Chapter 1 – Raven

A/N: Hi! So I did modify the first chapter because my original one was completely horrible

Language will be used in this fanfic and of course, I own nothing which comes from the HP series. If I do modify chapters, it doesn't mean that I won't post a new chapter.

The Forest of Dean

The air was slightly windy as the trees lurched back and forth. Everything was silent except the footsteps of Hermione Granger. It had been a few weeks since the trio had been on the run and currently she held a bag of their rationed food from a small village. Finding food had been a huge pain, but this was their life for the time being. If asked how life on the run was, she hated it. Despised it. Her best friend was supposed to be the 'savior' though it seemed like everyone had forgotten about that crucial detail. Here they were, in a forest, with limited resources. Dried leaves crunched under her feet as she raised her hand to tuck a few strands of hair behind her ear.

Suddenly, Hermione felt the air tense, something she had also noticed before the Death Eaters had arrived at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Acting fast, she cast a Disillusionment charm on herself and for good measure, she hid in the nearby bushes. She watched as three hooded figures apparated into the forest, sending warning signals to her brain. Biting her lip worriedly, Hermione's eyes widened as another set of people apparated, this time her mind screamed at her to bolt out of there. Though, she still couldn't recognize who the hell those people were. Frowning, she heard a yell as someone- she really couldn't tell who- casted a Protego. Itching with suspense, Hermione neared the group as she stifled her gasp.

"Death Eaters," Hermione whispered softly, her gaze landing at the three hooded figures.

They were outnumbered. Carefully, she removed her wand from her pocket, ready to fire a spell. Noticing one of the Death Eaters had raised their wand, no doubt to shoot a killing curse, Hermione whispered, "Stupefy,"

Silence. Whoever she had hit, had slumped to the ground. She could see their confused faces as she grinned to herself. Maybe too fast to celebrate. A Crucio came her way as she narrowly avoided it. Good Godric, that was way too close for her comfort. Now that she thought about it, her stunning spell was an idiotic mistake; they knew where to shoot now. Before Hermione could even think about switching her place, she felt ropes wrapped around her tightly. She gasped for air as her wand slipped out of her grasp. Oh shit. Even though the ropes were secured tightly around her, her vision could make out a few Death Eaters approaching to where she had hidden. If she could just reach her wand…

Her fingers scraped against the dirt as she tried her hardest to reach out and grab her wand. If sensing what she was attempting to do, the ropes tightened immensely to Hermione's discomfort as she tried to remove them with her bare hands.

"Accio wand," Hermione croaked, as her wand went flying into her ready palm. Quickly, she casted the counter spell and Silencio to make sure the Death Eaters wouldn't hear her gasps of air.

"Conjunctivitis," Hermione hissed, pointing her wand at the Death Eater who seemed like the leader.

"Avada Kedavra," Hermione couldn't recognize the person's voice but that didn't really matter. Thankfully, his- or her- aim was off as she sighed in relief. With curious eyes, she watched as one of the hooded figures whisper frantically to the other. The second one nodded as Hermione braced herself her some random spell to make contact with her but none did.

As she realized they weren't aiming for her, rather for the Death Eaters, she helped them as she shotPetrificus Totalus. Finally, aiming for the last Death Eater, Hermione ended the duel with a Stupefy. Panting slightly, she moved out of the bushes cautiously as she tried to study the people.

The first and second one were almost similar; their height clearly indicated that they were boys. Though, Hermione could spot the difference between their hairs; first had translucent blond hair while the other had curly brown. The third one was shorter than the two and had long raven hair.

Hermione felt like an intruder, watching as the girl sobbed softly and as one of the boys carried her. What was she supposed to say? It felt quite awkward as Hermione began to fidget with her hands nervously.

"Thank you, for helping us," the brown haired boy murmured. "I was sure we were…" he trailed off, uncertain of what to say.

Hermione's eyes widened. She knew she had heard his voice before, it felt so familiar. Maybe if she could get him to remove his hood.

"Could you please remove your hood?" Hermione whispered, her eyes fixed at the brown haired boy. She hadn't even realized she had spoken until her hand flew to her mouth.

The boys froze as Hermione bit her lip; they obviously recognized her voice. Why did she have to speak? Seconds seemed to drag on forever as both boys slowly removed their hoods.

Oh she definitely knew them.

"Nott?! Malfoy?!" Hermione gasped, not bothering to conceal her astonishment.

As they merely nodded, she could only understand one thing; they both were Death Eaters. She, Hermione Granger, had help the murderer of their beloved headmaster. Feeling sick to her stomach, she aimed her wand, ready to curse them.

"Woah, easy there Granger," Nott frowned at the sudden change of her attitude. Just 5 seconds ago, they had worked together to duel Death Eaters, 2 seconds ago, she had looked shocked and now she had her wand out.

"You," Hermione seethed, staring intensely at Malfoy who glared right back at her. "How dare you show your face after what you've done!?"

"What have I done?" Malfoy sneered. "Remind me please,"

"You murdered Professor Dumbledore!" Hermione yelled. "You let bloody Death Eaters into the castle. You-"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," he snarled, interjecting her rant which might have lasted for hours. "You're the one hiding like a coward, and you have no clue what the hell is going on at Hogwarts." He spat, venomously.

Before she could retort, Nott muttered, "While I assure you that fighting in a middle of a forest is a smart move, some of our guests are stirring up."

Hermione massaged her forehead in frustration at Nott's jab though she could admit that she was being childish. The Malfoy heir always seemed to bring out the worst in her.

Malfoy, on the other hand, was frowning at the Death Eaters before he whispered something to Nott. They both turned to her, fake smiles plastered on their face as Hermione instantly narrowed her eyes.

"Could you leave us alone for 5 minutes? We have something important to do to them," Nott asked, jerking his head to the Death Eaters. "You go on with Pansy; we'll catch up with you guys."

"That's Pansy?" Hermione asked, shock evident on her face as her gaze floated to the whimpering girl.

Nott gave a curt nod before mumbling, "Don't ask too many questions right now, and just… take her to your camp or whatever it is that you have here."

Too shocked to register what he had told her to do, Hermione levitated Pansy, and began her walk back to her shared camp. She remembered her quite well; they had an unlikely friendship during the Hogwarts years. Hermione let out a soft laugh as she reminisced about the first time she had a civil talk with her. To say it was awkward was an understatement.

To be honest, she, to this day, never fully understood why she had met with Pansy at the fifth floor corridor. Maybe, it was because she could relate to her situation.

A shiver pulled her out of her thoughts as Hermione frowned. It would do her good to stop for a while. She gently placed Pansy on the forest floor as she kneeled down beside her. Was she feeling cold? The weather did have a slight breeze.

"Granger!"

Startled, Hermione whipped her wand out and swiveled, just to see Nott's raised eyebrow.

'For Christ's sake!' Hermione slowly pocketed her wand before glaring at the two Slytherins.

"You know, next time you might find yourselves stunned," she snapped, feeling slightly annoyed that they had caught her off guard. She knew better than that. A supporter of Voldemort wouldn't have spared a second thought in cursing her.

"Hopefully, there won't be a next time," Nott gave her a smirk which in return, she grimaced.

"Can we hurry up?" Malfoy growled, giving Nott a look Hermione couldn't decipher.

Nott stiffened as he reached down to scoop Pansy into his arms. "Yeah," he muttered gruffly. "Lead the way." Giving Hermione a nod.

She spun on her heel and fidgeted nervously with her hands as they walked in silence. Couldn't one of them start a conversation? Her mind wandered to Pansy as she sighed. Chewing on her lip for a while, she spun around to stare at the 'Silver Trio'.

"I heard her shiver a few minutes ago," Hermione stated, not knowing if that was supposed to be helpful. "I could offer her my jacket…?"

Nott smiled graciously at her but didn't utter a word as he grabbed the offered jacket and wrapped it around the raven-haired girl.

"Well," Hermione took a deep breath to steady her nerves. "I have questions-"

"About?" Malfoy interrupted, scowling at her. "Look Granger, just take us to whatever you have in this forest, and we'll answer every goddamn question that resides in your brain."

Snapping her mouth shut, Hermione could only glare at Malfoy as she huffed. Stupid blond ferret. She was the one who was at an advantage; she could simply decide not to lead them to their camp. Sadly, whatever had happened to Pansy had left Hermione in a whirlpool of random theories. Her curious side was desperate for answers so she was now at a loss.

Letting her mind drift away, she wondered what Harry and Ron would say about the unlikely trio. Harry and Ron. Shit, she had forgotten about them! Her body froze but Hermione trudged on, trying her hardest not to have a mental breakdown.

'Calm down, Hermione.' She ordered herself, clawing her skin. 'You're overreacting way too much. They both will understand.'

And that's where the problem was. She, herself, wasn't sure what the hell was going on. Understand what exactly?

'Good job' her mind chided. 'You've successfully led junior Death Eaters right into your camp.'

"Shut up," Hermione mumbled back, rubbing her forehead. She really did not want to deal with this now. It annoyed her how silent they were as she stole a glance at them. Nope, not silent. Just having a hushed conversation. Wondering if Pansy was even injured, her hand subconsciously, gripped her wand. If her thoughts were practically correct, she would like to be ready.

Wait, why was she acting so stressed? Pansy would never betray her; she knew that much. They obviously weren't Death Eaters; the duel which had taken a few minutes ago was proof. Feeling quite silly, she took another deep breath and tried her hardest to reassure herself. She was going mad like this.

"How much farther?"

The question made her turn to observe them, her gaze was mostly fixed on Pansy.

"A few minutes more,"

Her answer resulted in a noise of satisfaction, she didn't know from whom, as her lips curved into a smile. She just hoped that her boys would be in a better mood today. Shouting matches were something she wasn't very keen on witnessing.

"Granger…I swear I'm not trying to pry though are you friends with Pansy?"

Nott's question stilled her as she frowned.

"Why have you reached that conclusion?" Hermione countered, feeling defensive. Not many would approve of their unlikely friendship though she could care less. Even after being threatened, she could still envision herself sneaking off to meet her Slytherin friend. Though, Pansy still had to wear a mask. She had to call her horrid slurs which later, she would apologize for.

"Well, you just seem like you're okay on the outside but on the inside, you're freaking out about her health,"

Ah, that was a good way to put it.

"For your information, you are prying," Hermione muttered, glaring at Nott as he began to chuckle. "Who I'm friends with does not seem like your business."

"I don't want to see her hurt again,"

At least they shared something in common. She felt the need to quicken her pace as she wondered worriedly how severe Pansy's injures were. Her healing charms were decent; she desperately hoped that her injures weren't beyond her level.

Unable to hold herself, Hermione blurted out, "How bad?"

Malfoy chuckled humorlessly as he mumbled, "Always the curious one, aren't you Granger?"

Her cheeks reddened as she held back a response. She supposed she was very curious; determined to learn everything the world had to offer her. Though, his comment bugged her as she responded curtly, "I'm just asking so I can prepare myself,"

"You don't even know what you're preparing for," Malfoy shot her his infamous smirk; something she ached to smack right of his face. Her thoughts headed to third year as she unknowingly smirked.

Nott nudged Malfoy and whispered loud enough for her to hear. "Mate, is it just me or did Hermione Granger smirk the 'Malfoy smirk'?"

"There is no thing such as the 'Malfoy smirk'."

"That doesn't bother me; either way I'm alarmed how she did that,"

Hermione immediately wiped off the stupid smirk and replaced it with a scowl. "That's not something you should be alarmed about,"

Nott paled which in return, Hermione snorted. "Then, what is?"

She let out a breath, not realizing that she had been holding it. After walking for a while, she recognized the familiar surroundings and gulped.

"We're here,"

It was like she awaited chaos to commence the very second they had stepped foot into the camp. Guess she was right.

"Mione! You're back!" a familiar redhead exclaimed, moving the flaps of the enlarged tent away. He rushed to hug her, a wide grin plastered on his face. She smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around him before moving away. Offering him a guilty look, it took him all but 2 seconds to realize the newcomers.

He staggered back before he flew into a blind rage.

"Why would you bring filthy Death Eaters with you!? Have you gone insane!?"

Ron whipped out his wand and snarled. "I'm giving you five seconds. Get. Fucking. Lost."

In an instant, Hermione moved in a protective manner in front of the Slytherins. Her fingers grazed her wand as she watched as shock appeared on Ron's face. She heard Malfoy snort, "We don't need you to protect us from your Weasel's wrath,"

Elbowing him in the stomach, she shushed him, her gaze never leaving the redhead.

Ron frowned at Hermione before he abruptly clapped, alarming her greatly. "Wait until Harry hears this bullshit,"

"What bullshit?" Messy black hair poked out of the tent as Hermione audibly groaned.

His eyes widened as his gaze landed on Hermione, emerald green meeting chocolate brown.

"Harry, please listen, Pansy's injured; badly. I need to heal her ASAP, trust me," she hastily said, her eyes pleading.

"No, Mione what the hell? You can't just- I can't- blindly trust anyone,"

"Harry James Potter! You listen to me carefully!" Hermione growled. "Pansy can die, I have to treat her now!"

Harry sighed, adjusting his glasses on his face before shooting his best friend a serious look. "I'm trusting you Mione,"

She relaxed immensely, tension leaving her shoulders as she shot him a grateful look. Her gaze moved to Ron as she raised an eyebrow; he wasn't moving.

"Ron," Harry gritted his teeth. "Just move for now. Someone's life is on the line."

This caught his attention as he snarled at Malfoy who in return, sneered at him.

'This could have lasted longer.' Nott though, wisely staying silent as Ron sent him a glare to which he didn't respond. 'Thank Salazar for the brightest which of her age.'