Prologue

Hermione was floating in a sea of fire. Her bones had become splinters of glass, digging their way through every fibre of her being as her blood boiled and her veins turned to dust. /p

"It's a fake!" She spat, tears in her eyes. Bellatrix laughed. Hermione could feel the sound reverberating in her soul. Bellatrix's eyes were wild. She was unhinged. Rabid.

"You lie!" She screamed, pointing her wand at her again. "Crucio!"

Hermione was screaming. Or at least she thought she was screaming. She assumed she was screaming. She couldn't be sure. "How did you get into my vault?" Bellatrix was pacing over her. "How did you get into my vault!"

"We didn't, I swear." Her voice was barely a whisper. This did not appease the Witch. Bellatrix threw herself on top of Hermione, pinning the younger girl roughly to the ground. She dug her wand into her arm.

"Tell me!" She screamed again, peppering Hermione's face with her spit. Hermione only cried.

Mudblood. Hermione screamed again and Bellatrix marked her arm. She could feel the woman's anger with every movement, like venom seeping through her. Hermione's eyes flickered. She was floating again, only this time she couldn't feel anything. A darkness was forming in the corners of her eyes. An all encompassing blackness. Hermione embraced it.

"Dumbledore! We need Dumbledore!"

Hermione groaned. There were people moving all around her. Hands grabbing her arms and legs, shifting her weight. "Gentle now." A woman said, and Hermione felt her body being lowered onto something soft.

"Harry?" She whispered, pleading with her eyes to focus. She could hear their voices, though she couldn't see who spoke.

"How the hell did she in here?"

"-the most heavily guarded safehouse we have?

"What if she's a spy?"

"Death eater!"

"But how did she find us?"

"Look at her!" The first woman's voice was sharp. "Spy or not. Death Eater or not, she's going to die if someone doesn't help her! Let's get her stable enough to speak, and then maybe we can get some answers."

"Ron?" The room went silent. A hand was pushing her hair from her face.

"Shhh," it was the same woman who spoke again. "You're alright, don't try to talk." Hermione struggled to move but her limbs refused to felt heavy, weighted. A face was sliding in and out of focus in front of her. A face with long, flaming red hair.

"Ginny?" Hermione whispered, "Oh, thank God." She was whimpering. "I'm safe." Her vision was spiralling out of control.

"Shhhh." The woman said again. And the darkness overcame her once more.

Hermione sat up abruptly, warily taking in her surroundings. She was sitting in a bed, a warm and homemade looking quilt covering her lower half. The room she was in was small, but comfortable. Fading wallpaper decorated the walls and the hardwood floors looked used and worn. She didn't recognize it.

The door opened and a woman entered. Her bright orange hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail. They looked to be about the same age.

"Oh!" The woman gasped, freezing in the now open doorframe. "I hadn't expected you to be awake just yet. That potion wore off faster than I'd hoped."

Hermione pulled her knees to her chest protectively, her hands searching under the covers for her wand. It was nowhere to be found. She tried to ignore the pain that radiated from every muscle in her body.

"I'm not going to hurt you." The woman said softly, "What's your name?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Had she been rescued by the Order? Why didn't she know this person in front of her? The woman took a step towards her, causing Hermione to shrink back against the wall beside the bed.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the woman repeated, raising her hands in surrender. "Can you tell me how you got here?" Hermione shook her head.

"Lily?" A black haired man came from behind the woman, through the door, his voice stopping short when he spotted Hermione. "I see she's awake," he said. Hermione's eyes widened. Her heart was pounding in her throat.

"Am I dead?" She whispered. Both of the figures before her fell silent. The woman, Lily, moved another step closer.

"I can assure you, you aren't dead." She gave Hermione a soft smile. Green eyes radiating kindness. Hermione raised her hand to point at the man behind Lily. She was shaking.

"But it's you." She said flatly. The man's mouth opened slightly before closing again. As if he had been about to say something but had suddenly though the better of it. He frowned at her.

"If you're here, I must be dead." She pulled her hair in frustration. "This doesn't make any sense!" The man looked at her, confusion apparent on his face. His fingers twitched for the wand in his pocket

You're dead." Hermione said, her brown eyes staring into his grey ones.

"I watched you die, Sirius Black."

Authors Note: Thanks for reading! I plan to have a chapter uploaded on a biweekly basis at minimum. I hope you enjoyed the Prologue. Please review!