Chapter 1
The army of Death Eaters had surrounded Hogwarts in the early part of the evening, just as the sun had disappeared from the sky. Hexes and spells were cast all along the shimmery wards that protected the castle. They remained for nearly an hour, attempting to break down the wards. The Order so focused on maintaining the wards and preparing the castle for the soon to be break in to even notice that the Death Eaters were slowly leaving as the minutes trickled by. It started with the outer and furthest from the castle and then worked inward until there was seven Death Eaters at each entrance of the castle. They had slowly eyed the other side before growing satisfied smirks on their faces and disappeared away all at once.
The Order was unsure what happened, the Death Eaters didn’t break into the school, they didn’t retrieve the horcrux, leaving Harry untouched. They remained the rest of the night on guard, waiting for their return but were greeted with the morning sun with silence.
Days started to bleed together as they continued to wait for the moment havoc broke. The Order debated if it was safe enough to send students back home after five days went by with no sightings or reports of Death Eaters. The Order had voted that all students would return to their families as long as all the Order members were present on the train ride back to London. Students who had their guardians already present had the opportunity to travel with different needs if wished for.
The first half of the ride went by strangely quietly until the train had come to a rough stop. Everyone had pushed upon the glass to peek into what was stopping the train from continuing its journey, but nothing but the rocky mountains and fresh green trees and bushes could be seen from this angle. The Order had stepped outside the train advising the students and families to remain in their seats as they investigated .
Little did they know that Voldemort was used the preparation of Hogwarts as a distraction as he conquered England and closed out its borders. All the muggles and wizards that were left behind in England, had become citizens of his new ‘country’. Never allowing them to leave nor was anybody able to enter the country without specific permission from Voldemort himself. But who in the right mind would want to enter this country especially after Voldemort and his Death Eaters had taken over. It was over six months before the Order received a statement from Voldemort stating the formation of ‘Lumar’. In the statement they reviewed, the newly founded country would terminate all trade with outsiders and promises to not bring harm to the outside world. Hermione huffed when she first read it, she did not believe their empty words. This couldn't have been it, all those years of planning and attacking for him to settle for a country. It didn't make sense. But then again maybe Voldemort wasn't one to have big aspirations.
It was another six months that went by, and they learned how serious his statements were. There were no reports of mass murders in Lumar or harm caused by the Death Eaters, no news of Death Eaters being spotted outside of Lumar. Only if someone attempted to cross the border that separated Lumar and Scotland. They never were killed, mainly severely injured at the border and then taken as hostages, never being heard from after. It was a strange feeling that the Death Eaters had disappeared from all their eyes.
Occasionally Hermione and the Order would tune into the muggle news station that was still airing live in Lumar, where they would witness what was happening in this new country with their new leader. There was never any report of protests or violence within, nor pleas for help, no signs of struggle. It was most likely they were ordered to only show the goodness of the country. The families that were separated had attempted to contact their families in Lumar. But each time the letters were sent they had always returned unopened. The Order even attempted to use muggle communication but failed as well. Voldemort truly wanted them separated from the rest of the world, it was a theory he used the separations from North Korea as a reference. The new station only remained on air for another year after and then went radio silent.
The Order continued to meet every few days at first trying to find a way into the country. But there had been a spell that surrounded the country as if England were trapped in a bubble. Everything by land and water had been closed off and heavily monitored by Death Eaters. They couldn’t trust the silence from their friends south of the border. Training was still expected for each Order member to ensure they would be ready for the day Voldemort did go against his promise or for when the Order was finally able to break into the country.
Before everyone knew it, two years had gone by and still nothing but silence from the other side. No battles, no sneaky attacks, no Death Eaters creeping into Scotland or other parts of the world. They had kept their word and stayed to themselves.
Scotland Ministry of Magic was established before the end of the second year. With nothing happening, everyone in Scotland felt it was time to put some kind of normality back into their lives. They couldn’t spend their lives waiting for the other shoe to drop, that wasn’t a life they had imagined living. They had reopened Hogwarts that year as well, allowing the young wizards to continue with their education. They had also influenced the muggles in Scotland to change their trade partners, with being cut off from what used to be England, Scotland went through a rough phase in getting food and other supplies.
3 Years Later
The birds were chirping, and a steady stream was all the sounds that Hermione could hear once she woke. Her beaded bag and denim jacket had her tangled in a tree’s branches, and she could feel that she was high off the ground. Noticing that her wand holster was empty she began to tap around her body in hopes that her wand was at least somewhere on her body. It wasn’t. Her eyes then went to the ground and tried to focus on locating her wand. Maybe it had fallen off her body. There was too many wild overgrown bushes and scattered wood below her to make out her wand. She will have to look again once she has reconnected with the ground, she thought. Attempting to unknot herself from the branches, she felt a pain in both her arms as she extended them upwards. She screamed out in pain, scaring the nearby birds and quickly bring her arms back towards her body.
Draco was out checking the border property line as a typical routine when he heard the scream. He had looked up into the cloudy sky to see the birds take off in the opposite direction of the scream. It wasn’t common for the other side to be attempting to cross the border anymore. The first few months there was countless attempts to cross over but nobody had been successful or lived to see another day. Once he got closer to the area where he heard the scream from. He looked around and between the bushes and trees and couldn’t find the source.
Hermione had heard footsteps below her but the angle she was stuck in she couldn’t see very well. “Up here, please help me. I'm stuck.” She pleaded as she continued to wiggle trying to set herself free, she felt something loose.
Draco’s eyes shot up to her voice and was stunned to see who was mangled in the tree. “Granger?”
Hermione froze as she heard his deep voice. It may have been years since she last heard it but there was no mistaking Draco Malfoy’s voice. She began patting herself again in hopes that maybe earlier she just didn’t tap the right areas for her wand.
“What are you doing here, Granger?” He extended his wand out towards her.
“I could be asking you the same thing, Malfoy.” She shouted back. “I always knew Voldemort's Lumar statement was full of shit. Now he’s got you crossing over the border. It isn’t going to work, Malfoy. The Order has been staying prepared for years for this exact moment.”
“Cross the border? Me? Ha Don’t tell me you hit that pretty little head of yours as got yourself stuck in a tree. A tree that is in Lumar. Granger, you’re the one who crossed over the border.”
“Clearly you need to touch nature, because your sense of direction is wrong. See those two mountains surrounding us, that is North Mountain and Mount Estrella. We are in Scotland.”
He let out a chuckle and shook his head, “Never imagined I would see the day where the famous Golden Girl is wrong. That is Mount Estrella and South Mountain. Which means you are in Lumar.”
She doesn’t know how she freed herself from the tree, but she did and ended up crash landing on Draco.
“Granger, get off me now.” He grunted, never in all his life did he imagine what it would be like to have Hermione Granger on top of him. Even with the tree leaves stuck in her hair, he could smell the delicate smell of jasmine and citrus from her shampoo as her hair cascaded over him. Why was she still on him?
Maintaining eye contact with Malfoy, Hermione elbowed his stomach and in the mix of him grabbing his side and her trying to get off, she grabbed ahold of his wand and wasted no time with casting incarcerous. Thick ropes appeared and tied his ankles and wrists together.
“Well, that takes care of two of my problems. Who knew I could rely on you Malfoy. Thanks for the wand.” She states, waving the wand in one hand and leaving him tied on the ground.
“Granger, you're going the wrong way!” He shouted at her. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks and looked back at Malfoy. He was trying to sit himself up but with the lack of mobility, he was certainly struggling.
“I can point you in the direction you need to go. Just untie me and give me my wand back!” He huffed.
He could feel that her mind was turning with all the possible outcomes. She had no reason to trust him. If anything, she hated him for jump starting the war when letting Death Eaters into Hogwarts. That he stood by as his deranged aunt tortured her for hours in his manor. He was a Death Eater in her eyes. She would just leave him here.
“I rather take my chances Malfoy.” She shouted as she continued in the direction she originally planned for.
Draco let out another huff as he still attempted to free himself from the ropes that were tied around his ankles and wrists. He was finally able to at least get himself standing, which is some kind of improvement. He heard footsteps and called out for help. It will most likely not to be Granger since she ran in the opposite direction of the noise. Then he heard it, a loud recognizable laugh and he just closed his eyes and sighed. He knew she wouldn’t let this down.
“Oh Drakey, I knew you always had some kind of ‘tie me up’ kink...” Pansy began to laugh again.
“Pansy please just untie me now.”
“Oh no, Draco. I need to call over the boys to see this.” She chuckled once again and sent a dark blue spark from her wand into the sky. It was their calling for the other team members when they were on patrol.
“Pans, you need to untie me right now.” Draco began jumping towards Pansy, occasionally trying to reestablish his balance.
“Hmmm no, use your own wand and untie yourself. I am just here to enjoy the show.” She sat down on a rock nearby and pulled out a flask from her leather coat and took a drink from it. Over the years, Pansy had grown out her short sleek blob into a length that ran past her shoulders and curled in towards the end. She had been blessed with beautiful dark wispy eyelashes and got confident in her appearance she hardly wore make up. She had truly grown into a natural beauty.
“Pansy.”
“Nope.” She takes another drink.
He hopped one more time near Pansy, but the ground felt a bit softer than the rest of the ground where he had landed. He began to slip away in the mud. He attempted one more jump before realizing what a mistake that was. Not only did Hermione Granger snuck over the border on his last day of rotation, fallen on top of him, tied him up, and then ran off with his wand, she would be the reason his pristine silver hair and expensive clothing would be covered in mud. This wasn't how he had hoped his day would’ve go when he opened his eyes this morning.
“I don’t have my wand.” He mumbled right before falling face first into a pile of mud.
“Oh Drakey, did you underestimate your bondages and drop your wand somewhere?” She laughed.
He plucked his head up just a bit to respond, “No…. someone took my wand.” He says in a whisper as he puts his face back into the mud.
Pansy would’ve laughed at this, but she walked over to pull Draco by his hair from the mud, “I am sorry. I think I miss heard you. What was that about your wand?”
“I. DONT. HAVE. IT!” He yelled after spitting out the mud that was in his mouth, “Someone crossed over the border and attacked me from the trees. They ran off with my wand.”
“Draco, why are you barely telling me this? Nobody has ever been successful in crossing the border since Lumar was established. We cannot be the ones that allowed someone in. Especially today.” She waved her wand and the ropes on Draco slivered to the ground. She was also generous enough to clean the mud off his face, mainly because he would need to see to find the intruder.
"She ran into the direction of town.” He stated as they both ran through the forest.
“Did you recognize who it was before they attacked you?”
“It was an Order member.” That was all that he mentioned, keeping her identity still a secret.
As the words fall out his mouth, Pansy stopped running and stared at Draco with wide eyes. “DRACO! You got to be fucking kidding me?! An Order member crossed the border! How the hell did she get it in and why? And it would happen on the last day of rotation. This is so fucking great.” She took a deep breath, “We need to find her before the end of day. Tomorrow, we switch back out.”
Hermione continued running through the forest and once she was far enough from Malfoy, she attempted to apparate back home but nothing. She figured it was his wand that wasn’t cooperating with her. She tried to keep herself calm as she sent out a patronus message to Harry and Ron. But after it left, the misty animal returned to her and shook its head no and then disappeared. Strange she thought. She looked around for anything that would point her in the right direction. She thought back to when Malfoy mentioned the mountains, but she couldn’t tell which way he had pointed for each mountain since she was still stuck in the tree at that point. She just needed to pick a direction and hoped that it was the best one.
During this time of day, Blaise Zabini stopped at his favorite grassy field and took it upon himself for a coffee break. Just as he took another sip of his coffee, he heard someone running from the other side of the field. Coffee had spilled out of his mouth as he saw her running by. It wasn’t hard to recognize the wild auburn curls flowing in the wind. Hermione Granger. And she was here in Lumar.
A big smile appeared on his face. The Order was finally able to break in, thank Merlin he thought. He was ready for this whole ‘new country’ to be over with. He had missed his mama, who had managed to escape to Italy right before the borders closed. He would’ve joined her, but Voldemort had sent him to Hogwarts that night to help with the ‘distraction’. He had wondered how his mother had been. If she was well or at least alive. When Voldemort announced there would be no communication with the outside world, he didn’t think that the purebloods would also fall into this category. It didn’t affect everybody else like it affected him since all other purebloods had their family here before the borders closed. He dabbed away the fallen coffee and took another sip and watched as Hermione disappeared back under the trees on the other side of the field. He had no intention of stopping her and her plans. Because he soon would be able to hug his mama and be free, and for the first time in years he felt hope.
He decided when he finished his coffee, he would go out to look for the others as he saw a blue spark earlier in the air. Hmmm, it came from the same direction that Granger was running from, he remembered.
Hermione noticed she was approaching a small run-down wooden house, she crouched down once she was close enough trying to avoid being seen. With Malfoy on this side of the border, he had to have brought others along as well. Once she was leaning up against the house, she popped her head up to get an idea of who she was up against. She was not expecting to see Theodore Nott, who was watching a muggle sitcom and enjoying it from what it seemed like as he laughed so hard that water had spit out of his mouth and nose. Over to the right side of him, there were four other monitors, security cameras that showed the perimeter of the house and then switched to the forest near the border where she had fallen on to Draco. It was obvious that he hadn’t been paying attention because he would’ve known she’d be nearby. She ducked back down and had to take a few more breaths to calm herself down. How did Death Eaters cross the border and were able to set up this area without the Order realizing it? She thought back to her disagreement with Kingsley a few days ago, maybe he knew that the Death Eaters had crossed over. That would explain why he was putting so much pressure on her.
Draco and Pansy had ran into the field bumping into Blaise who was now finishing his coffee. They informed him of the intruder who crossed over and took off with Malfoy’s wand. Blaise hid his smile and then wonder why Draco hadn’t mention to Pansy that it was Hermione Granger who had crossed over. From the story they went over, Hermione Granger had fallen on top of him. Draco wasn’t stupid nor was he blind. He knew it was Granger. He spent most of his years at Hogwarts chatting up a storm of Hermione Granger. 'The muggle who ranked top of class year after year, the muggle who had helped with discovering the heir of Slytherin, the muggle who dare lay a hand on Draco, the muggle who found herself entangled with Quidditch star Victor Krum, the muggle who had formed an army to fight against Death Eaters, the muggle born who found herself concerned with the withdrawal of pureblood Draco Malfoy and cornered him in the library, to question if he was alright was'. It was all their group heard throughout their years in school.
They had quickly gathered up Theo before resuming their search, she couldn't have gotten far especially with all the limits of travel now a days. It was long until they came across a dark red jean jacket. Draco picked up the jacket and felt that it was still warm, it hadn’t been that long since she misplaced it. They continued to run for another five minutes before catching a glimpse of the wild auburn curls in the wind.
The group chased Hermione as she continued to run using trees and bushes as cover, Theo and Pansy had been shooting spells at her hoping she would take the hit. Theo had sent out the killing curse, but Blaise had causally bumped into him causing Theo to miss.
Hermione had made it to a fence and luckily for her there was a tree that fell over it, she could climb upon the tree and used this to escape. When a green light passed by her it caused her to drop Draco’s wand. She turned back around to the Death Eaters chasing her and back at the wand on the ground. They were coming too close for her to risk getting the wand back.
“Is that Hermione Granger?!” Theo had stopped running as he saw her face. Pansy had dropped down her wand to her side and threw a nasty look at Draco.
Hermione waited not a minute longer as she jumped over the fence.
“And she just jumped on to the base.” Added Blaise with a chuckle.
“Zabini this isn’t the time to laugh, do you know how much trouble we will be for allowing not only an outsider to enter but that outsider is the Order’s Golden Girl, Hermione Granger across the border!” Pansy yelled. “And you! You knew it was Hermione fucking Granger.” She started to hit Draco.” And you didn’t tell us!”
Hermione ran farther past the fence and when she finally turned back around, she no longer saw the Death Eaters chasing after her. She huffed out a laugh thinking she had gotten away from the group. She found a group of bushes that were grouped together and they were the perfect thickness to hide herself in. With the sun setting and no wand, she figured that she was safer in the bush. She pulled some of the branches from other bushes across the way to use on top of her as she tried to get some sleep to regain her energy for the next day.
The night was a typically long one for the team as they continued their search for Hermione. This area between the mountains was very dense with trees and bushes. The team had no idea what kind of sick punishment awaited for them for their mistake. Once the sky started to lighten up, the team headed back to the lookout.
“I cannot believe that we lost her, how did she manage to get away?” Theo huffed as he was reviewing the recording from yesterday and into the night. He made a face when he realized that Hermione had got close enough to the house and he didn’t even notice it because he was too busy with watching a muggle sitcom.
“She most likely hiding somewhere now, not running.” Pansy added.
“It doesn’t matter now, the sun is starting to rise which means the switch will happen soon. She will be the other team’s problem.” Blaise said as she stretched his upper body.
“Nott tell me what you were doing when she stopped by the house? You were supposed to be keeping watch on the monitors.” Draco asked, knowing damn well Theo was hoping he’d drop it.
“I was watching the monitors as we discussed...” He responded not too confidently.
“Theo.” Pansy added.
“Ugh, can you really be mad at me? The one time I decided to enjoy myself, something had to happen?! ….. I was watching muggle teley.” He mumbled.
Blaise started to laugh again, “Oh, this is so great.”
“And what about you Zabini?”
“What about me?” He asked as he placed his hand over his chest, in shock.
“She literally ran right in front of you! And you didn’t think you should I don’t know, stop her?” Pansy asked, arms no crossed in front of her.
Blaise sat there and eyed all his friends before answering, “I had dreamed for the day the Order crosses over.”
Pansy’s eyes widen the same time she shot up from her chair and shut the door that lead to outside. “Blaise, I know that you are unhappy with being here. But that is not something you saw out loud especially out here.”
“I will tell you because I trust you all but seeing Granger today. It gave me back hope. I miss my mother. I miss the outside world. Don’t you miss what life was before Lumar?”
“Plus, if we are really going to point fingers for Granger being here, it’s technically Draco’s fault for allowing her to escape with his wand.” Theo chimed in.
Draco huffed, “She attacked me from the trees. I was investigating a scream that I heard. And next thing I am on the ground and she incarcerous me with my own wand and took off!” He sunk back into his chair.
An alarm broke the silence, and the team all groaned together. “Well, it is time for the switch, let’s get this over with.” Said Pansy.
After an hour had passed and the switch was complete the team had decided to call it.
When first establishing the camp, Voldemort had his group of soldiers overtake a nearby muggle hotel. The hotel provided enough space for the groups that were on standby to live in while they waited for their rotational turn. The rotation allowed for the groups on the border to mainly focus on protecting the border while on camp they had smaller duties to maintain the movement of the country, be social with each other, and to complete further training. The hotel was beyond beautiful than what most Death Eaters were used to. With fluffed up comforts and stunning pieces of art and dazzling chandlers. They felt like royalty. It wasn’t long until it was overly crowded and becoming disgustingly a mess.
Despite his cruel nature, causing any part of his newly founded country to become disorganized stressed Voldemort. He had provided an option for engaged soon to be married couples to live separately from the camp. They would still be assigned a living space but at least it had more privacy than in the overrun muggle hotel. Theo and Daphne Greengrass have been in love since the two could walk, so it wasn't a surprise when the two announced their engagement. It didn’t take long until Blaise had confessed his undying love for Pansy. The four of them together requested to have a living cottage with each other. It had taken some weeks until it was approved.
For Draco, living spaces were a bit different since he had been successful with letting the Death Eaters into Hogwarts and assisting with bringing down the great ol' Dumbledore. Draco was held higher than his friends in ranking which entitled him to separate living quarters from the camp and cottage of couples. He also had the opportunity to choose the members of the team he would lead. A blessing in disguise. He had chosen his lifetime friends who were basically family at this point. During times off from the rotation he always made sure to pay a visit to his parents back at the Manor. Growing up, Draco had a close relationship with his parents up until the summer before fourth year when his personal life had started into downward spiral. Most families would have used this as a perfect example to cherish one another for life had unexpected turns, but not his. His father became ice cold and barely spoke with him. By the end of the summer before fifth year, his father had barely been seen around the Manor due to the return of the Dark Lord. Always being pulled for long hour meetings in different cities, recruiting and planning. His mother was obviously distant from him but at least she still acknowledged that her son was still alive. Draco didn't know how to mend their once close relationship, too many unspoken years had gone by, and he settled for whatever presence they wanted to play in his life.
With the sun now shining, Hermione had removed herself from the bush she had spent the night in. She would take advantage of now being able to see where she was going and who she’d run into. Surprisingly Malfoy and his team never even came close to the area she was in. Traveling through the trees she felt a sharp pain and now realized the large gash that was on her right thigh. She couldn't remember how exactly it happened and the adrenaline from yesterday's events made her not notice it. She needed to be more careful since she didn’t have the strength to fully run on the leg. She moved back and forth in the bushes until she had come across a small town.
She could see the smoke coming from the chimneys and the town coming alive. Finally, she would find help as she began to move forward. Someone here will recognize her and help her with injury and set the record straight that she was not in Lumar. As she got closer, the townsfolk seemed a bit wary about her, but she continued hoping to come across someone recognizable to help. It wasn’t until she had seen a group of Death Eaters laughing and joking with a group of young students. The young students didn’t seem scared, almost as it was normal for them to cross paths with the Death Eaters. As she turned another corner to avoid running into these Death Eaters, a large pure white banner hung from the largest building in town. Right in the middle of the banner in bold letters was “Sanctimonia Vincet Semper”. Purity will always conquer. With a large dark green snake that slithered in and out of the banner. Hermione froze, this had to be some kind of twisted joke. Who would put this type of banner up in a Scotland town? As on goers continued to walk by, Hermione noticed that majority of them had a coin size pin attached to their left chest. The Death Eaters from early had now turned onto the street she was on, and she found herself hidden in a dark alley to watch the interactions. They moved between groups of people make sure that everyone passing by was acknowledged. It was almost as if the Death Eaters were searching for something. Another group of students walked past the alley, and she focused back on the pins. There were bold red and gold colour. In the gold was the Deathly Hallows symbol but with a huge red X right above it. Then the realization hit her, they had marked the muggles. She felt the air escape her lungs as she stood their frozen, she wasn’t home. She was in Lumar.