A/N: A very Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate the festival!

I'm working on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, so this is as much a gift to me as it is to you.

I know, I know, it's been ages since I published anything. This little fic has been sitting in my computer for longer than I'm willing to admit, waiting to be completed. Re-reading it today led me to realize it was actually complete, although not in the way I'd initially intended. I'd written this to be the first chapter of a very long fic, but lost my inspiration somewhere along the way. However, with minimal tweaking, THIS FIC IS COMPLETE AS IT IS. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

WARNING:

This fic is

1. Dark

2. Unbeta'd

Not sure which should scare you more. Point out any typos/other errors you might find, please and thank you!

Okay, now on to the story...

One year after the battle of Hogwarts, the wizarding world was still recovering from the darkness that had overshadowed it under the Dark Lord.

Most of You-Know-Who's supporters were rich, and the ministry was still corrupt at every level. Galleons were all it took to put the Death Eaters above the law again. Kingsley Shacklebolt tried – he tried really hard, but the corruption was too deep rooted, ensconced in bureaucracy. He eventually gave up, resigning himself to the way things worked, going with the flow and allowing corruption as long as his own hands stayed clean.

One year after the battle of Hogwarts, Harry Potter grimaced at the evil Dark Lord, before whipping his wand out to defeat him in yet another duel. He'd been an Auror, and then left the force when he found himself trapped in memories of the war whenever he encountered a criminal. Now he did monthly re-enactments of the battle of Hogwarts at the new theatre in Diagon Alley, drawing in crowds of Wizarding tourists from across the world.

One year after the battle of Hogwarts, Ronald Weasley had managed to not only secure himself a position in the MLE, but also succeeded in getting himself fired for poor work ethics after less than six months on the job. Hot-headed and unemployed, he had broken up with his girlfriend at the time, Hermione Granger, and resigned himself to a life of drunken solitude, living off the fame and money he'd receive in compensation for his 'wartime efforts.'

One year after the battle of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy returned home, having completed his probationary period and gained his NEWTs from Hogwarts. He started an apothecary in Diagon Alley, where he spent most of his days brewing Dreamless Sleep Draughts of varying intensities to drown everyone's memories of the war.

One year after the battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger disappeared from the Wizarding World. She graduated top of her class, gave all the right speeches, said all the right things, and took lots and lots of photographs. She boarded the Hogwarts Express back to King's Cross the next day, cleared out her Gringott's account, and that was the last anyone heard from her. The newspapers speculated. The ministry filed a missing persons' report. Harry and Ron searched for her. Draco Malfoy sighed as he read the news reports on her disappearance. 'Good luck, Granger,' he whispered softly.

The ex-Death Eaters' 'super-secret' club was a shady little establishment in Knockturn Alley. Hermione Granger grimaced at the filthy exterior with peeling paint disdainfully, thanking god she'd picked a short fitted black dress over a floor length one. She'd taken great care over her appearance for this day – her clothes and makeup were carefully selected to make her appear both powerful and intimidating. Obviously, not much had changed in her absence.. She had it on good authority that an ex-Death Eater meeting was in progress inside the building right now. The entrance was extensively warded but she barely blinked before blasting it in. Wandlessly.

She hadn't set foot in wizarding Britain in over five years, honing her Magic and biding her time. She had studied many forgotten magical arts and techniques from the time before Wands and Potions, when Magic was raw and used to perform unimaginable miracles, things that even the likes of Grindelwald and Voldemort had never dared to imagine. She grinned in anticipation as she approached the hole-in-the-wall establishment, which now had a literal gaping hole in its decidedly shabby wall.

Strolling through the hole, she watched the Death Eaters stumbling to get to their feet, some reaching for their wands as they noticed her presence. The room was larger on the inside than the exterior had suggested, thanks to the various shoddily-cast extension charms she could sense in the air. There were roughly fifty ex-death eaters in the room, which was pretty close to the number of Death Eaters who'd survived the battle of Hogwarts – they'd all bought their way out of Azkaban in one way or the other.

Antonin Dolohov was the first to step forward, his wand extended menacingly as he approached her. She watched coolly, wandless and completely innocent in her demure little black dress. 'Potter's Mudblood,' he purred, eyes wide as he recognised her.

'Dolohov,' she acknowledged coolly, ignoring his slur and the way his eyes lit up as if he'd been presented with a new toy.

'Malfoy,' she added, spotting Lucius not far behind, wearing his usual disdainful sneer.

'Younger Malfoy,' She finally tipped her head towards Draco, and got a slightly warning shake of his head in response, which she didn't bother to acknowledge.

She looked around the filthy room with a sigh. 'How the mighty have fallen,' she commented lightly, blatantly ignoring the forty-odd Wands pointed her way. Her own Wand was still undrawn - she wasn't sure why she even bothered carrying it on her person anymore. 'I suppose you spent the last of your Galleons staying out of prison?' A titter of pity left her lips, followed by a mocking laugh even as she steeled herself for the first attack. She was not disappointed.

'Crucio!'

The beam of light hit Hermione square on the chest, but she barely flinched, following the direction of the beam to a now terrified-looking Thorfinn Rowle. She grinned predatorily at him before raising her hand in a beckoning gesture.

The room full of evil Wizards went deathly silent as they watched the Mudblood Witch Summon a full-grown Wizard twice her size without even reaching for her Wand. 'That's no way to greet a guest, Rowle,' she purred at the man once he was frozen in place and dangling in the air before her. 'As for your little Spell,' she murmured, 'let me show you how it's done. Crucio!'

Rowle's ear-splitting shrieks instantly filled the air as the Witch held him immobile with nothing but her will. The surrounding Death Eaters muttered amongst themselves. Not even the Dark Lord had been able to hold two Wandless Spells simultaneously.

In under thirty seconds, Rowle went limp, his eyes closing as he succumbed to unconsciousness under the Curse. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Hermione released him, letting his prone form land heavily on the filthy ground. She stepped over him, moving further into the Death Eathers' little hovel, and smirked with satisfaction as they all took an instinctive step back at her advance.

'Now that I have your attention,' she began, advancing another step, 'I have a proposition for you, if you're interested.' Her tone heavily hinted that they should be interested, if they knew what was good for them.

The Witch grinned as she took a seat at the head of the table, as regally as if she were occupying a throne, and not a rickety chair in a half demolished room full of debris. 'Let us speak like civilized people,' she added, and the chairs around the table drew themselves back as if of their own accord, and in some cases, stood up off the ground from where they had been toppled by the explosion.

The Death Eaters exchanged wary glances. Unsurprisingly, it was Thoros Nott, always the politician, who sat first, choosing the chair at her left. The seat after his was hesitantly filled by Lucius Malfoy. Draco moved to follow, but the chair he chose on his father's other side jumped out of his reach before he could sit.

'No, Draco.' He shuddered at Hermione's almost flirtatious tone. 'You'll sit here.'

Shegestured to the chair on her right, and he gaped at her, half tempted to shout at her that that was not part of their plan at all. He hesitated a second too long for her patience, clearly, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. 'Now, Draco.'

He all but flew into the chair in his haste to do her bidding, a shiver making its way down his spine.

'Perfect.' The sugary quality was back in her tone as she looked around at the rest of the Death Eaters, who were all scrambling for seats now, lest they incur her wrath.

Once they were all seated, Hermione grinned down at them smugly. 'As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,' she began, sniffing at Rowle's crumpled form behind her seat, 'I have a proposition for all of you.' She paused for a second to see if any would dare interrupt, and internally laughed at the reverent silence her declaration was met with.

'I have plans for the Wizarding World. Our Ministry is corrupt, the economy is unfairly skewed, and the Dark Lord's death has done nothing to fix things. Except maybe to lighten many of your purses, I gather.' She laughed. 'Voldemort left behind a power vacuum.' Ignoring their hisses at her casual use of their Lord's name, Hermione let her grin widen, her eyes roaming to rest briefly on each of the Death Eaters' faces. 'One I intend to fill. You want money and a leader. You want to stay out of prison. I, on the other hand, require followers. Wands and loyalty. Power. Pledge to my cause, and we will all get what we want.'

To Hermione's surprise, it was Narcissa Malfoy who resisted first. The quiet woman, whose husband had been one of the first to join her at the table, was the last person she'd expected resistance from. 'You must be out of your mind if you think we'll follow the likes of you, Mudblood!'

Hermione merely raised her brows at her. 'Not even if it gets you back your money and home?' she questioned, pretending to be unruffled by her slur and rejection. 'Voldemort was a Half-Blood himself.'

'The Dark Lord would have killed that whelp for daring to raise his Wand against him,' Narcissa countered, nodding to the unconscious Rowle. She opened her mouth to say more, but Hermione cut her off.

'The Dark Lord was a coward and a fool, Narcissa. He killed more of his followers than the Aurors did.' She chuckled as the woman blanched. 'Death is no punishment. Death is a boon. It is mercy.'

There was a manic glint in her eye now, and Narcissa shrank back as Hermione stood up abruptly.

'Since you are unhappy with my methods, I'll let you choose a punishment you find acceptable for your rudeness. I could kill you, of course. Or,' she spun, her eyes fixing on Draco. 'I could take Draco from you, and have my way with him. You might find his body in Knockturn Alley five years later, battered, bruised and barely alive. Perhaps you may never find him at all.'

Her hand brushed almost lovingly tgrough Draco's hair as she spoke, watching the Malfoy matriarch's reaction. Draco took a deep breath, frozen in terror as she continued, 'I admit, I've always found him quite attractive.' Her palm closed around his jaw, twisting his face roughly towards her and looking into his eyes, then leaning down to brush her lips roughly against his. He shuddered, eyes wide in terror. Hermione heard Lucius Malfoy gasp and get to his feet, but silenced the man with a mere thought.

'No,' Narcissa croaked, aghast. 'Kill me. Please, spare him.'

'That's what I thought,' Hermione replied, her lips twisting with cruel victory. 'Unfortunately, Narcissa, you are more useful to me alive than dead - all of you. But don't for a second presume to think I'm weak or merciful, simply because your lives are safe from my wrath.' The room collectively shuddered. She let her eyes wander the Death Eaters' faces once more, before returning to rest on Narcissa Malfoy.

'Step forward.'

The woman shuffled to stand before her without hesitation, her eyes never leaving her son. 'I will show mercy, since this is your first mistake. You can join me, and ensure I treat your son well, or refuse, and lose him forever. Either way, his life is now mine, by your own doing. Consider this a lesson in avoiding unwise display of disrespect.' She let her grin widen menacingly, her hand still gripping Draco's chin. 'Choose wisely.'

Draco held still, meeting his mother's eyes imploringly. Narcissa grimaced, but obligingly knelt before her. 'I pledge my life to your cause, Miss Granger.'

Hermione chuckled coldly, finally releasing her hold on Draco. He let out a little breath of relief, his heart racing with fear. 'Call me Hermione, Narcissa. After all, your son and I are going to get to know each other very well.'

'I pledge my life to your cause, Hermione,' Narcissa choked on the words a little, her eyes full of fire. Hermione felt the Magic accept her vow, and knew she was now bound to do her bidding more strongly than the Dark Mark had ever bound a Death Eater to Voldemort.

'Then I promise to care for you and yours.' Her words were solemn and full of promise despite her earlier mocking and blackmail. 'Lucius, step forth.'

The man silently did as bid, and Hermione waved away the Silencing Charm she had placed on him. 'Will you join me, Lucius?'

The man nodded, his eyes downcast in a clear show of submission. Hermione was not fooled, and as Lucius reached for his Wand, Hermione Magically pinned his arm behind his back and forced the man to his knees. His Wand flew to Hermione's grasp, and she turned it back on the kneeling man, a curse at the tip of her tongue.

Draco, however, flung himself between them to bodily shield his father. 'I pledge my life to your cause, Hermione,' he gasped, wide eyed. She frowned down at him, but said the words that would accept and return his pledge.

'Will you join me, Lucius,' she asked again mockingly over Draco's shoulder, grabbing a fistful of the younger boy's hair and spinning him to her side. She viciously jabbed the Wand she'd acquired from Lucius at Draco's neck.

The man hesitated, and Hermione tittered sadly. 'I'm disappointed, Lucius,' she smirked coldly. 'Crucio!'

Draco, despite his long experience with the Cruciatus under Voldemort's Wand, was unprepared for the sheer pain she was able to inflict. This was certainly not part of their plan! The curse lasted less than 5 seconds, but he found himself gasping, slumped on the floor at Hermione's feet. He had clearly missed his father's pledge to Hermione.

'Good. Then I promise to care for you and yours.' The Witch replied, returning the man's Wand so calmly that it was hard to believe she had been using it to torture Draco just seconds ago.

Over the next hour, Hermione called forth the Death Eaters one by one. She knew exactly how to blackmail each of them. She knew their weaknesses, and their lines of defence. However, none of them knew the extent of her powers, and most were unwilling to test them. By the end of the little 'meeting,' she'd been hit with five Crucios, effortlessly dodged three Avadas, and at least ten Death Eaters had passed out under her torture. There were no casualties, however, and no permanent damage. Even Rowle had pledged himself.

Hermione Granger clearly had everything under control as she coolly assessed the crowd of now loyal Death Eaters she'd just signed on.

'Tend to your wounded. I will call for our next meeting a week from today. You will know where to come. If you fail to appear, you know the consequences. For today, all of you are free to leave, except the Malfoys. I intend to collect on their punishment.' She turned her steely eyes on them as the rest wasted no time in Apparating out.

Lucius knelt before her the moment the last Death Eater was gone, head bowed low in supplication. 'Spare my son, my Lady. I'll do anything.'

Hermione suppressed a laugh, smirking wickedly instead. 'Anything, Lucius? That's a brave promise. What if I asked you to take his place?' Her eyes flicked to Narcissa who looked as if she was in pain as she tried to decide which alternative was preferable to her.

'I'd gladly accept,' he replied gruffly.

'And if I demanded Narcissa instead?' Hermione mocked.

"I'd do it,' the woman replied unflinchingly, kneeling before Hermione and ignoring the pained wince from Lucius.

'Granger, are you out of your mind!' Draco snapped at her, making his parents cringe at the lack of respect and downright rudeness in his tone.

Hermione's grin widened as she turned to a nauseous-looking Draco. 'Power is everything, Draco. Do you see now? Voldmort was right. Magic is Might.'

The elder Malfoys watched in horrified fascination as their son stalked fearlessly to the woman who'd tortured him less than an hour ago, slapping her hard across the face.

Hermione gaped it him in shock, which quickly transformed to cold fury. 'You shouldn't have done that.'

'Granger, what the fuck was that!' he exclaimed, ignoring the fire in her eyes.

'Effective, Draco.' she sighed wearily, pushing him down into the ridiculously rickety chair she had previously occupied at the head of the table. 'Would you rather I let your stupid Death Eater pals bounce curses off me till they realize they can't harm me? Your brilliant plan would have taken weeks, and I still wouldn't have the power over them that I do now. Sit down, Lucius, Narcissa.' She didn't check to see if they complied, confident that they would follow her commands, even with her back turned to them.

'Some warning would have been nice,' Draco griped, running his hand through his hair. 'What happened to following the plan?'

'You didn't follow it either,' she countered indignantly. 'We were supposed to be partners. And then you had to make the pledge and force my hand.'

'You almost tortured my father!' he roared angrily.

'I had to make an example to discourage others,' she shot back. 'What would you have had me do? Give him a hug and a kiss for trying to kill me?'

He slumped back in his seat at that, letting her run a soothing hand through his hair. 'This is screwed up,' he sighed. 'Why did we think this would be a good idea?'

'It was the only idea we had, and so far, it's working,' she disagreed, settling into his lap with a sigh. 'I'm going to miss you, Draco.'

'Miss me?' he looked at her aghast.

'We can't continue as we have been, not now that you're bonded to me and can't say no. I refuse to wield that kind of power over you.' Her eyes were moist when she leaned close. She gave him a sad kiss that ended too soon and tasted like goodbye, before retreating out of his lap.

He gripped her wrist and reeled her back in, forgetting the fact that his parents were watching the scene with horrified fascination. 'And is it okay if you won't give me the chance to say yes?' he countered, studying her expression.

She didn't have a response to that.

A/N: I sincerely hope you enjoyed that. I don't plan to continue this fic, but if you have any ideas or requests, I'd love to hear them in the comments!

Love,

craaazyaboutMalfoy