Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters you recongize, it would be nice though

It had been a peaceful moonlit night when Hermione heard the first of the chorus of cheers. Although the voices sounded as though they were miles away, definitely far out of her sight, she knew deep down why everyone was happy. It was one of those feelings were you just knew. Hermione even felt part of the weight of the world lift off her shoulders when she walked out of her small cottage that evening. She knew then that they had won. The 10 year long war was finally over and the light side had won.

Hermione fell to the ground on her knees and began to cry. Some of the tears were tears of happiness, others were those of sadness. She was happy that Voldemort had finally been defeated once and for all. She would no longer have to hide in fear. She would be able to move out of the cottage and have a real permanent home and a job. She would be able to see her friends, or rather what might be left of her friends.

This is the point when her depression got the best of her and she let it all out. She hated Voldemort. She always had based upon what he had done to Harry's parents. But five years ago, Hermione wanted to kill him and torment him the same way he did to her. She cried as she thought about the incident. Hermione cried until she heard little footsteps come up from behind her.

"Mama?" A little voice asked. "Why are you crying?"

She wiped the tears away and looked at the source of the voice. A little boy was standing in the doorway of the cottage. He was about four-years-old with innocent brown eyes and hair as black as soot. The boy wearing an old large shirt Hermione had saved to serve as his pajamas. In his hands, he was holding protectively a fading blue teddy bear with one of its button eyes missing. He was looking at her with a concerned expression.

"I'm alright, sweetheart," she told him calmly as she could. "Hear that?" She cupped her ear and motioned to the cheering. "The war is over."

The boy tilted his head, wondering why everyone was so happy. To him, it never really seemed as though there was ever a war at all. He had only heard stories about it from his mother when it was his bedtime. But he could never imagine what the war had been like truly. He was never exposed to it to the point where he would have nightmares. Deciding it was unimportant, the boy shrugged and walked back into the house.

Hermione could not help but smile, although it was very faint. She followed her son back into the cottage and found him sitting on a wooden chair at the table. His teddy bear was propped up next to him on the table and his legs were swinging back and forth as he waited patiently for his mother to join him. They had been playing a game of Exploding Snap. The cards laid patiently on the table, awaiting to be touched and played with. The boy eagerly picked up his deck and waited for his mother to do the same.

When she sat down, Hermione did not make a grab for her cards. Instead, she propped up her elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. She looked at the boy and ran her fingers through his thick dark hair, admiring how similar his hair was to another. His brown eyes looked up at her impatiently.

"Mama, are we going to play or not?" He asked her.

"Caden, isn't it time for bed?" She asked him, not only was it that time, but Hermione did not feel up to playing another game.

He looked around for any indication of the time. Frowning when there was none, Caden looked back at his mother and hoped just one more game was enough. Hermione rolled her eyes and smiled at her child before ruffling his hair. She got up from the table and walked into the boy's room. Caden made a quick grab for his bear before following her.

Caden jumped into his bed and quickly got under the blankets. "Mama, can you tell me a bedtime story?"

Hermione pulled up a chair and placed it next to the bed. "What would you like me to tell you about?" She asked him as she sat down.

The boy thought about it for a moment. "Tell me about Roland."

She stopped for a moment at the sound of her son's hero's name. Part of her was pleased, while the other part of her was in distress. Why did he want a story about Roland now? Why could he not want a tale of herself and her friends in the years before the war? But never the less, she put on a fake smile and asked him which tale she wanted him to tell about Roland.

"Tell the one about the time Roland almost killed Harold and captured the lady Hannah."

Hermione nodded slowly and began the tale of the fearless wizard Roland and his battle between what her son presumed was the evil Lord Harold and his men. She could never figure out why Caden loved this particular story of Roland so much. Maybe it was the battle itself, or maybe because it was a turning point in Roland's life, when he meets Hannah and soon becomes no longer cruel and heartless, but becomes gentle and somewhat caring, like a father figure to Caden. She smiled at the thought and placed a kiss on her son's forehead as her tale was over and his eyes were closed.

She walked out of Caden's room and shut the door silently. An owl was on the wooden table where the Exploding Snap still laid. Around its ankle was a rolled up newspaper tied to it. Hermione paid the owl and made sure it flew out of the house before unraveling it. In big bold letters on the front page were the words, 'YOU-KNOW-WHO FINALLY FALLS!' Underneath the title was a large moving photo of Harry, Ginny, and Ron, all looking relieved and happy. Hermione let out a breath, knowing her friends were alright.

They looked different after eight years of not seeing or hearing of them. Harry's arm was wrapped around Ginny's waist protectively. Hermione noticed the ring on Ginny's finger, meaning they had gotten married. Ron no longer looked like a teenager, he looked more of a man, as did Harry. Ginny's face still held small traces of her life before getting involved in the war, but Hermione would not noticed if she was not looking for it. Her friends had grown up without her, as did she.

She was 27-years-old, but held the knowledge of some one twice her age. Hermione was forced to grow up quickly when she was 19, under the circumstances she was. She was no longer naïve, but still held a sense of authority and could still be a know-it-all at times. She had become a woman at 19 and a mother at 23. If someone were to have seen her alone, without Caden, no one would guess she was a mother. Her figure was perfect and she still looked young. Her brown hair was more tamable and her face was no longer that of a child's. If her friends were to see her now, they probably would not believe she was the same Hermione that would join them on their ridiculous quests.

Hermione put away the newspaper and the Exploding Snap. It was getting late, and she felt her eyelids begin to get heavy. She could not help but think about what she and Caden were going to do now. They had no need to hide anymore, should she leave the cottage and move Caden near the city and civilization? Would she be able to see her friends again, and how would they react to her sudden appearance as well as Caden? Could she even take Caden away from the only home he has ever known? A million thoughts raced through her head as to what she should do in the morning. Hermione let out a sigh and went into her own room.

The bed was comfortable and she never took it for granted. Hermione relaxed a little as she felt herself sink into the mattress and pillow. She took in the sweet smells around her. She smelled Caden on the pillow next to her, as it was his whenever he had nightmares as every kid does. She could smell the shampoo she used on her own pillow. But when Hermione grabbed the dark green flannel blanket to pull it over her, she instantly stopped and put the blanket back and reached for another. Although that particular blanket was her favorite, she was not up to facing the memories that blanket held.

Hermione began to fall asleep in a matter of moments. It was a cold night, and that one blanket she had on was not enough. Unconsciously she grabbed the green blanket with the memories and subconsciously took in the smell.

"HERMIONE! BEHIND YOU!" Ron screamed to her as he blocked a curse himself.

She turned around to see two death eaters coming her way. One of them raised his wand and made a move to attack her, but she was quicker. Within an instant not only was that death eater down, but him and every other one within ten feet of her. Hermione looked up at Ron, who gave her a small laugh, helped her up on her feet. But that grin on his face instantly faded as he noticed even more cloaked figures apparated to the now abandoned town. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances before preparing themselves for new wave of Death Eaters.

"Where's Harry?" She asked Ron, as she looked around for him.

As she asked him that, they both heard a loud bang from behind. Whipping around, they saw that Harry had been flung into the top of one of the buildings. A rather tall Death Eater came around the corner with his eyes still on Harry. Hermione's grip around her wand tightened as she thought of a good spell that would blow that Death Eater into a thousand pieces.

Ron casted a paralyzing spell at the unknown man. Hermione watched in amazement as even though he was more than hundred feet away, the Death Eater blocked the curse as though he knew what Ron was thinking. Ron cursed at the man and tried again, but the spell bounced off of him.

Hermione ran a little closer to the man and yelled, "Stupefy!" Once again, the spell had the same effect. The man muttered a spell and Harry was brought up from the building and slammed into another. Hermione continued to watch in horror as Ron came up next to her.

"What are we doing to do? Another impact like that might kill Harry!" Ron said to her. That gave Hermione an idea.

She looked around at the debris around her and found a grey stone that had fallen off from one of the buildings around them. It was a perfect size, not to heavy for her to lift, but it weighed enough to might do some damage. She locked on to her target, and threw the stone at the back of the man's head.

He dropped Harry in midair and was knocked to the ground. Ron and Hermione cheered before running over to Harry to make sure he was alright. Harry groaned in pain, but muttered a quick spell to relieve in and got up. He dusted himself off and thanked Hermione.

By now the rest of the Death Eaters had arrived at the scene. They were running out to meet them for the attack when Hermione noticed something odd. She quickly turned her head around as she ran to make sure her mind was not fooling her into thinking that the body of the Death Eater had disappeared. She let out a gasp when her eyes examined the rubble and found nothing but stones and no sign of him anywhere.

She froze when she realized he was not there. Hermione looked up at the place where Harry had struck the building. Some of the stones had been damage due to the impact. She could not have imagined the Death Eater if Harry had been effected by him. After stealing a quick glance at Harry and Ron having no problem fighting off the rest of the Death Eaters without her, she looked over at the spot where he had fallen.

The stone she had struck the Death Eater with had one of its sharp corners soaked in blood. But what made Hermione gasp was the fact that under the stone was the Death Eater's mask. She picked it up and examined it. The front was painted silver with black and dark gray lines tracing over the outlines and adding more detail to the face to make it look more like a skull. A blood-red line was engraved vertically down over the right eye of the mask.

As Hermione used her finger to trace the engraved line on the mask, she heard the stones moved over each other behind her. She turned around to see what the source of the sound was. When she did, Hermione held her breath and pressed the mask closer to her. Less the six feet away from her was the mysterious unmasked Death Eater.

The Death Eater was a tall man maybe four or five years older than herself, making him probably around 23 or 24. She had never seen him before at Hogwarts, for she would have remembered his handsome face. He had black hair hung over his eyes and his skin was tanned from the sun. He had a slightly stubble jaw and Hermione could tell even through his robes how muscular he was. Although as handsome as he might be, she was terrified of him.

He was a towering figure and the murderous look he gave her sent shivers down her spine. His green eyes glared at her and were full of rage and hate. Blood was leaking down the side of his neck, probably from the rock she had thrown at him. And when Hermione looked into his eyes, she saw the purpose of the engraved red line. There was a terrible scar where the line was made by a large knife and it added even more to his horrifying appearance. His breathing was heavy and labored, but he was swift in his movement.

His grip around his black wand tightened and in a deep, marvelous voice, he growled, "Silencio!"

Hermione took a step away from him and began to shiver in fear. Harry and Ron would never be able to hear her scream for help whatever he did to her. She instantly thought the worse and waited from him to approach. He muttered a spell she did not recognize, and in an instant, she blacked out.