Hello! I've never written a FanFiction for the Harry Potter fandom because it seemed so intimidating to me but I've finally decided to just do it.

Warnings: There'll be a good deal of smut, violence, some questionable content and stuff like that. Dark!Hermione definitely. If that's not your cup of tea, I would exit this story now. Still though, it won't be way too much. There are much darker stories out there in this fandom.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.

Day 289

It had been raining for days and it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. The skies were dark and gloomy and the dropping temperatures only contributed to the brooding environment.

It felt appropriate to Ron Weasley. The situation that he was currently stuck in was inarguably as shitty as the weather. The dark cell that he had been sitting in for the past however many days (he had lost count) was filthy, cold and extremely isolated.

And it killed him.

He had been in worse environments in the past. His line of work was dangerous and situations like these were common, however, being completely isolated was not usual for him.

When he arrived to Malfoy Manor, he had expected to be tortured immediately for information, but instead, he had been thrown into a cell and no one had come to see him since then. Even his pathetic excuses of meals had been delivered only when he was asleep, so he never saw anybody.

It was extremely peculiar, considering how highly ranked he was in his organization. He wasn't trying to be arrogant but it really surprised him how nobody had bothered to try to get information out of him. If it had been the other way around, Ron knew that he would be trying to get information from a rival member as soon as he could.

But when he really thought about it, he supposed that it had to do with her.

A chill ran up Ron's spine as he pictured her soft, brunette curls and her warm brown eyes. The comforting smile that used to greet him now haunted him.

He suddenly frowned. He had been locked in this cell for a number of days and she didn't even have the decency to see him since his capture. It was cowardly, in his opinion, for her to stay away after he had learned the truth. She had barely looked him in the eye when the truth came to light and now she wasn't even bothering to show her face to him.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door open. The sound of footsteps caught Ron's attention and he looked over his shoulder to see who his visitor was.

"Weasel."

Ron narrowed his eyes at his visitor. "Malfoy."

The space around his cell were just as dark as the cell but there was enough light in the sky peeking through the extremely tiny window he had that he could see the signature platinum blonde hair, piercing silver eyes, and nasty smirk of Draco Malfoy.

If there was anyone that Ron hated with everything in him, it was Draco Malfoy. The slimy git had done everything in his power to try and ruin his life. Malfoy was dangerous and evil and was against everything that Ron believed in.

Ron would do anything to ensure Malfoy's destruction. He wanted Malfoy to suffer the way he had suffered, especially since he had acquired Ron's greatest treasure.

"My sincerest apologies for your isolation during the last six days," Malfoy jeered, without any regret, "I can imagine that it wasn't ideal."

So, it had been six days. That sounded about right to Ron. Because of the rain, the skies remained relatively dark and it was difficult for Ron to figure out the time of day.

He looked at the Malfoy heir, who was staring at him with a look of utter amusement on his face. Ron wanted to slap that bloody smirk off his face. "How considerate of you to understand."

Malfoy's smirk grew wider, if that was even possible. "Of course." He walked towards the cell door and pulled out a key from the pocket of his expensive suit. "It is your lucky day, though, Weasel. You can finally come out."

The blonde unlocked the cell door and entered the cell. Before Ron could even attempt to lay a hand on him, Malfoy's fingers curled into a fist and he punched him.

Ron stumbled and his back hit the wall. Malfoy immediately bound his wrists together and grabbed the redhead by his collar.

"I wouldn't try another move if I were you," Malfoy hissed at him, "Every move you make here will contribute to the decision of your fate." He shoved Ron out of the cell and started to lead him out of the dungeon that he was kept in.

"Why don't you just kill me and get it over with, ferret?" Ron responded, with a look of pure hatred in his eyes, "I know I'm going to die here eventually. Why not just get it over with?"

Malfoy let out a cruel laugh, "What fun would that be? After all, I assumed that you would want to see her again."

A kick to the back of his knees from Malfoy sent him falling harshly to the concrete floors. It was still raining outside but Ron was shielded from it by the beautiful folly constructed on the grounds of Malfoy Manor.

Blood slowly trickled down the side of his face but Ron didn't care. He looked at his surroundings and saw a small crowd of people standing around the folly.

Familiar faces stood out to him. Pansy Parkinson. Daphne Zabini (nee Greengrass). Blaise Zabini. Theodore Nott. Astoria Greengrass. Tracey Davis. Graham Montague. Millicent Bulstrode. Cassius Warrington. And about a dozen more around his age.

There were also some older familiar faces, however, the leader of them all, Tom Marvolo Riddle was nowhere to be seen. Ron almost smiled. He had been apart of the team that assassinated the leader of the Serpent Organization a week ago and he had been the one who put the bullet in his head that had killed him once and for all.

"Ronald Weasley," Lucius Malfoy sneered, snapping Ron out of his thoughts, "of the Phoenix Organization. Welcome to Malfoy Manor."

He let out a chuckle that was eerily similar to that of his son, as he stepped closer to him. His son stepped away from him and disappeared into the crowd.

"Go to hell," Ron spat, as he stayed still in his kneeling position. If he was going to die right here, he wanted to do it with some dignity left in him.

Lucius smiled a nasty smile as he circled around him. "We leave you alone for six days yet you still come out just as fiery as ever. Perhaps, I am not the best one to do this."

He turned to step off of the platform when Ron snarled, "Damn coward."

Instead of receiving a verbal response from the Malfoy patriarch, Ron was struck heavily in the back of the head with the former's fist and fell to the ground again.

Ron hissed in pain and he could see stars from the contact with the concrete. He felt Lucius yank him up onto his knees and when he could finally see clearly again, Ron's throat ran dry.

The small crowd had parted and in the middle of the aisle stood Malfoy with Hermione Granger.

"Hello, Ron," Hermione said, sweetly, as if this was an ordinary occurrence.

She looked like the Hermione he knew but she also looked completely different at the same time. She still had the same face with those brown eyes he was so accustomed to, but her hair was tamed into wavy locks and her outfit was much more revealing than the conservative layers that she used to wear around him.

But the one thing that stood out the most to Ron was the necklace that she wore. It was a simple silver chain but a signet ring hung from it. The golden signet ring was adorned with a mix of diamonds, emeralds and alexandrites. There was one initial "M" engraved into the face of it.

Ron huffed at the sight of it. It was Malfoy's signet ring and it hung on a chain off the neck of the woman Ron had loved.

He had previously believed that she had loved him too, but recent events had proved him otherwise. He just couldn't believe that his best friend for as long as he could remember would betray him like this. Even if Hermione never truly loved him the way he loved her, he would have at least expected that she valued their friendship as much as he did.

But that wasn't true. Her love for Malfoy proved where her loyalties lied. It unsettled him after everything that they had been through together.

For appearances, the woman in front of him looked like the Hermione he knew, but he was well aware that she truly was not the same woman he once knew.

In old Hermione's place stood a woman who was corrupted by the opposition that she had spent her whole life vowing to extinguish. He had known old Hermione since they were young children in the sandbox and now, at the age of twenty-two, she was a completely different person.

Hermione walked towards him as Malfoy stayed still where he stood. She kept that small smile on her face as she stopped in front of him. "I said hello, Ron." Her voice was soft, like he remembered, but he wouldn't let himself get fooled. This wasn't the Hermione he knew. He was kneeling in front of a traitor.

Ron met her glance and almost shivered. Her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes shined as bright as ever and it haunted him. He swallowed his breath before finally muttering a response, "Hello, Hermione."

"I suppose that you know very well why you are here today. Am I correct?" Hermione asked, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Ron looked around her and saw that everybody else was completely silent as they carefully watched the interaction between him and his former best friend. Besides the two of them, the sound of the rain was the only noise.

"Someone that I trusted from the very beginning betrayed me and everything she had once believed in." Ron looked at her, waiting for some type of reaction, but there was no flash of emotion on her face at all. She did not move in any way that indicated an emotional response.

"Perhaps I should rephrase my question," Hermione said, "Are you aware that you are here because of the crimes you have committed against the Serpent Organization? Specifically, the assassination of Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Ron stared at her in utter disbelief, "The Serpent Organization is filled with evil, indecent people who deserve nothing more than to rot in the depths of hell. The people that answered to Riddle were corrupted and just as terrible as he was. I do not see his assassination as a crime. Instead, I see it as an action for the greater good. The world is a better place without his existence. I'm absolutely ecstatic that he is dead and I do not regret putting that bullet in his head at all."

Some of the people behind her started to whisper at Ron's admission of his crime.

Hermione looked at him with a curious expression on her face, "You admit to being the one that killed him?"

"I live for the truth. I die for the truth," Ron said, ferociously.

Hermione had the audacity to frown at him with a look of surprise on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by a voice in the crowd.

"Kill him, Granger! Just get on with it!" Theodore Nott exclaimed.

"No! Torture him! Come on now, Granger. Show us what you can do," Pansy Parkinson jeered, with a nasty smirk on her face.

Hermione ignored them and her eyes did not leave Ron's. She pursed her lips tightly for a moment and then asked, "Where is Harry?"

Ron was taken aback from the question. His eyebrows furrowed, "Why in the bloody hell would I tell you that?"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be, Ron. Just tell us the truth and-"

"And what?" Ron scoffed, almost feeling amused at the situation, "Die a less brutal death? No thanks. Just kill me now and get it over with." But in all honesty, he had no idea where Harry was. Before his capture, Harry had disappeared.

He looked at her, feeling disgust at who she had aligned herself with and added, "I'm not going to tell you anything. You won't get a single thing out of me."

It was at that moment when Ron noticed the gun that was resting inside the pocket of her cashmere coat. He looked at the outline of it and then back at her eyes, which were expressionless.

"You have the gun. Just shoot me."

"I have a crowd to entertain. I don't think they would like that very much."

Behind her, Lucius was watching the conversation carefully. Ron didn't know how the line of succession worked in the Serpent Organization, but he suspected that Lucius had taken over. He was probably watching Hermione's actions carefully to ensure that she would succeed on their side.

His son was watching just as carefully as him. Malfoy stood next to Nott and Zabini, who both looked very much amused.

"Why don't you entertain me then? An answer for an answer."

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Malfoy who simply nodded. She turned to Ron, again, and said, "You first."

"What made you switch sides? What happened? Was our friendship a lie?" Ron asked, immediately. He had so many things he wanted to say to her and ask her, but he knew that she would give him a subpar answer no matter what.

It didn't matter much, anyway. He knew that he wouldn't be getting out of the manor alive, but still… he wanted to know the truth. He wanted to know how everything had fallen apart.

How could Hermione Granger turn against her friends, her family, and her beliefs? How did Draco Malfoy successfully seduce her to turn to his side?

Ron just didn't understand how this had happened and he hated her for it. Oh, he loved her so much but he hated her too. He missed her… who she used to be. It almost amazed him how much people could change.

"That's quite the loaded question, Ron," Hermione finally said, after a long pause, "I'm not too sure I can answer that for you."

"I highly doubt that," Ron dismissed her, "You can at least have the decency to tell me the truth."

"Tsk. Tsk."

Ron was tempted to scream. Why was she doing this? It was killing him.

He decided to ask a different question. "Why did you spread your legs for Malfoy, then? Why did you choose him? I loved you. You know that I love you."

Hermione looked taken aback by his question. Malfoy, on the other hand, looked angered as he walked up to him. "Watch it, Weasel. She may not be quick to shoot, but I-"

"Draco," Hermione said, softly, as she rested a hand on his chest. Ron grimaced at the gesture. "It's okay. I can handle him."

She gave him a quick kiss and the two of them looked at each other for a few seconds before Malfoy turned back to the redhead.

"Watch your mouth or else I'll be the one to give you that brutal death that you spoke about," Malfoy sneered at him. He returned to where he had been standing.

Ron intended to hiss back his own response but Hermione spoke before he could. "I love him, Ron."

"He's a monster," Ron sputtered, in disbelief, "You know what he's done. You know what his whole organization has done. How can you love him?"

"An answer for answer," Hermione said, tonelessly, "I love him. I chose him because I love him. I'm sorry that you loved me but I love Draco."

Ron looked horrified. He wasn't surprised by her answer at all but to hear her freely admit her love for Malfoy disgusted him.

"Now, for my question," Hermione said, before Ron could respond, "I'll ask something different. Clearly, Harry is a touchy subject for you."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the gun. "Any last words?"

Let me know what you think! I appreciate any feedback I get. This chapter (Day 289) is the present day. This chapter could definitely standalone as an unresolved one-shot but if enough people are into it, the next chapter will start at Day 1 and continue from there.

xoxo

empressfall