DISCLAIMER: The Character, places or such things do not belong to me, only the plot! All credit goes to J.K Rowling, this is merely a fan fiction, apiece of writing from a fan!

Credit goes to baconsanddonuts for the awesome cover!!! Thank you so much!!!!

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PROLOGUE: HOW HERMIONE GOT INTO THE WHOLE MESS

She had been an Auror for a few years when the first murder happened.

She'd been in her office, trying unsuccessfully to figure out who the culprit behind the stolen list of untested spells she'd created for the ministry were, a case that had been open for a month, with no results.

It was bad enough that someone had managed to break into the Ministry without getting caught, but the fact that they got away with only her spells made her keener to capture them.

It was as she was looking through the list of possible suspects, when the strangled scream of death had filled her room. Rushing outside, she was met with the first of the many bloody murders that would soon follow her, for years to come.

After Colin's death in the Battle of Hogwarts, Dennis Creevy, his younger brother, had come to her himself, not knowing who else to turn to as a fellow muggleborn. She'd pitied him and offered him a job as her secretary the moment she became an Auror, promising herself that she would do for him what she hadn't been able to do for his brother- keep him safe.

Yet there he was, Dennis Creevy, on the floor of her office building, his body was scarred and bloody, thoroughly and wholly dead, like he'd been run through with a chainsaw. The only thing remaining of the charismatic boy who could always make her smile, was the shell of a body.

The spell used to kill him was one on the list of stolen spells that she herself had created, she knew that for sure.

She led the investigations herself, angry for being the one to create something that could destroy a life like that, adamant that she would find the person who did this and make them pay, but it had gone nowhere. Dead ends and dark alley ways with no clues met her at every lead.

It was like whoever was doing this knew her well. It was frustrating and agonising.

Dennis' murder was left in doubt, a troubling memory in her mind as she was forced to move on, by her co-workers and the newly appointed Minister of Magic, Kingsley, who didn't like to see the young woman suffer, to other cases whilst someone else investigated Dennis' death.

Three months later, the day after she celebrated her 23rd birthday with her best friends, she came home to find the scarred body of Susan Bones, an old-school friend, dead on her apartment floor, with the same scarring carved into her chest that Dennis had had.

Her wards around her apartment had not gone off. Her apartment was in a disarray like there had been a struggle, and there was too much blood covering the place to make it liveable anymore.

It was too much of a coincidence, two dead bodies appearing near her, and both hit with the spell that had been stolen, created by her, that had yet to be tested. The same list of spells that Kingsley had not let her try out, that were being tested out on live victims.

Growing weary with the questionable eyes of the media run by Rita Skeeter herself, the Ministry of Magic began to get a little suspicious, and against the wishes of Kingsley and even her best friends, they put a spy on her back.

Dean Thomas was to watch her every second of the day and not get found out. They had full trust in him, after all he was the best of the best, a man who had yet to fail in any task given to him.

A week of trailing after her, and his body was found barely a mile from her new place of residence, deep within a lake, held down by rocks and boulders, the scars now becoming a familiar sight to everyone, branded him as another murdered corpse that had been killed with her spell.

Afraid of the consequences of at least not questioning her, Kingsley requested that she be brought the Ministry immediately for an interrogation.

She was seen rushing to his office, yelling at him for thinking that she was responsible, confused and horrified that the people she'd began to trust could believe that she of all people, would be capable of committing such violent acts against her own friends and peers.

She left early from work, returning to her new apartment in anger.

The next day, Kingsley was found dead in his office with the same scarring marring his chest. No signs of forced entry or a struggle were found, and it was concluded that he'd known his assailant enough to invite them into his office whereupon he was killed. The scars labelled him as another victim added to the list of victims that supposedly she'd killed.

Though unwillingly, Neville Longbottom became the new Minister of Magic, his heroic actions in the battle against the Dark Lord had earned him a place within the Ministry easily, and a concise vote gave him the title of the most powerful man within the law, much to his irritation.

Fear of the unknown, and what his former friend might do to him because of the rumours circulating that she was the murder, he enlisted that Harry Potter and Ronald Weasely, speak to her to figure out the truth, giving them permission to use the banned truth potion, slyly, to figure out the truth.

Upon discovering the presence of Veritaserum in her tea, she flew into a fit of rage and left her best friends behind, telling them not to bother her again if they could not believe that she was innocent. Afraid that she would attack more people because of his rash actions, Neville put out a wanted notice for her immediate capture.

She suddenly found herself sought after by the whole of the wizard world. Her actions of defence being called excuses for committing murder, her lack of alibi at certain times because she was alone, labelling her as the woman who was killing off those who stood to oppose her.

No one seemed inclined to listen to her side of the story, no one wanted to know whether it really was her or not. The spread of the wanted notice made everyone believe that she truly was the murderer, and thus no one was willing to remain quiet and listen if they saw her.

They just wanted someone to blame for their losses, and she was the target of their anger.

She ran.

The notices began to spread; anyone who caught her would get thrice their weight in gold. All of a sudden, every single wizard and witch became very interested in gaining weight and catching their former alley.

She became infamous within a week of her wanted poster being released, and with Skeeter's skilful play on words, everyone presumed that the Ministry had indeed deemed her as the culprit. That she was the murderer.

As weeks went by and became months, and no one captured her, the price on her head got higher and higher until the search for the former Gryffindor Princess became so high, wizards and witches became crazed for the money. Any suspicious deaths were placed onto her head, any acts of violence with no true culprit became her fault.

Death-eaters and the Dark Lord were forgotten, her name became feared, more-so because she knew everyone in close terms, and she'd been her alley before. The heroin's betrayal made the wizarding world bitter against her, and offered her no chance to redeem herself.

Within the first three months of her wanted poster being made public, Wayne Hopkins, Roger Malone, Megan Jones and Pansy Parkinson, all graduates of Hogwarts and classmates of hers, were found dead in various muggle townhouses and places where she was said to be seen staying.

All were victims of her own created spell that had gone missing, which they now presumed was her fault too.

Subsequently, the good-girl role model of Hogwarts found herself being hunted down like Voldemort himself. She fled, leaving behind everything she had, knew and loved.

Her best friends were after her, her parents thought she'd gone psycho, and made sure it was clear that they wanted nothing to do with a daughter wanted for serial killings. Anyone who saw her, alerted the Aurors immediately, eager for the money and the safety of having her put away from society.

She didn't stay in one place for more than a week; she changed her appearance regularly, and lived in muggle motels and generally tried not to be seen.

Her years of Auror training and war-toned soldier skills kept her ahead and away from the others. Her research and experience kept her far from traces and hexes meant to capture her. She had always been smart, but the war had made her that bit smarter than those out to get her, and that was the only thing that kept her safe.

She tried explaining to her friends what had happened, but fear and confusion kept them away from her. Harry and Ron were not too keen on believing the rumours, but as the bodies piled up, the evidence against her did so too. Fingerprints and hair, traces of her magic and her own spells that only she and they should know.

When at last Ron raised his wand against her, to capture her and lock her away, she realised that she was alone in the world and ran from them too.

In the end, she gave up hope.

She lost her faith, and grew desolate.

She knew she couldn't stay hidden forever and the only thing she had to look forward to was the day she would slip up and get caught. Handing herself in would mean an immediate Dementor's kiss as the public had demanded, of the woman causing such panic in the world.

But she couldn't hand herself in, she kept herself alive and kept on running for the sole sake of finding out whoever was responsible and making them pay for the lives that they'd stolen.

It did not matter to her that she was wanted, but to steal someone's life in such a cruel way...she could not forgive. She's vowed to herself to keep Dennis safe, and yet, he'd been the first one she'd lost, and that pain f that broken promise kept her going.

Hermione Granger ran from everything she'd ever known, and became the most wanted witch in England, dead or alive...