Burned in Effigy

A/N: So this is a new story that I've had floating around for a while. I've only written a one shot on this site before so I'm really hoping you guys like it and I would love any criticism/suggestions that you guys have! This will be a Hermione centric fic with time travel. I've taken more than a few liberties so if that isn't your cup of tea, you might want to leave. Once again, this will be AU. I have no idea how long this will be so your guess is as good as mine. I have the rating as M but that may change, I expect lots of battle tbh. Anyways! Let's get to the story!

Hermione sighed as she leaned back in the old velvet office chair. Rubbing her temples, she thought of all the work that remained to be done. It seemed never ending.

There were children to tutor, meals to be planned, Order meetings to attend, people to keep alive. As headmistress to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry there was always a to do list floating in the back of her mind. As leader of the Order of the Phoenix that to do list tripled.

Hermione pushed her chair from her table and stood, running her fingers through her wild hair catching on a few snags. She rummaged through her stack of papers as she made her way through the twists and turns to reach the great hall. Tomorrow was an Order meeting, they needed to discuss the information that Remus had brought from the werewolves. Though territorial and infinitely aggressive, most of the werewolves had realized that they were no friend of Voldemort's after the Battle of Hogwarts over three years ago. This war had drug on longer than anyone had hoped.

When the Death Eaters stormed the castle for what we had all hoped would be the final battle, many order members had died. It was anyone's guess who would emerge the victor. It all changed when Harry destroyed the lost diadem. The tenuous hold on humanity that was left in Toms body had twanged. He felt the loss of his Horcruxes. With a yell he had retrieved his snake Nagini and disappeared. He hasn't been seen again. There was no way to tell if he had made more Horcruxes in the time since, Hermione would bet anything that he had, though. Which made their job that much harder.

The great hall was busy as normal. Children of every age running back and forth mixed with adults chatting over their plates. Hermione smiled. It may not be the school she grew up with, but she was proud of what it had become. A little over a year ago, her first business as headmistress had been converting it to a safe house alongside a school. The learning process had taken on the attitude it had in pureblood households by beginning at birth. She was curious to see how much better this approach worked.

Hermione spied her best friend at the head table with a seat reserved for her in the center as always. He was laughing at something his wife said while dishing their son a small pile of peas. Remus had filled out in the years that he has lived in the castle. Regular meals will do that to a person with an ungodly metabolism Hermione thought. She felt an enormous sense of guilt for using his condition for information. As the only Alpha in their ranks, he was the only one that could safely return from the yearly werewolf gatherings. He repeatedly reassured her that he didn't mind but it didn't soothe her conscious.

At that moment, Teddy looked up and saw his favorite Auntie 'Mione approaching the table. His little face lit up as he let out a squeal. She was definitely the favorite.

"How's my favorite little boy in the whole castle!' Hermione gushed as she kneeled to be eye level with the blue haired seven three old.

Teddy frowned.

"I'm not a baby Auntie 'Mione.' his forehead crinkled in a disapproving manner. 'I'm three! I turned three months ago!"

Hermione peeked at Tonks who rolled her eyes. So this was the kind of day it was. She straightened and looked down at the boy with a serious face.

"You're right Teddy, I'm so sorry. Sometimes I forget just how big you are." Hermione winked at him, he grinned in return happily going back to his peas.

She sank into the chair next to Remus letting loose a puff of air. He chuckled.

"Long day, Love?" Remus smiled.

"You have no idea. Evan Jareds over there must be Finnegan's long lost son.' she pointed to a young blond boy seated halfway down the hall. 'There is simply no other explanation for two explosive personalities to have passed through our doors without a commonality."

Remus grinned.

"You're a good Headmistress Hermione, an even better teacher. You'll figure something out, you always do. Now eat." He replied as he slid a bowl of stew towards you. ' We have an Order meeting tonight and you need to be focused to deal with the twins. I saw them sneaking into the Room of Requirement earlier. I don't even want to know what they're planning for us today."

"I requested an all members meeting. Narcissa and Draco will be there today.' Hermione rolled her eyes.' The day they don't torment that man will be the day hell itself freezes over"

Hermione glanced at her plate, picking up her spoon and began her dinner she mulled over the agenda for the meeting. No room for error. That was her motivation and the sentence had gotten her through some tough times. It wouldn't fail her now.

The order meeting started as normal. Hermione stood in the front going over the recent plans enacted and the new intelligence that she had received. Remus was on her right hand side as second in command, he followed with the news he carried from the werewolf clans. Hermione and he had already gone over it in depth but she asked questions anyway to make sure everyone knew the situation. All in all, there wasn't much change from the clans. They were on watch for suspicious activity. They would come when the Order called for aid. Now get out of my Damn territory, normal.

Before the meeting closed, Hermione stood to explain the real reason behind the meeting.

Hermione cut a glance to her left to see a very uncomfortable Draco and Narcissa Malfoy sandwiched between the Weasley twins. They looked much too smug to be innocent and Draco looked ready to explode. She tried to hide her smile before remembering why they were there. The smile promptly dropped from her face.

"I'm sure some of you are wondering why you're here, our meetings aren't normally so full. Last month Padma Patil volunteered for what was supposed to be an easy trip to visit our allies in America. MACUSA has promised us aid should we need it and their full support for our resistance operation. She was supposed to check that our allies still stood by their word and give them an update, end of mission.' Hermione took a deep breath.' However, we lost contact last month and Padma has missed our last two check ins, we are concerned."

The room exploded into whispers, many saying that she had deserted and some saying they should have been informed earlier. Hermione tapped her nails on the edge of the table giving them a few seconds to get it out. Hermione checked the clock, 7:00 pm. They need to wrap this meeting up.

"Alright, Alright' Hermione yelled. ' Quiet, that's more than enough! It was supposed to be a simple mission so obviously action must be taken. Any suggestions? I've already contacted MACUSA and they have sent someone to her rooms and nothing seems out of place. They have no idea."

Draco cleared his throat to gain her attention.

"Have you considered that she was, uh, taken?"

"Yes, I have. I plan to take tomorrow to rework the wards around Hogwarts. I've been doing what I can when I can but the energy it will take is something that I need to store first. I've been saving since I got the news and I should be ready. If they took her then there is the chance they have the information to find and enter Hogwarts, we cannot take any chances."

Draco nodded, appeased. There was a somber air as they realized there wasn't much to do but wait and hope she came back. The meeting was dismissed as everyone said their farewells and made plans to meet for dinner sometime soon. Their moods considerably dampened from the news, they were more reserved than usual. Well, maybe not everyone.

"So Granger,' Fred whispered in her ear, scaring a scream from her throat. 'Calm down, It's just us!"

"Fred! You can't do that! I'm a hardened war hero! I could have killed you!" Hermione griped. A small smile twitching the corners of her mouth.

"Aww, 'Mione you couldn't hurt us. It's cute to think you might try.' George grinned, sidling up to her left side. ' We just wanted to check in on our favorite girl."

"See how life was treating you.' Fred picked up.

" Maybe ask you for a drink." George continued.

"While that is very sweet of you boys,' Hermione hid her smile. ' It was just as sweet when you asked me last time, and the time before that. I believe I said no those times, also."

The twins smiled, Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, but we didn't bring gifts those times,' Fred began.

"This time we have come more prepared." George pulled a box of chocolates from thin air.

Hermione's eyes popped, that was strictly against the laws of magic!

"We come bearing gifts!' Fred smirked, pulling a bottle of wine also from thin air.

"For the most beautiful-'

"Graceful-'

"Ravishing-'

"Clever-'

George paused, eyes cutting to the side as he obviously tried to remember his line. Hermione laughed.

"Beautiful?" George guessed with a slight cringe.

"We already said beautiful you great dolt! You were supposed to say sublime. Sublime you wanker!" Fred sighed, disappointed. Turning to Hermione with apologetic eyes.

"So what do ya say 'Mione? One date?' Her eyes met theirs in resignation.

"Fine, one date! Only if you promise to show me how you did that." The twins whooped in victory, crushing her between them.

"Now I must go, I need to check the wards before bed. I need sleep for altering them tomorrow. I'll see you both tomorrow."

The twins smiled, bidding her farewell before they started down the corridor whispering between themselves.

Hermione rounded the corner on her way to her rooms and ran into Remus. He had obviously been eavesdropping by the smug grin on his face.

"Finally gave in did ya 'Mione?"

"Shut it, you." Hermione smiled with a small blush.

Remus chuckled.

"You really should have accepted sooner, they've been chasing you for years! If they had shown this kind of dedication to their schoolwork they'd be running the world right now."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty busy these days. I don't really have time for things like that." Hermione deflated. The strain of the day catching up to her in a rush.

"Hey, hey.' Remus grabbed her arm stopping her. ' We're still alive Hermione, you can't forget that. We're still fighting, yes. But you can't forget to live your life in the meantime or what's the point?Do you think Harry and Ron would have approved?"

Hermione sniffled, chastened.

"No, they wouldn't have. I know, I know.' She wiped her eyes.' I just miss them so much sometimes. I can't believe they're really gone."

They made the last turn before her room and stopped, leaning against the weathered stone walls.

As soon as Hermione's side made contact with the stone, she knew something wasn't right. The blood drained from her face. They were here.

Remus noticed the change.

"What is it Hermione? Is it Hogwarts? What's going on?"

As a result of being Headmistress, the castle was able to connect with her and it was especially clear when she touched it. All of the magic over the years had seeped into the very walls of the castle making it sentient. Hermione had been cooped up in these walls for so long that she had developed a unique relationship with the castle. Going so far as to uncover more of its secrets than had been known in centuries. Right now the castle was screaming at her. Danger!

"Fuck!' The castle was projecting visions into her mind, the scene from outside the castle. There were Death Eaters everywhere, they were thoroughly surrounded. ' They're here. Get everyone that's able to the front doors now!"

Hermione took off down the hall, skidding to a stop by the front doors, she sat on the floor and focused on the wards. She could see the wards in her minds eye. Various colors layered on top of one another meshing at the borders. Each was connected to the last and merging with the next. It really was a beautiful piece of magic. She needed to keep it strong until everyone was ready. The deja vu was almost sickening.

She reached deep into herself until she felt her magic, grabbing a handful she tugged. Hermione projected it into her wards imagining the colors becoming more vivid, more solid. She couldn't hold this for long.

A few minutes later saw the Order and the older students running towards her. Dressed and ready for battle, she felt a small burst of pride. At least she did, until she thought about the multitude that waited for them outside the wards. They didn't have a chance, but they had to try.

Releasing her hold on the wards, Hermione stood and walked to Remus.

"Tonks and Teddy are safe?' she questioned.

"She's with all of the children, a last defense with some of the other mothers." She gave a sad smile.

And with that, the front doors blew open and all hell broke loose.