Declaimer: According to the little elves that live on my shoulder J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter and will do for quite some time, but I'm going to borrow her characters for a bit and see what happens :)

Chapter 1: Touché

As the sun rose on the horizon the sky was filled with majestic oranges and reds which seemed to dance around each other as though they were alive. A lone girl stood on a hill, looking content at starting out into space. If someone were to take a closer look at that girl then they would see faint scars marring her arms, some of which were just about healed but some that seemed as though they had been made only yesterday. They would also see what she clutched tightly in her hand, it was a piece of high quality parchment which no student could afford and which bared the Malfoy crest upon it.

The girls name was Hermione Granger; Gryffindor bookworm and one third of the golden trio.

It was a well known fact that Hermione was the glue that kept the other two together and the brains behind everything, but what was not well known was that she needed her own glue, someone that could help her when she got stuck. Over time she had found that relying on the boys to glue her back together when she got hurt was not a clever option and as she didn't have that many friends she had to find a new way. A way that didn't rely on anybody except herself.

One night many months ago she had accidentally cut herself on her knife in the Great Hall and as she saw the blood well up from the cut she felt a sick sense of satisfaction wash over her, no-one noticed the smile that spread across her face. No-one that was apart from the potions master who now stood behind her on the hill.

"Out a bit early aren't we Miss Granger?"

She was not a girl who jumped easily but this time she was thankful, she used the recovery time to wordlessly cast the glamour she usually wore upon her arms, masking the scars from sight.

"I've been out earlier," she said, while turning around to face him.

"You do realise Miss Granger it is a Sunday, normally the day of rest and yet you seem not to be resting."

If anyone knew the potions master then they would know that he suffered from insomnia. Most nights he stayed in his chamber, marking all the homework he had set but last night he found that he had marked everything. At the time he made a mental note to assign more but as Poppy had promised that he got at least one nights sleep per week he took some to the Dreamless Sleep potion he had made the day previously and slipped into a deep slumber, only to be awoken by the headmaster in the early hours of the morning asking his preference on which colour socks he should wear that day. Needless to say he had not been amused and after spending some time tossing and turning he gave up trying to sleep, got dressed and decided to take an early morning stroll through the grounds only to find Miss Granger already up and out.

"I could say the same to you Sir, as you don't seem to be resting either."

"Touché Miss Granger."

They both slipped into a comfortable silence while Severus pondered the conundrum that was the young woman who stood next to him, Hermione thought back to last nights careless mistake.

Every night before she went to sleep Hermione took the glamour off her arms, letting her magic core strengthen again ready for the next day. Last night she had forgotten and woke up at 3am to discover her arms still flawless. Knowing that she wouldn't get back to sleep as her body seemed to hate her, she got up, took the glamour off and decided to see if walking around the ground could help her get mentally prepared for the day ahead. She knew that only having a few hours without the glamour on would barley make a dent in the magical and physical exhaustion she would surely feel, but she had to try something or else she would pass out like she did the last time she left the glamour on too long.

When she had first started to wear the glamour she found that she became tired quickly and the power her spells seemed to diminish, it was only when she practised what she had learned during the day at night time did she realise the effect the glamour had on her. It drained her, magically and physically. Logically she should have known this but for the past few months she hadn't been thinking logically.

"Miss Granger, are you okay. You look a little... peaky."

She looked at her potions professor in amazement; he had never asked her if she felt 'okay' before.

"Yes, I asked if you're okay. Don't look so amazed, I am human you know." he smiled slightly as he remembered all the whispered comments about his true nature; that he was actually a vampire. The thought was ridiculous though as vampires couldn't go out in the sunlight.

"I'm fine professor, just a little tired is all,"

Though some would call him cruel and callous he really did care for his students and this particular student he cared a great deal for. Before the war, he had been forbidden to show anything that resembled care towards his students but now that the Dark Lord had finally been defeated he had decided to start changing a few things for example, before he had seen Miss Granger he had been debating changing his teaching methods.

"Are you sure Miss Granger?" as he said this he saw her eyes flutter briefly and she looked as though she were about to faint before she managed to pull herself back together.

"Yes professor," she acted as though nothing had happened, " if you don't mind I'm going to go for a light jog, see you later Sir."

She was gone before he had the chance to question her about what just happened and instead of the 'light jog' she said she was going to do, he saw her sprinting back towards the castle. It didn't take her long to reach the main entrance and when she disappeared from his sight he thought back to how she had acted around him.

He had noticed the glamour she wore, after being a spy for so long it was sometimes necessary to wear one himself and he knew how much it took out of a person but what confused him was where the glamour was mainly located. Her arms and her chest. Though he had a few theories about why she would glamour her arms – he hoped that every single on of them was wrong – he couldn't think why a person would glamour their chest.

"What are you hiding Hermione?" he murmured to himself, looking out to the morning sky.

After the war had ended he had started to watch her, fighting the protectiveness that he felt for her and trying to brush it off as nothing, but as time went on he became increasingly more worried about her as she withdrew from everyone around her. No one seemed to noticed and it angered him that such a bright young witch was being ignored when she was in dire need of help. When he saw her she was usually by herself in the library or reading a book in the Great Hall, barely anyone made an attempt to get close to her, not even the other Weasley, Ginny.

All the seventh years had been made to return to complete their schooling and take their NEWTs if they had not already done so with the exception of the Golden Trio. By the time that the letters had reached everybody Potter and Weasley had already accepted jobs at the Ministry and Hermione had been about to, but upon receiving her letter declined the post she had been offered and returned to school. Before she had returned to the school she spent the summer with her parents and that seemed to be when everything changed, he couldn't put a finger on how she had it was just his gut instinct, and it told him something wasn't right.

By the time she had reached her rooms she was exhausted, the peace she had managed to find under the morning sky had evaporated as soon as she had heard her potions professor behind her. For the first time she found herself grateful for the fact that it was a Sunday and that some people slept until 11am. Deciding that it would be wise to grab a few hours of sleep while she it was possible to do so she went back to bed, this time remembering to take the glamours off her arms.

As soon as her head hit the pillow the dream started. It was always the same one and it always had the same outcome, because that outcome was her reality.

~Dream~

She was standing on the outskirts of the forbidden forest, relishing in the peace and quiet that it provided when a voice startled her.

"Miss Granger, I wasn't expecting to see you out here this early on a Sunday morning,"

Hermione looked back to see Lucius Malfoy appearing from the depths of the forbidden forest.

"Nor was I expecting to see you Mr Malfoy," even though he had swapped sides at the last minute of the war she still didn't trust him. She had tried to tell her suspicions to Dumbledore many months before but he only seemed to see the goodness in people.

"I should be going, Harry will be wondering where I've gotten to," they had all been gathered at the castle for one last Order meeting to clear up any loose ties and as it had gone on so late Dumbledore has suggest that she stay the night in the guest quarters. She had readily agreed because otherwise it would have meant apparating to her parents house when tired, and as she had learned from previous experiences it was not a clever thing to do. After a sleepless night she decided that an early morning walk around the grounds would clear her head, it was only now that she cursed herself for her foolishness of not letting anyone know where she was going.

"I know for a fact no-one is waiting for you Miss Granger, or should I call you Hermione now? After all, we're about to become better acquainted."

"Miss Granger is fine Mr Malfoy, but I really should be going. It was nice talking to you."

One of the first rules of survival was never turn your back on your enemy, but she did and the next thing

When she awoke a short time later she saw nothing but she felt everything.

"The muggles," he said the word as though it left a foul taste in his mouth, and for him it probably did," came up with thing called a 'blindfold', I thought it fitting for you mudblood."

She could hear him circling her as she lay on the forest floor, the crackle from the leaves letting her know where he was.

"I'm going to make you scream so loud that you may just break my eardrums," he stopped moving and she could faintly make out the swish of his wand as he removed her blindfold. He must've decided he wanted the full picture, get the full effect, "you will pass out from pain and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it."

She knew that he had already cast spells to prevent any of the spells he used from being traced, she had be the one to develop the spell. She also knew that he would have taken many precautions against being heard so she could break his ear drums as no one would be able to hear her scream.

"Take your last pain free breath mudblood. It's time for the fun to begin."

A piercing scream filled the air and she barely recognised it as her own. It almost sounded inhuman. Time seemed to crawl by until everything blurred into nothingness.

When she awoke again she came face to face with the monster that had caused her the pain that now pulsed throughout her body.

"Well, well, well Hermione," he drew out each syllable of her name and she shivered in disgust, only to wince when the action caused her pain,"you lasted longer than I thought you would, for a mudblood you surprised me."

Though talking would cause her pain she could not give in to him.

"I-I'm gla..glad," she managed to stutter.

"No matter, no matter you wont surprise me next time. Being the inquisitive mudblood you are I'm going to tell you what hexes I used, you should thank me. I wouldn't normally do this but as we will see a lot of each other I think I can make an exception," he almost seemed to be taking to himself but she kept quiet knowing and unstable Lucius Malfoy would do a lot more damage than a stable one.

"Let's see then. I used Crucio, stinging hexes and Sectumsempra- but don't worry I healed you afterwards, can't have mudblood blood on me. Now that may seem like not many but I guarantee that this next one will make them all seem like nothing. It's from a French friend on mine, he was kind enough to teach it to me before he died. Not a very inventive curse mind you but it does the job, does it perfectly in fact. Let me explain."

The smirk that stretched cruelly across his face would forever be embedded in her mind from this moment on. It was the epitome of pure evil.

"Each time you see me – even for a second you will relive this moment. What's to happen is you will feel pain, pain which is worse than you are feeling now and being the kind person I am, I will give you a scar to remember me, not that you need it though. The scar will burn your flesh each time it is touched, no one will want you and no one will care for you," this was all said in whispered breaths. Very un-Malfoy like, but she knew he wasn't Malfoy. He was the monster within him.

"La douleur constante."

~End Dream~

Her scream reverberated around the castle, reaching every corner and every room. The students who remained over Christmas break awoke from their slumber and the teachers stopped what they were doing. Barely a minute passed before the voice of the Headmaster sounded throughout the castle.

"Students will report their common rooms. Teachers to the Great Hall."