Chapter One: Take a breath, Take it deep.

A/n: Hello everyone! To those who followed over from "A Rose that won't bloom" welcome back! To everyone who is new, welcome to the messed up, dark, beautiful, disturbing depths of my mind. If you have not read my other work I would suggest it but you don't have to take my word for it

As usual a large version of the cover can be found at my deviantart (search user "TtHM")

The titles of the chapters are the lyrics to "Russian Roulette" by Rihanna. I do not own the characters only the horrible twisting things I do to them.

Also I did not know when Draco's birthday was so I made it up to fit the story

And it came to be

That the Dark Lord

Arranged a union

Between one male and one female

Of loyal pure families.

It was only the second week of Draco being home from school. His 5th year was now over and he was glad to be at home. Now that Draco was turning 16 he could take the mark. There was nothing that he could look forward to more than that very act. To finally be an official member to the Dark Lord's army, to finally be a part of the greater good. Draco walked the halls of his Manor with a smirk on his face. Two weeks would bring a lavish party all the most important loyal Purebloods would be there and that would be the night he turned 16 and would take the mark and it would be the best night of his life.

Draco was thinking about that night when he heard arguing. Draco stopped in his tracks and followed the sound through the halls, trying to find who was arguing and where it was coming from. Draco was able to discover that it was coming from his father's study. Draco stepped close enough that he was able to hear what was going on. From what he could hear it was his father, his mother and his Aunt Bellatrix. He stepped closer, the door was cracked up but he couldn't see anything so he decided to just listen

"You agreed!" Bellatrix hissed. "16 years ago before the boy was even born! You promised him to the Dark Lord and now you cannot go back on your word. He was chosen."

Draco felt his heart stop. What were they talking about? Obviously it was about him but what had his mother promised the Dark Lord he would do. The Dark Lord had chosen him for something and it must have been important. He continued to listen maybe to see if he could figure out what it was.

"But he is my baby! He is only going to be 16!" His mother cried

Draco scoffed; he had always thought his mother to be weak. Sure she was his mother and she cared about him but did not give her an excuse to deny Draco his destiny. Draco smiled to himself at that thought. The destiny he was given to the Dark Lord. He liked the sound of that.

"Narcissa!" Lucius snapped. "You should know better than that. Like Bella said we agreed, in fact you agreed. You offered Draco for the job. You were so eager to follow the Dark Lord and to please him that you were willing to do anything for him. What happened to that woman Narcissa? It is like you have become comfortable with him being gone to the point of where you have lost his loyalty."

"No Lucius that isn't it at all! I still love the Dark Lord, I really do. It's just he is my baby. Don't you think that he is too young? Maybe 17 or even 18, just after he graduates. I am not ready for this."

"The Dark Lord has ordered it!" Bellatrix hissed again. "It must be announced at his ball!"

"If the Dark Lord orders it then I will do it," Draco said pushing the door open and stepping into the room. Lucius smirked as his son said this. "The Dark Lord's orders are his order and if it has been promised then it will be done. Who are we to question what the Dark Lord asks of us?"

"But Draco," Narcissa said grabbing his arm. "You know not what the Dark Lord asks."

"It doesn't matter because he asked it." Draco said pulling his arm away from his mother, disgusted at her. "Honestly mother, I would think you would know better. One would almost thing that you had become a traitor."

Narcissa shook her head as Lucius stepped forward. He clasped his hand on Draco's shoulder with a smile. "Now that is my boy." Draco couldn't help but smile. He enjoyed making his father proud. "You shall make a fine Death Eater. You step forward and accept your destiny not knowing what it could be even if it could be death." Draco stopped as his stomach dropped. Death? He had not thought about that. What if the Dark Lord was asking him to die? He did not have long to think about this before his father laughed. "Do not worry my boy it is not death, at least of your life. I guess you can call it death in a certain way."

"In the same way we die to ourselves to follow the Dark Lord?" Draco asked looking at his father.

"Yes in fact my boy. It is just like that." Lucius turned from his son and went to sit at his desk. "Narcissa would you like to explain to the boy his task?"

Narcissa shook her head with tears in her eyes and she stomped out of the room.

"You are betrothed," Bellatrix said. "Your engagement is to be announced at your ball. You shall marry after the girls 17th birthday. So this time next year you will be getting ready to be married.

"The two of you were hand selected by the Dark Lord before you were even born. The two of you are to lead the Death Eaters. You are to lead the revolution to take England and then the world. You shall be at the Lord's right hand and your wife shall be at yours. You are the best to lead us."

Marriage? That was no big deal. Draco had never seen himself marrying. The part that stuck him was that he was going to be the Dark Lord's right hand man. "Right hand man. Isn't that your place Aunt Bella?"

"I was just keeping the spot warm for you." She replied. "Not to mention I have another job."

"Now Bella your relationship with the Dark Lord has nothing to do with this," Lucius said with a smirk.

"That is not what I am talking about, Lucius. After your party you bride and her family will be joining us for the rest of the summer. Until you return to Hogwarts and after you marry I shall mentor the both of you to be the best leaders you can be."

There was only one other question on Draco's mind. "Who is it? Based off what you have said I gathered that it has to be a pureblood and a member of the Death Eaters so whose daughter will I marry?"

"You are betrothed to Hermione Granger," Lucius said flipping through some paperwork on his desk.

"But she is a mudblood!" Draco blurted out.

Bella chuckled as Lucius said, "My dear boy. You know nothing. Granger is no Mudblood, in fact her family was held just as high in the Dark Lord's army as we are. When the Dark Lord fell the plan had still been to have you marry and to carry out the plan but the Grangers worried about the Ministry getting a hold of the plans. So we made a choice, I started working with the Ministry to keep an eye on things and the Granger's went into hiding. Disguised themselves as Muggles and raised Hermione to think that they were. Now the Dark Lord is ordering the Grangers out of hiding, which they are very glad to do, and the plan is to be completed." Draco's head was spinning this had to be some type of sick joke. Hermione Granger a Pure Blood? Now not only was she a pure blood but now she was supposed to be his fiancée. "At your birthday party you shall present her with this," Lucius pulled out a small black velvet box which Draco was sure contained an engagement ring. "Which she shall accept and then the two of you will be official engaged."

Draco nodded and went to leave the room before Lucius stopped him, handing him the box with the engagement ring in it. Draco took it and headed to his room his head reeling.

A few hundred miles away, Hermione Granger was arriving home from visiting her Muggle friends. One of the things that she loved about her Muggle friends was that it felt like not a day had passed. As if they had just been speaking the day before. She walked in the front door laughing about something one of her friends had said. She was going to head up stairs and study a little bit before dinner. "Mum, dad, I am home." She called. "I am heading up stairs to do a bit of reading before dinner."

"Hermione will you come here a minute?" Her mother called back.

Hermione walked into the living room not sure what was going on. She walked into the living room. She could see her parent sitting together on the love seat and on the other side of the coffee table sat a dining room chair . Hermione stopped dead in her tracks when she saw her parents. They were dressed in black robes. "Mum, dad what is this about?"

"Please just sit darling," Her father said

"I have told you before that you don't have to wear robes just because I am a witch" Hermione said sitting down.

"Your right darling we don't have to," Her mother replied.

"We have to because we are," Her father said as both he and her mother pulled out wands.

Hermione's eyes went wide. "But... What… no... You're Muggles."

Hermione's mother chuckled. "No darling we are not. In fact we are the opposite. We are Pure bloods and quite proud of it." Both of them lifted the sleeves of the robes showing off matching dark marks. Hermione jumped back in her seat knocking over the chair she was sitting in.

"You're Death Eaters?" She said as she reached for her wand that was in the waistband of her jeans. The wand was gone. Where was her wand?

"Looking for this?" Her mother said holding up Hermione's wand. "Darling please sit down. We don't want this to have to be any harder than it has to be."

Hermione sat down and the same thing that had been explained to Draco was explained to her. Hermione could not believe her ears. Her parents were Death Eaters and she was supposed to be engaged to Draco Malfoy. "Say I refuse?"

"Then you die," Her father replied. "I am sorry darling but that is the way it has to be. In two weeks at his birthday ball Draco Malfoy will present you with an engagement ring and you will accept. Then the 25th of next June the two of you will be wed."

"But this can't happen. I am friend with Harry Potter!"

"Which is now going to stop."

"I am seeing him at the end of the summer when I go to the Weasly's like normal"

"Which is not happening. We are packing up and preparing to leave for the Malfoy's. We shall be living there the rest of the summer. Then when you return from Hogwarts from summer next year you will continue to live with the Malfoy's as Draco's wife and you will lead our revolution. There is no other option. You will not tell Harry Potter what is happening you will not speak to him or the blood traitors again. That is no longer your life and you need to accept that. Now go to you room and begin to pack. Remember no muggle things, leave your clothes other than your school robes, you will have new clothing at the Malfoy's when we arrive."

Hermione climbed the stairs with tears in her eyes and her heart heavy. Her life had completely changed. She could no longer be the person she was yesterday. Her life had been a lie and now the truth was out she wanted the lie back.