Stars and Embers

Chapter 1

Author's Notes:
Hi! I am so excited to share this story that I've been planning for a while! It is slightly inspired by Romeo and Juliet! You may find some references from both the text and the Baz Luhrmann film (which is one of my favorite films).

Many of the characters and plots are referenced from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling. I've been reading so many fanfiction over the past few years, so I became really inspired to write my own!

Please enjoy and let me know what you think! I'm thinking of making a TikTok for my page, so stay on the lookout if I decide to do that :)

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October 25th, 2000

Hermione's POV

'All is fair in love in war.'

What does this statement truly mean? I know what people mean to say is that people's actions and words throughout love and war are always acceptable. That everything people do for these events are justifiable because they are fighting for what they believe in. But is it really?

In the midst of war, I've come to question this belief. The night that Dumbledore was killed, I fully committed myself to fighting with the Order to bring justice to all muggleborns and magical creatures. The pain and struggle I faced during my childhood motivated me to end all suffering. I wanted to fight for love. Fight for acceptance.

Now I'm not sure what I'm fighting for anymore. Dumbledore gave us very little help in finding the horcruxes, so we came to a conclusion to go against his will and express our mission to the Order. This was the tipping point in the balance of power.

Kingsley, Madeye and Remus are the leaders of the Order. Remus became much more aggravated from the decades of turning every full moon. The loss of two of his best friends not only took a toll on his well-being, but the death of Tonks hit the nail in the coffin. He became much more violent and less empathetic. I no longer saw the comfort of the professor that I had in my third year at school. The light in his eyes dimmed and his sense of others' well being diminished.

Once we shared our information, it was out of our hands. The leaders worked with Harry to find every horcrux and destroy them. As they were unable to figure out how they still couldn't kill Voldemort, they came to find out from Snape that Harry was the last one. They made no hesitation into sacrificing him, not knowing if he would be able to return. I was distraught thinking that I would be losing my best friend. I pleaded that they find another way to destroy the horcrux that lived inside him, but the decision was already made. After sacrificing him, he was able to come back to life which I thought would be the end of the war and ultimately freedom.

Voldemort went into hiding and we were unable to find ways to kill him which brought the mission to a halt, but the war continued.

We were sworn to never leave Grimmauld Place without permission and maintain residence until we were instructed to participate in missions. Our lives were too valuable, especially Harry's, and they wanted to use us as symbols of hope. If we were to stray, we would be marked as traitors and sent off to fend for ourselves.

Later on in the war, I was valued for a different reason. They saw during several missions my gift in combat. I was instructed more than the other two to partake in secret missions to take down Death Eater safe houses and free imprisoned Order members. In one of these raids, we were able to rescue Neville when I begged to save him after several weeks, but he was already gone. He faced the same fate as his parents when exposed to the Cruciatus curse far too many times. His mind is in a state of infancy while he still looks like a twenty year old.

Seeing another classmate destroyed in the hands of the enemy broke many of us. To see the leaders that we trusted prioritize other aspects of the war rather than helping our own, it broke all trust. I no longer saw this war as a fight for love. I saw it as a war for power.