hollowness to the shrieked reply from the woman that spoke of losses that those assembled could only guess at.

"Mum…" Ron gently prompted from where he sat at Hermione's side. "Harry needs us…"

"Harry needs a competent team of experienced Aurors to get him here safely. Not school children to be used as cannon fodder, Ronald Weasley!"

"I am an adult! I can choose to be cannon fodder if I want to!"

"The fact you can sit there and say something so asinine goes to show you are not an adult." Mrs. Weasley snapped at her seething son before she turned her attention back to the wizard at the other end of the table. "Mark my words, Shacklebolt, their blood will be on your conscience… "

"That is enough, Molly." Lupin's quiet voice cut into the conversation.

"Arthur will agree with me."

"Undoubtedly, he will... None of us like this." Lupin consoled. "Nevertheless, Ron and Hermione have made their choice and we must respect it."

Hermione stayed as quiet and inconspicuous as possible. She knew that any input she had would be cast aside. Her opinion held as much weight as Ron's. Zero. The older Order members would decide her fate. Hopefully, the less emotional side won.

They needed her body. On the chance they were attacked during the covert mission, they needed as many bodies as possible to serve as a distraction. Harry's survival would depend on the amount of chaos caused…

Nothing would change that. Not Mrs. Weasley's theatrics. Not Ginny's annoyance at being left behind. Not Lupin's… or Tonk's… or Moody's… or Hagrid's reservations. Not even the tiny life who relied on her. She had to stick to the plan. The next step was to make sure Harry got to The Burrow safely.

"So, it is settled. In the event of an ambush, each flyer will have the coordinates to their safehouse and we return here as soon as possible." Kingsley explained somberly.

"I will not entertain this nonsense any longer." The hovering angry mother mumbled before she swiveled around and stalked over to a pot on the stove to busy herself with something other than her morbid thoughts.

After an appropriately polite amount of time went by, Hermione excused herself from the conversation and made her way into the kitchen. She stood off to the side and watched as a knife hovered in midair ready to dice up an onion for dinner, just as useless as she had been at the table. "I'm very sorry that our decision has upset you, Mrs. Weasley…"

"Not sorry enough to listen to reason." The woman pointed out as she vigorously stirred at the boiling soup stock in front of her.

"No, I suppose not." Hermione acknowledged, picked up the knife, and began the process by hand.

A look of confusion was tossed in her direction, "You don't need to do that."

"I know… I want to keep my hands occupied." She shrugged, not having a good reasoning for her odd behavior. Not once, in the years she had visited the Weasley home, had she stepped foot in the older witch's kitchen without express permission. Much less messed with her meal preparation.

Mrs. Weasley observed her slow progress out of the corner of her eye, her lips pressed into a disapproving line but kept silent. At least when it came to the unwelcome intrusion… She continued to quietly grumble her grievances against everyone in attendance. The insults became more and more colorful as the conversation around the table shifted to more jovial topics.

Hermione struggled to keep from grinning and moved on to peeling the potatoes. She listened half-heartedly as Lupin and Tonks described their plans to elope the following weekend. It was going to be a small affair with themselves and their witnesses, Bill and Fleur, as the only attendees. Tonks could care less about the specifics. Her single requirement was that peonies were in her bouquet. A tribute to her parents' elopement nearly thirty years prior.

"So after this mission goes off without a hitch, I assume you and Harry will be staying with us until school begins?"

The question hung in the air and made it hard for her to breathe. How was she supposed to answer that? Returning to Hogwarts was not an option when Harry planned to spend the foreseeable future tracking down horcruxes… But she had no idea when they would leave, regardless of the preemptive arrangements the patriarch of the family undertook with his youngest son to explain the suspicious absence from his final year. It all depended on Harry's desperation. He could decide to sneak away the second the Trace was removed on his seventeenth birthday or it could take months of planning before they were ready to go. And by then she might not be welcome. Neither in Harry's presence nor at The Burrow.

"I hadn't heard that the decision was made to keep Hogwarts open," Hermione said evasively.

"Oh yes, it was announced in the Prophet this morning. The Governors are still deliberating on who will take over." Mrs. Weasley clarified as she worked on a batter for dessert.

"What about McGonagall?"

"I'm sure she will be selected. They have to put on the show of following protocol. Everyone knows she has… had Dumbledore's backing."

Hermione nodded slowly, the thought of Hogwarts being in unknown hands caused goose pimples to break out across her skin. The last time it had been out of the Order's control it hadn't ended well for the students or the imposter of a Headmistress…

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"Steleus!"

"Aresto Momentum!"

"Protego!"

"Impedimenta!"

The screams of allies and enemies intermingled into a terrible roar of pandemonium. Flashes of different colored curses brightened up the night's sky in a dizzying display of green, red, and white. Muggles below were sure to attribute the strange sight to illegal fireworks as their minds sought a logical solution to the sight of such destructive magic.

She pressed herself to the hunched form of the formidable wizard who expertly steered the thestral they rode through the chaos and cast a Melofors jinx into the first masked attacker that raised their wand in her direction. His head ballooned into a pumpkin and the sudden added weight caused the wizard to topple from his broom. A muffled screech followed after the stranger as he plummeted towards the ground.

So much for non-lethal…

"Avada Kedavra!"

A killing curse whizzed past her head and was inches from striking Kingsley in the shoulder. Hermione whipped around at the waist and shouted, "Stupefy!"

Another body fell into the dark ether and there was little remorse for the offender. Even as one of their companions attempted to catch the unconscious form that hurtled down to the earth, twisting in the wind, engaged in a strange dance with Death.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit! Hold on tight!" Kingsley's warning barely reached her ears before the thestral under them began a feat of aerial acrobatics. The winged horse barrel rolled multiple times, avoiding an influx of combatants that centered their attention on her.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hermione realized something horrible must have happened to Mundungus Fletcher for the rapid switch in scrutiny. She might have felt bad for the wizard but she was too busy struggling for her life. For a split second, she regretted the concession she had made to appease Mrs. Weasley by pairing with the veteran auror. The mother's anxieties over her son had been warranted. He was safer with Tonks…

"Fall back! Fall back! The boy is MINE…" A high reedy voice yelled into the darkness and the group of concealed hostiles immediately obeyed the order.

Chills ran up Hermione's spine and she bit her tongue to keep the scream that would identify her from slipping from between her lips. In the next instant, he was there…

Voldemort appeared at their side, flying on smoke darker than the abyss of night that encircled them all. His ivory face, so pale it was near iridescent, was monstrous. Worse than Harry could ever describe, his features were contorted with glee. His blood-red eyes aflame with his presumed success.

Logically, she knew it was a futile endeavor. Only one person in history had survived the curse that she knew was coming. And while her physical appearance had been polyjuiced to match him, Hermione didn't have the sacrificial magic that protected him… An instinctual rage filled her being and she raised her wand, firing off every spell that came to mind to protect herself.

She didn't want to die.

She should have listened to Mrs. Weasley.

She hadn't understood the realities of what would be asked of her. As with too many things, she had realized far too late. The Order wasn't omnipotent. She wasn't protected from the horrors because of Kingsley's proximity.

She'd killed. At least one wizard. Maybe two…

And their master had come for his revenge. Thoughtlessly balancing the score in his quest to rid the world of his nemesis. An eye for an eye. Two Death Eaters for an Order member and her unborn baby.

"AVADA…"

Something stayed the evil wizard's hand mid-cast. Just as spontaneously as the fiend materialized, he disappeared into the darkness. Leaving his henchmen to finish the job…

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Quick Author's Note:

Soooooooo… What do you think of everything that has happened? You know my Muses thrive off of the good things you can do to signal you are liking ABH (or not) so far!

If you are wanting more but have to be patient for the next update, make sure to check out the brand new addition to my "junk drawer" for the Any series, Anytime But Now. "Save Him" is a one-shot revolving around what could have happened if Hermione stumbled upon the duel between Harry and Draco in Ch 73 (ABM) or Ch 24 (canon). There is also a three-part A/U on what would have happened if Hermione was able to ask Draco to Slughorn's Christmas party and a few scrapped memories from Hermione's little jaunt into Draco's mind. Some good stuff, if I do say so. .

As Always…

Much love,

SlytherclawLuv