I'm not dead, but an argument could be made for brain dead...hehehe. Sorry everyone. I need more discipline in my life.

I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. Alas.

The lake house was hidden in the trees. Only resting twenty yards from the shore, the house was all but invisible until one was right on top of it. A little stone path connected the shore to the house. A deck overlooked the water with enough room for several pieces of durable patio furniture and a fire pit that could cook food unattended.

Windows were plentiful throughout the two story home, all with thick shades drawn. Inside the house it was dark and sparsely decorated. The owners had covered the walls in paintings both on canvas and directly onto the walls. Mostly they were of tree lines, rivers, and sunsets. Natural. Calming.

The kitchen, while heavily equipped with kitchen appliances, none of them worked and there was no food to be found in the pantry. The homeowners had not been here in a while, clearly. There were no personal clothes in any of the bedrooms, nor any pictures of an family members. There had been sheets thrown over the furniture that had been left behind that had been covered in a layer of dust. Now they lay forgotten in heaps on the floor. The curtains remain over the windows so the house was nearly pitch black.

A singular man sat in the forgotten house, and looked into the flames beneath the mantle before him. He was not where he wanted to be, geographically or metaphorically. This hide-away house allowed for him to get his strength back and to recruit more of a following. He was very disappointed in how his followers had been in his absence. His numbers had plummeted, some of his best and most loyal had been given the Kiss or were killed in some other way. Most of his other followers were rotting in jail.

Those that had escaped imprisonment had either kept their distance or weren't the most lethal when it came to magical warfare to start with. His battle before him was great, his ranks were small, but his cause was true as ever. He was meant to lead the wizarding nation into a strong future of blood purity. He was the Dark Lord and his new world order would come to pass.

All the dominoes had been set up. Now all there was left to do was to watch them fall.

Much like her last few summers, as soon as the car door shut behind her from her trip off the train, Hermione was muggle again. Her books were all put to the side and she spent as much time with her parents as their scheduled allowed. Her self-defense classes started up immediately as well. She threw herself into her training, now more than ever motivated to be prepared for the worst.

During the work week, her parents worked from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Hermione would have breakfast with them, watch the news on the telly after they left. She was interested in odd crimes like strange kidnappings or anything that might have a magical origin. A few ships have sunk ominously in a lake a few hours out of London but so far that was it. The boats would just capsize without seemingly a reason. No one has been injured or reported missing. Strange but innocuous.

After the news ended she would go for a jog about the neighborhood, to get reacquainted with the area she had grown up and now felt a stranger in. The older folks would recognize her and call her over for a chat. Mrs. Etheridge in particular always had a pot of tea with her on her porch and would offer Hermione some everyday. Hermione would generally always sit and listen to the woman talk of her husband and children-all having passed away. She had a few grandchildren and great grandchildren but their careers had taken them all out of London. The last of them to visit her was her youngest grandchild and that had been nearly two years ago now. Mrs. Etheridge lived out her retirement sitting on her front porch sipping tea and working away with her knitting needles.

She loved Hermione for her kindness and how the girl, every summer, would take time from her day to listen to the old woman banter on. Hermione loved the woman and felt so bad for her and her loneliness. After Hermione's cup of tea would empty, Mrs. Etheridge would start to nod and frown slightly, and then make Hermione promise to come back the next day. Hermione would smile and take the woman's hand and promise she would be back.

After her chat with the elderly woman Hermione would head into town, where her training studio was located nearby a shopping complex. If she was early, she would walk the block again, but usually her chat would use up enough time for her to go right in and get started. Over the last two summers, she had made some friends her age that trained as well. They lived in the area and attended school there so their abilities vastly improved every time Hermione came back. They had began all at relatively the same skill level but now it was all Hermione could do to keep up with them-however she enjoyed the challenge. They pressed her constantly to get better. They had tips and tricks they had learned themselves that they could pass to her to help learn the new techniques quicker.

This current training session had been running as usual. The circuit they were cycling through lasted five minutes at each station with a one minute break between each. One station was a climbing rope, the second was a pair of gloves at a hanging heavy bag, the third were two hanging arm loops for an ab exercise, the fourth involved a set of dumbbells, and then the last station was a five minute sparring match with the instructor. Music blared from the speakers around the room and a loud buzzer would go off after five minutes. They had made it once around the stations already and Hermione was drenched in sweat and trying to keep her breathing regular. The buzzer sounded and she all but dropped the dumbbells from her hands.

Already drained she walked over to where the instructor was seated on the mats. He smiled at her and patted the ground beside him. She sat with her back to him and took a few deep breaths. "You gonna make it?" The instructor asked with a laugh. She nodded her head but then realized he couldn't see her.

"Yeah, I'll make it." She needed to work out more during the year, her endurance was low. He laughed and clapped his hands, which signaled the beginning of their little sparring match. She spun around quickly to her knees and posted up on one foot, her hands raised to about her shoulders and she waited to see what the instructor would do.

He hadn't moved yet. He was still sitting on the ground with his back to her. He was currently inspecting his nails. She let out a little noise of frustration.

"Well come on." He drawled, snapping his fingers. She felt like a child at that moment but tried not to let how this made her feel effect her, she needed to focus on her opponent. He was using a psyche out technique, and it ashamed her that it was working.

She lunged and tried to wrap him up in a choke hold. He grabbed her arms from the elbows and somehow managed to pull her entirely over his shoulder. He managed to snake all of his arms and legs around her and she felt his arm tighten like a snake across her throat. She tapped because she couldn't breathe and he let her go.

"First mistake?"

"Uhm, I went for something obvious?" She asked as she adjusted her clothes. She kept drawing in deep breaths to try to calm her racing heart down. These circuit workouts were brutal. He nodded.

"Well yes, but you stayed up too high. Got you right over my shoulder." She nodded her head. Learn from it.

"Go again." She put her back to him and after he signaled her to move, and she spun around, again he stayed still. She lowered her center of gravity and this time when she lunged in, she wrapped a leg around his torso at the same time she wrapped her arm around his neck. He took a hold of her leg, leaned back so they were laying down and somehow, very quickly, she was in an arm bar, tapping out.

She sighed in frustration and picked herself up. "And that time?" He asked her, a cheeky grin on his face. One of her friends laughed nearby, eyes on Hermione, and she sighed again. "You're bigger than I am?" She asked. She wiped more sweat from her brow and he laughed faintly.

"Yes, true, but you are leaving yourself too vulnerable. You're throwing your whole body into the attack and not leaving anything protected. You don't want to go straight to a choke hold without getting a dominant position first. Like leg hooks. Don't rush straight into it. Again." He slapped the mat and Hermione sighed and tried to come up with a solution to this. An idea popped into her head and she again took the seated position with her back to his. He started the round and Hermione spun, wrapped an arm under his and pulled him onto his back. Quickly, she grabbed the sleeve of his doback and pulled his arm out of the way and she quickly lunged on top of him. She managed to get both of her knees pinned tightly against his side, shoved deeply into his armpits. His arms were mostly useless like this and she had all of her weight directly on top of his sternum. He was making encouraging noises. She grabbed one of his arms and held it close to her, she leaned slightly to one side and posted out her leg, wrapped it underneath his arm and quickly spun herself sideways and pulled him into an arm bar. She managed to get it locked in as well. She swelled with pride as he tapped his hand on her leg and she let him go.

The buzzer sounded and it was time for her to move on. He held her back for a moment and complimented her on her adjustment that she made and encouraged her from then on to remember to get into a strong defensive position instead of going on an all-attack. He was bigger than her and because it was strength against strength, she had to play to her advantage.

She repeated his advice to herself in her head when she went to the climbing rope station. She got halfway up the rope when someone called her name, incredulously. She looked over her shoulder and nearly fell from the rope. Fred, George, Draco, Harry, and Neville were all staring at her from the doorway. She was instantly covered in a cold sweat. She never...ever...considered this to possibly happen. What were they doing in the middle of Muggle London?! How did they even find her?!

She let herself quickly down the rope and ran over to them. The instructor was currently distracted with a boy named Lester wrestling with him but he had a certain policy about visitors that he enforced.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed out a little more angrily than she intended. She was, however, caught completely off guard and slightly embarrassed. She was a mess in an old ripped up t-shirt, sports bra, and tight black shorts that went to the middle of her thigh. They had never seen her wear something so casual or...muggle.

"What are you doing here?" Fred asked with a seductively teasing tone.

"I asked first." Hermione snapped. Her arms folded across her chest. They were all wearing muggle clothes so blended in...for the most part. Hermione, however, noticed wands sticking out of some of their pants pockets.

"Coming to see you. Obviously." Fred replied. He looked around dramatically amazed for a moment and then asked. "What wondrous muggle place is this?"

"It's a...a self defense gym. They teach muggles how to protect themselves from any potential attackers. I uh...I do this sometimes." Hermione felt her cheeks burning red as all of their eyes bore into hers. They just sort of looked back and forth at each other for a moment.

The instructor suddenly was standing next to Hermione. The man smiled at her first, before introducing himself to her friends. "Rex Boudry." He shook each of their hands and then slid his hands underneath his black belt. Her instructor was American, had been in the military since he was seventeen and had done nothing but train to be a lethal weapon his entire career. He did five tours overseas total and retired at twenty years. After, he stayed retired with nothing to do for one week, and then he opened this training studio. He couldn't do nothing. His business had been doing very well recently and Hermione's parents picked him out specifically for her. He was an intimidating man at six feet and four inches, nearly 230 pounds of solid muscle. His eyes were dark and small in his head, with a prominent nose and a bald head. Hermione couldn't imagine how anyone would want to try to fight him.

"Class will be over in a few minutes, if you wouldn't mind letting Granger get back to her training." Hermione smiled apologetically to him, spun, and went back to the station she should be working at. She hated that they were going to be watching her every move, but she was also thankful they had not witnessed her sparring. At the rope again, she put everything out of her mind and started to climb the rope. Her muscles complained to her the entire time she went upwards, but she was able to make it halfway up the fifteen foot rope, before the buzzer sounded. She, a little disappointed that she didn't get all the way up, let herself down again and went to the next station; the heavy bag.

She drew in a deep breath and rolled her shoulders in their sockets. She enjoyed letting loose on the bag, there wasn't anything quite like beating the every loving crap out of something without hurting it. She strapped on a pair of gloves and gave the bag a few light punches to make sure they were on the right way and then she shook herself loose for a moment. When she opened her eyes again, she was focused on the bag. She jabbed and followed by a cross, followed by two hooks. She dipped to the side and shot her fist into an upper cut. She did the same combo again but faster. She side stepped and dodged an imaginary punch and countered with a devastating low hook. She beat the bag mercilessly for the next five minutes, altering her steps and combinations the entire time.

When she needed a second she took one, to shake her arms and to try to control her breath. She never forgot that Draco and everyone was standing staring at her a couple of feet away. It was upsetting almost, that they had found out. She had decided when she had first started training to keep this to herself. Foolhardy as that was.

Once the buzzer went off, Rex called everyone into the center, where he talked them through several different cool down stretches. Much like everyone, Hermione was having trouble steadying her breath and was drenched in sweat. After the stretching was done, he dismissed the class.

Hermione was hoping to slip out quickly, to prevent her two worlds from colliding any further but her training friends had other ideas.

Of the five students that were in the class today, Hermione was friends with two of them. Lester and Cali were identical twins who had grown up in the area, they had gone to primary school together-that is until Hermione went off to Hogwarts-and the fact that they had all started training at the same time was a coincidence. They both had straight black hair that they kept cropped short, Lester buzzed nearly bald, and Cali with a cute pixie cut. As soon as Rex had dismissed class they had made a beeline for Hermione's friends and started talking to them.

"You must be her crew from school," Cali was saying as Hermione joined them by the door. She grabbed her shoes and started putting them on.

"Boyfriend," Draco introduced himself with a shake of his hand. Cali's eyes immediately shot to Hermione's, widened, and then she winked and looked back at him.

"Cali," she purred flirtatiously and then started laughing, "this is my twin Lester."

"I'm older, mind." He chirped. He never was going to let her forget that. He brought it up whenever possible.

"By a few minutes." She rolled her eyes. Fred and George laughed.

"Fred."

"George."

"I'm older." Fred grinned and shook Cali's hand. Neville and Harry also introduced themselves and then at the ushering of Rex, the group left for the outside world.

"So boys, tell us something about that school of yours, Hermione here always changes the subject." Cali was relentless about wanting to know everything about it.

"I uh...well..." the boys all glanced between each other and then at Hermione, who glared back at them.

"Rains a lot," Neville allowed and everyone but the muggles laughed.

"There's a lake," Harry admitted, which received nods from Fred and George.

"Trees," the twins said together.

"So instead of just standing here on the sidewalk, how about we at least go get coffee or tea?" Hermione gestured across the street to the shopping complex and the group migrated across the street.

"Please explain to me, what it is you're actually doing there?" Draco finally addressed Hermione directly. He kissed her on the cheek but she could see from the tension in his jaw that he was a little more than irked.

"It's self defense training...to protect myself. It was my dad's idea." Hermione told him, Cali hummed her agreement and then suddenly all sorts of questions came pouring out of all the magical boys and Hermione Lester and Cali began answering them all, even if it was a seemingly unending barrage of questions.

Hermione pinched the inside of Harry's arm when he asked, "so do all muggles-ow-do...do a lot of people take classes like that?" that was exactly why she didn't want the two groups to meet. Secrecy!

"What's a muggle?"

''Another word for people...we uh...have our own language kinda. Nicknames, slang...that sort of thing." Harry's excuse was weak but everyone was forced to agree with it.

After standing in line for their drinks, Hermione paid for everyone's. She knew they wouldn't have the correct currency and her magical friends didn't say otherwise. They were able to push a few tables together for them all to sit at and they all started talking again about self defense and the conversation started to flow a little more freely. Draco took hold of Hermione's hand at one point during the conversation and she smiled at him, glad to see that he had already forgiven her for keeping the secret. Though she was aware that they would still discuss it later.

"Anyway, Hermione, we did come visit for something specific. Sirius is having a big dinner party and we all decided to come fetch you." Draco finally remembered why they were there. Hermione grinned and they finished the rest of their drinks and Cali and Lester bid them good day and left.

They started walking down the street. Everyone was silent. Hermione let out a sigh, as she could feel the tension growing by the second. "Let it out."

Suddenly Fred and George doubled over in laughter and the other three looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Why wouldn't you tell us about that?" Harry asked.

"For this." She gestured at the laughing twins. "Its something that relaxes my parents and I happen to like it. Now...if there is a situation where I can't use magic to defend myself...I still can."

"What's climbing up a rope got to do with self defense?" Neville asked.

"Well nothing, directly." Hermione responded. "It's more for discipline, and for muscular endurance."

"Muggles are strange," Draco murmured more to himself than anyone, but he had a fascinating look in his eye. The rest of the walk to Sirius' (which honestly wasn't that long) was spent with everyone filling in Hermione on their summers (outside of their constant letter correspondences).

Neville and his parents had went on a trip to visit his Gran, who was doing very well for an old woman, though she still insisted on wearing a hat with a dead bird on it which had always terrified Neville. Harry got to take care of his baby brother James Jr at lot. Apparently he has grown extremely quickly and eats everything and cries all the time. Draco had spent his summer with Cissa. The Weasley's life had gone as usual. Ron had confined himself to his room and only came down for meals, while the Twins had been working more steadily on their joke products. Weasley Wizard Wheezes were huge at Hogwarts now, so they had to keep up with the demand they now had, as well as constantly develop and create new products. Fred admitted to Hermione that they couldn't wait until they finished school so that they could open their own joke shop. They knew they'd be more popular than Zonko's.

Hermione admitted she trained as much as possible during her summer vacation and spent the rest of it with her parents. If she had trouble getting to sleep at night-which wasn't often because of how hard she worked during the day-she would get out her school books and work on her summer assignments. She had asked all of them if they had done their summer work yet, and only Draco and Neville had, which didn't surprise her in the slightest.

Upon entering the familiar house on Grimmuald Place, Hermione felt right at home surrounded by all the witches and wizards of the residence. Neville's, Harry's, and the Weasley's families were all there, as well as Remus, Sybil, and of course Sirius. Round after round of greeting was made between everyone. Sybil announced when dinner was ready and they all filed into the dining room, which had been magically extended to fit everyone. Hermione noticed after a moment that Severus Snape himself was present, and had made himself a spot as far from everyone else as possible. Hermione realized that they must have had a meeting of the Order, either earlier today or they would have one after the underaged lot had left the room. Hermione tried to catch his eye to acknowledge him, but he never looked up from his cup of tea.

Dinner passed with everyone chatting happily to their close neighbors.

Hermione and Draco had been fantasizing playfully about their dream vacations-which was perhaps one of the more innocent conversations in the room-when James Potter interrupted everyone's conversation and called a meeting to attention. "It has been the decision of the Ministry to place an agent inside the school of Hogwarts." He began. Hermione's eyebrows knit together in thought. Why did the government feel the need to get involved?

"It is the decision of the Minster of Magic that Headmaster Dumbledore is no longer able to handle his responsibilities and this agent is meant to make sure everything is as it should be."

"Who will it be?"

"I've yet to be told." James was clearly irate about this, "I argued heavily with Kingsley and the Fudge about this for the last few days. If they were going to plant a government employee inside the school, I thought it should be an Auror. However it is the opinion of Fudge that the madness about the Dark Lord returning from the dead and the presence of an Auror would frighten the parents unnecessarily. He refuses to believe he returned."

Hermione raised her hand and James looked at her with mild interest. "Why not show the Minister Neville's memory? In the pensieve?" James smiled sadly and shook his head.

"He has seen it, and accused us of altering it." The elder Potter shook his head and looked around at the Hogwarts students, "Whoever will be in Hogwarts this year is going to do everything they can to belittle and discredit Dumbledore, so it is very important that we do everything we can to keep him inside Hogwarts, and to make sure that-"

"What is important, James Potter, is that Tom Riddle is stopped before he can start a war against muggles and muggleborns." Dumbledore's wise voice surprised them all from the doorway. He was dressed, as always, in colorful long robes. There was a new tired look in his eyes, however, and Hermione couldn't help but notice how old he looked now. Of course he always looked old, but now...it was almost like he was ill. He walked farther into the room, the bells in his beard was the only noise for a moment.

"Students I want you to do your best to study and focus on yourselves this year, not on me. While it would be noble and just to do so, to give your support to me I'm afraid it will do no good. The Minister has convinced himself and others of a truth, and nothing will change their minds. They will be looking for any reason to replace me as Headmaster of the school-honestly he has been wanting me out of there for years-and we shall not give it to him. I trust in our Aurors to do all that they can and that will have to be the end of it." No one spoke for a while, but then Snape stood up and looked at Dumbledore.

"Albus, let me-"

"Severus I need you at the school." Albus smiled faintly at Snape, "you risked everything years ago, and made more enemies than all of us," Snape's eyes flicked to Lily, who smiled faintly at him, and then back to Dumbledore, "the safest place for you is at Hogwarts, teaching the students Defense Against the Dark Arts." There was a heavy silence after this. The adults were full of thought and the teenagers felt out of place and awkward.

Fred shifted faintly and a stone started to drop in her stomach. "Hermione here has been learning how to fight. With her fists." Fred announced to all of the adults. Hermione groaned and closed her eyes for a moment before she opened them again. Mrs. Weasley was the first pair of eyes she met, and there she saw faint alarm.

"Dear girl why would you need to fight like a muggle? You have been dueling champing for three years."

"Mrs. Weasley my parents insisted, it brings them peace and I might not always be able to count on my magic." Hermione shrugged faintly, "I honestly didn't consider this to be a big deal."

"Ms. Granger I'm impressed," James Potter grinned cheekily and glanced towards the other teenagers before looking at her, "that is actually very useful. Wizards hardly ever come down to physical fights, but please don't-"

"I don't mean to interrupt but, I promise I don't have some sort of...intention of ever using what it is that I know. The fighting that I have learned is useful just about as much as Divination is, impractical to clever wizards." The room chuckled at what she said. She excused herself from the room and walked into the lower sitting room. She was joined soon by the other teenagers.

As soon as Fred entered she started towards him. Draco stepped between the two and held his arms out to block her path. "Fred Weasley I swear! You will NOT keep telling people."

"I just wanted to diffuse the tension!" He looked at her from around Draco and raised an eyebrow at her, "what exactly were you planning on doing to me?"

"I-I don't even know. You frustrate me so much." She clenched her fists and went to go sit down. "Can we all PLEASE let this go?"

The group intoned a promise not to mention it again. Draco set down next to her and put an arm around her. "He's just jealous you could kick his ass," Draco whispered to her, she grinned ruefully.

"I may break my vow of pacifism if he doesn't stop."

"Just please make sure I'm there to watch."

Dumbledore didn't linger at Grimmuald Place for long. He had a cup of tea and a biscuit and left the Order to do their business. As he stepped out on the street an owl landed on the fence post next to him. The owl was a large Barn Owl with brown feathers with hints of grey. To his foot was tied a letter. Dumbledore offered an owl treat to the messenger before he untied the letter. In black ink, there was his names scrawled. Dumbledore knew that handwriting.

His brows furrowed as he opened the letter.

"My old friend, Dumbledore. I need your help. I am not safe, and It is not safe, signed NF." Short, and direct. Dumbledore felt his urgency. The owl remained, for Dumbledore to perhaps send a return letter, but he decided he would go directly.

He Disapparated with hardly a sound.

The house the world's best alchemist had chosen to settle into was an old cottage in the beautiful wilderness of Switzerland. Something about the snowcapped mountains brought peace to the oldest man alive. The cottage itself looked to be only one story on the outside. Three windows had shutters closed over them and the gardens around the house were lush and nearly overgrown. A little path led from a shed to the front porch and a small mailbox was posted next to the front door.

Dumbledore walked the path and knocked twice on the door, paused for three seconds, and then knocked two more times. He heard the locks undo themselves and the door swung open. He walked inside and the door closed behind him. "Nicholas?" Dumbledore asked the empty house.

The front room had a couch against one wall and a small kitchen table against another wall. A small gas stove was connected to a counter and a pantry covered most of another wall. On every flat surface there were books, notes, dried plants and flowers, charts, artifacts, and many many magnifying glasses. Dumbledore surveyed the area and realized this was the tidiest he had ever seen it.

"Nicholas?" Dumbledore asked again. He heard a faint crash down the hallway. He followed the sound to find Nicholas in red robes, bent down and picking up a stack of books.

"Oh Albus you got my letter, wonderful." He didn't look up as he picked up the books and then set them on a table to his right. The room they were in was a greenhouse of sorts, with a glass ceiling and walls, and plants growing all around them out of pots or pallets. The floor was dirt as well. Nicholas tidied up the stack and then turned to his old friend.

"He is looking for me, Albus. It won't be long until he finds me." Usually the six hundred and some year old man had nothing but a smile and a twinkle in his eye, but now he was stern, straight to the point and had a blank look in his eye. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes. And what is it you need my help with?"

"Keeping it safe, of course." Nicholas reached a withered hand into his robes and produced a black box the size of his fist. It looked like it was a music box, but Dumbledore knew exactly what was inside of it.

"Hide it. Throw it into the ocean, destroy it...It matters not. It cannot be allowed to fall into the wrong hands." Dumbledore nodded and placed the box inside one of his own hidden pockets.

"And, dear friend, where will you go?" Dumbledore watched with a sad look as Nicholas pulled out his wand and started waving intricate patterns.

"I'll travel. I've yet to see most of South America. Things to discover, mysteries to solve." Nicholas was then led out of the house by Dumbledore as the former's magic began to shrink the house. Once they were outside, the house was the size of a watermelon. Nicholas conjured up a suitcase and waved his wand. The house lifted from the ground and set itself inside the suitcase and the lid closed shut. A blank patch of grass was the only reminder of the house, garden, and the old man's presence.

Dumbledore gave the man a hug and sighed, "Should you ever wish to come to rest at Hogwarts, there will be room for you." Nicholas laughed.

"I never did like castles, you know, too much space." Nicholas smiled at Albus, both men had a feeling that they wouldn't see each other again.

"Fare thee well, Albus."

"Nicholas." The men disapparated at the same time to different destinations.