Chapter 1:

"Wake up, you lazy little brat!"

Hermoine opened her eyes. She was having an amazing dream. Now it was gone. All that was left was a hard cement ceiling. She got up and quickly splashed water onto her face.

"Let's go!" Mrs. Hollow, the housekeeper, shrieked.

Hermoine followed her up stone steps until they came to the kitchens.

"Eat," snapped Mrs. Hollow. "Quickly."

Hermoine gobbled down the bowl of porridge. She was so sick of it but she had no choice in the matter.

"You'll start in the study today," Mrs. Hollow said roughly, disappearing.

Hermoine sighed and picked up the bucket of cleaning supplies and trudging up stairs towards the study. It was empty, thank god. She started dusting the wooden bookcases.

Four hours later, as she was polishing the large oak desk, Draco Malfoy entered the room. He watched the girl polish his desk and smirked. "Almost done, slave?" He asked, walking slowly towards the desk. He sat down in the chair and putting his muddy boots onto the desk surface. She flinched and he laughed. "Not so big now without your two bodyguards, are you? Whatever happened to them? Oh, yes, they're dead. I killed them…" He laughed again, a horrible laugh. 

She gulped, biting her lip to stop from crying.

"But you're still here…" Holding his riding crop out, he lifted her chin with the end. "Aren't you Granger?"

She swallowed hard. "Yes, sir." She wanted to hit him, to knock him down, kick, punch, and hit him until he was bloody, bruised, and broken. But she couldn't. She'd be killed for even touching him without his consent.

"What happened to the strong, out-spoken girl I remember that would put me down without a second thought?" he asked with a smirk.

Before he could say anything else, a man came in, pulling off his cloak and dropping it onto the chair in front of Draco's desk. He glared at Hermoine then started to speak. "Malfoy. We must do something about these renegades that continue to pester us," he growled. "Watch." He pointed his wand at the wall and a person appeared in a screen-like picture and started to talk to Draco. 

Hermoine backed up against the wall in order to avoid being noticed.

The reporter started to speak, "It's chaos here in London, as a group of resistance fighters against the great and powerful Voldemort have broken into the home of Severus Snape, the second in command to Voldemort himself, and are freeing slaves. One of the fighters has been identified as Oliver Wood, one of the more prominent and out-spoken members of the resistance against Voldemort." As he spoke, the screen changed to a scene of Snape's home, one wall blown away, and men and women pouring in over the rubble. At the mention of Oliver Wood, the screen froze and zoomed in on one of the men's heads, clearly the same Oliver Wood that had attended Hogwarts.

Hermoine gasped by neither man seemed to notice.

The scene moved ahead in time and now the renegades were helping people escape. They would come out in bunches and then a group would take hold of one of the resistance fighters and they would Disparate.

"We don't know where they go, sir. It's a very large mystery. They've been hitting higher-ups all this month. Make sure to take precautions, our spies say that you may be next," the person said, then the screen disappeared.

The man turned to Draco. "Now you understand why Voldemort wants this man brought in. In the past month, he's engineered more than fifteen raids and they've always gotten away clean." He slammed a hand down on the desk. "Pay attention, Draco! If your father was alive-"

Draco took his feet off the desk and leaned forward, eyes narrowed. "If my father was alive, I wouldn't be in this position, Mr. Murdock. Now, get out of my office."

"But the spies say you are next-" the man began again.

"And I'll be ready. Get out or I will have you thrown out!" he bellowed.

"Yes, sir." The man left without another word.

There was a silence and Hermoine stayed where she was, wondering if Draco even noticed her still there. She started polishing the bookcases behind her, just in case.

"Where do you think Wood is taking these people, Granger?" he suddenly asked, turning to her. "You were always the smart one in school. Answer me that."

She kept her eyes down as she moved back towards his desk to finish polishing it and did not reply, keeping her face carefully blank. Her mind was racing. Oliver was coming here. To rescue slaves. She would be rescued…

"Answer me!" he yelled.

"I don't know."

"Take a wild guess," he drawled. "You must know something. Always studying. Never hanging out with people other than Potter and Weasley." As she came nearer to him, he trailed a finger down her arm. "Always in the library with those big dusty books, that bushy hair and buck teeth. I don't blame you for hiding away. But now, now you're a beautiful girl…" He pulled her towards him. "Just take a guess."

She resisted the urge to yank her arm away. "Somewhere safe and unplottable. Somewhere you'd never suspect. Somewhere warm and dry for some many people."

"Too bad you're a Mudblood, Granger. You would have done well on Voldemort's staff." He caressed her hip with a finger.

"I have a lot of work to do. Good afternoon, Mr. Malfoy." She pulled away and walked quickly from the room.

Draco smirked as the door swung shut. He'd have her. Someday. Someday, she'd be his. He turned back to his desk. There was a lot to do if they were going to capture Oliver Wood and stop the attack on Malfoy Manor.