Summary: In a war filled world, hope has almost lost it's meaning. In a desperate attempt to escape Voldemort's reign, Hermione gets sent back in time with the mission of changing the future for better. Posing as the Dark Lord's daughter and with the help of an unexpected ally, would she be able do it? Or would she became lost in the maze formed by politics, betrayals and love? Nothing is what it seems to be, as Hermione will soon discover. Not even the Dark Lord.

Warnings: Violence, angst, humor, bashing, swearing, Grey/Dark-ish Hermione!, and even a dash of slash

Pairings: onesided HG/SB, HG/RAB, - more undecided pairings

"talking"

'thinking'

/mental speach/

$parseltongue$

A gasp escaped the mediwitch when she entered the room. There, looking as a trapped animal as it scanned the room with big, frightened eyes and a face that was the epitome of panic and distress stood her previously unconscious patient that seemed to have just awoken from her comatose state.

Thank Merlin!

Several days passed since the girl was brought in and, frankly, it was a relief that she finally woke up. The healers had been at loss trying to find the reason for her prolonged comatose state but with no luck as the magical scan showed nothing wrong with the girl. There was simply nothing they could do to cure her since, physically, there was nothing to be cured of. She was as healthy as humanly possible and there was no reason she shouldn't wake up. That's why the mediwitch was so glad the girl woke on her own.

Such a young and beautiful girl shouldn't waste away as a vegetable.

Seeing the girl's mouth open uselessly as she tried to speak but only managing to utter something akin with a broken sob, the mediwitch snapped out of her daze and hurried up to help her, conjuring a glass with water on the way, glass which she offered to the shaken girl gently.

She silently thanked the Gods when the girl accepted the glass without a fuss, only giving her a distrustful look as she greedily drunk its content, some of which spilled on the sheets in the girl's rush to down the refreshing water. After drinking the water the girl turned her attention on the mediwitch and narrowed brilliant green eyes at her.

"Unde ma aflu? Cine sunteti ?... Unde e bacheta mea?"* the girl frantically asked, in a dry, raspy voice, using words that the mediwitch didn't understand. Poor girl, the mediwitch thought looking at her beautiful but panic-stricken face, a foreigner stranded in a foreign country. No wonder she was afraid - waking up in an unknown place after being through a dangerous incident that left all but drained of her magic. Anyone would be. Poor child.

"There, there, everything will be alright sweetie," the mediwitch said taking the frightened girl, no, young women in her arms like she will do to her own children to calm them down, ignoring the feeble struggles of the frightened girl. Damn, she was such a softie, letting her mother instincts make her act so unprofessional.

But, no matter what anyone said, she knew the girl didn't needed a healer or a mediwizard,-witch, whatever at the moment. No, what she needed was a mother embrace to make her feel warm and safe enough to calm down. And though she might be a poor replacement, she thought as she gently shushed the girl, it was better than nothing for sure.

"Where am I?", the girl softly asked after she calmed down and was released from the embrace of the mediwitch, a pink hue coloring her cheeks.

"Oh, so you do speak English? Thank Merlin, I didn't even know what language you spoke before, forget about finding a translator," the mediwitch said with a grin which she was glad to notice made the girl a little less tense. Good.

"Relax, sweetie, you aren't in any danger" the mediwitch coaxed gently. " You are at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and you have been brought here four days ago. My name is Molly Weasley and I work here as a mediwitch," the red-head women informed kindly. "What is your name, sweetie?

"My name is...erm...I am...ah..." the girl trailed off, face scrunched up in thought as realization slowly dawned on her. Raising her head she looked into the red haired woman's eyes with green orbs full of terror as she whispered in an scared, if alarmed voice.

"I don't know who I am".

…From the ashes of time...

James Potter wanted to bash his head on the first flat surface his eyes happen to land on , at the moment. And really who could blame him for that? Everyone will also have the same wish if it was theirs partner that started to flirt with the one they were supposed to interrogate! Interrogate after a wait of almost a week, to not add, until the mediwizards deemed the girl to be well enough to take part in such a strenuous task.

He felt a headache building up already. Moody was so gonna kill them.

"And have I told you that you have the most precious jewels for eyes? Cause you do," Sirius' voice could be heard chatting animatedly earning a little blush from the admittedly very beautiful girl. Not that she could hold a candle to Lily or anything, but still.

James watched how Sirius practically beamed seeing the blush, a face splitting grin taking over his features, and barely held in a groan. Great, his friend was in full 'puppy' mode right now. The swishing tail was almost visible as the supposed auror tried his best to earn shy smiles, light chuckles and small blushes from the one he was currently crushing on. The one they were supposed to investigate. And has he mentioned the interrogation wasn't going anywhere?

Oh, yeah. Moody definitively would give them - not only Sirius, of course not, they were a team after all (HA!), - a piece of his mind.

Refraining from sighing aloud in resignation at the earful they will receive upon returning to the Ministry, James gave a light cough before cutting in the two lovebirds conversation. Enough was enough already.

"I'm sorry cut short this enlightening conversation you are having, auror Black, but we are here on a mission," he said drily ignoring the kicked puppy look his friend was sending him as he blanked his face before turning toward the girl that was watching him with bright, green eyes so eerily similar with his wife's own.

"Now Miss, we are sorry to disturb you while recuperating but the Ministry has some matter that need to be cleared out with your help, matters regarding the incident your were in. So, firstly, could I have your name, please?", he politely asked ignoring his pouting friend as he waited for the girl's answer.

He was going to be lied to.

James realized that with a start before the girl had even said a word. It was a strangely enchanting sight to see how easily the girl lowered her lashes just a bit as if remembering something she's rather not remember, how her shoulders hunched slightly, how she adjusted her posture almost imperceptibly so that it practically emanated regret, as the smile she wore till then disappeared ever so slowly. It was truly a believable act, he knew he would had fallen for it if it wasn't for one thing.

Her eyes.

There was no mistaking that mischievous glint that flashed through them – he witnessed it every day in another pair of equally enchanting orbs, after all.

"So you haven't heard yet?", the girl softly inquired, as she seemed to stare blankly ahead of her making James feel the need to applaud her performance.

"Heard what?" inquired Sirius on the side, surprised by the change that came over the girl at the simple question.

"That I have amnesia", the girl continued as she raised then her eyes and looked directly into James hazel orbs. Merlin, she was good, the auror had to give her that. Gone was the mischievous glint from her eyes, only sadness, resignation and fear of unknown remaining in those brilliant green orbs. But, too bad for her, he wasn't about to fall for her act now.

"Amnesia, hmm? So you don't remember anything? " he inquired with just the perfect amount of sarcasm in his voice and a slight dry tone to convey to her that he wasn't buying it. If she received his not so subtle message he didn't knew since she showed no outward reaction to his words and tone. A true actress indeed.

"Not exactly," she answered, voice just as empty as before. " I remember things in general, like how to read, how to cast a spell and other similar things. But I don't remember how I acquired the knowledge about them, I don't remember anything about myself, about my past. But, " and here a hopeful tone entered her voice as a small, barely there, smile curved her lips, " the healers said that it is only temporary and that I should recover my memory soon enough. It seems that whatever caused me to land in the hospital was traumatic enough that my mind chose to forget about it rather than simply deal with it."

James watched her for a few seconds.

"I think you are lying," he bluntly said, never one to beat around the bush. "And I suggest you tell me what really happened. Right now," he said letting his eyes pierce the girl's own, trying to let her know that this was no child play. People could have died in that explosion and, though he didn't felt that the girl had any evil intentions, by hiding what happened she became more suspicious with each passing moment. And, considering that they were in full war with Voldemort's forces, any suspicious person was to be taken into custody.

The girl didn't budge.

"Hey, mate, relax would ya? It isn't her fault that she has amnesia and can't tell us what happened. She's also a victim here so take it easy on her , okay", Sirius said and, despite the playful tone he adopted, James could see he was, no pun intended, serious in his words if the glare sent his way was any indication.

As he took in the glaring eyes of his friend that belittled the grin he sprouted, James reconsidered his previous statement. He no longer wanted to bash his head on the first flat surface he his eyes happened to land on. No, now he wanted to bash Sirius's head on it. It would be much more satisfying and less painless for him if he did it that way because really, if the man didn't want to do his job properly then he should at least let him do it for both of them.

Letting personal feeling interfere with the on-going investigation wasn't the way to go and Moody would not be pleased. And he, for one, didn't want to have his head chewed off by the gruff auror. Again.

"So how would it be, Miss? Are you ready to tell the truth?", James continued pointedly ignoring his best fried and partner. He knew the girl lied. And it was his job to find out the whys.

Once again James found himself impressed with the girl's acting talent. That offended expression, the pursed lips, the narrowing of her eyes – it was like watching a master or, in this case, mistress at work. Idly, he wondered if she took acting classes.

"I am sorry to betray whatever expectation you have from me, auror Potter, but I did tell you the truth. The fact that you don't seem to believe me offends me, I have to say, especially since you can ask the healers and the mediwizards to confirm my statement, " the girl said, voice filled with barely contained indignation at being called a liar. " It's not like I could fool them, no matter how highly you seem to think of myself – something I don't know if I should take for a compliment or not. Not to mention that two talented aurors like yourself and auror Black should be able to find out the truth even without my statement which, despite what you may believe, I truly regret it could not be more helpful."

"Damn right we could," Sirius said with a grin that didn't quite reached his eyes as he tried to dissipate the tension in the room. "Have no worry as James and I will make sure to bring light to this incident", he continued glancing from the corner of his eye at his partner, brother in all but blood, that was throwing him a disapproving look. He didn't know what got into James to make him act like such an asshole but he wasn't going to let a fight break out between his bestest friend ever and his future girlfriend so easily. They had to get along.

For his sake!

"Also," the girl continued as if she didn't heard him at all, which caused him to sulk for a while in his mind, "if you want you can question me under Veritaserum if that is what it will take for you to believe my words", she said as Sirius looked at her surprised, forgetting about any thoughts of sulking.

Even James looked taken aback since questioning under Veritaserum was something that, usually, everyone wanted to avoid and not only because the one under its influence was forced to answer truthfully to any question asked.

The Veritaserum was a recent invented potion of the renewed Potion Mistress Petrova and, because of that, many were wary of being subjected to it since it wasn't well known what side effects it could have, if it had any that is. The thing is people weren't fond of being treated as guinea pigs and that, combined with the breach of privacy that it entailed, made the use of Veritaserum be a last resort of sorts.

James couldn't help but wonder if he was overly suspicious of the girl, maybe she really was genuine. After all nobody could lie under the influence of Veritaserum, that was a known fact. But still...

His instincts were all but screaming at him that he was right in his suspicions of her.

"Maybe I'll take you up on your offer," he said with narrowed eyes watching the girls face attentively for any signs of panic or alarm to prove that her previous statement was a bluff. There weren't any.

"James!" Sirius all but screamed at his friend. "You can not be serious about this! She hasn't even been released from the hospital yet, what has gotten into you?"

James had enough. Sirius was really destroying his chances at getting the girl to tell the truth, butting in at the worst times and he wasn't about about to stand for it any longer. He was going to let Sirius know just how much of an annoyance he was being.

"What, in Merlin's name, is with all this ruckus? You all do know you are in a hospital right?" asked a dry, if somewhat muffled voice from the doorway, interrupting James rant before it even started and he silently cursed.

Really, it just wasn't his day.

…From the ashes of time...

Unspeakable Rookwood was feeling annoyed as he stalked through the halls of St. Mungo in search of room 313.

At the age of twenty five he had to admit that he had done well for himself so far. Finishing Hogwarts with fourteen NEWTS, a record even for a Ravenclaw as he was, quickly assured him a place in the Unspeakable's ranks who didn't waste any time in recruiting him. Of course, officially he was working Muggle Liaison Office as only a few chosen ones were to know about his real identity as an Unspeakable, like the Minister and the head of the auror department for example, his job consisting in being as inconspicuous as possible so that he could gather information and blend in the crowd more easily.

That was why he was currently at St. Mungo after being asked by the Unspeakable Department's Head to investigate the girl involved in the incident concerning the powerful magic pulse that was felt by all magical beings from all over the country.

It was truly a fascinating phenomenon, he had to admit to that, and it was pretty interesting to find out what could cause such a pulse to occur in the first place but that didn't made his mission any less boring. If it wasn't for the fact that his true master was also interested in finding out what caused such an incident to occur changes were that he would have refused the mission. He was pretty high up in the Unspeakable ranks to afford that, after all.

The reason he was the one chosen to investigate is simple enough to understand – his mother worked as a healer here at St. Mungo and, as such, he could acquire the wanted information more easily than any other of his fellow peers. Hell, if he thought about it, his mother didn't just worked here. It was more like she lived here as, since his father - her husband - was killed by a mudblood healer that administrated him the wrong potion, her only reason for living was to not let another go through as much pain as her due to some stupid mistake made by an incompetent healer.

She was the strictest healer to ever pass the halls of St. Mungo and Rookwood wasn't surprised at all when she was offered the position of Head of the Spell Damage Ward. He knew his mother was the best healer St. Mungo got in its service at the moment and it was only logical to be recognized as such. She damn well deserved her position for all her efforts and for the fact the the one responsible for her suffering, that stupid muggleborn that killed his father, got away with only having to repeat three months of training and as such she was still forced to work along-side that lowlife.

Stupid mudblood.

But soon. He only had to wait a little more until his lord cleansed the world of such filth.

Shacking his head to get rid an any stray thoughts, Rookwood turned left and contained a sigh of relief as he finally saw the door with the number he was looking for. The room 313 in which resided the mysterious girl was just few steps away from him.

Unlike the aurors, who he knew were still fumbling trying to discover the girl's identity they, the Unspeakables, weren't as much in the dark as them. After tracking down the girl magic signature across Europe, using methods aurors probably never thought of using since they weren't exactly legal, and through the sheer efforts made by more than seventeen of their most brainy individuals who investigated the clues left behind in the incident, their Forensics team was led to an inn of sorts - a so-called 'han' from Romania.

After investigating the place and interrogating the people found there they came to believe that the girl could be Alina Tudose, a sixteen year old witch adopted by the registered werewolf and Potion Mistress Ileana. It seems Ileana died not too long ago, the dates they got were confusing and often contradicted themselves but they were able to conclude that no more than few months have passed since the witch's death, which left Alina to be apprenticed to the world's renowned Potion Mistress Petrova that was currently residing in England.

At that Rookwood gritted his teeth slightly.

The girl had to be something else in potions or her recently deceased guardian was someone really, really close to Petrova, because Rookwood knew the ill-mannered Potion Mistress didn't accept just anyone in her service. He knew that because he tried to get apprenticed under her before accepting the Unspeakable's offer. He still couldn't help a shudder at the memory.

That women, despite her age or maybe because of it, had the sharpest tongue he ever encountered and was able to shred one's dignity and pride to tiny bits with little to no effort. He hoped he will never came face to face with her, at least for a long, long time from now.

The girl, if she truly was Alina, will have a rough future ahead of her, that was for sure.

Going on though, the investigation didn't reveal much else beside that. From the little information they had they had come to think that the girl was on her way to England when she was attacked by muggles for reasons yet unknown. Considering that her wand and other belongings were found in the room she resided in at the inn they concluded the girl was wandless, and thus defenseless at the time of the attack and, in her panic, tried to apparate.

As her journey destination was England probably that was the first place to come to her mind in her attempt to apparate, the success of her apparition being the reason for the magic pulse that washed the country. Of course all this was speculation based on circumstantial evidence.

Firstly, the girl had to be pretty much desperate beyond belief to attempt an International Apparition since such attempts usually ended in the death. Secondly, even if the girl attempted to do such a crazy thing the chances of success were infinitesimal small and though the depleted magic resources of the girl's core spoke in her favor, the magical power needed in the first place for such a thing was something akin to the one possessed by his lord...no, maybe even his wasn't enough to do such a thing. Clearly the power needed wasn't something a young girl, not even out of her teens, might posses.

As it was, the only one holding the right answers was the girl herself.

Too bad she had amnesia.

Or at least that's what his mother informed him of at the end of her report containing the injuries of the girl. Well, that surely complicated his work since questioning the girl in this situation would be pretty much useless. But, since he didn't wanted to have come to St. Mungo for nothing he figured the least he could do was make a test to reveal the girl's true identity and heritage. Sure, such things usually cost a small fortune but he figured that in this circumstance his superiors will agree to it since it will make things much easier for their on-going investigation.

And that is why he was now standing in front of the open door of room 313 only to discover he wasn't the first to be here. Those two auror rookies that discovered the girl, Black and Potter, were already there and, judging by auror's Black's shouts', having a disagreement at the moment. Really, how unprofessional.

"What, in Merlin's name, is with all this ruckus? You all do know you are in a hospital right?" Rookwood asked a dry, if somewhat muffled voice from the doorway, muffled because of the mask that was part of his Unspeakable uniform he was currently wearing which partly covered his face.

He took great pleasure in seeing both auror's Black grimace of distaste at his appearance once he realized his profession and auror's Potter frustrated glare directed at him, his scowl signaling this was the last of many unlucky events for the rookie auror in this morning.

He smiled.

Yeah, he was petty but he couldn't help but enjoy the misfortune of others specially when the 'others' in question were aurors. Everybody was aware of the mutual dislike between the Unspeakables and aurors after all. It was no secret.

"Unspeakable," auror Potter greeted him in a neutral tone. "May I have the reason for your presence here?"

Rookwood mulled over the advantages and disadvantages of answering the auror's question and in the end thought that it was not worth the bother trying to hide the reason for his visiting of the girl.

"Not that I'm under any obligation to respond your question auror," he started in a mocking tone, "but I am here to have Miss Alina here" he continued with a polite nod to the girl watching with wide eyes their conversation, "answer some questions related to the incident she was involved in ".

"Miss Alina?", auror Potter asked narrowing his eyes while subtly glancing at the girl on the bed. "Is that her name? How do you know it? I was told her identity was unknown since she had amnesia."

"Oh, so the little aurors aren't able to find someones identity without being informed directly of it by the person whose identity they were trying to find in the first place, huh? My, whatever will you do if you are lied to?", he wondered in a concern filled voice as he silently watched auror Black becoming red in the face though he seemed to try badly to hold in his tongue for one reason or another. Maybe he was one of those creeped out by his uniform, who knows. And who cared for that matter.

"Well, us the Unspeakables aren't as lenient as you aurors seem to be and have already discovered pretty much everything concerning the incident. A report containing what we found out had been sent to your department...don't tell me you haven't checked your mail this morning?" he asked hitting, if one were to judge by the pink hue coloring auror's Potter cheeks, the proverbial nail on the head.

Giving Rookwood a dark look, Potter straightened himself up before turning towards Alina.

"I am afraid Miss Alina that I have to take my leave for now but make no mistake- this conversation is far from over," he said hazel eyes locking green orbs in a battle of wills before turning away abruptly. "Let's go, Sirius," he said as he gave a obligatory nod in farewell to the Unspeakable before exiting the room, Black hot on his heels shouting an "Farewell, my fair lady" over his shoulder to Alina as he tried to keep up with his moody friend.

Not that he couldn't understand his friend's frustration at being out done by the Unspeakables. Creepy buggers always interfering in the auror's affairs, he thought with a shudder as he followed his partner out, inwardly wallowing that he couldn't spend more time with his crush, never once noticing the beetle stuck on his robe.

Left alone with Alina, Rookwood finally took the time to asses the girl.

Long, sleek black hair flowed in waves adorning a delicate, oval face and glowing, porcelain-like skin. She had eyes of a deep, stunning emerald-green that were framed by long lashes and seemed to hold knowledge and pain beyond the girl's years as they also watched him curiously and apprehensively, maybe.

Not surprising considering the loss of her memories and the fact that he hadn't even introduced himself yet.

As he studied her face with its perfectly shaped eyebrows, a straight nose and full lips the only think he could word he could think of to describe what he seeing right then was beautiful. The girl was truly, honest to God beautiful, alike a fallen angel left on Earth to bless lowly mortals with its grace and beauty. So delicate, so fragile, so utterly fierce and strong.

Rookwood couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity he got while studying the girl's features.

"So, my name is Alina?" the girl asked and Rookwood couldn't help but notice that, though it had a bell-like quality, the voice was clear and strong with no noticeable accent coloring it and sounding more than pleasant to the ears because of it. How... peculiar.

"We believe so," he answered as he neared the girl's bed slowly, not wanting to scare her since he knew the Unspeakable attire he was wearing, which was formed by black robes, black boots, black gloves and, indeed you guessed, a black mask, unsettled even a normal person. An amnesiac one, still trying to get used to the world around her was bound to be even more affected by his somewhat...disturbing appearance.

"Actually," he continued, "that is why I am here today. You see, I am an Unspeakable and I work in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry. The incident you were involved in piqued my Department's interest so, beside the aurors, there are also some Unspeakables in charge of investigating this case. As it is, from what we found so far, we believe you to be Alina Tudose, a sixteen old witch from Romania that is to be apprenticed to the Potion Mistress Petrova after your guardian Ileana Sandu died. Sadly, we were unable to locate madam Petrova until now to confirm at least a part of this story, everything I told you being based on the declaration of several people from your birth country," Rookwood said slowly, letting the girl digest the information he delivered to her.

"The reason why I'm here is to do a blood magical test, a heredity one, which will allow us to confirm your identity, with your permission that is," Rookwood said, ending his speech as he waited for the girl's answer.

"Erm...this isn't dangerous right? And it wouldn't cause me to me in pain, I hope,'." the girl said after a few seconds trying, from what Rookwood could see, to pass her unease and uncertainty as fear of the possibility of being in pain. How endearing. She was for sure Slytherin material – that lot never liked having their true weaknes exposed and always tried to mask it by diverting attention from it with something else with a lesser chance of causing damage.

"No, miss," Rookwood answered somewhat bemused, "it isn't dangerous though it will probably sting a little."

"Sting?"

"Yes. You see the heredity test consist in writing your name on a special piece a paper made by the Gringotts goblin's using a blood quill. A Blood Quill is a writing instrument enchanted to use the writer's blood for ink you see so writing with a Blood Quill causes a stinging sensation in the place from where the Quill draws the blood that it uses as ink. Prolonged use of the Quill do cause the writer to scar but no harm will come from what I will have you do," Rookwood said, noticing the girl wince at the word 'scar'.

He couldn't blame her, not even he liked those nasty blood quills and was glad that their use – for other people not working for the Ministry and even then only for a chosen few- was prohibited by law considering that in the past the objects were even used as a mean of torture.

"Well, if you say it is no danger I guess I will do it. I am very eager to know at least something of the person I was before my loss of memory", Alina answered and without further ado the Unspeakable got a surprisingly normal looking quill and a piece of parchment out of his robe pocket and handed them to the nervous if eager girl who took no time in writing the name the Unspeakable said it was hers, 'Alina Tudose' on the paper, wincing slightly at the pain caused by the use of a blood quill.

Once she was done she handed the quill and the parchment back to the Unspeakable and proceeded to wait anxiously for said Unspeakable, who was now studying the parchment attentively, to tell her the test results.

"So...what does it say? Am I or am I not Alina Tudose," asked Alina after a few seconds in which the Unspeakable just...stared at the parchment in his hands.

"...You are. I am afraid though, Miss Tudose, that you will have to wait for another time to learn more about your past since it seems it is time for me to go. I will contact you soon," the Uspeakable said and without giving the girl a chance to retort walked out of the room in a hurry.

As he stalked through the halls, Rookwood mind was in a frenzy. If what was written on the parchment was true then...no, he couldn't get ahead of himself. Yet. He will have to investigate this matter through fully before he attempted to present his findings to his lord. Very through fully indeed since he was sure that if he told about his findings only to later be discovered that it was a mistake the punishment he will get wouldn't be easy to handle at all. Quite the opposite in fact. He will be lucky to get away with his life considering his Lord's temper.

But still, it was worth the risk since if it was true he was sure to become one of his Lord's most trusted and a beneficiary of all the advantages such a rank entailed. Yes, he could actually see it...

As he lost himself in dreams of greatness Rookwood wasn't aware that in a hospital room, laying comfortably on the bed, a beautiful young women wore a quite satisfied smirk.

Perfect.

…From the ashes of time...

The girl formerly known as Hermione Granger, presently thought of as Alina Tudose and soon to be Alina Tudor was enjoying a delicious hot cup of coffee which was which was pleasantly tickling her senses as she leisurely walked through Diagon Alley.

Yesterday had been a fruitful day for her as she accomplished many things among which the most important were the successful pass off of her amnesia as being real to the officials sent by the Ministry, the identification and acceptance of her as Alina Tudose by said Ministry officials and, the most important of them all, the result of the heredity test which will surely set the wheels of fate in motion.

She couldn't help a smile as she thought of the day.

James and Sirius have been so cute trying to question her though they had many things to learn before they become the legendary aurors Moody often talked about in the future with pride. They were rookies still and that was painfully obvious as Sirius let himself side-tracked way too easily – though his crush/puppy love of her was endearing, while James was too...Griffindor, too blunt in his approach though he seemed to posses the same sharp instincts of his son. Or was it the opposite? Harry possessed the sharp instincts of his father?

Merlin, time travel was confusing.

And by God, they were so innocent still, so untainted by the evil of the world, still believing that good will be the one to prevail in the end. She dearly wished she could keep it that way but she knew that sooner or later they will have to face the horrors the world had to offer. At the very least she wanted to keep them alive but, if it would help achieving her goal, she knew she wouldn't hesitate in sacrificing them for the Greater Good as Dumbledore would put it.

There were too much things at stake for her to let personal emotions influence her actions.

And speaking of, Dumbledore was going to be either a powerful ally or a tricky enemy, but either way he was dangerous no matter what place he chooses to play on the chessboard. He will be one of the toughest opponents she will have to face in this particular game, of that she was certain of, and she was aware she had to be extra careful while dealing with this particular mastermind manipulator. For all his good intentions, he could ruin everything. Hopefully, she won't have to worry about him for a long, long time.

She shook her head as she tried to clear her head.

This day was one for relaxation, she swore to herself that when she practically begged Molly to let her out of the hospital for at least a couple of hours to enjoy what England had to offer – and by Merlin, she was ever so surprised to find Molly worked as a mediwitch once upon a time though the job certainly suited the motherly women. Redundantly, the women agreed though Alina was forced to swear she was just going to take a short walk around, - "not too far off!"- and that she won't try to enter Knockturn Alley by any change – "it's a most dangerous place, sweetie, you could get hurt!".

She even gave her some pocked money - "buy yourself something nice, dear, you don't need to repay me"- and Alina reckoned that, without the economic burden brought by the living expenses for the many members the family will come to have in the future, the Weasley weren't all that bad off.

Alina thought about many things while walking. About her past, about her mission, about Voldemort and about the burden she carried on her shoulders. It seemed almost too much for one to bear alone, and she knew it wouldn't be easy at all. Rather it will be more hard and difficult than she could even imagine at this point in time and she knew she would have to sacrifice many things in order to make the future better.

Still, as she walked among the still happy faces of excited, busy or hurried witches and wizards surrounding her with eyes not shadowed by despair, as she took in wonder the undamaged buildings around her and the shrill aliveness of the place she found herself in she remembered why she was doing this. Why was she fighting for in the first place and what she was trying to keep from disappearing.

This wonderful, bright and warm world unaffected by the war that was only in its beginning phases.

But, first things first, she had to become familiar with the state things were in at the moment. And, though often misleading, "Daily Prophet" was, sadly, the best source of information she could find. With that thought in mind she wasted no time in going to the nearest newspaper stand she could find and buying the edition released that morning.

Idly sipping her coffee, she browsed through the newspaper not paying much attention as she planned to study it better once she returned to the hospital only to choke on her sip once she reached page three and read the title of a certain article.

WITCH ASSAULTED BY MUGGLES!

Are we going to stand for it?

By Rita Skeeter

Several days ago a powerful magical wave was felt in England and not only when a muggle building collapsed from the build up of magical power, that was concentrated in one point, causing it to implode. After many investigations made by the Unspeakables and the Aurors it was reached the conclusion that the source of the wave of magic was a young girl that was found unconscious under the building remains being taken to St. Mungo to receive treatment.

Sadly, it seemed that the girl was worse for the wear than initially thought suffering not only of depletion of the magical core but also having been shot with a muggle weapon in the arm. Not only that but upon waking up the poor girl was discovered to have amnesia, the trauma caused by the incident she had been in causing her mind to forget rather than try to deal with whatever happened. We can only imagine the horrors this brave young witch had been through though the healer as assure us that, beside the loss of memory, the young witch will suffer no other long lasting damage.

Luckily enough, the Unspeakables were able to find out the girl's identity who was confirmed as being Alina Tudose, a sixteen year old witch from Romania and a potion prodigy who is to become the apprentice of the well known Potion Mistress Petrova. From the clues left behind at the scene of the incident and the testimonies taken from various witnesses Alina was about to start her journey to England after her guardian's death when she was assaulted by muggles.

That is right, dear readers, it seems that the pain and suffering of Alina was caused by muggles!

It seems that as she was taking a walk, the beautiful witch was assaulted by muggles with less than honorable intentions in mind. Having had left her wand at the inn she was staying at the young girl found herself defenseless in front of her assaulters and, in her desperation, tried to apparate to the first place that came to mind. That happened to be England.

The magical pulse we all felt was, more or less, all the magic power Alina used in her successful attempt of an International Apparition which could have very well ended in her death and not only in the drainage of her magical resources.

All that I have been written here my dear reader has been found by the Unspeakable team whose efforts allowed us to find the truth. One might wonder what have been the Aurors up if the Unspeakable were the one to do all the work thus far and the answer is not one we might expect. It seems that the team formed by Auror Black and Auror Potter that was charged with investigating the incident rather than doing their job thought it will be much better to interrogate and harass the the amnesiac witch with question she didn't had the answer to. They even threatened to use Veritaserum on the poor girl despite the dangers the potion holds but luckily they hadn't attempted anything yet though I can't say much of the future.

As it is this reporter feels like the level performance of the auror dropped significantly compared with how it was in the past.

That aside though, dear readers, this reporter couldn't help but wonder if, though most of us adult wizards are able to defend ourselves from muggles, could the same be said for our young?

And are we prepared to take the risk, either way?

I dread what will happen if any of them were in Miss Alina's situation whom this reporter wishes a speedy recovery.

May she never face something like this again!

'Amnesia -truth and fiction' – see page 7

'Muggles- a real treat?' - see page 9

Well, Alina thought drily, Rita always had a way with words. She didn't know how the article will affect her mission but she knew Voldemort at least will use it to antagonize the muggles, and by connection the muggleborns, further into the eyes of wizards and witches everywhere. But at least it will give her a valid reason to fake a believable hate for muggles since, supposedly, she thought herself as a muggleborn.

Idly, she hoped James and Sirius didn't get in trouble too much thanks to Skeeter article but she wouldn't bet on it. If anything, she was sure Moody will chew them off, paranoid bugger that he was, she thought fondly of the one who helped her, Harry and the others train properly.

Still, she couldn't help but be satisfied with how things turned up so far. With this, her cover up was pretty much taken care of and she barely had to do anything. Well, beside all the traveling she did while she was supposedly unconscious that is. One wouldn't believe how easy it was to modify the memories of some Romanian muggles here, to change the pictures of Alina from the orphanage there, all that without anybody noticing that the supposedly unconscious patient was away from hospital. Or at least, how easy it was after one manage to steal a time-turner from the Department of Mysteries.

She couldn't help a snort at that. Really, Alina couldn't say that she still liked Dumbledore as she once did after finding what sort of person the headmaster really was, but he still had her respect. One who could stop this pack of overgrown monkeys that called themselves wizards from being taken over by Voldemort for so long was at least worthy of that. It was pathetic how easy one could infiltrate the Ministry and compared with Gringotts and Hogwarts the place was a joke. And considering her past adventures with Harry and Ron in both placeS, it really made one pity Voldemort. The man had to have to lousiest luck ever encountered to lose so many times while against these kind of defences.

As she continued to walk down the street, browsing the newspaper while inwardly cursing the incompetency of wizards everywhere – how could they ever win against Voldemort if they continued like this!-, she never noticed the door of a shop opening and a young man walking out of it. As it was, it was no wonder when she stumbled on him, throwing both him and herself on the ground in the process, hot coffee spilling on them both. Great, there goes her heavenly coffee she angrily thought as she raised her head to see who was the one that she stumbled on.

Annoyed emerald eyes clashed with guarded silver orbs and, for a moment, time seemed to stop.

...TBC...

*Where am i?...Who are you? Where's my wand?

AN/Dear readers,

I'm very sorry for making you wait an eternity, literally, for a new update. I received the reviews ( and read them all, of course) as well as the dozens of lovely PMs you sent me and I was very touched by how much you all like this story still after all this time. Sadly, I was (and still am) very busy with real life and had to take a break from writing to keep up with the events happening in my life. However, I didn't forget about you all or this story despite my, frustrating for some I bet, silence and lack of replies.

As it is I'm starting to write again though,I have to warn you now, the updates will be painfully slow.

On another point, I received lots of requests from people willing to be my beta. I'm not against the idea, I'm aware I need one but, in the past, it didn't work that well for me as most quit mid-way. If people still want to be my beta after reading the requirments that fallow then they are free to let me know that through a review or PM. Requirements of my perfect beta-reader:

1. Exceptionally well-versed with the english language- as most of my mistakes have to do with typos, spelling and grammar this is a MUST!

2. A perfectionistic nature or close to having one - considering each one of my chapters are very detailed AND pretty big in lenght the person working to improve them will have be so to do a very throughout job.

3. Motivated - don't start if you don't plan on finishing.

4. Willing to start beta-ing from the last written chapter to the first - as the first chapters aren't in as much of a need for a beta as the last ones- and willing to, when I finish a new chapter, prioritize that one over the others.

of working on his/her own when not able to contact me for whatever reason- since I will contact them eventually and, when I do, it will be nice if they had finished some work in the meantime.
6. Not afraid to criticize me or share his/hers ideas with me in the name of improvement - really, I'm tough. I can take it.

Other than that I hope you like the chapter well enough considering it's been awhile since I wrote anything and my skills may have gotten a bit rusty.I apologize if that's the case and I promise to try and improve.

Hope you'll find in yourself the patience to deal with little old me for while farther and that not many of you would hold a grudge over my extremely long absence.

Sincerely,

Sara Blake