A/N Okay so this is very different to what I normally do, and very AU! It's Hermione centric, dark Hermione. She joins the Dark Lord and together they fight, will she realise before it is too late that her heart lies else where? I'm only going to continue with this if I get some good feedback and people want me to. Okay so here it is.

Embracing the Dark

Prologue

Hermione was offered her wildest dreams set on a silver guilded platter plate before her very eyes. How could she turn it out, when it was only a few finger clutches away? Her breath came out in uneven bursts of delight and misery as she battled with her conscious. It wasn't a question of good versus evil any more, in truth it never had been. It was a matter of strength, of power. Had she the will to refuse the gift that lay before her?

She stared up resolutely into the snake eyes of Lord Voldemort, himself. She was about to push the plate of dreams away. But one should never knock a gift horse in the mouth. She was about to turn away, walk out, and rejoin Harry. Ah, her one weakness, the one fatal attachment that still hold sway over her corrupt heart. Dearest Harry, she thought, wondering desperately if he was thinking of her in return.

Lord Voldemort grinned. He knew her mind, and what she was thinking. He saw her weakness, but to him Harry Potter was already dead.

But why would he be thinking of her? He had Cho, he had Dumbledore, Ginny, Ron, he had all of them on his side. She shook her head, as though shaking away the very remnants of the tattered threads that still bound their hearts.

It was horrifying to think how this attractive young girl, who had so much going for her found herself forced to the Dark Side. But she had. Her fingers stretched out in the darkness, she was reaching for it.

Beside Voldemort stood a snivelling Wormtail, who was cradling a wound in his shoulder. It had been a vicious battle and the survivors were few in number, and plentiful in spirits. He could still smell the fear and blood through his inflamed nostrils, and now so much rested upon the greed of a seventeen year old girl.

"Your parents died for this moment, take it with open arms." The master's quiet, convincing voice penetrated her brain, forcing her to look up at him.

He smiled. "I offer you everything."

Wormtail shifted slightly on his feet, he was nervous, distinctly nervous. What if the girl rejected the Lord's offer? Her hand reached out further, her fingers shaking slightly. But not from fear, it was like a mad excitement had taken over her entire being. She didn't know what was going to happen next, nor did she care. She reached out and took the amulet that lay on the platter plate.

Voldemort smiled softly to himself, enjoying his own private joke whilst the rat which stood by his side, twitched in anticipation. It could have all turned out different, but it didn't.

A/N Love it? Hate it? Please review and tell me.