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Prologue

Hermione was having one of the worst days of her life.

It was finally Saturday and her plan for the day was to do absolutely nothing. She loved her ministry job at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, despite all the prejudice she had to deal with. She loved a challenge so it didn't bother her too much. But it was tiring to say the least. More so lately that she was working herself to the bone to complete the new Werewolf Act.

She needed a break.

That's why she was still lying in bed at 11 am and with no intention of getting up anytime soon. Unfortunately the owl perched out of the window in her bedroom didn't care and was pecking at it rather insistently too.

So she climbed out of the comfort of her bed and made her way to the window to let the owl in. She retrieved the letter attached to its leg and after feeding the bird a treat it flew off.

Hermione opened the letter and read it quickly. The newly appointed Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, requested her presence in his office in an hour. No details. This was bad news.

She sighed and headed to the bathroom to have a quick shower. After drying herself off and getting dressed she went to kitchen to have breakfast. She took her tea with no sugar, as she liked it, to give her the energy to get through the day and after putting on her robe she made her way to the floo to get to the Ministry.

When Hermione arrived at the Minister's office door she was perfectly on time so she knocked with no small amount of trepidation and she entered the room.

"Ah, hello Hermione. Thank you for coming on such short notice." greeted her Kingsley.

"No problem Minister."

"Hermione, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kingsley?" he told her with a friendly smile.

"Right, sorry Kingsley." she replied sheepishly before asking "So, what did you need to tell me?".

"Please take a seat. As you know, despite the war being over and the wizarding community slowly getting back to its feet we cannot say that there is no more danger. Several death eaters are still on the loose, some of them being members of the inner circle. The DMLE is doing the best it can but the situation is getting worse. The last attack merely-"

"What do you mean? Harry didn't tell me about any attack." said Hermione, interrupting him.

"Hermione, there is no easy way to say this..." he trailed off.

Hermione was anxious now and she didn't like the way Kingsley was looking at her.

"Just spit it out Kingsley!"

He sighed before saying "I'm sorry Hermione, but your parents are dead. They were found two days ago by the death eaters. They were apparently headed to London for a vacation."

At those words Hermione's mind went blank. Kingsley was still speaking but she couldn't hear him. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't do anything but stare at him. It couldn't be true, not after everything she had done to keep them safe. She had erased herself from their memories knowing that it couldn't be undone. She had let he parents go in the hopes of giving them a better future and now it was all for naught. They were dead.

She shook herself out of her trance and noticed that Kingsley had stopped talking and was looking at her worriedly.

"It's not everything, is it?" she asked him, her voice hoarse. She was surprised to taste tears on her tongue, she hadn't realised she was crying.

"No, it's not. We suspect that this is Dolohov's work. Some of the injuries on their bodies were recognonised as effects of some of his spellwork and we know him to have a grudge against you in particular." replied Kingsley.

She froze at the mention of his name, feeling the phantom pain of Dolohov's curse that left her a nasty scar on her torso as a reminder of the battle at the Department of Mysteries in her fifth year.

"So he decided to target my family to make me suffer." she stated.

He just nodded in response.

Hermione had a sudden thought and she started panicking.

"What about the rest of my family? He is going to go after them next. I have to do something to protect them!".

"Hermione, calm down. We know about them and we already made plans to insure their safety." tried to sooth her Kingsley. As if on cue there was a knock on the door and a moment later stepped in the room Harry Potter.

Upon seeing the distressed face of his best friend he quickly reached her side and engulfed her in his arms.

Hermione, feeling the comforting scent of Harry surrounding her relaxed slightly. After a few moments of her silently crying and Harry whispering comforting words in her ear whilst holding her she took a deep breath and straightened herself. She could break down when she got home, right now she had more important things to consider. She turned to Kingsley once more so they could continue.

"The priority is the safety of your relatives, therefore the DMLE decided that the best option was to place security wards around the house and send an auror to keep guard for now. We'll send more if necessary. I offered for the task. I'm departing on monday" said Harry.

"I'm going too" said Hermione immediately.

"Hermione..." tried Kingsley but was interrupted.

"No, this is my family we are talking about so I'm not taking no for an answer. This is my responsibility and you both know that I'm perfectly capable of handling myself. I'm going." finished the stubborn witch with a tone that brooked no argument.

Kingsley sighed, chanced a glance at Harry before looking at Hermione in defeat.

"Fine."