Chapter 1
Bill and Fleur had just gotten married, and the wedding was truly magical. For a few hours the guests could enjoy themselves while ignoring the looming war. Even though the marks of the war were painfully present even at the wedding: The scars on Bill's face, George's missing ear. They felt out of place here. The love the Weasly family had seemed to be enough to make everything feel okay.
Hermione and Ron danced together for hours at the party, everything felt like it was going to be alright. Of course Hermione went nowhere these days without her magically expended bag filled with supplies. "Constant vigilance", as Moody used to say. She would never hear him say it again, sadly. But during the wedding it felt like Hermione had nothing to worry about for once. She could envision a future like this for her and Ron. Her world wasn't encompassed by the war for once. She was able to clear her mind for the first time in months and just relish in the Weasley love.
Then Shacklebolt's patronus arrived and everything shattered into chaos.
"The ministry has fallen, Scrimgour is dead, they are coming."
The one perfect night they were supposed to have shattered before Hermione's eyes. Bill and Fleurs wedding was ruined. It was a harsh reminder they were still at war. As soon as the patronus disappeared the chaos started. People were running in every direction. Between the screaming and people disapparating, Hermione realised she couldn't find Ron. He had gone off a few minutes ago to get them some drinks. She grabbed Harry by the arm and started looking for him.
Where was he? She couldn't lose him like this, not after that perfect night together! This wasn't what was supposed to happen. They werenẗ ready. Her mind was spinning in a thousand directions, trying to find Ron, trying to get out of there. What if they never saw him again?
After what seemed like an eternity of running around in the chaos she finally found Ron. She ran towards him as soon as she saw him, dragging Harry with her. As soon as her hand touched his shoulder, she disapparated them away to the first place she could think of that wasn't too obvious, Tottenham court road. She used to go there sometimes with her parents when she was young, before this mess.
When they arrived Ron and Harry were completely disorientated.
"We should go change" She suggested. A few drunk people were staring at them strangely as they were still in their dress robes. Ron and Harry nodded slowly, as she pulled them into an alley.
"Uhm, Hermione, where are we going to get muggle clothes from?' Ron asked.
Hermione pulled out her bag and started rifling through it searching for their clothes. Harry and Ron watched in shock as her entire arm went into the bag.
"Oh, I magically expanded it." Hermione explained "All the necessary supplies for our Horcrux hunt are in here."
She handed them their clothes and they changed into them. Hermione handed Harry his invisibility cloak.
"You better put it on, the entire ministry is probably searching for you."
"You're bloody brilliant!" Ron exclaimed
They walked a bit down the street until they found a quiet café. They sat down for a while and tried to calm themselves down. They were officially on the run, the ministry had fallen. Nowhere would be safe anymore. Not even at the Weasley's. Hermione's thoughts were going a thousand miles a minute. Where could they go now? She had to find a solution. She knew Harry and Ron were expecting her to come up with a smart plan. She was supposed to be the smart one. Then why couldn't she come up with a plan. Nothing she had read in her books or learned in school was helping her now. Her mind was yelling at her to just come up with a plan. Harry and Ron were talking about something, Hermione wasn't sure what, too lost in her own thoughts to listen, then Two workmen showed up.
She tensed up a little, all her senses on high alert. She was probably overreacting, still high on adrenaline from earlier, as she slowly reached for her wand. She saw Harry do the same thing. Then suddenly all hell broke loose. They all shot up from their seats and spells were flying everywhere. In the middle of the chaos, Hermione froze. She was useless at duelling and froze. Her wand raised in a defensive stance. All of a sudden it was like she didn't remember a second of her magical education. While Hermione just stood there useless, shaking, Harry and Ron managed to disarm and stun the two men.
Hermione only managed to move after Harry and Ron had tied up the two death eaters Harry recognised as Dolohov and Rowle. Harry had some kind of an instinct that Hermione seemed to lack in knowing how to act in emergency situations. Where Hermione's mind seems to go completely blank in the face of danger, he knew exactly what to do. He suggested wiping their minds and since Hermione had done it before, she suggested she do it. She didn't want to feel completely useless anymore.
With her hand still shaking she quietly cast the spell on them "Obliviate."
Harry suggested going to Grimmauld place for the night so they followed his lead and apparated there. Hermione's mind felt a bit fuzzy, trying to place everything that had happened that night, the memory of her obliviating her parents bubbling up even though she tried as hard as she could to repress it. She barely even noticed the trap Moody had laid at Grimmauld place. They all stumbled into the living room, exhausted. Harry went to bed right away, mumbling something about his scar hurting. Hermione was too tired to even fully process his words. Ron followed soon.
Even though Hermione was exhausted, her mind wouldn't shut up even for a second. Hating how useless she was earlier that evening. She found herself thinking about the night that she had obliviated her parents. In an attempt to distract herself from that night she instead focussed on how the death eaters had found them. She needed to zero in on something to stop herself from spiralling. She could focus completely on researching, quieting the thoughts racing in her head. She spent about an hour reading a book on the magical theory behind the trace until she finally fell asleep.