Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, no profit is being made, this is just for fun

Note: Rated M for future chapters, will be Tomione. Canon through HP and the Half-Blood Prince, AU after that (ignores most all of the Deathly Hallow's story line.) See Author's note at end!

Harry watched from the floor beneath, his breathing becoming more rapid as fear trickled down his spine. The headmaster glanced down quickly and locked eyes with him, before looking back towards his trusted friend.

"Severus…Please." The headmaster said quietly, in what sounded like a plea.

"Avada Kedavra!" Snape shouted, a sickly green light emitting from his wand shooting straight into the chest of his former mentor.

Harry watched in horror as the headmaster was struck, and time seemed to slow down. He watched as the Headmaster fell backwards, his body careening over the edge of the Astronomy tower, his ears filled with the maniacal laughter of Bellatrix Lestrange. He was rooted to the spot, in shock, as he heard their footsteps descending the stairs of the astronomy tower, and then something inside of him snapped. He pulled his wand and ran after them, not caring about his own safety, fueled completely by his hatred. By the time he reached them, He shot a curse at Snape's back, that he quickly turned to block before he continued striding quickly away.

"Snape! He trusted you!" Harry shouted before firing off a spell, "Incarcerous!"

Severus Snape effortlessly blocked the curse, and continued to stare at Harry.

"Fight back! You coward! Fight Back!" Harry shouted to him.

Bellatrix came up behind Severus and shot a curse at Harry, knocking him to the ground before Severus shouted, "No! He belongs to the Dark Lord!"

Bellatrix sighed and turned away, and Severus continued to stare at the boy on the ground for a moment longer before turning his back to him once more.

Harry climbed back to his feet, and a curse he had vowed to never use again fell from his lips, "Sectumsempra!"

Once again, Snape blocked the curse, and fired back another spell, once again knocking Harry to the ground, panting.

Severus approached him, leaning over to look down upon him, "You dare to use my own spells against me, Potter? Yes…I am the Half-Blood Prince."

Harry's eyes widened in realization, and his head fell back to the ground as Snape swept away from him.

By the time he returned to the castle, the dark mark hung in the sky, a macabre reminder of Voldemort's success. Students and teachers all stood motionless, most likely in shock. The crowd parted to allow him through, as he walked silently to the body of his fallen headmaster and longtime mentor. He knelt down beside him, closing his eyes, so it would appear that he was merely sleeping, and grasped the locket that lay beside him on the ground. Tears began to stream down his face, as the reality of what had happened started to sink in. He placed his hand tenderly on the old man's chest, as if to say goodbye. Ginny moved forward then, and Harry felt her arms come around him, and he leaned into her embrace. His shoulders shaking as he cried.

Behind them, one by one, the students and teachers lifted their wands to destroy the terrible mark in the sky, paying their respects to one of the most powerful wizards who had ever lived. Fawkes' haunting cry could be heard as he circled the grounds, the large phoenix grieving in his own way.

~~(0}~~

Harry, Ron and Hermione knew that their lives had been irrevocably changed the night that Dumbledore fell. The hope that had always burned inside of them, knowing that they had Albus Dumbledore watching over them, and keeping them safe, began to dwindle. Harry began to withdraw, and this time, it was much worse than when he lost Sirius. Hermione became frustrated that she couldn't reach him, and in turn, took her frustration out on Ron. Things were rapidly falling apart.

As the weeks passed, and the term came to a somber close, Hermione returned to her parent's house for what she knew would be the last time. She had thought a lot about it, and in the end, she knew it was the only way to keep them safe. There was no doubt in her mind that the Death Eaters would come for her parents, and so she resolved to get there first. The choice between knowing her parents were dead, or knowing that they would never remember her, living a different life on another continent, and that they would be safe, seemed like no choice at all. Hermione knew what she had to do, but she took one last day with them, wanting to absorb as much of their love as she could, before she would never feel it again. She had hugged them both tightly when they had picked her up from King's cross, and she barely took her eyes off of them all the way home in her father's black BMW. She smiled as they chattered about their dental practice, and some of the funny stories they told about a few of their clients, and Hermione reveled in the sheer normalcy of it all. In that moment, there was no talk of death, or war, there was no Magic, or responsibility, only blissful ignorance, which she gratefully accepted.

Later that evening, she approached her mother's bedroom, and watched from the doorway as her mother attempted to tame the same bushy mass of curls that Hermione was all too familiar with.

"Hermione dear, would you mind?" Her mother said smiling as she held out the brush to her, "You know I really miss having you around to braid this mess for me." Her mother laughed.

Hermione felt her heart clench painfully, as she gently took the brush from her mother's hands, and worked it though the curls.

"Mum, you should really learn to braid your own hair." Hermione said giving her a tight smile in the mirror.

"Whatever for, dear? When I have you to do it for me." She smiled again, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she watched her daughter in the mirror.

Hermione couldn't take it, and her chin quivered as a sob escaped her lips, the hairbrush fell to the floor, and she quickly covered her face with her hands, wanting to block out her mother's confused expression.

"Hermione, honey, what's wrong?" she said with concern, as she pulled her daughter's shaking hands from her face.

Hermione sniffed, trying to put her carefully crafted control back into place, "I…I just miss you, mum." The lie falling easily from her lips.

"Oh, hush now. You're home for the summer, and you only have one year left. Once you graduate, we'll be able to spend much more time together." Her mother said trying to comfort her.

Hermione sniffed again, and rubbed the tears from her eyes taking a shaky breath. She had never told her parents anything about Voldemort, or the war that she was in the very center of, that had been tearing apart the wizarding world for the last six years.

"You're right, I'm just being silly." She said giving her mother a weak smile.

Her mother pulled her into a tight hug, and whispered against Hermione's cheek, "I'm so proud of you, honey, I always have been."

Hermione shut her eyes, once again trying to staunch the flow of tears, as she hugged her mother back tightly, and said in response, "I love you, mum."

Her mother pulled away after a few moments, giving Hermione an encouraging smile and handing the hairbrush back to her, "Now, about this braid." Her mother said laughing and turning back towards the mirror.

Saying goodbye to her father had gone much the same way, except he too did not realize the conversation for what it was. He was sitting on the couch, flicking through the channels on the tv, looking for the game, when Hermione plopped down beside him.

"Hey pumpkin, come to watch the game with your old man?" he asked wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into his side in the familiar one-armed hug that he had done many times over the years.

Hermione laughed, her dad knew she hated sports, "Sure, dad." And she heard him chuckle.

"So not that I really want to talk about this, but I have to ask…you haven't mentioned any boys other than Harry and Ronald…and you're at the age now where…" he began before Hermione cut him off.

"Dad, we're not really going to talk about boys, are we?" Hermione groaned in mortification.

"Well, I would hope that you would tell us if you were dating someone. It's my job, after all, to make sure they treat you right, pumpkin." He said dropping a kiss on her head.

"No dad, with my schedule, I haven't had much time for boys." Hermione said truthfully, and she certainly wasn't going to tell her father that she maybe, kind of fancied Ron.

"Well, that's a relief. Although, I'm sure it's bound to happen at some point. Has your mother talked to you about being safe?" he said awkwardly, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.

Hermione blushed clear down to her toes, "Yes, dad, can we not talk about this, please? Like ever again?" Hermione said laughing in embarrassment, and then grew somber when she realized what she had said.

Her dad barked out a laugh, oblivious to her change in mood, and hugged her tighter, "Sure, pumpkin."

They stayed like that for the better part of an hour, the comforting weight of her father's arm draped around her as he watched the game with a little too much enthusiasm, and Hermione watching the way her father's eyes would light up when his favorite team scored a goal, committing his face and this moment to her memory.

"Dad?" she asked quietly as he turned his face towards her, his eyes still periodically glancing at the tv.

"Yeah, pumpkin?" he asked

"I'm really happy to be home." She said quietly leaning her head against his shoulder.

He looked at her more fully then, giving her a wide smile, "We're happy to have you home, pumpkin, we miss you so much when you're gone, but we're both so proud of you." He said dropping another kiss on the top of her head.

He let out a small chuckle then, "Do you remember that time when we took you to Disney World? You wanted so badly to go on Space Mountain, and your mother wouldn't hear of it. She thought you would be afraid. I knew you'd be just fine, so I convinced her to let me take you. I'll never forget how you laughed through the entire ride, begging me to let you go on it again. When the time came for you to go to Hogwarts, your mother said the same thing; she thought you would have a hard time being so far away from us, but I knew you'd be okay. You always were my brave girl, Hermione." He said smiling at the memory.

Hermione's breath hitched as her eyes welled with unshed tears. "I still am, dad, I still am." She said as he rubbed her arm affectionately and giving her a squeeze before he turned his focus back to the game. They stayed like that for while longer before Hermione yawned and excused herself to go to bed.

~~{0}~~

Hermione sat at the kitchen table at the Burrow while Mrs. Weasley fussed over her.

"You really should have discussed this with us dear, it was quite extreme." Molly said gently, watching the poor girl with concern as she stared listlessly at the cup of tea that was growing colder by the minute.

"I had no choice." She said flatly, and swiped her sleeve across her face to rid herself of the tears that had been making wet tracks down her cheeks.

"I'm sure the Order could have-" Molly began before Hermione cut her off sharply.

"It wasn't the Order's decision to make. I did what I had to." She said defensively before stalking out of the room and jogging up the twisted staircase into the room she shared with Ginny when she stayed over.

Ginny looked up from the book she'd been reading when Hermione barged into the room, slamming the door behind her.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ginny asked softly, not wanting to push.

Hermione blew out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding, "Not especially." She answered quietly.

"Alright." Ginny said and turned back to her book.

After a few minutes had passed, Hermione broke the silence, "Do you think I did the right thing?" she asked, needing desperately to hear it from someone else, that she had made the right choice.

Ginny closed her book, and stood up to make her way over to Hermione's bed, and sat down at the end of it.

"I think you made the best decision that you could, under the circumstances." Ginny said patting Hermione's foot in encouragement.

"Would you have done it though? If you were in my shoes?" Hermione asked

Ginny chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully, "Honestly? I'm not sure what I would have done. I know that mum's just afraid that what you did is irreversible, should we win the war, but…if anyone can find a way to undo it, I know you can, Hermione." Ginny said confidently, giving Hermione an encouraging smile.

Hermione felt a bit of the weight on her shoulders lessen at Ginny's words, and she gave her a tight smile, "Thanks Gin."

Ginny returned her smile and stood up, "That's what I'm here for. Now, what do you say we get outside and see what the boys are up to? It won't do you any good to sit in here moping."

She was right, Hermione knew, whether what she had done was right or wrong, there was no going back now to fix it, and no use dwelling on it. She would just have to remember that no matter what, her parents were safe, and that was the most important thing.

"Alright." Hermione said pushing herself up off the bed, and following Ginny out of the bedroom.

~~{0}~~

The summer passed surprisingly uneventfully, aside from the chaos of planning Bill and Phlegm's wedding; Hermione had to hear Ginny complain about Fleur on a daily basis. Ginny had taken to calling her 'Phlegm' and the nickname had stuck, much to Hermione's delight.

It was one week before the start of Hermione's seventh year when an emergency order meeting was called. Hermione arrived at Grimmauld place not long after Remus Lupin, with the Weasley's.

It struck Hermione as strange, that Harry wasn't there.

"So what's this all about then? Where's Harry?" She asked Remus quietly, wondering if he had any information on why the meeting had been called.

"I dunno, I'm just as in the dark as you." He answered, his voice anxious.

"Well, whatever it is, we're about to find out." Hermione said looking up at him wearily, and he nodded taking a seat at the table.

The rest of the order arrived, with the glaring exceptions of Harry and Severus Snape. Hermione's eyes flicked to the seat that Snape usually occupied, which now sat empty, with a look of disdain.

Kingsley stood at the head of the table; he had recently been appointed Minister of Magic in the wake of the previous Minister's assassination, and he was the last hope of keeping the Ministry out of Voldemort's control.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why you have been summoned here tonight." Kingsley said as his dark eyes swept the length of the table, coming to rest on Ron and Hermione.

"Why isn't Harry here?" Hermione interrupted, asking what many of them were surely thinking.

"Harry is still with the Dursley's. His connection to Voldemort has grown stronger since the death of Albus Dumbledore, and it would be counter-productive to our mission for Voldemort to become aware of our plans." Kingsley said with an air of clinical detachment that pissed Hermione off.

"Counter-productive?" She scoffed, "You expect him to defeat Voldemort, yet you keep him in the dark. He's not some pawn for you to play with, he's got every right-" Hermione ranted before being interrupted by Kingsley.

"You're absolutely right, Miss Granger, and this decision was not made lightly. It is critical that this information stays within these walls. He cannot, under any circumstances, know about what is discussed here tonight, at least not until the proper time. Is that understood?" Kingsley asked with a tone of finality.

Hermione glared at him, wanting to make sure he knew that she absolutely did not agree with this decision, and said through gritted teeth, "Understood."

Kingsley nodded, and then looked around the room again, continuing as if he hadn't been interrupted.

"As most of you have heard by now, Minister Scrimgeour was found murdered last week, and I have been appointed by the Wizengamot to take his place as Minister of Magic. Thankfully, there are many amongst them who are still loyal to the light." Kingsley said as his eyes swept over everyone in the room, "Due to the overt attack on the Ministry, as well as the recent rise of attacks on innocent Muggles, the failsafe has been triggered." Kingsley explained.

"Failsafe? What failsafe?" Remus asked as he looked between Kingsley and McGonagall, wondering if she knew what he was talking about.

"I believe he means me." Another familiar voice said as he stepped out of the shadows and into the room. A collective gasp was heard from just about everyone at the table, save for Kingsley.

Hermione shot out of her seat, "You were dead! Harry watched you die! Harry said Snape…he killed you! And all this time Harry's been blaming himself…" Hermione said angrily, her fists clenched at her sides as she stared at the face of someone she used to trust.

"He did indeed, Miss Granger, on my orders." Dumbledore said solemnly as his watery blue eyes pierced into Her brown ones.

A murmur was heard as everyone at the table began to talk at once.

"Silence!" shouted Dumbledore, once again having everyone's attention in the room focused on him.

"You made a horcrux, didn't you." Hermione said in disbelief, the pieces all clicking into place, "That's the only explanation. You were dead. It's the only way you can be standing here right now." Hermione whispered, the rest of the room silently watching the exchange between Hermione and Dumbledore.

"Yes, Miss Granger, I did. I've always known you were the brightest witch of your age." He admitted, watching a look of betrayal form on Hermione's face. She was still in shock from seeing Albus Dumbledore standing before her, but her hand flew to her mouth when he admitted to having made a horcrux.

"Murder, Professor, You of all people!…Who was it?" she demanded angrily.

"Grindelwald." Dumbledore answered simply, with a hint of regret in his voice.

"But, why?" Hermione pleaded, needing to know that the man whom she and her friends had trusted with their lives for the past six years wasn't just as evil as the man who they'd been fighting in a war against all of this time.

"There are some misconceptions about Horcruxes, which considering the subject matter, is often overlooked. They are a dark form of magic, to be sure. To create one, one must take a life; that is certainly true. However, unlike an unforgivable, intent is not necessary. Voldemort, has intentionally murdered his victims in order to create most of his horcruxes. A death, even accidental, or in self-defense, can still result in the creation of a horcrux. I killed Grindelwald in self-defense, and in turn created a single horcrux. It has been hidden away all these years, and the secret was entrusted to only one other person. A person whom I trusted, and still trust with my life." Dumbledore responded. He extended his hand towards another figure who stepped from the shadows into the room, and another collective gasp was heard.

Hermione's face twisted in anger as she launched herself towards the black –clad man, before Remus Lupin restrained her.

"You're a traitor!" Hermione screamed at Snape, struggling in Lupin's grasp. It was very unlike her to lash out like that, but in that moment, after everything she had been led to believe by the people she trusted most, she didn't care.

"He was following my orders, Miss Granger." Dumbledore said sadly, "I'm sorry I could not tell you, but you must understand that it is essential that Voldemort must continue to believe that I am dead, and in order for that to Happen, Harry must also believe it."

Hermione glared at her former Headmaster, and the black-clad man at his side, as she pushed out of Remus' grasp and stormed from the room, slamming the door loudly, Ron and Ginny quickly following after her.

"Well, that went about as well as I could expect." Albus Dumbledore sighed.

AN: Ahhh! Another fic! I couldn't help myself...this one just popped in there, sorta like the Staypuft Marshmallow Man, and I had to get it out into the world. I already have five chapters written, but it is a WIP. Are you loving this? Hating it? Have questions? Leave me a review! If you review anonymously, I won't be able to answer you directly, but I will do my best to address your comments in the Author's notes at the end of each chapter! xo