Author's Note: I can't seem to get this plot bunny out of my head…I'm currently working on three other one-shots and playing with an idea for another chapter to Perchance to Dream but this just had to be written before I could focus on those. This takes place after Voldemort kills Harry in the Forbidden Forest, but the Death Eaters fall back and allow Hogwarts to bury their dead, and they leave Harry in the forest.

Also, my Tom Riddle Jr. Is the one from Chamber of Secrets, not Half Blood Prince. I hate that they changed actors.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Draco stared at the door in front of him, silently wondering what the Dark Lord had in store for them tonight. Currently he was standing in a small room, listening to the roar of Death Eaters that had been celebrating their victory over the death of Harry in the Forbidden Forest, on the other side. Their way of celebrating, of course, had been to torture the Muggles that they had been collecting as prisoners over the past few weeks.

Draco was actually surprised they hadn't taken Harry's body, that the Dark Lord hadn't wanted to string it up at the gate of Hogwarts as if to shove it in the Order's face. He looked around at the small group of his friends and former classmates. They were to be presented as the face of the future to the Dark Lord's followers, to be marked and trained and shaped into what the Dark Lord had in store for his ideal world.

Daphne and Astoria Greengrass were standing against the wall, the younger girl picking at her nails in boredom. Pansy stood close to his side, readably scared and failing at trying to hide it. He felt sorry for her, she'd never hurt a fly in her life, she'd been all bark and no bite in school and he didn't know how she was going to make it through this.

Flanking her other side was Blaise Zabini, the tall Italian had her small hand in his and was rubbing his thumb over her knuckles affectionately, trying to soothe her fears. Draco was glad that they had found solace in each other in these hard times, Merlin knew he wasn't able to give Pansy what she had always wanted from him.

On his other side was Theodore Nott. Though they had been best friends almost all of their lives, the past year had estranged them until Harry had lost, then they had all been ushered into one wing of Malfoy Manor and forced to live amongst each other for the past week until the Dark Lord had decided they were to be presented.

Draco had heard whisperings of how the Dark Lord no longer had the appearance of the snake like figure he once wore proudly, but instead had shed his skin so to speak, in favor of his human form. It was odd, and the whispers from the Death Eaters were curious, making Draco even more uneasy as to what the night was to bring.

"I don't understand why we're being kept like hostages in this room. They could have at least had the decency to give us somewhere proper to wait," Astoria huffed.

Draco turned and glared at her, "you should be grateful the Dark Lord is even wasting his time on you. It'd do you good to remember your place and keep your mouth shut."

She glared at him and went back to examining her nails, ignoring the embarrassed look her sister was giving her. Pansy shivered, and Blaise pulled her closer to his side, letting out a long sigh.

"It really doesn't make sense, mate. We're being treated as though we are prisoners ourselves, surely this is not what our future is going to be like?" he looked at him pointedly.

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head, turning his eyes back to the door in front of them. He heard the door in the back of the room open and shut, and wouldn't have even paid it any attention had Theo not gone stiff beside him all of a sudden.

He turned his head and his breath caught in his throat when he saw who it was. Hermione Granger was walking up to the front of the room, four Death Eaters boxing her in, hands shackled in front of her. She was clean, yet she still bore the marks she had earned in the battle, and dressed in what Draco assumed was a slave uniform of some sort.

The material was gauzy and hung over her shoulders to cover her breasts and fell to the floor, banded under the breasts and at the waist, falling between her legs. It showed a fair amount of skin in the front and barely covered her back, and both of her legs were exposed from the thigh down, peeking through the material. Her hair hung down her back freely, and she wore a determined look on her face instead of a frightened one.

"Oooh, is she our initiation kill? I would so love to torture her mercilessly before we kill her," Astoria said excitedly.

Draco gave her a nasty glare and was about to say something when Theo beat him to it with a snappish, "shut your mouth."

"He's right," Pansy said, turning to give Astoria a dirty look, "I wouldn't wish what she's about to go through on anyone, not even her."

Blaise squeezed her hand tighter and shushed her, not wanting the Death Eaters accompanying Hermione to hear what they were saying. Draco turned his head towards Theo, who had gone back to staring at Hermione, and gently nudged him in the side. Theo tore his eyes away from her to look at him, an unreadable look in his eyes.

Draco was about to ask what his deal was when the doors opened and two Death Eaters came in and started moving them out. He noticed, briefly, that Hermione had been kept in the room and the doors had been shut behind them.

The room quieted down as they were walked to the middle of it, his parents and Bellatrix at the front of the room standing next to the Dark Lord. He noticed all of the parents of their group was there, except for Blaise's mother who lived in Italy.

"Ah, the future of our world! Come closer, my pets, let me get a good look at those of you I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet," Voldemort said, gliding down the stairs he was at the top of to come closer to them.

Astoria was the first to greet him, head held high with a gleam in her eye, "my Lord, it will be my pleasure to serve you."

He gave her a once over then pushed her aside, ignoring the way she pouted at his dismissal. He walked closer to Draco, Theo, and Blaise, a smile on his face. "I am most excited about young Misters Malfoy, Nott, and Zabini here. Especially you, Mister Zabini."

Blaise glanced at Draco out of the corner of his eye, obviously confused, before shifting his gaze back to Voldemort. "I am yours to command, My Lord," he said as he bowed.

"That's good to know, Mister Zabini, for I feel as though we will have much to talk about in the coming days," Voldemort turned his back and starting walking back towards the base of the stairs.

"My Lord?" Blaise questioned.

He turned at the base of the stairs and looked back at Blaise with amused eyes, "you are about to be in for quite the surprise. Send her in!" he bellowed.

The doors behind the small group opened, and the murmurs and whispers from the crowd grew louder as Hermione stepped through them. She walked to where Voldemort was standing and the Death Eaters removed her shackles. Draco half expected her to pull a wand from somewhere and start throwing hexes, but was surprised when she instead smirked at the Dark Lord.

"My friends and loyal supporters, it may come as a surprise to see Harry Potter's best friend standing amongst you. Or perhaps some of you are not so surprised, but instead think that she is here to serve as our entertainment for the evening. However, it will surprise you to hear that she is here to join our side. Or rather, take her rightful place where she belongs."

The whispers from the crowd grew to full on confused comments and nasty slurs about her heritage. Draco looked at his friends in confusion, and did a double take on the pained look in Theo's eyes. His attention was brought back to the front of the room as his own father yelled for everyone to shut their mouths. If that wasn't what quieted everyone down, it was the look on Voldemort's face that did it.

"You see, Miss Granger isn't in fact, Miss Granger at all. No, in fact when I encountered her during her first year at Hogwarts, her sheer intelligence made me question her parentage. No muggle could be as magically gifted as she, it had to have been a mistake. So I had that Quirrel fellow look into it for me, and low and behold Miss Granger here was adopted," he paused as more murmuring erupted from the crowd.

He waited a few moments for it to die down before continuing, "upon further research I found that there was in fact, a Pureblood witch who gave her up for adoption when she was just a baby. Just a babe, thrown to the wind, in favor of a worthy male heir to keep the bloodline flowing."

"Who is he talking about?" Pansy whispered between Draco and Blaise, but neither of them could answer. Draco looked at Hermione, who was still wearing that damn smirk on her face, surveying the crowd.

"Yes, what a mistake I thought at first. But then, an opportunity. You see, I led Hermione to her true parentage back in her second year at Hogwarts, and I presented her with an opportunity. One which she agreed to most readily, a chance to take her rightful place amongst us, where she belongs. However, a chance to help us from the other side, a spy of sorts. And just what family does she belong to, you ask? Well, may I present to you, Hermione Zabini."

Gasps were heard around the room, and all eyes had turned to Blaise whose dark skin had ashened. "How was I not aware of this?" he whispered.

Voldemort turned to face him, while walking to Hermione's side. Hermione was looking at Blaise fiercely, her amber eyes bright and daring. "Your mother never wanted the Zabini inheritance to go to a female heir who would marry someday and end the Zabini line, so she hid her with a powerful spell and not quite a year later you were born, Mister Zabini," he lifted a hand to run along Hermione's arm and up and across her shoulders.

A glowing light appeared where his hand traced and Hermione closed her eyes and shivered. Draco gulped as her appearance started to change slightly, her skin became tanned, not as dark as Blaise's but not the milky complexion she'd always had. Her amber eyes seemed to grow more intense, and her hair deepened in shade, gone were the bushy curls replaced by silky deep chocolate waves. The Dark Lord stood on the other side of her, trailing a hand up to grab her chin and guide her face towards him.

"This, my loyal servants, is the face of our future," he bent and placed a soft kiss on her lips. One that she returned, one that struck silence throughout the room. One that made Draco reach out and grab Theo, who had taken a few steps forward, as if to try and stop what was happening.

"Now, my pet, run along and get to know your new toys better," he gestured towards Draco and the rest of the group still standing there with shocked expressions on their faces.

Hermione smiled and bowed, "yes, My Lord."

She turned towards them and walked up to Blaise, "come dear brother, we have much to discuss."

Blaise smartly kept his mouth shut, and bowed to the Dark Lord before following her out a door in the side of the room, everyone else walking behind them. After following her down the hall for a short walk, she opened a door that led into a study of sorts. There was a roaring fireplace with a few high backed chairs in front of it, and a large desk. Draco had never seen the room before in his life, and guessed that it was just one of many in the Manor that he had never explored.

"Cut the crap, Granger! What the fuck was that?!" Blaise roared at her.

"Watch your tone, brother dear, everything the Dark Lord says is true. Ask mummy dearest if you don't believe me, while you still can," she responded in a dark tone.

"Don't you threaten my mother," Blaise walked towards her, reaching for his wand.

Hermione held out her hand and Blaise stopped mid-stride, she curled her hand like she would around a mug and he fell to his knees, choking on air. Pansy rushed forward to try and help him but the look Hermione gave her made her freeze.

"Perhaps you weren't listening, but our mother kept my heritage from me, all so that our precious bloodline would continue. She could have killed me instead, but what she did was much worse in my opinion, leaving me to be raised by filth! Leaving me to a life of terror and torment at your hands!" she gestured towards all of them in the room. Blaise was still struggling to breathe, and fell forward on his hands.

Astoria stepped forward, her eyes dark with disgust, "you will never be great like us, Granger. I don't know what bull you've managed to feed the Dark Lord, but you won't get away with it."

Hermione unclenched her hand and Blaise gasped for air, Pansy rushing forward to help him. Hermione turned towards Astoria and an unsettling smirk appeared on her face again, "little Greengrass, you just never know when to shut your mouth do you? Do you think the Dark Lord would bat an eye if I killed you? Do you think you are that precious? Let's see how worthy you think you are when you can't even utter a single spell any longer," she raised her hand and whipped it down.

Astoria fell to the floor holding her mouth, blood pooling out through the cracks in her hands. Daphne rushed forward and pulled her hands away, trying to see what was wrong so that she could fix it. She jumped back when a lump of meat fell out of Astoria's hands, her tongue. Astoria was making strangled gurgling noises and stared at Hermione with wide eyes.

"Daphne, take your sister and clean her up, I trust that you don't need to be told twice," Hermione said.

Daphne nodded and actually paused to bow slightly before helping Astoria up and out of the room. Pansy looked like she was going to be sick, and Blaise was glaring up at her. Hermione smiled and turned to face the rest of them again.

She walked over to where Pansy was kneeling next to Blaise, and when Pansy realized she was standing in front of her, she rose and kept her eyes focused on the floor. Hermione reached out and lifted her chin so that the other girl was looking at her, "I heard what you said, back in the room. Compassion can be looked at as a weakness, but it can also be a strength. Prove yourself worthy of my compassion, for all the years of hell you put me through."

Pansy looked at her with wide eyes and nodded slowly. Blaise stood and pulled her back to stand beside him, still glaring at Hermione, but not bothering to say a word.

"And what about me?"

Draco turned to look at Theo, who had asked the question and was looking at Hermione with narrowed eyes. He watched, as Hermione turned to look at Theo and the smirk was replaced with a knowing smile.

"Oh my dear, dear, Theodore," she started walking towards him slowly. When she got to him she cupped his face in her hands, a gesture that made Theo's eyes flutter and caused Blaise and Draco to look at each other in confusion.

"You'll be what you've always been, Theo." She leaned down and ghosted her lips across his, "my mistress."

Theo's eyes snapped open and he pulled himself away from her. He opened his mouth to say something but the look on her face made him close it, staring at her for a few moments before turning and walking out the door. Blaise turned to follow him, pulling Pansy along with him, leaving Draco with her in the room alone.

She was turned away from him, and the silence that hung in the air was deafening. When he was sure she wasn't going to say something first, he said his first words to her softly, "Potter is with the Order in case you were wondering. He made it out safe."

Her silence had him question whether or not he had said the right thing. Finally, she turned and looked at him, and gave him a simple nod. He let out a sigh of relief and narrowed his eyes at her, "is that shit about being a Zabini real? I don't even think you could have pulled off that lie."

"It's the truth, I've known for years. But it was easier to spy for the Dark Lord as the muggle best friend of Harry Potter, they all would have treated me differently if it had been found out who I really was."

"And what was that shit with Theo? What the fuck was that about?" his voice had raised and her eyes snapped up to him, a sneer on her face.

"What's wrong, Malfoy? Upset that I was able to seduce your best friend who thought I was a muggleborn?"

"I'm upset that both of you kept that information from me!"

Draco found himself pinned up against the wall by Hermione's arm against his neck, "you have two options, Malfoy. You either stand by my side as my right hand man and help me, or you die, it's simple. You don't question me, you don't question Theo, and you sure as hell don't report to the Order without asking me first," she spat.

She let go of him and he straightened his robes. He stared at her for a moment before giving her a mock bow and turning to leave. As his hand hit the doorknob he turned to face her once more, "careful, Granger. Don't forget which side you're on."

She turned away from him, towards the fire, and he took that as his dismissal. When he went to open the door however, he stopped as his blood ran cold at the sound Hermione was making. He turned slowly and looked at her again and realized it was laughter, and not the kind of laugh you make when someone tells a joke.

But a bone chilling, hair raising, laugh that sent shivers up Draco's spine….and vanished all his hope for the future.

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