Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters mentioned in the fic. They all belong to JK and her publishers so don't sue me.

The Grass Isn't Greener on the Other Side

Chapter 1: Technically Innocent

By: Sweet Charis

Darkness engulfed a small, damp cell that enclosed the sole figure of Hermione Granger. She sat pressed up against a wall, her legs pulled up to her chest. Her head rested on her bend knees. A single strand of brown hair fell across her dirty face but she didn't feel the need to remove it.

It was ironic really. She was Hermione Granger, the brightest witch Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had seen in the past decade, and yet here she was locked away in Azkaban. All because she had been part of the good side. Blood didn't even seem to matter any longer. Now, it was just a vicious hunt for power.

She still remembered the day that it had all happened. The day that had set her destiny. The beginning of the rest of her miserable life, one could say. She didn't know how long ago it had happened, days, weeks, months maybe. But she still remembered it as vividly as ever.

It had been the faithful day of the final battle. The day when Dumbledor's Army was to go against Voldemort's Death Eaters, good against evil, light against dark. That day, the wizard world was to be freed from the fear that they constantly hardboard within. However, it hadn't gone quite according to plan.

Hermione crouched beside the unconscious figure of Bill Weasly, desperately trying to wake him up. He wasn't dead yet but who knew what would happened. Around her, the raging battle continued. However, it gradually died off, until everyone in the large stone chamber fell silent, glancing at a spot at the front of the room.

Hermione got up, so she could see what was happening, at the same time praying that Harry had slain Voldemort. However, the sight she saw surprised her deeply. There, at the front of the room, stood Harry next to Voldemort. His wand was out however it was lowered to his side.

"Join me Harry. Join me in my cause and I can give you everything you have ever wished for," said Voldemort, his cold voice eerily echoing through the deadly silence of the room, "If you join me Harry, I can give you more power than you have ever dreamed of. I can give more than you will ever receive from anyone else."

Harry, however, was silent. An unreadable expression crossed his slightly bloody face. He looked up, glancing across the room and catching Hermione's gaze for a split second, with an unnatural glint in his emerald eyes. A look that made Hermione's whole frame shudder.

"Fine," was the single word that Harry said, but it sent a riffle of shocked gasps across the room. Hermione couldn't believe it. She didn't want to believe it. She tried to convince herself that this was just some sick twisted joke. Maybe it was a dream. It had to be a dream. Harry Potter didn't just agree to Voldemort's offer. It was all in her imagination...

However, it hadn't been just her imagination. It had been reality, and it would continue to be the reality that she would forever leave in...

Amos Lynch, one of the jail keepers at the famous wizard prison, Azkaban, was a dumpy man, with the tendency to walk like a duck. As he made his usual rounds for the day through Block C, he glanced at the many unfortunate witches and wizards that resided there. Block C was formally known to incarcerate those who committed the crime of treason against the Ministry of Magic. However, it had become the Block that now housed those who had fought against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who was now considered the unofficial government.

Amos himself hadn't been on either side, so now he was lucky enough to still possess his job and not be in any immediate danger from the Dark Lord's supporters. At fist, he had regretted not believing Dumbledor when he announced that the Dark Lord had returned, but now, he apprehended that it was in his own unsurpassed interest. After all, his whole life he had only cared about himself, it wasn't like he had suddenly developed a conscience. If he had joined Dumbledor's Army, then he would probable be in the same position of the many wizards and witches that he was busy feeling sorry for at that moment.

He was glad however, that before the Dark Lord rose to power again, the ministry had gotten rid of the Dementors from certain blocks, which they believed, didn't house exceptionally dangerous criminals. He, for one, was quite happy for this rather rash decision. Those 'things' gave him the creeps. Plus, the prisoners that were now kept in Block C didn't have to deal with Dementors. After all, they were all technically innocent, and only guilty for expressing what they believed to be in their rights. But that didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered any longer, now that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back in power and stronger than before.

Amos walked through one final hallway filled with cells, only glancing for a split second at one of the occupants, a young girl who couldn't have been older than twenty. She sat propped up against one of the walls, with her face hidden by a bush of messy chestnut hair. Amos remembered her. Every time he passed by her cell, she was in that precise position. She never seemed to budge from there. She barely ate or drank any of the nourishment brought to her daily yet still managed to continue living, even though now, she had reached a shockingly unhealthy weight compared to where she was at when they had first brought her there.

Amos shook his head, slowly, pitying the girl. She was too youthful for this. Didn't deserve such a fate. The even worst thing that made him feel guilty beyond all imagination was the fact that she would soon be put to the Dementor's kiss, along with most of the others kept in Block C. Unless of course, someone was able to prove her 'innocence' or any other such unlikely thing.

Amos took one last look at the girl before walking out of the hall and closing the barred door behind him. He walked into his office, which was a rather small room that consisted of a worn out wooden desk, a scruffy chair, a cupboard and an ancient looking bookshelf. Amos settled himself on the chair propping his legs on the desk and sighing. He closed his eyes, ready for his ritualistic afternoon nap, however, he was oh-so rudely disturbed by the door to his office being opened and then slammed shut.

Amos opened his eyes, casting them furiously upon the intruder, but only met the icy glare of none other than Draco Malfoy. He clumsily stumbled off the chair, almost knocking it over in the process.

"M-my lord! It is positively magnificent to see you again!" he stammered, "To what do I owe the satisfaction of your visit?"

"Cut the formalities Lynch! I'm here for a reason and I don't plan to waste more than the necessary time needed in this hellhole," snapped the young Malfoy, in the same fashion as his father would have.

"Yes, of course my lord. What is it that I can do for you?" asked Amos apprehensively.

"I need someone to work in my…service, you could say," he said, feeling it was unnecessary for any further enlightenment.

"A servant m'lord?"

"Yes Lynch, do I need to spell it out for you!" he snapped.

"N-no, no of course not. Right this way, m'lord," said Amos, leading Malfoy through the entry that he had just walked through a few minutes prior to the unexpected visit. They entered the dark hallway that had a row of cell entrances lined up on either side.

"This lot is up for the Dementor's kiss is a week's time," said Amos matter-of-factly, "Now then. What exactly are you looking for? Someone youthful maybe?"

"It doesn't matter!" snapped young Malfoy in annoyance; "They can have two bloody heads for all I care! All I need is someone who can do what they're told to. Those bloody house elves are good for nothing!"

"Yes, yes of course. I think I've got just the candidate." said Amos, his mind flickering back to the frail girl that he had seen earlier. He couldn't say that Draco Malfoy was one of his favorite people, however, he believed anything was better than the fate that would await her.

"Very well…" was Malfoy's only rejoinder.

"Up," said Amos once he reached the cell in question. He reached inside his dilapidated robes, taking out his wand. He pointed it at the door and muttered a few choice words, causing the door to magically unlock.

"C'mon girlie, up I said." repeated Amos before yanking her to her feet. She almost lost her balance and fell over. However, with a shaky hand she steadied herself against the wall. When she finally looked up, her amber eyes gazed at Amos for a moment before flickering to the tall figure of the man standing behind him. Her eyes widened as a look of utter shock crossed her dirty face.

"M-M-Malfoy!" asked the girl in a shaky voice, not daring to trust her own eyes.

"Don't you dare address his lordship like that you filthy, lil'…"

"Are you quite done Lynch? I don't have all day!" said Malfoy, still perfectly calm, while unperturbedly regarding Hermione Granger with his icy gray eyes. On the inside, however, he was as shocked at seeing her as she had been at seeing him. He had never expected to see one of Potter's best friends locked away in Azkaban without him caring but apparently Potter really had changed.

It was too bad, because now Draco wouldn't feel the same satisfaction of possessing one of Harry Potter's former best friends, if he himself didn't care. But still, being the new 'owner' of Hermione Granger would definitely have its up's. After all, back in Hogwarts she had been the only one to achieve higher marks than he, leading to long lectures that he would receive from his father about the humiliation of having a mudblood beat him. Now, he was the one with the upper hand and making her life despondent would be quite pleasurable. He only hoped that she had more common sense than those dense house elves.

Hermione, on the other hand, was still quite shocked at the odd turn of events. If this were to have happened to her five months ago, she would have been deeply embarrassed, however, now nothing seemed to really matter, especially not the way Draco Malfoy perceived her.

"Here we are," said Lynch when they once again arrived in his office. He walked over to the cabinet and opened it, rummaging through the contents until he finally found what he was looking for, "Here you go m'lord. I don't know if her wand will be of any use to you but our procedure is to give it to the new owner.

Owner? What did that mean. Hermione wasn't quite sure what was happening but she had a slight suspicion of what it may be and it did not look good. She most certainly did not want to be Malfoy's property but there didn't seem to be anything that she could do at the moment. She would figure it all out later. For now, however, she decided to just be quiet since it would be in her own interest. Pretending to co-operate was her only option so far.

"Oh yes, and before I forget..." said Lynch extracting his wand out of his robes once again and pointing it at Hermione, "Adstringo!" A blue light flashed out of the tip of his wand, circling both Hermione and Draco and than vanishing.

"What in bloody hell's name was that?" asked Draco.

"Oh, well sir, whenever someone comes here in order to find a servant or otherwise, we are meant to bind the prisoner to their new master. So that they won't try to escape or any such thing," said Lynch, regarding Malfoy with a startled expression, as he seemed to get angrier and angrier.

"Oh I see. And tell me Lynch, did I give you permission to do any such thing?"

"Well no sir but I thought that..."

"You thought! I didn't know they paid you to think. You're meant to do what your bloody told!" erupted Malfoy in rage, "Now take that stupid spell of this instant. I don't particularly want to have a filthy mudblood bound to me!"

"Uh..w-w-well sir, it's impossible. The enchantment can't be taken off since if it were achievable, the slave might try to escape," replied Amos in a small voice.

"What!"

"The only way the spell is terminated is if either one of you is to die in which case the other is freed. However, m'lord, this doesn't mean that you are bound, per se. It only means that that the salve is to only do what you allow her to. For example if you were to say she can only speak the truth to you, she would not be able to do otherwise when asked a question." finished Amos, hoping that Malfoy had calmed down in the process. If not, this would undoubtedly cost him his position. He noticed that Malfoy had remained silent, regarding him with quite vehemence for a few instants.

"I suppose it would come in handy. Make sure this doesn't come to pass again, Lynch!" said Malfoy when he finally broke the silence; "I'll be on my way now. Come mudblood, or are you waiting for a special invitation?" he said sarcastically yanking Hermione out the door and into her new life.

Hey everyone! Ok this is the first chapter, tell me what you think! I know it's rather short but I'm trying to set everything up! Next will possible be longer, if there is a next that is…

SO please please please tell me whether you think that I should continue.