Neville returned in place of Luna, and with him brought a few supplies and news from above. Cho had been sent on an errand in Diagon Alley three days prior and hadn't returned, leaving Narcissa to fear the worst. Molly Weasley had also stopped sending owls, and Neville was going to apart to the Burrow next to see why she hadn't been responding to the past few letters.

"I'm sure she's alright, but Ginny just wants clarification." Neville told Hermione, trying to comfort her, but she could see right through him. They were worried, Mrs. Weasley always replied to the post. The only time she hadn't was when she was preoccupied with her husband's injury when he'd been attacked by Nagini.

"I do have some good news for you though," Neville continued, handing Hermione a few blankets to pass around to the others. "Narcissa believes its safe for you to come to the Black house and get a little cleaned up. We also are moving some people into my folk's house. We're hoping to get everyone out."

Hermione's heart soared, the thought of going outside made her want to jump for joy. "Do you really think that's possible?" she asked, trying not to get her hopes up. The tall boy nodded, and opened his mouth to speak when Hannah walked up and said, "Any sign of Penelope?" Neville shook his head sadly, and Hermione let out a sigh of disappointment. More and more muggleborns were going missing, and she was stuck in a hole, unable to help. The feeling of defeat was enormous, and she chewed on the inside of her cheek as Hannah spoke. "I just hope she's okay. She's so smart, I just..." the brown-haired girl trailed off, and Neville put his hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"Don't give up Hannah." He said softly, and she gave him a small smile. Hermione watched their interaction for a moment, and a pang of jealousy sprouted in her chest, wishing there was someone there to comfort her. She turned around and sat on her sleeping bag, focusing on retying her shoelaces, even though they were perfectly tight.

March 9th, 1997

"Granger, I swear to you, these are the pages we're supposed to be working on, not those." Draco said, jabbing his finger at the page Hermione had laying open. Draco had a book of his own laid in front of him, and he was unsuccessfully trying to convince her they were supposed to read chapter 44 of the Dream Oracle Volume VI, and not chapter 44 of The Perfect Party, year VI.

"Malfoy! You are WRONG," Hermione replied through gritted teeth. Why was he arguing with her? She had written a specific note about which chapters discussed Ovomancy, and which chapters just briefed on it. He slammed his book shut, and dropped into his chair, pinching his nose on the bridge.

"Oh, come on, I still need your help." She complained, sitting down beside him and he shot her a glare.

"Ha, yeah right. Miss Golden Girl Gryffindor favorite needs help." He sneered, his tone sharp. He snatched the book from her, scanning the page quickly, his silver eyes reading the text.

"What does the word 'ovo' originally mean?" he barked, and she stared at him with wide eyes before replying, "Egg." He nodded once, scanned the page again then looked up at her.

"And what type of divination comes from practicing ovomancy?" he asked, and she felt like his eyes were piercing her. She picked at a scab on her finger, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Um...it's...it's when yo-"

"Any day now, Granger" he barked, cutting her off in surprise.

"it's when the user cracks open an egg and can determine future events by how the yolk falls from the shell." She replied, fully knowing she was correct. Draco blinked at her, looked back at the textbook, then slammed it shut.

"The fuck you need me for." He huffed, crossing his arms. Hermione didn't respond, and instead looked at his right arm as the sleeve had slid up. Thin, short lines of skin were raised on his arms, at least seven of them from what she could see, and some looked fresher than others. She gasped lightly as the realization dawned on her and she looked away, hoping he hadn't caught her starring.

"You know..." she began, her voice barely audible, and she picked at her finger. "I think we make a decent team, you and I."

He scoffed, and she tried to back pedal, her cheeks flushing scarlet. "I just mean, our projects, we do them well. We've been working this barely a week and we're almost done? This research alone usually takes two, and we're already on the vocab portion in week one." She blabbed, talking quickly in embarrassment. Draco looked at her with uncertain eyes, and eventually he nodded. "I guess we do," He murmured, and unfolded his arms. "Like everyone said, you are the brightest witch of our age."

Hermione gaped.

"Draco, did you just...compliment me?"

"Granger, did you just use my first name?" he replied.

She laughed, covering her mouth with her hand, and he grinned before chuckling lowly and this time, the smile even reached his eyes.

"We should get going before it gets too late. I want to stop at the Burrow first." Neville said, and Hermione stood up, brushing her jeans off with the palm of her hand. "You've got everything you need?"

She looked around and realized she really didn't have much besides her wand and time turner, as well as Harrys glasses that she kept in her front pocket. She brushed her fingers over the pocket to ensure they were still there, and she gave Neville a nod.

"I'm ready." She breathed. Hannah gave her a weak smile, before turning back to where she had been sleeping.

"We'll see you soon, Hermione." She said, and Hermione hoped desperately that she was right. She and Neville walked to the ladder, and while it was a tight squeeze, they climbed up the first three rungs. She held onto his forearm as he took out his wand and prepared to apparate to the Weasley farm. Hermione shut her eyes and brushed her fingertips against Harrys glasses once more.

-

The first thing she noticed when they landed was the smell of gas. Hermione opened her eyes, and a scream filled her lungs as she stood in front of the Burrow, roaring in flames. She grasped her wand and quickly began casting water charms over the flames, seeing from the corner of her eye Neville doing the same.

"Who's here?" she cried to Neville and sent a water charm into the upstairs window.

"Mrs. Weasley and George! And Bill, I think? And Fleur!" he yelled back and sent a charm at the front door. Hermione dashed to the house and kicked the door with her foot.

"Molly!" she screamed, kicking the door again but it did not move. Neville ran up beside her, and kicked his foot into the door, sending the burned-up pieces flying. The two of them ran into the house, shooting water charms at the fire until it died down. Hermione dashed up the stairs, her heart racing as she moved over a fallen piece of wood. She had spent multiple summers in this home; it had survived an attack by Death Eaters, and now it was aflame once more. She rounded the corner and stopped, a gasp escaping her throat.

She did not know Bill well, but he had always been kind to her, never got too upset over anything. She felt her eyes well as she slowly walked towards the bent body that greeted her, leaning down. Bills body lay on the second story stairs, both arms completely ripped from his torso. The majority of his legs, chest and hair had been burnt off, and he was practically bald. His eyelids had begun to melt as Hermione sobbed, casting a water spell on the flames that still licked the wooden bannisters. Her chest felt tight, and she wanted to scream but couldn't get enough air. She coughed hoarsely, gagging on the smoke from the flames, and heard Neville gasp in horror behind her. She placed her hands on her knees and sobbed, willing her chest to breath and unable to look at the corpse of a man who she knew was good.

He was pure. A member of her family.

Where was Fleur? And Molly? Hermione tried to cough again and wiped her nose on her sleeve. She couldn't save Bill, but she could look for his mother, brother and wife. Neville ran forward and peered at the corpse, and his face looked sick.

"Is that...?" he asked and Hermione nodded before he finished his sentence. "Fleur!" Hermione screamed, trying not to look down as she stepped over Bills corpse. She realized that he was still wearing his pajamas, with his sweater that Molly knitted all of them for Christmas, a large 'B' embroidered in yellow string.

Hermione entered another room and casted another water spell, looking around for signs of life as she did.

"Hello?" Hermione called, begging any god that would listen that someone had survived. She peered behind the door and made her way to the empty bed. A deep scarlet stain was on the sheets and she grimaced. She heard a groan from the opposite side of the bed, her knees tight in her skin. She paled as the crumpled form of Bills wife greeted her. Fleurs normally neat hair was sweaty and matted to the back of her neck, her thin hands covered in blood as she pressed them feebly against her leg.

"Hermione?" she whispered, her right eye swollen, blood dripping down her nose into her mouth. Hermione grabbed the blanket from the bed and screamed for Neville, rushing to Fleur and pressing the blanket to the wounded leg.

"What happened? Who did this?" Hermione cried, trying to ignore the pain in her own throat. Fleur blinked at her in a daze and raised her hand to Hermione's cheek. Hermione could feel the sticky substance of blood as Fleur smiled at her weekly.

"We missed you on Sunday brunch." She murmured, just as Neville entered the room, kneeling quickly beside Hermione and pressing his hands to Fleurs leg.

"I don't think anyone is here." He said, wildly looking around the room as Hermione began a healing charm. She was already spent, but she could tell Fleur had lost a lot of blood, and if she didn't act soon, she was afraid of what might happen.

"We have to get out of here." Hermione spoke quickly focusing on her wrist movements. "If we don't, someone might come back." Neville shook his head quickly. "We can't apparate now, she's too weak." He said, his eyes large and frightened. "We could cause more harm if we d-"

"Then what else are we supposed to do?" Hermione shot back, and she looked at her hands stained with Fleurs blood. Neville stood up, trying to peer outside the door.

"Here, pick her up," Hermione instructed, tying the blanket on the larger portion of the wound. "We can deal with her nose and eyes later, I stopped the majority of the bleeding, but we can patch it up when we're out of here. Luna can help."

She watched Neville pick Fleur up and looked through the nightstand until she found a dark colored wand. Hoping it belonged to the blonde witch, Hermione slipped it into her pocket and peered out the windows. She could see the rolling hills and matted down grass, and she gulped as she spotted red hair in the distance.

At first, she thought it was Fred, laying out in the field watching the clouds move like he used to in 4th year; then she remembered what had become of Fred.

Hermione leaned out the window, trying to see closer, her tears blurring her vision, as she screamed "George!"

Her legs ached and her throat burned, and she screamed his name again. "Stay here" she shouted at Neville and ran down the flight of two stairs, out into the pasture, her legs aching, begging her to slow down. She came to a halt in front of George and collapsed, her lungs wheezing.

His feet were nailed to the floor and given the lashes on his body, he'd been whipped. His skin was pale, and his eyes were open, starring into the clouds, the grass beneath him stained red. Hermione leaned over and heaved her miniscule breakfast of apple slices and licorice onto the grass.

"Hermione!" Neville called, and she stood to her wobbly feet, looking at George one more time before she turned away, running towards Neville.

He didn't need to see this.

He was holding Fleur in his arms, and the witch's eyes were closed, her head leaning against his shoulder. "We need to apparate," Hermione demanded, grasping his forearm as she watched him nod and grip his wand. "Now."

That was the last time she ever saw the Burrow, but the visuals would stay with her for life.