Crossing To The Darker Side

incoming

The air was too happy for the brunettes tastes. Hermione wanted nothing more then to get up and just leave. She knew that would do nothing but place the blame of a ruined night on her.

She had thought of pretending to be sick, maybe if she threw a coughing fit she could easily be excused. Hermione was cut from her musing by a trivial, attentive calling of her name and realized she must have zoned out for a while.

She turned her head to Mrs. Weasley only to find that the woman's eyes were trained directly at her.

"Any luck with Amycus, Hermione?" The rest of the Weasley's continued on with their conversations, oblivious to the shift in atmosphere. The young brunettes eyes shifted to Harry automatically who kept his emerald eyes trained on his plate. She felt a sense of warning settle deep in her stomach, and shook it off with a slight frown.

Focusing on Mrs Weasley, she answered with a tight lipped smile. "Yes, Mrs Weasley. He proved to be very valuable indeed."

Mrs Weasley smiled slightly, nodding her head. Her eyes crinkled and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if she had smiled that way since Fred's death.

Harry made a noise of disbelief in front of her, and she swallowed. A part of her had hoped that he would let it go, which was merely wishing thinking on her part.

"Harry-" Ms. Weasley's voice sounded.

"How is he valuable when he's dead, Hermione?" The raven-haired boy spat, interrupting Mrs. Weasley rudely and glaring at Hermione with contempt.

"He was valuable before he died." Hermione said carefully, quietly trying not to let the rage settling deep in her belly make her do anything drastic.

"Yeah, well maybe if he was anywhere near sane when he died he could've been a bit more valuable, don't you think?"

Hermione's fork fell upon fine China with a loud clang, her teeth clenching as she stared daggers at Harry. He knew she didn't want them to know; that she hadn't wanted them trying to.. fix her.

"That's none of your concern, Potter." Her words were cold, yet her tone level as she slumped back in her seat. Picking up the fork she dropped previously, she twirled it around the plate whilst staring at the boy, challenging him.

"It's my concern when you go around killing captives for your own personal enjoyment!"

"You think I enjoyed it? You think I enjoy hurting people? I don't Harry!" By now the rest of the table had silenced and almost every other Weasley had their hands placed over their wand holsters, ready to protect either witch or wizard from each other.

"Well, your thoughts say otherwise Granger." He said, almost with a hint of smugness in his voice. Hermione felt her body quiver in anger.

"You used Legilimency on me?!" She shouted and the raven-haired boy crossed his arms, sticking his chest out and refusing to answer her.

The brunette raised her wand, the wood pointed at his chest, the curse on the tip of her lips as a silver wisp bounded into the burrow. She recognized the form of a black panther and realized that it was a very poorly cast patronous.

"Incoming. Death Eaters are planning on ambushing the burrow at 9 noon. Evacuate. Be safe."

She could feel the raw energy pulsing down on her; then the feel of vulnerability and of being exposed blanketed her and she realized the wards had fallen.

When asked, Hermione would honestly say she didn't remember the details of that night as vividly as she'd hoped for. She remembered fussing with Harry, and then the wards were gone, and Death Eaters had invaded the Burrow before they had a chance to escape.