Hermione and her army moved from city to city, leaving destruction in their path, taking out those in charge, and replacing them with her death eaters.
Harry's visit to Hermione the night before the crusades had started had done nothing to deter her path of destruction. His pleas fell on deaf ears as he recalled.
That felt like a lifetime ago now. She was no longer at Malfoy Manor either, they had to leave the manor for a location that the ministry and the Order had no knowledge of.
Often times she and Draco would disguise their appearance to avoid recognition. She communicated with the death eaters through the dark mark. She didn't want to change it, it was a tribute to her master, and it was an effective way to communicate with them.
She only showed her true form when she was in battle, otherwise she made herself and Draco blend into the crowds.
She had mixed multiple batches of Polyjuice potion and they would steal things from people's bags like hairbrushes so they could use their DNA and transform into them.
At one point they resembled a Russian couple who were visiting London, and they walked right past several members of The Ministry including Shacklebolt and The Minister of Magic himself.
Had they realized how close they were to the infamous couple, they would have been kicking themselves. Yes, Hermione and Draco had perfected the art of eluding The Ministry and the police.
With every city she invaded, her army grew larger, and her support strengthened, especially from those who she put in power.
Her plan was to remove the minister of magic in each country and replace him with one that is loyal to her. 'Put people in power, and they will be loyal to you forever'. Her victories were making headlines left and right. People were beginning to speculate if she was more powerful than Voldemort. They wondered if she herself was immortal like he was.
The order could never quite figure out where her next target was. Hermione was always a step ahead of them in every way. Even the Ministry was pulling out their hair trying to figure out her next move.
She was too smart for them. She was like an enigma. Wanted posters covered walls on every building from city to city with photos of her and Draco. It was harder to make arrests with the death eaters, because they were always wearing masks, you would have to lift their sleeves to see the dark mark. However, the cities where she put her own men into power weren't exactly trying to find them or her.
One by one the cities continued to fall everywhere she went. People were fleeing their homes afraid that their city would be next.
'She held more power in her hands than 10 wizards combined,' or at least that was what the people were saying about her.
Everywhere she went, muggles could be found recounting horror stories of magical beings running around, and flying people on brooms, and buildings crumbling like they were made of cards.
People were saying if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, they would have thought it sounded like madness. They had no real way of explaining what they saw, because what they saw wasn't possible to them.
A woman was in a bar telling the bar tender she had witnessed a three headed dog running down Main Street, and it was the size of 3 elephants combined.
Another was describing a creature that looked like a horse and a bird combined into one. A man was telling his family of hooded figures that glided through the air and made the air turn ice cold, and how he felt dread like he would never be happy again.
All over the muggle cities, stories like these were buzzing. The Ministry sent wizards to obliviate as many memories as they could, telling them that the destruction was terrorist attacks and storms.
The Ministry was working day and night to clean up after Hermione. They were calling in help wherever they could, they even had to hire on dozens of wizards just to keep up with the case loads that were piling in. The Ministry was at their wits end.
Dark wizards who had sympathized with Grindelwald and Voldemort had turned their loyalties to Hermione from all over the world. They came from the United States, Russia, Asia, and Africa to join her army. The Ministry had no way to stop her. Harry and Ron were hired as aurors shortly after the battle of Hogwarts, and they too were on the hunt for Hermione.
Kingsley Shacklebolt was the leading the charge against Hermione personally. He made sure Harry and Ron were prepared to to what was necessary to stop her.
Ron had his own reasons for wanting to work for Shacklebolt. He thought if he could just talk to her, he could make her see reason and come back to them.
"Ron, it's too late for talking. She is a wanted criminal now. She's guilty of the things they are accusing her of. Don't forget that," Harry was saying to him.
"Harry, she and I are supposed to be together. I still love her, I won't give up on her."
Harry rubbed his temples, he hadn't told Ron about Malfoy. Now the time had come, he needed to know.
"Ron, she's with Malfoy now. If you think she's laying up at night missing you, you are wrong. She's over there laying underneath Malfoy."
Ron became furious, "she is not with Malfoy, she wouldn't do that! She hates him!"
"No, Ron, she doesn't. They are doing all of this together. She's fucking him while you are over here trying to justify her actions."
Ron shot Harry a furious glare and tackled him to the ground. "Take it back!"
"Fuck, get off of me. Hating me doesn't change the facts."
"Yea, well why did you have to say it like that?"
"Because I need you to let her go so that we can do our jobs!" Harry spat pushing Ron off of him.
"Bloody hell, Ron, you cracked my glasses!"
He fixed his glasses and looked over at Ron who was slumped against the wall.
"We were supposed to get married. We were supposed to be happy. Now she is with him???? Of all the guys she could have taken up with, why did it have to be him?"
"Malfoy is a prat, but I saw it in his eyes. He cares for her deeply. You will find happiness again, Ron. I promise you that. Our friend has gone down a dark path, and we can't help her."
"That's bollocks, we don't abandon each other like that. I'm not ready to give up on her."
"I'm not either, but she needs to be stopped before more people get hurt."
Hermione looked in the mirror and saw a blonde swedish woman looking back at her. "Suits you," Draco said laughing.
Draco had taken the form of the woman's husband. "Fuck this guy looks like a douchebag. Next time I'm picking the couple." He said looking into the mirror now.
"He's not so bad. I love the goatee," she said smiling.
"You think I should grow a goatee?" he asked looking at it.
"No, I like your face the way it is."
Her body began to change as the polyjuice wore off and her hair turned dark again and her hands became her own again. "Finally, that's better."
Draco's appearance changed back to himself a few moments later. She reached up and touched his cheek. "Yea, definitely no on the goatee."
"Would you ever consider going blonde. You do make a hot blonde," he said teasingly.
She looked at herself in the mirror again, "hmmm maybe I will dress like a veela as well. Yea?"
He laughed, "uh, yeah. That's something I'd like to see." She turned to him smirking, yea well I'd like to see you come to bed one night wearing my panties and bra. Now there'd be a sight to see."
She was reading a book in bed when she looked up and let out a shriek of laughter. "This doing it for you, Granger?"
She covered her face with her book shaking from laughing. "You look ridiculous! Okay, fine, you win. I will go blonde for you one night. Now take it off, I can't with that! It's too much!"
He climbed into bed with her, and she looked to see that he took them off. He leaned down and kissed her and she dropped her book and pulled herself on top of him.
She straddled him with her legs and kissed him. He pushed her back gently, and she sat back. He put his hand to her cheek and stroked it with his thumb. She leaned her cheek into his hand.
"Look at me, Granger." He said earnestly.
She laughed, when are you going to stop calling me Granger?" She said giggling.
"When you say yes."
She looked at him now, "say yes? Yes to what?"
He reached into the drawer of the bedside table and withdrew a small box. "Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"
She clapped her hand over her mouth, and tears streamed down her face. She leaned down and kissed him and couldn't stop smiling.
"So is that a yes?"
"Yes!"
He slipped the ring on her finger and she couldn't stop touching it and smiling. "Draco, it's beautiful!"
"I'm glad you like it." He said holding her hand. "Like it? I love it!" She said putting her hand to her heart.
She leaned down and kissed him again.
"I love you, Draco." She said wiping a tear away from her face.
"I love you, Hermione." He said as happiness filled his chest.
He rolled her over on her back and nibbled playfully at her neck while she continued to gaze at the sparkling diamond on her finger.
The next morning they drank the polyjuice potion and left their motel room.
"Carl and Amy Bollin checking out of room 394."
"Did you enjoy your stay?" The desk clerk asked.
Hermione/Amy smiled. "Very much so, thank you."