Shifted

Cracked

"Are we all ready?"

Hermione gripped her wand lightly in her hand, popping her gum loudly. Moody glared, and Harry conjured a waste bin for her to spit it out in.

"Bubble gum doesn't mix with quick spell casting." He shook the bin impatiently, when she simply stood, staring. "We've got to go, stop playing games."

Without moving her eyes from Harry's annoyed glance, she spit the wad into the bin.

Ron appeared at her side, Ginny directly in front of her.

"We all know what to do," Harry said. "Nothing out of the ordinary. We go in, create an anti-apparition ward and attempt to take our targets out."

Three years into the war and the majority of Voldemort's followers had been eliminated. There were a close circle of very powerful, very dark wizards and witches that still remained. The Order, who were equally lacking in an able bodied, strong magic were each assigned a Death Eater to track down and assassinate themselves.

Horcruxes weren't the issue anymore. Loyalty was. Harry couldn't get to Voldemort and end the war when he had so deeply secluded and protected himself. The only plan the Order, in all their desperation, could come up with was to whittle away at the remaining forces.

Every remaining Death Eater had a card made up. All of their strengths and weaknesses were put onto parchment with the hopes they could be exploited.

Next, all Order members had cards made. All their strengths and weaknesses were put down (in a bit more detail). Then, they all sat down and matched each Death Eater to an Order member, based on what discovery the cards had made.

The Order member needed to be strong where the Death Eaters were weak. Each day the Order worked harder to diminish their weaknesses, making themselves less exploitable and vulnerable.

Harry had been matched up with Antonin Dolohov. Ron had Theodore Nott. Ginny battled with Bellatrix Lestrange at least twice a week.

Hermione had Draco Malfoy.

Assignments had been given a year ago. Hermione bet Harry she would have Malfoy dead within three weeks.

Needless to say, she was pissed to be wrong.

Malfoy was an excellent dueler. Obviously. He wouldn't have made it this far in the war without that skill.

He wasn't better than Hermione, not conventionally at least. But while the light side still attempted to be somewhat— light, despite their willingness to kill, the Dark side seemed to create new hexes and curses everyday. It was impossible to keep up with their newly invented, extremely dangerous spells. Getting hit by them would almost certainly mean death.

Hermione couldn't prove it, but she was positive the Death Eaters had also used Dark Magic to enhance their own abilities. They were quicker— both in spell casting and ability to dodge— more clever and intelligent than they'd been in the beginning. Their change hadn't been subtle or gradual. It was as if overnight the few remaining dark wizards had elevated themselves way above their normal capabilities. The startling realization had caused more than fifty Order member lives.

A lot of people had fled after that. Many more were unable to fight. The Order was barely functioning, a table balancing precariously on its two remaining legs.

This was the only option left. If it didn't work, Hermione wanted to die in the effort. There was no life left for her if Voldemort won.

Hermione looked towards Ginny. "I bet I can last longer in battle against Malfoy than you can with Bellatrix."